Confidence—in HIM

“But this beautiful treasure is contained in us—cracked pots made of earth and clay—so that the transcendent character of this power will be clearly seen as coming from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7 VOICE)

One of the cruelest vampires leeching the life right out of you is lack of confidence. When I think of how many years I had let the approval of people imprison me and hold me back, it just sickens me…so I try even harder NOT to think of it! Seriously, it is paralyzing when you need affirmation. The devil will use that longing as a tool against you–always putting satisfaction just beyond your reach, always keeping you self-deprecating and in a state of the fear of not being good enough. Yes, that was me. And my imagination was in overdrive…thinking people didn’t really like me, didn’t think I was good enough, thinking I was going to mess up. So I approached everything timidly. What a setup for failure and more bruising to my fragile ego! I would watch other people do things so easily (especially public speaking and singing) and think, “why can’t I be like them?” You know what this does? It makes us avoid situations where we might be asked to shine!

How funny it is, that it’s taken me hitting my mid-late forties to shake that stronghold. Sure, we tend to chill out a little more as we settle into getting older; but may I tell you that the REAL act of liberation came when I stopped keeping my eyes on others and started focusing on Jesus. When I surrendered that need for approval to Him, and learned that His was truly the only approval I needed, something changed. I began even to cast down imaginations and subdue everything to the knowledge of WHO JESUS is, and I realized that I don’t have to please anyone but Him. I also learned that when we keep our eyes on Him, He does the rest THROUGH us. I can’t rely on my own strength and ability to be there every single time…but you know what? I can always expect HIS to be!

If you are struggling with confidence issues, talk to your Papa God about it. He can heal fears, emotional/physical abuse, wounded egos, and bitter disappointment…and can free you to step out and grasp that thing He’s created you to do. Indwelling of the Holy Spirit (ask Him to fill you if you’ve not experienced this) will unleash boldness.

I love the Apostle Paul. He had an education and life experience that any man would be proud to flaunt, yet he kept it to himself. Why? Nothing to prove! He came into Christianity fully aware that he would be distrusted, rejected by many for the years prior when he’d made it his life’s work to persecute followers of Jesus. He knew some might never accept him as good enough. Did it slow him down? No! Why? Nothing to prove!

My lifelong friend Jimmy Copley, a bold carrier of the Good News, made a FB post today which really cemented this point I’m making. He likened us to pizza boxes. The box isn’t what has worth–the pizza inside is. Be filled today with the Holy Spirit. People will smell the aroma and become hungry for what’s inside. The writing on the outside of the box, the fancy construction OR LACK THEREOF…irrelevant. You ARE a fragile vessel, capable of failing, messing up, falling short…yet THE GOD has chosen to use your frail container in which to place His Spirit! He does this so that when He works through you, people will know that it’s Him and not your own ability to perform which has brought forth good things.

Today when you are about your daily routine, you will be called upon to do something greater than your ability and experience can offer. If you are relying on merely those two factors, you may set yourself up for failure. Ask God to take your container, imperfect and incomplete though you may be, and work things through you that exceed your capabilities. As He does, give Him the glory. No more fixating on the judges’ scorecards! GOD Himself endorses you! With your confidence in His ability (the One Who cannot fail) instead of your own (which may or may not succeed), you walk into your situation with the full assurance that you really CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Like Paul…nothing to prove, so you can afford to be all in. Go forth empowered today, in Jesus’ name!

Prayer Against Metastatic Cancer

I feel strongly impressed this morning to pray for those suffering with cancer. The Lord is moving me to pray specifically against metastatic cancer in any form. Nothing strikes fear in the heart of someone already afflicted with this dreadful disease like the word “metastasize.” You may ask, “well, why not just pray against cancer, period?” I can’t answer that question! I keep seeing little fragments floating around in the bloodstream when I pray, and I believe the Lord means for me to pray specifically against cancer which spreads and infects the whole body. Would you bless someone suffering with this disease by sharing this prayer with him or her? Please join with me in declaring health and healing over yourself or a loved one:

“Heavenly Father, we come before You today in the strong, all-powerful name of Jesus on behalf of those whom the enemy would afflict not once, but multiple times through cancer which grows and spreads to other organs and body parts. Father, we declare in agreement that cancer is an intruder not welcome in the body of Your children. For those who have already been diagnosed with cancer, we speak Your Word over that mass and contain it now in the Jesus’ name. We surround that diseased tissue with the sinless blood of Jesus, in which there is no death element. Disease cannot pass that sacred blood barrier. We speak to antibodies and white blood cells to attack and destroy whatever is not native to this body which was created in perfection by God Himself. We declare that cancer CANNOT hide, hibernate, or disguise itself from the blood of Jesus! We speak to our blood and command it to become an inhospitable environment where disease cannot remain. We command our blood to become alkaline to its original normal levels, rather than imbalanced and acidic, because God’s Word says that LIFE is in the blood! We declare that the very breath of God sends oxygen coursing through our bloodstream to nourish healthy cells. Our lymph nodes are not relay stations for cancer to bounce from place to place. We call to the abnormal cells in the body and say, “you must die and not multiply.” We speak a supernatural “Teflon” effect to manifest in the bones, blood, tissue, and organs which makes them impervious to metastasizing cells. Those cells have no choice but to die without finding a host to feed on. They cannot attach, they cannot feed, they cannot multiply, they cannot destroy. We activate by the words of our mouths YOUR WORD into our situation. Your Word is alive, and active, and sharper than a two-edged sword! Take Your two-edged sword deep inside of bodies, souls, and spirits; and, like a scalpel, do surgery to remove what has no right to contradict Your will for our lives! Pierce through what does not belong and root it out, we ask by the authority of Your Word! As we free Your Word to perform this operation, we release to You any attitudes, fears, unforgiveness, or unbelief which might be lurking within us. We reject them now so that disease has no legal ground to operate in our bodies!

We make some Scriptural declarations now and apply them to this situation: Proverbs 26:2 says that the curse without cause shall not come. We bind any activities set in motion through idle, undeserved, or maliciously delivered words in Jesus’ name. Jesus delivered us from the curse of the law according to Galatians 3:13. He became the cursed so that we might be freed from it. The law of the spirit of life IN HIM therefore frees us from the law of sin and death. (Rom 8:2) We, as children of the Most High, rest in the shadow of His wings. Any attack against us to vex Him will be dealt with by His strong and mighty right hand, because when the enemy attacks God’s children, it is an indirect attack against God Himself! Our Father is a protective and nurturing Father and He will defend us! We claim Nahum 1:9-10 over ourselves, and say that, though the enemy may have stricken once, he gets no further opportunity to afflict a second time. We know that unless we stake a claim with the Word of God, the enemy can run rampant…BUT WE HAVE JUST CALLED HIS HAND! We file a grievance against Satan and his minions now. We declare that GOD’S WORD says that Satan’s devices against us are like tangled thorns, a drunk consumed by his drink, and stubble completely withered. Satan’s devices have no hope of a successful end because we are ENFORCING what God’s Word has already declared on our behalf!

Thank You, Father, not because the demons are subject to us, but because our names are written in Your Book of Life! Yes, LIFE! Thank You, our shield and protector, our Jehovah Rapha Who heals us. Thank You that You have empowered us to call a halt to rogue activity in our bodies. We treat these temples of the Holy Spirit with respect and we steward our gift of health. As You reveal what we need to do to care better for our bodies, we WILL obey Your revelations! We receive Your healing now, and we thank You for withering, tangling, incapacitating, and killing out any disease (known or unbeknownst to us) which may try to afflict Your children. In Jesus’ name, we deactivate cancer’s power to grow and spread. Amen and Amen!”

Losses Don’t Count Against You!

“Don’t interfere with good people’s lives;
    don’t try to get the best of them.
No matter how many times you trip them up,
    God-loyal people don’t stay down long;
Soon they’re up on their feet,
    while the wicked end up flat on their faces.” Proverbs 24:15-16 MSG

Ever notice how, when you fall down, the first thing you do is look around to see if anyone saw you…even if no one’s around? That’s how we are. Oh, how we hate to fall, to lose, to mess up. It just erodes at our self-confidence so. Losing is so tabu to us, that many of us go through our whole lives playing it safe. We are the spiritual hermits. We are the servant who hides the ten talents so that, even if he gains nothing, he won’t lose anything.

This is NOT the way God created us, though! He hardwired us for relationship with Him; to trust Him in all our endeavors. He already knew as he pressed that clay together and puffed the first breath of life into Adam that He was creating a fallible creature, yet He loved him! He looked forward to hanging out in the garden with Adam and Eve in those days before disobedience drove a wedge between them and Him. Back in those days, they trusted Him implicitly, and whatever He said, they were ok with. They named all the animals, walked among all the creepy crawlers and critters with not an inkling of fear. Why, they’d never even experienced the emotion of dread until they opened themselves up to sin. Once they knew they’d messed up, they did their level best to hide from God and “pretend” that He wouldn’t notice the missed appointment in the cool of the day. Maybe He would think those sewn-together leaves were just an expression of Eve’s creativity?

So, maybe you have done your share of fruit-sampling lately, or listening to the serpent’s reasoning, and find yourself alienated from God. Or you’ve had a life event to throw you so out of kilter that you wonder if you ever heard from Him in the first place. Let me draw you in a little closer so that I can help you back to your feet!

As I said earlier, God knew when He created us that the free-will factor would make us free to love Him by choice…but that it also gave us the option of wrong choices as well. So you’ve messed up. May I also point to Adam and Eve with a suggestion that you examine their behavior in the “what NOT to do when you fall flat on your face” category? In Genesis, I don’t see a repentant spirit in either of them. What I see is a blame game. No accountability whatsoever, and not a hint of remorse. Did they think that presenting a good enough argument to justify their actions would impress their Creator? Who knows…but Eve blamed the serpent, Adam blamed Eve (and he even blamed God for “that woman you gave me”). I wonder how differently things might have gone if they’d thrown themselves at His mercy and simply repented? Consequences would still come from their decisions, but I can’t help but think of what might have gone better had they just faced their failures and sought His forgiveness. Maybe a question He’ll answer for us in eternity…

When I was a teenager, my nephew and cousins were the same age, and like all boys entering the big gaming age, they had fallen in love with “intendo” (what they called Nintendo). I loved the little kids in our family, and I thought I might try playing, too, so that we could enjoy some together time. After all, little kids make that stuff look so easy! So, I set out by myself to master this Mario thing. Now, I’m very much a progress person; and it took me very little time to decide that I hated this game. Anything which took away all my progress and made me start all over again with nothing at the very beginning…not my cup of tea at all. So, my video game days ended abruptly.

If you have a relationship with God, built on the rock, life doesn’t have to be like Eden’s fall and Mario’s failure. If you maintain a meek heart, quick to forgive and quick to repent when you’re wrong, mistakes and losses don’t pile up on your shelf of shame. God doesn’t take away every accomplishment you’ve achieved when you mess up. You don’t have to learn from scratch all over again every truth He’s imparted into you in those times of prayer, reading, seeking. He will dust you off and help you to miss as little time as possible. He WANTS you to succeed. He WANTS you to be the servant who invests those talents, even if the market bottoms out and you lose everything! In fact, He’d rather you were willing to risk failure than to never put His gifts in your life to the test.

That said, STOP being so people-conscious! So what if they judge you? In the big picture, so WHAT? I can tell you right now, at some point in time, you’re going to think you heard God’s voice on a matter, only to discover later that maybe you were really following your own heart. Does that mean you have no ability to hear from Him? Of course not! Learn from your miscalculation, get back up, and keep going. Look at the scoreboard…God didn’t deduct your loss! You’re going to make an embarrassing gaffe at some juncture, or even be falsely accused when you had pure intentions. You will probably even have at least one of those major life blunders which “seemed like a good idea at the time.” Yes, you, saved person. You, Holy Ghost-filled believer, are still capable of some real loo-loos if you lean toward your own understanding. The good Lord could show you plenty of mine over the years; but with every loss, He always responded to my cry for help. He never once said, “I think I’ll just let you wallow in it for a little while to see how you like it.” His Word remains ever-true: if we confess, He is faithful to forgive and cleanse. If you make a foolish mistake, or even if you give in to temptation and commit a sin, stop where you are and throw yourself on His mercy! You may have a few lasting regrets for your foolishness, but God will forgive you and make you stronger in that area of your life IF YOU’LL LET HIM. If you believe for something and it doesn’t happen, or if you get ahead of God’s timing and alter the outcome of an important life occurrence, go to Him. Talk to Him about it. Ask forgiveness if you were disobedient. Ask for wisdom, which HE HAS ALREADY PROMISED TO GIVE TO THOSE WHO ASK!

If you knew that your losses wouldn’t count against you in some earthly game, you would go up against the very best opponents with full confidence–just as though you were the reigning champion! It wouldn’t make winning mean any less…but it WOULD cause you to stop holding back and worrying what other people are thinking about you! Word: You can go up against the adversary and come out a winner. Even if you lose a few matches, you will STILL win if you won’t quit. So please, step out in faith and begin taking some “risks!” Risk not getting it right, so that eventually, you’ll be able to be spot-on! Be willing to take a chance for Christ’s sake, so that if not now, some day you will have grown enough in your faith to achieve the impossible! Pray for someone. “What if he/she doesn’t get well,” you might ask? Pray again anyway. Pray for bunches more people, even. Muster up enough courage to sing your first special, even if the microphone is shaking in your hand! Apply for that job which seems to require more credentials than you have…your character alone may be the selling point that lands you the career of your dreams. Pay that tithe, even if it means your checkbook appears to be down 10%…and watch God bless the 90%! Be the one to apologize first, even if you’re sure the disagreement was completely the other person’s fault! Remember, it takes no faith to just what God’s given you in a jar and bury it in the ground. But…what if you put Him to the test? What if you fail a few times and He picks you up without fail and says, “Keep trying…you’ll get it!”

He is on your side. He has made everything available to you to help you complete this race of life. And so long as you keep trying, over and over again, your losses will not rob you of your victory!

STRIKE-ANYWHERE BELIEVERS

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” –Jesus (Matthew 5:16)

There was a time when the humble little match could be ignited by striking against any surface. You see it all the time in the old westerns; macho cowboy strikes a match from his boot, lights his cigarette, and strolls away with that slow, Joe Cool gait.

Eventually, the original strike-anywhere match was replaced, however, when it was discovered that the highly volatile white phosphorus on the tip could ignite itself just when matches rubbed together in the box. The phosphorus was also poisonous when ingested; when men working in the match plants handled it or breathed it in, it slowly ate away their bones and left them physically ill or eventually dead. Others, learning of its deadly properties, misused the power of the white phosphorus match tips to commit suicide or to kill others. The United States actually forbade the import of the original formula white phosphorus matches early in the 20th Century.

The new match tips were made of a different combustible substance coated in wax, and the ignition key now became red phosphorus, a less powerful chemical than its white cousin. The final difference lay in the fact that the special red phosphorus was the only surface whose friction could ignite the matches. To this day, the little strip of reddish-brown that you see on the edge of the matchbox or match pack is the only friction that can “set it off.” Safety matches. Although you can now buy a different version of a strike-anywhere match, which too is coated to prevent accidental combustion, it only looks like the original. Its properties are very different.

Spiritually-speaking, what kind of match are YOU? Do you catch fire only when you’re in church? Do you only allow yourself to be ignited in a special setting? Do you require the right music, the dim lights, the fog machine to “feel” the Holy Spirit? Outside those conditions, are you coated with a layer of carnality so that you have no potential to erupt into the flame of God without the backing of the Church to set you off?

I challenge you to go back to the original formula! Of COURSE it’s deadly when misused. The Holy Spirit is not to be toyed with. When the flesh tries to “handle” Him, the outcome is never good. His power is to be reverenced, never treated as a common thing. However, when you allow Him to become rich and full and operational in your life, you won’t find yourself restricting His flow when you are outside the box of the church walls. When He fills you, baptizes you, He doesn’t require the music, the stained-glass windows, or the goosebumps to erupt! He IS the fire which can show up anywhere! The Holy Spirit gives us power for service. The Holy Spirit is the “Go Ye” enabler in Matthew 28:19.

Our greatest danger of extinction lies in a watered-down experience with God. We’ve become so politically-correct, so reserved, so afraid of being thought of as obnoxious or weird by others, that we operate in only a very limited capacity. Healings and miracles are down exponentially because faith and the power of the Holy Ghost have had a “cap” put on them by the desire to blend in. If the devil can succeed in corralling that power into a church building and nowhere else, then he succeeds in having dominion everywhere else!

However…there is an awakening happening. A generation of people living in these last days are so hungry for the Holy Spirit to be operational that they are returning to the original formula. As they do, they are discovering that new wine can’t be contained with our “old wineskins” of religious etiquette and tradition. No, the power of the Holy Spirit has to be housed in a place capable of expansion, because He is “working” and needs some room! Not even the restrictions of our nation’s new creed of universalism and tolerance can harness the Real Thing! If others try to operate under a counterfeit, or if they should desire to remain boxed-in and proper, YOU BE AN ANYWHERE CHRISTIAN! Operate in power! We have work to do!

I challenge you today to ask God to fill you with the original, unwaxed, unlimited formula:

“Heavenly Father, I am tired of operating in limited power. There are sick people who need to be healed, evil spirits to be cast out, strongholds to be broken, and lives set free by Your salvation. Most of these people are not inside the church building, so I need to be able to shine Your light other places as well. I’m realizing more and more that a ‘less-volatile’ formula of You isn’t going to do it. I don’t want to have a form of godliness but no power. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit today. Make me dangerous to the works of darkness. Make me so combustible that I’m liable to erupt in the grocery store, the city square, even in front of the drug dealers and dignitaries and others who are kept ‘safe’ from witnessing You at work! I receive You, Holy Spirit, and I will not quench You when You are trying to operate outside the walls of the church. I will not misuse You or treat You as common, because You are holy. I will keep a clean temple and sanctify my mind so that You feel welcome. I will open my ears, eyes, and mouth to Your control. Allow me to hear Your voice, and to hear the silent cries of those who are ripe for the harvest. Allow me to see others as You see, and to discern what isn’t detectable by the naked eye. I will speak Your Word with boldness and not hide Your dominion in my life. I surrender all of me to Your use. Use me to light a huge fire everywhere You want to operate! In Jesus’ name I freely receive, Amen.”

Note: Scientific Facts obtained from Wikipedia.

Catching the Spirit of Prayer

You may not imagine yourself as a great person of prayer. I never did…but prayer just wouldn’t turn loose of me. My heritage of prayer came from my Granny Gladys. She would rise up every morning, way before daylight, and go into the bathroom to pray. The side of the bathtub was her altar. She had an old worn piece of notebook paper tucked into her Bible, which had names on it. Some of the names had long since faded…cried on, anointed with oil. Names were written up and down the sides, on the back, as many as she could cram onto that piece of paper. I can still see her hands…large joints from arthritis and years of hard work, folding that smudged piece of paper and putting it back away for another day. I admired her, knew what she was doing was absolutely right…but I never imagined myself being “her.” I was a free-spirit…the “don’t-hem-me-in” type; and that’s what I thought a devoted prayer life might do to me. I wanted to be on the move!

For me, however, the journey began as a sudden, growing fascination with prayer. I didn’t necessarily pray more at that point, but I couldn’t shake the interest in it as a subject. I began reading about it. I began listening to teachings on it. As I gained an understanding of what prayer really is, and of the powerful exchange which takes place in our intimate time with our Heavenly Father, I began to crave that deeper relationship. It was that craving for what praying people have with God which motivated me to go there.

Much of what I write about in my daily postings and in my blog is prayer. The reason why I talk about it to all of you so much is this: I want others to know what wonderful things are available to the person who draws close to our Father. It’s not a doom-and-gloom, all-serious, no joy, no laughter kind of thing. Not at all. At times, yes, we intercede with great urgency and solemn tone for situations; but real prayer, done daily, brings great peace and joy. It’s not beyond the possibility that you will find occasion to laugh as you share with God. His peace bubbles over in every area of my life. I love laughter, playfulness, humor, happy exchange. I can have that, because the burdens are dealt with in their right place–a private conversation with the One Who has an ability to do something about them. And interestingly, some of the greatest intercessors I know are the free-spirit, love to laugh people. They’re not walking around long-faced, in sackcloth and ashes. I shouldn’t be surprised. My Granny, who dealt with any number of difficulties in her life, always had a smile and a quick wit. You could go to her, thinking you might give her a word of encouragement, and walk way being the one encouraged.

I might add this: the spirit of prayer does fit us all, but it will look different on you than it does on me. My prayer life isn’t exactly like my grandmother’s. The time of day, where I do it, what’s being said, it’s all unique to the person God created me to be. Free-spirit that I still am, it’s more of an ongoing conversation with Him that begins first thing in the morning (and usually not at 5 AM like Granny!) and carries on throughout the day. There’s not an ending amen; instead, for me, it’s more like a “to be continued.” You may be very structured, though; same time, same place, same format may be how you are wired to pray. I say that all to say, don’t look at someone else’s prayer life and despair that yours doesn’t resemble his or hers. It won’t be the same. God wants our heart; and HOW we arrive in the place of prayer isn’t so important as THAT we arrive in the place of prayer. If you’ll simply get used to talking to Him every day, in good times and bad, you won’t associate the prayer closet with misery, weeping, wailing, and dread—where you only go when something is terribly wrong. Prayer is interaction. You’ll talk to Him, yes…but if you’ll hang out with Him and just be still, He will talk to YOU. How’s that? Sometimes prayer is even sitting in silence as you wait for Him!

Don’t be afraid to talk to Him. Don’t fear that a prayer life will smother you and be cumbersome. Don’t fear that becoming a person of prayer will overwhelm you with other people’s problems. You are just a messenger! Take the needs to Your Father…and let Him solve them. You don’t have to fix people’s problems or be able to give them advice. Just be willing to carry them to the Lord. He’ll fix them…and you’ll find yourself longing to talk to Him, not dreading it like some household chore! It’s a gift, and yes, YOU can become a person of prayer!

Toxic Mediocrity

Have you ever gotten a bad case of food poisoning? I have, and it’s one of the most horrible experiences I can remember! A seemingly harmless hamburger for lunch, that didn’t get quite good and done in the middle, woke me up in the middle of the night vomiting, trembling, in pain, and utter agony! I didn’t even notice that pink middle at first…I was eating lunch with my friends and not looking at the food. By the time I realized the hamburger wasn’t fully cooked, I’d already swallowed a bite or two. Lukewarm temperatures are the breeding ground for disease, viruses, and bacteria to thrive and take over. Nothing will set your mind right like sitting in that nasty ER bathroom floor (grateful for the cold tile against your skin regardless of its unsanitary condition), hugging the toilet, throwing up hard and loud, and crying like a little girl! I didn’t think that I.V. was ever going to speed that medicine into my veins fast enough to take away the horrible, invasive sickness I felt. It was forever before I could stomach another burger; and years later, I still make sure it’s DONE in the middle!

No wonder the Lord said He would rather we be either hot or cold! In Revelation, He said if we were lukewarm, He’d spew us out of His mouth. Oh yes, I know all about spewing from a belly full of meat that never got hot enough to kill the germs. When we’re lukewarm spiritually, we create a hospitable place for wickedness to breed and multiply, hidden beneath the darkness of a false sense of security. Lukewarm is that place where conviction is drowned out by comfort. We feel like, although we are not where we should be, we are “better off” than we could be. At least when we are cold, we know we are in trouble and need a Savior. Lukewarm says, “I’m not so bad.” Lukewarm can even cause us to feel pretty smug, comparing ourselves to those we perceive to be worse off than ourselves. Remember the Pharisee Jesus talked about, who stood in the temple and thanked God that he was not like “that sorry tax collector over there,” rattling off all the good things he was doing to “deserve” God’s favor. Jesus said that the tax collector, who beat on his chest and begged forgiveness for his sins, walked away justified, while the religious guy just wallowed in his self-righteousness, unaware that his own spiritual state was in grave peril.

Just as we cannot wipe out a case of food poisoning by merely relieving the nausea and other symptoms, it takes some real strong medicine to get us back on track when we are spiritually toxic. A feel-good church service may take our mind off our discomfort, but receiving the Word along with self-examination, repentance, and moving out of that stagnant place…herein is the antibiotic which will knock the infection out of our system. A lukewarm condition doesn’t mean you and I are bad people…but left there, it could ultimately destroy us. Once we give in totally to the lull of deception, we no longer see our need to purge this disease from our spirit! I don’t want to be fooled, do you? I want to be on the hot side, where there’s no breeding ground for the carnal to taint my relationship with God.

Lord, I pray for myself and those reading this, that we will not allow ourselves to be deceived! We cannot look at ourselves and gauge our closeness to You based on what we have done, or how blessed we seem to be…because Your grace isn’t to be bartered for with the currency of our meager works. If it’s OUR righteousness and not YOURS, it’s as filthy rags. Help us to remain humble, to remain watchful, and to remain obedient. For Heaven’s sake, help us not to become comfortable in living a sloppy, lazy Christian walk! Help us not to compare ourselves to others and fall into the trap of false intimacy with You. Help us not to see the splinter in our neighbor’s eye while we have a huge beam in our own. Help us not to be hypocrites and religious phonies! We already know we don’t want to be cold, but please, create an equally if not greater sense of discomfort at the thought of settling for lukewarm! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Cultivating Peace

Peace has to be carefully cultivated. It’s not something which grows, unwanted, like a weed in your garden. If you want peace, you have to REALLY want it. You sow extra seeds of peace, not just enough to perhaps have a tiny sprout of it. The Word has many things to say about peace. It usually grows with other carefully tended fruits: righteousness, love, patience, joy in the Holy Spirit, compassion, meekness, self-control. It’s not difficult to see whether someone desires it…you need look no further than his or her collection of seed packets!

A person who loves peace will not love (or instigate) gossip or damaging news–even if it’s factual–on others. A person who loves peace doesn’t fill his or her life with entities which cause strife…music, tv, books, internet articles about subjects which invite darkness instead of peace. A person who loves peace will sacrifice the pursuit of “stuff” in exchange for it…aware that a humble, low-to-the-ground, simple life invites peace, because peace grows in uncomplicated soil. A person who loves peace will find a quiet place in God, where he or she can escape the madness of the world if but for a little while each day. A person who loves peace will recognize right away when that peace is in danger of being violated, and will search diligently to rid himself or herself of any legal grounds for the enemy’s attack. A person who loves peace will break the habit of sarcasm and insults to others, because our words can either build up or destroy one another. A person of peace is quick to repent of wrongs, and quick to release others who have wronged him or her. A person who loves peace will risk being misunderstood…possibly even labeled “odd” or “stuck-up” because he/she does not covet the company of troublemakers, gossip-mongers, and drama queens. A person who loves peace will MAKE peace if necessary…being the first to apologize, aggressively going up against spirits of deception and strongholds of chaos; defending the helpless; despising the works of darkness but loving the people who are enslaved in it. The person who loves peace will stand out without trying to make a statement…because this world is so full of people without peace, that the peaceful soul gleams like a beacon in the night.

“Lord, help us to desire Your precious peace! Reveal to us when we are acting and speaking in ways which invite the enemy of peace into our lives. Give us a love for simplicity, for quietness, for rest, for bringing kindness and healing to others, for forgiveness, and for a life of purity. If our consciences are clean before You, we have a direct conduit of peace from the throne of Heaven! Help us not to hoard that peace, but to share it openly with others and to teach them how to grow their own peace through relationship with You. Your Word says that if our ways please You, that even our enemies will be at peace with us! We want to please You, and we want to track footprints of Your peace everywhere we go. May the words of our mouths, and the meditations of our hearts, be acceptable to you, O God!”

Eight-Ball Prayers

When I was a little kid, one of the toys which I had (probably a hand-me-down from my cousins, or something that really belonged to Karen or Lee but seemed like it was mine) was an “Eight Ball.” It was this black ball about the size of a grapefruit or bigger, filled with liquid and a die with several sides. The little die would float to the window, and its various sides would have random answers on them—sort of like the one or two-word expressions printed on those crunchy little candy Valentine hearts. So the amusement was to ask a question, shake the ball, and wait for the “answer” to appear in the window. We used to make up silly questions, like, “Will I marry such and such?” and just peal with laughter at the answers.

How often do we go to our Heavenly Father in prayer, asking for something with a preconceived notion of what we want the answer to be? At times, we even “shake the eight ball up,” hoping He’ll give us a different answer from the one we didn’t want. That works with the toy, but it doesn’t work with God.

We see various examples of people in the Bible who asked God for something multiple times, for various reasons. Gideon, a young Manasseh tribesman, placed a fleece before God. He requested a different sign each time, to confirm whether the Lord was truly calling him to be the one to break the stranglehold of idolatry off the Israelites. Paul, wanting to be free of some mystery “thorn in the flesh” malady, repeatedly asked God to remove the thorn, only to get an answer, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” David inquired of the Lord whether he and his men should go to Keilah to fight the Philistines, to which God answered, “Go…I will help you conquer them.” But because the men said they were afraid, David asked a second time; and the answer was still the same. And the result was the same as God had promised!

We all have our reasons for asking again. Perhaps, like Gideon and David, we just don’t want to act in haste. It can be a scary thing to think we’ve missed God. Or like Paul, we may feel frustrated when we keep praying for healing or change, and the problem will not budge. Or, we can even be like an Abraham who, in intercession for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, asked for the Lord’s mercy for the sake of any righteous people living there. And though Abraham kept narrowing down the number of righteous, he was not able to save the cities. God, however, did honor Abraham’s prayers, not by sparing the cities, but by having angels lead Lot and his family out of danger.

You may be in a situation today where you are coming to God with your request again, not because He has failed to answer your previous prayers, but because you are hoping for a different response. It’s not wrong to ask…in fact, we can develop great faith as we travail in prayer and have to endure a season of waiting. It is important, however, to note that God will only answer according to His Word. And, He answers according to our faith. We cannot ask Him for an answer which violates His Word, and expect Him to change what is written. That’s one reason why it’s so important to know what His Word says, and pray that Word back to Him!

John says it like this, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” (I John 5:14-15 NIV) There are different types of requests, of course: times when we need the Lord to direct our steps in a certain matter; or times when we see someone careening toward destruction and we pray for God to stay the hand of death so that he or she will not die in a lost state. Keep praying! Keep asking! If the Lord delays an answer, keep your confession of faith. He operates on a timetable that is totally unlike ours. Like the unjust judge who finally grants the widow’s petition, and the sleepy neighbor who finally gets up and answers the man’s request for bread to serve an unexpected guest, the recipient of the blessing is rewarded for shameless persistence. God usually doesn’t drop a movie screen down out of heaven and give us a step-by-step preview of how He’s going to resolve our problems, but we can be sure that if we pray according to His will, He’s got us covered. Ask Him! If it’s a matter of directions, He’ll give them to you. If it’s a matter of wait and trust, that’s what we must learn to do—and above that—to obey! Don’t rush Him, don’t try to help Him work it out YOUR way, just give it to Him and turn loose of the control wheel.

In a situation where God’s answer is something other than what you’re seeking, know this: He is continually working toward the eventual good of His children. There was a reason why He required Paul to trust Him for grace rather than delivering him of the “thorn.” Perhaps Paul could have become exalted or haughty had he not had to rely on God’s continual help…or perhaps the “thorn” helped him to empathize with those who struggle. We don’t know. Still, Paul went on to write a sizeable chunk of the New Testament books, even with the condition that plagued him! God may have you situated right in the eye of the hurricane…not because He’s cruel or doesn’t love you, but because you are there to help someone else come to know Him. There are many countless people won to the Lord by the witness of someone experiencing the same difficulties as they are, but with hope and a testimony.

Learn to differentiate between requests which would be answered through a Rhema word, and those requests which can rely solely on what’s already written. Perhaps you need a “stop, go, wait, turn this way or that way,” kind of answer. He’s pleased when we involve Him in the decision-making of our every day lives; and believe me when I say, if you listen, He will speak! However, sometimes we don’t have to receive a word because we already have HIS Word…written down. A true Rhema will never contradict what God’s written Word has spoken. And, if God’s answer is “no,” honor His final say in the matter. Sometimes what we’re asking for has hidden repercussions…and God knows that! I must confess, there have been times when I didn’t ask His will because I wanted something that, deep down in my heart, I already knew He did not want for me. If we would but learn to trust Him and not lean to our own understanding (and our own foolish pursuits!)…

Lay down your Eight Ball today and just go to the Word for your answers. If your situation requires a messenger, the Lord will place a mature believer in your path to deliver it. Don’t gather an assembly of your peers to “agree” over something which He’s already said no to. If the rightly-divided Word of God, taken in context, says a particular thing about what you’re seeking, you cannot shake it up and get a different answer. Take God’s answer in faith that He has a much greater plan…one that always involves eternity and not just where you are today! He loves you, and there’s nothing random or chance about His plan!

Christmas Joy, Even When You’re Hurting

It’s hard to feel Christmas cheer if you’re still reeling over sickness or the recent loss of a loved one. Sometimes, until we heal, the full holiday effect is just too much for our wounded spirits. If the whole “Christmas experience” is overwhelming to you, try narrowing your celebration down to simple worship of God for the gift of His Son.

True Christmas is all about Him instead of us…it need be nothing more. We make it far too complicated because we center its significance on people, not God. I hear people say all the time, “Christmas is all about the kids.” Well, it isn’t. It’s about Jesus. If it’s not, we’re setting ourselves up for cruel disappointment. Kids will grow up and leave home. Sometimes loved ones die. Divorce happens. A lost job will leave your pockets empty with nothing under the tree–if you can even afford the tree! When the people and things we love leave us or let us down, it crushes our love for the season; but when we focus on Him, however, as rightly we should, other things are smaller and less significant in comparison. Please don’t despair, for paring down your expectations and shifting your priorities can make this season a time of joy again. Your return to sincere worship will not only shut out the noise of the things that cause you pain, but your Heavenly Father actually hovers close to those who praise Him.

We had a significant loss in our family several years ago; a close loved one taken unexpectedly, whose funeral was on Christmas Day. After some very difficult, painful Christmases to follow, we eventually learned that healing came when we narrowed our focus back to Jesus. In His rightful place, He set all things right again.

In most cases, we can’t avoid the other stuff entirely. There will be little kids to buy for, that kind of thing…but if you’re going through a time when the season is just too painful, don’t immerse yourself in the part that drags you down. Don’t sit and listen to sad old songs–and if memories cause you to be depressed, stay away from them until feelings aren’t so raw. Leave the photo albums on the shelf, and don’t get out those keepsake Christmas ornaments which only cause you to cry and feel heavy-hearted. There will come a day again when these things won’t weigh 500 pounds on your shoulders. It’s not sacrilegious if you choose this year not observe the Christmas built on traditions of men! You don’t have to hang lights or put up a tree, or watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” on TV in order to be observing Christmas! Don’t take yourself into the places where you haven’t healed; that’s just a punishment you don’t deserve, especially now. Take a break from that part of this season and just go back to Jesus. There’s no sadness associated with His birth, and that’s where our true celebration begins. Peace will permeate the hurt places in your life.

Make your Christmas all about Him this year (and every year), and other things will take their rightful place in the mix. With Him as the centerpiece of this holy day, you need never hate or dread Christmas again. All the other things which make it a dreadful time for some–shopping nightmares, stress, shortage of money, painful memories–these have nothing to do with Jesus. Stay focused on Him. The pure simplicity of His birth doesn’t require anything more than a grateful heart; so whatever else tries to crowd out your Christmas spirit, push it away from the center of your life and just rest, like the baby in the manger, in the infinite goodness of a God Who was willing to give His very best–for YOU.

Today’s Scripture: “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3 TNIV

The Spirit’s Eye

“No one has ever seen this, and no one has ever heard about it. No one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. But God has shown us these things through the Spirit.” (I Cor. 2:9-10 NCV)

Years ago, my now brother-in-law Tommy had a poster on his office wall that, at first glance, just appeared to be a nice purple-and-blue pattern. I thought it was pretty but really didn’t see anything outstanding there. Eventually one day, I heard some of the others talking about the picture-inside-the-picture…and I was intrigued enough to press in closer. I saw nothing. It was one of those times where you wonder, “Should I be like the people in the Emperor’s New Clothes story, and pretend I see what isn’t there…or do I just admit that I don’t get it?”

Well, I ‘fessed up…I really didn’t get it. So Tommy said, “You’re trying too hard. You have to just relax and let your vision blur a little. When you stop trying to SEE it, you’ll see it!” And he was right. After a couple of tries, it was as if the hidden images materialized out of nowhere. Now, the theme of that particular poster turned out to be Star Trek…but after I discovered the whole “Mind’s Eye” picture series, I just became an instant fan. I sought out other similar pictures to peer into and enjoy.

As believers in Christ, many (probably most) of us breeze, at least in our fledgling years, right past situations that appear one way but have hidden spiritual undertones. It’s not a sin to be unable to read those signs; yet, we can miss some really important, even critical, messages God is trying to show us in the spirit realm. We can live a very superficial Christian life, saved as can be, but still not have a depth of understanding that will mature us and make our walk effective.

Now, to become spiritually-minded, we don’t have to become hermits, shave our heads, or adopt bizarre behaviors! However, our affections and appetites change as we draw closer to God. As we begin to savor the deep things in the Word, and as we spend time in prayer and just fellowship with our Father, a side to us is opened up which we didn’t know we had. Carnal mindsets start dying off, and we begin to understand a greater scope of what’s going on around us.

I’ll give you a little example, because becoming spiritually-minded has been and is an ongoing process with me, too. At one time, I might have looked at face values of situations which need changing, and might have only seen the visible problem instead of the hidden cause of it. The Lord has enabled me, over time, to become aware of the “picture-within-the-picture.” Rather than just seeing a geographical area full of drug-addicted people, and shaking my head at the astounding statistics, now I realize that there are territorial strongholds which exist on a different plane: addictive spirits which acquire dominance in a particular place…strongholds which can only be broken through prayer, through fasting, and through persistence. The problems we “see” in the natural realm are pretty much just the results, and not heart of those problems at all! So when we try to attack that growth from the stem up, it keeps coming back. We cannot do war against a spiritual entity by fighting against flesh and blood opponents! Try to rid your lawn of the clover and dandelions by mowing, and see how long they stay gone!

Now, there will always be a need for support groups,positive changes in the natural, etc., but until we see beyond the visible to the root of the problem, and begin to conduct warfare on the root-end of the situation, we will be at best just maintaining. We can clean out corruption by calling in the authorities, but unless there is spiritual deliverance—unless ground is taken by righteousness where once was wickedness—we will see different faces but the same problem, stemming from that original root.

There is a bit of a price to pay for becoming spiritually-minded. It comes right back around to time spent in God’s presence. You cannot think like God thinks if you aren’t willing to hang out with Him and let the mind of Christ rub off on you! Having His mind won’t make you weird, cultic, eccentric, or “out there;” although, folks may just not get you when you make observations from a perspective they can’t see. Being occasionally misunderstood is a very small investment, when going deeper into your relationship with God empowers you to pray and to see in a much greater way than before.

God doesn’t give us this ability just so we can feel “enlightened” above other people. No, that’s where we could dance a fine line of hypocrisy. It doesn’t make us superior to the average believer, so there’s absolutely no room to gloat in one’s spirituality. God gives us that deeper vision so that we can see as He sees–to respond as He responds, and so that we will be proactive to promote His righteous will on earth. To merely SEE on a deeper level would only drive us to despair, without God’s Word and without His instructions on what we are to do with the revelation He’s given us. Remember, the devil has his own counterfeit spirituality too, and some may confuse being psychic with the kind of spiritual sight I’m talking about. When Satan approached Eve in the garden, he said that God didn’t want them to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil because God didn’t want their eyes to be opened to see what He sees. Why, that made the fruit even more delectable…to think, that she could become privy to something God was concealing from her; something with which she might then have a right to disagree! Therein lies the difference. When God reveals a matter to us, it’s to bring us into alignment with His will—not to consume our knowledge on our own greed, or form our own carnal opinions about it. Satan’s intent behind luring people into pseudo-spirituality is to cause them to think independently of God’s will. Eve managed to be duped into thinking that God was keeping her from something good. What she, and so many others have failed to understand over the years (to their destruction), is that outside of God’s will, nothing good exists in the first place.

With more understanding comes more responsibility. God doesn’t grant you the gift of discernment, for instance, so that you can peek into other people’s secret faults and frailties and use those weaknesses to harm them. It’s not given with the purpose of advancing you AT ALL. As a matter of fact, a person with special discernment may very well have to gird himself/herself up in the area of having judgmental tendencies. A person of discernment must also learn to be silent about what God does not choose to reveal to others. We must NOT reveal what God has confided in us, and certainly not with the motive of making ourselves look more spiritual to other people! There’s absolutely no room for a gossiping spirit or a manipulative spirit in the life of a Believer who walks on this level. Conversely, as our awareness of spirit realm is heightened, we must choose to become more humble, more consecrated, more surrendered to God. Our carnal nature, if not put under submission, will only make a mess out of what God’s wanting to give us for His good purposes. We cannot afford to try to use our gifts outside the realm of His Word and His will. We are called to prayer, and on one’s knees is the best place to remain when humility is paramount. Trust me…if you walk closely to God, there may be times when you discern things about other people which are going to disturb you, grieve you. You may enter places and sense the presence of a particular controlling spirit. Without holiness in your life, there are things you can’t bear! With holiness and a totally submitted-to-God’s-authority frame of mind, you’ll not only be able to bear these things, you can pray the prayer of faith against the influence of the enemy in the lives of people and over localities. We are not given the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound, calm, well-balanced mind! Any time God reveals hidden things to you, it’s always either with yours or someone else’s protection in mind, or for you to know what type of prayer must be prayed to bring situations in line with His Kingdom and His will. And it’s not always about identifying the negative! God can use our sensitivity to His Spirit to reveal good, wholesome, encouraging, holy truths. Just as important as not walking through wrong doors is the discernment to walk through the right ones!

God will even test us early on to prove whether we are trustworthy to walk on another plane. He may instruct us to speak out over something we don’t want to address; or He may order us to keep silent about a matter even though we feel we have the “low down” on the situation. In these times, it may be very tempting to try to make ourselves look good in front of others. If we disobey His instructions, we disqualify ourselves from certain realms of spiritual authority. Just as you love some people you wouldn’t trust for a minute, God loves us even when He can’t trust us…but He’d rather be able to trust us! He wants to love you, to bless you, to promote you to do great and mighty things, but much of that depends on your obedience factor. Remember, no matter what kind of pretty pattern we display on the outside, God uniquely sees beyond the window dressing and straight into our hearts. May He be pleased with what He sees…

Pray with me today: “Heavenly Father, I desire to be closer to You, and to want those things which You desire. I have some carnal affections I’m already aware of, and some I may not be aware of. Prune me of those tendencies toward unrighteousness. Mature me in the things of God! Help me to have healthy appetites and goals, and help me to have a pure heart with right motives. There is another level I’ve not attained in my walk with You, and that level is where You will for me to come up to. You created me for purpose, and oh, how I want to fulfill Your will in my life. I want to be a vessel You can TRUST. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit; baptize me through and through, and give me power for service. Help me not to see the world around me through the eyes of the flesh. If I walk after the flesh, I’ll only fulfill the works of the flesh. I ask You to enable me to walk after the Spirit! When I’m confronted with the sin and the despair around me, help me to see through Your eyes. Help me see people, even the most difficult ones, through Your eyes. Prompt me to pray and to intercede for the lost, for the bound, and for the hopeless. I want to be transformed today. Help me renew my mind to Your Word, and help me to bear You much good fruit in this lifetime You’ve appointed me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”