Sweet Detour

Tonight, after our prayer meeting, I went out for a milkshake with a dear brother from our prayer group. We talked for about an hour about what God is doing in our midst, and towards the end I shared the ache of my heart to see some of the reality of God manifest in our midst; in holiness, deliverance, healing and revival.

I shared a recording of a live Misty Edwards worship set from IHOP, where she sang:

I still believe:

In the fullness of You.

You said in the latter days –

I still believe.

No disease known to man will stand.

I still believe:

That You will set my heart on fire.

I still believe:

That You will manifest Your power.

I still believe. I still believe.

Because I’m so grateful for all that You’ve given.

And I will not despise the day of small beginnings,

But God, I’m so hungry for the more.

I still believe. I still believe.

I’m so grateful for Your hand, and I’m so grateful for all You’re moving, I’m so grateful for where You’ve brought us –

But God, but God…

I still believe:

For the greater works than these.

I still believe:

For the power on the heart and the power on the hands, I believe:

That we will be a people that love You undividedly.

I still believe.

I still believe:

That Your name will be glorified.

I still believe.

I still believe:

In the middle of worship, Your presence will show up like never before.

I believe it, I believe it!

I still believe:

The stadiums will be filled with the fear of the Lord and the love of the Lord.

I believe it, I believe it!

I still believe:

That no disease known to man will stand.

I still believe in the coming rain.

And I still believe:There’ll be a place where a young man can find deliverance.

I still believe it! I still believe it! I still believe it!

And I still believe:

Many, many, many souls will come in, like the flowers of the field,

I still believe.

And I still believe:

A great awakening is coming to this land,

I still believe!

And I still believe:

The dead will rise, I believe it!

The lame will walk, I believe it, I can see it!

The deaf will hear, I believe it!

And I still believe:

That the fear of the Lord will be our portion, as the multitude see the demonstrations of power in our midst.

And I believe it.

And I still believe. I still believe:

That the dreamers will dream and the prophets will prophesy, I still believe.

And I still believe:

In that latter, latter rain. I still believe. I still believe.

So open up the heavens, just let it rain, let it rain, let it rain!

The dead will rise and testify.

I can see it and I believe it.

The blind will see and many will believe.

And I can see a great awakening, I can see a great outpouring, in the midst of a great shaking.

I believe it, I believe it.

There’ll be a sign in the heaven and a wonder in the earth, and many, many, many will see and believe and tremble, and fear You, and fear You again.

I believe, and I can see the clouds are gathering, even now, even now make us ready for the rain.

Anyway, I was sharing my heart with my brother out of this song, and when I left, I started heading back home.

Usually, I just make a beeline for the house, but I felt the Lord leading me a different way. At first I ignored it, but only a block or so into my regular (direct) route home, I took a U-turn and went back, and took the route I felt the Lord leading me on, which was totally inefficient (by my reckoning) and out of the way.

I started driving while listening to the song, and I started to really feel the Holy Spirit speak to me through the song. I really identified with His desire to manifest His power on the earth, and His desire for a resting place (Psalm 132) on the earth.

There were parts of the song while I was driving around (seemingly aimlessly, but totally in the will and plan of God) that I just sobbed openly, seeing and tasting God’s desire for planet earth — His desire to transform our lives (and our planet), hampered only by our utter contempt for His presence (I speak of Christians, not unbelievers).

At the end, when I finally started heading towards home, I could feel God’s thankfulness… that I stayed in His presence and listened to His heart concerning a matter, through a song. Friendship with God really blows my mind, especially considering what a weak and flawed vessel I am.

The rewards of saying “Yes”

As I was driving towards home tonight, I felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit to go aside so we could spend some time together. (Is that awesome or what?) Unfortunately, I had a lot to do to get ready for my trip to IHOP tomorrow.

However, I’ve been up at 5:00am the past two nights to watch the God.TV daily devotional. Mike has been teaching on James 1:4:

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (ESV)

I wish I could remember more of the teaching, but I wrote down that scripture and a couple others on an index card and took it to work with me. When work got dull or frustrating, and I wanted to hop on a time-wasting website, I just remembered that verse about persevering (steadfastness). Other times recently when I have felt the Lord’s presence restraining me (e.g. “Ok son, lets shift away from that time-wasting activity…”), I have tried to stop as quickly as possible and shift into what He wants me to do.

Let me tell you, trying to be obedient in this simple area the last couple of days has had an awesome effect on me! There’s nothing worse than closing out a day feeling quenched in your spirit and barren in your heart because you’ve wasted so much of the day, and against His admonition. Thank God for His grace and the ability to get back in His will, but it’s so awesome to go a whole day without getting out of sync and feeling quenched!

I wanted to encourage all the readers out there (lurkers, I should say… make a comment already!): Understand and remember the grace of God. Read Romans 8:1 until it is weaved into your spirit… THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION!! No matter what happened, as long as you’re born again and have repented, you are not a failure in God’s eyes!

One of the things that the Lord showed me not too long ago which so reassured my heart was that I was a success in His eyes, because after all the years I’ve known Him, I still choose Him and love Him… That I have a rich history in Him (even in the midst of what I’d call failures and even falling into sin), and in a time that the nations are becoming increasingly anti-Christ, I still love Him. That counts a LOT in the heart of God, even if you feel like you are a very weak christian. Just keep pressing in and receive the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, good bible teachers, and especially friends that are pressing into God alongside you.

Blessings!

Consistency

The Lord has been speaking to me about consistency…

So many times, my walk with God is up and down. Recently, He’s been smoothing out the curve a lot, and I’m very thankful for that. A lot of that has had to do with me coming into a sold understanding of my identity in Him.

A simple encouragement the Lord gave me today was:

Don’t fret about how soon you feel like you’ve cooled off of a high from a conference or encounter. Just press into Me.

So, I am endeavoring to pursue Him more consistently. I am so thankful for His wonderful presence which rushes to meet me every time I draw near to Him. I am carving out a place on my desk where I an just seek Him out in His word, with prayer. I feel like I’ve been well trained (by Him) in how to seek Him at church, in prayer meetings, in worship services, and out in the field when He calls on me to go somewhere to intercede. But I have been very lax in my pursuit of Him in the simplicity of my prayer closet. I’m thankful for the grace to be able to remedy that.

Mary of Bethany

Mark 14:3-9

3 And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. 4 But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? 5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply.
6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. 7 For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. 8 She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. 9 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

That is what life (here on earth or in eternity) is all about. It’s about worship. Real worship, which we see infrequently on sunday mornings (it’s NOT about singing songs, it’s about pouring out what you are at the feet of Jesus).

Mary gave her all for Jesus. She sat at his feet instead of worrying about preparing a meal like her sister Martha. In today’s churches, Martha would be a hero, and Mary would be criticized to no end. I truly feel sorry for so many christians who’s only concept of a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus is some fuzzy and distant theology, and doing a bunch of things for “church.” It also said that she was one of the women who followed Jesus, taking care of His practical needs. She got one good look at who He is, and she threw everything she had and everything she was at His feet.

She was a small and insignificant creature (like us all), but she gave a whole burnt offering… she gave her whole life to Jesus. This is what make the whole DaVinci Code so maddeningly stupid. To take the relationship Mary had with Jesus (which is an good example for us all) and make it into a physical thing cheapens it beyond recognition.

Mary of Bethany is my hero. Not Paul, not Peter, not any apostle. I like Paul and John because of the quality of relationship they had with Jesus. I like David for the same reason. I like Mary so much because that’s ALL SHE HAD. She didn’t do any great exploits. She didn’t conquer the nations. She never preached. Yet she had something greater than any other women who ever lived, possibly even Mary, the Lord’s mother. She worshipped Jesus and had a life of devotion like no other. She sat at His feet, and that was the thing she esteemed the most.
Wow.

Prayer for wisdom

Father, give me wisdom and help me to order my life, so that I may stand before the Son of Man. I do not want to waste my life on useless frivolity. I do not want to spend the rest of my life making excuses for myself. 

 

Luke 21:34-36

34 “Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware, 35 like a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth. 36 Keep alert at all times. And pray that you might be strong enough to escape these coming horrors and stand before the Son of Man.”

Awaken Love

…I am listening to Sean Feucht’s “Awaken Love” song on the Burn website here at work…

…and my heart is ready to throw off all its chains.

God, it’s time… set us all free… free from the useless distractions that catch our eyes from day to day.

Awaken love. It pleases. Please.
 
 
 
It’s all about the Relationship
 
 
 
How dare we get caught up in our petty agendas, doctrinal disputes, and the anointing we think we have… Someday soon someone with a very simple mind and a totally pure heart is going to pick up a bible and start praying… and will shake the nations… with a purity that we cannot fathom, while we are so busy justifying our incessant quests for self-gratification and entertainment. There is no shortcut to intimacy with the Bridegroom.

God, awaken love! Put an end to the charade… the show…

“You’re rising up like the morning sun
Shining down salvation
Let Your Spirit awaken
Awaken Love”

A Simple Prayer

Father,

Come into me

    Bring Your fire

    Bring Your desire

    Bring the yearnings and groans of Your heart

and

    Bring me into the knowledge of You

 

WAKE ME UP

 

Hunger through Suffering

As I was communing with the Lord tonight, He spoke to me concerning the things which I am suffering, namely, having a full time job while my heart yearns to be with Him full time in intercession and discovering the Heart of God. A couple hours a day is awesome, but it isn’t always enough.

So often I leave work simply desperate to be with Him — this is someone who used to be lukewarm, cold, and indifferent. I have prayed for hunger.

The Lord told me that He is teaching me to hunger through these (extremely minor in an absolute sense, yet still very real on the heart level) sufferings. And through my hunger, He is teaching me obedience:

I will prompt you and lead you to find the place of rest and refreshing that I have set up for you. But if you ignore My promptings, you will miss the time of visitation and will not be able to find that place. Be alert, and have your heart open to enter in to My presence.

And little things like that. So,

Suffering -> Hunger -> Obedience

Which takes us to the scripture:

Hebrews 5:8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

The Simplicity of Yearning

Gentle reader, please slow down.

In the frantic pace of life, it is often difficult to hear the still small voice of the Father. Count the cost, establish your priorities, and spend some time with Him.

Simplify.

In Psalm 42, the sons of Korah write:

Psa 42:1
To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation (Maschil) of the sons of Korah.
AS the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
Psa 42:2
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?

So often when I read the Psalms, I assumed that the writers were only crying out to God to fix their circumstances. Now I realize that the adverse circumstances in life cause our hunger to intensify (if we have developed hunger), and cry out to God… so that we may see Him, touch Him, and drink Him in.

We must enter into the holy of holies of yearning… not for stuff (outer courts), not just for sign/wonders/anointing/ministry (the holy place), but for the Most Holy Place… Jesus Himself. We must long for Him because of who He is, simply and fundamentally.

If you have Misty Edwards’ Relentless CD, I suggest you pop it in, and play “Dove’s Eyes” a few times while you consider these things… It’s what I was listening to (on repeat) while I was thinking about writing this post.

For those who don’t have the cd yet, here’s the words:

I don’t want to talk about You like You’re not in the room
I want to look right at You I want to sing right to You

I believe that You are listening
I believe that You move at the sound of my voice

Give me dove’s eyes

Give me undistracted devotion for only You

Belligerent hunger

Mat 5:6 Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

I remember praying a season ago for God to give me hunger for Him. I was going through life very bored and spiritually dry, and I just didn’t have a hunger for the things of God. Well, as He always does, He answered my prayer in full force.

There are times when I get belligerently hungry for God. I usually try to find a place alone to search Him out and worship Him, otherwise I am very annoying and vexing to those around me.

It makes me think of one of my favorite worship songs from a few years ago, David Crowder’s “Intoxicating:”

Intoxicating You are to me
Illuminating You are to see
Truly breathtaking You are to breathe
Sending my head spinning You are, You see

And I’ve lost my mind, I’m sure to find
Need to apologize for my
Lack of inhibition, for my belligerent condition
But with You this near I’m dizzy

Inebriating You are to me
Completely captivating You are you see
Sending my world spinning You are, You see

And now I find a blurry line
Here between You and I
Raise the cup, drink ’til I’m full
Sing ’til I can’t, ’til my voice is gone
And my head is spinning

Illuminating You are to see
Truly breathtaking You are to breathe
Sending my head spinning You are, You see
It’s on the Illuminate CD, but a far better version is on Sunsets and Sushi

I really love that kind of hunger. It is very precious to me, because I have to pray for it continuously.