Month: January 2019

Not easily threatened

How much are we limited and held back because of fear? When we feel threatened we tend to react in some way. The “fight or flight” instinct activates and what follows is not usually pretty or helpful. I have found that giving in to threatened feelings shuts down my spiritual perception.

I jumped in on a twenty-one day fast hosted by my church. We are giving God the first part of 2019 as a reminder that we will see his goodness break in on us throughout the whole year. The idea is to give up something good that you enjoy in order to receive the best thing, a deeper relationship with God.

The breakthrough I have been asking God for in my life, home, and church is in the realm of the miraculous. I want to partner with the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus in doing miracles, signs, and wonders. I also want those around me to do the same.

During my fast, the Lord has been making me more aware of the freedom I possess because I am in Christ. There is a reason that Jesus shared his freedom with me. Because I am free, I can live unafraid. I don’t need to act or react to anything locked up in fear. (Galatians 5:1)

Jesus lived in total freedom because he was fully aware that he was free 100% of the time. Whatever he did, he was in charge. Wherever he went, he was intentional and fully present. He lived on earth by the power and authority of heaven.

He could see and hear in the realm of the spirit because it was no threat to him. Because he was not threatened, he was willing to perceive all things in the seen and unseen realm. Now, because I am in life-union with him, I can begin to perceive what he sees and hears in complete freedom.

You and I will grow in our ability to receive and declare the living word of the Lord as we trust his presence in us. We are going to see more of his power displayed in 2019! Take courage in these words of Jesus, “And everything I’ve taught you is so that the peace which is in me will be in you and will give you great confidence as you rest in me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world!”

You are a blessing!

Trying Harder is Toxic to the Prophetic

The Holy Spirit is training me to live in full acceptance as a son in the family of God. I did not receive the “spirit of religious duty,” leading me back into the fear of never being good enough. (Romans 8:10-17 TPT)

God longs for us to give ourselves to an intimate relationship with him. In Christ he transforms us into his friends and lovers. In order to move forward in receiving and declaring the living word of the Lord, we need to anticipate more amazement over who Jesus is in us.

Religious duty is not amazing! Nurturing an attitude of religious duty, of trying harder in my life is toxic to my growth in the prophetic. It is time for the Church (remember that the church is people) to come clean about our friendship with religious duty.

To be prophetic requires an ever-increasing fire of friendship with Jesus. Friendship with religion (trying hard to please God) is NOT friendship with Jesus. The first gift God gives us on our journey in the prophetic is friendship with him from the inside-out.

How would your life be different if you surrendered to his promise to never leave you or forsake you? What if never leaving you includes those times when you have sinned and/or deeply disappointed yourself as part of his family? Are you ready for a deeper surrender to his never-failing friendship with you? Talk to him about it.

You are a blessing!

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!