Heaven On Earth?

It has been said by many in the past few years that we don’t preach about hell and judgment enough. This morning I suddenly got a chilling thought that perhaps we don’t preach Heaven enough and hence we have tried to actually recreate it here on earth lacking the understanding of Heaven. Looking around I see many living in more hell than I can imagine, abuse, people bound by addictions that literally control their lives, starvation…to preach judgment to the dying masses seems a bit of overkill to me. Looking at Yeshua’s example it seems to me He warned the religious establishment of judgment for not living up to what they knew and for perverting the truth, but when it came to the masses He healed them, delivered them from demonic influence, and told them the good news (gospel) of the Kingdom. They knew they needed help, that they couldn’t make it on their own. Do we?
In my mind to truly preach Heaven we have to disassociate it from the quasi notion of getting what we want and not having to work for it, of escapism, of merely a reward for being superior here and now. Instead if we could see it as a destination the world was bound for before the fall, a place that the relationship we start here really takes root and we become truly all that we were meant to be, human in the fullest sense in continual communion with the One who loves us beyond our comprehension. Maybe we could get the here and now in focus and realize the actual reason we are living in this world of matter, finding out what really matters. In pursuit of happiness we’ve poured our resources into making things easier, having more time for fun, experiencing as little pain as possible, we anesthetize instead of deal with issues, as long as I don’t feel the pain, I don’t get too hyper about what is actually wrong. In other words we deal with the natural, the physical so much that we leave our souls bankrupt and thus are never really satisfied much less happy.
Ask yourself what’s more important what we have or who we are? Is achievement what we do or what/who we impact by what we do? Is life here meant to be only what our senses can take in, that natural physical realm that we sometimes feel is the real world? Is it not true that the essence of who we really are can’t really be measured in the doing and having? Do we need God to help us live easier, nicer lives here or to work with us in the natural state of a fallen world to redeem it and us?
If we truly taught about Heaven and Abba’s desire for His will to be done on earth as it is there perhaps we might get our lives here more in focus, perhaps we would stop trying to recreate earth in our view of heaven, perhaps we could get on with the reason we are here on earth. Perhaps, just perhaps.

k

Where Are The Hortons?

Horton was an elephant in Dr. Seuss’ book ‘Horton Hears A Who’. I had originally supposed that Dr. Seuss had chosen an elephant to hear the Whos because of his big ears; however I did some research and found that elephants do actually have a marvelous way of hearing. They not only use their ears but their trunk and legs as well. Seems elephants have an acute sense of hearing. Seuss uses Horton an elephant to hear the small cry of one Who, living on a speck, the story would not be so impacting nor hold such substance if hearing were the only issue, it is more that Horton decides to do something about what he hears. Ezekiel 22:30 tells us that Abba looked for someone to stand in the gap, to make up the hedge for those who have been oppressed the poor and needy, the stranger treated wrongly. He was looking for Hortons. We are called to be salt and light but we all know that too much salt makes things uneatable, too much light can cause damage, so it is presupposed that we are paying attention to where and when the salt and light are needed and are willing to be the answer to the need. A cool thing about elephants is they are big and can stand in a big gap and they have no predator among the other animals, their enemy seems to be mankind. Hmm, seems like the ones we are called to hear and help are often the ones who are on the side of the enemy for our destruction. Horton withstood his neighbors who didn’t believe that he was hearing anything. They were intent on not only not believing him; but by stopping him from taking action. This also sounds like many scenarios we seem to find ourselves a part of. This however is not the biggest tragedy, the greatest heartbreaking issue is that many aren’t even listening for Whos or are making judgment as to which Whos are worth saving. We find it easier to get involved with those we see and interact with daily, but the cries of those which we never see, those that aren’t ‘like’ us we seem to be able to ignore. We might even find ourselves siding with the kangaroo (read Seuss’ story) laughing at those who would warn us of outcries from foreign lands. In Seuss’ book the others did eventually get on board able to hear when the entire Who civilization is mobilized to cry out, would that we would not wait till there is an entire civilization, an entire people group at risk for then the need seems insurmountable and we often find ourselves doing nothing. It’s time to step up to the plate and tune our ears to the cries of the smallest the weakest, the oppressed. I’ve heard Whos of Darfur, Zimbabwe, Bolivia, Cuba…crying out and I hear Abba saying Who will I send, Who will go, and most importantly for the many that will never leave home, Who will pray and raise their voice for the smallest, the least of these?

k

New Day

There have been many prophetic words about a new day; I myself have given some of them. I also realize that simply stating what may be a spiritual reality doesn’t presuppose that the ones hearing what the Spirit is saying to the churches understand what He is actually getting at. We tend to look through our own set of glasses which have been colored by many circumstances and many diverse inputs. We understand what we mean as American’s by ‘New Year.’ It means that the old calendar year has passed and that we are beginning a new calendar year. We also understand that simply turning from Dec. 31st to Jan 1st might not change much in regards to our circumstances; it is a marking of time not of changed reality or possibility. Chadasah (Hebrew: new, fresh) and Kainos (Greek: also fresh, new) are used in the sense that I understand this ‘new day’ to be. We understand a bit more in our English language when someone talks of a ‘fresh start’. That means that the past is not coming into play to bind up the present or future, it means things can change because we’ve got a new/fresh beginning. This new beginning does not necessarily mean that we are not heading for the same destination but that the way in which we are approaching this destination is changed, and perhaps our entire understanding for the reason of the journey is changed. Many people don’t like change, not the real change. I recent was in a situation where I felt like I had stepped back in time at least 10 years, much in that situation had not changed. I thought, ‘Oy Vey, it seems like this place is stuck in time.’ I understand that my predilection is to push forward, aka run with all my might toward change since I see nothing worth going back for in the past. My past has not been traumatic, I’ve been singularly blessed but that time is over and I don’t care to be in a holding pattern nor in a ‘Ground Hog Day’ scenario. A new day as the Spirit is declaring is meant to bring us to the understanding that we are a called out people full of present potentiality not yet explored but available to us by Abba’s manifest grace, we are not bound by persistent actuality, that which seems to be where we are at this given time. I am saddened by watching people held back by past mistakes seemingly unable to help them get past the condemnation of those ‘failures’ and hence they are stuck in present actuality a time of never ending repentance for what was forgiven long ago. I am also concerned that Spirit led Believers allow themselves to be limited by what appears to be ‘right’ at the moment never coming to the understanding that Abba in His infinite ways manifest Himself as the book of Hebrews says, He spoke in divers (different) and sundry (many) ways to His people by the prophets. It goes on to say He has now spoken to us by His Son, Yeshua. It doesn’t take radical thinking to see that Yeshua spoke to people in various ways employing various methods to reach out to those He was intent upon ministering to. I see many wondering what their gifts are and if they acknowledge that they have a gifting they are struggling at how they are to employ it for the benefit of the body. They seem to be stuck in past experiences to create the parameters for the present, not seeing that more than likely we’ve never lived up to the present potential in our lives and hence even looking back at things that seemed to work, we didn’t and aren’t realizing that we allowed what appeared to be the circumstances of the moment to dictate just how far we were able to access His wisdom in living out this great salvation which was purchased for us by such a precious cost. Abraham was willing to leave a persistent actuality behind for a present potentiality. He refused to be defined by his family’s past nor by the fact that it ‘appeared’ that he and Sarah were beyond childbearing capacity. Abba had spoken to him and thus the potential was greater than Abraham understood at that time, but we still find Abraham embracing the words of the Lord. The Jewish nation in the time of Yeshua misunderstood the present potentiality of a Messiah that would save them from more than merely being under Roman rule, a persistent actuality, and hence many missed the opportunity of their lives, literally. Others would go on and find that their lives held more potential than their wildest dreams for impacting not merely their nation but the world.
I could go on and on but simply put a new day means present potentiality beyond your present actuality, a day not bound by the restraints you’ve encountered in the past nor by your own understanding of your abilities for it is walking in His possibilities, His plans, His enabling. It is being open to partnering with Him to bringing about His will on Earth as it is in Heaven, understanding that He will bring this about for His desires go beyond potentiality but into His determination to bring about the good no matter the present limitations. The Lamb was slain before the foundations of the world in order to cause the lack of actuality to spring forth with the potential of redemption in more ways than mankind ever imagined. I for one am willing to push myself beyond what appears to be hindrances and limitations to embrace the new day or shall I say the new understanding of what is allowable today that might not have worked yesterday, to be free to dream of actually accessing the fullness of what He has to offer.

k

Unpredictable

Life at its best is unpredictable. There are so many things that are beyond our control that we often fall into the trap of trying to exert control over everything that we can, while at the same time often refusing to control that which we should and could. There are certain issues not up for negotiation, for they are set by Abba, free will choice does not negate the principles though one may break them. Scripture says, be not weary in well doing for in due season (the right time aka His timing) we will reap if we faint not. Obviously timing and accomplishment of many things are contingent but the fainting or not part is up to us. Sometimes I wonder why it is that what we can easily control, aka self, seems to be the last thing that we try to exert effort in accomplishing. We want to take authority over our circumstances without first taking steps to bring our attitudes and actions into submission to Abba’s basic principles. One could plead ignorance to those principles but this will not stand up under even the most cursory scrutiny for even those not following our Heavenly Father do that which seems, good and right or at least know that they are supposed to (Romans 2:14). Perhaps it’s our view of ourselves that is in need of tweaking. We must see that the rule that we follow is not simply the law else we will continue to interpret it and ourselves wrongly, according to the circumstances. The ruler that we must measure ourselves by is Yeshua. His relationship, His actions are not only doable but are imperative if we are to walk in peace and confidence in this world of changing circumstances. Abba is good, non negotiable, His desire, His ways are always to bring about the good for those who love Him and follow His purposes. If things seem not to be working for your good ask yourself, am I following His purposes? Do I love Him? If your answer is to the best of my ability and that is true; then no matter what things look like you can be confident that you will see good come out of the most unpredictable seeming circumstances. When we stand confident that all things will work for the good then we can take stock of our attitudes and reactions aligning them with the One who is good. Just think if we begin to see His goodness and activate that goodness in our own lives we could impact the world in ways that we’ve not yet begun to dream of. Being strong, smart, rich…might be unattainable but being good, being like Him is possible even under the most unpredictable circumstances.
k

Party Crasher

There’s an old song that says, ‘every party has a pooper that’s why we invited you…’ Well I haven’t invited the crasher of this party but the enemy of our soul seems determined to crash the party spreading his distortion. It almost seems to be a fact of life in the spirit realm that the greater the experience you have with the Lord the greater the battle will be coming against you almost immediately. We often see this as a reproach from Abba, surely we must have messed up, we must have invited the enemy in someway, somehow, oh no, we haven’t prayed enough, we should have fasted, we needed to be more vigilant…on and on it goes, this self deprecation. We are not supposed to be ignorant of the enemy’s devices but we often are because they seem so reasonable. Ever have anyone talk you out of a good mood by their gloom and doom? Ever have a great victory only to find yourself being thrown into the middle of someone else’s battle and suddenly you are depleted in strength and your victory seems to have slipped away?
Night before last I had what I call ‘night terrors’ no overt demonic visitation, just wild and crazy thoughts that on reflection in the light of day and thankfully for me in the ‘heat of the night’ it is very clear that they are not your thoughts. I was battled with thoughts so outrageous that one would laugh at them when fully awake and cognizant, but in the night when you are tired and alone well they seem; reasonable. It seems like you messed up for such a thing to come against you. You are not feeling the glorious Presence as you had been so you’ve done something to loose it. (Can one misplace God? I don’t think I have that kind of control over Him.) Then when that doesn’t work suddenly the thought comes, this is a warning from the Spirit, that all the bad things you were just thinking are going to happen and He is preparing you. Oh that one’s a real party crasher, for Abba is faithful to warn us of things that can be harmful so it seems well, reasonable.
It’s like a carnival, smokes and mirrors. The smoke screen of the enemy tries to hide the ‘glory cloud’ of His presence, and the mirrors are the distorted visions of terror we are having. Having these thoughts are not a sin, but to entertain them can lead one to disbelief and doubt and then sinful actions may spring from them.
What did I do in my night of terror? I prayed hard for discernment, I got relief but the enemy seemed relentless and the next terror thought would come on the heels of dispelling the last, suddenly I realized that this attack was not going to stop, not that I was buying into to it fully but I was fighting battles that were merely smoke and mirrors so there must be a real battle that needed fighting or a blessing that the enemy was trying to keep me from attaining. I then pulled out the big guns, I got up and went to the Word, as is my wont I said, ‘tell me now if there is any merit in these thoughts, any half truth that I need to be prayer covering.’ You must be prepared to believe what you are shown or doing this without the faith to back it up can lead only to more uncertainty. He gave me the Scripture about peace like a river. Whew, I can have peace about all those party pooper thoughts.
But now what is the real reason for this attack? For me it was two fold, to cover Gustav (not the person the hurricane), I knew that if enough people were taking the Abba given authority over these winds and waves we could cause the storm to diminish and even deplete completely. I’ve seen prayers answered for hurricanes before so I knew the effective prayer of righteous ones does indeed avail much. Next I knew that there was also a blessing in the offing that the convolutions of the night could diminish or cause me to miss out on completely, due to sleep depravation and if I bought into the fear. I went to bed declaring I accepted the peace and believed that He accepted the ‘storm lessening’ prayer. I woke to a good report about the storm, not all was abated but it was much diminished. The blessing came in being able to speak into peoples’ lives and see results. It’s like my dream come true to see, the plowman overtake the reaper (Amos 9:13). I saw instant reaping of what I was plowing up for others. I was approached by two different ones to do counseling and if I had been under the party crashers sway I would have avoided taking these on because it would have seemed like too much to bear; I would have not seen a connection in conformation of the words given to me and I would not have enjoyed myself so much.
Awhile back in one of the field prayers we are having the Spirit said, ‘ask of Me…’ I immediately knew where He was going ad said, ‘I want the heathen, the nations for my inheritance’. He queried, ‘what kind?’ I thought a moment and said, ‘the dreadful’. After yesterday I thought, okay the people that are being brought into my sphere to counsel are not dreadful, they are lovely wounded people. He told me ‘their wounds are dreadful’. Ah, revelation of my own prayer as interpreted in His heart. Someone asked me why I do this since I didn’t ask for monetary remuneration, I said, ‘I can’t bear others to feel alone in their struggles’.
Then came the confirmation of a word given me in one of the field prayers by someone else. The original word was that I was like flowers spilling over the wall attracting others to the One behind the wall. In conversation with one yesterday seeking counseling for themselves and a loved one this person said, ‘you are so easy to talk to, you are like an angel sent to earth to attract us to Him’. Then she said, ‘you make me feel more like a Christian when I’m around you.’ Okay, forget the angel part, I’m not getting a big head here but I thought what words of grace to give to me to combat the enemy’s attacks, my mission of drawing others to Him, of pointing others to Abba’s great love and grace, to our Big Brother, Yeshua and the wonderful friend we have in Ruach. Ahh, Abba confirmation of my hearts desire being walked out amongst those on the outside, for these I’m counseling are not members of our congregation, they are fruits in the world. Needless to say I had a party last night, of thanksgiving, of joy, of harvest and no party crasher!

k