Heaven Pt. 91

Once more the king sent a third captain with fifty men. But this time the
captain went up the hill and fell to his knees before Elijah. He pleaded with See how the fire from heaven came down and destroyed the first two groups. But now please spare my life Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him, and don’t be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went with him to the king.him, “O man of God, please spare my life and the lives of these, your fifty servants. 2 Kings: 1:13-15

When last we left Elijah he was calling fire down from Heaven to burn up some enemy soldiers. You would think that after losing fifty servants to the flames of God King Ahaziah would have wised-up and left well enough alone. Twice more, though, he sent squadrons of fifty to apprehend the rebel prophet. The second time the results were the same. Fifty soldiers went up the hill fifty cremated bodies were carried down the hill.

But the captain of the third squadron was a little wiser than the first two. He was smart enough to know that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. So instead of confronting the prophet the third captain humbled himself before God and his man. That won the day. Elijah was given the God go-ahead to come down to Ahaziah. All God was looking for was a man humble enough to admit his need rather than rattle his saber.

We aren’t called to tough it out in our own strength. We are called to pray it through by throwing ourselves on the mercy of a God who is so much bigger than we are.

 

A 21 Day Spiritual Journey Day 18

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

I preached today. I’m not sure it was my best sermon but the Holy Ghost showed up so my performance was not what everyone was looking at anyway (that’s always best). There’s this funny story in the book of Acts chapter 20. Paul got to preaching one night and evidently forgot his watch because before he knew it the time had moved past midnight. It seems he wasn’t preaching a barn burner either because a young guy named Eutychus listening from a window above fell fast asleep and fell to his death on the street below.  Now that’s one way to put the kibosh on a church service! I’m quite sure had the Holy Ghost not shown up that night Paul would have been in big trouble with the congregation. But God didn’t leave Paul swinging in the breeze. Paul did his part even if it only succeeded in boring one young man to death; Then God showed up and raised Eutychus from the dead.  After that Paul preached until morning! Maybe he was hoping someone else would fall asleep….:)

Well I don’t think anyone fell asleep today. I know no one died so I guess I’m ahead of the apostolic curve here; But no one was going to write home about the profound nature of my words either. Then God showed up and showed off. A message in tongues and interpretation told us that God was aware that the battle was not finished but that we were not to be afraid because He had joined the battle. A prophetic word called people to the altar to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit for strength. Twelve people came forward and two received the baptism with the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues! Hallelujah!

God is doing amazing things through this time of fasting and prayer. If nothing else my level of expectation has risen exponentially. I am looking to walk in the miracle these days. I will be seeking even more of God’s power during the Lenten fast starting in a few short weeks.  Does anyone want to join me?

A 21 Day Spiritual Journey Day 16

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

Our study during this journey is called The Circle Maker.   Its basic premise is that we should dream again and ask largely of our God who desires to give us good things. As I have launched into the deeps of prayer during this season  God has been enlarging my personal prayer list on almost a daily basis. I am finding that as I pray God is building my faith by giving me steps to take in order to put me in a position to see His hand move in my ever-increasing list. Part of praying in faith is behaving in belief…that is acting like I expect  God to answer to my prayers.

One of the prayers on my list is about a trip I would like to take this year. I have told God I would like to go if I get a certain amount back in my taxes. Now my tax appointment is not for another two weeks. Yet in prayer yesterday God told me that if I hoped to go I must set the dates aside. Planning for the trip is my step of faith.

My heart asks “But what if God doesn’t meet you with the money?”

To which  my spirit replies, “What if He does?”

So what is your step of faith?

Heaven Pt. 90

 But Elijah replied to the captain, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down
from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!” Then fire fell from heaven and 
killed them all.  2 Kings 1:10

Do you realize that God is for you? Sometimes I think we forget just what a powerful truth that is. If God is on our side…if God is for us who can be against us? If we truly need it God will even open up the Heavens and rain down fire on our enemies. Whatever we truly need HE will bring us on the basis of His love for us. The trick  is for us to recognize we really need.

So what does your fire from Heaven look like today? What do you really need from God?

A 21 Day Spiritual Journey Day 14

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

I have been praying over many things these last two weeks. One of the issues I have been facing in my prayer time is the sheer volume of  my prayer list.

I’ve been saying to the Lord “God I just don’t see how I can do it all.”

Over the last two days God has been showing me that I am not supposed to do it all. Not only am I supposed to call for help but I am supposed to let go of some of the things I cannot do and entrust them to the hands of others who can.  It is not that I am supposed to say no to my dreams. It is that I am supposed to give my dreams away so that they can come true. Letting go is now becoming a part of my prayer list. I must ask God what He would have me give up and release into other hands. I must ask Him to help me through the process of giving up things I would like to do but perhaps am not qualified to take to the next level.

It’s interesting that sometimes seeing your dreams realized means letting them go.

Today’s quotes:

All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.
— Havelock Ellis

Some think it’s holding on that makes one strong; sometimes it’s letting go.
— Sylvia Robinson

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.
— Joseph Campbell

Pastor Wrinkles: Chapter Charts Pt. 142

 The longer I am a Christian the more I come to realize that Christianity is not a “Shock and Awe” campaign; It is a war of attrition. Our enemy will not be completely defeated until the Lord remakes the Heavens and Earth. So we have to be vigilant. We cannot afford to let our guard down on this side of glory. Our chapters today have something to say about that.

Here’s what I see in today’s chapters:

II Samuel chapter 10 sermon topics/ titles:

1. Don’t Let Insecurity Ruin Your Relationships: II Sam. 10: 1-5

2. Making War Instead Of Amends: II Sam. 10: 6-8

3. Warring In the Anointing: II Sam. 10:9-19

II Samuel chapter 11 sermon topics/ titles:

1. What Happens When We Rest On Past Victories: II Sam. 11: 1-27

2. Playing the Cover-up Game: II Sam. 11: 11-27

3. Letting the Heart Lead : II Sam. 2-27

Now tell me what you see. 🙂

A 21 Day Spiritual Journey: Day 13

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

I lost my new boots! Just before what may be the coldest snowiest week in winter 2013 I have put my boots somewhere and I cannot, for the life of me, find them. To top it off they were a Christmas gift from my mother and now she is obsessing over the fact I’ve lost them.

It is truly amazing how little things can side track a whole day. Our momentary frustrations can easily dominate the psychological landscape, blotting out our view of God’s plans. I know if I am not careful I could lose valuable dream- reaching- time to what God calls the “little foxes”:

[Young Women of Jerusalem] Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming! Songs 2:5

When I get frustrated over something my knee-jerk reaction is to get angry and get- a- fixin’.  My emotions tend to blot out the logical side of me which would ask the questions: Is this immediately important? Do I need to be taking care of this? Is this something that needs to be dealt with now?

I am learning to catch the little foxes and stop them from stealing my time and energy. I’m accomplishing this  by stopping…breathing…asking the questions above…and planning from the answers to those questions rather than from my initial emotions.

Today’s quotes:

“To conquer frustration, one must remain intensely focused on the outcome, not the obstacles.” 
― T.F. Hodge

“It’s a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. Those emotions are poison to any living goal.” 
― Steve Maraboli

“At times the whole world seems to be in conspiracy to importune you with emphatic trifles. Friend, client, child, sickness, fear, want, charity, all knock at once at thy closet door and say,—’Come out unto us.’ But keep thy state; come not into their confusion. The power men possess to annoy me I give them by a weak curiosity. No man can come near me but through my act.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

What are the little foxes that are trying to distract you from your dreams?

Pastor Wrinkles: Chapter Charts Pt. 141

 When God releases a blessing our responsibility is to step into it. I wrote a quote a a few days ago from Owen Carr that speaks to the situation David found himself in II Samuel chapters 8 and 9.

“God first gives a man a BURDEN to see what must be done. Then He gives a VISION to show what can be done. Then He gives a FAITH to believe that it can be done. The one thing God doesn’t give is the DARING to do what must be done. You have to provide that yourself.” Owen Carr

Here’s what I see in today’s chapters:

II Samuel chapter 8 sermon topics/ titles:

1.When God’s Blessing Means War: II Sam. 8 : 1-3

2. Shutting Down the Enemy: II Sam. 8 :4

3. When God Fills the Coffers: II Sam. 8: 7-18

II Samuel chapter 9 sermon topics/ title:

1. Fulfilling Your Vows: II Sam. 9:1-13

2. When Getting Rid Of Idols Seems To Leave You With No Blessing: II SAm. 9:1-6

3. The Restoration of Blessing: II Sam. 9:7-13

Now tell me what you see. 🙂

A 21 Day Spiritual Journey: Day 12

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
― C.S. Lewis

The TV has been flipping today between the inauguration of President Obama and episodes of “Doomsday Preppers”. The audacity of hope VS. the end of the world. As I made lunch with my daughter Amanda and then brought wood up for the week of frigid temperatures we are about to have, I found my mind ruminating over where I fall on the hope/ despair continuum.

I know the biblical prophecies of the end are coming to pass but I have not given up my dreams. God gave me these dreams and so I am going to pursue them and see them through to completion whatever may come. In fact in light, of the coming fulfillment of prophecy I am hastening to establish those dreams in God’s power. You see I believe that God gave the dreams to be fulfilled at exactly this time and any future events in the world are not hindrances to my dreams they are only contexts in which they are to be fulfilled. My dreams and all future events in my life and the world will work together for good!

I am hopeful!

Today’s quotes:

“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” 
―    Shel Silverstein

“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” 
―    Paulo Coelho,    The Alchemist

“The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.” 
―    Barbara Kingsolver,    Animal Dreams

“The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places.
But still there is much that is fair.  And though in all lands, love is now
mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater.” 
―    J.R.R. Tolkien,    The Lord of the Rings

As a believer do you ever find yourself giving up on dreams because of your belief that we are nearing the coming of the Lord?

 

Heaven Pt. 89

“Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. ²⁰ And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’

“One suggested this, and another that” I Kings 22:19,20

As the story of Ahab continues to unfold through the Scripture we come to this little gem where it is mentioned that God on the throne of Heaven conspired with all of His holy angels to bring Ahab down to his death.

The frightening thing about all this is it did not lead Ahab to repent in any way shape or form.

I wonder if we could have a glimpse into the throne-room of Heaven today what would God be saying about us behind closed doors? This is not a question of our salvation. If we have trusted Jesus for forgiveness of sins that issue is settled. It is however a question about our blessing. And you know the answer to this question in your heart. Is God speaking about the blessing your life is releasing or the curse your life is releasing?

Maybe a more important question to ask is what are you doing to bring God’s conspired blessing on your life?