COLLECTED EMPTINESS April 5, 2010

Have you heard the term “collected emptiness?”  That’s what Elisha told the desperate widow to do in 2 Kings 4.  So how do you do that?  How do you collect emptiness?  Well as I said, this woman was desperate, and alone.  Her husband was dead, and the creditors were getting ready to take her son from her to pay her debt.  I think I’d be desperate too!

Elisha happened to be walking by at her low point and asked her, “what do you have in your house?”  Her response?  NOTHING!  Zero! A whole lotta nada save one jar of oil.  She was in a mood for sure.  Never cross a desperate woman.   But there was a crack in her story.  The jar!  What can you do with a jar….well it’s not about what you can do but it is about what God can do.

In my journey, I have come to understand it’s not about what I think I have, but its about what I don’t have that gives God room to act. The less I bring to the table the greater potential for miraculous provision. What did Elisha do?  Told her to go “collect all the emptiness she could find,”   “collect the empty jars from the neighbors…whatever you find, bring it!

She really didn’t understand the importance or significance of her task… she didn’t realize that her cumulative emptiness would literally determine the measure of her miraculous provision.  But she collected and poured the oil in a last attempt of hope. She continued pouring and pouring as long as she had empty vessels to receive it. The oil didn’t stop until the emptiness ceased.

We kind of get it backwards…we think we have to bring something significant to Him…But He merely desires us. There is enough in God to fill us; enough for all, enough for each as long as we remain empty…His supply is available.

The volume of your emptiness determines the amount of your filling.  He can’t fill anything more than you present to Him.  Something to think on…

No Comfort Allowed! February 13, 2010

I love the kind of feedback I got from this simple thought…The thought?

It’s amazing how controlling “comfortable” is.  She’s vicious and will keep you just short of destiny!

Who has a comfortable couch or chair in their TV room or living room…One that everyone fights over?  We do!  Everyone races for that one place and then yells “seat check” if they have to get up so they don’t lose their spot!  Ridiculous!  They’re always fighting for this special spot…then once the battles over and the territory has been taken captive….it seems that the victor almost simultaneously becomes drowsy and falls asleep the moment their head hits the pillow. That comfort hits like a fog bank. It’s been an incredible journey we have taken this last month, and I admit I haven’t been there this past week to hear the testimonies of what God has done in your lives.  What I have heard has been absolutely miraculous.  God has moved and shaken us to the core of our being.

From this point….we can’t settle for the fog bank of comfort.  We must continue to press in.  The tendency can be to relax a bit. God may have talked to you about some areas in your life, revealed places of lack, answered some key questions, or asked something of you.  Whatever the case, it takes tremendous humility, and courage to walk out what He’s asked of you.

Divine order precedes revealed glory!   I truly believe we as a church have begun to get things in order in our lives.  Which prepares the way for God’s Glory to be revealed in and through our lives.  So I can’t settle for comfortable!   I want REVEALED GLORY!!  Don’t let your passion for His presence die.  Don’t grow complacent or get busy with “religious stuff”  Let’s go for the Revealed Glory of God!!  Comfort??  NO THANKS!  God’s presence and His Glory??  YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!

Fade Me Away! January 30, 2010

John 3:30:  Lord, let me decrease so You can increase!

This fast began for me with a word from the Lord.  Very specific, very directional, very commanding.  He gave me bullet points and descriptions,.  He revealed what my posture was to be with Him as we walked forward together.  It was encouraging and scary all at the same time.

I was in the car tonight with my son, and a song came on called “Fade” by the Katina’s.  As we sang and worshipped together, The lyrics hit me like a piercing light!   They went like this. ‘Fade me away let nothing more remain so You can take Your place.  And make me a reflection of Your radiant face.”

That’s it!!!!   This is the culmination of the process !  That I would decrease.  Why?  Other than that’s what the Word says?…well, I realized a long time ago that what God has for us goes beyond our own human ability and cannot be accomplished with even a stitch of us left.  It must be ALL GOD working through us.  It must be His strength, His wisdom, His strategy, His way….when people look at us they must see HIM!  What we do must reflect God, not us, Its His face , His heart, and His compassion that people must see, feel, taste, and smell when they encounter us.  No wonder it’s so tough!  Changing your reflection is quite a feat.

That’s what this is all about.  Easier said than done, but I guarantee you the eternal value is priceless.  But as long as we are on this earth, we have  an assignment!  The more you let go and let God….the greater the impact of Your assignment will be for His Glory  So I pray; “God, fade me away, and let me be a reflection of Your radiant face!”

Plug into the Source! January 28, 2010

John 10:10:  The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.  But I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly!

We’ve been having very powerful times of prayer on Wednesday nights.  God is doing miraculous things in the lives of people.  Last night  as I was getting ready to go to prayer, I was watching the news and they had found a woman in Haiti under some rubble 18 days after the earthquake.  The Lord spoke to me.  He said that even 18 days after this fast has started…don’t grow weary because there is still life to be uncovered under the rubble!

As we prayed, the Holy Spirit began to reveal His presence to us.  We testified of God’s faithfulness, spoke faith into the atmosphere.  We prayed for our relationships and marriages.   We prayed for salvation to come to this community.  That the darkness would be pushed out, and that we would be filled with compassion and have His heart for people.  We prayed that the supernatural would be evident in our church and that healings would be reported, miraculous happenings would be released!!  It  was just so powerful.

Then we called up those who were still waiting for their breakthrough.  Because I felt that some were feeling discouraged, a little tired …. Like when you’re on your computer and it tells you that your on reserve batter power and you better plug into the source or you will go dead!   Well, they came, and we literally had a GOD ENCOUNTER!  We plugged in and pressed in and got to a new place in God. New strength for the journey, new hope, faith that God is working.  God literally revealed life amidst the rubble!  I immediately heard testimony of release, greater understanding, clarity, And I’m believing for a healing to be reported!!!

This fast is coming to an end, but it is just the beginning of what God is going to do in and through us because of this fast!  Don’t give up!  There is life under the rubble still to be revealed…AND IT’S GONNA BE AN AMAZING REVELATION!  Hold to His promise for your life.  That you might have life and have it more Abundantly.

The Thrust of Heaven! January 26, 2010

I’ve been meditating on Ps 18.  The progression is my inspiration.
It begins with proclamation! A declaring of truth…who God is – always a great way to open up the dialogue.  The mind and thoughts coming into alignment with truth.

Then comes the cry for help – Reality!! The enemy is pressing in on every side – the battle is raging, confronting, strangling the very life.  But then a pivotal shift is made.

He says, “in my distress, I called out to the Lord.

I can picture God in his daily routine controlling the universe with his finger….suddenly he hears the faint sound of a child.  HIS child calling out to Him .  It’s the sound of faith!   God drops everything and moves to action.  What did He hear?   He didn’t hear the sound of hopelessness and distress…he heard the sound of his child coming to the end of himself and crying out to Him in faith to save him!!  God always responds to faith!!

When you’re being strangled by the schemes and plans the enemy is trying to get you to take on…the only recourse to freedom is not going to battle alone – but to call on the Lord!  He’s the one to fight the battle.

At the sound of your call, He sets the heavens in a forward thrust motion.  I can see Him…riding on the wind….rushing to the aid of his child. I can almost feel the wind blowing my hair back! The earth is trembling, foundations are shaking, His voice scatters the enemy with a consuming fire! Oceans are emptied, his glory and radiance move the clouds with hailstones and bolts of lightning – it’s a multi-media frenzy of power and might that even Avatar couldn’t compete with!  Just for you!!!

WOW!!!  No need to be overwhelmed at your battle!  It’s His to fight! Our roll is to believe, establish who He is,  call out in faith….He reaches down  and draws us up and sets our feet on a large place. A place where we can see clearly and find freedom.  That’s inspiration!!!!

Raw But Real! January 23, 2010

Is 61:3:  ..to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

Focus:  a point of convergence.  Like when you were a kid with a magnifying glass.  Remember how you would use it to connect the sun to a leaf..…and it would burn a hole right through it. All the magnitude of the suns rays contained in a single beam of light!  That’s explosive!!

For the last couple days, I could say I’ve experienced explosive!  This season has brought tremendous focus!  Even in the busy-ness, I have determined to remain focused and intent to seek Him!   I was seeking answers to questions I didn’t even know to ask. God, what is this feeling?  What is this heaviness!   I needed to get to the root of stuff  that have felt oppressive in my spirit for a while.

Reminds me of the onion.  You know how the more you peel an onion, it goes from crackly dry outer layer to the deeper, more tender and definitely more potent layers.  It’s the place where the aroma is so strong that it brings tears to your eyes.

When God chooses to reveal, his purpose is to heal!  As I’ve focused my heart to seek Him,  He has been faithful to show me some very potent things that I didn’t even realize were there!  The aroma of unforgivness, rejection, tremendous feelings of failure that have fogged up  my lens of life. The way I think and the way I respond.  Yuck!

I yielded, I repented, I responded!  Yesterday, His word to me was I’m giving you the oil of gladness, instead of a spirit of mourning. AWWWW, RELEASE!!!  That heaviness lifted as I responded to His revelations to me!  God is SO FAITHFUL!!!!   Not just to reveal, but to heal!!!!!!  That’s it in a nutshell!  Raw but real!!!!   My spirit is lifted.

Breaking the Barrier January 21, 2010

Micah 12: 13  “The breaker goes up before them  They break out, pass through the gate and go out by it.

Today was about pressing in for a breakthrough!

All day I felt like I was hitting a barrier…what was the barrier?  I couldn’t tell.  I wasn’t sure exactly what it was that was in front of me, but I sure felt it.  I was in a battle for understanding, for revelation, for vision.  God let me see!  I told someone, I feel like I’m getting ready for another breaking.

“Break”, in the Greek simply means to burst through!   When you’re pressing in seeking a breakthrough in an area of your life, it can feel like your battling in a fog.  Like you’re in a wrestling match in which your throwing punches at the wind!  But 1 Cor. 9:26:  Says, ”Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way as not beating the air.” So with the Truth of the Word of God in front of me, I wasn’t confused,  but was compelled to run to God and call upon His name!  He is the “Breaker.”  He is the God of the breakthrough!  Nothing is aimless with God. So that tells me that I don’t have to stop at the barrier…when I know there’s a gate!

So if you’re feeling a bit of a barrier any time during today, don’t be dismayed, don’t try to battle it out on your own, but call upon the God of the breakthrough.  Seek His face and in His perfect timing  the clarity will come.  You will break out and pass through the gate to freedom.

Let the Praise Come Out! January 19, 2010

Ps 66:8:  O Bless our God, you people, and make the voice of His praise to be heard.

I gotta praise in my spirit today!

Sometimes right in the middle of the process you just have to throw up your hands and begin to praise.  There’s much power in Praise.  Because God is right there in the middle of it!  He inhabits it!  You can count on it!   Praise  confounds the enemy, it puts him into a frenzy of confusion!  Praise puts the enemy under your feet,  and praise keeps God on top.   Yes, Right in the middle of this season of fasting and seeking God, it’s time to praise the Mighty God that we are seeking!

So I just say to the Awesome, powerful, wonder-working God that I serve,  You are Holy. I say  that you reign in all wisdom and revelation! You are the creator of everything. I declare your glory among the nations, for you are great and so worthy of Praise.  I give thanks to You, Lord and I call on Your Name. I sing praise to You and will shout from the mountain tops how incredible You are!  There’s power  in Your holy name. Strength in Your Name.   My heart seeks you Lord and I rejoice. I look to You and your strength and seek you face always!  Because of your faithfulness to me O Lord, I give you all Glory!

Today is a praise day! Come along with me and lift up the name of God with all your might!  He is doing a complete work in you…it’s hard, its wonderful, its challenging, it’s good!   He’s creating a new foundation of faith in you.  One that will carry you forward.  You WILL NEVER be the same!

Lord Jesus continue to come and reveal Yourself,  I want to see you!  There’s nothing more that I desire than to see you. In Jesus Name!  LET IT BE LORD!!

Deeper Still? January 18, 2010

Ps 42:7: Deep calls unto deep at the noise of your waterfalls”  Does anybody out there have any idea what this verse  means?

The deeper you go with God, the more sensitive you are to His dealings.  Until you allow God to get to the core of who you are and to what you believe…your relationship will remain shallow with Him.

I’m not just looking for Deep!  I’m looking to go deep. In other words,  I’m looking for Deep that calls unto Deep!  That is the deep things of God calling and drawing out the Depth of my spirit to come and reveal itself.  I’m going after the ‘eye hath not seen and ear hath not heard’ dimension!  It’s a personal encounter with the face of God that I’m longing for.  Along with that comes a wrestling match with my will!  Will I yield to receive what I desire? Will I receive all that He desires to give me?

God wants to bring us to a point where our natural strength is touched and fundamentally weakened so that we no longer dare to trust ourselves.

It happened to Jacob in Gen 32.  Jacob was left alone, face to face with the angel of the Lord.  The wrestling began…hour by hour…through the night he wrestled for his desired blessing….it wasn’t until Jacob got to the core of himself and finally admitted the truth of his name (who he was), that he received his blessing.  But it cost him something!  His strength!  From that moment on he walked with a limp…he had been broken, but now he could truly be strong in the Lord and the Power of His might.

The deeper you go in the water, the more pressure there is.  The more pressure, the more it squeezes you.  Spiritual depth presses the impurities out of you.  Painful?  Yes!  But it’s where you want to be!  Not easy, but so GOOD!   Are you feeling the pressure,  You’re in the right place!

Go Deeper Still…

Your Passion and Your Pace! January 16, 2010

I Corinthians 9:24 says; “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize.  Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

I was in spin class this week…. don’t ask me why I was in spin class while fasting!  BUT…I was.  Spin class is all about pacing yourself.  I was correlating it to my fasting journey.   As you begin, you warm up at a easy pace, then you move on with a little more resistance like you’re going up a mountain…you stand up, then you hover, do squats…then go fast pace again.

Not too far into the class there’s a moment when you absolutely feel like you have to quit!  You’re hoping for a flat tire.  No such luck with a fitness bike.  But if you pace yourself and make it past that moment, you will experience a new strength. A new energy.

An unexpected endurance

The Holy Spirit has been very specific with me about pacing myself.…. As I was training for my ½ marathon last year, pace was a very important aspect to the process.  I had a certain time for a goal… a 13.30-minute mile.  Which meant I had  to run EVERY mile in 13 minutes and 30 seconds.  You could run faster or slower than that, but as they tested me they found that it was the pace that would allow me to run the distance.

We’re going the distance together at Mars Hill Community Church!  I just want to encourage you to maintain your passion and your pace in your pursuit of God, Let your guard down even more, be specific with Him this week.  He definitely has something more for all of us.  Something deeper.  We’ll talk more about pace next time…in the mean time, run in such a way that you may obtain the prize.

What’s that?  Intimacy with God.