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It seems unnecessary to point out how God's priorities are seldom our priorities. That is the difference in the nature of man and the nature of God. He even said so: "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts," (Isa. 55:9, NIV). So, how do we position ourselves to hear from God? How do we free ourselves from our own desires in order to know His will? Well, I can tell you from firsthand experience that fasting causes you to take that sword of God's Word and separate what you "want" from what you "need."
Years ago, I was very frustrated at the spiritual condition of the church and our nation. I prayed, "Lord, many of us have faith that things can change, but nothing seems to be working!" Through Scripture reading, I soon realized that faith often involves action: "The day I pray for God to move the mountain, I often wake up next to a shovel" — Anonymous. By faith, Abel offered the right sacrifice. By faith, Noah built the ark and saved his family. By faith, Abram obeyed God and left his country in pursuit of the promise (Heb. 11). And on and on it goes—faith obeys God.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to obey My rules. Ezekiel 36:25-27 ESV
There is nothing in life that lasts forever and in order to prolong its lifespan, it must be refilled and maintained on a regular basis. It is necessary to buy gas for the car, eat and exercise for the body, and drink eleven to fifteen cups of water each day in order for every cell, tissue, and organ in the body to function correctly. Refilling is necessary in order to maintain efficacy. We must do the same in the spirit realm if we wish to improve, extend, and expand our God-given abilities. In order to make room for the Holy Spirit, our atmosphere must be cleansed of the pollutants of our environment.
Not long ago, I had a great vision in the courts of heaven. There was a great vault. Inside the vault were scrolls—great treasures. But the vault also had a lock that needed to be opened and a chain around it that needed to be cut. I want to explain what I saw and what the Lord said so you can begin healing from your past, embracing the process of taking small steps each day and unlocking your kingdom destiny.
Sometimes, it is not what we talk about as believers that requires addressing. Often it can be what we are prone to 'dare not mention' for various reasons. But now more than ever it's truth time, because "our salvation is nearer now than when we became believers" (Ro.13:11 ISV). Today's church is very apt to repeatedly give you the 'how to' for seemingly every aspect, while often failing to create an environment in which members can freely 'fess up' about their frustrations with those very aspects being so enthusiastically promoted as a 'sure thing.'
You think it will never happen to you, but the call seemed straight forward enough. By all appearances it was from management with a simple request. It even sounded like her boss and caller ID showed the correct number. In retrospect, the call was timed perfectly to coincide with the pressure of the morning rush. There was no time to contemplate the request, but to quickly login and confirm the information needed. The result was a $2,000 loss for the company.
I'm glad you opened this message but to be honest, no matter how hard we try not to, we will have moments when we stumble and fall short. What really matters is how we respond to it. When we lose our temper, succumb to temptation, or miss the mark… these moments, no matter how big or small, can build up and weigh on our hearts, and cause us to feel far away from our heavenly Shepherd and unloved.
How do you combat fear? Do you try to fight it off? Do you just give in to it and hide? As you know, neither of these is effective. Trying to fight fear in your mind only seems to magnify the fear, because what you are FOCUSED on is the FEAR. Giving in to fear or anxiety and hiding from it sort of guarantees that this cycle will happen again and again. I have found that the most effective action in getting free from fear is to memorize and say out loud (even if it is a whisper in the night) Psalm 91 and Psalm 23.
This afternoon the Holy Spirit showed me an animated illustration of a spiritual truth. He showed me a fruit tree that was dying. This tree was once vibrant, and flourishing, but its life has now been diminished. The trunk was decayed, the branches were withered, and its bark was cracked and peeling. Although it was still standing, it was frail and weak. The tree's limbs were brittle, and they cracked under pressure, and snapped with wind gusts.
