Saturday, June 18, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
I like your heart, 6/10/11. Learning to Host the Presence by Bill Johnson.
I read this article last night on Elijah List.
Wanted to share...
"Learning to Host the Presence"
One of the greatest privileges in life is to learn to be a person that God will rest upon. He already lives in every born again Believer. But He doesn't rest upon all of us. One way I like to say it is, "He is in me for my sake, but He is upon me for yours." When He is upon us, it especially changes others around us. Jesus modeled this lifestyle in the story of His baptism in water.
When Jesus was baptized, He came out of the water, the Heavens opened, the Father spoke, and then the Holy Spirit came upon Him as a dove and remained. "John testified saying, 'I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of Heaven, and He remained upon Him'" (John 1:32). If, in the natural, I have a dove sitting on my shoulder and I want to go about life without it flying away, how am I going to live? Every step would be with the dove in mind.
As we become faithful in learning how to host the presence of the Lord, it is important to understand that there is a tension between two realities: He has been given to us without measure, yet what we enjoy on a daily basis has been "measured" to us according to our faithfulness. In other words, we have access to the unlimited measure of God's presence, but He doesn't entrust Himself to untrustworthy people. All of the measurements are set up on our end of the equation. He typically entrusts us with the measure of the presence we are willing to jealously guard.
We are to become His resting place—the place from which the exploits of Heaven are accomplished. For when the Lord rests upon a person, there is actually an atmospheric shift that takes place wherever that person goes. How do you think Peter's shadow healed people? Our shadow will always release whatever overshadows us. When we learn to host the presence of the Lord, we get more breakthroughs by accident than ever used to happen on purpose. That is a possibility for every Believer every day.
One of the conflicts we face in learning to host the presence is sometimes found in the very lessons we learned from the previous seasons. Believe it or not, those principles sometimes war against the actual presence of the Lord upon us. We are to use principles to plan by, but we must learn to live from the presence. And if there's a conflict between the two, presence always wins out over principle.
For example, I may be accustomed to aggressively pursuing the will of God for my life. My key verse might be Matthew 11:12, "and the violent take it by force." Living by principle has me apply what I have learned up to this point—violent faith. But in this story, the presence of God may be leading me to "receive the Kingdom as a child" (Luke 18:17). If you live entirely by principles only, you will make assumptions in certain moments and seasons that are entirely based on Scripture, but they will be in conflict with the Spirit. In this example, both violent faith and childlike faith are Biblical. It is the Holy Spirit who knows how we are to respond in each particular season or in a given situation.
We are supposed to be well grounded in what God has said so we can discern what He is saying. It is the presence of God that gives me access to continuous ongoing faith, because faith comes by hearing, not having heard. "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). Learning to host the presence of God provides the atmosphere of the heart where faith becomes natural and normal.
Let's commit ourselves to become the resting place of God.
Bill Johnson
Bill Johnson Ministries
bjm.org and ibethel.org
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
The battlefield!
Try to follow me as I go through all this....
On Saturday I went to the lake alone to just be and read and write. Sometimes it takes that for me to be quiet inside. While I'm there, a whole chain of thoughts come to me. And they led to this scripture:
"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
This verse seems so cliche', I know. But what Paul is saying here is really powerful. He says this because he knows all about the battlefield in the mind.
I can't tell you how many times the Lord has brought this chapter is Philipians to my attention. The more I go through and the more He reminds me of this, the more I can use it as a weapon in my battle.
What he is saying here is crucial.
This morning, I'm on a walk/run and this song called "no weapons" comes on my ipod by Brian Whalen. And as it came on I started thinking about how the Lord gives us the weapons we neep to fight the battle in our mind.
When any word of Life or Love comes into our mind, our carnal mind rises up in fiery to oppose that truth. It says the carnal mind is emnity toward God. That is a form of opposition and hatred toward something. So there becomes this battle for our mind...for our being. God wants to abide in us and move through us and so does darkness.
Everything that we receive into us creates our perspective which then creates the outside (our earth). You can look around and see what the human race's perspective has created. We create our world with what we believe. With what we allow in us...by what we are.
For so long there have been lies we believed and darkness we have been consumed with. And the Lord wants to wash those things away with His thoughts. That's why He uses water as one of the things He compares Himself to. Because water is pure and it washes. That's why He uses seeds. Because seeds are planted and when they are cultivated, they grow.
The more God wants to change me and deliever me, the more my mind rises up. Those things that don't want me to believe the truth about God or myself. They want me to keep thinking about them. They want me to focus on situations and issues and worry and fear and negativity. But the Lord gives us the weapon to defeat even the strongest stronghold in our life. He begins to unveil Himself to us and show us who we truly are and are meant to be. He plants seeds in us. He rains on our earth. But the secret is to rise up in violence with our Faith. With the thoughts that He gives us.
For some time now, our ministry has been releasing words about rumination. Rumination is when certain animals bring up their food and chew it again. It goes down into the stomach and then they bring it back up, chew it again (break it down more) and then swallow it again. Rumination goes one in the same with meditation. We brings things into our conscious and into our awareness. All day long we think. And the Lord is telling us to practice thinking about Him and who He showed us we are. That is our Faith! This becomes hard to do in the battle. It's not easy at all.
I remember when I was litte, my dad always used to get on my about practicing my shot and my left hand. I was weak at my left hand. My shot was good, but I wanted it to be better. So I could shoot with someone in my face. (talking about basketball). But I didn't. I didn't go the extra mile. I settled. Because to me it was too hard. I didn't want to take the time to do it. The same thing happened with me in school. When there were things I needed to work harder at then others, I didn't want to do it. Because it took extra effort. And so goes the same with this. If we want to win, we have to go the extra mile. We HAVE to give the extra effort. He gives us everything we need to win. He gives us Himself. But we have to use Him. And we will be tested over and over again. So we get stronger and stronger. Or weaker and weaker if we don't fight. The first time, it might be hard to remember Him. But after test after test, if we are practicing, we can grab our weapon and slay the giant that rises up in us and tries to tell us "I am truth". If we begin to meditate on our weapons more, when the test comes....a situation or a cirmumstance that causes things to surface in us and tell us "this is reality", "this is who you are", "this is who God is"...those things which are lies....we have meditated so much on what the truth really is, that it is easier for us to remember and believe the truth. And those lies lose their hold and their power begins to decrease.
Mediation is a form of intimacy with the Lord. Because as we bring Him into our mind, and who we are in Him into our mind, there is a consumation taking place. A union. Between our human body and Him. It is truth becoming one with us.
We have to be so careful what we allow in our minds. There is this lady I work with. She is always dealing with all these misc. health problems. And I know it's because of what she is allowing in her mind. Thoughts about herself. And just bascially a longing to be Loved and have some sort of attention. But she is destroying herself. What she needs is the Holy Spirit. To rain on her and plant seeds in her. Of truth. Of Him. Or who she really is. And I know as her thoughts and mind would begin to change, so would her health problems. That I believe she is just making up. But this woman needs Love.
I believe as we allow the Lord to Love us. And come into our mind and reveal truths to us, we will them becomes Love. And we can plant seeds and rain on people that desperately need it. And then we can teach them about the battlefield in our mind and they can defeat those things that rise up against truth.
This is heaven coming to earth. Him coming into us. Making us good like Him. Freeing us. Delivering us. Saving us. From things in us that lie to us. That begin to kill us. And lead us in the wrong direction.
We all have voids. That long to be filled. And we seek things to try and fill the emptiness. If we fill those voids with Light, we will produce the fruits of the Spirit. But if we always try to fill our voids with things that will perish, we will never be truly satisfied and act out in fruits of flesh.
The Lord showed me a picture of a cross awhile ago, and He said to stay in the verticle place. And as I stayed in the verticle place with Him, He would take care of the horizontal. I didn't have to worry about that place or work so hard with my own hands in that place. Because as I stayed in the vertice (heavenlies) everything would fall into place on earth. And he was asking me trust Him, as I let go of the horizontal and cling to the verticle. Looking UP. Not to the side. But focusing on truth. On the Faith He had blessed me with so far and was continuing to bless me with. In that place He can fill my voids. I can endure the horizontal situations and allow them to press me and form me.
I'm tested a lot in Loving people that rub me the wrong way. I don't know how to Love everybody. That's truth. It's easy to Love those that Love me. But when there's a situation where someone does something to me or acts the opposite of Love toward me, things rise up in me. My desire is to Love them. To Love even my enemies. To even begin to break through to them with an unconditional Love. But I've gotta be tested and formed with sitiations. If I don't experience that, how will I ever learn to Love no matter what. They shape me and form me each time they happen. Making me more weak. But if I take it personal and forget what the Lord is trying to teach me, I will act out of the lie and out of a false reality. I will act out of voids.
Our breath is what we project out in our actions and speech. Which comes from what it is in our mind...what we bring into our mind. It says this in a book I read. That our breath "plants the land". We bring others into oneness with what's in us. Don't we want to produce Life and Love? True Life and Love. The kind that will never perish. The kind that can't be shaken. Uncondition Love. Let us protect our own land. So we can help others come to life. People are dead all around. Suffering. Struggling. Hurting. Hopeless. They need a touch from the greatest Lover of all. They need their earth rained on so it becomes full of green! We are here to to be consumed by the breath of God so we can breathe on others. We are here to GIVE. Not just to live unaware of the darkness on earth. But to becomes one with God to overcome it.
Let us rise up against our enemies...against God's enemies with the weapons He equipts up with. Let us meditate things that are "true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things". And let that resinate in us and become us.
Let us fight for LOVE! For Life for oursleves and others. That our heart would becomes pure. Full of compassion and true boldness in the Lord. Let us defeat principalities and strongholds that oppress all of us!
Amen.
To freedom!
MLB
On Saturday I went to the lake alone to just be and read and write. Sometimes it takes that for me to be quiet inside. While I'm there, a whole chain of thoughts come to me. And they led to this scripture:
"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
This verse seems so cliche', I know. But what Paul is saying here is really powerful. He says this because he knows all about the battlefield in the mind.
I can't tell you how many times the Lord has brought this chapter is Philipians to my attention. The more I go through and the more He reminds me of this, the more I can use it as a weapon in my battle.
What he is saying here is crucial.
This morning, I'm on a walk/run and this song called "no weapons" comes on my ipod by Brian Whalen. And as it came on I started thinking about how the Lord gives us the weapons we neep to fight the battle in our mind.
When any word of Life or Love comes into our mind, our carnal mind rises up in fiery to oppose that truth. It says the carnal mind is emnity toward God. That is a form of opposition and hatred toward something. So there becomes this battle for our mind...for our being. God wants to abide in us and move through us and so does darkness.
Everything that we receive into us creates our perspective which then creates the outside (our earth). You can look around and see what the human race's perspective has created. We create our world with what we believe. With what we allow in us...by what we are.
For so long there have been lies we believed and darkness we have been consumed with. And the Lord wants to wash those things away with His thoughts. That's why He uses water as one of the things He compares Himself to. Because water is pure and it washes. That's why He uses seeds. Because seeds are planted and when they are cultivated, they grow.
The more God wants to change me and deliever me, the more my mind rises up. Those things that don't want me to believe the truth about God or myself. They want me to keep thinking about them. They want me to focus on situations and issues and worry and fear and negativity. But the Lord gives us the weapon to defeat even the strongest stronghold in our life. He begins to unveil Himself to us and show us who we truly are and are meant to be. He plants seeds in us. He rains on our earth. But the secret is to rise up in violence with our Faith. With the thoughts that He gives us.
For some time now, our ministry has been releasing words about rumination. Rumination is when certain animals bring up their food and chew it again. It goes down into the stomach and then they bring it back up, chew it again (break it down more) and then swallow it again. Rumination goes one in the same with meditation. We brings things into our conscious and into our awareness. All day long we think. And the Lord is telling us to practice thinking about Him and who He showed us we are. That is our Faith! This becomes hard to do in the battle. It's not easy at all.
I remember when I was litte, my dad always used to get on my about practicing my shot and my left hand. I was weak at my left hand. My shot was good, but I wanted it to be better. So I could shoot with someone in my face. (talking about basketball). But I didn't. I didn't go the extra mile. I settled. Because to me it was too hard. I didn't want to take the time to do it. The same thing happened with me in school. When there were things I needed to work harder at then others, I didn't want to do it. Because it took extra effort. And so goes the same with this. If we want to win, we have to go the extra mile. We HAVE to give the extra effort. He gives us everything we need to win. He gives us Himself. But we have to use Him. And we will be tested over and over again. So we get stronger and stronger. Or weaker and weaker if we don't fight. The first time, it might be hard to remember Him. But after test after test, if we are practicing, we can grab our weapon and slay the giant that rises up in us and tries to tell us "I am truth". If we begin to meditate on our weapons more, when the test comes....a situation or a cirmumstance that causes things to surface in us and tell us "this is reality", "this is who you are", "this is who God is"...those things which are lies....we have meditated so much on what the truth really is, that it is easier for us to remember and believe the truth. And those lies lose their hold and their power begins to decrease.
Mediation is a form of intimacy with the Lord. Because as we bring Him into our mind, and who we are in Him into our mind, there is a consumation taking place. A union. Between our human body and Him. It is truth becoming one with us.
We have to be so careful what we allow in our minds. There is this lady I work with. She is always dealing with all these misc. health problems. And I know it's because of what she is allowing in her mind. Thoughts about herself. And just bascially a longing to be Loved and have some sort of attention. But she is destroying herself. What she needs is the Holy Spirit. To rain on her and plant seeds in her. Of truth. Of Him. Or who she really is. And I know as her thoughts and mind would begin to change, so would her health problems. That I believe she is just making up. But this woman needs Love.
I believe as we allow the Lord to Love us. And come into our mind and reveal truths to us, we will them becomes Love. And we can plant seeds and rain on people that desperately need it. And then we can teach them about the battlefield in our mind and they can defeat those things that rise up against truth.
This is heaven coming to earth. Him coming into us. Making us good like Him. Freeing us. Delivering us. Saving us. From things in us that lie to us. That begin to kill us. And lead us in the wrong direction.
We all have voids. That long to be filled. And we seek things to try and fill the emptiness. If we fill those voids with Light, we will produce the fruits of the Spirit. But if we always try to fill our voids with things that will perish, we will never be truly satisfied and act out in fruits of flesh.
The Lord showed me a picture of a cross awhile ago, and He said to stay in the verticle place. And as I stayed in the verticle place with Him, He would take care of the horizontal. I didn't have to worry about that place or work so hard with my own hands in that place. Because as I stayed in the vertice (heavenlies) everything would fall into place on earth. And he was asking me trust Him, as I let go of the horizontal and cling to the verticle. Looking UP. Not to the side. But focusing on truth. On the Faith He had blessed me with so far and was continuing to bless me with. In that place He can fill my voids. I can endure the horizontal situations and allow them to press me and form me.
I'm tested a lot in Loving people that rub me the wrong way. I don't know how to Love everybody. That's truth. It's easy to Love those that Love me. But when there's a situation where someone does something to me or acts the opposite of Love toward me, things rise up in me. My desire is to Love them. To Love even my enemies. To even begin to break through to them with an unconditional Love. But I've gotta be tested and formed with sitiations. If I don't experience that, how will I ever learn to Love no matter what. They shape me and form me each time they happen. Making me more weak. But if I take it personal and forget what the Lord is trying to teach me, I will act out of the lie and out of a false reality. I will act out of voids.
Our breath is what we project out in our actions and speech. Which comes from what it is in our mind...what we bring into our mind. It says this in a book I read. That our breath "plants the land". We bring others into oneness with what's in us. Don't we want to produce Life and Love? True Life and Love. The kind that will never perish. The kind that can't be shaken. Uncondition Love. Let us protect our own land. So we can help others come to life. People are dead all around. Suffering. Struggling. Hurting. Hopeless. They need a touch from the greatest Lover of all. They need their earth rained on so it becomes full of green! We are here to to be consumed by the breath of God so we can breathe on others. We are here to GIVE. Not just to live unaware of the darkness on earth. But to becomes one with God to overcome it.
Let us rise up against our enemies...against God's enemies with the weapons He equipts up with. Let us meditate things that are "true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things". And let that resinate in us and become us.
Let us fight for LOVE! For Life for oursleves and others. That our heart would becomes pure. Full of compassion and true boldness in the Lord. Let us defeat principalities and strongholds that oppress all of us!
Amen.
To freedom!
MLB
Sunday, June 5, 2011
I like your heart, 6/5/2011. Featuring Bill Johnson and Wade Taylor.
I like your heart, 6/5/2011. Featuring Bill Johnson and Wade Taylor.
These are some things I wrote down in my journal in the past two years. They have helped me immensely in this season, just by re-reading them and meditating on them. Especially when I'm distressed. The first set are by Bill Johnson and the second by Wade Taylor. These seeds are so powerful! I hope they produce fruit in your life and help you overcome anywhere the enemy is trying to push you down and keep you there. Because if we get up and stay up...he is overcome...and we now have power over him and can help others have power over him. He doesn't want that. He puts up a fight. But our God is greater! : )
Bill Johnson....
You and I will always reflect the nature we are most aware of. We will always eminate, wherever we go, we will always carry the fragrance of the world we are most aware of. (Peter's shadow healed people.) Your shadow will always release whatever overshadows you.
Any person, any single believer, from the strongest one who walks the planet to the weakest one...every person in capable of turning in fear if they feed their heart on the wrong stuff. If you dwell on the wrong things long enough, you will adopt a fear reaction.
The first temptation wasn't turning the stone to bread-it was to react out of fear because of not having a clear identity.
When a word comes to us-it must be tested.
Words must be tested for two reasons. You have to know that what was spoken over you was absoluetly true. And, you won't know the strength of a word until you see the strength of its opposition. Secondly, a promise is given that must be tested because your reward for receiving the promise must be based on you having an option.
The Lord doesn't bring you a promise that requires nothing from you.
He brings you a promise and then something happens in your life that contradicts your promise.
Why? The word of God has all of heaven behind it-unlimited power. God said reguardless of opposition, that word will be proven true and will be effective!
If I give my heart to the contradiction, the questions, the suspicions-if I fuel the questions with my authority, I will take that which is powerless, and it will gain such a significant power that it will undermind even the word of the Lord over my life.
He wants to release reward-but there's no reward without choice.
It's tempation to act out of insecurity and and fear to prove who you are.
If I give my attention to the challenge and I begin to question whether this is true (what God said) then I have lended my authority to that which has no power without me. God's word has all power. Satan's word, if you're the son of God, has no power. He can't create anything. There's no creative force in his words. His power is in you and me reacting to what he says or does with fear.
Then that which has no power has my deliagted authority and power. It now underminds the purpose of God in my life.
If we hear the Lord and hold to what He says reguardless of circumstances and we allow the Holy Spirit to affirm our identiy as children of God-then all the other temptations in life lose their bite. Because those who know who they are in God are not gonna lower themselves for something insignificant and self-destroying.
I can't afford to have a thought in my head about me that's not in His head about me.
The mind is only useful when it comes under the influence of the Spiritman. He wants to teach us how to think. He wantrs to teach us divine perspective.
The Lord is after your mind because your mind becomes the canvas that He paints on.
A renewed mind is one of the most valuable things. The renewing of the mind is not simply being able to quote a verse to address a specific problem. It is not that. It is a renewed mind that comes from a divine encounter. Any revelation from scripture that does not take me to the person of Jesus in divine encounter will only make me more religious. It will only equipt me to argue with people who disagree. What has to happen is that you and I, as we learn from the scriptures and we see what is saying...it is vital to us to say "ya know what? It's not good enough for me to have concept and the theory. I must have experience!"
Jesus is interested in changing culture. Not just getting bodies in chairs.
Somethings you can't get any other way then by being a soldier. It would be nice if we could just kinda coast and float our way into all the great breakthroughs of the kingdom. But it just doesn't happen that way. Some things only come because there is a taking by violence.
Faith doesn't come out of striving. It comes out of surrender.
We don't expand our awareness of God's presence through striving. We enlarge our awareness of God through rest.
Wade Taylor....
"Very often, the trials we go through are for the benefit of others. If we fail to recognize this, we may react and come short of becoming a vessel prepared to help others through their tribulation. We are only qualified to minister to others after we have been tested and proven to be faithful; otherwise our ministry will be harsh and vindictive."
"When we make a total commitment of our lives to the Lord and begin to seek the higher realms of God (being rather than doing), asking Him to move within us in anyway that he may desire, there will be an intense opposition from the enemy to our "waiting.
A warfare, or attack of the enemy will come against us to divert us whenever we begin to seek the Lord in earnest. All kind of thoughts or things to do will suddenly come into our mind. We must rise up in violence and both renounce and resist this attack.
The enemy knows the power that can flow through the life of the "one" who has been alone with the Lord and the effect it can have on those who witness the resultant glow upon their face. Therefore, he ever seeks to keep us from entering this place of intimacy with our Lord."
"The result of the manifest presence which we experience in our times of intimate communion with the Lord, will be seen by others. This will stir them to also seek a personal knowledge of Jesus."
"Once we have tasted the fruit of time spent waiting in the presence of the Lord, we will be satisfied with nothing less."
"The Lord is waiting for us. When we begin to trust Him and lay aside our attempts to work out our own destiny, and place it in His hand, He will bring us through. Then we will discover that what He has for us is far better than anything we could have arranged for ourselves."
"If I were to tell a 4 year old, "you are a baby", this child would become quite indignant and inform me that he is not a baby, but rather "big". Children ever long to be instantly grown, but this requires a fixed, pre-determined period of time. However, our rate of Spiritual growth is governed by a different law. This time can be shortened through our cooperation with the Lord, as He "works" together all things in ways that will enhance our Spiritual growth. The first phase of this law is a drastic reduction of us. We must set aside all ideas of our own spirituality and become as children. Ready to learn."
These are some things I wrote down in my journal in the past two years. They have helped me immensely in this season, just by re-reading them and meditating on them. Especially when I'm distressed. The first set are by Bill Johnson and the second by Wade Taylor. These seeds are so powerful! I hope they produce fruit in your life and help you overcome anywhere the enemy is trying to push you down and keep you there. Because if we get up and stay up...he is overcome...and we now have power over him and can help others have power over him. He doesn't want that. He puts up a fight. But our God is greater! : )
Bill Johnson....
You and I will always reflect the nature we are most aware of. We will always eminate, wherever we go, we will always carry the fragrance of the world we are most aware of. (Peter's shadow healed people.) Your shadow will always release whatever overshadows you.
Any person, any single believer, from the strongest one who walks the planet to the weakest one...every person in capable of turning in fear if they feed their heart on the wrong stuff. If you dwell on the wrong things long enough, you will adopt a fear reaction.
The first temptation wasn't turning the stone to bread-it was to react out of fear because of not having a clear identity.
When a word comes to us-it must be tested.
Words must be tested for two reasons. You have to know that what was spoken over you was absoluetly true. And, you won't know the strength of a word until you see the strength of its opposition. Secondly, a promise is given that must be tested because your reward for receiving the promise must be based on you having an option.
The Lord doesn't bring you a promise that requires nothing from you.
He brings you a promise and then something happens in your life that contradicts your promise.
Why? The word of God has all of heaven behind it-unlimited power. God said reguardless of opposition, that word will be proven true and will be effective!
If I give my heart to the contradiction, the questions, the suspicions-if I fuel the questions with my authority, I will take that which is powerless, and it will gain such a significant power that it will undermind even the word of the Lord over my life.
He wants to release reward-but there's no reward without choice.
It's tempation to act out of insecurity and and fear to prove who you are.
If I give my attention to the challenge and I begin to question whether this is true (what God said) then I have lended my authority to that which has no power without me. God's word has all power. Satan's word, if you're the son of God, has no power. He can't create anything. There's no creative force in his words. His power is in you and me reacting to what he says or does with fear.
Then that which has no power has my deliagted authority and power. It now underminds the purpose of God in my life.
If we hear the Lord and hold to what He says reguardless of circumstances and we allow the Holy Spirit to affirm our identiy as children of God-then all the other temptations in life lose their bite. Because those who know who they are in God are not gonna lower themselves for something insignificant and self-destroying.
I can't afford to have a thought in my head about me that's not in His head about me.
The mind is only useful when it comes under the influence of the Spiritman. He wants to teach us how to think. He wantrs to teach us divine perspective.
The Lord is after your mind because your mind becomes the canvas that He paints on.
A renewed mind is one of the most valuable things. The renewing of the mind is not simply being able to quote a verse to address a specific problem. It is not that. It is a renewed mind that comes from a divine encounter. Any revelation from scripture that does not take me to the person of Jesus in divine encounter will only make me more religious. It will only equipt me to argue with people who disagree. What has to happen is that you and I, as we learn from the scriptures and we see what is saying...it is vital to us to say "ya know what? It's not good enough for me to have concept and the theory. I must have experience!"
Jesus is interested in changing culture. Not just getting bodies in chairs.
Somethings you can't get any other way then by being a soldier. It would be nice if we could just kinda coast and float our way into all the great breakthroughs of the kingdom. But it just doesn't happen that way. Some things only come because there is a taking by violence.
Faith doesn't come out of striving. It comes out of surrender.
We don't expand our awareness of God's presence through striving. We enlarge our awareness of God through rest.
Wade Taylor....
"Very often, the trials we go through are for the benefit of others. If we fail to recognize this, we may react and come short of becoming a vessel prepared to help others through their tribulation. We are only qualified to minister to others after we have been tested and proven to be faithful; otherwise our ministry will be harsh and vindictive."
"When we make a total commitment of our lives to the Lord and begin to seek the higher realms of God (being rather than doing), asking Him to move within us in anyway that he may desire, there will be an intense opposition from the enemy to our "waiting.
A warfare, or attack of the enemy will come against us to divert us whenever we begin to seek the Lord in earnest. All kind of thoughts or things to do will suddenly come into our mind. We must rise up in violence and both renounce and resist this attack.
The enemy knows the power that can flow through the life of the "one" who has been alone with the Lord and the effect it can have on those who witness the resultant glow upon their face. Therefore, he ever seeks to keep us from entering this place of intimacy with our Lord."
"The result of the manifest presence which we experience in our times of intimate communion with the Lord, will be seen by others. This will stir them to also seek a personal knowledge of Jesus."
"Once we have tasted the fruit of time spent waiting in the presence of the Lord, we will be satisfied with nothing less."
"The Lord is waiting for us. When we begin to trust Him and lay aside our attempts to work out our own destiny, and place it in His hand, He will bring us through. Then we will discover that what He has for us is far better than anything we could have arranged for ourselves."
"If I were to tell a 4 year old, "you are a baby", this child would become quite indignant and inform me that he is not a baby, but rather "big". Children ever long to be instantly grown, but this requires a fixed, pre-determined period of time. However, our rate of Spiritual growth is governed by a different law. This time can be shortened through our cooperation with the Lord, as He "works" together all things in ways that will enhance our Spiritual growth. The first phase of this law is a drastic reduction of us. We must set aside all ideas of our own spirituality and become as children. Ready to learn."
Saturday, June 4, 2011
He picked up the pieces...
How hungry I was when I asked.
You to break my heart.
When I asked You to shatter it into pieces.
How hard parts of it felt.
How desperate I was for compassion to sit in the center of me.
True compassion.
How exposed I sat.
Looking at myself.
Looking at You.
How strong the Longing was.
To hold You close.
Touching.
Embracing.
Melting into each other.
Our breath One.
Hungry out of my mind.
For more.
Not satisfied.
Because I saw what could be.
Not settling.
Not compromising.
How easy it sometimes can be.
But I was hungry out of my mind.
And calling out.
To be broken.
To be soft.
To be strong.
Real strength.
That comes from my bones.
Those that hold me up.
Those that aren't seen.
Now here I stand looking down.
At my heart on the floor.
Broken into pieces.
Won't You help me pick them up?
And You answered "Don't touch them."
I looked up in question.
You continued "I will do it."
I saw the warmth in Your eyes.
The comfort in your gaze at me.
I saw the deep Love.
And I knew what You meant.
I knew it was the answer to my prayers.
That You would pick up the pieces.
And put them back together.
Intrictly, like You do.
Perfectly, like Your Love for me.
My pain evaporated in that moment.
The pain of a shattered heart.
The ache of a weary mind.
I saw You pick up my heart.
I saw you Love me.
I saw Hope.
You said "it's not over yet, my child."
"But if you remember the warmth in My eyes,
if you remember the comfort in My gaze,
you will find relief. You will find My Love.
You will find Strength. You will have Hope."
He grabbed my hand.
And as He grabbed my hand, I let go a little more.
I took another step forward.
I told Him how uncomfortable change is.
He told me about birth.
How beautiful it is yet so agonizing.
And we both smiled. And kept going.
Together.
"Thank You for Hope, Dad."
MLB
You to break my heart.
When I asked You to shatter it into pieces.
How hard parts of it felt.
How desperate I was for compassion to sit in the center of me.
True compassion.
How exposed I sat.
Looking at myself.
Looking at You.
How strong the Longing was.
To hold You close.
Touching.
Embracing.
Melting into each other.
Our breath One.
Hungry out of my mind.
For more.
Not satisfied.
Because I saw what could be.
Not settling.
Not compromising.
How easy it sometimes can be.
But I was hungry out of my mind.
And calling out.
To be broken.
To be soft.
To be strong.
Real strength.
That comes from my bones.
Those that hold me up.
Those that aren't seen.
Now here I stand looking down.
At my heart on the floor.
Broken into pieces.
Won't You help me pick them up?
And You answered "Don't touch them."
I looked up in question.
You continued "I will do it."
I saw the warmth in Your eyes.
The comfort in your gaze at me.
I saw the deep Love.
And I knew what You meant.
I knew it was the answer to my prayers.
That You would pick up the pieces.
And put them back together.
Intrictly, like You do.
Perfectly, like Your Love for me.
My pain evaporated in that moment.
The pain of a shattered heart.
The ache of a weary mind.
I saw You pick up my heart.
I saw you Love me.
I saw Hope.
You said "it's not over yet, my child."
"But if you remember the warmth in My eyes,
if you remember the comfort in My gaze,
you will find relief. You will find My Love.
You will find Strength. You will have Hope."
He grabbed my hand.
And as He grabbed my hand, I let go a little more.
I took another step forward.
I told Him how uncomfortable change is.
He told me about birth.
How beautiful it is yet so agonizing.
And we both smiled. And kept going.
Together.
"Thank You for Hope, Dad."
MLB
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