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I've had an issue with being passive aggressive for the majority of my life. A few years ago I became aware of it and started making an effort to be more immediate and upfront about expressing my feelings. The problem, though, is I think I have leaned more towards the overtly aggressive side in my efforts. I stuck my foot in my mouth a couple weeks ago and immediately regretted it. We were trying to leave town and couldn't do so until the appraiser was done at our house.
Let's pick up our series with defining vision. "Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he who keeps the law, he is blessed." Proverbs 29:18 Vision is defined as "the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be." Vision is God speaking His purpose. It's an insight into what God is saying and doing now that includes our involvement. Vision is an expanding understanding that enables us to interact with God's redemptive purposes. It's redeeming in that it's bringing His answer to a lack where He is pointing out that His abundance is needed.
"Therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips GIVING THANKS to His name." (Heb. 13:15) Thanksgiving (eucharisteo, from which we get the word Eucharist) means to be aware of our blessings and be filled with gratitude. Thanksgiving opens the vaults of the treasures of the Kingdom. Tonight as I write this newsletter, another story about Jesus "Lifting up His eyes" came to mind. In recent newsletters, we've been talking about many other stories in the Scriptures are about "Lifting up our eyes."
I saw groups of prophetic graphic designers and artists gathering to form "prophetic teams" to stir up prophecy within their gifts and calling. From that vision, this Word of Prophecy came to me as it relates to The Scribal Anointing. This is the season that I am awakening the heart of the prophetic graphic designer. I am removing the lid, and supernaturally propelling and accelerating the gift that is within them.
God has been speaking again and again about WISDOM and DISCERNMENT. This is a season of greater discernment because things are not what they seem! In church in the middle of worship when the presence of God was felt the most strongly, something physically hits me. I look all around, thinking a friend is tapping me. Finally, my gaze falls to the floor. Sitting there is a pair of eyeglasses that literally fell from the balcony. "New vision," I felt the Spirit whisper.
"Where have you put him?" he asked them. They told him, "Lord, come and see." Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, "See how much he loved him!" (John 11:34-36) Jesus had a very special bond with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus; they weren't just casual acquaintances. We can catch a glimpse of His nature by observing the way He became intimately involved in their lives. Nothing has changed; Jesus still has a yearning to be close to His people today. In fact, we see into the heart of Jesus through the two most powerful words in the entire Bible, found in John 11:35: "Jesus wept." I don't believe He was weeping for Lazarus, but rather for Mary and Martha. He loved them so much that He shed tears of empathy. His heart ached because of their deep sorrow. I genuinely believe that every tear you shed also runs down the cheek of Jesus! He weeps today when you drown in the depths of grief.
Luke 6:45 "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bears what is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bears what is evil. For of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." This is a picture of just how simple it is to fill our lives with either the good or the bad stuff. All we have to do is choose the GOOD TREASURE to put in our hearts. After we've done this only the good treasure can flow out of our lives. Amazingly simple isn't it? We all have a choice. When we walk in the wisdom of God we will make the right choices and it will overflow into our account. We are literally storing up the good treasure of His glory and truth in our hearts. God wants us to be so overflowing with the good treasure of heaven inside of us that it flows like a river to all that surrounds us.
We all go through seasons when it feels as if our backs are against the wall. Circumstances around us scream in our face and demand our attention, yet regardless of how long we stare in their direction, nothing changes. At times we feel powerless. We fight the enemy with declarations of God's Word, we fast and pray, and do everything in the natural to fix what we can, only to wind up exhausted. I have good news for you, God has a better way!
A few weeks ago the Holy Spirit spoke these words to me, He said, "The Wounded Warrior." Then He asked me this question, "What is the significance of being a wounded warrior?" I had no answer. He said to me, "It's the posture the wounds create!" Then He gave me an illustration using the military. Whenever an individual enrolls in the military one of the first things that is adjusted is their posture. No soldier will enter the battlefield with a slouched posture because soldiers must stand up straight with confidence in battle.
I have visited the Sea of Galilee dozens of times. Each time I have had someone with me almost always the words "I must have a really long way to go yet as unlike Peter I have never walked on water" are uttered. Over time as I heard these words over and over something began to be stirred within me. It was the kind of stirring I get every time I sense that something is not quite right with the assessment we are making from something that happened within scripture. Each time this stirring begins I ask Dad for clarity knowing that our current understanding of what God is trying to share with us is somehow falling short of what he intended for us to see.
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