Taking the elevator or the stairs

  This blog isn’t super long so don’t worry.  Erica, my parents, and I were all just chatting about random things on the ride home from church Sunday and this subject came up. I would suggest reading my good friend, Ben Yackells blog because he also talks about this same sorta topic. While we were talking about random things we began talking about doing something with what God gave you and not growing impatient. This analogy popped into my head: you standing in front of an elevator and you go reach out, push the button and stand there waiting for a few seconds… you grow impatient with waiting and decide to take the stairs. To go into more detail on what God gave me through this analogy I will break it down.

              

  God has given you something whether it may be preaching at a mega church or humbly feeding the homeless. You can do something with the open door God gave you. Once you take action in doing something God will reward that. Just like you are standing there in front of the elevator door, God will not bring you higher until you take action and push the button. The next thing is having patience and not questioning God. There are quite a few examples in the Bible where people were doing something with the situation they were in yet they knew God had more for them. The story of Joseph really stands out to me. For those of you who don’t know it, it can be found in Genesis 37.  It is a story of a young boy who is sold by his brothers into slavery and ends up being put in prison.  He then somehow ends up being the Pharaohs right hand man and saving all of Egypt from a famine, including his brothers who sold him. While Joseph was in prison he was jailed with two other men and he witnessed and shared God with them through the interpretation of dreams. He took action when it seemed very dim that there was any way out. Yet through doing something with what God presented him and being patient, God exalted him and greatly blessed him.

                

  Most people end up growing impatient with God and let the Devil whisper lies into their ears. Lies such as “you can do it better your own way” or “God isn’t coming to help you so might as well just give up.” Now is not the time to fall into these traps. Just because the elevator doesn’t come immediately, don’t take the stairs. The stairs might look easier and faster but once you decide to take them and you have walked up 10 flights but still have 10 more you will regret that decision. What looks like a better option in most cases isn’t. God is the best option and we must learn to lean on him and put our trust in him. If we don’t and we decide to go our own way our lives will become more difficult.

                

  It is a two way street. God waits on us to do something for most of our lives. Once we have given our lives and our hearts to Him, He can finally do something in our lives. I pray that you do not grow impatient when God immediately does not supply your needs for you. The breakthrough will come and you will be able to give all the glory to Him.

             

   Lord I pray that you instill a spirit of patient within us. That we learn to hear Your clear and audible voice. That we can abide and put our lives into Your hands. Lead us where You may and do with us as You will. We are Your willing vessels ready to stay on the path You have set before us. Do Your mighty work throughout all the land. I pray You bless the readers of this blog and that You open up the heavens to them. I pray this all right now in the precious name of our Lord, in Jesus’ name Amen!

Gaining more than the usual

These past few days the Lord has directed me to read the Book of Joshua. It is a very interesting book yet it can be a very boring book at the same time (no offense). When I first started reading I was getting a lot of revelation about taking what is rightfully yours and having no fear. These revelations related to the Israelites crossing the Jordan and the taking of Jericho. Then I started reading the somewhat boring parts. It is where they talk about after they defeated all the cities in the promise land how they would divide up the land between the 12 tribes of Israel. Now it talks about this for quite a few chapters and while I am sitting there reading them and getting bored I ask God “why did you want me to read this entire book when I only got revelation out of these first few chapters and then the rest of them have been putting me to sleep?” I like to be blatantly honest with God because he is honest with me. Then while I am reading in Joshua chapter 17: vs. 14 – 18 they say:

“Then the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, "Why have you given us only one lot and one share to inherit, since we are a great people, inasmuch as the LORD has blessed us until now?" 15 So Joshua answered them, "If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the giants, since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you." 16 But the children of Joseph said, "The mountain country is not enough for us; and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are of Beth Shean and its towns and those who are of the Valley of Jezreel." 17 And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph — to Ephraim and Manasseh — saying, "You are a great people and have great power; you shall not have only one lot, 18 but the mountain country shall be yours. Although it is wooded, you shall cut it down, and its farthest extent shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots and are strong."

The Lord was saying to me you want something? Well here’s a little nugget for you. God is a great and powerful God. He owns all of the land from the Far East to the Far West. He was there when man was first created and he will be there when New Jerusalem is inherited upon the Earth (Speaks about that in Revelation). He has a destiny and a purpose for us. We must realize that the limitations that God puts on us is only for a time and a season. He urges us and pushes us to grow in him and when we do then he will extend our reach of the outpouring of His love. The children of Joseph did not receive more land until they came to the revelation that they are a great people. Once this happened they could no longer be contained in the lot that they had and they needed more room to grow. We must grow daily in the Lord. He pours out his abundance of wisdom and knowledge on us and is just waiting for us to grasp it. Once we do he will open more doorways for us and close the ones that we are leaving behind.

We must not do 2 things. One is to look back at what we previously had and wish we were at that place of simplicity, and the second thing is we must not be jealous of where our friends or family are at in their walk with the Lord. As you gain more land which by that I am referring to gaining more revelation, knowledge and understanding the greatness you have in Him then more challenges will come as well. It will get difficult at times but we must remember to guard ourselves. We must guard not only our mind or heart but also our mouth as it says in Proverbs 21:23 “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.” For it says also in Matthew 15:11 “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." So what we say and speak is an inner reflection of who we truly are. If we look back at what we used to have and say things like “I wish that I” or “I remember when things were much simpler”. NO! We must always be pushing ourselves and when the time comes for us to move on to the next phase in our lives we must move without looking over our shoulders. I know that God put words down into my inner being so that is why I am writing blogs…to get what has been burning up inside me out. I know that what has started with this blog will grow into more and more ministry opportunities but I am not ungrateful of where I am right now. What God has shown me though is that when I grow into greater things for his kingdom I cannot be wishing to come back to this blog because there weren’t as many challenges. Because if I do that it will hold me from even further growth with him. You must grow because when you do you grow more into the likeness of Him and what he truly made you to be….Jesus’ bride. Adam and Eve separated us from this perfection image but through growth and transformation we can be made back into the true intent of what God had for us. We must do this without wishing for that previous lifestyle or those past dating relationships…OUCH! Yeah I know that one might have hurtJ.

To cover the second thing I talked about was to not be jealous. This is something very simple yet I even struggle with it. In Exodus 20:17 It says "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's." Now of course we don’t have servants and stuff like that unless you have kids...just kidding... but this was a law given to the Israelites by God through Moses. God wants us to be happy with what He gave us. I can’t be jealous of what my parents have because they are quite a few years older than me and have had more time to save money etc. It goes the same way spiritually we must not be jealous of where people are at in their walk for it may cause you to stumble in yours. Instead of having your eyes on Jesus your groom, you have your eyes on them. I know for a fact that when Erica walked down that aisle that my eyes were glued to her because the beauty just radiated off of her as it still does this day. The same goes for Jesus! He longs for us to just look upon him, to stare him in the eyes and tell him that we love him. We get too caught up in having nice things because that darn neighbor down the street just got a Porsche so now you need one. God has called us to be great and powerful just like the children of Joseph were. Once this realization has been made then He can grow your land because you will know that any enemy that comes before you will be defeated because of the power you have in the Lord your king. There is no need to be scared, step out in faith, be challenged, don’t let the iron chariots of this day and age intimidate you. Let the Lord show you how he can use you as a vessel to remind you daily of the greatness that you possess. Even Joshua had to do this with the children of Joseph. In vs. 16 – 17 it says “16 But the children of Joseph said, "The mountain country is not enough for us; and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are of Beth Shean and its towns and those who are of the Valley of Jezreel." 17 And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph — to Ephraim and Manasseh — saying, "You are a great people and have great power; you shall not have only one lot, 18 but the mountain country shall be yours. Although it is wooded, you shall cut it down, and its farthest extent shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots and are strong."  The people were scared of what stood before them in the new land, yet Joshua reminded them of what is theirs and how great they truly are. It is awesome to know that God does that same thing for His son’s bride.

Lord I just lift up myself and the people that don’t know the greatness they have in you. I pray that you continue to mold us and shape us into your image and likeness. Just touch us with a holy fire to where we will no longer be scared of being persecuted for You. To where as we step out our faith grows more and more with You. We put all of our trust and abilities into Your hands and we ask of You to do Your will in our lives. I pray that we die to our flesh daily so that Your greatness can show through us and through the light and love that we show glorifies Your precious name. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

A Plea

  We currently live in a lost generation, a generation that wants leaders but all anyone ever does is follow. A generation that searches for love in all the wrong places, and has a desire for something more but the Devil has construed that desire for things of this world. This is a generation that is so hooked on drugs, alcohol, and sex that we have lost sight of who we truly are in God. We would rather be out partying Saturday night and watching sports on Sunday than going and worshipping the King. How did it get to this? It got to this because the generation before us has failed. Why do you think we are called the lost and fatherless generation? Because we have had no one to raise us up and show us the things of God. Instead when things get tough people abandon us. Now I am not talking to everyone out there because there are people who have stepped up as leaders and tried to raise this generation right (like my parents). I am more so making this plea to those who haven’t done the task God called them too. The generation that has come before us, WE NEED YOU! We need guidance, we need direction. We need to be shown the things of God by people that are wiser than us. Like I said earlier we are a lost generation crying out for help yet where are you when we need you the most? If you’re scared of the sins that we have committed then how will we ever get saved? We need you to commit yourselves to go into the darkest places, reach in there with the love of God, and save us from eternal sin.

  God has placed a burden on me for this generation. It disgusts me the sin that we are in. What even disgusts me more is when I look to our parents/elders who are supposed to be helping us yet don’t; it breaks my heart. This nation….America is slowly falling apart. The reason being is that the people that are rising into power and starting to take over the major business do not know or understand the things of God because the generation before has failed to live up to their God given task. It says in Proverbs 22:6

“Train up a child in the way he should go,

And when he is old he will not depart from it.”

  This is the task God has presented, why then has it not been fulfilled? It is in the times of our youth that we are most impressionable. It is in these times where our character is defined and where we figure out who we are. We need the adults to help guide us to the right direction. To help us learn from their mistakes so we don’t make the same. Are you going to just let the Generational curse continue of a generation that keeps making the same mistakes as the first…plus making a few more. In Jermiah 2:2 it says

"I remember you, The kindness of your youth, The love of your betrothal, When you went after Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown.”

  God remembers our youth and longs for everyone to be brought back to it. No matter what age you’re at, He longs for you to have passion and fire aimed towards Him.

  This is why I am making this plea. Older generations, we need you! We are at the ages where we have this passion and fire but the Devil has turned that passion and fire to sinning. Come and help us….please. Mentor us and show us how truly great God is. Step up to the plate and don’t be scared. Don’t give up on us when things get tough because if you train us up right then it equips us to train up the generation after us. Yes we do have our own free will but going back to Proverbs 22:6 if you train us up right we will not flee from it. So please help us so that this generational curse of falling into the same corrupt sin can finally stop. With help from the generation before us it will make things a whole lot easier than if we have to figure it out on our own. We need your help….please don’t leave this for us to figure it out on our own. We need you to rise up and take a chance on us, you will be surprised by what we will do for the Lord’s Kingdom. 

Overcoming Strongholds in Our Lives

The Lord really impressed upon my heart to start reading the book of Joshua this week. I have never really read Joshua before but I knew the basics of it from veggie tales. How Moses had just died and the book consist of multiple stories about how the Israelites go and slaughter all the people (some they don’t but that is a different blog) and take the promise land for their own. The one story that really jumped off the pages to me was the story of Jericho….ya ya ya we all know the story but I got a deeper revelation of it because of something God showed me at this past weekend’s ladies retreat and it continued into this week. On Saturday night as I was worshipping the King of Kings, the Lord spoke to me and said “the violent take it by force” so I started entering it in like never before and wow I felt his presence so strong and it was intangible. I realized that if I can enter his presence by taking authority over the Devil and calling forth unto God then what else could I take by force? I left it at that thought and then I read the Story of Jericho and the thoughts about taking it by force continued. 

Immediately after I read the story of Jericho God spoke to me and said, remember how I told you the way to enter into Me is by force, by taking authority over the Devil and having victory. Well the same can happen with strongholds in your life. You must take control of those strongholds by force and have victory over them.” We must have a fire for God, an intense zeal for Him. We must be secure in our authority that we have through Him because He has commanded us to take what the enemy has stolen from us and turn it into good for God. The Israelites were secure in the knowledge that what God had told them was theirs was truly theirs. Once they entered the promise land there were the people of the city of Jericho who were occupying the land in which God promised them. This stronghold was keeping them from the promise which God had granted to them. The Lord said in Joshua 6:2 “And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. God has given us the victory too and our victory is through His son, JESUS. We need not be worried about what we face anymore because what has been promised to us will be fulfilled. Later in this chapter it describes how they took the city. They went to march around the city for 7 straight days and then on the 7^th day they marched around the city wall 7 times. On the 7^th time around they let out a shout and the trumpets began to sound. They didn’t let out a soft yell, or just start talking, no they let out a SHOUT! They released a noise not only on Earth but in Heaven as well.  God moves when we violently cry out to our Daddy. Just like when a child calls out with a shriek to his father, the father will come running and help the child with whatever he needs. The same happens with our Heavenly Father, when we shout out to Him He shows up.

God loves it when we lift up our praise to Him. When we glorify His precious name it brings a smile to His face. In this life it should never be about glorifying ourselves or be worried about what bills we need to pay next month. Everything should be about Him because we are not our own but are His. He is the rock upon which we stand, the shield which protects us from attacks, and the sword which fights our battles for us. God spoke this saying to me the other night and I feel the need to share it. He spoke to me “whatever you ask I will give to you, whatever you desire is yours. I bestow my gifts upon my loyal and faithful servants as long as you serve me with all that you are and all that you have I will pour out my abundant blessings upon you because I long to shower gifts upon my beloved.” His blessings do not just consist of rewards or items but of victory over strongholds in our lives. It is time that we take back what the Devil has stolen from us. He is just a squatter taking up space in our lives. He owns nothing because God owns everything. With a shout we must arise up and kick the Devil out. God has promised you victory that is why His son died for us. We must become like the Israelites and understand that when God speaks a promise He sticks to that promise.

There are no strongholds that are too big to overcome because Jesus overcame death, why then are we afraid? When strongholds arise, when a conflict arises we must be prepared and we must stand for what it is. The Lord is waiting to hear us shout unto Him and call out His name. We must take what is rightfully ours (Which is this Earth) and return it to the glory God has for it. The Devil stole away the beauty of this Earth when he deceived Adam and Eve into eating the apple but once we as His chosen bride step forth in our authority we no longer have to live under that mistake. For it says in Galatians 3:13 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law…” The law has been cursed but what the Devil has made for evil God will turn it around for his Good.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Walk in a violent love that casts out the enemy from your very presence. Shout unto the Lord to give you strength, because of Him we are redeemed and victorious. We have an eternal life in paradise waiting for us, do not let the Devil have a stronghold in any area of your life that will keep you from that!

Glory to glory

Lately these past few days I have had a different presence around me. I have such a longing to grow. My spirit has been yearning out for more yet when I look around me my heart breaks. My flesh has been screaming no, yet my spirit has been screaming yes! I don’t understand what this feeling is…I feel like my flesh feels the oppression around me yet my heart is screaming out for Jesus’s love. The pure and holy love pouring down upon my soul, filling me up until I can’t contain it and feel like I am about to explode. How I truly desire for the chains of this generation to be broken, where we as a whole body of Christ can enter into the Throne room not divided by different denominations but be called lovers of Christ. Every day God longs for us to renew ourselves in Him. When we open ourselves up for Him to do work in us we allow not only our spirits to be refreshed but our physical bodies as well. When the Israelites traveled in the desert for 40 years God didn’t give them on the very 1^st day 40 years’ worth of bread. He daily gave them just what they needed for that day as long as they had faith in Him. Something I have come to realize is that I must push through seasons of dryness, of desolation, of this growing desire for Him yet not knowing where to find Him so that I can quench my thirst. When we do this our faith grows stronger because it is a time of testing.  It is also through these areas of life that we learn how to search for God when everything around us seems dead. I like to call these areas in our lives “Plateaus”.

A story to explain what I mean about Plateaus: there was a mountain climber who wanted to be the best mountain climber ever so he goes to the tallest mountain in the world and starts to climb it. It takes many days and he faces a vast multitude of struggles but through him being prepared for it and training his mind for the battle he conquered the mountain. When he got to the top of the mountain he felt so victorious, he felt so free, he felt like he reached a new area in his life. But at the top of the mountain he just got done climbing he sees in the distance across this long plateau is another steep cliff which signifies the mountain isn’t done….no one had ever imagined that there would be more of a mountain to climb but there was. In feeling that way, he takes off walking across the plateau to reach the next cliff to go even higher. Unfortunately when he gets there he dies because along the way to the next cliff he did not look for food or water which was essential for survival.

This story is what most of us go through in our lives. We face a “mountain” (a struggle in our lives or a tragedy) and we seek out God and overcome the mountain. Once we have, we have such a breakthrough. We get a revelation of who He is, how much He loves us, how much He longs for us to go higher with Him and to dwell in His presence more and more. It is in this time that we get on what I like to call a “spiritual high.” In which our spirits feel refreshed, renewed and accomplished in what we have learned and get insight we have received from God. Yet God wants to show us more and reveal more of who He is to us so He is calling us higher. Sometimes to go higher we might face a plateau and then another mountain like the climber did. It is in these times of “plateaus” where we must call out to God no matter how dry it may seem, no matter how much our flesh wants to quit and say you will never feel that feeling that you felt after that last mountain. You must search for Him and feed yourselves daily with prayer and the Word because there will be another mountain, there will be another attack of the enemy that you must overcome to get closer to God because the more spiritual fed you get the more vicious the attacks get because the Devil wants to keep you as far away as he can.

We must go from glory to glory. From the top of one mountain to the other and not perish in the plateau of deadness because of the devils lies. Moses could have quit, he could have said I can’t lead this nation of Israel any longer. Instead, he went up Mt. Sinai and saw God face to face and reached a new spiritual level with God. But the sins of Israel caused a 40 year plateau for him. Because of his perseverance and determination that he wanted to see God like that again, Israel was blessed. Because of his faith he got pass the plateau and was able to see the promise land ATOP ANOTHER MOUNTAIN.

God blesses those who diligently seek Him. This is something I am learning as I am typing this up. I am learning no matter where you are in your life that you must keep the faith. You must remember the days when all the time you felt His presence and not grow weary but renew ourselves daily in Him until we reach that breakthrough and go to the next level. I want more of God daily. I want to lower myself to His feet and worship Him. I am just a vessel for His work and nothing I own is mine but it is the Lords. We as the church body must surrender our lives and everything in our lives to Him because until we do that it will be difficult for God to use us. We must answer the call as David did in Psalms 27:8 “When You said, “Seek my face” my heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” There is so much that God has for us and our inner man knows this. That is why you feel a desire for more. The Devil misconstrues this and draws people into the things of this world. The emptiness that you feel, the passion that you long for is only found in God. Seek after Him and He will provide you the desires of your heart and you will be filled up with His grace and love….what an amazing feeling that is.