Published February 15, 2007
The time is now for sorrowing in a godly way with the Holy Spirit over the areas of our lives, as individuals and together as the Body of Christ, that are in need of His Holy alignment....
God, in an act of mercy, promised that He would honor Josiah’s heart to obey, and granted him a reign free from destruction. It is riches indeed to see the fruits of our labor come to maturity. It is wealth beyond measure to leave a spiritual inheritance to future generations. Josiah planted the seed of righteousness by tearing down the idols and restoring the House of God, and he watered those seeds with true repentance. For that, God brought fruitfulness to his seed and rewarded him with a legacy.
Published February 22, 2007
On September 1, 2006 I had a vivid dream that I immediately related with the process of transition. We are in a transitional season, and this transition into the next episode of blessing, provision and favor is conditioned on our willing obedience to follow the call to move ahead to a new territory.
In this dream, one day I found myself in a facility that looked like a gymnasium. The walls were exposed cinder block....
Published March 1, 2007
Learning Christ, as Paul says, means that everything connected with the old me has to go. We may readily think of the old me as some area of sin that we haven’t been able to conquer. Sure there are those, but the other day the Lord focused my attention on one of the subtle traps set in the unexpected places of our heart. One of these is our desire for the power of God. Why do we want to see God move, anyway?
Recently, when I prayed to see the power of God, that’s the question He asked.
Published March 8, 2007
In Mark 8, we find the disciples out to sea in a boat with Jesus. It occurred to them then that they had forgotten to take food, and they only had a single loaf of bread among them. These same disciples were fresh off witnessing a great provision, for Jesus had just fed four thousand people with seven loaves and a few fish. And, by the Father’s miraculous power, there had been seven baskets of leftovers. Yet, just a little bit later, here they were out to sea, preoccupied with the fact that they had only one loaf. As they wondered how they were going to eat later on, Jesus looked at them and said....
Published March 15, 2007
There is a story in the Bible about a vineyard that was owned by a man named Naboth of Jezreel. He was from a family of Jezreelites, and he had inheritance rights to a vineyard that was family land. He called it the inheritance of his fathers. As it so happened, that vineyard was right next to king Ahab of Israel’s palace. One day the king looked out of the palace window, and then really looked out again to pay attention to the plot of fertile land sitting next door to his house. And he decided he wanted it. Ahab wanted to own what he could not buy. And he wanted to convert the use of it altogether - from vineyard to vegetable garden. Under his hand, land which had always borne the fruit of the vine would become a provision ground for the back-bending work of growing vegetables.
Published March 21, 2007
The Shema is the most important prayer in the Jewish faith. In fact, strict observance requires that it be said twice per day. Reciting of the first verse is viewed as accepting the yoke of the Kingship of God...
Published April 12, 2007
Does a sound become a sound only when we hear it? John was not Jesus, but his words were Jesus’ message in advance of His coming. In effect, he was a voice before the tangible arrival of the Word, or Sound of God.
Published April 27, 2007
Elijah had just left his wilderness experience, met with God and gotten a fresh wind. God then sent him to anoint three people: Elisha to be the future prophet over Israel in Elijah's stead, Jehu, to be a future king of Israel, and Hazael to be a future king over Syria. This assignment touched on these three leaders' destinies. Respectively, they were a foreign king, Israel's king, and a prophet.
Published May 13, 2007
There's nothing in the scriptures to indicate Hazael had a heart after God. Hazael had a heart after Hazael. He'd had a promise from a foreign prophet years before (Elijah), he'd spent years building his aspirations and playing the role of understudy to the king. And now, the king was dying...
Published May 26, 2007
There are two words for this refreshing in the Scriptures. The first is the Hebrew word for "rest," menuchah, which means repose, consolation and comfort.
Published June 18, 2007
Today, I direct your attention to an excellent word of encouragement written by a man of God, Wade Smith, which was posted at the Elijah List last week. (read more)
Published July 7, 2007
The Lord lamented to His people in Jeremiah 2:21: Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?
(Strange here means foreign, different, adulterous, outlandish - as in a strange woman.)
It's hard to be a leader among God's people these days. Pastors seem to struggle with finding ways to reach those they lead in ways that can be understood, and to pass on a message that will be relevant to the issues people face every day. The faithful, especially in America, don't like to be challenged to change, and don't want to hear about the fellowship of suffering in Christ, or the reality of modern-day persecution for His sake.
Published August 24, 2007
The other day, as I retired for the evening feeling somewhat disconsolate about the call of God and my current understanding of what that means, I picked up a book entitled Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.** It was written many years ago as a loving compilation by John Foxe, who wanted to make sure the world knew the stories of those who have suffered much and given all for the cause of Christ. I opened one chapter to the story of Martin Luther. We know him today to be one of the great pioneers of what we call the first Protestant Reformation. As I read the story of this faithful brother’s experiences, it struck me again that we might just be so confused about what it means when God says, "You are blessed and highly favored."
Published October 7, 2007
Hosea was called to holiness, to follow God wherever He might lead. Yet he received from this same God what I consider to be a hellish job. He was called to marry a woman no mother would love. It must have seemed the future was certain to be full of heartbreak, emotional abuse and misery! (read more)
Published February 23, 2008
What we do know is that the Ark represented the glory of God. God’s glory abides with His presence and real-time anointing, not a past anointing. Where the physical emblem of the Ark resided on earth there was shalom – renewal, restoration, worship, prosperity of spirit, soul and body. The same is true with the Ark not made by hands – the same richness in the Holy Spirit is with us when we open our hearts to a relationship with our God, who is never far. As we draw near to God, He draws near to us.
Published June 7, 2008
I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly. Psalm 85:4.
Have you ever made a resolution at the start of the New Year, only to forget about it within weeks or months? Even worse, sometimes I may not forget it, but I’ll let the importance of it slip away from me, and somehow my mind is lulled into thinking that since I’ve now failed to keep the promise, it’s OK to forget about the resolution for the rest of the year... (read more)
Published July 13 ,2008
And he spoke a parable unto them saying:
There once was a young boy who was beloved by his family. They loved him, but they thought he was a little weak and wouldn’t thrive or survive unless they took care of him. They loved the boy so much they built him a little house with windows that faced a meadow under the open sky. He could see the sky, but he was not allowed to go outside. His family swept the house often. They cooked his meals and made sure he did all the things little boys normally do, except for one thing. He just could not leave the house. Anyone passing by could look in the window and see the boy inside. If they looked closely, they would even see that he was sad. He himself knew something was making him sad, but he did not know what to do.
Published September 15, 2008
I want to share very briefly about a prophetic experience I had recently. Maybe I should say it’s an experience I’m still working through today. It happened as I was putting my house in order literally, wondering if it was the right time to sell the place and scale down to something more appropriate for a single woman who doesn’t have as much energy or time for landscape care and all the sundry responsibilities of home ownership. This is a story about my shed.
Published March 29, 2009
I had a dream a week ago, before these rains began. I dreamed that I was here in my new home and it was raining so hard I could hear it thundering off the roof, and I saw the water spilling over the gutters and running down the windows. I ran to the front door because I saw water pouring in between the door and the jamb, and as I ran toward it, the door blew open. (read more)
