Mankind Is Looking For A Safe Place

I want to start this post by saying that this message is so deep within  my heart right now. It comes from a place where deep roots run. I know there is no way I can express the anointing and sense of importance that is pressing on my spirit. This is Part 1. A message to The Body of Christ. Part 2......stay tuned!

 In the heart of every angry person, every lonely person, every person in fear, in depression, in anxiety, in addiction is a longing for true love and a place of safety. Mankind will risk pain,disease and death to travel great and treacherous distances to another country to seek out that place of safety they so desire.

 Even the strongest man , has in his heart , a young boy looking for a safe place. In the soul of every woman, no matter how virtuous, or risque she may seem , is a little girl longing for a safe place in a loving fathers arms.

They may be blinded to it. They may have buried it and covered it with so many things, but the  light of Gods Creative Power still abides in all that we call life, including fallen mankind. Let me "say" that again in a different way.

 Mankind, and the enemy of mankind, has built fortresses of the soul that they grasp, and run to in order to make themselves feel safe. We have created great avenues of sin, entertainment, violence, false religion, lust, wantonness, desire, wealth, the list goes on. We have separated into cultures and sub cultures. We have banded together in tribes and nations.

 From the tribes of the jungles around the world, to the nations of the world, to the terrorist organizations, to inner city street gangs,to outlaw biker gangs, all are mankind's way of being drawn to a place they feel safety and love, no matter how perverted by sin it may be.

 There are so many things that mankind has built in order to create a sense of safety, but the  Light of Gods Creative Power still abides in all that we call life, including fallen mankind, and that cry will only be satisfied by The One that  The Light is calling out to. Jesus, The Lord of All Creation. All of creation is crying out for redemption, even the rocks have a silent cry to see The King Of Kings Return.

 The Lord is about to reach into all the cultures and sub cultures of mankind to call out His Elect. They will feel like a baby eagle being rustled out of their nest, pushed out of their place of safety. The Church must be ready to receive them, to comfort them, to teach them to fly.

We have not been that place of safety, in the way Jesus intended, for the last 2000 years. We haven't been the place where the broken can come. We haven't been the place where the lost can find their way to Their Lord. We to often have rejected at the odd, giggled at the weak, and whispered about the prodigals and broken.

 Not only will we need to learn to see again, we will need to learn to disciple again. The Lord will bless those who yield to His Will concerning what He is about to do, and resist those who will not.

 The Gospel, His Gospel, His Word, His Name, His Cross and His Blood. The message will be clear. Come out from among the lost. Come out from among the wandering. Come out all ye who are burden and heavy laden. Come to safety In Christ and in His Church.

 Prophets will rise up and declare things that will draw a line between those Shepherds who are His Shepherds and those who are Hirelings that care nothing for the lost sheep. Jesus is calling up Disciples and Apostles, Pastors and Teachers that will embrace those The Lords sends through the Powerful and Anointed preaching of The Evangelist.

 Every Church must have leaders that embrace all that are called out of the false religions, the false high places, sinful places, strange places and dark places. The protocol driven, business driven church model will not be able to yield to The Lords Will. They will not have leaders in place and on staff that can freely embrace and disciple those who are wild in The Lord. They will scoff at "The Sons Of Thunder" and push out the young open mouthed Peter that hasn't learned to hold his word yet.

 The Lord is calling His Church to be His Church. Not Pastor John Doe's Church, Not Bishop Subas Church. He calls His Disciples. He calls His Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist , Pastors and Teachers.
He says Himself in His Word that He doesn't call many men that are much, he calls the base, the humble, the unseen. Much different than what most Churches do today. This will change by The Lords hands.

 Open your heart to see what is behind all the anger and frustration we see in the world. Feel the fear of the child before he is seduced by the safety of a street gang. See the hurt of the woman that gives her body away, or stays trapped in abuse, because she is so afraid to be alone and dearly wants to be loved. Let your spirit enter into the hope of safety that drive the migrants to risk their lives to come to America. Look beyond the sin, the anger, the pain, the illness and the circumstances. The Lord is calling them in. Woe to the one, or The Church who rejects His Lost ones.



The Walls

From inside the walls and outside the walls
There is raising up a shout
The voice of The LORDS Redeemed
Shouting let the captives out!
From inside the walls and outside the walls
A song is being sung
Gods chosen, singing in The Spirit
Singing The Time of freedom has come!
From inside the walls and outside the walls
The Word is being declared
Gods kings and priest on the earth
Taking authority, over the prince of the air
From inside the walls and outside the walls
Victory is being revealed
The elect of The LORD
HAVE BEEN CHOSEN,SAVED AND SEALED!

FROM INSIDE THE WALLS AND OUTSIDE THE WALLS
A NEW NATION HAS BEEN BIRTHED
AND HER CITIZENS ARE SHOUTING
JESUS IS LORD OVER ALL THE EARTH!

When They Come

When they come hungry
We will give them food

When they come thirsty
We will give them drink

When they come naked
We will cover them,
With The Love Of Jesus

When they come broken,
We will fix their hearts

When they come imprisoned
We will set them free

When they come angry
We will give them peace
With The Love Of Jesus

When they come weak
We will tell them their strong

When them come poor
We will we will show them they are rich

When they come in darkness
We will show them the light
With the Love Of Jesus

COME OUT!!

From the North, South,East and West
The LORD is calling out to His Elect…
Come out,Come out, from among the lost,
Come out, Come out, and count the cost.
There is a great shout, coming from above….
The SPIRIT of The Lord…crying out to His beloved…
Come out, Come out, from the worlds of men,
Come out, Come out, and Be Born Again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is a song coming straight from The throne…
The voice of a Father, calling His wandering ones home…
Come out, come out,from the darkness your in
Come out , come out, and be cleansed from your sin
Let our hearts be, one with The Lord
Let our voices cry out what our spirits have heard….
Come out, Come out from among the lost
Come out, Come out, and count the cost
Come out, Come out, from the worlds of men,
Come out, Come out, and be Born Again
Come out, Come out, from the darkness your in
Come out,Come out and be cleansed from your sin
COME ALL THAT WILL,
AND RECEIVE THE NEW BIRTH!!
COME ALL THAT WILL,
THE FATHER IS WAITING FOR THE PRECIOUS FRUIT OF THE EARTH!!!!!

The Great Battle For Your Own Soul

 If our faith is anchored to natural things, we will be bound to The Land and we will never cast out into The Deep. The Word says that in order to SEE The Kingdom of Heaven a person MUST be Born Again. Scripture makes it clear that the natural man can not perceive Spiritual things. 

 The Lord instructs us to walk by FAITH and NOT by Sight. We are to trust in Him alone. Not man, not power, not riches, not armies, not our feelings, not even our own eyes and senses. He alone is our strong tower. He alone is our place of safety and comfort.

What are some of the the labels The Lord gave to His Children who turned from Him to find comfort in other things. How did He see those that found comfort in the ways and in the arms of The World and His Enemy.

Adulterer

Whore-monger

Idol Worshiper

Harlot

Faithless

Rebellious

What are some of the actions that led to God labeling His Children, that He loved dearly, with such harsh names? What steps did they take that caused them to move from a place of His Blessing to His Judgment?

They Saw Another Way

They Heard Another Way

They Turned Another Way

They Ignored God

The Blamed God

They Dishonored God

They Complained About God

 Let me explain more in depth. All the elements of what I mentioned above are attributes and side effects of a soul that is bound to natural things. Souls that have turned from Faith in God to find another way to meet needs and desires. They have turned their attention to things of the earth and the ways of pleasure. Just like in The Garden they trusted in what they could see, hear and feel instead of Gods Word. 

 In the Old Testament their Idols were all represented as false gods they worshiped, nations they turned to and pagan ways they embraced. However even then God made it clear the issue was their Adulterous heart and Idolatrous Souls. Very little was revealed about the issues of their souls, God exposed the issues of their souls through His description of their actions and words.

They just could not hold true and faithful to a God they couldn't see and feel. Their souls longed after the things of the world and the pleasures of the nations. The longings of their own souls  were The Idols that they just could not tear down. Their own desires became a strong fortress that even God would not tear down for them.

God had a plan to Give man a new heart, a new spirit and a new set of eyes. He accomplished all this in Christ. He gave us all things new. Made us new creatures in Christ. Yet, the soul is one aspect of our being that He will not invade, and that He can not take control of. Our souls and our bodies are ours alone to yield or to not yield. 

After 2000+ years of The Church Age it is clear that the ancient strongholds of mans soul are as in tact as ever, as well guarded as ever, and as deceitful and open to deceit as ever. Knowledge of God does not automatically conquer the dark places. "Faith" in God doesn't mean that these strongholds are not taking a terrible toll in our lives and in The Church.

  The Word says that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways. That he can not receive from God because he is tossed to and fro. He believes with all his heart and mind, yet when circumstances and natural things arise that cause him to be frightened,angry, hurt or uncertain, he turns from God and His Word and finds safety in natural things, the pleasures of the flesh, or even "Spiritual" things that allows him to fall back out of the battle without a sense of guilt. 

 Some of these strongholds of the soul are unassuming. They can be quickly dealt with, yielded and surrendered willingly to The Lord. However even these seemingly benign guarded places of the soul can rob a believer of great blessing, and worse rob the Church of her Authority and Power.

Unchecked,  these "minor" strongholds and safe places we create in our souls will begin to settle as an ancient foundation in us. They will grow on their own and effect us in ways we are blind to and ignorant to. Unlike the next type of strongholds I will expose, these allow a believer or minister to flourish and thrive, while quietly and secretly , the enemy and our own survival instinct, build a powerful hindrance that can lead to a great stumble and fall.

They can morph into a very dark, very damaging fortress within us that steal our destiny and joy.

When hard tests of faith come, or certain test of the soul come, the soul that has a hidden tower of safety apart from God, will always choose that well traveled track, offer sacrifices of spiritual things in the moat around their soul, enter through the gates and walls that they have always found safety in and abide in their well fortified tower.

They are bound to ever learning, ever praying, but never attaining all The The Lord has for them. Never coming to the full knowledge of The Truth.

No matter how much knowledge is obtained, no matter how many victories are won, no matter how spiritual we may seem, if our souls have become an Idol before God, we will always be limited in what He is able to do for us and through us. The Church,and The World we are supposed to reach, suffer greatly for that.

I want to make a statement here that will cause some to pause and hear, and some to reject it and retreat back to their safe place.

 I believe by observation, by how The Word describes what The Church should be doing and demonstrating, and by The Spirit, that a vast majority of believers, including yours truly, have some part of their soul, or a large part of their soul, mostly unknown to them, that is actually acting as an Idol before The Lord. Their soul has become an offence to Faith and Truth.

 He wants us FREE!

HE WANTS YOU FREE!

I will end this blog with this. What is an idol? If The Lord is having you face some hard things in your soul and you seem to avoid the battle every time, only to face it again, isn't whatever you are turning to the same as when His People turned from Him to idols?

He cares for you. He cares for your soul. But, apart from Him, "soul care" can become a place where we avoid anything painful in order to find comfort, when The Lord may be bringing you to that hard place, over and over, until you face your own soul, and yield even those scary,dark, painful places to Him. 

 Are you ready? I am so ready. I am so tired of facing the same battle over and over, just to turn away, give up, camp out,  or pretend I didn't know better, only to face the battle all over again. It took a long time to be able to hear The Lord tell me:

                                         "Your own soul is an Idol Before me"

I cant possible explain to you all that is packed into the words The Lord spoke to me. The battle is very real now, but, not like before. I know I can win. With His help , I can see into my own soul now. This goes beyond dying to self. It is hard. It is tough to face your own weaknesses and distrust in God. It is painful to admit you are angry with God, disappointed in God, even in some ways blaming God for all that is wrong and all that has hurt. Oh maybe not in your mind or on the surface, but deeply hidden, where only He can see, those whispers lay in darkness. 

Let Him in. Yield fully. Where there has not been full victory , where we are promised victory, go deeper and face that thing until victory is secure. No matter what you feel, see, hear, battle on until the towers are torn down and you stand in TRIUMPH!

Get ready! The Battle Is The Lords!!!!

Fall Back To Rest

 Well this is one of those post that will be really revealing on my part. The title of this post says it all. There are times we have to stop, chill, wait and fall back to a place of rest. When I say fall back I mean fall back. Like a trust fall when a person falls back and trust the person behind them to catch them. Sometimes we have to STOP in our tracks and fall back into the restful hands of God. We need to stop pressing, stop fretting, stop trying to fix it, make it, force it and cause it to happen No matter what "it" may be.

Now I will tell you where this post came from. I was at work yesterday, having a really bad day. I had just came off a very stressful and disappointing week, for reasons I cant mention in this post. Last week was just a heavy, troubling and draining week, both spiritually and naturally. I took a day off Friday hoping to reset, get out in nature and rest. But, thanks to some circumstances out of my control, I returned to work yesterday with little energy or margins to deal with the mess.

 The day was busy and stressful from the start. An employee quit without notice and even after she asked to recant her resignation, she called and said she was quitting anyway. I was not feeling well, it was very busy, it was a perfect storm.

Oh, and the mail machine, that is the most important piece of equipment we have, was not connecting to the network. This is where I should have stepped back and reset. But, if I would have done that, I wouldn't be writing this post. I had a tech come in, and his diagnosis was it needed a new board, so it would be down a couple days and he couldn't even add postage because his laptop went down.

At this point, I was done. I was determined to try everything to get it connected. I knew I should just leave it alone, but I was so aggravated I didn't want to deal with not having a machine.

 I had made arrangements to get the mail processed, so it would have been a good time to just leave it alone, wait for the tech the next day and allow the process to run its coarse. But, I was ticked and was going to try everything to at least get a line through so I could add postage. As long as we have money on the machine, we can run without a connection. So I decided to try and move the machine on to a cart and take it where there was an analog phone line.

The meter part of the machine disconnected and crashed to the ground. It was loud, it bounced and it really broke.  I stood there looking at it like I was in a trance. An adjuster came in to be sure I was okay. It was not good. I wish I would have just left it alone. I wish I would have just let it be instead of being so driven to make it work, to fix it.

Now, I tried to make myself feel better by saying it needed a new board anyway. Which was true, or, was it? Noooo, because about 30 minutes later an IT representative called and said he found out why we couldn't connect. He could fix it remotely and get us connected. Yup, it didn't need a new board. I had to tell him the machine has already been ordered because the keypad was broken, and a couple other things. I didn't mention why..lol.

Oh the lesson would have been learned there, but, nooooooo. Today I came in,  and, wonder of wonders, the machine was all connected, working and good to go. Well it would have been, but, well you know what happened, crashing, breaking, etc.

 Now, here is what The Lord spoke to me today as I walked on break. So many times in life and our walk with Him, we get into that place. That place where life,circumstances, people and yes the devil have us upset, angry, frustrated and at the end of our patience.

 In these times it is so important to fall back into His rest. We have to stop pressing, stop forcing and stop trying to fix everything and just drop into His Faithful Arms. To keep forcing things with a white knuckle determination to make circumstances or people change, often times will cause us to mess up what God already has planned.

 I have done this on a huge scale concerning my walk with The Lord and my growth in The Church. I don't condemn myself,  because at the time, it seemed like my only option to move forward and become what I know in my heart I am called to do. But , like with my postage machine, I was pushing and pressing, fighting and fretting, there was no peace, no sense of real direction, just a driven idea that I will fix this on my own.  When all along God had a perfect plan that I was blinded to.

 The Lord spoke to my heart several times today the words of the title above. Fall back into my rest. My mind began to spin again about how can I escape this place, how can I get on a team that I have seen in my heart. Where is the promise I have seen in my heart.

 When? Where? How? Help! Why? Again I heard, fall back into my rest. Let the questions go and rest in faith that I have it under control. Then of coarse the mind says. Lord it has been decades, can we speed it up a bit. Fall back into my rest. Peace, all is well.

 The Lord will not compete with our self drive and fretting. He is not obligated to answer our questions asked out of frustration and anxiety. He wants us to rest in Him. To lay the questions and the need to know now, fix it now, deliver us now, aside and just say, Lord, I trust you. Let thy will be done.

 Now before you are to hard on yourself or me. Remember Jesus in The Garden. He came to that place, in a way we never have to, yet He to had to take all of that anguish and sweat, and fall back into The Fathers rest. Let Thy Will Be DONE.

PEACE

Emotional Responsibility And Living a Spirit Filled Life

 I want to talk about living the Spirit filled life. Specifically what emotional responsibility has to do with living a successful and powerful spirit filled life.  The Lord has drawn my  attention to this subject recently.

 Through some classes at work, a recent interview I watched on television, and prayer,  I believe The Lord has confirmed to me the importance of His people learning about the connection between being fully aware and responsible for our own feelings and emotions, and The Spirit Filled Life. He will be able to inhabit His body and demonstrate His manifold wisdom, through His Body, to all the seen and unseen world, when we are able to respond intelligently to His Presence.

 So,  what does it mean to be emotionally intelligent and emotionally responsible?  There are many many articles, studies  and books written on the subject.  If you do a Google search on emotional intelligence or emotional responsibility you will find a wide variety of slide shows, books, articles and many psychological and scientific studies on the matter.  All of them are very good, very informative and all of them offer a deeper understanding of what Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Responsibility is.

  But for the purposes of this article I want to simplify this subject. Because it all boils down to one simple but profound truth. Your feelings are not your emotions.  Your feelings do not automatically dictate what your response should be. Your emotional response, to any feelings that you may have, is a choice that you make, and that you alone are responsible for. Realizing and securing this as truth in your thought processes can set you free from so many things that cause you to get off course in life.

  I want to keep the focus of this article on what emotional responsibility and emotional intelligence has to do with the Spirit filled life. However, it is important to note, that the idea of raising emotionally responsible  and emotionally intelligent children is being recognized by secular psychologist as something that will be critical  in order to prepare this next generation for the world to come. The lack of teaching on emotional intelligence and emotional responsibility, and the fact that many parents are ignorant themselves about their emotions, is being recognized more and more as a major hindrance to raising children into successful well equipped adults.

 Emotional Responsibility starts with us being aware of our own feelings, our own hearts, our own passions, weaknesses and strengths. We must first be 100% honest and open with ourselves and God. We must realize that feelings, whether positive or negative , are not emotions.

So, whether you are filled, or temporarily overcome, with positive or negative feelings, you alone are responsible for how you translate or express those feelings through your God given emotions.

 I want to state that again, whether you are filled, or temporarily overcome, with positive or negative feelings, you alone are responsible for how you translate or express those feelings through your God given emotions. This would be good to put on your desk, on your refrigerator, at the door of your house, anywhere you can see it all the time.

 We are all familiar with with the scripture that states we are not moved by what we feel or see. We apply it to teachings on faith and living a faith filled life, and it is indeed a good scripture to stand on. Most of the time we apply it to standing against negative circumstances or feeling. However, it is just as important, and as deceit grows in The Church and world, it will be critical, that we understand, that we are not to be moved by positive feelings, or positive circumstances either.

 We are told in scripture that the enemy comes as an angel of light. The Spirit Of Anti-Christ is not only revealing himself in the wickedness of man’s heart and systems, he is masquerading as a Christ-less answer to peace, tolerance, cohabitation and world unity. The Oprah’s and the Depak Chopra's of the world offer light, without The Creator Of Light, That is the essence of Anti-Christ.

The Spirit will always align with scripture and exalt Jesus As LORD. Any light that denies either, is Darkness, no matter how good it makes you feel or how positive it may seem. Yet many Christians and even leaders embrace them and their teachings as good and even equal  to scriptural wisdom, their god is their belly(feelings) so they deny The Scripture.

 His children right now, much like the children of the world are not being raised with the knowledge they need to filter feelings and circumstances solely through scripture and The Holy Spirit. They are being tossed about by every wind of doctrine, whether doctrine with minor errors or doctrines of darkness disguised as light.

 Like some secular psychologist warn about natural children, God’s children are not being prepared for the spiritual realities to come. Worse yet, they are not prepared to handle His Glory and Power in a way that brings Him honor and demonstrates His Manifold Wisdom to All Creation! We have been taught for to long a self help, prosperity, best life now, Oprah type Christianity.

But! The Lord has a plan. He has had a plan all along. He has had a system all along. He has clearly laid it out with a specificity that only those attached to the wisdom of The World and The deceptions Of Anti-Christ would miss.

Ephesians 4:11-16 New Living Translation (NLT)

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.


The scripture is clear. It takes the entirety of Gods Ordained Ministers to bring about a mature people, well prepared for all the lies, tricks and disguises of the enemy and wicked man. We must rebuild a Church that the gates of Hell crumble before. You are The Church, I am The Church, We are The Church. It will be us, or no one, that demonstrates Gods Manifold Wisdom.

 It will take us being mature, emotionally responsible and intelligent to be able to handle His Glory and Wisdom without derailing it with wild emotional outburst and strange physical manifestations because we don’t realize we must choose what we do with what we feel, even what we feel while In The Spirit. 

In the past God had allowed us, to experience His Presence in limited ways, and one thing that has marked these “revivals” is an increasing amount of fleshy outburst and strange and even ungodly behavior, being attributed to The Holy Spirit. Two particular “ministers” would act like they were smoking joints or taking tokes off the Holy Spirit. All under the eyes and approval of the group of “leaders” that were supposed to be raising mature Christians. 

This was obviously an extreme example of a lack of Emotional Intelligence when it comes to  A Spirit Filled Life and The Lords Plan for His Anointing and it’s purpose for His People. But, it is an excellent example of how not understanding these things has hindered The Church, and stunted the growth of His Children. 

We can learn how to intelligently respond to The Lords Presence. We can learn how to behave, more than that, move ,work with and cooperate with The Lord to demonstrate His Love, Power and Manifold Wisdom to a hurting and confused world. The Holy Spirit doesn’t make anyone behave or react in a way contrary to Wisdom and Godly Intelligence. Man chooses to respond to feelings, God wants His Children Emotionally Intelligent and Responsible enough to wield His Gifts,Power and Wisdom to destroy the Gates of Hell

What say you? Are you ready to look back only to The Design Jesus set forth for His Church? The example He set forth for us to follow? Are we ready to learn from our past childish handling of The Lords Power and our infant like responses to His Presence?

We will miss it, and get corrected, but that is okay. Let me end with some examples of How Jesus handled wrong emotional responses by His Leaders and people. He taught, rebuked and corrected, to bring them to maturity.

Luke 10:17-20 New Living Translation (NLT)

17 When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”

18 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! 19 Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. 20 But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”

Luke 9:52-57 New King James Version (NKJV)

52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. 54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them,just as Elijah did?”

55 But He turned and rebuked them,and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

Matthew 16:13-27 New Living Translation (NLT)

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 

14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”

20 Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

21 From then on Jesus  began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.

22 But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”

23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.

A Prophetic Word- An Exhortation- A Warning- A Prayer For Those In Mnistry

 The title of this article says a lot about what is on my heart. My title encompasses all that I believe this article will be. It is in many ways a Prophetic Word. It will definitely be a mighty exhortation for those with ears to hear. Unfortunately there will be some elements of Divine Warning. Altogether this comes from a deep place of prayer and intercession for The Church, Her People and Her Leaders.

 As I write this I am well aware of my own failings in some of the areas I am compelled to confront my brothers and sisters in Christ about. Many of us have heard of the Pastor who committed suicide this week. The issue of depression and anxiety is touching all aspects of society. From the youngest to the oldest. From the richest to the poorest, depression, anxiety and the spirit of suicide has bound humanity and Those in The Church have not escaped the infection.

 The question for us is, Should this be the case? Why have so many, including myself, not been able to walk in the joy and peace of Christ consistently? Why are both Leaders and Laity alike bound and held in the cages of these emotional,physical and spiritual enemies? Why have so many Apostles,Prophets, Evangelist, Pastors and Teachers fallen victim, sometimes fatally, to these enemies of our souls?

 I will not pretend to have THE ANSWER. However, I have what I believe to be AN ANSWER inspired by The Holy Spirit for right now, in this season, and the one to come. I believe I have an answer for those who will hear, who are ordained to hear it.

 All ministry, after all, is called and directed by God. No Prophet is a Prophet to everyone. They are a Prophet to those whom God has appointed them to be a Prophet to. No Pastor, Teacher, Apostle or even an Evangelist is called to all believers and churches, they have been appointed by God to A Place, A People and A Time.

These truths when understood and embraced removes a great burden from the shoulders of both Leaders and Laity alike, especially those who are given to prayer and the Move of The Spirit.  When Leaders are in The Lords Ordained Place, Fulfilling The Lords Ordained Calling in Service to The Lords People that they are called and appointed to, they can be secure and confident that They Will Succeed as The Lord Directs.

All this being true, and it is 100% true because God never fails or makes a mistake, then why is there so much brokenness in The Church? Why do so many churches fail? So many leaders fall? Why are callings abandoned and giftings rejected while there are flocks of sheep wandering, confused and hurt?

 What are we missing? What erroneous and broken template do we keep using that works for the few  but fails for so many? What yoke of burden is being put on Pastor after Pastor that they were never meant to carry, and were never equipped to handle?

 Some will say that I am posing more questions than I am giving answers, but in these questions lie the answers. They are question with just the right anointing to pull the answers out of the hearts that are longing for truth and freedom. Those longing to know true covenant relationship and ministry, where each one does their part and each ones strengths provides for the others weaknesses.

 Could it be that we have built the structures of The Church in a way that was never meant to be? Could it be that the Business Like Organization Structure is so flawed that only the strong survive, and those who are not strong enough or don't fit into the business image anymore get washed out or feel so much pressure to live up to a well guarded and painted image that they eventually falter?

 Would men like Peter and Paul even make it through the protocols and image cleansing of the modern church? Would Paul be considered to wild, to extreme, to close to those he served? Would Peter be written off as a rebel, a breaker of protocol, one who speaks out of turn, so certainly not worthy of leadership and The High Calling of  Apostleship?

Are there any ministry teams that have a covenant relationship like the picture I posted above and below represents?  And how about the people in The Church?  Do we get it? Do we really get what our responsibility is  to pray and support our leaders spiritually? Of course financially, but lets face it, many that will read this, your Pastor or the Pastors you see in media are living much better off than you financially, so that doesn't carry as much weight as it did for the early church planters and Pastors.

But, if you are from a smaller church with a Pastor who is struggling financially, are you helping him in any way you can? Are you generous, so that they can give themselves to The Word and Prayer for you? Are you behaving like you have a God Ordained Covenant Relationship with them, as long as you call them your Pastor and you eat at that Church?

 How about your words? Are you encouraging and lifting them up in prayer? Are you seeing with Gods eyes and supporting them passionately, so that The Gospel may be Preached, Lives may be Changed and The Devil may be stopped in families and in your community?

 We all need to rethink, reset and relaunch. Leaders and Laity alike, we need a time of Consecration and Prayer, so we can take on the closing of time and be a part of The Remnant that finishes strong and in THE POWER OF HIS LOVE.

 Here is the Exhortation. We can do this! The Lord has a Plan for THIS. He has a PLAN for RIGHT NOW. A Specific and well planned out path He wants His Church to march on. His Love and Covenant Blessing will unite us. Wisdom and Knowledge of His Love and Covenant Blessing will keep us together, in Power, Anointing, Vision and Unity.

 Each member doing its part. Each one in their perfect place, moving in glorious power, fulfilling their part in this incredible End Time Church we have been called to. We see the results of this in the Book of Acts. The Leaders were focused, sober, serious and on The Mission given to them by God. The people were generous, reverent and busy working to establish, build and maintain the fast growing, miracle working and World Changing Church!

 Here is a warning. In this atmosphere, that shall come, both Leaders and Laity alike , need to show great reverence and honor to The Spirit of God and His Holy Name. Dishonor has no place in this atmosphere. Leaders need to honor their place as servants and shepherds of The Lords Sheep. And the people need to honor and show reverence for the The Presence of The Lord working through His Leaders for the benefit of The Church and mankind. All must have a reverential fear of The Lord.

We wouldn't walk up and slap the bride of a man we fear. Yet many of us have slapped The Lords Bride, over and over again. Lord forgive us.

Lord, help us as leaders to honor you among the people, feed your sheep, and tend your pastures the way you showed us, with sacrifice and selflessness. Remove every ounce of a hirelings heart from our souls.

Help us as members and parts of your precious body to act like your children and demonstrate your love toward one another. Help us to fully support our leaders in every way they need it. Help us to praye fervently and in the spirit of wisdom for them. Help us set a guard over our hearts and tongues, so that we may always bless and uplift and never curse or sow discord.

 Teach and instruct us how to do ministry, how to build your church, in the way you wish, so the gates of hell crumble before us. So that we all may walk in your freedom and joy. Lord show us how to build ministry teams called by you, anointed by you, and bound in Covenant , so that we may see your wonderful works again on The Earth!!

Raise up an Epaphras in every Church, in every city and in every nation. Raise up pillars that will stand with The Ministry Gifts they are called to stand with no matter what. Let them fight side by side until all the giants are removed from their land.

Thank you Lord for Anointed Teachers and Words that will reset souls and minds. That will tear down strongholds, and restore peace to your people. Teach us Lord how to command our emotions with Your Word, Name and Authority. We stand as one and will help one another realize the liberty and freedom we have. No burden shall be carried except that which you have empowered each of us to bear.

Finally, In The Name of Jesus we curse the spirit of Depression,Anxiety and Suicide. Flee back to the darkness from which you came. You have no place nor part in The Body of Christ!

Ancient Of Days-Ancient War- Ancient Plan- Ancient Foundations

Foundations are important to The Lord.

His Kingdom Is Eternal.

Built Upon An Eternal Spiritual Foundation.

He cast The Universe with His Hand and built the foundations of  The Earth with His Word as a mirror of  those Spiritual Foundations!

Foundations are important  The LORD.

He has always given His People a Firm Foundation to stand upon and build upon.

He gave us His Word and His Gospel as a solid foundation to build upon.

Foundations are important to The Lord.

This is why He must shake all can be shaken so that nothing remains but that which was built Correctly and with His Word , upon HIS FOUNDATIONS!

Foundations Are Important To The LORD!

He who has an ear

Let them hear!

He who has eyes to see

Let them see!

Foundations are important to The Lord!

In The End- A New Earth will appear. Built upon A Glorious Foundation!

A New Jerusalem, A New Temple  will be built upon A Foundation of Precious Stones , Shining 

With Gods Glory!

Rebuilding Confidence - The Path of Discipleship

 

A few weeks ago I had some extra time at the end of my work day so I decided to watch a few training videos about leading difficult people, building confidence in people and convincing others to follow your lead that you do not have any authority over in a team environment.

The segment that stuck with me, and that The Lord really stirred me to take notes on was: Levels of Confidence.

As I listened to the speaker teach it was very clear that what he was laying out was not only a template to train employees, but unknown to him I imagine, the way The Lord raises up His people and trains up His leaders.

Even deeper for me, I saw a path to freedom for those struggling with addiction, obsessions, abandonment, pain, the list could go on and on. I saw a safe road, escorted by loving and mature believers , where many people could be led safely to freedom

What I was seeing is The Path of Discipleship. What I was seeing is what is demonstrated in The life of Moses, Joseph, Paul, Peter, Mark, Timothy and really just about ever major leader servant in The Word.

As I list these , I want you to really think about each step. Each step is so important in order to move to the next step. Each step requires a mentor, a guide, a teacher to help those on the path, stay on the path. I ask that you pray for a few minutes before and ask The Holy Spirit to show you how you can either start on this path or start leading others on this path.

If you are a Pastor, or a councilor, ask The Lord if this may be a template for discipleship or counseling that He wants you to build a form and function around.

The key aspect to this, that The Lord spoke to me heart about, is the fact that this is a guided journey, with loving, caring, dedicated teachers and guides. Shepherds that are truly dedicated to discipleship. Shepherds that care more for the sheep that their own lives and comfort.

(My thoughts on each step will be in parenthesis) 

Shepherds like Jesus

Confidence Levels:

1. Confidence To Try:

    

      Goal is not necessarily to succeed, BUT TO TRY.

(This is quite possibly the most important step. We need to encourage people that freedom is possible, even guaranteed if they will just take the first step and start the journey with us, and not quit. Draw them from the place of fear and isolation into a place of trust and action.)

2. Confidence To Learn:

  The goal here is to learn and PROGRESS IN GROWTH:

( Line upon line, precept upon precept. Brick upon brick. Confidence not only to learn, but to be okay with the process of growth. To be given grace and mercy to trip, fall, mess up and get frustrated, with no condemnation or retaliation in the least bit. They are on an exciting and at times perilous journey, if they don't quit, they will make it.)

3. Confidence To Do:

  Based on competence and consistently doing.

   (Important transition step. Still learning, still slipping a bit, now it is time TO DO. Depending on the environment of the process whether training up disciples in a church or counselling somebody to break free from chains, many times they go hand and hand, the people need to start doing something to exercise their newly learned talents,abilities, gifts or freedom. This will be more institution based, competence based, but still a safe place to start doing, moving, exercising.)

4. Confidence To Teach

  Mastery, They now have the confidence to teach and lead others.

(This is the goal of Discipleship and Counseling, to raise a person up to the point that they can use all they have experienced and learned to lead others, mentor others, encourage others to take the first step to freedom and a life in the service of The Lord.)

Recap-

1. Confidence To Try:

    

      Goal is not necessarily to succeed, BUT TO TRY.

2. Confidence To Learn:

  The goal here is to learn and PROGRESS IN GROWTH:

3. Confidence To Do:

  Based on competence and consistently doing.

4. Confidence To Teach

  Mastery, They now have the confidence to teach and lead others.