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Posts Tagged ‘Holy Spirit’

Relationships, Spiritual living

May 20, 2010

How to Become a Friend of God

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The Bible sets the goal for us to be a friend of God. You may have heard people talk about what a great relationship they have with God. No longer being young I have learned to not just listen to what people say but to look for the evidence, to look for the fruit in their lives. Does the person speaking reflect who God is? Does the person have good friends? Have they had some of the same friends for years? What does this person know about being a friend of God, or anyone else?

You see, it has occurred to me that if we cannot be a friend to someone that we can see, touch, feel and hear audibly, we might not have the tools or capacity to have a friendship and deep communion with someone whom we cannot always see, touch, feel and hear audibly.

Would you agree that the same capacity for the attributes of friendship with each other, such as loyalty, honoring others, generosity, acting with accountability, and trustworthiness, are also required to become a friend of God? Would God have a friend who does not listen to what He says, is not loyal to Him, or not trustworthy? I think not. He will love us, He will care about us, but I don’t believe that He will call us His friends under those circumstances.

Imagine a line or continuum called Relationship. At one end of the line would be the beginning point we will call awareness (of another) and at the far end of that line would be intimacy. In between we move from awareness to acquaintance, to social friends, to advisors, to intimate friends.

Process of Relationship

Awareness  →  Acquaintance   →  Social  →   Advisor →  Intimate →

Levels of Relationship:

Awareness:        We know the person exists. They might be a celebrity, or a neighbor or someone who rides the same train as we do.

Acquaintance:   We are not only aware of this person but we have met them, know their name, and perhaps a little about them. They may work where we work, live in our neighborhood or have children at school with our children. They can also be people we met at church or at the grocery store. Some people we are aware of are also our acquaintances.

Social:                   This is the category of friends that we often think of first when asked about our friends. These are the people that we talk to regularly, go out with or have into our homes. They know more about us than our acquaintances and we may talk about some things that are important to us, or we may not. We care about these people and they care about us in varying degrees. Some of our acquaintances are also social friends.

Advisors:             Advisor is not a perfect word here, but I have used it for emphasis to describe a special subset of our social friends. Advisors are the people that we have some sense or level of accountability to. They are the truer friends than others; they will tell us the truth, even when it hurts or is unpopular. They stand for many of the things we stand for and believe in many of the things that we believe in. This doesn’t mean that we are identical, but we have a relationship based on things that we share a common and have a high value for. They love us and weep when we weep, and rejoice when we rejoice. Some of our social friends are also our advisors.

Intimate:             Intimate friends are the fewest of all of course. They know us deeply. They know things that are private and most personal and they are our most valuable friends (relationships). These are people who will sacrifice for us, and maybe even give their lives for us. Some of our advisors, are also intimate friends.

One characteristic of this process or levels of relationship that might jump out to you is that as we move to higher levels of friendship, the subset of friends that fall into the next category is smaller.

My friend gave a going away party for someone once, and they joked about inviting the person’s hundred “best friends”. Sadly, if you have one hundred “best friends” you may really have none, because your best friends are going to fall far to the right of center on this continuum. The honoree was long on acquaintances and, but lacked the understanding and the skills to cultivate deeper relationships. Our best friends are our intimate friends which should include( but not be limited to) our spouses.

Another important characteristic of these levels is that the attributes of friendship given above, increase as you move from left to right. You may have no trust for a person that you are simply aware of while they are waiting for the same train as you, but you will have a great deal of trust for your advisors, and more for your intimate friends.

One of the reasons that we need our natural friends is that healthy and enduring friendships nurture in us the very attributes that we need to be a friend of God.

John 15:10-15 says, If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done–kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.

“I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature.

This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you.

This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends.

You are my friends when you do the things I command you.

I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father. [i]

Implicit in this scripture is the message that trustworthiness, the capacity to receive correction, the ability to be loyal in the face of personal detriment, a willingness to listen, to give our time in privacy to another and to share our innermost thoughts and feelings, are part of walking with God and being His friend. Walking with God is walking in communion with Him, endeavoring to see what He sees, and respond in the way that He is telling us to respond.

If you are walking in an intimate relationship with God today, perhaps you might express your gratitude sometime to those friends and mates who have helped you cultivate that capacity in your own life.

If you are not walking in the depth of relationship with God today that you truly desire, then go after Him. While you are pursuing Him, perhaps it would be good to also practice on the friends you have around you?

[i] “Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright � 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.”

Change Your Mind, Spiritual living

May 6, 2010

Season for Promotion

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Are you ready for graduation?  What have you recently qualified for?

A friend wrote in his blog this week that while recently attending the Michigan graduation of his sons, the Pro-Life protesters outside the venue at times drowned out the speaker.1

Also this week J. Lee Grady wrote about attending his daughter’s graduation in Georgia a few years ago. The keynote speaker, a State Legislator with well known conservative Christian values launched into a “blistering tirade” about immigration policy blaming immigrants for dangers, drugs and disease”. 2  The tenor of the ceremony changed and people became uncomfortable and embarrassed. All the parents, graduates and well wishers, along with foreign nationals (parents) were forced to sit through this diatribe which was inappropriate rather than uplifting and inspirational as the event called for.

2 Corinthians 19-23 says, “Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized-whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ-but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!”  3

People change from the inside out. If we want to see people transformed into, as Paul says, “a God-saved life”, we need to quit taking on the ways of the world. Its like Bible thumping,  now means trying to thump people over the head with a Bible, as if they can be transformed by osmosis in that process. Does anyone want to change their life and become like the person beating them over the head (even if that is only figurative)? I don’t think so.

In fact, we may need to consider Paul’s admonition to not just talk about the “Message” but to be the “Message”.

The world already has plenty of hostility, quarreling, outbursts of anger, dissension, division. 4  We don’t like to be the recipient of these things,  so why do we think they will have a positive impact on others? Galatians goes on to say, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 5

These are things that people must experience and see in our lives, if we are to have any real hope of “leading” them into a God-saved life. We cannot use the ways of the world to achieve spiritual transformation. Only the Spirit changes things for good for eternity.

My suggestion: Today deliberately speak and impart the fruits of the spirit to at least five people, plus everyone you live with. Even better, every time you speak, first deliberately chose one of the fruits of the spirit to demonstrate in your speaking.  No talking about it, just doing it, being it.

In other words, stop talking about Christianity, and do it.

When I was young my Mother always reminded us as we went out the door that we needed to speak and behave in a certain way. The implication was that what we did and said reflected on our whole family.

Today, are you a good reflection of the God’s family?

Yes, I know that I’m preaching to the choir here. Someone please tell me why that seems necessary?

1. www.michaelhindes.com

2. J. Lee Grady, Fire in My Bones, May 5, 2010

3. The Message

4. Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Gal 5:20

5. Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Gal 5:22-23

Change Your Mind, Character versus Gifting, Communion with God, Spiritual living, Things that separate us from God, Today..., Trust

April 26, 2010

Today: Tell the Truth

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Zechariah 8:16-17 But this is what you must do: Tell the truth to each other. Render verdicts in your courts that are just and that lead to peace. Don’t scheme against each other. Stop your love of telling lies that you swear are the truth. I hate all these things, says the LORD.”

How did it happen that we have become so comfortable with not telling the truth? Not telling the truth of course is called lying. I’m not talking about the kinds of lies that people tell for the purpose of greed, personal gain at the expense of another, to damage another person or to sustain criminal activity. We all know that is wrong.

I’m talking about what people call “white” lies, as if there is some kind of sanctified lying. It is like calling witchcraft, “white witchcraft”. Witchcraft is witchcraft and lying is lying. Just because someone goes to church, doesn’t make their lying (or their witchcraft for that matter) somehow acceptable.

Let’s be clear. God said, “Tell the truth to each other”.

This isn’t just a little problem. This is a huge problem.

For example: your friend Jamie asks you if you have heard the rumors about them being sloppy (or rude, or dishonest or whatever)? It seems like it is just a little thing (a lie), to say that you haven’t heard about these rumors. After all, is it going to make Jamie feel better to know that you too have heard the rumors? Why embarrass them? It will be awkward.

If you go through this process, you are being disingenuous, and dishonest. Not to mention that you are enabling others to gossip and lie by trying to cover those actions up.

The truth is that a lie at this point will hurt Jamie. Jamie has already heard the rumor so you’re not telling them anything they don’t know, except perhaps that you too, had been gossiping about them.

Are you really protecting them? Or are you lying to protect your own reputation (your pride)? You see God hates lies, and there is no lie that stands on a good foundation. If you don’t want to admit to participating in gossip, don’t participate. Even if you lie to your friend, God still knows the truth. You are distancing yourself from God, when you don’t tell the truth.

What Jamie needs isn’t more confusion, which is what a lie always brings with it. What Jamie needs is a friend who values them enough to tell them truth, even though it may not be easy to do.

An even bigger issue is that little lies beget big lies, and big lies become entrenched in our lives, our homes and our families. They can carry on for generations. Lies exist and take root in God’s absence, in the dark. In the dark is where the enemy can establish himself in our life. Lies hide secrets, and some secrets can hold generations in bondage. Families have secrets to keep and these secrets (lies) keep people in bondage.

No one wants to be lied to, so how can we justify lying to someone else?

A person who tells the truth is a person who can be counted on. They are a person who can be believed, and they are a person who can become a bridge between believers, unbelievers and God.

Ephesians 4:15  Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of His body, the church.

The most important and immediate reason to tell the truth is so that you can remain in communion with God. First and foremost we need to be focused on doing what we see God doing; saying what we hear God saying, and that will always be true, and always be the truth.

Ephesians 4:23-25 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.

 

Communion with God, Spiritual living, Things that separate us from God

April 13, 2010

“The Highest Treason is for Ministers …

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This is an article written by Bobby Conner (used with permission), who I believe is one of the real prophetic leaders and fathers for the church today.

This article addresses a critical issue in the church today: Ministers drawing people to themselves (although they would of course reject that is what they are doing).

It is also one of the must succinct explanations of anointing and impartation that I have read.  I pray it encourages you as it did me, as God’s truth always brings hope.


Bobby Conner: The Lord Told Me, “The Highest Treason is for Ministers to Take the Gifts I Give to Win Souls to Myself—and to Use These Gifts to Win People to Themselves”


For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end you may be established.—Romans 1:11

The apostle Paul’s deepest longing was not just to see his fellow Believers, but to see them in order to give them a gift. As an apostle, his heart’s motivation was not merely to teach, plant churches, work miracles or establish apostolic order—but to give all that he had to give, to impart what God had bestowed upon him, to lavish spiritual gifts generously upon others, that they “may be established.”

Imparting to the saints must be the heart’s passion of all Believers. The longing to impart is God’s heart: He longs to pour Himself into His family, to equip Believers to prepare them for relationship with Him as well as the work of service (Ephesians 4:11-12). All grace and enabling comes only from Christ and for Christ, so we should delight in being an instrument to help others advance in their call, not ours. The Lord calls us to aide others first—not our own ministries first—to go higher in relationship with the Lord. We must never, never forget this fundamental tenet of the faith: freely we have received, freely we must give (Matthew 10:8). Our goal is the establishing of the King in His Kingdom, helping others discover their God-given destiny and prepare them to better function in their high and heavenly calling (Ephesians 1:18).

This Greek word translated impart, metadidomi, is comprised of two smaller Greek words, meta and didomi. Meta means with, as to walk with someone, an ally. Didomi is an extravagant word that means more than simply giving. The Greek suggests profusion and abundance—a complete “giving over” to another’s care and trust. Didomi suggests, “to give forth fully from oneself.” To impart, then, or metadidomi, means to give with profusion from the depths of oneself. This “giving over” is the same word used to describe how the sea “gives over” that which is hidden beneath. From the depths of God’s Spirit, through our spirit, impartation comes forth.

As marvelous as this impartation sounds, there is a catch: we cannot give what we do not have! If we are to impart, we first must have something to release. To be able to impart, one first has to be anointed with the substance to impart. These two spiritual realities of impartation and anointing are different, but they relate and work together as the Spirit leads. How does this happen?

Here is a marvelous truth of the Kingdom of God: when we preach, teach or minister in love, in the Spirit of God, we impart the substance of Christ, not simply information about Him.

Jesus affirmed the prophetic promise of Isaiah 61:1-5:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor…—Luke 4:18

For us to be anointed means that a divine enabling rests upon us. What is this enabling? This anointing is no less than Christ Himself: the Greek word translated anoint is the same word from which we derive the name Christ, chrio! What does it mean to have chrio or to be anointed? It means to carry the Christ, the Anointed One! This same anointing consecrated our King for His Messianic office and gave Him the power to administer His Kingdom. This is the anointing we host—the Lord Jesus Christ resting upon us and in us, the Person of the Holy Spirit Himself. To be anointed is to be smeared and filled with Christ. In the Hebrew, anoint or mashach means to smear a liquid or to consecrate. In other words, as Believers in Christ Jesus, we are consecrated as holy priests to minister in His name, anointed by Him and with Him. He is the anointing!

Where does true anointing and power come from? The Spirit of God! We do not minister out of fine-tuned, educated human ability—but Holy Spirit anointing, that we then impart.

Here is the Lord’s essential, urgent message to the Church: we must learn to live and work in and through Him, the Anointed One—not by our own will and strength. We must learn to impart Christ, the anointing—not our own ideas and agendas.

Many of us have had this experience of hearing someone preach or teach: their words were true and accurate, even witty and insightful, but we couldn’t encounter the words spoken within the depths of our heart. Their message might have been exciting to hear and ponder, even study and debate—but our heart was unmoved. The experience was similar to reading a textbook, attending a lecture or following driving directions. We may have arrived at a destination in terms of a logical argument or colorful story but in reality, we remained seated on our chair, unchanged, encouraged at best; at worst, puffed up by religious knowledge about God.

Why does this happen? The speaker’s words were not being carried by the breath of God’s Spirit, but by their own soul and good intentions—or their pride and ambition. Their words were not anointed with the very substance of Christ. They might have been speaking “with the tongues of men and of angels,” but the Spirit of Love was not present. They were merely “sounding or clanging brass and tinkling cymbals” (1 Corinthians 13:1). This type of ministry profits nothing. Jesus reminds us that without Him we accomplish nothing (John 15:5).

Many of us may have had a different experience of hearing someone preach or teach: perhaps their words were not polished; perhaps they lost track of their notes; perhaps they stuttered and even contradicted themselves! Maybe they only read one Scripture or gave one illustration or prayed one simple prayer. They may have been unlearned, awkward or inexperienced—but we were stirred to the very core of our being. Our heart burned as if Christ Himself were sharing, standing in front of us. And indeed—He was! Love spoke…and new worlds within us were created. The Lord chooses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27)!

This is the difference between ministering through Christ’s anointing and speaking out of one’s own abilities and natural training.

Having understood and learned to receive His anointing, we can now understand what true impartation is. The ability to impart includes—but goes beyond—our being anointed. If we have this God-given gift of impartation, whatever we say or do under an anointing will deeply affect those who are hearing. The very substance of Christ will be imparted into the spirit of those who are responsive.

I love them that love Me; and those that seek Me early shall find Me…That I may cause those that love Me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.—Proverbs 8:17, 21

God longs to give us spiritual treasure. This treasure He gives us is priceless, worth everything we are and possess. We will have nothing worth sharing with those who hear us if we do not receive this treasure first and learn to abide in the treasure—Christ Himself—received as fresh bread on a daily basis. What does the Lord mean in this proverb, when He promises to “fill their treasures”? Our “treasures being filled” can be understood as a branch receiving an impartation through the life of the vine. We must be saturated with the very presence of Christ, so that out of our life flows this river of life.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in Me…and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing.—John 15:4-5

The Most Vital Aspect of any Ministry or Personal Encounter is Not the Words Themselves but the Impartation of “Spirit and Life”

This ability to impart relates to our having a quality personal relationship with Jesus (”those who seek ME early”)—Who imparts to us first. Our treasure being filled is the direct result of His impartation of Himself to us. Notice the particulars of this promise: we will be filled if we make seeking HIM our highest priority (Matthew 6:33). We only find Him on this level when we seek Him with all our heart (Jeremiah 29:12-13). He deserves no less!

A committed Christian who has this grace to impart will stand out from all others, for that person will be carrying the glory of God. Our heart’s aim is to have within us such an abiding presence of the Lord that others can feel Him and hear Him when we minister. Our aim is to be saturated with the heavy, weighty presence of God’s glory. What a testimony to have someone say he has resident within his life and ministry Christ’s own anointing, along with the grace to impart that anointing!

When this anointing is active, people are drawn with great hunger. Very often, when a person under the true anointing of Christ finishes speaking, people will say, “Please, would you continue to speak?” Or, “I could listen to you for hours.” Why do people respond this way? They are responding not so much to the depth of the Word that was being ministered or to the exceptional anointing upon the speaker, but rather to the “impartation” that was flowing through into their spirit. Through the grace of impartation, we become a conduit through which the very life of God flows into others’ spirits! This is the heart of all ministry—from the pulpit, at our workplace or around our kitchen table.

When I am ministering, I can tell when people have connected with the Spirit or if they are just attempting to understand intellectually. How wonderful when they are being fed spiritually, not in the natural—and they know that they are receiving something extraordinary, His Divine substance.

To repeat, with emphasis—we can’t give away what we don’t have:

It is the Spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.—John 6:63

The gift of “prophetic revelation” gives us what to say. Then, through our being anointed, it can be imparted to another. I pray much about my being both prophetic and anointed, with the ability to impart. One must spend time in the presence of our Lord in order to have within ourselves His spiritual substance that we might impart His very being (Jeremiah 3:15). We must come before the throne each day to receive fresh bread from Heaven to feed the flock of God (Acts 20:28).

I’ve been preaching now for over 40 years, averaging speaking five times each week for these four decades. During this lifetime of ministry, I’ve learned how to lead people to Christ—not to myself. Once the Lord said to me, “The highest form of treason is for ministers to take the gifts I give to win souls to Myself—and to use these gifts to win people to themselves instead.” May we never, never be guilty of such a terrible crime!

The most vital aspect of any ministry, even any personal encounter during our day, is not the words themselves, nor the understanding of these words, but the impartation of “Spirit and life”—the spiritual substance of Christ flowing out through His anointed words and Spirit into the spirits of those who are receptive.

How is the Grace to Impart Received and Developed?

To review: prophetic revelation gives us the words to speak. The anointing enables us to speak these words that we have been given. Then, through impartation, these words become spirit and life and flow into the depths of those who have a hearing ear. We should pray not only that our message would be imparted through His anointing, but that those who will hear our message will have open hearts and hearing ears. Those who are spiritually receptive will experience Divine Substance flowing into them: this is the life of the vine Christ Jesus flowing into the branch—the hearers—and this flow of substance is different from the actual message being shared. The hearers who have ears to hear will want more as they recognize that their spirit is being fed.

So being desirous of you, we are well-pleased to impart to you not only the good news of God, but also our own souls, because beloved you have become dear to us.—1 Thessalonians 2:8 Young’s Literal Translation

How is this grace to impart received and developed? Through our spending quality time with Jesus and by our desiring this ability, in order that He may feed the spirits of those who are spiritually hungry. To have logical facts and information is good—and we should certainly study as the Bereans did—but in itself, head knowledge of the Word does not feed our spirit. Only the anointing will enable us to speak about God and for God, and only impartation from God will feed our spirit and the spirits of those around us.

“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world to our glory.—1 Corinthians 2:7

Impartation is intangible—that is, it is a spiritual substance that is attached to the words. Like an invisible hitchhiker, impartation rides the Word of God into the spirit of those who are spiritually hungry. They may not understand what is happening, but they will know that they are being fed and will respond. It is wonderful beyond words to leave a meeting or a conversation knowing that God is well pleased with what has taken place!

And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.—1 Corinthians 2:1-4

Paul said that his speaking was not with the words of man’s wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit. This demonstration of the Spirit is the impartation that is taking place, which has nothing to do with the words themselves. It is divine life and energy of Christ flowing from the Lord, through the speaker and into the one who is receptive.

My deepest desire is to impart the life of Christ who has been imparted to me:

You also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.—1 Peter 2:5

Our being a “lively stone” means that we have become “Christ active (divine radiation)”—that is, wherever we are and whatever we do or say, we are transmitting Him, the wonderful Spirit of God, through impartation of His anointing.

Bobby Conner
Eagle View Ministries

 

Change Your Mind, Spiritual living, Today...

April 3, 2010

Change Your Mind

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Years ago my husband and I were having dinner with a man he worked with and his wife. The men had been talking about God and spiritual at things at work and Greg had been sharing with him many miracles and powerful things that had been happening in our life. After our guest ordered and finished three martinis in about 20 minutes she leaned across the table, looked Greg right in the eyes (more or less), and asked him with slightly slurred speech, “What do you have that we don’t have?” One miraculous healing at their house that night and we were delighted to see them come alive in Christ.

All power can effect change. Spiritual power effects eternal change.

Today in the church we are seeing a lot of emphasis and and attention to our political/legislative process. One of the outcomes of this emphasis is a great polarizing in our nation, including between Christians.

It is important to remember that our battle isn’t Conservative versus Liberal. It is the battle of light versus darkness. The conflict is between living a spiritual life in communion with God, or opting for the seemingly more popular humanism/materialism path. These are not compatible theologies.

When Lucifer fell, it was because he wanted to set his throne above God’s, and that is the battle that rages on the earth to this day. The battle for political, economic and social control is the world’s battle and we will not beat the enemy with his own game. We will only prevail, ultimately, by spiritual means.

We think we must work to have the law of land reflect our beliefs. Perhaps we should consider the sad possibility, that is exactly what is happening. The laws of the land may indeed reflect the overall beliefs of us as a nation. It may be that our beliefs are what we need to address first.

Never has our country become more godly than in the times of great revival. Prohibition, no matter what its good intent, lasted thirteen years and created more crime and social ill than had existed previously. The Prohibition laws were ineffective in bringing about a healthier society or a more righteous one.

Revival in America (First Great Awakening, Second Great Awakening) had a huge effect on society. In many places crime decreased precipitously and bars and brothels closed. The outcomes weren’t based on new laws. They were the result of people coming to Christ and being changed.

The natural always reflects the spiritual. I believe that we need to be a spiritual people, full of the Spirit of God, invested in changing the world around us. We need to begin with ourselves, our families, our social circles and neighborhoods. Within that context we can and should support and pursue godly political objectives, but not at the expense of being godly, spiritual people, and remaining in communion with God.

We need to pursue change that is fueled with love, wisdom, generosity, and hope. If we could all do that, society will change and perhaps the laws of our land will change accordingly as well.

Today, change your mind, be the peculiar person you were created to be, and do something good for someone.

What do you have, that can change someone’s life, today?

Ephesians 6:12  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world’s rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Communion with God, Prayer, Relationships, Spiritual living, Trust, Uncategorized

February 10, 2010

Connecting with God (Quest for Communion, Pt2)

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If we accept that spiritual life is life with God at the center, then we need to be diligent about how we move to make that our reality.  To have God at the center of our life means that we are in communion with God, connected to Him. When we come into a tangible relationship with God, the only place He can be in our life is in the center. Prayer is the path to communion. There are many kinds of prayer: devotional prayer, intercessory prayer, prayers of petition. 

Years ago our Pastor, Larry Lea, taught us to pray using the Lord’s Prayer as a model, an outline. I want to share this with you because praying in this way will help you to increase your communion, your relationship with God. 

Remember that you are praying to cultivate your connection with God, to share with Him your heart, and to hear His heart. There is no place for recitation or scripts here. Use the outline, but let it flow from your spirit. Listening is as important as speaking.

  1. The scriptures are in bold type. You may have them committed to memory but pray them out loud, speaking to God.
  2. Then, use the italics as suggestions, “ice breakers”. Follow your heart and spirit, using your own words.
  3. Remember that you are after communication and connection. Listening is as important or more important than speaking.
  4. If you pray out loud, it will be easier to discern your voice from His.
  5. Find a quiet place, preferably at the beginning of your day and just as Jesus said, Pray this way:

Mat 6:9  .. Our Father, who is in Heaven, Hallowed by Your name.

  • Oh God, oh Father, You are the Most Holy (exalted, worthy of complete devotion) One.
  • God you are omniscient (complete awareness, knowledge).
  • You are omnipotent (almighty).
  • You God are omnipresent (present everywhere at one time).
  • I praise you and worship you God, Almighty God.

Mat 6:10 Your Kingdon come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.

  • God, today I say not my will, but Your will be done: for myself, my family, and in all facets of my life. I pray for Your will to be done and Your Kingdom to come.
  • Please show me Your will for my life so that I can pray for it, and be in concert with You.
  • For my  (work, school, community, state, nation, world) God I pray for Your will to be done.
  • For my enemies and adversaries Lord I bless those that curse me, and I pray for those who use me. Bless them Lord.
  • God open my eyes to see what You see. Illuminate my vision and my hearing so that I can embrace what You are doing in me, and around me.

Remember to be listening, not just speaking.

Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread;

  • God I know that You are my provider. Help me to be content with Your provision today, and to trust You for all my needs.
  • Lord, please tell me what my real needs are. What are the things that I don’t know to ask for?
  • Have You made provision for me that I’m not seeing?
  • Am I asking for things that You, by Your wisdom and love, are not wanting for me?
  • Please change my mind, and teach me to be content in You.
  • If I’m going one way, and You have a different way for me God, please show me, close those wrong doors, speak to me, help me.

Mat 6:12 and forgive us our debt as we also forgive our debtors.

  • God please forgive me of my sins. I am so sorry for the things that I have done ________________________ that are not pleasing to You. I am so grateful that You are a God that forgives.
  • I choose today to forgive all those who have sinned against me.  Including  _____________________  who have slandered me, injured me, gossiped about me, or stolen from me, undermined me or ________________ …. I forgive them Lord.
  • If I come up short on this today Lord, please help me to walk in forgiveness continuously.

Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the Kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever.Amen.

  • Today God please order my steps according to Your will and Your ways. God please put Your words in my mouth. Help me to see what You see, in  people, in circumstances, in others.
  • You God, from whom no secrets are hidden, please deliver me from temptation and line up my thinking with Your thoughts.
  • Line up my feelings with You and what You are are doing.
  • Please put Your shield of protection around me/us and keep our enemies at bay.
  • You can do this because You are Almighty God, Creator and Ruler of the universe.
  • It is to You that all glory goes God. Help me to magnify Your Holy Name.
  • Thank  you God that you are Almightly God. Amen

    • Remember, God already knows what you think. If you engage Him, and you listen to Him, you can know what He thinks, what He sees.  He will speak to you and you will be changed.

     

    If you are changed, if you are transformed by God, others around you will be as well.

    (All scriptures are from the New Living Translation, and no, I do not know how to create a footnote or end note in Wordpress.)

Gifting, Spiritual living, Uncategorized

January 17, 2010

So you can see sin? (And you think that is a gift?)

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Satan is the leader in calling out sin, and making a spectacle of it. Whose team are you on?

One of the most encouraging things that I have discovered since Raising Spiritual Children: Cultivating a Revelatory Life was published is that a consistent response is that “this is not just about raising children, but it is for adults, too.” That is truth on several levels. One level is that what we missed out on when we were children can often be put into place when we are older, and we can have full restoration in that area.

In other words, when something we missed as a child is put in place within us, all that we missed along the way or over the years is also established in us as though we had had it all along.

Think of a person who has never experienced unconditional love. Their life will have been lived a certain way, with some clear and distinct voids and difficulties. However, at 30 or 40 or 50, if they experience unconditional love and can receive it, that void they have carried all of their life will be as if it was covered with a balm. Although they may have an intellectual knowledge of how they were growing up, they will not only be different today, but the past will not impinge on them in the same way either.

The unconditional love that they experience will make them whole.

It is a little bit like a computer. If your computer has missing or corrupted files, some or all of your computer programs will not work correctly. Overtime, performance even may deteriorate. Some things might work fine, of course, but there will be those programs or functions that simply do not work the same way they work for other people.

Once you restore that missing or corrupted file though, all the programs will work just like they were intended to.

This is a picture of restoration.

People who have been damaged or injured in life may have sinned (don’t we all), but correcting sin isn’t what they most need. What they most need is to have the important voids in their lives filled, healed, covered — pick your terminology. The outcome is restoration.

Today, there is a cultural mindset that instead of addressing the injury and wounds in a person, many people want to be the authority to hand out punishment and keep the focus on a person’s sin. (Trust me, sin will persevere. It doesn’t matter what penalty you try to extract for it; sin will pop up again doing its damage to someone else.) Some want to assess punishment, as if that is their role. (Some people do have this role of course, but it is a small fraction of the people who try to take it on.)

Confronted with the woman in adultery, remember what Jesus said to the accusers who wanted to stone her: “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” [1] After the accusers had scattered, Jesus turned to the woman. “Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?

No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” [2]

What changed? The woman changed of course. She had been in the presence of the Jesus, and his impartation of love and hope and kindness transformed her, forever.

As a revelatory person, I see more sin than I would like to. I know that Jesus would have seen far more than me. I also see that Jesus worked to bring sinners to Him and to health and to wholeness. I believe that His words and His love imparted to the woman in adultery transformed her, and made her whole. They healed her and gave her hope.

So I try to let the revelation of sin just be a red flag to point out who needs love and hope and impartation.  I want to be able, by the Holy Spirit, to be a person who helps to build His church.

I want to have eyes that see what He sees, and to be the mouthpiece for His message, a carrier of His transforming love.

One of the most gratifying things we experience as parents is when our children grow up and do the things that we think are good and valuable.

As children of the King, I submit that we need to stop trying to please our detractors, stop acting out of fear, and make certain that we are pleasing Him.

It is the sinners around us who need us the most. Do you have what they need?

Jeremiah 29:11:  “‘For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’”

[1] John 8:7

[2] John 8:10-11

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