Nettles and Other Weeds

Here is a picture of a nettle, a noxious weed with little redemptive value. Now why am I putting a picture here of something so worthless. Read on.

The world is fond of promoting lies. One of the most common and prevalent ones, that I am sure everyone has heard is this: Experience is the best teacher.

Oh is it really? Think of the time you were excluded from a play group during recess at school. How about all the times you were the last one picked for a sports team? Now remember the times when you saw a parent favor one of your siblings in seeming preference to you. How about going for a job interview, knowing you are highly skilled and more than qualified, yet someone else gets picked time after time? Now how did all of these scenarios and others by the thousands make you feel? They made you feel worthless, rejected, ashamed, afraid, determined not to try again, etc ad infinitum.

Is experience really the best teacher if you are learning to avoid situations and people, having a framework built inside of you that gives you such a low opinion of yourself? This is your emotional skeleton that is being built. It is a framework of lies, subtle manipulations by the whispering, destructive spirits that surround us, feeding from our vital forces while robbing us of health both emotionally and physically. It is all calculated to keep us from becoming the wondrous creation that Almighty God created us to be, the sons and daughters who will destroy the kingdom of darkness. But as long as we are held in bondage to all of these lies we are nothing but slaves of the corrupt spirits manipulating us like so many puppets.

Ah, but there is an answer. His name is Jesus Christ! He came to save us spirit, soul and body. He came to heal all the parts of our being. He came to bring abundant Life in place of the death that has been our mainstay. The soul of man is where all the battles take place. This is the battleground where wars more violent than WWII are being fought daily. And we must be victorious! Victory has already been assured for us if only we will put our hands in the Savior's and trust Him to lead us to that safe place He has already provided. There is a green pasture with quiet waters where He wants to take all of us, a place of rest from the onslaughts of this enemy we cannot even see.

Rise up, mighty warriors of God! It is time to take back the territories that have been stolen from us and our generations. Victory in Jesus!

The Camels Are Coming!

 Hear what the Lord is saying about this New Day we have entered. This is a day of abundance we have hardly had the nerve to dream about. But, as always, the Lord tops the best we can think. Be prepared for Him to lavish us with His goodness in ways only a few have ever received. Mind you, it is not to be consumed upon our lust to promote greed. This is the reward He has promised for so long to those who have pressed in to His Presence and been faithful through thick and thin. The reward is worth the long wait. Check out Isaiah 60. 

“Hear, oh hear the words that I will say to you now.

Come in closer

That you may hear more accurately

Than you have ever heard before.

I have so much more to pour into you.

I want overflowing vessels,

Vessels so full of Me

That you are running over,

Brimming to the full with Me.

Exciting days ahead for you,

Days brimming with Life and Favor.

You will be amazed

At what I have planned for you,

Here at Christ Community.

You thought you had seen a lot heretofore,

But I say ‘No, you have seen nothing’.

The future is bold and brave in Me.

The days ahead filled with unsearchable riches

For you to share with the world around you.

Yes, these are days of exploration,

Days to bring to the full

What has been stored in Me for you.

The days ahead are exciting for you.

Trust Me, unfathomable riches to disperse to the poor.

I say ‘Poor no more!’

More, far more, than you have ever seen,

More far more, than you have ever dreamed.

Pressing in to places heretofore unseen.

You didn’t know the places to go…

But I do!

I will show you  how to proceed with Me,

Guiding you every step of the way.

Be sure, be sure!

Never before

Has the world seen what is coming now.

Astounded and amazed all will be.

My favor I am pouring out now

On the world around you.

They have not known my Goodness before.

But now it is time

To give the world a Sign.

It is time!

It is time! It is time!

Come to Me all you who labor.

Come to Me all you who thirst.

Come to Me the weary, the poor.

I say to you,

And be very sure,

‘Poor no more!’

I promise you wealth and riches untold.

It’s been stolen from you.

It’s been stolen from Me.

Searching, searching for more of Me,

Oh, how close you are!

Come and see just how close you’ve come.

You are on the edge,

The edge of Eternity in Me.

Camels laden with the riches of kings,

Ships of Tarshish coming to your shore.

No more poor, no more poor.

No more potluck dinners.

That is a thing of the past.

Sit down to the banquet I have prepared for you.

Feasting at My table,

Dining with Me, sumptuous fare.

It’s time for more,

So much more of Me!

Sweet treats, goodies galore

All coming to you from the Heavenly store.

Come in, come in,

One and all.

The doors are open.

Magnificence and wealth untold,

I have it all here with Me

For you to behold.

Come and partake.

Borders of blessing

Surrounding you now.

The culprit’s been caught.”

Time to Set the Captive Free

And the Spirit of the Lord says,

It’s time.

It’s time to cut loose,

To set free those that are bound.

It’s time, it’s time, it’s time.

So go out with My Word

And set the captives free.

Go out, go out, go out.

Today is the day for release of all things.

It’s time, it’s time, it’s time.

Go out and set them free,

Set them free for Me.

The Red Sea

Do you remember when the Israelites passed through the midst of the Red Sea as Pharaoh and his army were kept at bay in their effort to come in and slaughter the former slaves? It is the most amazing thing that God did to show His power to the world. But it is even more amazing than that. We have missed the full impact of what was done that day.

Israel had a covenant with Almighty God. They had suffered for generations at the hands of the Egyptians, but finally it was time for their deliverance. The enemy was judged by the 10 plagues while Israel all the time remained secure and protected in the land of Goshen.

Finally the last plague, death of the firstborn. Again the Israelites were protected but this time they had to participate with God to employ the protection He had for them. They had to kill a lamb and apply its blood on the doorways. They needed a blood covering over their homes. They remained safe while all the firstborn of Egypt died. This was the Passover.

When they left Egypt with all the plunder of Egypt they had one more encounter with the Egyptians. They came to the Red Sea which was impassable under ordinary circumstances. But again, God had already made provision for their safekeeping and safe passage. He opened a path on dry ground before them through the midst of the Red Sea.

The thing I believe we have missed is that  the passage through the Red Sea was another confirmation to them of the ceremony they had just undertaken in the Passover. The Red Sea typifies the blood covering. It became another sign of the blood of Jesus Christ that purchased a new way for us, a sign of the New Covenant that would not be instituted for another 1500 years. The Egyptians, who had no covenant with Almighty God and had no blood covering, were annihilated when they attempted to follow suit.  


Do you remember when the Israelites passed through the midst of the Red Sea as Pharaoh and his army were kept at bay in their effort to come in and slaughter the former slaves? It is the most amazing thing that God did to show His power to the world. But it is even more amazing than that. We have missed the full impact of what was done that day.

Israel had a covenant with Almighty God. They had suffered for generations at the hands of the Egyptians, but finally it was time for their deliverance. The enemy was judged by the 10 plagues while Israel all the time remained secure and protected in the land of Goshen.

Finally the last plague, death of the firstborn. Again the Israelites were protected but this time they had to participate with God to employ the protection He had for them. They had to kill a lamb and apply its blood on the doorways. They needed a blood covering over their homes. They remained safe while all the firstborn of Egypt died. This was the Passover.

When they left Egypt with all the plunder of Egypt they had one more encounter with the Egyptians. They came to the Red Sea which was impassable under ordinary circumstances. But again, God had already made provision for their safekeeping and safe passage. He opened a path on dry ground before them through the midst of the Red Sea.

The thing I believe we have missed is that  the passage through the Red Sea was another confirmation to them of the ceremony they had just undertaken in the Passover. The Red Sea typifies the blood covering. It became another sign of the blood of Jesus Christ that purchased a new way for us, a sign of the New Covenant that would not be instituted for another 1500 years. The Egyptians, who had no covenant with Almighty God and had no blood covering, were annihilated when they attempted to follow suit.  

What protects us will bring destruction upon our enemies.

The Money Changers

You know, there is more to Jesus driving the money changers out of the Temple than one can see at first glance. Where is His temple now? His holy habitation is within us. We are the place He chooses to dwell! What an awesome privilege, to carry the presence of Almighty God!

But Jesus has to go inside each one of us and take that whip and drive out the moneychangers. Satan has set up strongholds within each one of us. God builds temples but the enemy comes in to the place meant to be the Temple of the Living God and builds his houses of worship that we call strongholds. The devil’s purpose has always been to be worshiped. That is the real agenda behind establishing strongholds within people. They are perverted temples where we worship at the feet of fear.

This is a powerful, life-changing revelation. Now there is more reason than ever to drive that worm out of our souls. We have been worshiping him. We didn’t know what we were doing, but that is exactly what was happening.

Every time there is a problem in our lives that looks so overwhelming, there is a place in us that whispers fear of every circumstance; we have been bowing down in that place and worshiping the one who hates us and seeks our lives in vengeance against the God Who created him. That vile, contemptible worm.

God is not willing to share His Temple. It is to be a holy habitation fit only for the Lord and no other. No squatters allowed here!

Ps 135:4 says that God chose Jacob. It is just like when He said that Jacob was the one He had loved while Esau was the one He hated. Esau did not get the right hand of blessing of the Lord because he esteemed it of little value. He took it for granted whereas the one who had no right to inherit the blessing coveted it with all his heart. He esteemed it to be of great worth. He was far more honorable than Esau, no matter what Jacob’s name and his actions suggested. He was called “Supplanter” I believe by the design of the Lord. God knew the heart He put within Jacob and He knew Jacob was the true heir. He was the one chosen by God from eternity’s past. Jacob was willing to put his life on the line, if necessary, to have that blessing.

We can’t want something good that much without the Lord hearkening to the cry of our hearts. He draws near to the one who is earnestly pleading and seeking The Presence. He turns His face to shine upon that one. Oh, to look upon the face of The Lord Most High! Oh to be one of His chosen ones! I am!!

Watering Can

The Time of Our Visitation Is Here

There is a serious warning  in Luke 19 that I discovered this morning. This warning still applies today, to the church as well as to the world. This is no time to fall asleep or to be complacent. Here is the scripture:

Luke 19:  41 Now as He drew near Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.  44 …. because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

The "church" of their day was trying to put God in a box. Jesus did not fit their expectations of who Messiah should be. Does that sound familiar? Time to wake up and wake up everyone we know. The time is truly short. God is speaking to those who will have ears to hear.

The Faith and Hope Link

Romans 4 gives us a picture that has been overlooked. Many of the "faith" ministries exhort solely about faith, completely overlooking that we cannot operate on faith without hope.

Romans 4 (NKJV)

 ¹⁷  ...  God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;

¹⁸ who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”

¹⁹ And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

²⁰ He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,

²¹ and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

²² And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

It is crucial to remember, Abraham had no "Bible"-he had the direct word of the Lord and that is what he relied on. His promises were one-to-one, God to Abraham.

Hope is a seed that God plants in us when He has a dream for us. Without hope, we cannot achieve anything. Faith will not work without hope first being anchored within us. It is the anchor of our souls. Hope is what faith attaches to.

Once we have the hope which comes through the promises of God, we can then begin the process of believing. Whatever we need at the moment, say healing, we start with hope which is either directly given by God or is found in scripture. Then we use the measure of faith that He has given us (Romans 12:3) and we begin to build, exercising that faith. Faith now begins to wrap around the hope and give it flesh. The hope begins to take on a form that was not there before. Hope is the seed in the center of it all.

You can either consider that faith attaches itself to the seed or that faith becomes the water that nourishes the seed. Whichever way is easier to see. Hope and faith together paint a picture.

Every promise of God has HOPE at the core. It is the LIFE contained within the word that our faith begins to water. Without attaching faith to the hope in that word, be it logos or rhema, nothing will ever happen. The seed of hope will remain dormant and inactive. Kenneth Copeland is fond of saying, “The word of God has the power within itself to bring itself to pass”. That power is the life contained within the seed, HOPE.

And how was Abraham strengthened in faith? How did he become fully convinced? I am convinced it was by the visions the Lord gave him of Isaac as a young man or as a father himself. We don't know the exact nature of the visions but this is how God operates. And Hebrews 11 does say that Abraham received Isaac raised from the dead in a figure. That means a vision even if only one of those vaporous images God so often grants us. This is a standard pattern He employs with His children. He gives us the images to hang onto so we can dream The Dream with Him!

Prayer, Getting It Right

Prayer the way we have been doing it is like being out in our yard. Suddenly you spot a big, ugly black rat or a cobra. It slips out of sight while you are searching for a tool with which to dispatch it. You beat all the high grass, all the bushes near where you saw it, but it is quietly hiding far from where you are endeavoring to locate it.

This is how prayer has been in our lives. We have not realized that the Father has a plan for us, He has an answer to every dilemma. Instead of seeking Him and His answers we go about using all the tools we have learned in sermons, books, reading the Bible, etc instead of praying according to the Father’s wisdom and His will for that specific situation. Ask Him what He wants us to pray; how simple could it be?

God has already told the Holy Spirit what His heart is on the matter, but now we need to get into agreement with God, Holy Spirit and Jesus and pray with them, not contrary, off on a wild tangent.

Instead of praying trying to wrench the answer from God’s hand we need to switch our understanding and our strategy and pray with the answer in the first place. We’ve been doing it backwards. So, in effect, we have been at odds with both the Holy Spirit and Jesus. Our prayers can’t get the answer when we are out of agreement.  A house divided cannot stand. This applies to our prayer life as well as the rest of life.

I John 5

¹⁴ Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Romans 8

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us^[b] with groanings which cannot be uttered. ²⁷ Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Hope

The Lord is saying, “Hope is strong and mocks the song of defeat in your life and others. Hope in Me is ever sure, strong, stronger than any circumstances that want to drag you down.”

Hope may be deferred for a season with God (Prov 13:12), but that does not mean He is saying "No" to you. It merely means that you are in a season of training. There is something that He wants to teach you. You are learning with Him one step at a time and one day at a time. The sooner you learn to yield to Him, the more quickly you will learn the lesson. And then we move on to the next lesson!

It is vital to value and appreciate each day of the journey. You will never get the day back. Glean what you can from each day. Each day is fresh and has new opportunities. Enjoy the sunshine today (or the rain or snow, as the case may be), enjoy each new chance to interact with the people you come in contact with each day. You are impacting them as they are impacting you.

Have a Blessed and Glorious day in the Lord!

Rites of Passage

I believe the terrible things that we endure in our lives are meant to be like rites of passage for us. There are things we must undergo so that we may enter in to the places that God has prepared for us. Destiny.

Rites of passage in tribal cultures are a means of qualifying the young and inexperienced to become full-fledged members of their culture, to be considered members of full age, fully equipped and ready to assume the greater tasks of their society.

But until we endure the hardship of these rites which are administered by the enemy of our souls, we are not qualified to enter in. We need to begin to look on all of these trials and hardships as the qualifying instruments the Lord means them to be in our lives. Consider for a moment that the devil has one purpose: to make us shine like the Son!

We take on the polish of Heaven when we learn to violently take the Victory that God has already assured is ours!  " 'Victory in Jesus!' my Holy warriors cry. 'Victory in Jesus!' is the battle cry."

Forward march!