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Heaven’s expanse and limits

One of the keys to the unprecedented renewal movement of God on earth is surrender to the ruling presence of God. I have done a lot of wrestling with religious rules and standards over the past 50+ years… both breaking them and keeping them.

In great frustration, as an eighteen-year-old boy, I came to a crisis moment of surrender. I prayed a simple but gut-level honest prayer; “Lord Jesus, I don’t know if this pleases you or not, but you are stuck with me because I can’t live without you.” I didn’t realize it at the time but from that moment, the Holy Spirit was able to establish God’s authority in my inner world. My allegiance shifted from a set of earthly, religious rules to a living, moving “alignment” with God’s presence.

Do you trust God’s presence to govern and renew all things including your being and doing?

Following Jesus means allowing the living, dynamic presence of God to rule in your heart. It means that your whole being and doing is governed by the peace and message of Christ. You will be forever blessed by both the expanse and the limits of God’s judgments. (inspired by Colossians 3:15-16)

God’s power all over us

I was leading a prophetic prayer session a few nights ago. A good friend in our prayer family shared a vision. She was seeing us standing in a narrow space between two walls. All of us had a hand on each wall and ready to push the walls apart.

She sensed that the Lord was inviting us to push the walls back in order to create space for his presence to rush in. The walls represented sin and/or evil mindsets with which we had grown way too familiar. It was time to name them, call them out and expel them in the power and authority of Jesus’ name.

One of the prominent evil strongholds that I saw was powerlessness. As our prayers began to heat up, we knew that we were moving with the Spirit of the Lord. The phrase, “having the appearance of godliness but denying its power” came to mind. 2 Timothy 3:5 speaks about us when we are powerless… “They may pretend to have a respect for God, but in reality they want nothing to do with God’s power. Stay away from people like these!” (TPT)

This morning as I was waking up, the Holy Spirit was stirring me to think about operating in the power of God. After I grabbed my coffee, I looked at 2 Corinthians 13:4. It talks about Jesus being “robed in God’s power”. You and I were put into Christ by God when we through faith received our adoption into his family. That means we are also covered in the awesome mantl/robe of his power.

I am praying today for the oil that cycles through the engine of the Church on earth. May God transform it into the fresh, golden oil from heaven instead of the sludge of recycled powerlessness. Most of us need a reawakening to the disrespect we show toward Jesus when we neglect his power. If we see it, our hearts will begin to break for change.

This is a new year and a new day. In Christ, you are robed in the power of God. That is a great honor and privilege. Don’t let selfish or lazy thinking cause you to take it for granted. You are better than that as a member of his household.

You are a blessing!

Grace is better than details

Grace is a more valuable treasure from God to me than details. In my time of need, what matters most is remembering where to go. All of the resources of heaven are available to us on earth because of what Jesus has accomplished. Those resources are accessed at the throne of grace.

Last night I was with some prayer warriors from my church family. It was our weekly prophetic prayer night. Over the past few years, we have nurtured a prophetic prayer culture of surrender. When we get together, we lay down our individual agendas to move with what God wants and where He wants to lead us in prayer.

Receiving and declaring the living word of the Lord over the life of our church family is the lifeblood of our intercession. Last night it seemed that I was struggling to connect with what the Lord was speaking over us. Then one of our men prophesied, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

The word of the Lord began to stir me up and my soul came alive with hope again. I don’t need details from God’s throne. I need grace. Grace from God is an unlimited resource for us in Christ.

The prophetic is all about living with confidence. But, it’s not about always having the right details. Through our faith in Jesus, we have access to the throne room of heaven. He has brought us back to life from the inside out. We are perfectly designed to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. He dwells with us and in us.

That means his throne of grace is an inward journey. The hope of glory is within you. It is the living presence of Jesus in you that gives you confidence in your time of need. Colossians 1:27 refers to “the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Don’t believe the lie that you need to make an impossibly long journey somewhere outside of yourself in your time of need. The throne of grace in Christ is accessed from within you. In fact, you are hidden with Christ in God. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see it and understand what that means for you.

You are a blessing!

Living Keys

For me, the prophetic is partnering with the Holy Spirit by using the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:19) With the “living word of the Lord” keys we open the way to light and we lock up the darkness in the name of Jesus.

Kings Church gathered for a worship service last night. As we worshipped and then listened to Pastor Seth Fancy share the word, I began to think about why I love the prophetic.

The prophetic reminds us over and over again that the only living God is with us. The light of his presence is the air we breathe. Receiving the living word of the Lord keeps us alive. In humble surrender, we live, breathe, and exist in him.

I love the prophetic because it is heart to heart communication with Jesus. It is an unseen place where I am most alive. It is where I open to the light of who he is and turn away from darkness. (1 Corinthians 2:10-16)

The church needs the prophetic to reveal the secrets of our hearts and to allow the Spirit to clothe us with transparency. God is for all people in all places… every nation and generation.

The church is people who receive and share the living words of the Lord.

You are a blessing!

We all need to be included


I have been blessed to have been included my whole life by people who know God. As irrational as that may sound to some, God knows us and can be known by us. Jesus condensed it when he prayed to the Father, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)

I love to write. Words are powerful. They transform. The words of God are alive with the same creative power that spoke all creation into existence. By God’s grace, I get to craft my pieces of art and share them here with you.

You bless me every time you choose to read my words. I just want you to know that heaven sees you and longs for you to keep becoming who you really are. So, what I am trying to do is open a door for you and maybe close a few too.

The best way I know to do that is to share my journey in the prophetic. By that, I mean receiving and sharing the living word of the Lord. I’ll keep showing up here because it blesses me to help you along your way.

So, welcome to my blog. Let me be someone who includes you. If you long to know God, you belong with me and the millions of others on the journey.

You are a blessing!

God’s relentless display of beauty… You (part two)

The word of the Lord is alive and active. (Hebrews 4:12)  God intentionally brought us into being. We are designed for life-union with Jesus and his word is designed to change us into who God says we are. The prophetic will always be about Jesus. He is the Living Word of God. 

Receiving the living word of the Lord is where the prophetic always starts. David saw himself as something God had already written before he was born. (Psalm 139) The prophet Jeremiah also was told that he was set apart to be a prophet to the nations before birth. (Jeremiah 1) God’s word is full of life and it is designed to keep on filling us so that it flows out of us in everything we do. 

The Lord has taught me to trust what he says more than any other word regardless of how powerful it may seem to be. Sometimes I have even had to disagree with my own opinions and mindset because of God’s living word. What God says and reveals about my life is more powerful than even my own opinions. 

In order to grow in the prophetic, that’s where you begin. When you surrender yourself to Jesus, you become a child of God. The Holy Spirit wakes you up to the fact that you are a growing tree that he has planted. (Isaiah 60:21)  But, he didn’t just plant you and leave you to grow on your own. 

We are his sons and daughters. We have been appointed as prophets to the nations. The word we have been given radically changes things. Because we bear the name of Jesus, we possess the power and authority to “…uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”  (Jer 1:10) Jesus promised that the church he is building will unlock and open the way for heaven to be known in all the earth. 

Today you can say to the Lord, “I believe that your word is alive and active in me because I am your child. I exist because of your word. I surrender my heart, mind and body to you. Jesus, drive my roots deep into what you say so that it spills out of me everywhere I go today.” Amen

You are a blessing! 

Dreams are keys…

“God cares so much about you that He will bring deliverance keys to you while you sleep.” Sandie Freed

Here is a profound encouragement to those of us whose dreams are vivid and memorable on a regular basis. I have been reading a book on dreams by Sandie Freed. From my earliest childhood memories, I have always been a dreamer. Literally, from birth, I was exposed to all of the stories of dream encounters with God found in the Bible. It has never been a stretch for me to believe that God reveals things to me in my dreams. But, I have not been aware that dreams can be keys to open doors of deliverance for me.

It has been so encouraging here this morning to read Sandie’s testimony. One night a few years ago, I dreamed of finding money and keys that were left for me to discover within holes in the ground. I am beginning to sense that the Lord has been giving me dreams that are deliverance keys to open doors of freedom in my life. Amazing!

If you are one who remembers and regularly experiences vivid dreams, I want to share this encouragement today. “I was finally free! And my complete freedom came through the voice of God in the night season… I was delivered because of the Word of the Lord delivered through my dream. God cares so much about you that He will bring deliverance keys to you while you sleep. Dear one, He delivered me. He set me free. He healed my mind and my body. Nothing is impossible with God (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27). And, precious one, He wants to do the same for you. Yes, keep dreaming!”

Freed, Sandie. Understanding Your Dreams: How to Unlock the Meaning of God’s Messages (p. 220). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

My Top “5Q” Takeaways (review of Alan Hirsch’s book)

Incredibly empowering book! Thanks, Alan Hirsch for another well-written, deeply engaging read. “5Q: Reactivating the Original Intelligence and Capacity of the Body of Christ” comes alongside the Body of Christ and engages us in a conversation in which we at first think we are fluent. Then, as Hirsch provokes and invites us to learn the ways of APEST in light of J-APEST(the unique way that Jesus relates to all of creation), we either jump off the submarine or strap ourselves in for a deep plunge into what is according to Hirsch, “coded into the whole Body of Christ, and we are but the living expressions of that Body in our given time and place.”

“5Q” is his term for hearing, appreciating, perceiving and engaging the gift of APEST (APOSTLE/PROPHET/EVANGELIST/SHEPHERD/TEACHER) as the way God relates to all things, is revealed in Christ, is expressed in the Body of Christ (BOX) resulting in the Fullness of Christ (FOX) spoken of in Ephesians 4.

 

My Top 5Q Takeaways are:

  1.  I experienced a powerful refocusing of Eph 4:1-15 and the APEST gifts on the Fullness of Christ being expressed through the Body of Christ. “We are to treasure the fivefold precisely because we treasure Jesus and what he is doing through us.” It was very refreshing to take a deep dive into a study on APEST without being distracted from the reason I was drawn to following Jesus in the first place… to be more like Him.

  2. J-APEST “I will sometimes refer to the distinctly Jesus-shaped version of APEST as J-APEST to distinguish it from the creational and ecclesial expressions” I loved Hirsch’s focus on the presence of the five-fold in Jesus’ DNA. Because it was there in Jesus, it is present in us because we are in Christ.

  3. Scenius: (borrowed from Brian Eno) “So I thought that originally those few individuals who’d survived in history-in the sort of ‘Great Man’ theory of history-were called ‘geniuses’. But what I thought was interesting was the fact that they all came out of a scene that was very fertile and very intelligent. So I came up with this word ‘scenius’-and scenius is the intelligence of a whole… operation or group of people. And I think that’s actually a more useful way to think about culture… Let’s forget the idea of ‘genius’ for a little while; let’s (rather) think about the whole ecology of ideas that give rise to good new thoughts and good new work.” This was a brand new term for me. It holds a lot of power and hope to fuel my dreams for revival and the Body of Christ working the Harvest.

  4. The Gift of APEST is in our DNA: “The good news is that APEST has been given at the very constitution of the church in Jesus’ resurrection and ascension and it cannot be removed, although it can be suppressed. It is there… latent in the Body of Christ waiting to be activated.”

  5. Bases and Phases: “We all have a base ministry in which we feel most comfortable. This base ministry flows out of our primary gifting. In order to mature, we have to enter a phase where we receive training and experience in one of the other four ministries.” Empowering, wise insight. Though my APEST tends to be expressed as Apostle/Shepherd/Prophet/Teacher/Evangelist, it is not bad for me to go through seasons of learning when I might behave more like an Evangelist, Teacher, or Prophet if you were to interact with me. I can assume that I will return eventually to my base ministry.

    Early on in “5Q…”Hirsch challenges the reader with the following comment… “If you are able to sense something of God’s beautiful design along the way, will you have the courage to change? Will you pay the price to learn again?”

 

God’s voice… through His Bride

Good morning from Saint John, NB, Canada. Last night, as I was worshipping with a room full of brothers and sisters in Jesus, I became aware of the presence of God. As we were singing with passion, there was another force coming upon us. I began to see, in the spirit, that the Lord was not waiting for us to pursue Him. He was actually coming toward us in waves. His love and glory, which were coming to us, were overwhelming our love and desire for him.

I began to understand that IT IS TIME to lay down any confidence we have placed in our ability to journey or climb up to God. Any awakening of HIS glory in the nations is happening because of his amazing grace and initiative. We have the honour and privilege in Christ of responding in extravagant worship.

Once again, I was so blessed and encouraged as I sensed the overwhelming intensity of His love for all of creation. I submit to you that

His voice declaring His word through His Bride is causing a shaking in every nation. http://bit.ly/2mLRwRs @papabearlamos

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The fruit of Jesus’s prayer in John 17:20-26 will be seen and experienced around the world! How amazing is it to be alive at this time on the earth?!?

What about your vineyard?

When it comes to being a solid, life-giving Christian or Jesus Follower, we are really talking about being a faithful son or daughter. One of my favourite Father/Child stories in the Bible is the one found in Matthew 21:28-31. Jesus posed this question to some religious experts; “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did what his father wanted? ‘The first,’ they answered.”

For Jesus, the faithful son was the one who understood the importance of getting his father’s work done. 

I see myself in this story. I have prayed hundreds of times that our Father in heaven would keep me awake to the “vineyard” he sends me to every day. I have learned to perceive my ordinary life and responsibilities as His vineyard for me to work. 

God did not create you to simply behave yourself and measure up to a moral code. He designed you to work in His vineyard. The place where you live and the circumstances you are in stand ready for you to be a creative force for the kingdom of God, on earth as in heaven. 

Will you say yes to your father’s call to go and work in His vineyard? It is what you were created for. Your vineyard will look different than mine. But, you are designed perfectly for it. 

So, don’t lose heart! Every new sunrise brings a new call from the Father. He’s not listening for the right answer. He’s looking for you and me to step into the mundane and/or daunting day that lies before us and look for Him there.