Grace upon Grace

When you give gifts to people, is it because they deserve it or because you love them? His grace is a gift. Grace is an expression of His love towards you. Because He loves you, He gives you His grace – the operational power of God to do what you could not do on your own. You don’t earn it. You don’t work for it. You dont have to be good enough or do good enough. He just gives it to you because you are His child. It’s just yours. All you have to do is receive it.

Our flesh will tell us we dont deserve to give ourselves grace because of how we are failing, or what we did or didnt do, or because of how weak we are. But that’s when we take the law upon ourselves as if we have to work for it, or do or be good enough. As if we have to punish ourselves and work to earn grace, or anything else. But that would be to set aside the sacrifice of Jesus. His sacrifice is sufficient for your weaknesses, your mess ups, your process. He already paid for it.

Your flesh doesnt know any better. It thinks it does, but it’s dead. It thinks it should know how to feel and what to do. But these things in yout flesh are not who you really are. Its the process of reprogramming your flesh to come into alignment with who you actually are in your spirit. Your flesh doesn’t know the gospel of Jesus. You have to disciple yourself and tell your flesh what the truth and reality is so that your flesh will come into agreement with your spirit, and not the other way around. This is the daily dying to self and renewal of the mind that brings forth transformation.

There is grace to grow. There is grace for the process. Because you are His child, just receive…Grace upon Grace.

His Counsel Always Stands

There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand. – Proverbs 19:21

Life is an ever unfolding story of purpose and destiny in and with the Lord. It’s a journey of learning who you are and who you are not. It’s this ongoing discovery of who God is and who He is for you.

As born again unto the living God, we are spirit, but we also have flesh. Part of this journey of sanctification is bringing our soul into alignment with our spirit. Our soul will be dictated by either our flesh or by our spirit. We must come to learn that our flesh is not who we really are so that we can walk in continual disagreement with the flesh and its emotions and agree with who we really are in our spirit. That’s part of renewing the mind to bring transformation.

There are many things in our heart – plans, emotions, thoughts, beliefs, ect. Or as this verse puts it, there are many “devices”. We can have our own plans, our own way; but in the end, its the counsel of the Lord that stands. Even when we mess up. Even when we fall weak. Even when we try to do things our way. We can’t really mess it up comepletely!

If we have set our hearts and our lives toward Him, seeking Him and His will, we can’t mess it up. We can’t mess up His plans and purpose for our lives. He won’t change His mind regarding our purpose and destiny, or any prophetic word He has spoken over our lives. For He works all things for our good and toward the good He has for us, and it is He who works all things according to His counsel. In the end, it is His counsel that will stand. What He has spoken and purposed He will still do.

There are, also, many devices in the hearts of people around us. Some people will be against us. Some will not understand us. Some may try to stop what the Lord has already spoken.

When the Lord had spoken in Nehemiah’s day to rebuild the wall, people came against him. It was in a very brutish way, insofar as to go to the king in attempt to try to stop what God had called Nehemiah and His people to do. But in the end it will always be the counsel of God that stands.

God sent His prophets to Nehemiah and the people to strengthen them and exhort them to continue the work. God even used those that were opposing them to move His people toward the good He had for them and the completion of what God had called them to do. He used the very people that were against them to advance them in the end. For the counsel of the Lord will stand.

We know our fight is not really against flesh and blood but against principalities and rulers in the air. There is no Enemy in hell that can prevail against you. Jesus defeated every Enemy triumphing over them through the cross – stripping Hell of its power over your life. The Enemy lost jurisdiction to torment you and have power over you the day you came out of your grave resurrected to new life in Jesus. He sets a table before you in the presence of your Enemy. His counsel will prevail over your life.

It’s freedom to know that living in pursuit of Him and His will we can’t mess up what He has for us. It’s never over or too much. We are not that big. God is bigger! He works every moment, every messup, every trial, every victory for our good and to develop us in the purpose He has for us. He works it all according to the counsel of His will.

If God is for us, who can really be against us?

The Currency of Hunger

Hunger is the currency of Heaven, and God responds to hunger. If you want the presence of God, you have to get hungry. If you want to see a move of God birthed in your city, you have to get hungry. If you want to know Him, you have to get hungry.

Hunger is an indication of a place that is empty but requires to be filled. Being hungry creates the space for Him to come and fill it with Himself and release who He is in that area.

Hunger is, also, a choice. The Kingdom of God is made up of choices. Sometimes you feel hungry for God and His presence. There are other times where you don’t feel hungry. In those moments, you choose to be hungry. You choose to hunger for His presence and pursue Him even when you don’t feel anything, hear anything, or see Him. Those moments of pressing in bear much fruit.

Sometimes you have to stir your hunger and stir yourself in the spirit. Many times King David would tell his soul what it would do – “Praise the Lord, my soul” (ps 146:1) “Bless His name, o my soul” (Psalms 103:1). He let his spirit rule his soul.

Your soul will be governed either by your flesh or by your spirit. It’s a choice as to which one will feed and rule your soul. There is a cry inside of each person for something to satisfy. The question is: Where are you directing that cry? Are you directing it towards the things of the flesh (the world; sin) or the things of God?

King David would say in Psalms that his heart and flesh cries out for the living God. He recognized the sound of a cry inside of him that needed to be answered. He chose to continually direct, and redirect, that cry towards the living God. He tried the other way (such as with Bathsheba), but He discovered a better way. He found that God was the true source and the only thing that could satisfy that cry inside of him.

He chose to continually be hungry and seek His presence continually.

“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for, and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple.”- Psalm 27:4

Our pursuit of Jesus is never in vain. He is always working in you and in every moment something spectacular, something surprising, something big – even when it doesn’t look like it or feel like it.

Keep pressing in. He will respond to a people, to a city. He will come to a hungry people. He can’t resist hunger.

Engaging with God in Worship

“Your fascination with Jesus is worship. Not you singing your favorite song. Your fascination with Jesus.” – Damon Thompson

I like what Damon Thompson said. Its so easy to think of worship as merely just singing a song. But it’s more than that. It’s a heart response to a King who is Worthy of your praise and your worship.

Worship is engaging your heart with the Heart of Heaven – engaging who you are with who He is. Its much more than singing and lifting our hands. Those things are an expression of our heart posture before the Lord. In worship, we posture ourselves before Him engaging our hearts in this offering of worship to Him. That which we engage in includes not only the outward expressions such as singing or kneeling but also in setting our hearts, minds, and affections on Him.

Its pointing our entire being toward Him and letting all that is in us bless Him (Psalms 103). Inside of you is this deep well of worship. Its pouring out whats in that deep place inside of you to that deep place inside of Him. He is worthy of all our worship. He is to be exalted upon our praise and our worship. He deserves it all. We can never exhaust Him.

Forever will we be captivated and fascinated by Him. Forever we will join the worship of Heaven crying “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty who was, and is, and is to come. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain”.

In the Hiding

He will hide you. People wont even see you. They wont even recognize the anointing and calling of God on your life. They won’t see the spiritual gifting you have. They will overlook you. They will bypass you for the next person. They will misunderstand you. They won’t listen to you sometimes. They wont even see or know the price you paid for you were always in the background. Always moving in secret. Cause He had you hidden. It will frustrate you. It may offend you. It may make you mad. It may discourage you. The Enemy may attack you in this place and say: “You are not worthy”….”You’re just not good enough”…”God is overlooking you”. Your mind wont be able to understand. Your flesh won’t be able to comprehend. But hang in there mighty one. But God. It may be what it is now, but it’s not what it seems. He’s working. He’s orchestrating. He’s depositing the Kingdom inside of you. He’s anointing you. He’s mantleing you. And when He brings you out of hiding, when He brings you out of that secret place, He will put you in the forefront before men and release the work of God inside of you to its fullest extent. He will reveal you to the world and exalt you in His presence for His glory. And those that thought you were just a lowly shepherd will see that there was always a king inside of you (David). Those that thought you were just a person plowing the ground will see that there was always a Prophet inside of you (Elisha). Those that thought you were just a Pharisee will see that there was always an Apostle inside of you (Paul). And all that was building and stirring in you all those years will come out of your belly like gushing rivers of living water that no one can stop.

A Seat at the Table

“…but Mephibosheth thy master’s son shall eat bread alway at my table..As for Mephiboseth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons.” 2 Samuel 9:10-11

Psalms 23:5 “Thou preparest a table before me…”

We have a seat at the King’s table. He put our name on that seat at His table with His blood. The cross made a way for us to have a seat at the King’s table to always eat bread. For if a son asks for bread would he give a stone? (Matt 6:9). He is the bread of life that satisfies the one who will sit at the table and eat. We can feast on the abundance of His table (Psalms 36:8). It didnt matter what Mephiboseth had done. It didn’t matter what his past looked like or the mistakes he made. It wasnt because he was “good enough”. It didnt have to do with merit. It was all dependent on king David. King David placed him at his table. And the King of kings has placed us at His table. Not dependent on us or anything we ever did or could do. It was completely dependent upon Him and the finished work of the cross. I have been placed by the King at His table as one of the King’s children. And so have you.

“As for ______, said the King, he/she shall eat at my table, as one of the King’s sons/daughters”.

Reidentify with Christ

Identity is who or what you identify with. One of the most important things about you is understanding with revelation the truth God has already declared over you. In Christ, you no longer identify yourself with your sin. You identify with the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Every sin, every addiction, all the shame, all the condemnation was paid for at the cross. The debt your sin cries out for was paid in full at the cross through Jesus. The debt condemnation cries out for was paid in full at the cross. That shame was paid for at the cross. 

It’s not about “I have to not sin. I have to stop this sin, this addiction” as if it’s in your own will power to stop. When you identify with the cross of Jesus, your sin died with Him. Now it’s not “I have to stop this sin”, it’s “I don’t have to do this sin anymore because I have the presence of the Lord”. “I don’t have to do these things that have had a stronghold in my life because I belong to Jesus “. This doesn’t have to be a stronghold in my life because now Jesus is my stronghold. My spirit is married to Him. I have Him. 

When you have a revelation of who God really is and who you really are, you behavior will come into alignment. That’s where the word becomes flesh in you. 

Your key to freedom is to continually come to Jesus. To keep coming to Him. To walk with Him. He does not despise your weakness. He put on your humanity when He walked this earth. He’s not mad at you. He’s not disappointed in you. He sees the fight in your heart for Him. That pleases Him. Your identity does not change and its not based on how good or bad your doing.

He declared you righteous before you ever made that mistake.

He declared you sanctified before you were ever addicted to that thing.

He declared you accepted in the Beloved before you were born.

The list could go on. No longer make agreement with your old nature. It has been crucified with Christ. It’s dead. Agree with Jesus about who He has already declared you to be. That revelation becomes an added layer for you to walk in. Your life of victory hinges upon this foundation.

Sin Died on the Cross

“…who His [Jesus] own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.” – 1 Peter 2:24
Jesus bore in his body our sins. Before we were born, Jesus took upon Himself every sin you would ever commit. 
Bearing every weight of sin in His body, when He died on the cross, our sin died. Romans 4:25 says that Jesus was “…delivered up for our trespasses…”.
Our sin died with Him.
“…that we being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness.”
When we encounter the cross and receive salvation, God raises us up and makes us alive. 
“…even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…” Ephesians 2:5‭-‬6
One of the main points of Pauls’s doctrine was consider yourselves dead to sin and reckon yourselves alive in Christ. In other words, realize that you are no longer a slave to sin. That’s not who you are! It has no power over you. You are no longer slaves, but friends of God. 
“For He made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
Jesus bore the cross for our sin, but He was “…raised for our justification.” (Romans 4:25).
We are now the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. It means right standing with God, but it means so much more! It means we get to live without a sense of guilt, shame, and condemnation.
This righteousness has nothing to do with us. We didn’t do enough good to earn it. It’s not dependent upon our weaknesses or strengths. It was given to us. It was imputed to us. He took our sins so that we could take upon ourselves His righteousness.
“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” John 1:29
He takes it away. All of it. Every sin paid in full by the cross – His blood. That sin, that addiction, the bondage – on the cross, He declared it finished when He said: “It is finished!”.
A life of victory hinges upon who you believe God is and who you believe you are.
Jesus “who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness”.
Your identity is His righteousness. Not your sin. Regardless of what yesterday or this year has looked liked, choose today to walk in who Jesus has already declared you to be since you came to Him in salvation: Righteous. Free. Friends of God.

Sustaining Prayer for Revival

No great move of God has come but through prayer. Prayer is the doorway of access into the very counsel of the Godhead. God in His infite wisdom has condescended Himself to partner with His people in releasing His purposes in the Earth. In doing so, the heart of God is intertwined in the prayers of finite man. He responds to the sound of humanity releasing the Word of the Lord into the Earth in prayer and intercession. His Word will not return void, from His mouth and yours.

Every past Revival erupted as a response to the persistent, fervent, prayers of the rightous. Those who paid the price to spend time in prayer and remain hungry for a move of God regardless of how many years went by without one drop of rain.

Evan Roberts is known as one of the major leaders of the Welsh revival that erupted in Wales in the early 1900s. It was said of Roberts:

            “Even at 13 years of age he began to develop a heart for a visitation from God. He later wrote “I said to myself: I will have the Spirit. And through all weathers and in spite of all difficulties I went to the [prayer] meetings…for ten or eleven years I have prayed for revival. I could sit up all night to read or talk about revivals. It was the Spirit who moved me to think about revival.” *

The latter rains of Revival have been promised to us by the covenant God Himself. It is to us to lay hold of the promise unswervingly with all importunity in the place of prayer. 

Even Roberts had a determined resolve to relentlessly pray for Revival. It was nearly a decade before he saw the fruit of his labor in prayer. What fueled his prayer life to endure and not lose vision? A hunger to see a move of God that could not be quenched with anything less. He had a resolve to pray until…

Until Revival came. Until the Spirit of God was poured out on all flesh. Until God had fulfilled what He had promised.

Until…

By the power of the Spirit, it is time that the Church develops a resolve to pray until. 

A couple of months ago, I heard the Lord saying that the King of Glory is ready to come in (Psalm 24:7-10), and Heaven is beckoning us to cry out for Him to come in. That we are coming into a time where we are joining with the cry of Heaven, with the cry of the Spirit where the Spirit and the Bride say ‘Come Lord Jesus’, where Heaven and earth are one. And its in that moment that the King of Glory will come in.

We must rid ourselves of distractions that compete for our attention and gather together in solemn assembly to set ourselves to pray until.

     “Sustained prayer must be the norm if we are to experience the birth pangs of a new spiritual era.” – P. Fredrick Fogle

*Tony Cauchi. Bibliography An Instrument of Revival, Brynmor Pierce-Jones 1995, published by Bridge Publishing (ISBN 0-88270-667-5). http://www.revival-library.org/pensketches/revivalists/robertse.html

How Big is God?

I stumbled upon this blog post today that has been sitting in my draft since 2013. Thought it was about time to post it. ;) What a good reminder that God is as big as I need Him to be.

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A few weeks ago or so, I was listening to a podcast from Christ for the Nations Institute. In this podcast, Kari Jobe was teaching on Worship. Kari Jobe is one of my favorite Worship leaders! In this particular session, she mentions a story of this young boy (4 years old) who asked his father in the car one day, “How big is God?”. Then he asked “Is He as big as the trees?”.

Normally, parents might just give an answer to the effect of “God holds the whole world in His hands”. But this father didn’t want to answer his son that way. He wanted to give him an answer that he could really comprehend and understand at his age. So, he began to ask God how to answer his son. This can be somewhat of a daunting question. How do you explain how big God is to a little 4 year old boy?

God spoke to this father and told him: “I am as big as he needs Me to be”.

For this little boy, at 4 years old, the trees looked really big. That’s as big as he could probably comphrehend. Can you see the awe and amazement on his face, when he looked out the car window and saw a big tree and thought about how God was bigger than that tree? At the time Kari told this story, the boy was 6 years old. At 6 years old, the trees wouldn’t seem as big as they did at 4. So, now, maybe the mountains looked really big or as she said a roller coaster. It was something, though, that this boy could understand.

I loved this when I first heard it because God is as big as I need Him to be. I know that may not sound very profound, but it’s this thought that whatever is going on in our lives, mountain high or valley low, God is as big as we need Him to be. That can be comforting. That’s one of the things I love about Praise and Worship. It gets my eyes off of me and what’s going on in my life and puts my gaze back on Jesus where I realize once again how big He is and remember who He is.

Let this be a reminder and a fresh revelation for you that whatever is going on in your life, God is as big as you need Him to be.