(Start with part 1 for context...)
We are a 3-part being, and in that lies the key to our power and sonship. When we unite, spirit, soul, and body, with the power of God, we are unstoppable, we are invincible. Notice that most of the devil’s attacks against us are to keep us disunited? Whether worry, or fear, or an attack against your health, or your finances--all designed to keep the schisms alive. Your mind, wracked with worry, contradicts the peace that wants to reign through your spirit. Your feelings, gripped with varying emotions, run off quickly when your spirit wants you to get a grip. That dis-unison is the main reason why we lose! The attacks are always so beatable-- we must learn to master ourselves and stay “one”.
When our being is united in proper order, and functioning that way, we line up with what God said of Himself: “The Lord your God is One; though shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength”. David in the psalms and Jesus in the gospels strengthened this, by repeating the same: “Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.” Mark 12:30, and Luke 10:27 says “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence”.
And if we are to love this way, then it follows that we should fight this way too!
So line up your being with this word, your true created destiny, and start speaking and exclaiming your way into God’s desired reality for others and for yourself.
Next thing here, another key:
“There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.” -Phil. 1:6 The Message
It hit me this way: one who is full of the complete range of exclamations to God is also one in whom doubt finds no room. Amen! I believe that. Look at it again: never the slightest doubt in my mind. Doubt, like fear, takes up space. And for fear, it’s love that displaces it and kicks it out of doors:
“There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror!” 1 Jn 4:18 the Amplified.
For doubt, it is faith that does the displacing-- THIS kind of expressive, obedient, active faith, a faith that speaks and exclaims through a united vessel. United in spirit, soul and body. Displace your doubt NOW!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Philippians 1, part 1
Philippians 1 caught my attention when I was reading it in the Message. I’ve always said that I want a life that I can be proud of. But I also want a life Jesus can be proud of! I want bountiful fruits from the soul, a life that makes Jesus attractive to all, and to get everyone I reach involved in the praise and glory of God. Nothing less!
I preached from here last Saturday night, and so many truths became so clear to me.
We all want verse 9-11 results in our lives. It reads:
9-11So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.
But let's get the entire context figured out, so all the nuances become clear. I believe the path to having that fruit starts in verse 3-6:
3-6Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God's Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
Exclamations to God! This is it! Our ACTIONS of exclaiming opens up the gateway to prayer. I realized how much I do this, when I think of someone, when I get a text message, or hear how someone is doing, there is a matching exclamation. Sometimes in thanks, but oftentimes with other emotions. Like the time I heard a brother was sick, I got angry on his behalf, and started to exclaim out loud in rebuking that sickness and calling in his healing at that very moment. Or the time I remembered another brother in a distant land, I started speaking exclamations of peace and safety, to surround him with the love of God and with strength for his soul.
The first key to our exclamations having power and significance, is that they are done with full cooperation of our entire being. Said OUT LOUD, originating from unction in the gut and with oomph from the soul. And the kind of prayer this leads to is not wishing or hopeful prayer; it is powerful creative prayer that accomplishes the very word it sets out to do. Prayer using the keys of the kingdom--whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose shall be loosed in heaven--Jesus, Matt. 16:19. Imagine, the more we pray like that, how much will be done, how much will be transformed, how much will be energized into existence in someone else’s life! This is key!
I recognize that the other key to these exclamations is the ORDER in which we connect our mouths to the rest of our being. Do we have our mouth connected to our minds directly? Then we will say any old thing that pops in there, and have ineffectual words. Do we have our mouths connected to our souls? Then we will give expression to any feeling, without any sifting, and we will walk a very erratic course of life, a life tossed to and fro based on whatever blows our way. And we then will be beings whose substance constantly leaks out, open for anything else to fill us. Not good! Connect your mind to your spirit, and connect your soul to your spirit. Then your spirit, the eternal part of you, the part that hears God clearly, the part that discerns without error, can direct your mouth. Your spirit should sit as umpire! Shouting “safe!” or “you’re out!” to feelings and thoughts that desire your expression. Saying “foul!” when one of those tries to sneak its way to the creative portal called your spoken word. See, the devil knows the source of your power, and the importance of your tongue. In his strategy, all he needs to do is get you expressing these unsafe and unaimed or foul things, and you will be basically shooting yourself in the foot, and he doesn’t have to do anything else to sideline you. Get ahead of that and defeat his strategy by connecting your parts properly.
The power is ALWAYS in the spoken word! Get your mouth open, get your mouth connected to your God-inhabited spirit and SEE the change!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Talking out loud...
Thursday, April 29, 2010:
I am sitting here, thinking about all the stuff we go through, the drama, the stress, and it hit me: how many of us actually believe and trust that “all things work together for good, to them that love God and are fitting into His plans” when we are in the middle of an intense situation? How many of us connect to Psalm 23 “even though I go through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid, for You are with me...”? We need to expand our sight and take a good look from a different angle. “Bad things” happening to us may not be simply “bad things”. It could be a particular valley you are meant to go through, for God to take you to the other side. Especially those of who us who have stepped forward and said, “I’m all in, holding back nothing, take me where You want to take me Jesus, use me all the way, this is it”.
Meant to go through? I believe so. We all influence our own destiny. My choices determine my future. If I say, “Father, I am meant for more than this. Take me where you want me to go, I am here for that purpose” then you better believe He will acknowledge that! And we don’t realize the ensuing valley-passing is a direct result of that request. Our discontent is not with the pasture we are currently in; it is with the knowing that “there must be more than this that is meant for me, I want to be THERE!” So God, the best Dad there is, takes us by the hand and takes us there--often through the “death valley express route”. I find that looking at things this way relieves the strain, presents me with fresh light and puts fresh wind in my sails.
A frequent perspective check is always good. Good to sound things out, good to look at it again, from a different viewpoint. Good to question your own decisions and see if they’re still up to snuff. If it can’t stand up to my own scrutiny, it ain’t worth the doing.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Inside out! part 3
Here we go--the part of salvation that so many of us misunderstand. It's when Jesus starts "cleaning house. He'll make a clean sweep of your lives. He'll place everything true in it's proper place before God; everything false He'll put out with the trash to be burned." This is an easy-to-read but very hard-to-experience part of our walk with Jesus. It feels like we are being turned upside down; truth is we are being set right side up. It feels like so much is "going wrong" in our lives. Things we used to rely on are not in place; we grasp for familiar props only to find they aren't there anymore. It's withdrawal time. And withdrawal is hell on earth, while it's happening to us. But change your viewpoint, brother, sister. This is the proof of our transformation, our redemption is at work within us. The internal shuffle is a good thing. Time to laugh, thank God, praise Him for what's going on. The feelings will change once your perspective does. Hallelujah, here we go!
Inside out! part 2
God's standard of calling-it-as-it-is is seen in "Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it's deadwood, it goes on the fire." It is too easy to refer to a one-time experience, or a spiritual lineage, and claim "I'm safe." Jesus wants the real, the visible, the tangible fruit. Your life, brother; your life, sister. What is the offspring of your soul? What has your life given birth to? Measure your significance through that. Not the projects, or the achievements, but the level of changed-ness you live in daily. That truly gives glory to Jesus, to our Father. Inside out. Join the revolution; be a world changer-- live radically saved--inside out.
Inside out! part 1
I can't help but sense Jesus' power and passion for our lives to be significantly different when I read this! Look at it--"He will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out!" This is what it's all about--letting that fire burn and have it's way with you. That kingdom life is within--not a badge, not a church, not a label, not a way of talking, of singing, of praying. That kingdom life is FIRE. Being saved, being His, is all about being in a state of constant burning. And that fire has to get hot enough, hot enough to change your current state of being. Transform you from within. Burn hot enough to change the way you think, you feel, you react. Be a burning transformed being, changing, never the same, always hot. Hallelujah, thank you Jesus, here I am, burn away!
Pressure is a gift... part 3
Being exposed is always a vulnerable thing. Which is why so many of us shy away from it. We need to get used to the idea of what is inside being known and seen by all. Realize it or not, this is what happens when we go through difficult periods of life--our true colors show. So what are you really like? Does your faith really take center stage in time of crisis? Do you still run to other sources aside from Jesus in your desperation? Make choices today, when there is no pressure on you. Even in the midst of that crisis, make choices, to belong to Him. And as you do so, your perspective will change, and when it is all done, you will come out well-developed, matured, not deficient in any good thing. Amazing. Lastly, don't rush the process. Don't merely "endure" it; you will miss out on the growth and development. Embrace it, OWN it! This is your chance to come out of that crisis better than ever before!
Pressure is a gift... part 2
The amazing "guarantee" that comes with belonging to Jesus is in these verses. Tests, challenges, pressures-- they can work FOR you, not against you. It really is all about your perspective. The "gift" is not the difficulty; it's the opportunity to grow and evolve through the period of difficulty. Our faith-life "unprocessed" by pressure is like raw carbon--raw, organic substance. But through the pressure process that your faith-life goes through, IF you choose the gift in it, is forced by heat and pressure into something evolutionary, something beautiful, something extremely HARD and UNBREAKABLE. Amen, Father. Thank you for the gift. Thank you for the sight!
Pressure is a gift... part 1
This can sound really crazy to someone going through the worst time of their life to date. But think about it for a moment: pressure is a gift, in disguise. The key is us figuring out the disguise and seeing the opportunity in it. The stress is never welcomed, but a lot of us recognize we do excellently under pressure. It forces us to think and act outside the box. It pushes us beyond our comfort level, to achieve or endure above and beyond what we deem "possible". Jesus knows. Bottom line, is if you belong to Him, love Him, and are fitting into His plans--then all things work together for your good. That's Romans 8:28. That's a promise for you.
It's who we are that counts...
In our day and age, there are too many saying what we should do and how we should worship in order to be "in the right." These words of Jesus are freeing words! Our fruit is not what we "do" outwardly. It's all about how much LIFE we live, and therefore give. Religion kills; Jesus came to bring life, and life abundantly. I have known people who have so much scripture knowledge, but there is no "life" in their words... and then there are those who aren't much to look at as far as spiritual credentials in people's opinion, but their lives exude life and so do their words. Just live; be real, be present. God is always talking. Our quality of "life" stems from the quality of that relationship.
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