Tear Down the Fences and Build Bridges

BUILD BRIDGES NOT FENCES

Once upon a time two brothers who lived on adjoining farms fell into conflict. It was the first serious rift in 40 years of farming side by side, sharing machinery, and trading labor and goods as needed without a hitch. Then the long collaboration fell apart. It began with a small misunderstanding and it grew into a major difference, and finally it exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed by weeks of silence.

One morning there was a knock on the older brother's door. He opened it to find a man with a carpenter's toolbox. "I'm looking for a few days work" he said. "Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there I could help with? Could I help you?"

"Yes," said the older brother. "I do have a job for you. Look across the creek at that farm. That's my neighbor, in fact, it's my younger brother. Last week there was a meadow between us and he took his bulldozer to the river levee and now there is a creek between us. Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I'll go him one better. See that pile of lumber by the barn? I want you to build me a fence - - an 8-foot fence -- so I won't need to see his place or his face anymore."

The carpenter said, "I think I understand the situation. Show me the nails and the post-hole digger and I'll be able to do a job that pleases you."

The older brother had to go to town, so he helped the carpenter get the materials ready and then he was off for the day. The carpenter worked hard all that day measuring, sawing, nailing. About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer's eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped. There was no fence there at all. It was a bridge -- a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work, handrails and all -- and the neighbor, his younger brother, was coming across, his hand outstretched.

"You are quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I've said and done." The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each other's hand. They turned to see the carpenter hoist his toolbox on his shoulder. "No, wait! Stay a few days. I've a lot of other projects for you," said the older brother. "I'd love to stay on," the carpenter said, "but, I have many more bridges to build."

I recently attended a memorial for a woman who passed. That event brought together many people that had not seen each other in years. There were a group in attendance that had experienced a very painful experience involving church hurt, disappointment, and the enemy worked very hard to destroy those relationships. In the end, all had gone their separate ways and never spoke again. Those relationships had been broken in what seemed beyond any repair, or seemingly any desire to mend those broken relationships. Yet, coming together for such a somber event put a lot of things in perspective as to what is truly important in life. Relationships. It was a wonderful moment of reconnecting and hugging people we hadn't seen in a long, long time.

I am reminded of one of our past outreach events we held in a park. It was a powerful day of feeding the homeless, offering valuable handouts such as bibles and clothes, and many other things as an effort to touch the community. We also had altar calls for prayer, healing and reconciliation to impact the city. As an impromptu invitation, we asked if there were any pastors in the gathering that would come up on stage and pray for healing in the body of Christ. Little did we know (not until afterward!) that two of the pastors on stage had been involved in a very painful church split and had not spoken to each other since the event occurred. Yet, facing the crowd, pressed by the Holy Spirit, offense and brokenness yielded to their Father's desire for healing and reconciliation. They hugged one another and allowed God to move on their hearts in a moment neither had seen coming.

God builds bridges, not fences.

It absolutely breaks God's heart when His family is torn apart. Family is important, whether it is natural family or spiritual family. They are a gift from Him. I know it hurts God's heart when He gives a gift and then when things happen, people act as if that gift is no longer important, wanted or needed. The truth is, you just never know how much you really do need one another. You also have no idea of knowing how long you have with people. I've lost people and I'm sure you've lost people, too. Another dear friend just informed me today that she is battling breast cancer. I hate hearing news like that! Now, I'm not one to quit believing for the miraculous, and I always pray for healing, but the point I'm making is that we simply cannot afford to waste precious time being offended with one another. We take far too many things for granted, and many of them are people. One woman at the memorial commented that it was amazing how many people one life had touched, and had brought together through her death. She also made the comment that everyone in the room was of the same DNA. The DNA of Christ is tested through offense, but those that are truly His will want relationships healed.

Friends, I urge you not to take anyone for granted. Don't procrastinate until it takes something tragic to reunite you with long lost loved ones. Don't let things remain unsaid that need to be said. Sometimes time heals old wounds, but sometimes it just makes it that much more difficult to take a step towards reconciliation. The enemy will always want to keep relationships broken and will do all he can to keep them that way. Satan builds fences through o-f-f-e-n-c-e-s. It's time to tear down those fences and build a bridge. It's time to question those things that rise up and want to challenge the healing of relationships. Pride will always be the biggest barrier, because pride looks for ways to either avoid those situations, harbor a grudge or hold judgment over the heads of others. We must all question the things that stand in the way of reconciliation. Christ tears down the walls of offense and encourages love and forgiveness. While pride shows resistance, humility opens the door to forgiveness and restoration. The enemy is great at putting thoughts in people's minds, suggesting that others won't want to hear from you, or attempt to stir up offenses, or any number of things. He is known as the father of lies for a reason! Sometimes time has shown others things they may not have been able to see in the past and the issues that were once there are no longer a reason to stay estranged from one another. Sometimes God gives people the benefit of time so that they can understand things from a different perspective or allow people to have the desire to want relationships restored. Yet, when deep wounds have torn relationships apart, one should never just gloss over the need to reconcile the relationship properly. Even God compels us to acknowledge our guilt before Him so that our conscience can be cleansed of wrongdoing. Unless the breach is mended through genuine forgiveness, the relationship will be prone to continued misunderstanding and brokenness. The strength of any relationship comes by transparency, honesty and a dedication to guard and protect a sense of loyalty to one another. That is what covenant is all about.

Conversations will never happen if people remain afraid to take a step. God wants to heal family and other relationships. Family is a gift from God, and those that are truly from His hand will always feel like family because they know and love their Father. Trust the Lord to do what you cannot do, but I pray that you will find yourself willing to heal what has been broken while you still have the time to do so. Life is precious, and it is short. Don't let the thief continue to rob you of what could be a wonderful blessing to you. You just never know when one of those relationships or someone connected to them is a part of the missing links in God's future plans. We need one another, but the greater issue is that the world will never see Jesus in the body of Christ if we cannot love one another. Amen. Let us be about our Father's business. Build a bridge.

Recognizing The Defilement of A Jealous Spirit

This is a really deep revelation that God just gave me, and I'm not sure I can fully convey the depth of its meaning, but I'm going to try. It’s that important to the body of Christ.

I’ve written articles on spiritual cannibalism. What I mean by that phrase is the trading back and forth of criticisms, accusation, insults and other negative speech that is not edifying to anyone. This is actually another revelation that pertains to that subject. It also has to do a lot with what nature we allow to be formed in us. The body of Christ (not just the unsaved!) has a big problem with jealousy, and it brings a great deal of division. It is the very opposite of love and unity. We must learn to see it as the dragon it is. It comes to devour. God is at work exposing the deeper issues of people’s hearts, and allowing their true nature and the fruit of their belief system to be seen for what it is; not just what people may profess to believe. He does things to quietly remove the masks that people wear in order to expose who and what they are aligned with. He uses many, many situations to separate the vile from what is pure. (Jer. 15:19). He separates what is defiled and carries a curse, from what is chosen by God to reproduce in health and blessing. He separates the flocks, sifting out those with a stubborn, goat-like nature from the sheep.(Matt. 25:32). He shines a light on false teaching and cleanses with truth. All these things bring a separation from the things God chooses not to use, and that which has been tried by fire and purified for greater purposes. We are in that time now, and because the time for Jesus’ return grows closer, the deception of the enemy will be even greater if he can pull it off. We absolutely MUST discern the difference between the truth and those seeds the enemy wishes to plant in our heart in order to produce defilement. (Matt. 13:25). Let me point you to one example that you may feel is inconsequential, yet has profound deeper truth woven into it.

Take the Son of God movie, for example. There has been a great deal of negative communication through articles and such recently, and the conflict has been centered around the Biblical correctness of the Son of God movie that just came out. I am not directing this article so much around the movie itself as the responses that have been generated regarding the movie. A very critical spirit, laced with judgment has arisen to speak out against Christians and those involved with the movie production. (Notice the spiritual cannibalism at work!) Even innocent Christians have come under fire simply for defending their viewpoint to see the movie without feeling persecuted by those who may not agree with the content or message of the movie. Religious spirits look to place guilt or condemnation, manipulation of scripture and man-made yokes of legalism on others that Jesus himself did not do. Those things actually hinder others from coming to Christ because it puts stumbling blocks in front of them. This is something Jesus accused the Pharisees of doing!

If you can look beyond the arguments and theological debates, it is not difficult to see that the enemy is very, very afraid of losing control, but it is manifesting in fearful responses that need not be. The body of Christ seems to be so afraid that those that already know Christ will fall into a ditch and be led astray that they are not being led by love or faith in the work of Holy Spirit. If we truly belong to Christ, then indwelling in us is an anointing that teaches us the truth. (1 John 2:27). Why then do we not trust that He is able to do his job? The truth is, people are allowing a religious spirit to speak into their ear and tempt them to a fear response. Satan is afraid of the movie being used as a tool for evangelism. He is afraid that souls will be won to Christ as a result of people talking about Jesus Christ in everyday conversation. The Son of God has once again trumped the enemy. But Satan, the accuser, is fighting back. The enemy is jealous and full of fear, and whenever someone is jealous and full of fear, they will criticize, accused and reject the very thing that has gained the attention of others. Jealousy is intolerant and hostile towards those that are perceived as threats.

We see it all the time when God beings to move through one person and those with a jealous or competitive spirit begin to accuse, find fault and criticize those He is using. A spirit of error will twist understanding and use scripture incorrectly to try to justify personal opinions, judgments or man’s interpretation of the Word, when that was not the intent of scripture at all. The underlying spirit is one that will defile and take people into captivity rather than set them free. In promoting the wrong spirits, people crucify the Son of God all over again without even realizing they are doing so. You may ask how they are crucifying the Son of God. Because He lives inside human vessels and works through them. Jesus said as we do to the least of His children, so do we do it unto Him. (Matt. 25:40). (2 Cor. 2: 20) says: I am afraid that when I get there I will find you different from what I would like you to be and you will find me different from what you would like me to be. I am afraid that I will find quarreling and jealousy, hot tempers and selfishness, insults and gossip, pride and disorder. James 3:16 also reminds us that envy and jealousy bring in every evil thing along with it. Confusion, disorder, backbiting, murder...every evil thing!

I am getting to a point. Stay with me if you will!

This Pharisaical spirit can’t help but feel fearful of losing control. The Pharisees were not only full of fear, they were also angry. They were fearful that those that had been under religious control would find freedom in Jesus Christ. They were fearful the man- made traditions, rules and conditions for acceptance would be nullified through Jesus Christ and people would be free to place their loyalties with another King. They didn’t want people to place their affections on someone else. To do so meant losing control and loyalty. You see, there is religion, which is the counterfeit, and then there is what's genuine, and that is through relationship with Jesus Christ. Sometimes the lines are so blurred people can't tell when their is something wrong in their beliefs. That is where the work of the Holy Spirit comes in. Have you invited Him in lately, to show you truth? Friends, I’m drawing your attention to a much deeper rooted issue, and that is the issue of jealousy. I want you to understand there are two very different aspects to jealousy. One is a righteous, godly aspect and the other is purely demonic. If a person isn’t very careful and discerning, it can take what you think is a pure, righteous desire to protect others and twist it around so that the person is deceived just like the Pharisees. There is a godly jealousy that is generated by a spirit of love and purity. God himself has said He is a jealous God. But what comes from God never involves tearing others down. Speaking cruelly or critically about others is equated with a spirit of murder because it wants to harm the reputation of others. God's word has said that a spirit of murder does not reside in those that have eternal life. (1 John 3:15). Those that love their brethren abide in the light whereas those that hate are full of darkness and don't know where it leads them. (1 John 2:10,11). It is so subtle yet equally capable of defiling the vessel that does not resist the temptation to be critical. Jealousy will set a person on edge. It will trigger anger responses. It is critical, easily offended and somehow thinks that speaking badly about others will make them look or feel better, or perhaps be able to protect what they hold dear. Dear one, that is control. It is a form of witchcraft. Keep yourself from that. That is the spirit of accusation at work. No one ever feels better about speaking critically about others. They only feel guilty, and a guilty conscience will make people self deceived, defensive and argumentative. Humility is what allows people to see Jesus in us and know the truth.

Maybe you’re saying, “I don’t care if I see the Son of God movie or not.” Well, it’s not about the movie. That was just an illustration. Let’s see how all this works in our own daily lives.

Now for a bit of personal confession, so you can see where I’m going with this. There has been someone that for years I struggled to forgive. Finally, I was able to forgive all the painful things of the past. I thought I was completely free. Then recently, something occurred that brought reconciliation between other people we love and care about, and the person who the enemy had used to inflict a great deal of pain. I found that I struggled with those emotions, and a twinge of jealousy surprised me when I recognized it was there. Where did that come from?

I comforted myself by telling myself that I didn’t want the people I loved to fall for this person’s old tricks again. I comforted myself by justifying why others should not trust that person, knowing that who the person was on the outside was not at all who they really were under the surface. I didn’t want others to get hurt again. I never acted on those impulses, but the thoughts were there. The enemy wanted to introduce a temptation to speak the wrong things about someone else. I found myself feeling irritated that they were being so careless with their spiritual health. Didn’t they remember the things God had already shown them about this person? I felt a bit angry and concerned that the deceiver would once again draw them in and they would fall for his bait, hook, line and sinker. What I didn’t realize is that the deceiver was actually baiting me! Oh, the enemy’s suggestions can sound so plausible if we are not careful to recognize them for what they are! It was the spirit of jealousy working with fear to produce a Pharisaical spirit. You see, I understand that religious spirit of witchcraft very well, because God delivered me from it. But the enemy would love to pull me right back into it again without me realizing he had done so. That's what he does with each of us.  I might not have drawn the connection except the Lord gave me a dream about it. In the dream I realized I felt annoyed that the Lord would not allow me to speak against the person I felt tempted to be offended with. And just like that, I had to work with the Lord all over again with self-deliverance, renouncing a spirit of fear, jealousy, anger and criticism so that the enemy could not defile the vessel God intended to use to set people free.

Maybe there is someone or some situation the enemy is using to tempt you, too. The temptations of the enemy are ever so subtle. We must stay alert and exercise discernment if we are to remain free! The enemy knows just how to trigger a response in order to lure a person into defiled thinking. We must not come into agreement with the accuser! The mirror we gaze into is never that of our own soulish desires, for if we look into our own hearts we will see that indeed there is wickedness there that can deceive us. No, we look into the mirror of God’s word, and reflect on what He has said, and then, not only to consider what is written but to obey His counsel and instruction. This is what it means to not just ‘hear the word,’ but to do His word.  (James 1:23). When we allow the word of God to change us, we begin to reflect more and more of Christ’s image within us. This is how others see Jesus.

Friend, no one ever makes themselves look better by speaking badly about others. No one makes themself appear righteous or justified by doing it at the expense of someone else’s’ reputation. We have no righteousness of our own. It only comes from the blood of Christ imputing His righteousness to us. Don’t let the enemy tempt you to enter into accusation and partake of his nature. Recognize the spirit of jealousy trying to slither in and whisper in your ear. It will trip you up! Rise up and take authority over it! While we may have a genuine desire to protect others, we must trust the Holy Spirit to show others truth. We must trust the One that delivered our soul to deliver theirs. Don’t overstep your boundaries! If you really trust God, you won’t have to feel fearful that others ‘can’t see’ what you think you see, or even what you know to be true. None of us are God, and none of us are called to judge the souls of others. Yet, we can be discerning, and true discernment comes by asking Holy Spirit to show us truth, as well as being willing to allow Him to change our judgments. We are called to be gentle and loving towards others and leave the judgment part to God. Let God be God in their lives and don’t try to get in the middle of something you shouldn’t. Sometimes those that are taken captive by the deceptive wiles of others are ‘in training’ and it’s something they must go through without us. At other times, we need to allow God to work in and through others in ways we might not personally feel at ease with. Those ‘ill at ease’ feelings are spirits of fear and pride trying to hide from you. Take authority over them and renounce it!

I told you this was a deep and profound revelation! I hope it has helped you today. Let’s pray.

Father God,

I thank You that you reveal truth in the secret places of our heart. The kingdom of God and Your dwelling place, O Lord, is within us. It is not outside of us! Help us to tap into that secret place every day to touch You, to hear from You, to be completely transparent with You so that You can set us free in deeper and deeper ways. I renounce and resist the spirits of pride, fear, jealousy, anger, offense, a desire for vengeance, accusation, slander and murder. I want nothing to do with them. I submit to your Holy Spirit and ask that You would create in me a clean heart that pleases You. Let my heart not be troubled by these things, and instead focus on what is pure, right and good in your eyes. I submit to Your authority and command the enemy to leave me now in Jesus name. I thank you, Jesus, that I am free in Christ, and I thank You for washing away all defilement that comes from the root of bitterness and a spirit of jealousy. Fill me with Your perfect love that casts out all fear. In Jesus name, amen.

END NOTE: Without going into a great deal more detail, Numbers 5:19 declares a curse that comes out of bitterness and a jealous spirit. Give thought to the divisiveness that is caused as a result of envy, jealousy and bitterness, and all the bad fruit that comes from that root. It defiles. All these things are also associated with broken trust, broken covenants and spiritual adultery. The curse produces barrenness and miscarriage. Whether you are an individual dealing with barrenness or miscarriage, or whether it concerns a church or ministry, if the curse is in effect, there will be bad fruit, barrenness, miscarriage, and other things that indicate God has withheld His blessing, inhibiting growth and productivity. The root issues must be dealt with if life and restoration of blessing is to return and allow fruitfulness to prosper.

Surrender Your Storm!

In a dream I saw a great storm, and swirling waters that capsized smaller life boats. Boats that had been docked were actually swept up and into deep waters. It seemed like the large ships stayed docked while the smaller boats got picked up and moved. (Boy, is there a lot I could say on that revelation, but I won't go into it now!). People scrambled to try to stay afloat, climb back into their boat and reach for the oars, but the oars floated away. Not all storms are from the enemy. May you have discernment to know when the storm is actually by the design of the Lord! Let me also remind you that it was in the midst of the storm that Jesus called Peter to walk on water and do something he had never done before. 

Storms can get us back into the will of God! 

Elijah faced a storm when his brook dried up. That was his source of provision. He had to seek the Lord to find the place where God had designed his provision to come forth - and out of the most unexpected place, I might add! Storms also show us that sometimes we are picked up and sent to someone else that has a need because we are the answer they have been praying for. When the anointing in Elijah touched the faith and obedience of the widow woman, they both got a miracle. She got fed and he got a re-launch into ministry. 

When Jairus had a storm and needed a miracle of healing for someone close to him, his storm caused him to seek out Jesus and Jesus sent the answer back to his house. Storms will force us out of our religious box (which indicates restriction in some form) and make us move towards where the answer lies. There are so many wonderful illustrations of people in the Bible, and I'm sure we all have our own testimonies as well, of when a pressing situation caused us to go find the answer. Most of the time it's always been right within reach, but sometimes God has to get people to the place where they eliminate all the excuses and just go get the answer. They know where to find it if they really think about it, they just have to ask God to open their eyes to see the provision He had made available. Like Hagar in the desert...or the many others that found their 'well of salvation' when God opened their eyes. 

There are many situations that can cause a storm in people's lives, and we never know when one is on our horizon, but we CAN get our prayers out ahead of what's coming!

Three positive results of storms in our life, (and I know there are many more):

1. Storms have the ability to pick us up and redeposit us somewhere new. When I think of all the hurricanes we dealt with in the south, it was those storm warnings that made us willing to move.
2. Storms have the ability to connect us with new people we might not have connected with otherwise.
3. Storms have the ability to cause us to think, look, and pray for things we might not have thought to pray about. We tend to look outside the box of our comfort zone for answers. Desperation to find an answer to a pressing need can also make us bolder in asking, seeking and knocking on doors for an answer.

There are a couple situations in the gospels where the disciples encountered storms. The first one is found in Matthew 8:23. Jesus was asleep in the boat when a great storm appeared. It seems a bit odd at first that Jesus would rebuke them for being afraid, doesn't it? Yet, He was trying to tell them to take dominion over the storm and exercise the spiritual authority that had been given to them. The problem was, they didn't see themselves in that light. They were still looking as natural men, instead of men having been given authority to reign and rule over every situation, including a storm.

How does heaven see you? As royalty. We are co-heirs of the kingdom of God, which means we are kings. Rev. 5:10 proclaims, "You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth." Kings make decisive judgments and decrees. They set things in order. They 'declare a thing,' and it is established, (see Job 22:28). Jesus reminded his disciples that they had authority to calm the storm, but they needed to declare it out of their mouths in order for it to be established!

The second reference to the disciples encountering a storm is found in John 6:16. The disciples were actually already in the boat and had rowed three or four miles - in the dark, mind you, because it was at night. These guys had no light to see where they were going! Light speaks of revelation, so we can tell that they were probably totally scared at the fact that Jesus WASN'T in their boat, a great wind arose and was tossing them around on the great sea. Do you have any idea what it's like to row against a huge wind? Can you imagine how tired they were after rowing three or four MILES against the strong winds of the storm? Then somehow through the dark, the wind, the waves and the ruckus of the storm, they are able to make out a faint image of someone walking on the water, coming towards them. There's only one water walker up to that point, but they couldn't recognize Jesus at first. They were so frightened they thought they saw a ghost! Yet, look at what happened when they recovered their sight and were able to recognize Jesus coming towards them. They welcomed Him into the boat and INSTANTLY they arrived at their destination. (vs. 21). 

This illustration can help us be alert to a couple of things in the midst of a storm. First, we may not always recognize the form of the Lord. We need to ask God to help us recognize the things He puts before us as His provision. Do you remember the story of a man that encountered a great flood, and he prayed and said, "God, send help!" A short time later a man in a jeep stopped to ask if the man wanted a ride. The first man replied, "No, I am waiting for God to send me help." The flood continued to rise and the man climbed out a window of his house to get to the roof. A man in a boat came by and asked if he wanted to get in. The first man declined and and said, "No, that's ok, I have prayed for God to send help. I am waiting for Him." As the flood waters rose, the man perched on his roof and a helicopter arrived. This too, he declined, saying, "I have prayed for God to send help. I will wait for Him." The man eventually drowned and went to heaven where he said, "God, I prayed for help! Why did you not answer me?" God said, "What are you talking about? I sent you a jeep, a boat and a helicopter!"  The lesson here is that sometimes we have our minds so determined how we think God should answer that we end up missing out on a blessing. Make sure you are open minded and ask Him to show you the gift or the answer He has sent. 

The last thing I want to do is remind you that even if you find yourself at a dead end - stuck- with no answers in sight, God is still God of the dead end. Do you remember what Moses did when he reached a dead end? Red Sea in front of him, a million plus fearful Israelis depending on him for an answer, and Pharaoh's army closing in quickly. Talk about pressure! Moses cried out to God (read Ex. 14:15) and God said, "WHY are you crying to Me?" "Stretch out your rod and command the way to open up!" (My paraphrase). God was rebuking Moses the same way Jesus rebuked the disciples - WHY? To remind them to USE THE AUTHORITY GOD GAVE THEM. 

Speak to your storm. Command peace. Take authority over the situation like Jesus would do. What is your need? Call it forth. Tell it to manifest. Exercise the authority IN YOU and you have the ability to make the invisible appear in the natural. The authority in you has the ability to get you to the other side of the storm. Do you want to arrive at your destination, or be tossed around on the sea, subject to whatever the enemy throws at you? Surrendering your storm to Jesus does not mean to sit passively and do nothing. Make those kingly declarations and call out what belongs to you in the kingdom and your faith will make it appear.


Father,

I pray for my own family as well as others that may encounter a storm in their life. I ask that You will give us all peace in the midst of every storm, and a disciplined thought life so that we do not allow fear to lead us in the wrong decisions. Help us recognize the form of the Lord and your provision to our needs. Lead us to the provision you have set aside for us. I speak peace to the storm in Jesus name. Give us discernment to know when the storm is from the Lord and how to proceed, as well as when the storm is from the enemy and we need to rebuke it. I pray for us all to not keep reaching for the oars of control but to surrender control of our situations to You. Bless us with stability in every area where we have need. Help us raise the sail of the Spirit to catch a fresh wind and be guided into the safe haven You have provided for us. Give us eyes to see the lifeline of hope and provision. Lead us in the direction of the provision and salvation. Help people, in the midst of their personal storms, to call on the name of Jesus Christ so that You may answer them and send the help they need. 

Father, in the name and authority of Jesus Christ, I call for heaven's resources to be made available to me. I declare provision to come forth now, in Jesus name. I declare favor, divine appointments with those that have the things I need, to come forth and make themselves known to me now, in Jesus name. I thank You for making my way prosperous and releasing blessing. I command the way to open up and I declare I am crossing over to my destination now, in Jesus name, amen.

"Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." - Is. 41:10

Forgetting What is Behind You

Every day we have an opportunity to focus our thoughts on either something positive, or something negative. Don't let your thoughts lead; let your will lead you to make a decision to think right and focus on what is positive. It is so easy to allow our mind to wander and begin to grumble, murmur, complain or entertain bitter, negative thoughts. Those are the results of allowing the enemy to lead one's thoughts. Don't let the enemy tempt you to lead you to entertain wrong thinking. That will always lead you backwards into unforgiveness, rehearsing wrongs, and focusing on things that keep offense alive. (By the way, those are clear indicators of retaining unforgiveness, if those negative thoughts plague your mind! Unforgiveness makes room for a spirit of fear, and fear always comes with torment!). We can either choose to have the enemy's image formed in us, by dwelling on negativity and what's wrong with people, or we can choose to have the image of Christ formed in us by focusing on people's redeemed nature and what is right with them. BIG difference! You become what you dwell on! We don't even have to speak those words out loud, but our thoughts will absolutely settle into our heart, so it's important to take authority over the wrong ones. Eventually, what is in our heart will come out of our mouth, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. This is scripture and a spiritual truth.

Yes, you can, override your natural man and allow the spirit man to dominate your flesh. It occurs by an act of your will, and a response of prayer. Submit your heart to God and ask HIM to help you only remember the good when it comes to past relationships, experiences, etc. The Bible tells us to forget the things that are behind us so that we can press onward and upward into the high calling of Christ Jesus. We cannot forget if we are not healed and loosed from all past disappointments! We can not move forward if we cling to offense or unforgiveness! Jesus wants to set you free. Oh, how He wants to set you free! This is how He can take what was meant for evil against you and turn it into good. Right thinking is a discipline that leads to peace and the fruit of righteousness. Thinking right produces joy, peace, gratitude and grace. It also produces compassion and gratitude for others, even when painful lessons, trials and tests were incurred at their expense. When we cooperate with Holy Spirit and allow Him to lead, our natural man must surrender and acquiesce. Acquiesce means to submit or consent without protest! Life has a lot of unexpected twists and turns. A lot of surprise meetings, chance encounters that as it turns out, really aren't chance at all. And with every opportunity, we also come face to face with what's in our heart; because what is in our heart will rise to the surface. What's in our heart will prove whose character is strongest within us. Every day is our choice who we will allow to have dominion. I pray that if you find yourself struggling in your thought life, you will pray this prayer and get the victory. Praise God who always leads us on into triumph!

Father God,

I ask for grace today and every day, to help me follow the paths of righteousness you have ordained for me. I surrender every person that has hurt or offended me; every situation the enemy meant for harm. I surrender every negative memory of those individuals and situations the enemy took advantage of in order to perpetuate hurt, offense, unforgiveness and use it to cause bitterness of soul. I ask You, Holy Spirit, to help me only remember the good. Let the negative memories associated with past hurt be washed away. I choose to forget and forgive as an act of my will, and I ask for Your help to bring my heart into agreement with the spirit of mercy, grace and forgiveness. Help me remember the good memories about others and disregard the negative. People are not my enemies; the enemy is my enemy regardless of who he has used. I choose to focus on what is pure, right, positive and beneficial in order to grow in grace and develop Christlike character. When the enemy comes to remind me of something negative and wants me to dwell on unfruitful thoughts, let your Holy Spirit come and nudge those negative memories out of place and replace it with a good memory. Let right thinking produce grace and compassion in my life. In Jesus name, amen.

Philippians 3

New King James Version (NKJV)

All for Christ

3 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.

2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit,[a] rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, 4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which isthrough faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Pressing Toward the Goal

12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule,[b] let us be of the same mind.

Your Struggle Will Lead You To Your Purpose

Your struggle will lead you to your purpose. The things you've overcome are your testimony. When you share your testimonies and your God-given gifts, those are the things the world is in need of, and that is where you will find your purpose. Live with intention to find where those two roads merge, and you will discover great fulfillment.

 How do you discover your purpose? The first part of the answer is, you must first develop your relationship with God, for He is the one that gave you distinct and unique gifts that are tied to your calling. Without drawing close to Him, you can't possibly hear Him to know what He is saying. He won't shout, you have to quietly listen for His voice. So, the closer you are, the more you learn to develop that listening ear.

The second part of discovering your purpose is to look deep within and ask yourself, what are you really good at? Usually it is something that just comes easily, like a natural gifting. That is one clue that it is God-given. Others can't do what you do like you do it. Whatever that thing is, it makes you unique. Zero in on THAT.

Tyler Perry had a really great inspirational message on this topic and one thing he said is that he had a dream and that dream wouldn't go away. He tried and tried in his own strength to make his dream come to pass, but only met with failure. UNTIL, one day, GOD breathed life into the dream and it was birthed for real. We all have to learn the lessons of perseverance and risk looking foolish. That is part of maturing and growing our faith. We have to learn to deal with failure, but failure in itself is not an indicator of whether or not the dream is actually going to come to life and be successful. With every failure and false start, God tests our responses. We will be challenged with how we handle offense, disappointment and the assault against our soul when the enemy does all he can to discourage us from trying again. There are times when you desperately want others to acknowledge your success or give you that 'attaboy' pat on the back, and be met with stoney silence. You know in your heart it is a deliberate slight by those you thought would or should be happy for you. This too, is all testing prior to the dream coming to pass. Because what God has in mind for you can sometimes be so big, it astounds even you. It can be so awesome, that it makes others envious of the way you are getting blessed. You have to be able to handle that with grace and not offense.

Your purpose and the dream inside of you WILL come to pass if you give yourself to doing that ONE THING with excellence. You may be able to do a lot of things well, but the gift that you give yourself to, to do it with an excellent spirit, is the thing that will lead you into the birth of the dream of God. FOCUS. Pursue excellence in all you put your hand to do, and pray that the grace of God does for you what you cannot do for yourself. Your purpose will be fulfilled and joy will be the trademark of your life's work.

Healing For Your Soul

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory; that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I might not cause pain!" So God granted Him what he requested. (1 Chron. 4:9,10).


Today we're going to dissect a little portion of scripture that has big implications. It's called the Prayer of Jabez. The story of Jabez is tucked away between genealogies in the 4th chapter of 1st Chronicles. It begins by informing us that Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. That's just half of the first sentence, but let's stop there for a moment.

Jabez was MORE honorable than his brethren. It doesn't say his brothers were a bunch of rascals. It just tells us that Jabez set the bar a bit higher and that was a notable quality about his life. Friends, what do you think others would deem notable about your life? It makes one stop and think, doesn't it? If we want our prayers to get the attention of heaven and compel answers to come forth, then I think this is our first clue as to why God granted Jabez' request. Live your life in such a way as to capture your Father's heart. Don't let there be any reason for Him to have to consider whether or not your petition is answered quickly! When Daddy hears your voice, let His immediate answer be a resounding YES, give her whatever she requests!

"...and his mother called his name Jabez, because she bore him in pain." (1 chronicles 4:9). So, imagine you're talking to your mom one day, and your conversation goes something like this: "Hey Mom! How did I get my name?" you ask innocently. "Well..." her voice trails off. Reluctantly, she continues. "Bringing you into this world was the greatest pain I have ever experienced. There was trouble all around. There were things going on in my life, you know...your daddy left and war made everything a fearful time. There was hardly enough to eat, and then you came along. It wasn't a good time to be having another baby, but what was I going to do? Five kids already and another mouth to feed, and I was all alone. There was just a lot of sadness and sorrow. Life wasn't good, so the name Jabez just seemed appropriate."

I can't imagine the sadness and sorrow this boy felt when he realized why he was named Jabez. His mother cursed him with a poor choice in names, but once Jabez discovered the meaning behind his name, he made a conscious choice to NOT cause pain. Back then, in biblical times, a person's name was deeply significant. Their name and destiny were very connected. Jabez obviously did not want to feel responsible for other people's pain, and that was incorporated into his heartfelt prayer. So here it is, all 4 lines of it.

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory; that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I might not cause pain!" So God granted Him what he requested. (1 Chron. 4:9,10).

The rest of the story isn't available, only that God gave him what he asked for. But I can tell you this from experience and from praying this prayer myself. If we're serious about being a person of influence, the first thing God does is set about cleaning up our character so that we aren't a source of pain to others. He uncovers our weaknesses. He lovingly challenges us to surrender to the remolding and reshaping processes under the guidance of His tender care. We are all somewhere on this road of development, and we need to learn to be gentle towards one another, because none of us should want to be responsible for causing other people pain. Please tell me that you aren't so hurt and bitter that you relish the idea of getting back at someone else to cause them pain...it is not fulfilling. It only loads a person down with guilt and shame.

I pray that today you can take a new look at whatever your circumstances are, and know that God isn't punishing you or deliberately causing pain. Pain comes when we refuse to examine ourselves in light of His word and try to stay the same person that God is trying to change. God's purposes are always redemptive. If He is stripping you, then it's only so that you learn to ask the right questions and pray the prayers He wants to answer. If He is asking you to surrender your will over a situation, it's because you can't play god and ask Him to be God at the same time. The presence of pain, anger, fear or insecurity in our life is evidence that we have lies in our belief system that God is trying to root out. Pain is evidence of unhealed wounds. The truth of His word is what heals. When we get the revelation of His word in us, the lie is displaced and truth is what heals our fragmented soul. Let us come to Him eagerly and surrender the pain, the resistance, and the uncertainty so that our eyes can be opened to the truth that heals. When you aren't in pain, you have less of a chance of causing pain or offense to others. This is a secret Jabez understood. If he didn't want to repeat the pattern of causing pain like his own mother inflicted upon him through his name, it was up to him to break the cycle. Today, it's up to you, and with God's help, you can break every negative, painful cycle you've endured. Let today be a day of a fresh start!

 "That I might not cause pain..." The simple, heartfelt cry from Jabez' prayer is that he would not cause pain to others. Now THAT is an honorable prayer! People can cause pain to others in the least of ways that they don't even stop to think that's what they may be doing. What seems harmless to us may actually inflict unnecessary discomfort, pain or offense to others. Personal judgments are felt by others whether we intend them to or not. A raised eyebrow. Inflection in conversation or the use of a particular tone of voice can convey the thought that you disapprove of something in the life of another person. An attitude of rejection or many other messages are conveyed just as easily through body language as they are through verbalization, and they are just as wounding. When ever we carry judgments that tell us we know better than another person, we are going to end up hurting or offending them - even if that is not our intention. 


I have never wanted to be an instrument of pain to someone else, yet I have found that when I am pained in my soul, it can be ever-so-easy to do. When your soul is not at rest, when it feels anxious, angry or frustrated...it can begin to feel like you can't breathe. Out of our own discomfort, discouragement and distress, we can far too easily become the instrument of pain that releases negative words over others. This is what Jabez'  mother did when she named him out of her own pain. She actually caused a curse to occur over his life, and he could have lived with that identity forever - except there was something inside of him that longed to be free of that curse and longed to be free and healed! Jabez took his own destiny into his hands and said, "I will NOT become a source of pain!"

Your soul can't breathe if it's suffocating under the weights of anxiety, depression, over taxation from too much busyness and distraction, or the many things that can deplete us. If it continues over an extended period of time it can feel like you're suffocating. Make time to take time - for a time out. Rest your weary soul. In the words of our Lord, "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Ask Holy Spirit to come and fill all those empty places with Him. I say to your storm: "Peace, BE STILL."

 Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit means that we pick up on these things (hopefully sooner rather than later) and be willing to yield to His Spirit so that we don't cause pain.

Holy Spirit,

Forgive me for all the times when I have needlessly inflicted pain or offense on others. I give You my heart, my mouth, and my entire being; just please don't let me cause pain to others. I will gladly yield myself to You so that no matter what the situation, You can speak through me. You can put a guard on my mouth, revise the outgoing message and adjust my body language so that I do not send negative messages. Forgive my proud judgments against other people. Forgive me for being a source of pain to others when I have spoken and acted negatively towards others out of the pain in my own soul. Breathe life and fresh breath into my soul, Holy Spirit. Let me soul and spirit be renewed and refreshed. Let me be an instrument of healing, encouragement and peace, and speak whatever You would say to others. Help me to withhold what ever is unnecessary so that Christ can be glorified and others are encouraged. In Jesus name., amen.

An Encounter With Love

Christianity can be a lot of things, but if we don’t have love, it’s pointless. If we're going to church, trying to witness to others, volunteering in service, or any number of things we do in the name of Christianity; if we're not doing is out of love for God or others, we are pretty much guaranteed it's wasted effort. People know the difference.

How often we try to run ahead of the Lord! We can get so caught up in the thought of being busy for God we run off without Him. Yet, we can do nothing without Him. We cannot witness in our own strength. We cannot get people healed, saved or delivered in our own strength. We can barely get through the day without the anointing that comes to give us grace and strength. It's tiring! We cannot even love those we already love without God's love flowing through us. I know. I've proven it more than once!

We forget sometimes, that God stepped out of heaven and manifested as a human being, so that we could see with our own eyes a demonstration of Divine Love. The world was in such a need of an encounter with Love, that He decided to come to earth and show us how to love others properly. Divine Love took the form of humanity so that when the time was right, it would communicate the Father’s love in a way that mankind could comprehend. Love took on the role of Defender, Protector, Redeemer of the Lost, and Teacher of all things right and good. He took on the role of Healer of our hurts, Deliverer of the oppressed and tormented, and Supreme Authority over heaven, earth and the underworld. Then, when the world was convicted of such a pure and holy Love, we said, “Enough! We can stand no more of this conviction! Leave us with our cold love! Leave us with our judgments!” So we crucified, in the most painful way possible, the One who loved us. We mocked Him, spit at Him, whipped Him in our anger and accused Him of things that weren't true, in order to keep from having to feel the deep conviction that our own ability to love selflessly was seriously flawed and in need of an overhaul.We could not stand to have Him around anymore, but Love took it all without complaint. All the beating, through his flesh was pierced with nails, and He even carried His own cross to His death. Once again, Love demonstrated to the world His selfless devotion to us, even when we did everything possible to show Him we were unworthy of his loyalty and acted as His enemy. He took it, and wore a crown of bloody thorns as payment for our sins.

A disconnect occurs when people lose their love. You see, judgments, criticisms and fault finding come from hearts that are cold and lack love. Those that feel hurt, rejected, abandoned or offended by the harshness of life often have a hard time receiving love. They don’t trust it. They have taken their heart into their own hands and resist vulnerability towards God and others. Real love makes them suspicious. The love-starved heart will run away from the very thing that is needed to heal them, simply because people construct walls out of self-preservation. I'm not just talking about the people who haven't accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. I'm talking to those who are His. When life has worn us down, our strength is depleted, and so is our ability to love. If we're not careful, we can become just as cold in our love towards the Lord as those that don't even know Him.

Our efforts to be helpful to others or our good intentions to offer advice are often shunned by those that we seek to heal, simply because they do not yet understand this great Love. Their eyes have not yet been opened to receive spiritual truth because they lack an encounter with God. How often we get the order backwards, and want them to receive truth before they've ever encountered Love! It can only come through revelation. A heart that is distrustful of others does not know how to truly give or receive love. It sees everything through a filter of suspicion, criticism or judgment rather than realizing there is such a thing as pure, unconditional love and acceptance, and it's found through Jesus Christ.  

A heart that has wandered away from Truth becomes a mocker of all that is authentic and divine. All we have to do is turn on the TV and look at how mainstream America has adopted rebellion, debauchery, and evil as the new normal. We look to vampires, devil worship, sexual exploitation and witchcraft as our sources of entertainment. Not because we are necessarily in agreement with all of it, but because we find the supernatural realm fascinating and enticing. A heart that fills itself with darkness can only ever become darker, colder, and less and less in touch with Truth. It will reject Love and Truth because of being immersed in worldly philosophies that say, “Anything is acceptable. As long as it feels ok, justify whatever you want. After all, you are in charge of your own life, right? Don’t you have free will to do whatever you please, and live however you please?” Yes...we do. God will not violate our will. Father will not force us to love Him. But do we really, really want to live estranged from Love? Do we want to live estranged from Mercy and Forgiveness? Are we really asking to live apart from His blessings, healing and the kindness of a Father who loves us? Is THAT what we really want? If it is, then we may certainly have what we insist upon, but if we give it some thought, I don't think that is what anyone really wants. 

A heart that is out of touch with their heavenly Father looks for a new version of truth that is not based on love, acceptance and a Holy God that died to take away the penalty of our sins; but seeks to establish a reality based on the lies, deception and rejection they have accepted as truth. And so, because people desperately lack an encounter with Divine Love, they reject the One that came to heal and save them. 

We forget sometimes, that it is the kindness of God that leads people to repentance. Abba Father, open our eyes to realize we need more of you!! It’s not all our advice, telling others what they need to do, or what they should do. It’s not an invitation to join us at church, or the fact that we may feel we have the counsel that someone else really needs. That’s going to change their mind about what they think about God. It’s not the form of Christianity, a fish on a bumper sticker, a church program or the size of a church that leads people to seek out this sinner-Savior relationship. It’s Love. Pure and simple. Until we have more of it, we fall desperately short of being the kind of witness that really truly changes a person’s mind about wanting to get to know the God we say we know. It starts with us. You. Me. Because we’re the gospel people see. If our love has grown cold and stale, how can that ever be attractive to someone else? If we have lost our passion, how can anyone else fall in love with Someone that no longer captivates us? 

When we have had a long, dry season, it can become easy to become disillusioned to the things of God. He wants to come and refresh us again and give us hope for our future. How often people have asked, "What is my assigment, Lord? Why are we still just sitting here?" Yet, during the trials and the testing, one thing you may not have understood is the fact that the Lord deliberately disconnected one of your battery cables so that your battery would run out of charge. It's a lengthy process as the anointing wanes and your well runs dry. But that too, can be the design of the Lord. You must be emptied before you can be filled. You are like those empty clay jars at the wedding feast of Cana in John chapter 2. Sitting on the sidelines waiting to be used, but in order to fulfill your purpose you must first be filled. The emptier you are, the more He will fill you - when the time is right. He wants to give you a NEW anointing, and He doesn't leave any of the old wine in the vessel. He completely empties it so that what is poured in is brand new wine!! New power comes with a new anointing. The Lord gave me an illustration in a dream about how we as believers keep taking used batteries out of various remotes and things and put them into our controllers, thinking they will keep working. We keep trying to get enough of a charge out of old used batteries to string us along for a little while, when God is saying, "You need a brand new battery, not a recharge!" He has a new anointing for us in this season, and it's an anointing of Divine Love. Only Divine Love is powerful enough to break the stubborn resistance of a hardened heart. Only Divine Love is powerful enough to break the hold of the enemy's grip. Only Divine Love is powerful enough to work miracles like we've never seen before! We cannot give away what we lack. We can only give away what fills us. (That is really food for thought, isn't it?!?) We have to be filled with Love before we can leave such a remarkable witness behind that people will be running to catch up with us and breathlessly ask us, “Wait!! What just touched me? There is something different... about you. HOW do I get that??”

Love is what turns the enemy’s camp upside down. Love is what changes minds and challenges hearts to want to make a new judgment. Love never fails because Jesus never fails. If we do it His way, hearts WILL turn. Love is what causes people to want to receive that Forgiveness and Acceptance for themselves. Love is what draws others closer so that they can change their mind about what they once believed. That is what real repentance is. Only Love can change a heart that has rejected Him and exchanged Truth for a different philosophy. We can’t do it in our own strength. We need a fresh anointing! We need Love to come down and fill us once again with a life-changing encounter that reconnects us to the heart of our Father. Love has a name and He is called Jesus Christ. This is the love that will change the world.

Father,

I thank You for showing me that I need a fresh encounter with You. You said that everyone who asks will receive, and everyone who seeks, will find. You said that everyone who knocks, the door will be opened to them. I come this day seeking You. I seek an encounter with the living God that will fill me with Divine Love. I ask for a new spiritual battery! Let a new anointing and a fresh anointing come over me and reveal new things about you, Lord Jesus. I thank You for meeting me where I am and answering the cry of my heart for more of you. In Jesus name, amen.

Cannibalism in the Church

Cannibalism in the church. Really? It sounds odd, doesn't it? Yet, the Lord has given my husband and I several dreams on this subject recently so I know it's on His mind. And He has a lot to say about it.

God uses some pretty graphic dream language to convey spiritual significance. A cannibalistic church is unhealthy. Galatians 5:15 in the NIV says, "But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another." Other versions of this scripture warn, 'beware lest you are consumed by one another.' Gossip. Slander. Evil speaking. Suspicion. Backbiting. Blaming and complaining. This is the spiritual reality of modern day cannibalism. The warning to every person is that these ungodly habits and behaviors release destroying spirits. They also release a curse into the lives of those that partake of the table of demons. Spirits of death and hell become attached to those that allow these habits and behaviors to take hold of their tongue.

God wants to heal families, but He wants to heal church families, too. 

Not only does it effect individuals, it affects churches, too. A church that has this going on is full of dead men's bones. It is full of spiritual immaturity, death and decay. The ungodly habits of evil speaking are like vampire spirits that suck the life out of the church and it's leaders.  These things cause offense, division and discord, competition, jealousy, and brings in every evil thing, according to James 3:16,17. A church in this state will never prosper. Evil speaking will cause the death of churches and ministries. It literally has the effect of undermining unity, love and leadership to the point of spiritual decapitation. It resists and rebels against the authority of God. It is sin to complain against leaders and the body to the point of wearing people down and causing them to break. In Numbers 20:10-13, we read the account of Moses being disciplined by the Lord for his failure to uphold holiness to the people. The long and the short of it is, the people complained and blamed the leadership God had given them - so much so, their leader broke under the strain of it. Moses, in his anger, sinned. He sinned against the Lord because he was worn out and upset with the constant pressures of an unruly and insubordinate group of people. He snapped. Wouldn't you? Listen, I know how I dislike hearing my own kids complain and get an attitude, so I can't even imagine how Moses felt dealing with a million or more people! We all slip at times and lose our cool. Sometimes poor decisions come out of the stress and strain of what people feel at the moment. Aren't you glad God is so merciful? Still, God held them all accountable anyway. Moses was banned from the promise land and many of the people were bitten by poisonous snakes and died in the wilderness. A whole generation of people were so filled with unbelief that they refused to obey God and take the promise land. Disobedience is costly. Here we learn of the dangers of evil speaking once again. It produces bitterness of soul, unbelief and eventually, rebellion to the Lord. Those are guilty of this type of wrongdoing are taking into captivity and under the dominion of the enemy until they repent. God has a standard according to His word. Repentance MUST and always WILL precede restoration, healing and revival!

Your family and your church can be healed and restored.

The only way to correct and heal what has become defiled is through personal and corporate repentance. Pray for God to bring separation between those that are spiritually dead and unable to receive spiritual truth, for those influences are like leaven that will permeate the entire congregation. It is hard to tell sometimes who those individuals are. I'm not asking you to judge others. Only God is fit to judge. The right thing response is to pray. God can move those scoffers, mockers and evil speakers out of the way. Pray for God to separate those that truly want to grow and be healed from those that are planted by the enemy in order to hinder the plans and purposes of God. Pray the scoffers, the gossips, the mockers and those with unprofitable conversation would either have a change of heart and genuinely repent, or God remove them as He sees fit. These things must be confronted. "Cast out the scoffers and contention will cease." Proverbs 22:10.

The NIV says, "Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended."

NASB says, "Drive out the scoffer, and contention will go out. Even strife and dishonor will cease."

The Aramaic Bible in plain English says this: "Destroy the evil one and cast out the contentious; abolish judgment and shame, lest he sit in the assembly and shame all of you." Wow. now that says it all.

A church that gossips, complains, and generally participates in destructive speech brings shame and dishonor upon themselves, and reproaches the name of the Lord. People often don't stop to consider the seriousness of these things, but it's not a laughing matter. God takes the subject of honoring His name, His children and His servants seriously. Never forget that the Holy Spirit lives inside of others! Speaking against other people is not wisdom, no matter what you may feel about them. Take heed to yourself and don't let your mouth sin and get you into trouble! God has said in 1 Sam. 2:30 that those that honor Him, He will honor; but those that despise Him will be disdained.

Disdained - Unworthy of one's consideration. Synonyms: scorn, deride, regard with contempt, sneer at, sniff at, look down one's nose at, despise.

Is that how you would want God to treat you? Hardly. I would be more that a bit frightened if I brought on that kind of response from the Lord. I would be on my knees repenting and really meaning every word of it. Only a fool refuses to get right with God! But you see, people do this sort of thing all the time and fail to understand that scorning the things of God is more serious than they may stop to think about.

I do not give this word to be harsh or hard towards anyone. Rather, this is a very clear word to those that may feel convicted by what is written here so that they can return to the Lord with an honest evaluation of their heart that leads them to repentance. The fear of the Lord must return to His church and to every believer! Not fearful of drawing close to the Lord, but 'fear' in the sense of showing honor and reverence towards Him and having a right heart towards others. I pray that you do not warrant judgment or correction from the Lord because that can be a quite painful experience. If this article has spoken to your heart, simply pray and ask the Lord to forgive you. His promise in 1 John 1:9 is to forgive your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness! He is so merciful and kind, even when we do not deserve it!

God wants more than anything to restore our losses and help us break free from those things that allow the enemy into our lives. He wants to help us break free from demonic entanglements and leave us open and vulnerable to the destroyer.

An individual that's been healed will bring healing to a family. A healed family can bring healing to their church, community and beyond. 

Father God,

I ask your forgiveness for anything I have said or done to participate in gossip, slander, backbiting, evil speaking, blaming, complaining or rebelling. Forgive me for speaking against You when I did not realize I had done so. Holy Spirit, forgive me for grieving You and speaking against the Spirit of God inside other believers. Please forgive my sin and let the blood of Jesus cleanse me from all unrighteousness. In Jesus name, amen.

Feed My Sheep

No one I know likes trials, emotional pain or the testing of our faith; yet, it's in the fiery trials of life that give us experiences that others can relate to. It's what makes our testimonies and our character authentic. Would you want someone who hasn't gone through some things to counsel you or give you advice on how to get through your mess? I wouldn't, and I'm guessing neither would you! 

Some times we experience the pain of loss and grief so deep we feel that no one else knows what we are feeling. God allows us to go through those things knowing that it will produce compassion and an ability to minister to others that He will bring across our path in due season. He wants us to have answers that give others hope and encouragement, and ultimately so that they can hear the testimony that God is able to be trusted during their difficult times.

Never be afraid to share what God has brought you out of, because it's your experience and testimony that makes your life authentic in Christ. You have been given an incredible gift to be able to minister hope and healing to others that are hurting. Your testimony now belongs to God and others in need. Humility is love in action, giving away what no longer belongs to you. To you, it is proven experience with the Lord; to others, it is fresh manna from heaven.

In John 21, we read the account of Jesus walking on the beach with his followers. He asked them, "Children, do you have any food?" The people responded, "No." And immediately they went fishing. 

I thought about this in light of the fact that there are so many people that are afraid to be transparent about the painful parts of their life. When we refuse to share the embarrassing or awkward parts of our past, not only does it rob us of authenticity and a witness to others, it actually robs others of food. When we refuse to feed others from the experiences, trials, and difficulties of our lives, we rob them. We are actually participating with the thief in order to deprive others of spiritual nourishment, because those things can help give them strength to get through their own painful experiences in life. We call it fear, but God calls it pride and selfishness, because we're really thinking more about ourselves than others.

Back to John 21. After the people were fed, Jesus turned to Peter, one of His beloved disciples, and asked him, "Peter, do you love me?" Peter of course was mortified that the Lord would ask that, and convicted as well. Peter said, "Yes, Lord! You know that I do!" 

Three times Jesus asked Peter the same question and three times Peter affirmed that he did indeed love the Christ. Each time, Jesus reminded Peter, as He reminds all of us, to take care of His little ones and feed them in love. Remember, we don't all have to be standing behind a pulpit, but we are all ministers. Take the leap of faith and unlock your heart. There is a hurting world out there and someone today needs to hear YOUR story.