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!

Maimed, but saved

Mat 5:29 “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Mat 5:30 “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Both the right hand and the right eye are extremely important in the bible. Jesus is saying you have to value your sanctification and your access into eternity with Him far more than even things that are “vital” to your natural life. I have recently bumped up the level of protection on my internet content filter from what’s called a “blacklist,” blocking what’s known to be bad but letting everything else in, to a “whitelist,” which only allows you to access the web sites that you specifically allow. I did this after I wasted a lot of time last saturday surfing the web.

Scripture references:

Right eye:

1Sa 11:2 And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, “On this [condition] I will make [a covenant] with you, that I may put out all your right eyes, and bring reproach on all Israel.”
[ Zec 11:17 "Woe to the worthless shepherd, Who leaves the flock! A sword [shall be] against his arm And against his right eye; His arm shall completely wither, And his right eye shall be totally blinded.”

Right hand:

Gen 35:18 And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. [Benjamin = "Son of the right hand"]
Gen 48:14 Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid [it] on Ephraim’s head, who [was] the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh [was] the firstborn.
Exd 15:6 “Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces.
Deu 33:2 And he said: “The LORD came from Sinai, And dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, And He came with ten thousands of saints; From His right hand [Came] a fiery law for them.
1Ki 2:19 Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the king’s mother; so she sat at his right hand.
Job 40:14 Then I will also confess to you That your own right hand can save you.
Psa 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me; Because [He is] at my right hand I shall not be moved.
Psa 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence [is] fullness of joy; At Your right hand [are] pleasures forevermore.

(more verses…)

The meaning of lust

Mat 5:27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.‘
Mat 5:28 “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust¹⁹³⁷ for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

From the Strong’s Concordance:

G1937
ἐπιθυμέω
epithumeō
ep-ee-thoo-meh’-o
From G1909 and G2372; to set the heart upon, that is, long for (rightfully or otherwise): – covet, desire, would fain, lust (after).
(emphasis added)

I’ve been meditating and praying through Matthew 5, and the Lord is showing me the link between lust, adultery and idolatry. When we look at a person or an image to lust, we are worshiping that image, we’re setting our hearts upon that image or person instead of the Lord. Epithumeo comes from two greek words, epi, which means upon, and thumos, which means passion, or literally, “breathing hard.”