Tag: children

Two Mountains

Published on by lisagreatenebeliLeave a comment

Two mountains represent two covenants. One is Mount Sinai which represents the old covenant; the other other is Mount Zion and represents the new covenant. Everyone who claims to be a believer in Jesus Christ says they are new covenant believers, however, many believers are listening to prophets, preachers and media that is speaking from the old covenant, Mount Sinai message. Hebrews 12 describes Mount Sinai like this, “For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command, “IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED.” And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling.” This is the message of Mount Sinai, fear and judgment. Many are preaching, prophesying and discussing Mount Sinai, but we have not come to that mountain in we are in Christ.

If we are in Christ, we are not in sin. Those who are in sin, but want a message that says their sin is acceptable to God are what Hebrews 12 calls illegitimate children (Hebrews 12:8) and not sons. Our sins, no matter who we justify it, brings consequences, for the wages of sin is death. Death to relationships, prosperity, health, intimacy with God, many consequences. Consequences for sin is not judgement, it is the result of choices made to live in sin, whatever that sin may be. Therefore, when people preach or prophecy judgment on a nation, they are prophesying from Mount Sinai, the old covenant. The demarcation is obvious as to who is preaching or prophesying from Mount Sinai and who is speaking from Mount Zion.

Hebrews 12 continues by saying, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.” This is the new covenant we are called to preach, prophesy and project to believers of the new covenant. Legitimate sons of God, who are living in the truth, who are abiding in Christ, who are walking in intimacy with God will prophesy from this mountain and preach this mountains message.

It is easy to discern which mountain people are prophesying from, preaching from and proclaiming news about. Many amplified voices needs to be corrected, so we will see discipline coming from the Lord for their good, because the Father loves them, but they are not preaching from the right mountain, so their message is fear based, rather than filled with good news. You can speak the truth that leads to repentance without having a spirit of fear attached to it. God corrects us up, He wants us to live and not die and see the glory of the Lord in the land of the living and His discipline is not to hurt us, but to heal us, to help us, but we must turn from sin, listen to truth and be set free, so we can dwell in Mount Zion and proclaim the good news of this mountain. We can be transformed from illigetimate children to sons of God, but we must be willing to do all the Father says. I live in Mount Zion.

Love is Kryptonite to the Enemy

Published on by lisagreatenebeliLeave a comment

Love is Kryptonite to the Enemy

 

 

Have you ever had a frustration conversation with the Lord? You know one of those prayer times where somethings off, you feel stuck, heaven seems silent on an issue? I had one of those talks with the Lord just the other day. During this, let’s be honest, one sided conversation, I was doing all the talking, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Follow the yellow brick road”. Now for religious people that will be hard to believe God would say that, but to relationship people, they totally get it. God said, “Follow the yellow brick road.” I had just bought the movie the Wizard of Oz, as someone I met is doing a prophetic project in Kansas and asked me to watch it. I grabbed my pen and paper and sat down to watch the Wizard of Oz like I would a sermon. What I didn’t know was how prophetic that movie would be for me.

“Jesus called a little child to stand among them. “Truly I tell you, He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4). As I watched this movie the Lord began to speak to me from go. First of all, Dorothy was living with her aunt and uncle, so she was either orphaned or some other situation happened to her parents. Next, she had a dream, which is what put her into the land of Oz and she knew she had gone over the rainbow. Upon arrival in her house, which was the vehicle that took her to the land of Oz, she landed on the wicked witch of the East and killed her. With instructions from the leader of the munchkins, she took the ruby red slippers off of the wicked witch of the East and put them on her feet and was told these slippers would protect her, so just follow the yellow brick road. (There are so many prophetic things right here for you to consider).

The story goes on and she meets three men on her following of the yellow brick road, a scarecrow who needs intelligence, a tin man who needs a heart and a lion who needs courage. As each joins her on following the yellow brick road, to Emerald City to meet the Oz, she encounters along the way the wicked witch of the West. The truth that hit me like a tidal wave was, that because she was wearing the ruby red slippers, the wicked witch of the West could not lay a hand on her. When the Lord highlighted this to me, I remembered that in scripture rubies mean passionate love. The Lord spoke to me and said, “Lisa, passionate lovers are kryptonite to the enemy, because he has no love in him”.

Immediately, I began to weep, as I knew that love is the answer to victory in our lives as believers. When we are lovers, the enemy cannot touch us, love is kryptonite to the enemy. No wonder Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). Our love for God and for one another is what keeps the enemy at bay, for if we are lovers of God and lovers of people, he has nothing in us to work with. No wonder the enemy had nothing in Jesus (John 14:30), Jesus was a lover of His Father and of us as people. This is powerful to me, for I knew love was the answer, but I did not realize how powerful it actually was.

As the movie came to an end, they arrived at the door of the Emerald City and finally met the Oz, who did not grant their requests as presented for a brain, heart, courage and a home, but he gave them more than they asked for. Not only did love keep the enemy at bay, love kept them on the yellow brick road that led them to the place where they were given more than they could have asked or even imagined (Ephesians 3:20). When we are wearing the ruby red slippers of passionate love for God and for people, the enemy cannot touch us, for love is kryptonite to the enemy.

Training or Entertaining 

Published on by lisagreatenebeliLeave a comment

Being a parent is the most rewarding and challenging thing a person can ever do. With no manual on this child, one is left to navigate through principles how to discipline, love, bless, encourage and correct this child in a way that is most effective for them. For parents that have more than one child, this becomes even more challenging, because this child is now multiplied by two, three, four and sometimes even more. In a culture of counseling, it can be even more difficult to raise a child, because we are being given all these psychological thoughts about what we are doing or not doing to our child’s self-esteem. The struggle of parenting is real.Being a youth pastor for 25 years, I watched a lot of different parenting styles, growing up in a single parent home, I saw a unique parenting style and now being a mom, I am doing a parenting style. Like many of you, I fail daily, I seek counsel from other friends and family members and as a Christian, I am scouring the Proverbs, Psalms and all of scripture for parenting tips, principles and practical advice. With a myriad of books to buy, it can be challenging to know what is the right way, the most effective way to raise our children. So, what I am about to say, is not a criticism on someone’s parenting style, but rather a simplification and hopefully liberation for parents.

I have had multiple talks with my son about his time watching movies, playing video games or being on his iPad. One of the challenges of parenting today is all the technology that is available to them and at such a young age. My 8-year-old can work an iPhone better than me. But with that said, what I sensed the Lord say this morning to me was, “You are called to train, not entertain your son.” I said, excuse me Lord, can you say that again, He said, “you are called to train, not entertain your son.” Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” I was relieved to the point of embarrassment, as I felt like, part of training was entertaining. If he did not know what to do, it was my responsibility to find him something to do. But, God said, “you are called to train, not entertain your son.” Hallelujah!

Now I know I could be the only one that needed to hear this from the Lord, but I felt the desire to share it anyway, as it is so liberating for me. My job is to train up my child, not entertain my child. Yes, part of training will include entertaining, but I have sensed in our culture that we are supposed to be entertaining our children. This may be just me, since I only have one child, but if it is not just me, I wanted to encourage you with this word from the Lord, you are called to train your child, not entertain your child. So, with that being said, I believe it is time we ask ourselves our we training or entertaining our children? The answer to this question will either confirm or course correct you, because God said, “you are called to train, not entertain your child.”