Tested Mettle Ministries

New Website

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 06:22:00 +0000

All,

I appreciate your following and comments greatly. We have been working hard to develop the new website. While there are still a few kinks to workout I am pleased to present the new site for this blog. Please continue to participate with us at: http://testedmettle.com

If you have any comments/critiques about the site please don't hesitate to contact me. Be blessed!

News

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 15:33:00 +0000

To all readers,

I apologize for the lapse in posting lately. We are currently working on developing a new website to transition into from blogger. I will be updating on recent miracles and revelation soon (and there's been plenty of both)!

The Proposal

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:06:00 +0000

He did not use an airplane writing with smoke in the sky, there was no glimmering rock in a glass of champagne, I was not being serenaded by a string quartet, nor were His words scrolling across the jumbotron. No, this most extravagant gesture was not so cliché…

He chose the setting to be beneath a hill of scorn, surrounded by criminals, pinned to two cross beams by hardware that more closely resembles tent posts then nails, adorning thorns, and wearing only His own blood and the saliva of those who put Him there. This was where He chose to ask. This most excessive expression of love which none can match. Shivering as the blood drains out of Him and from the weightiness of this spiritual burden He has elected to take upon Himself... with great effort and excruciating pain He presses upon the peg which fixes His feet to the cross, just so He can take the breath to ask me the question… “will you marry Me?”

How can I deny Him? Surely there will never be a lover so exquisite, so passionate or zealous for me for this world has not known affection such as this ever before. Our engagement: unlike any other as He washes away my filth and beautifies me with His scented anointing oils. What a joyous engagement! His ring of promise is not a golden band upon my finger (which can be easily lost or removed), oh no that is insufficient for Him! Instead He has etched this blessed assurance into my heart and sealed upon my arm for all to see that I am blissfully betrothed to the greatest lover of all time! Our wedding shall be beyond comparison as the heavens will marvel as God Himself marries me!! Oh such a sweet love this is, I cannot withhold my answer from Him, my kinsmen redeemer, my beloved… so with great exuberance I look deep into His blood-stained eyes and say “YES!!!”

Seeker Sensitivity

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 01:46:00 +0000

I believe that a grand indicator of the spiritual condition of the American Church is found in the seeker-sensitive movement. Before I begin, let me state that the Lord will bless His Church however He can, in order to fulfill His purposes in the Earth. Even as this is the case, we must be cautious not to mistake His blessing for His flawless approval. Any and every ministry I have known on this earth is (or has been) flawed in some way (a good historical account of some of the Lord's most blessed ministries is Gods Generals: Why They Succeeded And Why Some Fail). I am not targeting any specific ministry with this blog, only reproving this ministry approach in general. That being said, let's drudge on.

First, a seeker-sensitive church is a baby. Since the message presented every Sunday must apply to new believers (since they are the focus) there is almost never any depth to the sermon. Hebrews 5:12 "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!" Those who have been believers for any amount of time are no longer being fed (and as they are spiritually malnourished, their lives rarely produce the fruit the Lord has called them to). So there is no such thing as spiritual growth in such a congregation when they meet together. When people have to bring their lost friends to Church to hear the Gospel, it means they aren't witnessing. A pastor that cannot train his congregation to evangelize is "giving them the fish" rather than "training them to fish". Not to mention, with this approach, the seeker sensitive model requires building growth. Since people cannot witness for themselves (and need a pastor to do it for them) the Church has to grow in order to account for the growing number of lost people entering it's doors. If this were the Lord's idea of evangelism He would have been building synagogues on the hill tops instead of sending out the disciples (Mt 10).

Next, it simply isn't the Biblical model of a Church. The "seeker sensitive" movement in the church in Corinth was just to pray in tongues in private and prophesy to new visitors (1 Cor 14:6). Paul expressed his desire that the entire congregation would be prophesying (1 Cor 14:31)! We have become so concerned about making sure not to offend people that the Church has lost sight of the fact that THE CROSS IS AN OFFENSE (Gal 5:11).

So what about cultural relevance? The seeker sensitive movement has brought more than culture into the walls of the church, but brought worldliness itself. A message that is pleasing, easy to respond to, rarely convicts, and applies vaguely to all things. How horrifically universal. We are not OF THIS WORLD (John 17:16). Well what about "becoming all things to all people"? Paul became all things to all people in his external cultural adherence when he was witnessing! He was referring to his external customs (Jewish customs, gentile customs, the learned, the weak, etc.) not spiritual doctrine, nor was he referring to a church (or The Church for that matter). His cultural relevance never watered down the message of the cross.

My encouragement is that rather than presenting sermons that please the ears of the audience, present palatable or general messages on patience, our efforts would be better utilized by training up individuals to witness as Jesus did: publicly, with signs and wonders as testimony of the Truth.

Miracles to close out 2010!

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 02:00:00 +0000

Okay, let me start off the year with thanksgiving for what the Lord just did in the last two weeks. As a side-note, my wife and I do actually offer burnt offerings of Thanksgiving in our fireplace according to the Word (we present a grain offering of flour kneaded with milk, frankincense, oil... and salt it). If house-cat was an acceptable animal for sacrifice, I would gladly offer up our little "destroyer of carpet" but I digress.

The following have all happened in the last two weeks. In our weekly prayer service, we prayed for pain to leave a woman's neck and it left (although some stiffness remained) and we prayed for her leg and it grew out (about 1/4 of an inch). Then I had a chance to pray for her husband who had pain in the bend of his arms and the pain was 100% healed in both arms!

My wife's car had broken down and we had taken it to the mechanic. They tried to force the engine to turn over with a cheater bar and the bar bent. We went to clean out the car and I suggested we pray for the car to start. We prayed… it didn’t start… we prayed… it made a sound but still didn’t start… we prayed… the car started! The mechanics were stunned! It was fun explaining to them that prayer started that car.

Lastly, a friend and I were walking around the mall praying for people. As we tried a product he had a word of knowledge about the salesman's back hurting from a football injury. We prayed for it and it was healed! Then I had a word about temporary shoulder pain that "came when stressed", he had it. So we prayed and were believing it was also healed (he will test it next time he's at the gym). Then my friend had a word about him being a singer and by the time we left this young man's life was drastically affected!

Thank you Jesus for letting us minister to people for healing and words that spoke to their hearts. We ask for exponential increase of miracles such as these and more in the future! Happy New Year everyone, may God raise your expectation of Him and fulfill the promises of years past in 2011! Be blessed in Jesus name!

Enter the Heavenly Wine Cellar - Drunk on the Holy Spirit

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 07:35:00 +0000

So I spent a few days in Searcy, Arkansas and attended a John Crowder meeting and was thoroughly stunned by it. First off, let me say that I first heard of John from a friend that recommended his books The New Mystics and The Ecstasy of Loving God. These books are amazing! They stretch our modern definition of what God is willing to do with someone that is simply in love with Him. Now, the books do little to prepare you for what attending a "John Crowder meeting" entails. Thankfully, I have watched the videos of John and Benjamin Dunn on YouTube for quite some time. While it did take me a bit to dissect the content of their message from the drunken behavior displayed on those videos, the Truth always testifies with His Spirit (and I want both). A lot of people find their type behavior offensive, but those same people usually A) Take themselves too seriously B) Assume God doesn't have fun and/or C) Assume that because they haven't experienced something it must not be real.

Here's some of the antics you can expect should you google these fellas:

So you might be asking, what happened at this meeting? First, John is EXTREMELY intelligent. When you hear him discussing multiple translations of the Bible, it's because he's read them... multiple translations... to get the depth of the verses. Instead of parking in the King James Version parking lot, he's pursued wisdom by seeking the original author's meaning and attained it. In the "Questions and Answers" portion of the meeting John eloquently defended his stance on the completed works of Christ. So what about the drunkenness?

Well, I personally haven't experienced the glory in a manner that makes me feel intoxicated... yet. Just because I don't have a frame of reference from my experience doesn't mean that theirs is negated. In fact, it has given me a hunger for more of God's presence and that is NEVER a bad thing! John gets "intoxicated" when he starts preaching as the love of God tangibly manifests upon him. I personally have no problem with that because I have experienced God's amazing love (yep you guessed it... I'm saved).

So what about the message he was bringing? It's simple: his message was the cross. John's revelation on the completed works of Christ suggest that our modern "striving" mentality to try to complete sanctification, become holy, or be made righteous are all folly, because Jesus completed all of these on the cross. Sanctification, holiness, and righteousness are not progressive processes which a believer can attain through his/her own efforts, but instead we were made holy (Romans 11:6) righteous (1 Cor 5:21) and are sanctified (1 Cor 6:11). I'm not sure the verses I mentioned are the ones John used, but they do support the concept. He attributes most of our religious toiling against sinfulness and pursuit to "better ourselves" as shadow boxing since we are struggling against a self that is no longer there. We are not sinners any longer, but instead are the "new creations" Paul spoke of in 1 Cor 5:17. Anyway, I was really encouraged by the whole thing.

One last mention: I know a lot of you are probably asking "how do I get drunk on the Holy Spirit?" Short answer: by faith. The "whack" as John calls it, is the presence of God. In the The Ecstasy of Loving God John covers the different levels of prayer, which result in a tangible manifestation of His presence. It is this meditation which is the "drinking" you see displayed, by faith believing that the love of Christ is consumable and drinking of it constantly leaves the individual feeling intoxicated by His love. If you have more questions about that just leave them in the comment section. Be blessed!

Testimonies!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 23:20:00 +0000

I used to keep a journal of miracles & supernatural events that occurred to me, but having gone through extreme seasons of seeing a lot of miracles it was getting inundating to recount all the Lord had done (what a wonderful problem to have... right?!). In lieu of the upkeep of that journal, here are a few of the more recent miracles I have seen within the last couple months... I share these to encourage your faith and testify of what THE LORD has done.

A man came to the prophetic booths and the Lord gave me an accurate word of knowledge for back pain which this gentleman had suffered from for years. After only a few seconds of prayer, he testified that his back was healed and the pain had left!
An elderly gentleman came in to the healing rooms as he was suffering from back pain, hip pain, and spinal problems. The woman I was praying with received a word of knowledge that one leg was shorter than the other. I held up his feet and his right leg was over an inch shorter than the left. After about 10-20 seconds of commanding the right leg to grow... the heels were perfectly even!
At Kroger a woman was walking with a cane and she was in her late twenties. I asked her what happened and she said she had been in a car accident and had two herniated disks. The back pain had caused her to lose her job too. I prayed for her once... and there was no change. I asked if I could pray again and reminded her that Jesus had to pray twice for the man that "saw people walking around like trees" and she agreed. After the second time her back pain entirely left and tears streamed down her face as the Lord touched her!
In the healing rooms, a woman came in with a headache, sore throat, chest pain, a cough, and vision problems in her right eye. After we laid hands on her throat and had her take a few deep breaths all the chest pain, cough, and sore throat left. We laid hands on her head and the headache left. Then we prayed for the vision problem in her right eye and it too was totally healed! She had a whole makeover!

Thank you Jesus for the privilege of ministering your love and healing to those You love and that may not have had a tangible encounter with that love yet.

Picture of Family - Letter from the Lord

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 20:06:00 +0000

My family is to be the picture of your family. The tabernacle of Moses was built by the design of the tabernacle in Heaven. The things I desire to bring to Earth are found in Heaven first and drawn down from the Kingdom of Light. Your understanding of family must come from Me. Human wisdom is foolishness, for there is a way that seems right to a man that leads to death.

Trust in Me with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Trusting in Me means valuing My Counsel over that of your peers. My word is confirmed in you and never returns void.

The Father’s will comes first and foremost. He is the head of the household. In the same way that I, as a Son, submitted to His will in the garden… so should the household submit to the will of the father. There are no exceptions to this, I reward those who submit to My will instead of their own. If the head of the house is unrighteous, the wife ought to sanctify him by her prayers. I only permit separation when adultery has occurred. So first, wives must submit to their husbands.

Husbands are to administer grace in gentleness, bearing the responsibility for the household. I have given man the position of authority in the household, so he must be governed by the fear of the Lord for this is the beginning of wisdom. Husbands must continue to pursue loving their wives as I pursue My Church and loving her. I am passionate about My Body; I love her with excessive affections, devotion, loyalty, mercy, and tenderness. Love must be pursued, do not neglect your first love… pursue it. A woman that feels loved responds to My heart with affections. Earthly husbands are to represent the love of the eternal Bridegroom as an earthly picture of a heavenly reality. Women trust in love, for love is in God, and testifies with their spirit.

Mothers must love with the love of the Spirit. He is the Comforter, the Helper, and the Teacher. As mothers raise their children and train them in the way they should go, mothers ought to invite the Holy Spirit to teach the children in My Ways. In times of frustration, anger, disappointment… invite Him into the situation and the household that My Peace may rest upon you. As children grow in age and maturity you must grow in grace and patience. Patience and longsuffering are rarely sought by those that follow Me, but it is My will that My people be patient as I am patient. Did I not patiently wait for your repentance from a life of sin? Do I not patiently wait for you to ask for My counsel and seek My face? My people must respond with My love when faced with children that try to stir anger or frustration. Though you are immature and children, do I punish you when you sin against Me? Is it not a greater sin to offend Me than you? I respond with swift forgiveness and am very slow to anger, so must you be. The enemy would have you react to circumstance, instead seek My will and invite My Spirit for reacting from the flesh is sin.

The enemy will certainly come against every household, especially those pursuing Me. I have not allowed this, you have. You have authority over him as I have given to you. Exercise that authority over every obstacle & attack. I am your shelter in distress and will always guide you in the way you should go. My sheep hear My voice; I know them and they follow Me. So must you.

This article is not scripture nor should it be interpreted as such. It is what I felt the Lord speaking to me.

The zeal of the Lord

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 15:12:00 +0000

Oftentimes, Christians make the mistake of assuming that because Christ is gentle that He is passive. He is quite the opposite. He is zealous and passionate beyond explanation. Isaiah 59:17 even adds to the "armor of God" that we find in Ephesians 6 by stating

"He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak."

Zeal is defined as "eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something". The Lord is slow to anger, not absent of it. 1 John 3:2 reads

"... But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."

If we are going to "see him as he is" we must acknowledge that the same zeal that leads Him to pursue us relentlessly will be applied to His wrath against those who are His enemies. God is perfectly patient, but there are those who will resist Him regardless of His mercies and grace (otherwise there would be no end-time army of the devil). We must see Him as He is conquering King in Revelations 19 just as we must see Him as the suffering servant in Isaiah 52.

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
-Revelations 19:11-15

The more I have meditated upon this lately, the more the fear of the Lord has come. It delights my soul to have that fear, since it both deters me from sinfulness and guides me in wisdom. Mike Bickle addresses this in His study on the Book of Revelation NKJV. I do not pretend to be an expert in eschatology, but I do continually pursue understanding from Revelations; especially since it is a Revelation of Christ not a revelation of the antichrist. Be blessed dear readers!

The Perfect Gift

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 15:33:00 +0000

Did you know that the Same Spirit that Raised Jesus from the dead, Lives in you!

“And if the spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, is living in you, He who raised Jesus from the dead will also give lie to your mortal bodies through His spirit who lives in you.” (Rom. 8:11)

The SAME Spirit that enabled Jesus to drive out demons while HE was here on Earth lives in you!

“Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Matt. 12:26 & 28)

The SAME spirit that enabled Paul to preach with Miracles, signs and wonders through demonstrations of God’s power, Lives in You!

“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.”(1 Cor. 2:4-5)

Question: If the SAME spirit that did all of these things lives in you- why are you not walking in more power (Miracles, Signs and Wonders), more Healing and more Liberty? Let me venture to say that it could be because you have not truly embraced the person and power of Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is more than just a nice deposit, a mystical force or spiritual after thought that God has gifted us with. He IS the Spirit Man of God. HE is the POWER SOURCE of God and He is an individual “being” within the Trinity. He heals, delivers, guides, creates, instructs, teaches, gives life, testifies, anoints, reveals, wars, does miracles and this is only the beginning of His truly impressive resume!

You will never be able to truly grow close to God or in your spiritual giftings and anointing, without embracing and growing in intimacy with the “person” of the Holy Spirit All Christians need to get to know the Holy Spirit on a personal level. He is the one who releases the current word of Jesus to us for our lives and is the great communicator between God and us.

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth” - John 16:12

The problem is that not every Christian personally knows Holy Spirit on the level that they should. I was recently reminded of this truth at one of my last ministry events. Upon arriving at this event to speak for the weekend, I was informed by the ministry staff that they had decided to take me up to the top of witch mountain where they would blow the shofar and then let me decree words out against the enemy in their region. There was just one problem with their plan-the Holy Spirit had not told ME to do this. I explained to my hosts that the Holy Spirit had not specifically told me to do this on their behalf and that I only did what the Holy Spirit told me to do, especially in regards to spiritual warfare issues. They were confused and disappointed by my response but they kindly relented and gave me the benefit of the doubt. As it turned out, God had a much better plan he wanted to implement to deal with the enemy in their region. By the end of the weekend, the Holy Spirit had not only revealed a plan, he had also implemented it so that an immediate shift took place over their church and in their region.

Blindly taking on warlocks and demonic principalities over a region can be a dangerous and deadly activity. I shudder to think of what would have happened if I had not checked in with the Holy Spirit to get his word on the subject first. I have learned that Holy Spirit ALWAYS knows what is best and that He always has the fastest, easiest and best plan for the situation at hand.

The Holy Spirit desires to be our closest friend. He longs to share Jesus Christ in his fullness with us. As Christians, we need to develop a close and intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. This relationship starts by PERSONALLY, inviting him into our daily lives. It grows by being mindful of his presence and including him in every decision and aspect of our lives. We must see and treat him like a trusted family member who loves us and is loved by us in return.

Jesus promised us that through the Spirit we would never be alone and that we would always remain connected to Him. In short, he left us with the perfect gift as our deposit - a greater part of himself.

“But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you.” John 14:26 amp

Mignon Murrell

Glory Reign Ministries

www.gloryreign.org

The best way to grow in relationship with Holy Spirit is to spend time with Him. However, if you want more resources on the person of the Holy Spirit, I highly recommend Benny Hinn's Good Morning, Holy Spirit.

Revelation of Christ

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 02:36:00 +0000

The Lord has been showing me Christ on the cross quite often in worship lately. In times of prayer I have been asking for increase in revelation of Christ and the cross. In the images I see, there are several similarities between Jesus in The Passion of the Christ (Full Screen Edition) and the visions I receive. When I see Christ His whole body is trembling in agony, His face is unrecognizable (very similar to that shown in the movie), and blood is everywhere. Then it hit me in worship one day: the sheer agony that Christ went through, not just on the cross but to speak on the cross. Before I go any further here are the 7 things from the Gospels that Christ stated:

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”
“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise"
“Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit”
“Dear Woman, here is your son!” and “Here is your mother!”
“I am thirsty”
“It is finished!”

In the execution of crucifixion, the individual generally dies by exhaustion. In order to take a breath he must press on the nail in his/her feet and pull on the nails in his/her hands to alleviate the tension on the lungs. With that in mind, reread those 7 statements. Every one of those cost Christ excruciating agony; He had to further wound His flesh and dig those holes in His hands and feet that much deeper just to pray for the forgiveness of His persecutors, to forgive the thief, to cry out to His Father, to assign John as caretaker of His mother, to fulfill a prophecy, and to declare the completion of purchasing our sins. Today let us keep His sacrifice fresh in our minds, for nothing reinvigorates our passion for Christ like the ultimate act of love upon the cross.

Answered Prayers

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:39:00 +0000

“Now when the trial of faith comes, we are naturally inclined to distrust God, and to trust rather in ourselves, or in our friends, or in circumstances.
“We will rather work a deliverance of our own somehow or other, than simply look to God and wait for His help. But if we do not patiently wait for God’s help, if we work a deliverance of our own, then at the next trial of our faith it will be thus again, we shall be again inclined to deliver ourselves; and thus with every fresh instance of that kind, our faith will decrease; whilst on the contrary, were we to stand still, in order to see the salvation of God, to see His hand stretched out on our behalf, trusting in Him alone, then our faith would be increased, and with every fresh case in which the hand of God is stretched out on our behalf in the hour of the trial of our faith, our faith would be increased yet more.
“Would the believer, therefore, have his faith strengthened, he must especially, give time to God, who tries his faith in order to prove to His child, in the end, how willing He is to help and deliver him, the moment it is good for him.”

This excerpt from George Mueller’s Answers to Prayer is one of the greatest summations of a life of faith that I have ever read. I put it in this way: suppose I asked my wife for baked chicken for dinner. She defrosts the chicken, after 5 minutes of waiting, I decide, “She must not have wanted me to have the chicken” and I go microwave some Ramen noodles. I subsequently eat them and go back to the living room. I will no longer be in the position to receive the chicken I have asked for, when she brings it to the dinner table. By making the Ramen noodles, I will have “worked my own deliverance” as George Muller refers to it. However, should I choose to patiently maintain a position of expectation by sitting at the dinner table awaiting the provision I have asked for, I would see the answer to my petition.

Mr. Mueller’s life was a demonstration of a life of faith that we are all expected to walk out. The observation that our tendency is to work our own deliverance speaks to the heart of the traditional “American Way”. We are raised under the notion that we must work hard to receive the desired results. This is not to suggest that hard work is bad, it is Biblical (see Pro 12:24, Eph 4:23, 2 Thes 3:8, Acts 18:3). However, we have been redeemed from the curse (Gal 3:13) and have inherited faith which releases supernatural provision and multiplication of the results of our toil (remember Peter and the fish the full net or Elisha and the widow's oil jars).

I believe there is a degree of faith with which we can live where we are no longer toiling for our needs, but calling them in by faithful prayer as we wait upon the Lord to be our Provider. George Mueller reached that point in his life. Christ started ministry and did the same. We don’t see Jesus laboring to earn wages, instead when He had need for finances it was obtained supernaturally (Mt 27:24-27). As we continue to persevere through the test of faith with expectation and patience, our faith grows, until we reach the point where we know that God is not only capable of providing our daily needs… but willing.

The Joy of Knowing God

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 02:11:00 +0000

In the churches I was raised in, God didn't seem very fun. In fact, He seemed down right boring. That isn't to say I didn't love the Lord, but my picture of God was the Church... and those were shattered images of the reflection of Christ that churches are called to be. Just for reference purposes: hymnals being sung in a monotone voice were our "worship", the sermon rarely applied to anyone, and the part I looked forward to the most was coloring in the program.. It wasn't until I started encountering the person of God, Himself that I started to realize the absolute joy of knowing God. In his book The Ecstasy of Loving God, John Crowder states:

The problem is not that our feelings are invalid in the Christian walk. The problem is they are too limited to fully experience God. The love of God is so huge and intense that when He begins to pour over us, it is like plugging a million-volt charge into a five-vole fuse.

Try to deny it if you will, but laughter is absolutely of the Lord. His will does not prescribe a life of devotion void of experiencing His joy. Psalms 2:2-4 pictures God as laughing in mockery at the enemy. The foolishness of the devil and man to suggest that anything contrary to God's will be performed is simply humorous. I have actually been told that someone thought I was a pimp, selling prostitutes, and that the person wanted to kill me... and I laughed like crazy. The notion was so ludicrous that I couldn't possibly take it seriously (the individual was under serious demonic oppression and hallucinating as the result of a drug addiction). I knew at that moment, that the enemy had intended to cause fear in me and that is contrary to the Spirit of God (2 Tim 1:7). Laughter is actually a spiritual weapon!

I'm going to go ahead and confess that I have experienced the controversial Charismatic event called "holy laughter". Several times at conferences (and now on my own... at home... at will) I have been caught into these joyful fits of laughter that uplifts my spirit and releases joy into situations and places. I can't exactly explain it other than "once you start you can't stop", but really... who would want to? There is not a Biblical example of this sort of laughter, but the necessity of joy (which the laughter demonstrates) is essential for us to respond to trials. James 1:2 states, " Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds". I've found that as my confidence in God has grown, the size of many trials have diminished in my eyes as I've grown in witnessing God's deliverance. No matter the trial I know God's deliverance is coming (Ps 37:13). Remember, the enemy has no authority anymore... he requires our agreement to be empowered. Instead of agreeing with his intentions, next time the enemy tries to distract you with a lie, a trick, a trial or temptation... try laughing... you'll be amazed at the results.

Persecuted for the Gospel

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 22:12:00 +0000

As I read over this article, the parallels between this young man and myself caused by heart to both ache and swell as I contemplated his situation.

     Neshan Saeedi, a 27-year-old Christian, has not been seen since his arrest by government authorities in July, according to the Farsi Christian News Network.
     On July 24, Saeedi was at home with his wife and young daughter in the city of Ahvaz, Iran, when plainclothes security officers entered his house and arrested the family. Security officers searched the home and seized personal belongings, including a computer, CDs containing films of Christian seminars and teachings, Christian books, Bibles and family photo albums.
     The family was taken to the Chaharshir detention center in Ahvaz, where they were interrogated for several hours before Saeedi’s wife and daughter were released. Officers threatened Saeedi’s wife, saying if the family continued its Christian activities their daughter might be taken away. The family was accused of threatening Iran’s national security by participating in anti-government activities. They were further accused of being spies of foreign powers and of leading people to a pro-Israel ideology.

The article continues to explain that the church he attended has disbanded out of fear, you can read the entire thing here.

In Iran, this young man is being interrogated, arrested, persecuted, and potentially tortured as the result of his dedication to Christ. The leaders of the Church are being sought out. Our own nation has been heading in the direction of Christian persecution. A recent example is Pastor Terry Jones threat to burn a Quran. The president of our nation pleads with the man not to burn the Quran and sends FBI agents to convince him otherwise. Our nation, which was founded on Christian principles, is now defending a book over the Word of Truth. Misguided teenagers burn Bibles every day and it would be rare to find a PTA meeting that addressed the subject. However, one pastor with almost no influence is able to stir fear in the hearts of our nation's leadership as they reeled at the idea of such an unholy act. Your treasure is where your heart is.

Yet it is in these times that the Gospel thrives. It is when met with opposition that the glory of God's love is best demonstrated by His followers. I genuinely hope to bring the love and power of God to those nations that persecute Christians as so many others so admirably do. If our country continues in the path it has been on, I might not have to go anywhere to do it.

Fasting - Escort into His arms

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 02:39:00 +0000

The concept of fasting was foreign in my traditional Methodist/Baptist upbringing, but after only 1 day I saw results! I had read about fasting and prayer in the Bible, but never actually partnered the idea with reality (this was before I had received the baptism of the wonderful Holy Spirit). My wife, 2 year old son, and myself were all living at my parents house at the time. The move from our apartment to my parents was instigated by my wife undergoing several hospitalizations and it had put a large dent in our finances. My prayer life had recently come alive with passion as I was zealously praying to the Lord in the morning to deliver us from certain circumstances (specifically, we needed a place to live permanently). For several days I felt the urge to fast, without explanation. After considering the possibility that the "urge" could be the Lord, I took a day off from eating. Within a month of that single one-day fast, my wife and I received a check for $14,000!

So, why fast? Because God will give you $14,000! But seriously, God responds to a heart that is willing to lay down the desires of the flesh to seek Him. Some of the Biblical purposes of fasts are:

Mourning
To inquire of the Lord
Repentence
Deliverance
Power
Humility

If you need set free of an oppression, a response from God, or more of the power of God in your life... fasting should be partnered with your prayers. Fasting is never done outside of prayer but coupled with it. While many pastors are afraid to suggest fasting from food, there really is no other Biblical example of fasting. Fasting from television and video games are certainly worthwhile pursuits, but if you expect to raise the dead after spending a week away from Call of Duty you may be disappointed.

In his book titled, The Hidden Power of Prayer and Fasting, Mahesh Chavda reminds the reader that,

Jesus didn't say, "If you should someday decide to try to fast, although I know it's almost impossible for you..." in Matthew 6:16-17. No, He said, "When you fast..." He didn't give us the option not to fast.

Fasting is intended to be a part of your everyday Christian life! Christ expects it of us. We need to fast to continually die to the flesh and sustain a life of victory. I've actually found that it's quite a joy to fast (once you get past the first couple days), because God's voice is so much clearer. As the junk seems to filter out of my system, my ears open more... His presence is more tangible... it's almost as though my spirit becomes softened to respond to Holy Spirit and it's wonderful! So if you haven't experienced the joys of prayer and fasting, I encourage you to try it out. Please share you testimonies and encounters you've had while fasting as comments as well.

Lord I pray for impartation for every reader that looks upon these words. I ask that you would grant them the grace to fast as long as You have called them to Lord. Grant them a willingness to respond to Your voice, which is calling Your people to the position of humility through prayer and fasting in Jesus mighty name.

Activating Spiritual Gifts - Exercises - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 22:57:00 +0000

This is the second part in the series of Spiritual Gift exercises, you can see the first part here. This will eventually become a permanent page.

6. Treasure Hunts - Practices the prophetic gifts (words of wisdom and words of knowledge) as well as the gift of healing and the gift of evangelism
This wonderful activity has swept the nation as Christians have become dissatisfied with the monotonous ineffective way-of-life that the traditional American church has been raised in. This began with Kevin Dedmon and you can read more about it in his book Treasure Hunts. So here's how you do it: get a group of people together if possible (it's not required, I started doing these on-my-own before I ever practiced this with a group), wait on the Lord for prophetic revelation for clues for who to pray for and where to go, then go out and find the people God points you to!
The way that you can be sure to practice the gift of healing as well, is to ask the Lord for people to pray for that need healing and He will point them out to you. This is the beginning of walking as true witnesses that we were called to be. I wrote another article on how essential this practice is to the growth of the believer/Church as a guest post for The Prophetic Life and you can view that article here.

7. Hospital Run - Practices the gift of healing
   Okay so this one is just what it sounds like, go to a hospital and pray for the sick. There are a few things to pay attention to when you go to hospitals. The first is that security doesn't always like it when you do this. I have never been personally kicked out of a hospital for praying for people, but I do personally know people that have been (you'd be surprised how many hospitals are branded with the name of a denomination of Christianity that disallow praying for the sick). There is a tension between submitting yourselves to authority and going through and obeying the mandate from Christ to pray for the sick. While I have called the clergy at multiple hospitals seeking permission to pray for people there, I have yet to be given that approval. So how do you get in? There are two ways that I (and others) do this.
First, if you can let your pastor or healing team leader know that you want to pray for the sick, oftentimes they will notify you when a congregation member is in the hospital. This gives you the excuse to be at the hospital. When a member is in the hospital, not only should you pray for that individual, but visit as many other people as possible! Just peek your head in and say "Hi, my name is ____ from ____ church, would you mind if I pray for you?"
          The other method can be done more often, but it is a bit more risky: simply go up to the hospital/ER and start praying for people. We won't see the sick healed if we don't pray for them... and we don't build our faith on what we never do. Just be aware that people are there for a reason and that Jesus wants to heal every single one of them!

8. Spiritual Reading Booth - Practices words of wisdom and words of knowledge
As seen in Furious Love, this entails setting up a booth or table with a sign Free Spiritual Readings and giving people prophetic words. This creates excellent opportunities for evangelism as well. As the Lord reveals things about people's lives, call forth the destiny of their calling. Sow promise and prosperity over all that you minister to with the love of Christ. Do not be afraid to use the name of Jesus! However, it's important to remember when doing this that you are not brow-beating people to Christ. Nor does a prophetic word necessarily require the salvation of an unsaved person you are ministering to (let the Holy Spirit do His work, so that every time that person thinks about the word you give... he/she will be contemplating the reality of Christ).
   A word of caution for this one, I do NOT recommend starting off in a New Age or Witchcraft festival like you see Jason Westerfield do. This is a great thing to do for people that are accustomed to walking in the power of God, but especially for people that have experience in battling the demonic. Those settings can be dangerous for someone that has not quite learned to walk in the authority Christ has given them yet... so just pray about it before you determine to do that in an occult atmosphere.

9. The Quickdraw - Practices words of wisdom and words of knowledge
One moderator gets two individuals to be back-to-back, the moderator then counts out 10 paces, after the 10th step the two turn and whoever gives the accurate prophetic word first wins! Obviously the paces can be increased or decreased to permit more time to receive revelation. This exercise removes the "logical" human reasoning from the process, since the immediacy of the prophetic word disallows much contemplation on the revelation. It's important that the winner must also have a correct interpretation if the revelation is abstract. In other words, you can't turn around and say "I see you looking in a mirror that's shattered into a thousand pieces and then it becomes a solid pane" (the only way that word wins is if that is something that has recently happened to the recipient, because it has no interpretation). The interpretation has to come with the abstract revelation. In the example it could be something like, "I feel like the Lord is saying that you see yourself as have a shattered/disconnected life and that the parts don't seem to make a whole, but He is saying that He is making you whole."

10. Concentric Rings - Practices words of wisdom and words of knowledge
This one requires at least 6 people. There is an "inner circle" and an "outer circle". Every person faces another person. Those on the "outer circle" give a prophetic word to the person he/she faces. A moderator allocates a period of time to receive the words and then give them. After the prophetic words are delivered, the circles rotate and new words are given to the new partners.
To mix this one up, the moderator can have the group receive the revelation... and then rotate the circles (this prevents the bias of foreknowledge from interfering with the accuracy of the words). A good starter time limit is a minute. As the group progresses, the time to receive revelation can be decreased.

Soak in the Spirit

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 14:13:00 +0000

The term "soaking" was birthed out of the Toronto Blessing revival that took place at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship. While even in charismatic churches this practice can seem New Age, I assure it is both Biblical and essential to our spiritual growth. This is not something I practice on a daily basis (although it probably should be), but as often as it is feasible. Soaking brings rest, peace, revelation, vision, and oftentimes divine encounter. So what is it?

Soaking is when we still ourselves before the Lord in His presence and wait upon Him to work on our spirits. We get saturated by His Spirit and His presence. Most of the time, when people soak they listen to soft spiritual music (a couple sites that have free soaking music are Soaking with a Purpose and Soaking.net). If you want to purchase music I highly recommend Glory Reign's Soaking CDs and Joshua Mills soaking music. I liken this practice to much of what you see David do in Psalms and here's a few verses for it:

Psalms 131:2 “But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.”
Psalms 37:7 "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him”
Psalms 27:14 "Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."
Psalms 40:1 " I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry."
Isaiah 40:31 "Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

That's just a few starters. If you have ever experienced a solemn assembly, then the idea of waiting on the Lord should be familiar to you. Some of the other terms that you'll hear that generally mean the same thing are "waiting" and "tarrying".

There are some things that you can expect when you begin this practice. First, is that sitting still for 10 minutes (with or without music) is likely to seem like a long time. Most of us are accustomed to darting from one thought to another in the busyness of life, so the concept of letting your thoughts be still before the Lord seems foreign. One thing that has really helped me with this is worship. Before I soak, I worship for a while. It fixates my mind and spirit upon the Lord. Soaking is a practice that initially requires discipline. When most of us started reading the Bible we first had to discipline ourselves to do it, but later grew to love encountering the Lord through the Word. It's the same way with soaking. You can expect to see visions, feel Holy Spirit's presence significantly increase upon you in your daily life, and receive divine revelation.

So how is it done? It's simple and I'll give you my steps for soaking:

Worship the Lord until your thoughts stay fixed on Him
Turn on some instrumental worship or soaking worship music
Get in a seated or lying position that is comfortable
Focus your thoughts on the Lord and holding your mind still before Him
Wait for Holy Spirit to takeover

When I feel His presence it comes like a very light blanket being laid over me, but it gets heavier and heavier the longer I soak. Hold your mind still before Him and look with your spiritual eyes (similar to your imagination, except you are the one causing what you see/hear). The more you look the more you'll see. You may feel like nothing is happening, but as you wait on the Lord He works on your spirit and that doesn't include your mind. Benny Hinn also has a fantastic teaching on this that makes me jealous (in a good way) every time I hear it. So I encourage you to take up this practice and pursue God from the place of rest (and please share your experiences with it in the comments to this post)!

How to Ascend Into Heaven

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:18:00 +0000

Recently a friend at the Name Above All Names healing rooms I volunteer at gave me Katie Souza's Ascending into the Supernatural CD set. I have heard teaching on ascending before and it never seemed to work for me, but I'm more than willing to continue trying and failing at something that offers the potential outcome of "being in Heaven". If you want a thorough Biblical foundation for why we can ascend into Heaven, the saints that have done it in the past, the types of encounters you can expect: I highly recommend getting the teachings from Katie Souza. Before delving into the step-by-step instructions for going to heaven (without dying), there are a few misconceptions that must be addressed.

First let me state that I've had both out-of-body and in-body experiences with Heaven. The out-of-body experience, I had no inclination of what was going to happen... I was pulled up and that was all there was to it. The encounter was not the result of my pursuing Heaven, but God granted me His grace by drawing me up through an open heaven. Much of that encounter is personal, but I saw some of the Biblical locations in heaven (namely the throne room and banquet table). This is not the type of experience that I have had as a result of the instructions which follow. While I believe it is certainly possible to ascend into the heavens, in the natural, at will (Christ did it when He transfigured)... it simply isn't my experience. However, my experience does not determine the possibilities, faith does.

Okay, so is it Biblical? Paul went up (2 Cor 12:2), John went up (Rev 1), Stephen saw into heaven (Acts 7:55), Jesus walked under an open heaven (Luke 3:21), Jesus saw into heaven (Luke 9:18, Luke 10:18), the heavens opened for Ezekiel's visions (Eze 1:1), and much more. Encountering heaven is a mandate for divine revelation and retrieving God's response to earthly issues.

So how do you do it? Katie notes 5 steps on how to ascend and goes into detail on each step, if you need additional information view Expected End Ministries web site. She also reviews how to bring things back with you from Heaven.

Here's the steps:

Plead the blood of Jesus over your sins (repent!)
Cultivate an open heaven
Know that you're already seated in heavenly places
Come under the Holy Spirit's power
Activate your faith

The Lord has released me to share my first experience with this. I was sitting quietly in my chair and I suddenly had the impression that I was in the throne room. The more that I looked the more I could see myself surrounded by other thrones. Again, this was not in the natural, but in the same realm as how we receive prophetic revelation. If you've never done that try some of the exercises I mentioned in this previous post. Then I saw a hand (which I knew to be Christ's) reach into my heart and turn up a dial on it as you would turn up a thermostat. Next He took a flame and put it in my heart. Before descending, I asked to take something with me and a flame appeared in the palm of my right hand. Afterward, I truly wasn't sure if I'd just been to heaven or not and I asked the Lord to confirm the encounter through His word. He said "read Hebrews 1 and 2". I opened it up to Hebrews 1 and read "He makes His angels winds, and His servants flames of fire"!

So I encourage you to try this out on your own. Let me know about your experiences and encounters. Remember to ask for confirmation from the Word (the Word is to be experienced and experience must be validated with the Word, never contrasted by it). Be Blessed!

Activating Spiritual Gifts - Exercises - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:09:00 +0000

Here's just a few exercises that I've come across for growing in the gifts.

1. Look at Jesus - Practices the prophetic gifts (words of wisdom and words of knowledge), the seer/visionary gift, and discerning God's voice
This one comes from the previously mentioned How to Hear God's Voice book by Mark Virkler, with my adaptation. First, plead the blood of Jesus over your mind, thoughts and imagination; bind any spirits that would interrupt, distract, or hinder your time with the Lord. Get in front of your computer or use a pen and paper (if you want to go old school). Then picture yourself sitting with Jesus. Mark suggests using a Gospel setting for the imagery, my recommendation is that you can start with that and slowly adapt to picturing Him where you are. Remember the reality is that Christ is always with us (Matthew 28:20) so picturing this is actually activating our faith in the Truth. Then ask Holy Spirit to breath on what you are picturing and journal your conversation with the Lord. After you've written it all down, be sure to take the conversation to either a spiritual adviser or ask the Lord to confirm it with His word.

2. Prophecy Line - Practices the prophetic gifts (words of wisdom & words of knowledge)
This exercise requires a minimum of 3 people but is best done with 5 or more. One person faces the wall and an administrator organizes the others in a single-file line behind the prophesying person. The person at the front of the line has 10 seconds to get a word for the person behind him/her before another person moves up to the front of the line (this is monitored by the administrator). Instead of keeping a normal rotation, it's good to mix up the line frequently. Prophetic words can be for the individual in the front of the line, but a lot of times we've found that Holy Spirit reveals who is receiving the prophetic words (which is a fun confirmation). The objective is to remove the analytical side of prophetic words and just use what Holy Spirit gives you. This is essential for moving in the prophetic in public settings, you don't always have 10 minutes to get the interpretation for the revelation, so you go with what you have and 9 times out of 10 Holy Spirit gives all you need.

3. Small Group Healing - Practices the gift of healing
The gift of healing is pretty simple to practice, you pray for the sick. Kevin Dedmon said, "I used to have see 100% of the people I prayed for getting healed, because I wasn't praying for anyone." Remember the prophetic gifts and healing are promises for everyone, while there are those with aptitudes and callings that show particular gifts in these arenas, they are both promised to the body of Christ as a whole! (That means you). The easiest way to learn to pray for the sick is with a group of like-minded friends in a small group or just hanging out. Find some sickness among you, lay your hands on it, and command it to go. It's that easy. Don't despise the day of small beginnings, I still celebrate when headaches are healed through my hands... because it's something I can't heal on my own and God is choosing to do it through me and that's worth celebration! I didn't actually start praying for the sick this way, I joined a healing team and was visiting malls and hospitals on my own praying for the sick regularly. One thing that helps to stay encouraged is to read testimonies and record all the ones you see (until they start multiplying beyond your journaling ability). Bethel, Andrew Womack, Todd White, this blog, Joel2Generation blog, etc. All of these have great testimonies to encourage you. But I digress, back to praying for your friends. Just use simple phrases like "In Jesus name sickness go!" and if you run out of things to say just say the name of Jesus over and over (every knee must bow to His name).

4. Facebook Prophetic - Practices words of wisdom and words of knowledge
While the social networking outlet you choose is irrelevant to how this is done, Facebook has shown to be the best for this sort of arena in my experience. The objective is to join a community of people pursuing the prophetic gifts like yourself, and engage in prophesying over/with them. (Warning: incoming shameless plug) I have facebook group called Prophetic Practice where people that are interested in the prophetic go and are encouraged to message other members with prophetic words. I used to hold weekly/monthly activities but consistent participation was hard to find. Anyway, all the members of that group are accustomed to prophecy and you can join and give prophetic words to any one of them. If you are new to the gift of prophecy, I encourage you to start by giving your words to an administrator first because they can offer some valuable feedback to your words.

5. Specifics - Practices words of wisdom and words of knowledge
This is simply having fun with the prophetic (who said God had to be boring?!) Get a group of friends, a small group, or online friends that are familiar with the prophetic gifts and ask a series of questions of each other. The following is an example we did with my men's group:

What did the person eat for breakfast?
What is a circumstance the person is currently going through or dealing with?
What is something the person can expect to see in the next week?

Since we had less than 5 people there we answered these questions for every group member, if you have a larger group... obviously it's best to pick one person to be the "subject" and everyone else can get the words for that person.

These are just a few great little starter exercises for practicing spiritual gifts. Obviously if your church has a healing and prophetic ministry, I recommend joining that as well. The most important thing to remember is that we grow by being consistent (doing this once a week rarely yields the results most of us desire). The more we are willing to steward what God has given us, the more He gives! Be blessed in Jesus name!

Living Sacrifice

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:16:00 +0000

"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."-Romans 12:1 (NASB)

As I was praying yesterday, I said "Lord I offer myself to you as a living sacrifice today" (it's a fairly regular ingredient of my prayer times). He responded with "being a living sacrifice is willing to be consistently uncomfortable". While we most certainly are aware of praying to "be living sacrifices" or to "take up our cross daily", the concept of what we have been praying is oftentimes foreign to us. I noticed that while my heart and spirit meant this wholeheartedly, I had been neglecting the conscious willingness to follow up the prayer with the actions. When we say things like "Lord I offer myself as a living sacrifice" we are declaring that we intend to submit our will to His.

To be a living sacrifice, always means giving up our selfish desires in exchange for adopting the Lord's desires. One example of this is having a willingness to pray for others, regardless of agenda. Personally, this was a sacrifice when I started doing it, but is now a frequent practice and subsequently no longer a sacrifice. My agenda when I used to go shopping at Kroger or Walmart never included other people. I was going with intentions of groceries, not God. However, as the Lord began challenging me to simply "Do What Jesus Did" I was confronted with the concept that my intentions had excluded His (yes even regarding shopping malls). So what did "being a living sacrifice" entail in that scenario? It meant I was to being very uncomfortable approaching strangers and asking them if I could pray for them (initially). My will was to get some ground beef, His will was to heal the sick. After all, Christ and all of His followers had no problem going into strange towns and preaching the Gospel, healing the sick, raising the dead, and cleansing lepers so how obscure is it to awaken to the fact that His desire for that hasn't changed? The more we are willing to lay down our lives for His sake, the more we take up His life... and His motives.

Walking out this life as a living sacrifice is a yielding of our will to His, but even more than that. The degree with which we yield to Christ's will for our lives is the degree to which our hearts are conformed to His. I rarely struggle with apprehension about approaching people to pray for them anymore. It has been engraved in my heart, that now I truly love to do it! So instead of being afraid of this "scary prayer", perhaps we should pray it but also respond to the implications of sacrificing ourselves for His sake.

Growing in God Exercises

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:31:00 +0000

The Lord has been giving me a couple exercises to help me grow in intimacy with Him as well as growing in love. The first exercise is to grow in discernment of His voice. Hearing God's voice is something that must be practiced regularly. If the concept seems foreign to you, I highly recommend How to Hear God's Voice by Mark Virkler. His book accustoms you to one method of hearing God (He speaks to us in a plethora of ways). The exercise I have been doing is as I wait upon the Lord, I journal everything He says to me. I ask open ended questions about my life/circumstances and note His responses as they light upon my spirit. Then after I've written down the conversation, I ask the Lord to confirm it through His word. This practice has actually changed the way I study the Word, it is a much more dynamic relationship since the Lord continues a conversation with me through the Scriptures. Sometimes I'll ask Him where I should study, but most of the time I wade through the various bookmarked chapters I am going through (I usually read several chapters and have bookmarks in the Torah, the Prophets, SoS, Psalms, a Gospel, an epistle, and Revelations). If I heard His voice correctly, He always confirms it with His Word! Doing this validates what we hear and gives us confidence in what we hear Him say.

The next exercise is one the Lord suggested to me this morning, but I have yet to practice. He said, "This is my 5 step plan: go to a public place and every 5 steps talk to a stranger." Before I proceed, a major part of my calling is to publicly minister in power and love (I believe this is the calling of every Christian, but some have more of an aptitude for it than others). Myself and a few others will regularly go to malls, hospitals, supermarkets, flea markets, etc. to find the sick and pray for them or just give prophetic words to strangers. The Lord's 5 step plan is a new challenge for me, since I have historically waited until I had a complete revelation & interpretation from the Lord before approaching an individual. Alternatively, I would approach people with visible illness/injuries. This exercise will propel me out of that comfort zone, away from relying on the gifts, and into moving more in love. Not everyone needs healed. Not everyone will receive a prophetic word. Everyone needs Jesus and the love of Christ is what we have that others do not, if we don't share it... the salt is losing it's saltiness.

The Divine Family p1

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:35:00 +0000

The Lord spoke to me recently when I asked Him about what season He has me in. He is often working things in my character that I have to be conscious of, in order to receive the full benefit of His work. In other words, if I'm aware that He is developing the fruit of patience in me I lean on Him to respond to circumstances with patience. If I'm unaware of that intention, I'm likely to be found rebuking the situation, pleading the blood, asking for angelic help, etc. One of those two is walking by the Spirit, the other is immaturely applying spiritual principles to a carnal mindset.

The Lord said He was raising me as a spiritual father. Before I proceed, let me state that I am not claiming to be one yet, but only growing in the knowledge of Him (Eph 4:13). He has been granting me revelation on His very nature, and how our relationship with God (the Trinity) is so uniquely knit into the family unit. The obvious arenas of such understanding are: the bridal paradigm (spouse), the Father (as I relate to my son and the "grafted branch", my nephew), the comforter (as I relate to my mother-in-law). We are spiritually made in His image (Gen 1:27) and God Himself dwells in us (Eph 1:17-19), so we can often receive revelation from the Lord through our relationships.

The most recent revelatory interactions the Lord has given me are with my son and nephew. My son and I were out at the Indoor Safari and as I watched him play on the jungle gym and trains, my heart began to swell with affections for him. He wasn't doing anything in particular to stir these emotions, I just looked at him and knew that all of my heart loved him (I've had similar encounters with my wife as well). In that moment, the Lord said "that's how I feel about you, but even more" and the tears started. Knowing in our heads that God loves us is something we can confide in and trust in, but how much greater the depth of that sentiment when we can legitimately feel those affections! That moment is one where I lived Ephesians 3:19 "to know the love that surpasses knowledge". It isn't the knowledge of a fact, it's the knowledge of experience. Just because I've read all the books on riding a bicycle, seen the wiki on it, and watched a few youtube "how to" videos doesn't mean I can ride a bicycle. The person that can explain it best is not necessarily the best at it.

4UMMWMCA2YD8

The Key to Inheriting the Promises

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:12:00 +0000

Heb 6:11-12 "And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (NASB).

In his book The Apostolic Ministry, Rick Joyner states "... if it takes 'faith and patience' to inherit the promises, why do we have this huge 'faith movement,' but no one has even heard of a 'patience movement?'" I would even suggest that along with self-control, patience is the least sought after fruit of the Spirit. I digress for a moment to suggest that while "fruit happens" is a nice cliche and generally applicable, I think that we could all agree that "fruit happens from a life of pursuing Him" which includes the attributes of His nature that we lack. Anyway, I have been praying for patience frequently lately (in dealing with people as well as work scenarios) and the Lord spoke to me about it and said "Patience must be learned... slowly."

Dismissing our need for patience and not pursuing what we know is in His nature, is inherently sinful (we are created to be in His image, if we pursue another image it cannot be a holy one). So why pursue patience? It is the key to His promises. God is always faithful. It is not, however, a pleasant gift to grow in. The "growing pains" of our instantaneous satisfaction based lives in the 21st century have given us a bent towards believing that if something doesn't happen immediately it must not be His intentions. I actually believe that this one key is the reason people fail to see healing or have their prayers answered: they give up. Luke 18 tells the parable of the unjust judge and the widow who continues to come to him. Christ than equates faith with persistently asking. As long as we continue to believe and stand in faith, while we are in agreement with His will, He will show faithful.

Likewise in Matthew 17:20 Jesus says, "if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you" (NASB). The significance of the mustard seed is not only that it is a small seed, but it has exponential growth over time. If the seed of faith is sown in fertile soil in your heart (Mt 13) and is watered with the living water within you (Jn 4:14) it will grow exceedingly! But guess what? You can't throw out the seed if you don't see a plant in 30 minutes. His promises of healing, provision, deliverance, etc. all regularly rely on our choosing to believe in what He says, acting on it, and not giving up. Just acknowledging the possibility isn't enough, we must be proactively pursuing this patient endurance with faith in His promises in order to see them realized.

Mall Miracles

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:16:00 +0000

Saturday I took out our Power Evangelism team to the mall. Prior to our departure we waited on the Lord for revelation on where to go and who to minister to. Some of the words were: mall, right hand in a cast, a group of hispanic youth, someone smoking that would be delivered as we prayed for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, a woman that looked like Sarah Palin, and a few others. So we went to the mall and the fun began!

Before I continue recounting the supernatural things the Lord did in just an everyday mall, I want to emphasize what made this outing different than my usual outings. Most of the time, when I am ministering publicly in the power of the Spirit, I have a tendency to practice the gift I am most comfortable with (healing). That usually entails finding visible injuries/illnesses and asking to pray for only those individuals (wheelchairs, splints, canes, etc.). Even on the occasions when I was practicing the prophetic, I would generally be asking the Lord for words of knowledge to identify people with physical conditions that may not be visible. On this excursion, I made no delineation between what way Holy Spirit chose to manifest and who He chose to minster to. The objective was simply love.

When we minister from a place of love, we will never fail (1 Cor 13:8). There were an unusual amount of refusals to receive prayer for physical healing at first, so we started asking the Lord for prophetic words for the people working in the kiosks. The first one was for a woman at a jewelry kiosk, my two cohorts approached her with the word that she was like a spiritual mother and although she was not a mother in the natural, she was talking care of her two nephews. So quick confirmation number 1. While they delivered that word I was inquiring about Rosetta Stone and asked the Lord for a word for the guy working at that kiosk. I felt like the Lord said that he was a goal oriented person and that he was a writer. When I asked him if he was a writer, his reply was "Yes. How did you know that? Do I just look like a writer?" The smart-alic in me wanted to ask what a writer looks like. Anyway, I shared that the Lord had revealed it to me and he continued to confirm the word by telling me how he and his wife prayed for God to reveal His will for them every night before they went to sleep! I felt like the Lord was encouraging him that the desire to write was from Him. So we prayed for revelation and inspiration on what to write about.

Next up was the "smoker in the mall", it was the guy working at the electric cigarette kiosk! He was a believer and had been suffering with PTSD since being in Iraq. Nightmares were common for this young man. He had already received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but when we prayed for him, he got a second dose! His eyes watered and he received noticeable emotional healing. The Lord obviously wanted to get a hold of this guy, and you could see that he had an aptitude for communicating with strangers and the light of Christ was all over him. The Lord started to set him free from the bondage of his past!

We did see three people with casts or splints on their right wrists. Two of them allowed us to pray. The most encouraging was a middle aged hispanic gentleman and his wife, his right wrist was wrapped in bandages and he had an arm sling. When we prayed all four of us (the three of us ministering and the man receiving prayer) felt heat. He said he felt heat and energy shooting into his hand! He was able to turn his wrist and said it felt a whole lot better. He also said he was going to check with the doctor to confirm the healing. When we prayed for him, the man started swaying under the power of the Spirit (I thought we might need a catcher) and after we stopped his eyes were filled with tears as God touched him!

There were many more interactions like this in just a couple hours (several other accurate prophetic words, witnessing about what Jesus did, and more). This is the Christian life. This is how Jesus and the disciples ministered, through public displays of His affection through the power of the Spirit. It is His kindness that leads us to repentance and His miracles are a wonderful kindness. Jesus didn't evangelize like we do: creating friendships with ulterior motives of sharing the Gospel, He loved people where they were at. His love is all it takes to lead someone to salvation. He never said to someone "believe in Me or you won't be healed" nor did He say "if you don't believe in Me you will go to hell" (regardless of whether it's true). He just healed them and loved people. By receiving His love, we receive Him. You don't have to know certain facts to get into heaven (i.e. - the Four spiritual laws), just know Christ and believe in Him. I'm not suggesting that knowing those things aren't good and as we grow in the Lord our knowledge of Him should absolutely include those things. But Jesus didn't make them requirements to enter Heaven... who are we to make it more difficult for others to enter in? It is through simply turning from our lives of sin to Him and trusting Him to do what He said that we enter in. It's all about posture of the heart and His love changes our posture.

Enter In

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:05:00 +0000

In my hometown portion of the "Bible belt" Christian terminology is fairly common among believers and unbelievers alike. I was witnessing to a woman the other day that had obviously been raised in a religious household without actually knowing Christ personally and when I was talking to the Lord afterward, He spoke to me about what had been bothering me.

Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." The revelation of Christ as Lord is insufficient for eternal salvation. In our Americanized Christianity we have tried to dilute the Gospel to being as palatable to a potential believer as possible; this happens by reducing the entrance into heaven down to an utterance of a few simple phrases as we site Romans 10:9 as evidence of a eternal assurance. Romans 10:9 "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;" Paul goes on to explain in verse 10, "for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." Without righteousness there is no salvation. Accepting Christ is more than just saying the words, it is a posture of the heart... this is why repentance is a requisite to salvation. Repenting is turning away from sin and towards God (which is the meaning of believing "in your heart"). Regret is not repentance. Inmates on death row have felt remorse for their sinfulness, that does not mean they are forgiven. To repent is to no longer pursue the sinfulness, and pursue the One who freely forgives for it. That's the message that Christ preached Himself (Mt 4:17).

Belief in Christ is not a passive mental acknowledgment of His existence, but the kind that changes your life. James 2:19 "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. " Just because you know the terminology, can recite the Lord's prayer, and know in your head that Jesus is Lord doesn't mean that you are saved. He must be YOUR Lord for salvation. It isn't until an individual submits to His will that he/she is saved, because that is the precise moment when THE Lord becomes Their Lord.