Link to article mentioned in last posting

I am not sure why the last post didn't post the link to the article I was citing from but I am going to try to re-post it here if you want to go to it.

http://global.christianpost.com/news/aclj-pastor-saeed-abedini-glowing-with-joy-prayers-making-a-difference-95878/#IFCUTwAAbec2iq4R.99

What does the More look like in our lives?

The season the Lord has had me in for almost a year now has been one of stretching, growing, revealing, and encouraging.  It started with stretching which led to growing then I was able to receive revelation I had not encountered before and as I have embraced the new revelation the Lord has been encouraging me to go further than I have ever been before.  It is hard to explain this new found revelation from the Lord so I decided to just post a story of an experience I had recently.  After having this experience I wrote it down in my journal.

Wednesday night worship and prayer                                                                                    May 8, 2013

I can see a door right in front of me and I feel like I am steadily moving closer and closer to it. I am touching the door knob and turning it to open the door.  As I pull the door open there is a bright light streaming in from the other side.  I am a little hesitant about opening it all the way, but the Lord says He is with me and gives me courage.  

So I open the door all the way and the bright light fills the entire doorway. I realize if I step across the threshold of the door I will be engulfed in the light.  I hear the Lord say, “It’s okay we can go together.”  He takes my hand and together we step through the door and into the light. As my foot touches the ground on the other side the light begins to move up my foot and then my leg.  As my other leg comes across the light is covering my entire body.  The light is on me and in me and I am in it. 

I look down at my hands and the light begins to shoot out of them from my palms and fingers.  Then I realize it is coming out of my feet the same way.  It is as if my pours are leaking the light as my whole body is glowing with it. I open my mouth to say something and light shoots out of my mouth, eyes, nose, and ears. I feel as if my body is going to explode from the light pouring out from it.  

Then I hear Father God saying, “You are a being of light and the light in you brings healing.”  At this point I feel myself going into intercession for Pastor Saeed Abedini to be healed and released from solitary confinement.  This longing way down deep in my spirit is overwhelming me and I begin to ask the Lord to send me to him. Then I just say send me wherever you need me to go, but just let me go before I burst from this healing light.

All of a sudden I was taken to a small dark cell.  I couldn't get a clear picture of how big it was as one time it looked not even big enough for a man to stand up in and then it looked as if it was about 6 ft  x 10 ft. and about 6 ft. high.  I then see Pastor Saeed on the floor in the corner of one end of the cell.  Before I can go to him I notice an angel at the far end of the cell and he is holding food for Pastor Saeed.  I ask the angel his name and he says he is Michael.  I realize there are no windows in the cell but I can see everything clearly.  Then I realize the light illuminating the cell is coming from me. 

I go over to Pastor Saeed and reach down to touch his face.  He is sleeping so I call to him, “Pastor Saeed, it is time to stand up.”  He awakens with a start and asks, “Am I going home?”  I say, “No the Lord is not finished here.”  I help him to stand and then I realize I am taller than he is, but he is not a short man.  I am standing in front of him but I am a head taller than him.  I reach out and embrace him and the light flows from me to him and he falls back to the ground.  I bend down next to him and I see the damage to his body. So I start at his stomach and I reach up into the air and grab a new kidney and bring it down to his body and it goes into his body.  (It was like I had access to a room of body parts where I was just reaching in and bringing it into the prison cell. Then his body would open up and receive it.)

I continued to do this with other organs and body parts until I no longer saw any damage.  I replaced his liver, stomach, gall bladder, and bladder.  Then I took my hand and moved it down over his legs and his bones immediately straightened out and grew together where they were broken.  I did the same for his feet and ankles and toes.  I moved my hand up to his spine and every bone, muscle, ligament, and tissue was repaired as the light from my hand moved across it. 

I then turned him over onto his back and as I ran my hand over his chest I could see one of his lungs was deflated.  It immediately inflated and expanded, and his ribs and collar bones fused back together.  I felt his heart begin to beat faster.

I then moved up to his head.  His right ear drum had burst and it completely returned to normal and opened up and all the swelling on his face went down.  Once the swelling went down I could tell his jaw was broken as it began to sag to the side.  As I held my hand over his jaw the light moved across it and it went back into place and even a few teeth that were missing in his mouth grew back into place. 

Then I saw the helmet on his head.  It was oppression and depression that the enemy had placed over his mind.  There was a metal latch across the front of it and as I began to unlatch it to take it off two demons began to scream and hiss at me.  I took my hand and moved it in front of the demons and when the light touched them it knocked them backwards into the wall and they disintegrated.  It was then that I realized why Michael was there.  The demons had been tormenting Pastor Saeed and Michael was there to make sure they didn't kill him.  He had the food there to help keep Pastor Saeed's strength up.

I reached down and kissed his forehead and told him the Father loved him and had been with him from the beginning.  That He wanted to invade the prison with His love and was going to use him as a sign and wonder of His love.  I said, "the Father has healed you and will continue to send His angels to protect, feed, and nourish your body.  When you walk out of solitary confinement you will be healthier than when you were first arrested.  They will see and will want to know your God.  It will be an opening for the Father to come and lavish His love on the men in the prison."  I was whispering this into his ear and when I pulled back I saw tears streaming down his face.  I told him to pray and sing in the spirit in order to work with Michael keeping the enemy at bay and his mind sound.  I smiled down at him and he asked me who I was.  I told him I was just an intercessor who had been praying for him and then just as suddenly as the vision had started it ended and I was back in the church.

A few days later, my friend told me about an article that she had read that said Pastor Saeed had been released from solitary confinement.  It stated, "Other prisoners reportedly told Saeed's family that when Pastor Saeed was released from solitary confinement, 'he was glowing,' and that miraculously he 'was filled with more joy and peace after solitary' than he was before solitary."  http://global.christianpost.com/news/aclj-pastor-saeed-abedini-glowing-with-joy-prayers-making-a-difference-95878/#IFCUTwAAbec2iq4R.99

I have had other encounters like this before but this was the first one where I felt the Lord really encouraged me that it was real through the article.  A few months ago I would have thought this experience was just another cool vision that God gave me for whatever reason I didn't fully understand.  However, since January I have been listening to some preachers and teachers who have had similar experiences and they believe they have been trans-relocated in the spirit and that God has used them to touch others with His love, healing, power, and help in crisis.

John 14:12 specifically says, if we believe in Jesus we will be able to do the things He did and even more. Jesus was trans-relocated many times through out the new testament. John 6:14-15 says when Jesus realized the people were going to seize Him, He withdrew again to the hillside by Himself. Then further on in chapter 6 we read in 17-20 that the disciples took a boat by themselves out to sea and after they were 3 to 4 miles out to sea Jesus came walking to them on the water and got into the boat with them.  Also verse 22 says the next day the people still on the other side of the sea were still trying to find Jesus because they had seen the disciples leave in the boat without Jesus.  So not only did Jesus trans-relocate to the hills but also to the water where He got into the boat with the disciples.

There are other incidents where the crowds were angry at Jesus and wanted to kill Him and the Scriptures tell us He "hid Himself, went out of the temple, going through the midst of them" John 8:59. This doesn't mean He hid behind pillars or in a corner, it means He disappeared and walked right through the people.

Another time the angry crowd was going to throw Jesus off a cliff and again Scripture tells us He "walked through their midst and went on His way" Luke 4:28-30. This doesn't mean the angry crowd suddenly decided to part and let go of Him and let Him walk off, it means He disappeared in front of them and walked through them.  Jesus was trans-relocated to another dimension in the spirit in order to flee the crowds.  If Jesus did it, Scripture says we will do it and even more.

I am expecting to do the things Jesus did and am looking for the more!

Which Tree are You Living From?

The question of late has been how do we as individuals who believe in the power of the cross of Christ go from a natural place of living out of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to living supernaturally from the tree of life?

As a believer in Jesus Christ, His life, death, and resurrection there is a constant tension attached to my life regarding this belief and what it really means to me on a practical everyday level.  If I believe there is power in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ how does that change my everyday existence and is my life supposed to look like something other than it is?  What does the cross of Christ really mean for me as an individual living in an affluent culture where I am taught that I don't need God.  Where I am taught I can take care of myself and live my life doing whatever makes me happy with no thought of God or His influence on humanity. (Unless of course I see an injustice which I can readily blame on His negligence or lack of feeling for me or others)

In my frustration with life and the mundaneness of it I seek to find what is missing.  Life doesn't seem to have much meaning within the confines of the daily routines involving work, church, and everyday home life.  There must be more to this "Christian" life and I intend to find it!

Two influences who the Lord has set in my journey of discovery have been Jared Black and Ian Clayton.  I began listening to Ian about a month ago and through his teaching the Word of God has opened up to me in ways it never has before.  Now I find after attending teaching sessions with Jared Black the Lord seems to be saying very similar things.  Both of these men have learned the value of studying the Bible from a Hebraic interpretation instead of from the Greek interpretation in which we now have.  This leads both of them to a form of teaching that is more Rabbinical in nature. Leaving each subject open ended in an effort for the student to "chew on" what has been said and seek God for the answer therefore making room for relationship between the student and the Savior. I personally thrive in this form of teaching because it gives me time with the Father to work out of me everything that is not like Him.

So in my journey of discovery the subject that God seems to be highlighting within both settings involves the way I live my life as follower of Jesus and the two trees in the garden seem to be His method of approach.  The tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life found in Genesis represent two ways of thinking and living life.  It says in Genesis that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought death while the other tree brought life.  So just like Adam and Eve we have the choice to live our life pursuing the knowledge of good and evil or pursuing life.

Jesus was our example here on earth as He never addressed questions posed to Him from a right or wrong standpoint. He always gave another option and turned it from right or wrong, good or evil to something else. The something else He would focus on most often resulted in the choice of life or death.  So what does this look like for us as we live in a society where social justice has become the god of choice and what is right or wrong, good or evil is in the eye of the beholder? How do we climb down from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and climb up the tree of life?  What does that look like practically?

This question is not easily answered because unless we are daily sitting at the feet of the Father learning what His heart is saying in every situation our natural tendency is to run back up the tree of knowledge and judge what we see from our perspective there.  How do we get down from the tree and stay down in every situation or circumstance that comes up?

Today while listening to a teaching by Ian Clayton I heard some things that made sense regarding this very subject.  He stated that the Laws of the Kingdom of Heaven are not a set of rules and regulations that produce death but are a lifestyle of knowing and experiencing the power of a higher law.  The Laws of the Kingdom of Heaven produce life.  This statement reminded me of the two trees one producing death the other producing life.  He went on to state that the Laws of the Kingdom of Heaven are a living substance that exists in a living kingdom and is secured by relationship with that kingdom.  If you don't have a relationship with the Kingdom of Heaven and secure the laws out of that kingdom then you will remain subject to the laws of sin and death.

So what does this mean for me in the confines of my earthly existence?  I am not sure, but one thing I do know, if living in the confines of this earthly existence keeps me subject to the law of sin and death I need to find a way out of these confines.

The Lord has revealed to me in a greater way lately the truth of my existence as a spirit being first.  I was created to be a spirit being before I was created to be a human being.  This being said, as a spirit being I  have access to and authority in the spirit realm and the realm of heaven.  I am still fleshing this revelation out and all the nuances of it but if Jesus said in John  14:12 that we would be able to do the things He did on earth and even greater this makes perfect sense.  Jesus not only healed the sick and raised the dead, He also walked on water and through walls and crowds. If we are to do the things He did and more should it not stand to reason we would have to access and live our lives more as spirit beings than human beings?

If I could live my life continually as a spirit being there is no telling what my life would be like and how God could use me to further His Kingdom here on earth.  It would beat living a mundane life of routine any day.

As this revelation unfolds I would ask that you give me grace to explore what I am hearing the Father saying on the subject and seek to hear Him for yourself.

The Season of Transition

     This season of my life has been a very interesting one to say the least.  I have been very dissatisfied with where I am in my spirituality, in my work, in my relationships, in my church life, in my home life, etc...  It seems as though every area of my life is stuck somehow and refuses to go forward.  Now I have plumbing issues that have been ongoing for about a month without any solution that is affordable.  I was telling the Lord this morning that I feel my spiritual condition is manifesting in the physical realm through my plumbing issues.  This seems to happen to me a lot, I will have a spiritual issue going on in my life and it will somehow show up in my physical reality.  Then there are times I will have a physical reality that will later show up in my spiritual reality.  This is one of the ways the Lord speaks to me about what is going on in my life and sometimes in the lives of others.

     Anyway this feeling of being stuck appears to be manifesting in every area of my life.  I am ending one season and trying to transition into another season. However the transition is not happening and I feel stuck somewhere in the middle, not being able to go forward and not being able to go backward either. To give you an idea of what this looks like I am going to relay some of the particular events occurring in my life during this season. First of all, I felt the Lord asked me to lay down everything I had been doing at church in order to come to a new place of intimacy with Him as well as concentrate on helping my daughter transition into the next phase of her life.  I did that back in July-September finishing up my last obligation in December.  So every place in which I had identity within the church structure is gone.  If you have ever had to do this you can understand what a loss this is and how it feels like a large piece of who you are no longer exists.

     Next, I have been a mother for what seems like my entire life, it has been my identity and I would not know how to live my life without being a mother to someone.  My youngest child is now 18 years old and has moved to Los Angeles to go to college.  She wants to be an actress and influence Hollywood with the love of the Father, which by the way, she was made to do and I know she will do.  So much of the last few months of my life have been consumed by making sure she had everything she needed to achieve her dreams and goals and get her moved to California.  She is now safe and happy in a good home where she is loved and encouraged to go after God and everything He has for her.  So where does that leave me?  Without a child to mother; and another part of my identity that has been taken away.

     I have always felt I would one day get married again and have hoped for the day when I felt released to date.  I never felt God wanted me to date while I was raising my children for their sanity as well as my own.  Now that my children are grown I feel a release to begin looking around at the men the Lord has placed in my life but I am not having much luck.  I feel transition in this area is right around the corner and at the same time very far out of reach.

     My finances have always been a place of faith for me.  I felt after my divorce the Lord still wanted me to stay home as much as possible, like I did while I was married, in order to be there for my children and possibly diminish the effects of the divorce.  So for 11 years raising my children the Lord has provided for us without me having to work full time.  His provision has been a beautiful thing to watch and He has taught me so much about myself and about Him that I would have never learned otherwise.

     I am very thankful for this journey of faith He has taken me on over the last 11 years.  Over the past several months, however, I have been receiving words and confirmations that there is coming a change in my finances, that bills would be completely paid off, and I would have an exponential increase in my finances.  So I have been very expectant looking at any opportunity that comes up to see if God is in it.  However, if you look at my circumstances right now with being $88k in debt with school loans, no car, a part time job where I receive donations for my services, my daughter's school bill of over $9k half of which is due now, plumbing issues that are going to run about $1800, no money in savings, no help from family members, and no responses to the many job applications I have sent out, you  may say where is God in all this. He is not showing up at all.  Unfortunately, I cannot go there with you.  My experience has been God always shows up and makes a way when life looks impossible. Although I know God will show up, I still feel stuck unable to go forward and unable to go backward.

     I asked the Lord about this feeling of being stuck because I have learned over the years that anytime I am going through transition there will be times of feeling lost, lonely, and confused.  In the past these times have been seen to be the result of the Lord trying to get something out of me that is not like Him or doesn't line up with who He is or His Word.  I have learned many lessons over the years and the most important one of all is to go to Him in those times when I don't understand and am tempted to question what I already know to be true about Him.

     So after laying all of this before Him this is what I heard Him say, "Suzanne, I am preparing you for the next season and there are parts of you having a hard time with it, but now is the time and my timing is perfect.  You will get unstuck and it will be a place of freedom and rest for you.  I am teaching you new things in this season that will open up in you an awareness of Me and My plan for you to walk in.  This awareness will propel you into the next season of your life.  Write about what you are experiencing in this season and how I am showing you My grace and revelation of who you are.  The time for the sons of God to be revealed on the earth is fast approaching and I have prepared you to be revealed."

     Okay, so that is why I am writing all this down in my blog, because I feel as I get more and more revelation and I share it, more and more revelation will come and I will grow into who He created me to be.  One of the places that I am getting revelation is through the teaching of Ian Clayton.  The Lord first hinted at the fact that He wanted me to listen to him back in July when Rachael came home for a month.  She told me about him and we listened to one of his teachings on a road trip we took together.  At the time I was very impressed with what I heard and wanted to hear more, however, life got in the way and I ended up forgetting about him and what I had heard.
   
    Then when Elizabeth and I went to California in early December to look for her a place to live, the lady she is living with now asked if I had ever heard of Ian Clayton.  I told her the name sounded familiar but I couldn't place it.  She told me a little about what he taught and that she and the church she attends really agree with and follow his teaching. I couldn't argue with the things she was telling me that he taught but I didn't know this guy and what he taught and I was leaving my baby here with this woman, so I was a little skeptical.  However, I did not have a check in my spirit so by the time we got back home and life got in the way I didn't think about again.

     Then again when we went to California to move Elizabeth there we talked with the woman again about his teachings and again I was skeptical but didn't have a check in my spirit.  So I talked with Elizabeth about it and we both agreed we needed to listen to his teaching before making a judgment call and we both agreed it seemed weird but we weren't discerning anything that wasn't of God.  Elizabeth agreed that she would keep her discernment up and pray about whatever came up, so I felt better.  After getting home I was determined to check out his teachings in order to make a sound decision.

     Once I listened to the first teaching I was hooked.  I began to grow in the Lord exponentially because I finally found a place where I felt I was really being fed.  The reason his teachings are so different is because he teaches the Bible from a Hebraic standpoint instead of a Greek standpoint.  He interprets the Scriptures from the Hebrew instead of the Greek so a lot of what he says can really test your theology, make you think, and go to God for the truth which in my case has always the best place to be. I am amazed how his teaching has begun to answer so many questions I have had over the years about certain Scripture passages.  I have a Master's degree in Theology and have studied the Bible extensively over the years with so many questions unanswered.  Hearing certain explanations of passages from a Hebraic standpoint has opened my eyes to so much more of an awareness of the nature of God and has brought freedom through understanding and revelation.
   
     I have learned so much about going into the court room of heaven and taking care of business there instead of trying to do it from an earthly standpoint.  We have been given an open door to the throne room of God to ask for forgiveness and be called righteous before God, to worship in His presence without fear, to claim what is our inheritance through the shed blood of Jesus, and to petition God on our behalf for the things we need from moment to moment.  As a result of interceding from the court room of heaven instead of from an earthly place I have seen some of the places in my life become unstuck over the last few days.

     Money has come in to take care of my plumbing, which I see as a sign in the spirit realm of the beginning of the physical realm becoming unstuck.  As the plumbing problem is getting resolved I have also seen money come in from unexpected sources to begin to cover my daughter's tuition costs and I received a phone call for an interview for a job.  Slowly the pipes of my life are being unclogged as I gain more and more revelation of my position in this earth as well as in heaven and I am certain I will see the completion of free flowing pipes in the natural as well as the spiritual very soon.

     If you would like to hear some of the teachings I have been listening to you can go to ITunes and put in Ian Clayton podcast in the search and you will see about 23 teachings you can download for free.  Also, if you get hooked like I have you can find teachings you can purchase at his website: resources.sonofthunder.org

     I hope you will take the time to check out his teachings, I know it will inspire you and bring revelation.

Is My Fruit Visible and Active?

Today I read something that really made me stop and consider my walk with the Lord and how I was fairing in accomplishing that endeavor. Lately, the Lord has had me revisiting the small but powerful book, The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.  Brother Lawrence was a 17th century monk who made it his goal in life to include and recognize God in every aspect of his life spending every waking moment in constant communication with Him. He is known and remembered for his intimacy with the Father.  In his book today I read, "Necessity is laid upon us to examine ourselves with diligence to find out what are the virtues, which we chiefly lack, and which are the hardest for us to acquire; we should seek to learn the sins that do most easily beset us, and the times and occasions, when we do most often fall."  While recognizing sin in my life and repenting of it may seem a normal part of the everyday Christian life, the Lord seemed to put a new spin on it for me that caused me to realize I am not where I want to be regarding this area of Christian foundational teaching.  I tend to look at the big things as sin and overlook the everyday small things that quietly and slowly put a wedge between me and God.  I felt the Lord was trying to go deeper with me in this area and show me what was really inside my heart.

First He asked me what the virtues Brother Lawrence was speaking of were.  When the Lord asks you a question, you know it is for your benefit because He already knows the answer.  So I thought about it for a while and realized I really had no idea. Yes, there are many things we can insert into the category of virtuous, but all those things seem to have to do with my actions and it felt like the Lord wanted me to go deeper.  The dictionary defines virtues as, "moral excellence; goodness, righteousness; conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness; rectitude; chastity; a particular moral excellence.   There are cardinal virtues defined as, "justice, temperance, prudence, and fortitude; natural virtues which the dictionary defines as, "any moral virtue of which humankind is capable; and theological virtues such as, "one of the three graces: faith, hope, or charity, infused into the human intellect and will by a special grace of God.  While this is all good and explains it somewhat, it just didn't seem to get to the meat of the issue for me.

So I asked the Lord just what He was trying to get me to see in this passage from Brother Lawrence's book.  Then it occurred to me that the Lord infused into us His virtues when we received the Holy Spirit.  Galatians 5:22-23 give us the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  I realized that these were the virtues He was getting at.  He was asking me to check my heart and determine how much of these virtues could I see occurring in my daily life.  He showed me that the fruit of the Spirit was sort of a litmus test He had given to us as Christians.

The way we can determine if we are growing in intimacy in our lives is to periodically check the fruit.  As we grow in intimacy with Him the fruit becomes more evident in our lives because we are spending more time with Him. Just like our children tend to "become" like what we have modeled to them, so we "become" what we see modeled in God through our relationship with Him.

It is not about working to be perfect and have the fruit be shinny and bright so everyone will see we are "godly" because we have worked hard to be.  It is about being ourselves, loving Him, being with Him daily, talking to and including Him in our everyday, moment by moment life.  Brother Lawrence puts it like this,"It is the schooling of the soul to find its joy in His Divine Companionship, holding with Him at all times and at every moment humble and loving converse, without set rule or stated method, in all time of our temptation and tribulation, in all time of our dryness of soul and disrelish of God,  yes and even when we fall into unfaithfulness and actual sin."  He goes on to say, "...we ought to cease for one brief moment, as often as we can, to worship God in the depth of our being, to taste Him though it be in passing, to touch Him as it were by stealth."  It is this kind of relationship and intimacy that brings about the fruit of His Spirit being manifested in our daily lives.

So I decided to create a scale of sorts in order to somehow measure the fruit that I see manifested in my life on a regular basis.  It goes something like this: on a scale from 1-10, 1 being "I can't see any visible or active fruit in my life" and 10 being "all I see is visible and active fruit in my life".  I took each fruit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control and rated each of them 1 to 10 with a perfect score being 90.  I am not going to tell you my results because I feel that is between God and I but it did open my eyes up to the realization that God sees things as sin that very often I don't even consider in the running and I am a long way from my 90 point mark.

Taking a daily, weekly, or monthly rating of visible and active fruit in my life will hopefully keep me on track in growing in my intimacy with the Father and result in the manifestation of my life looking more like His heart than mine.  I encourage you to refocus your heart and check on your fruit.  I promise you will not be the same once you do.

After writing in my blog last night I had an experience with the Lord that I felt I should blog about as well. If you read the last blog you'll appreciate this experience.

I went to bed last night and was fast asleep when I was awakened by a knock on the wall above my bed.  It sounded as if someone was outside my house and knocked hard on the wall above my head.  I have been awakened like this before and the Lord has always had something profound to show me or tell me.

So I knew when I heard the knock the Lord wanted me to wake up.  I looked over at the clock to see what time it was because He has spoken to me through the time on the clock before. The clock said 12:25 am.

My first thought was the time represented December 25th and that maybe the Lord wanted to tell me something about Christmas.  So I asked the Lord what He was saying and I felt He said to look at Hebrews 12:25, "So see to it that you do not reject Him or refuse to listen to and heed Him Who is speaking [to you now]. For if they [the Israelites] did not escape when they refused to listen and heed Him Who warned and divinely instructed them here on earth [revealing with heavenly warnings His will], how much less shall we escape if we reject and turn our backs on Him Who cautions and admonishes us from heaven?

After reading this scripture I knew the Lord was confirming to me what I had written earlier that night in my blog.  We must turn and position ourselves so that God can bless us and we can escape the consequences of our actions.

Sorry it's been a long time since I last posted here, however, I've been about the Father's business else where.  I wanted to take a few minutes and just jot down some of my thoughts so I hope you'll give me grace for that.

This year has been an amazing year, so much has transpired and yet I feel there'll be so much more to come.  I feel the Spirit moving in so many ways the urgency inside my spirit continues to grow larger and larger until some days I find myself crying out for the Lord to break through and reveal Himself completely!  I find myself continually frustrated. Not out of being in the wrong place but out of knowing God is moving in the earth but feeling the need to push Him a little to make Him move faster. I know, I can't push God!

At times I feel my spirit will explode with His goodness and yet I still see so much anguish and heart ache all  around me.  This frustration seems to center around the next move of God and how it'll be manifested in the earth as well as in my life.  I feel revival is already here, many are turning their lives around and following fast after God, but then I see so many who are struggling with the very foundations of their beliefs because of injustice, heart ache, broken relationships, and not having a clear understanding what God's doing in this move.

I don't know if anyone can fully understand what God's doing and where He's taking us as a body of believers, but what I do know is I don't have to understand it.  He's in control and He knows right where we are individually.  He's very aware of our struggle, of our lack of understanding, and it doesn't hinder His movement in any way.  One of the things He continues to remind me on so many levels is the nature of my part in His movement.  My part is only to OBEY!  Nothing more, nothing less.  I'm continually reminded of the way Jesus obeyed the Father when He was here. He did nothing apart from the Father, (John 8:28, 5:19) He only did what He saw the Father doing.

So what's the Father doing today? Romans 4:17 says He's calling those things that are not as though they already existed.  I believe this is what He was doing when Jesus was here on the earth and I believe He's still doing it today. He did it for Abraham and He's doing it for you and me.

So what should we be doing?  Calling those things that are not as though they already exist in our own lives as well as in the lives of others.  We need to be calling our country back to who God created it to be, calling our leaders to who God says they are, and calling our families, friends, and neighbors to who God created them to be.

Part of my frustration is the urgency I feel for this country to turn back to God.  Our leaders have made some grave decisions that have postured this country in a position of having our backs to the very One who brought us to this land and gave us the freedom to create a nation under God and for the people.

Unfortunately we can't entirely blame the leaders, after all we're the ones who voted them into office in the first place and we're the ones feeling the consequences of that action. It's our job to stand in a place of repentance and turn our hearts back to the Father and pray for mercy.  It's also our job to seek out truth and life in every place even in our voting in November.

This election isn't about a man it's about truth and life.  It's not about who's right and who's wrong it's about life and death. (and I'm not talking about pro choice or pro life)  Jesus didn't come to judge the world, He came to bring life. (John 5:24)

As we decide who we'll vote for in the coming election we need to explore our values and morals, the places we see life and death.  Our standard should not come from a party or a man but should come from the written Word of God.  If the Bible is our standard to measure against those running for the highest office in our government we should be able to put aside parties and men and what they do or don't do and vote accordingly.

We're not electing a pastor, we're electing an administrator who will facilitate our morals, values, and beliefs and bring life back into this country.  Life comes from God, no where else!  If we vote according to what brings life the decision will be clear.

I urge each and everyone who reads this blog to get on their knees and pray for this country, pray for your own hearts, and pray for mercy.  We have turned our backs on God and we must stand in a place of repentance and turn back to Him our only source.  This should be our only posture in this urgent time and as we position ourselves toward Him, He promises us in 2 Chronicles 7:14 He will heal our land.  It's time to position ourselves!