Velocity.

Velocity
By: Billy Collins
In the club car that morning I had my notebook
open on my lap and my pen uncapped,
looking every inch the writer
right down to the little writer’s frown on my face,
but there was nothing to write
about except life and death
and the low warning sound of the train whistle.
I did not want to write about the scenery
that was flashing past, cows spread over a pasture,
hay rolled up meticulously —
things you see once and will never see again.
But I kept my pen moving by drawing
over and over again
the face of a motorcyclist in profile —
for no reason I can think of —
a biker with sunglasses and a weak chin,
leaning forward, helmetless,
his long thin hair trailing behind him in the wind.
I also drew many lines to indicate speed,
to show the air becoming visible
as it broke over the biker’s face
the way it was breaking over the face
of the locomotive that was pulling me
toward Omaha and whatever lay beyond Omaha
for me and all the other stops to make
before the time would arrive to stop for good.
We must always look at things
from the point of view of eternity,
the college theologians used to insist,
from which, I imagine, we would all
appear to have speed lines trailing behind us
as we rush along the road of the world,
as we rush down the long tunnel of time —
the biker, of course, drunk on the wind,
but also the man reading by a fire,
speed lines coming off his shoulders and his book,
and the woman standing on a beach
studying the curve of horizon,
even the child asleep on a summer night,
speed lines flying from the posters of her bed,
from the white tips of the pillowcases,
and from the edges of her perfectly motionless body.

Afterward by MLB:
I used to love this poem!
We are moving even when we are not.
Time is so precious. It doesn't ever stop for us.
It keeps pushing us forward.
There's so many empty lines coming off of people.
When I say this, I mean, unfortunate time spent.
Time that goes by without any good in it.
Depressing days.
Times hugged up by sorrow.
Abused.
Tortured.
Unloved.
Neglected.
Can't get up.
Wrecked with anxiety.
Confusion.
Anger.
Hate.
Strife.
Meaningless.
Division.
I don't mean to be negative with this.
Just truthful.
And I'm bringing it with an angle of inspiration.
Because it can touch somewhere deep in us.
Where we won't want to settle.
But we will move toward and fight for...
being the change we wish to see in the world.
Where lines of light come off of us moving in time.
Where we turn toward The Source of Light to receive.
So that we can give it others.
And it becomes our dedication.
To fight for this.
To turn to The Light.
To give.
Because time isn't stopping.
And anything can happen tomorrow....
So let us bend toward Love.
And surrender to Him.
And the very movement, in time, or out, whispering "hope".

Thoughts on the Casey Anthony trial and repentance.

Thoughts on "the Casey Anthony trial".

I haven't watched one bit of it. I've just heard people talk about it and I've seen glimpses of it's status on the internet. And now there's a huge uproar because the verdict was what every one WASN'T hoping for: not-guilty. Which I can understand. Your heart goes out for that little girl. And you just know the mom did it, and now she's getting off.

We all know how corrupt our judicial system can be. So this really shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Even though justice is supposed to be "fair", it isn't always that way. However, I think one thing that might've slipped our minds is that, though the natural justice system seemingly failed, God is still "The Judge". God sees everything and knows every thing. That lady might not have got what most people wanted her to get for what she did, but she is going to have to face God with this. And it's not gonna be between all of us and her and Him. This is going to be between her and Him. We can get around the natural law and the natural justice system, but we will never be able to get around our God...our Judge...our Creator.

And here is a mind blowing twist: Am I saying that she is going to go to hell for this. No, I'm not. Of course there is ALWAYS consequences for our actions. And if she is guilty, she will be found guilty before God. But here is how awesome our God is, and how different He is then us. She is going to have a chance to repent and receive salvation. One of God's main characteristics is FORGIVENESS. He is merciful. Which is hard for us to comprehend, because we want people to suffer. To get what they deserve. Eye for an eye. And then there's God. Who wants repentance. Why? Because that's what we "should" do? No! Because He actually desires sinners to turn to Him. So they can be set free and delivered.

Repent doesn't just mean to say sorry and then every thing is ok. Or to simply proclaim Jesus as your savior and you're good. Because you can do all those things and not really meant it. Or just use it as a form of manipulation. Plus, it's not a vain act. Where you say you repent because you're supposed to and you don't want to get in trouble. But then you go back and do it again. And again and again. And as long as you say you repent after each time, you're ok. My kids do that all the time in my classroom. They think if they say they're sorry, they are off the hook and can immediately get out of time out or not have to have any consequences to their actions. I started to tell them "Sorry means to change". If you're truly sorry, then you'll begin to change your behavior. You'll begin to see what kind of effect your behavior has on others and yourself. But that has to come first. An eye-opener. A conviction deep within you. To get you to the end of your rope. Where you don't want to be that way anymore. And you really want to turn away from the direction you were going. For your sake and others.

In the Old Testament, repentance speaks of a turning. In the New Testament, it speaks of a changing of one's mind. So what or who are we turning to? The mind of Christ. We're turning to Him. To get back to our Father, Jehovah. In the definition, it actually says to turn back. We were once with Him. And He wants us to come back. No matter how far we've gone away. If this lady would've had a renewing and washing of her mind with who Christ is and who she is really meant to be, would she have done that? NO! She is obviously some kind of sick. Mentally. Something is in her mind. Something other than Jesus. That would cause her to be how she is. The unfortunate and sad part about it is, she might not even know that Satan is her King right now. She might not have even chose him. Who knows what she went through growing up. What kinds of things happened to her. What kind of environments shaped her. Where and how the darkness came in. And began to consume her mind and control her actions. It doesn't make it ok. It's not an excuse for her. But it is the truth. And I believe God wants to change all of that. I believe he wants to open her eyes. And desires for her to repent. I believe He wants to set her mind free. And fill it with His.

But, we all have a choice to choose Him. We don't have to. He doesn't force us to. But she can never make the choice until it's in front of her and she can see it ("Eyes to see and ears to hear.") So do we damn her to hell? Or pray that her eyes would be opened and she would be saved? That she would give her life to The Greatest Lover of all. And He could do a great work in her. And she could be a mighty testimony of who He really is and of what IS possible. Because we think something like that is so far fetched. And that's probably our problem. Our own mind and beliefs. Who is He then? Someone that just sits back and watches? I don't think so. Things happened to people in the New Testament because they believed Jesus could do it. They believed in who He was/is. Why does that change? Why don't we believe in the power of The Holy Spirit? That it CAN happen today? What changed? Because I know HE didn't.

I hope we all repent. For the changing of our minds. For more belief in the impossible. And a greater heart for people that need The Savior the most. Maybe not with this trial, but I know in other situations and circumstances, I have unrighteously judged people. With my human mind and human heart. Lacking compassion, mercy and forgiveness. But I believe with my whole heart that if we open up to it...if we turn to Him and His truth and His ways and His mind and His heart...that we could know righteous judgement. We could know His mind and His heart. We could be washed by it ("Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." Eph 5:25-27). It could cleanse us and set us free. I believe we can know compassion, mercy and forgiveness. I believe we can have His perspective ("If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:" Php 2:1-5) . He doesn't withhold it from us. Why would He say "Love others as I have Loved you". We can't! Our human, first Adam nature can't. But we can turn to Him, allow Him to transform us from the inside out. Creating that Love in us.

Paul says in 1 cor 15:
42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
43  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

If these "seeds" are being sown in "corruption", "dishonour", "weakness", "natural body", "first adam"....this is for now!

When a man and a woman are having intercourse (except for rape cases), the woman chooses to be with the man and receives him. She is aware of what she is doing and is engaged in the act.

We are supposed to be the Bride of Christ. But He will never rape us or force Himself on us. He allows us to pursue Him, and choose for His seed to be sown into our mind. He waits for us to turn to Him. And engage in a relationship with Him. Learning of Him, letting Him Love on us. And save us and heal us and deliver us from evil. Transforming us more and more into incorruption, glory, power, spiritual body. Because that's what He is. And if He is in us then that's what we begin to become. Where there is Light, darkness shall flee. The more Light we allow into ourselves, the more darkness leaves. But we have to let go of the darkness. We have to divorce it. We can't be married to both darkness and Light. That's adultery.

I know I've said this before....Jehovah is not bully. And neither is Jesus. They just know what is best for mankind. And they see what darkness does to us. They hate the things that keep us in bondage. They hate to see us choose those things. They hate to see us choose destruction. He just wants us to turn. And not live in limitations. Thinking we have to live like this or this is all there is. There's so much more! And He gives us access to it. We just have to let Faith in and then walk by Faith and not by sight.

I know that was a lot. I just believe in a Brighter Day. And I know it can be now.

It's hard to pray for people we are feeling a type of way about. Believe me, I know. But maybe we can at least ask God to help us. Help us see like Him, think like Him and act like Him.

Because without Him, we can't. Apart from Him, we don't know true goodness.

Love doesn't always come as mushy gushy. Sometimes our parents had to give us tough Love. But it was all because they cared about us and desired to see us go in a safe direction and not do the "wrong" things in their eyes.

One more thing...I don't know where that little girl is, but I'd like to think that she is in God's hands. And that whatever she suffered, has been lifted off of her. Because He is perfect peace and Love.

I'm sending out an S.O.S.
Who's with me?

-MLB

Faith in the Kingdom!

I talk about Faith a lot so I just wanted to share a few things on the depth of It. Really, if we use faith generally, we can have faith in anything. "I have faith in you!" "I have faith in the Mavs this season." Or "my faith is Christianity." "My faith is Baptist." "My faith is Buddism." But what I learned about it, is that, it is truly substance. It's not just a strong hope or a sturdy belief. It is something immoveable. Something that is real. Something that is to stand no matter what. In Hebrews 11 it says "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." That word hope actually means expectation and full confidence. So it isn't hope as we've known it. Where you hope it will turn out one way but you really don't know if it will. This hope speaks of a true belief in something or something to come. "I have no doubt in it." And it's speaking of substance. So it's something that we have that causes us to expect and have full confidence. That's why it says it's also the evidence of things not seen. The substance is the evidence of things not seen. An example is Yeshua/Jesus. He was substance and evidence of the Father. He was Heaven on Earth. He was a picture of Faith. His essence was drawn from the invisible and manifested into the visible. His bones were the Father. It was what held Him up at all times no matter what. He was tested many, many times, not just by Satan Himself but by the Pharisees and Sadducees or by anyone that mocked Him or had unbelief in them. And sometimes, with us, that's enough to shake us. It's enough to cause us to say "maybe they are right". But Yeshua/Jesus never waivered. Another example is, what the Holy Spirit reveals to us about the Father. It is substance and evidence of the invisible. The revelation begins to manifest in our lives and become 100 percent real. You'll start to notice that what is being revealed specifically to you is for the greater union of you and The Father. And not only is the Father being revealed but so are you (the bride of Christ). What is being revealed is your Faith so you can become Faith (standing between The Father and others. Drawing from Heaven into you and then pouring out Heaven below.). Faith is not just the bones to hold your temple up, but they are weapons against the enemy. Also, the more sturdy your Faith gets, the more powerful it becomes for other people. Because they can see substance and evidence. Not just by what you say, but by how you live. People start to see Him. His fruit. They start to see Heaven as the essence of your earth. The word Heaven means the abode of God. So wherever He abides is Heaven. As we allow Him to reign in our earth, we become an extension of Heaven. " Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." A Kingdom is a place that has a King that rules and reigns the land. You can see clearly that right now, the King of this earth is not Yehovah/Jehovah by the fruit that is produced throughout the nations. It's the fruit of satan's breath...of confusion and misunderstanding of who the One true and Living God is and who we are. We can tell by the sickness and disease. By the natural and spiritual deaths. By the oppression. By the division. The cruelty. By the lack of Agape Love. By what goes on individually in a person....multiply that by billions and billions. And that is what makes up our earth. Rich and arrogant. Poor and malnourished. A corrupt earth. But it is clear that, that isn't what is meant to be. As we each turn to our Father and submit to Him, He can pour into us, and what He pours into us becomes our Faith. Our Faith becomes an extension of Heaven. And we become a piece of His Kingdom on earth. There's supposed to be healing! And miracles! There's supposed to be freedom in The Spirit of the Lord. From all the oppression the enemy has placed on us because we unknowingly have let him be our king for so long. Seeds planted in our minds. Lies. Experiences that have corrupted us. Lack of True Love. Of pure and Holy judgement. Of Spiritual edification. Of true goodness for our soul. Fruits of the flesh will always wound people in some way. It will always damage them. And that is why submission is so important. Because we, ourselves don't know. We can try to know and try to make up what we think true Love is. Or try to produce fruits of the Spirit on our own. But we can't. We just end up tired and weary. And want to give up or feel full of unbelief at that point. But with the Father in control and by allowing Him in us, He can do it. He can reveal perfect revelations to us. He can make our Faith a sturdy pillar within us. He can perform miracles. He has the right words for people. He can teach us everything we need to know. He can lead us into our destiny. He can heal. He can form true righteousness in us. Not righteousness we make up and try to fit into. He can change our minds and hearts. Because His Spirit holds all the power and all the truth. All the Love and all the fruits of the Spirit. But if we don't submit to goodness....if we fight against His Love...it will just make a big mess. Time and time again. Our Faith is always tested. Situations will come, thoughts from our carnal mind will come to oppose the Faith in us. When the test comes, we have a choice. This is our part. Our fight. We have to fight the opposition with our gift of Truth. And each time, our faith gets stronger and stronger. Enduring the test is often difficult. Especially at first. But the stronger our Faith gets, the easier it is to fight. It's like our muscles. Weight training. The more we lift the stronger we get. We have to practice our Faith and we will begin to develop a new perspective. So the opposition loses its power and our Faith is now alive. We live in the reality of Heaven. Not letting the oppression on earth bring us down, but instead, spread Heaven and defeat oppression. Though things might seem great in your life, things aren't so great in other people lives. And they need Saved. And not that we are their Savior...but it says...saved by grace THROUGH FAITH! People that The Father can use. People that He can have a relationship with. And then together, Love the world. Bringing unity all over the place. True unity. By His Heart and Mind ruling and reigning. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! Let us grow in Faith! And no longer be divided against each other. But rising up together against the enemy that loves division. Here's to US! -MLB

I like your heart, 6/10/11. Learning to Host the Presence by Bill Johnson.

I like your heart, 6/10/11. Featuring 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

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

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."

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