If you've been following my blog at all, you probably have read tons of analogies, epiphanies, parallels and revelations. I feel like my life has been one "ah ha!" moment after another... but I don't know if I've experienced a season like this. It's almost as if the revelations, dreams, visions, etc are getting stronger and more frequent that ever before. I sense the momentum picking up not only in me... but in everyone around me. They come all day every day and sometimes I can barely get them written down! I'm reminded of Joel 2:28 &29:
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit."
So incredible... I mean, it's written in the word and it's happening people! I want to encourage you today to let the truth penetrate your heart so deeply that you will stop JUST believing it happens to others and begin to believe it for YOURSELVES.
A string of insane connections has been happening since I left Jonesboro for Nashville a little over a week ago. I remember one of my last conversations there (one that's continued here) is the idea of God's heavenly realm being the CONCRETE thing. It's interesting because we tend to think that we are more real than the kingdom of heaven or the spiritual realm because... well... we can see us. But today I'm here to challenge you to find more reality in the unseen than what is right before your eyes. I understand it's hard to trust what we can not see, but isn't that what faith is all about?
I love Gungor's new album "Ghosts upon the earth"... they actually touch on this a little bit. We tend to think that God, his love, and the heavenly realm are more theoretical rather than concrete and we easily think of ourselves as the concrete thing left with the power to decide if God's really real or not.... as earthlings mostly asking ourselves if He is who He says He is and if it's worth it to abandon all and follow. I figure the average person reading this might be certain God is real... but occasionally asks the other questions. Perhaps those answers are even assumed and never dealth with? I don't know about you... but after twenty something years of thinking I knew God my faith was shaken with several tramatic events. I was essentially forced to find my identity in Him and KNOW that He really is who He says He is no matter the circumstance. Otherwise, I wonder if i would have continued to live a shallow existence of inactive faith never really going deeper, walking closer, or becoming confidently unshakable.
God IS real. God IS truth. God IS love. God IS so many things... so it's really not even our place to say otherwise. What we believe is a different story. Now that we've established that, we must decide whether we are going to align with that under God's authority and power.... or align with the world under the enemy's authority and control. The wishy washy crap is nonsense. Does God still love you no matter what you believe? Yes, I do believe so... and so will I. But there is a whole spiritual realm out there waiting for believers to stand up and fight those battles... in the meantime we are still "trying to decide" if He's worthy. As long as we remain in that position we will not be able to be trusted with the authority our Daddy desires for us to have.
Our battles are not of this earth. And I do believe that when we fight in the spiritual realm territory is won for the Lord and victory happens also in the physical realm. When we don't understand and fail to seek, or don't have the word on our hearts and mind, or don't see it as reality... we will begin to experience much defeat on the earth. Yes, God fights for us... but we have got to give him authority and power to do so in our lives. And we do so by praying His will with confidence and His strength, trusting that He is who He says He is no matter what and is worthy of our worship and praise!! We must "plug in" to the only true source of POWER!
As I was driving to Nashville last week it was an amazing 4 hours of praying, crying, meditating, listening and worshipping the Lord. I felt like every moment was so real and divine. My heart was breaking all over again for what breaks His heart and He was preparing me for something big. Around 7:30 I pulled into the parking lot of Grace Center in Franklin, TN and He began to make His presense publically known in that place. It was unbleivable.
The guest pastor focused on the "dry bones" passage of Ezekiel 37. It could not have come at a more perfect time. This man has been all over the world and he said there are two things people say about the place where they live. 1- That it's the "valley of dry bones" and 2- That God is going to begin revival there. It's funny because I've thought that about all the different places that I've lived. Haha. And then it dawned on me, of course we would think that... because that's exactly what God wants to do! And this is the very thing He was highlighting that night. You've heard me say it beore and I'll say it again....we must continue to SPEAK LIFE into the dry places.
How exactly do we do this? Take a person, church, job, family, or "dry" or "broken" situation then begin to speak in the opposite spirit. All you have to do to be a prophet is to know the word and speak it out over somene. That's it! It's that simple and profound! Ha. The word is truth and what God says about His children is true and His desire for us is good... so we've got to REALLY and truly start speaking this out to others!! Then just watch as God moves!!! How much joy it must bring to our Papa when we are His become His mouthpiece!
Another thing He said when speaking was that "the depth of our hunger is equal to the extension of our arm to God". Are we hungry for Him? Do we want to know Him more? Do we want to see Him move? Are we ready to abandon all for Him??? God so desires for our hunger for Him to outweigh our feeding frenzy on other things that don't quite satisfy but fill our momentary need. Just like processed foods that fill our tummy but don't really feed out body what it needs... we end up filling full, while our body cries out for something real. Perhaps some of us don't even know that we are starving for something real because we keep filling those voids with man-made things instead of heavenly goodness?
You see, I'm not sure if we get it yet or not. But the UNSHAKABLE faith is what the Lord is asking of us. The times are only going to get crazier and we MUST be a people who clearly hear His voice, have deep true conviction, follow His lead quickly, have a humble heart of repentence, who are fit to serve Him- mind, body, and soul!!! I do realize that we are all on different parts of our journey and God has had so much grace for all of us. But i know God wants to take us so deep in the knowlege of His word and the revelation of our heart that we never sway to and fro... but remain confident in who He is no matter what!
B90: (1 Cor. 13- 2 Cor. 13:14)
I absolutely love what Paul has to say in 1 Cor. 15: 12-19... basically saying: If Christ was raised from the dead, why on earth couldn't we believe that others can? But if we believe the dead can't be raised then it must not be true that God raised Christ from the dead... and our "faith is futile, we are still in our sins, and will perish." Well gosh, this brings up a great point. Sounds to me like God is in the business of making dead things alive. How? He speaks life into being and it happens, whether we see it right away or not... it's happening. Why? Well, I can't think of a better way to demonstrate power, grace, beauty, and love than full fledged redemption and the gift of life in a dry or dead situation. I do believe He wants to awake our sleeping body, unite us for HIM and use us to speak life into the broken/dying world.... one person at a time. That's true revival people!!!! To be breathed into by the King of the Universe is resisitation at it's absolute finest.
"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in TRIUMPHAL procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For WE are the AROMA of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a gragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we SPEAK in Christ." 2 Cor 2:14-17
"Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kils, but the Spirit gives LIFE." 2 Cor 3:4-6
Lord I ask that your word resisitate our soul tonight... that we actually feel you breathing life into each and everyone of us. I pray that we see every person as a divine appointment and opportunity to represent you. I pray that you break our heart for the death we see all around and desire to see you breath life into the dry bones. Let us be a united people who accept your life, live it, and speak it every day in every place. You are so worthy of our honor and praise. We give you all the glory Lord!!! Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment