Do NOT go by what you see.
If I could sum up God’s directive for this next season we are coming into, it would be that.
As believers, we are, of course, never supposed to go by what we see. But, even though it is a Scripture that we like to quote (“For we walk by faith, not by sight” - 2 Cor. 5:7), it is not how the majority of believers actually live their lives. And, that’s because the world has trained us otherwise.
Read MoreWe’ve all heard the references before to “God’s Army,” fighting spiritual battles and being a “soldier for Christ.” But, have you ever stopped to think about what that actually means? Because, as with everything with the Lord, there is a lot of meaning, importance and symbolism hidden inside these terms and it’s up to us to seek it out so we can better understand our journey with Him.
As believers, it is extremely important for us to understand how God’s “training” works, so we don’t get confused or unnecessarily upset along our own journey and so we can continually be seeking to go further with Him.
Read MoreDo you know the good news of the Gospel?
The real good news?
Surprisingly, many people who consider themselves to be believers or Christians don’t actually know the real good news. At least, not to the extent that Jesus wants them to.
Because the real good news… the real Gospel… is scandalous. It’s outrageous. And in today’s world, it is even offensive to some.
But, that’s what makes it the Gospel - which in and of itself means “nearly too good to be true news.” Except it is… true.
And Jesus wants to make sure you know it.
Read MoreEarlier this year, the Holy Spirit whispered this phrase to me early one morning: "A box is My Church's favorite place to be."
He explained right away - that the religious Church keeps Him in a box with their doctrine. But, it wasn't until now that He brought it back up and elaborated on it.
If you’ve read the last couple posts/words He’s had me release, you’ll know there’s been a build-up to this and can see where they all sort of build upon one another (you can read the “What it Really Looks Like to Follow Jesus” post, “Strong Delusion” word and “What Do You Believe?” posts here.)
But, it wasn’t until now that He really began to put it all together.
As I shared in the post about following Jesus, He showed me how there is a big difference between knowing about Him and knowing Him. And how His Church has gotten caught up in systems, procedures and programs because they don’t know Him. Not really. Not like He wants them to.
Read MoreIf there is one main “theme” I feel the Holy Spirit stressing so strongly right now, not only in my own ministry, but overall… it’s that of God wanting to share His heart with the world. His true heart.
Not just with unbelievers who don’t know Him. But, also with believers who think they know Him.
Over the hundreds of years and throughout the hundreds of generations that have passed, the pure message of the Gospel and the true character of God have gotten lost. The spirit of religion and the lies of man-based doctrine have left believers powerless, confused and with an incorrect picture of their Father in Heaven.
But, now is the time when God is opening closed eyes and freeing closed minds. He is reminding His people who He really is and introducing His true character to those that don’t know Him.
Because the truth is - He is not who we’ve thought He is.
Read MoreRecently, I heard the Holy Spirit whisper the words, "kerosene lamp."
Of course, my mind obviously went right away to the parable of the ten virgins (although, He had more to say about it too... I'll get into that first). If you're not familiar with the story, it appears in Matthew 25. And as always, Jesus tells the story to teach us an important lesson through an analogy.
Read MoreYou’ve probably read the parable before about the lost sheep. And how the man leaves the other ninety-nine sheep to go find the one that was lost.
But, this isn’t just a nice story. It’s the epitome of who God is. It’s a representation of the true heart of the Father and the unrelenting love of the Good Shepherd, Jesus.
And I can attest to it because I’ve seen it first-hand time and time again in my own ministry experience.
Read MoreThe other day, Jesus broke my heart.
And it was one of the best things that ever happened to me.
But, let me back up a minute.
It started a couple weeks ago, when He started speaking about me receiving His love. His unconditional love. We’ve been on a long journey, bringing me out of religion, perfectionism and a works-based mentality. He’s taught me about His grace, His sovereignty and His faithfulness.
Read MoreIf you’ve been a Christian even for a short time, you’ve probably heard the term “Good Shepherd,” at least in passing. But, it’s also entirely possible that you’ve never really given much thought to what it actually means.
That was definitely the case with me.
In fact, I can’t even really remember when I had heard it before this year… I’m sure I did at some point. But, it hadn’t ever really “registered” until earlier this year when I was in the middle of a very active time period of the Lord giving me “downloads.”
Read MoreI couldn’t decide what to name this post.
There was so much wisdom and revelation I felt led to share, that it seemed almost impossible to narrow it down to one title. But, when I stopped for a moment and asked the Holy Spirit, “What should I call this, Lord?”, I felt Him sum it all up in one phrase - it’s time to let go.
Read MoreTAKE THE RISK.
That’s what Pastor Mike Todd spoke at the end of his “Racial Reconciliation” sermon. But, it wasn’t his voice that I heard in my spirit. It was HIS voice - God’s.
TAKE THE RISK. WRITE THE POST.
I had been avoiding writing a blog post about the racial tension in America for a couple reasons. For one, I felt like, what does it matter what I have to say? Who am I to say what I think? Our society today is all about everyone throwing their opinion out there on a moment’s notice and I didn’t feel adding mine to the mix would make any difference.
Read MoreIn the past few weeks, I have seen something coming up again and again on social media in “Christian circles.” I tried to ignore it or at least not actively engage in it. But then, the Holy Spirit prompted me that this IS one of the things that needs to be addressed.
This conflict/argument/face-off between two sides in the prophetic world. And let me just say before I go any further, this applies to the WHOLE Body of Christ, not just those involved in the prophetic. So, don’t stop reading even if you don’t consider prophecy “your thing.”
Read MoreAs a Jesus follower, I’m sure at some point, you have read the story of Abraham and felt the familiar feeling of awe and inspiration in regard to his faith. After all, we’ve been taught for years about his amazing ability to believe the Lord, even to the point of almost sacrificing his own son.
And while that is all well and good… what if I told you this whole time we were focusing on the wrong part of that story?
What if the most awesome part of that whole story wasn’t Abraham’s “unshakable” faith? But, something much more important? Not to mention, much more freeing for you and me?
Read MoreIf you followed any of the “Crazy Faith” series with Pastor Mike Todd at Transformation Church in Tulsa, then you probably already know what I’m talking about when I say “faith receipt.” If not, well… I’m about to tell you.
I have been dropping faith receipts for about the last three years. Ever since God first called me out of my “regular” life into what can only be described as a CRAZY journey with Him.
Even though I grew up “religious” (I now hate that word), then completely lost interest in all things God-related until I actually became saved/a believer 15 years ago, it wasn’t really until 3 (almost 4 years) ago, that I feel like my real relationship with God actually started.
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