A new pair of shoes

I only thought women dream about shoes....  guess not

So I had a dream last week that kept creeping into the back of my mind until I finally sat down and wrote it out in my journal.

In the dream I saw a pair of old school white leather loafers they reminded of something from the 70’s, like maybe some shoes that Shaft would wear.  The shoes were obviously worn by a man but all I could see were the shoes and the shoes went different places, I saw them in the desert, in the mud, on the street, on a wood plank floor and on the carpet.

The shoes in the dream represented the church and the gospel message the church has been spreading.  The different places that I saw the shoes represented the different places and people groups that the church went to and preached to.

One of the things that I noticed is the shoes always got dirty as they went different places but they still stood out as being different, even when surrounded by other shoes.  What happened though is that over time even after many cleanings and shining’s the white shoes became dingy and gray.  They didn’t quite stand out the way they did in the beginning.  The message the shoes brought changed, it was more about blending in and conforming to the world and not going into the world to be a light, to stand out and be different, to present the world with truth and not conformity.  The message has been tainted and made dingy so it fits into the world.

The time has come for the Church to get a new pair of shoes.  Shoes that are formed at the hands of The Creator; shoes that convey His original gospel; shoes that remain white (pure & holy); shoes that don’t conform to the world; shoes that carry the Spirit and the Truth, that bring a balance to lives that can only come from Jesus.

I believe that the emergence of the apostles and prophets, taking their proper places in leading the Church, is a significant part of the new shoes; that this emergence will allow the evangelists, pastors and teachers to function in the true core and heart of their gifts. It will bring a freedom to the Church and it will show the world that there is indeed life and freedom to be had in God’s Kingdom.  It will show the Kingdom as being desirable and inviting instead of being a place of unattainable rules and religiosity.

One of the things that stood out in the dream was that none of the other shoes that came in contact with the white shoes converted or changed into white shoes.  There was a sense that the shoes weren’t open or flexible enough to fit the world it was trying to reach, so they went to the other extreme and conformed to it.  The new shoes allow for variations of size and style without compromising their original design.  The only way to obtain these new shoes is by going to Jesus and developing a relationship with Him.  He has a custom pair for each of us that help us fulfill our destiny, purpose and plan that He has for us.

Are you ready for a new pair of shoes?

A key to true relationship - Self Forgiveness

If God forgives us we must forgive ourselves otherwise it’s like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him. ~ C.S. Lewis

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 ESV)

The idea of forgiving ourselves for so many is a foreign idea but is so crucial for our growth, our health and our relationships, especially our relationship with God.  Some may think that by forgiving ourselves we are being self-serving or that we don’t deserve it because we are worthless sinners.  But what happens when we deny forgiving ourselves is that we set ourselves up above God.  He tells us that He is faithful to forgive us and that when he forgives us He remembers our sins no more.  So in not forgiving ourselves we are telling God that His forgiveness is not good enough for us. This stance and mindset grieves the Father because it keeps us from all that He has for us.

In Matthew 22 Jesus tells us: 37 Jesus said to him, “‘you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” We can’t truly love others or truly forgive others until we love and forgive ourselves.  We can’t truly minister to others if we haven’t accepted the ministry that Jesus provides for us. 

Self unforgiveness can block healing from happening and can cause a root of bitterness to grow in our hearts that skews how we view God and how we view others.  There is a lady that I know that was diagnosed with a terminal disease; she reached out to God and to others for prayer.  During a time of prayer someone had a word of knowledge about unforgiveness in her life so she forgave everyone she could think of but herself and the sickness continued.  She continued to reach out for prayer and the unforgiveness thing came up again, but this time the question was asked “have you forgiven yourself?” She had not, but proceeded to and she was healed.  A few years later she had come to the healing rooms for prayer for her shoulder; she was scheduled for surgery and really didn’t want to go through with it.  Self unforgiveness again came up, which she did saying “duh I should have thought of that…” Again she was healed and didn’t require surgery.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you (Matthew 6:14 ESV)

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34 ESV)

How can you tell that you have forgiven yourself? One of the ways is that you don’t continue to feel the need to keep asking God to forgive you for things that He has already forgiven you for. Another way is that you smell better because you are hauling around the old dead you and you are comfortable in the new creation that Jesus made you.  I think one of the major ways to tell is that your joy meter increases, it overflows and spills out on those around you.  You find yourself getting opportunities to share your testimony and share God’s true love that He has for you.  You really start loving others as yourself as Jesus commanded, because you are actually equipped to do it.

Being real... confession and forgiveness

So this morning I was checking my Facebook and there was a post by Nor ‘west Prophetic that really stirred something in my heart.  I guess to be honest it kind of opened a can of worms for me.

Here is what the post said:  When God’s children pray, He listens, He answers. Jesus taught us to pray “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” How many people have prayed this over the last 2000 years?  No wonder the Kingdom is breaking out all over.  Break out more Lord!

And this was my reply:  Unfortunately there are thousands of people that will say this prayer today and have said it for years more as a religious mantra than an actual prayer.  They are clueless
to the power in the words that they speak and it makes me sad that for them there is no reality of the Kingdom of God being at hand, as Jesus taught.  For them access to The Kingdom can only come
through death or return of Christ, whichever comes first.  It breaks my heart that they are clueless.  Lord I ask that You reveal Your Kingdom to those that are blind and apathetic, so that they may realize all You have for them.

After writing this I felt prompted to read what is referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer” in Matthew 6:9-13. Some believe that this is a prayer that needs to be repeated religiously and others that it is an outline for how we should pray. I believe that it there is power in the words that Jesus gave us to pray and that it can be repeated as a heartfelt prayer and used as on outline or guide in how we should pray.

Matthew 6:9-13 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.   Give us this day our daily bread.   And
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

When you read this prayer, Jesus is revealing important things to us, He is giving us keys.  He tells us that the Father’s name is to be “hallowed” which means: regarded as holy; venerated; sacred.  He affirms the gospel that He preached that the “Kingdom of God is at hand”.  He tells us to rely on the Father for our sustenance.  He instructs to forgive as we have been forgiven and to keep us safe from attacks from the enemy.

Something that caught my eye was the next two verses: Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”  When I read this, I heard this is a critical key to accessing the Kingdom.  Giving and accepting forgiveness allows for a clean heart which is prime territory for the Kingdom to come in.

In reading through this, I felt like God is changing something that I have had in my heart. After reading what I have already posted, you may assume that I am talking about unforgiveness, but that’s not what it is. I can’t tell you how many times I have preached or taught on how we are supposed to separate the sins from the people that are committing them.  That God loves people and hates sin and so should we.

I guess for me I have had an easier time separating the sin from the sinner with people that are outside of the church.  People that are criminals, addicted, leading a homosexual lifestyle, I can see beyond their issues.  At some level they don’t really know any better, they are products of their environment and culture.  I can sense God’s heart for them and see His desire for them to be set free.

Then there are people that are inside the church, the ones that should know better.  This is where
my issue lies, where I struggle, because I know that they should know better and it frustrates me.  Then I was shown that they also are products of their environment and culture.  In my processing this I was reminded of the times that I have been in public and people are letting their kids behave
poorly and don’t stop or discipline them.  Many times I will turn to my wife and say “their parents need a spanking” and in that God showed me that many times the leaders in the church are in the
same position.  They allow the propagation of poor behavior; they allow for judgment in the hands of those it doesn’t belong; they allow prayer meetings to become venues for gossip and rumor mills;
they let a spirit of religion run rampant and unchecked.   In realizing this, I figured out that I need to ask for forgiveness. One, because I was misplacing blame on people that didn’t know any better (but should), and two for having a feeling of angst against church leaders that lead these people into derision.  These are God’s children that have been led astray be a spirit of religion and need to be set free just as much as any of the people that are struggling outside of the church.

So LORD I ask that you forgive me for having these feelings against Your children, please help my heart line up with Yours.  Show me what You would have me do or say to minister to Your children better.  I know that You have called me to help others be released into their destiny, please
guide me in this as well.  Amen

Fruit of True Apostolic Leadership.... Love and Peace

I have been reading Culture of Honor by Danny Silk; first of all let me say that I highly recommend this book.  There have been many things that have spoken to me while reading this book, but there was a paragraph in the 6th chapter that I read the other day, that really jumped off the page at me. 

The chapter talks about the top priority of leadership.  One of these priorities is the need for leaders to create a safe environment, and that whenever the God is present, the environment is always safe. He also addresses how people have an impression of God that He is in a bad mood and many times this viewpoint is actually propagated by many church leaders.  Many times, because leadership behaves poorly and tries to control those in the church, the people in the church expect the same from God. 

When we have a viewpoint of God that He is not good, that He is in a bad mood; we will never reach our full potential in God.  We will never become free, whole and healthy. (This is my paraphrase and consolidated version)

Quote from the book that really spoke to me:  "But the good news is that conditions are changing. Heaven, the kingdom of love and freedom, is invading earth and love is directly confronting the fear that has governed us. Fear and love are enemies. These two spirits will not hold the same place together. Love and fear are like light and dark... fresh water and salt water... blessing and cursing. And one of them has to win. Love casts out the fear. Love not only casts out the fear; it brings
security, safety and shalom. This is the fruit that I am seeing in an apostolic environment....."

Back to me: There are many in the church today that are afraid to embrace the apostolic movement, leaders that have a fear of what they don't understand. Leaders that are afraid to give up control of
"their" flocks, propagate the fear.  The apostles and prophets should be the ones leading the Church. If they are truly submitting to God's authority, they can fully move in His call for their lives and the people in the Church are exposed the love of the Father and can reach their full potential.

Unity & Restoration

Ezekiel37:1-14 The first half of Ezekiel 37 is familiar to most of us.  It gives us an example of being obedient in speaking out what God is telling us to speak and how He
wants us to speak it.  In Ezekiel’s obedience he prophesied healing, breath and life into what started as dry dead bones in the desert. The result of his obedience was an army was raised and we received a promise from Abba of
having His Spirit placed in us.

Following this healing, restoring of life and filling of the Spirit, God tells Ezekiel to prophecy unity, that His people would be brought back as one.  The twelve tribes that had been divided into Judah and Israel would again be one people.

The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ And join them one to another into one stick that they may become one in your hand. And
when your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’ say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand. When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. (Ezekiel 37:15-22 ESV)

In reading this Scripture this morning, I felt like God was telling me that He wants there to be unification in his body.  His desire is to have his body healed; that life be prophesied into the dry bones; that the lifeless bodies that are standing with their armor on; that have been given what they need to go into battle, but have “No life in them”; that the breath of God be prophesied into them, so that He can fill them with His Spirit so that they can move forward in their destinies.

He wants to pour HIS SPIRIT out onto His Church, His Body. He wants centuries of division eradicated. He no longer wants mindless disputes over doctrines of man to blind His people; He wants them squashed so that all people will see Him for who He is.  In His true identity being revealed, we can walk out the one commandment that Jesus gave us: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31 ESV)  When we can come together as one body, speaking one
language, having one heart that is corporately focused on one God there is nothing that we cannot do (Gen. 11:6).

The Church, His Body, needs to move forward with a unified heart, so that we can accomplish all that He has for us.  He wants to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh as the Prophet Joel spoke in Joel 2:28.  We are being called as frontrunners, to be culture changers so that world is prepared for the coming of its King.  It is time fo the proclamation of Joel 3:9-21 to go forth. It is time for His body to move forward with one heart.  There is an ever growing urgency for Jesus’ gospel to be preached: “that the Kingdom of God is at hand”. We need to grab on to His kingdom we need to let it be on earth as it is in heaven.

So LORD by your prompting I prophesy life into the dead parts of Your Church, that doors and portals will be open.  That the churches that deny or hide from Your Spirit would be rocked to the core by that which they deny or are hiding from; that the shackles of fear propagated by the doctrines of man will be shattered. That there would be a great awakening as life is prophesied into the dead soldiers. I also prophecy that there will be nothing, no structure built by man to try and control Your flow of the Spirit and Your movement among the people.  That any attempt to build a cistern to contain Your outflow would be utterly destroyed. Instead You will provide us
with the means to ride Your flow, You will guide us into the right flow for  what it is You want us to do.  That as we ride these flows together we will fulfill the mission and purpose that you have for us individually and we will see how that works together in Your corporate unified body.  Amen

A foretelling of what salvation looks like

Ezekiel 36:³³ ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt. ³⁴ The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by. ³⁵ So they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶ Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken it, and I will do it.”   

So at the time our iniquities are forgiven or cleansed, we are immediatley able to dwell in God's kingdom, it doesn't take any special works it only takes belief in and confession of Jesus as the Son of the Living God and our Savior sent as the last sacrafice for our sins.  We are given immediate access and ability to function in the Kingdom of God, we can enter into His presence and come before His throne boldly.

In fact this restoration brings us back to the original intended design vs 35 above says "what was desolate has become like Eden."  He brings us back to the originally intended relatoinship (remember Adam and Eve walked in the garden with God, the spent time together).  It says in:
2 Corinthians 5:17 (Amp) ¹⁷Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

God was revealing to His prophet Ezekiel not only the restoration that He was getting ready to make for his people Israel in Ezekiel's time, but He was also revealing a picture of the coming restoration and salvation coming for all of creation through Jesus.

Highlight's from New Year's Eve

So we had a pretty amazing time, we weren't sure who all would make between the weather and the fact that it was New Year’s Eve. Then we were blessed with a group of 5 young ladies (Sam, Caitlyn,
Hannah, and two newcomers Brianna and Kendall) that showed up to hang out with us (Gert, Alyssa, Mary, Laura and I).  We spent a good part of the evening talking about what God is talking to us about for the coming year. Some of the common themes were going deeper with the Father and being more intimate with Him, and being more intentional and transparent. One of the verses that I feel that God is giving us (the Church) for the coming year is Isaiah 61:7 Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs.

Another Scripture that came out was Psalm 139, which speaks of intimacy and how deep the Father knows us.

During our time of ministry Kendall started getting prophetic visions for the some of the people that we were praying for.  When it came time for us to pray for her Laura asked her if she had ever had visions like that before and she hadn't, but she was really excited. I asked her if she had her spiritual prayer language and she didn't, I asked her if she wanted it and she said yes.  Almost immediately
as we started to pray, her prayer language started to flow and it was really funny because once she started she had a hard time stopping. There were many other special moments as everyone there received prayer. 

We closed the night with the blessing that the LORD gave to Aaron to speak over His people (Numbers 6)

²²Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,  ²³"Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

    ²⁴The LORD bless you, and keep you;

    ²⁵The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you;

    ²⁶The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.' 

 ²⁷"So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them."

 

And so starts a new year....