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A Paradigm Shift is Necessary in the Body of Christ

As I was praying last Friday, God spoke to me, and I want to share that with you now.  This word was prompted by me quoting Psalm 78:39b to the Lord, in a joking manner because He had just given me a heavy assignment. I made it personal and said, “Lord, I am but flesh.” I was instantly convicted and He replied and told me that His people are perishing for lack of knowledge.  They feel that they are too weak as humans to walk as kings and priests (Revelation 1:6), to walk in divine health (Proverbs 4:20), to walk in faith (2 Corinthians 5:7), and to wield their authority (Luke 10:19).  Too many have been taught that they are “sinners saved by grace.”  When in reality they are children of the King, redeemed from the curse, to walk in victory in all areas.   He calls us saints, “set apart ones.” Webster 1828 dictionary defines saint as: a person sanctified. He said His Bride must have a paradigm shift.  We must see ourselves as saints with all the Power a...

Stay Alert

Last night I received a dream from the Lord.  In my dream Scott and I were looking for a new rental house.  We had visited a few over the previous months and finally decided on a large one we had seen a few months earlier.  We rented it without going back to look at it again. On the day we began to move our things into the home, I went into the back of the house where the bedrooms were located and discovered that there were over 30 cats of various ages living in the back half of the house.  They were all friendly but were very demanding for attention.  They had also left their waste everywhere.   We saw the landlord out in the yard and went out to talk to her about the cats.  She said that people had been dumping cats in the yard.  She had been feeding them, and they had figured out how to get into the house and had taken over the back half.   I told her we would not live with them!  We had two cats and two dogs of our own....

Eyes of Faith: Our God Given Imagination to Create

As I was reading through Genesis 1 last week, I felt the Father again take me back to the question he had asked me a couple of weeks ago, “How did I create?” (See Special Edition: What Atmosphere are You Creating? Life or Death). This time however, rather than asking me questions, he began to tell me how he created. He began to show me insights into the creative process Father, Son, and Holy Spirit went through to create the world in the beginning. He said, “I saw it and I spoke it.”   He then showed me that for us to create life with our words, the eyes of our faith must become engaged in the process of agreement with God’s Word. When an artist sets out to paint a masterpiece, he/she begins with preparation. They see in their minds eye (imagination) what the end result will be before they even pick up a paintbrush.  Once they put brush to canvas, they begin the process of bringing what they saw in their mind to fruition. They make the vision they saw with the eyes of the...

Stay the Course: Intimacy with Christ

This week I had a dream and as I was processing it with Holy Spirit this morning, he not only explained the meaning of the dream but gave me a word for the Bride.   I felt Holy Spirit saying we are heading into a season of “unrest” in the Body of Christ.  God is stirring the hearts of his people.  Those who have deep, close intimacy with him will be drawn deeper.  However, those who do not, will find themselves unsatisfied with things as they “have always been.” Hunger for “more” will increase but without the commitment to intentional intimacy, these will be tempted to turn aside to “other gods”, (I.E. entertainment, worldly lusts/pleasures, money, even other religions).  Following this word, Holy Spirit gave me five keys to maintaining and increasing or developing a life of intimacy with him to prevent “turning aside.” First, we must be intentional about entering the secret place.  What is the secret place?   The place where we get alone wit...

Special Edition: What Atmosphere are You Creating? Life or Death?

 This morning as I was reading in Genesis 1, I had only made it to verse 4 when I heard the Lord ask, “How did I create?”   My response was, “Through your words, Lord.” His reply, “That is why your words are so important.  They are a creative force, speaking things into the spirit realm.  Your words create whether you recognize it or not.”  Negative, doubt filled words create a negative atmosphere that will impact everything and everyone you encounter.  Everything you touch will be affected by the atmosphere your words create.    In the cartoon Peanuts Cartoons, Pigpen stirs up a dust cloud everywhere he goes.  The atmosphere around him is full of dust and the air is impure.  The same holds true in our lives.  Negative words lead to death.  Even though we cannot see it, those words are bringing a slow death to everything we touch. Constantly negative Christians often wonder why things, “Never go well for me.”  It is t...

Fresh Oil: Maintaining Our Lamp to Radiate His Glory- Lesson 3b: Keep Your Wick Trimmed

Today we will continue talking about keeping our wick trimmed. I will begin with a quick recap of our last lesson. In Luke 10, we saw that Martha was so distracted in serving the Savior that she missed the importance of being with the Savior. We learned that service is not a substitute for intimacy! Additionally, consistency in the life of a believer is built on daily, small, and faithful steps, rather than infrequent intense efforts. We learned that Christ is working in us to maintain a life of consistency, and he will continue this work until the day it is completed when he comes back for His Bride!!! Today we will look at keeping our wick trimmed to improve fuel efficiency. An untrimmed or excessively long wick burns hotter and faster, wasting oil and reducing the overall burn time. As I was seeking the Lord about this section on fuel efficiency I felt drawn to the topic of our prayer life. I want to lay the foundation for this section by giving the definitions to three words t...

Fresh Oil: Maintaining Our Lamp to Radiate His Glory- Lesson 3a: Keep Your Wick Trimmed

Today we will begin talking about keeping our wick trimmed so we can reflect the light of Christ to the world.   In an oil lamp, the wick is the conduit through which the oil travels from the bowl. It is also the wick that is set on fire to provide light to those using the lamp. We will be looking at why is it necessary to keep the wick of an oil lamp trimmed. We will see how these same principles can apply to the life of a believer allowing us to maintain the flow of Holy Spirit to radiate His glory. I have discovered five reason we must keep our spiritual wick trimmed. First, to prevent soot and smoke to maintain the unhindered flow of Holy Spirit’s light. In an oil lamp, untrimmed wicks produce large, smoky, and flickering flames, which create soot that can stain the glass chimney, the lamp, and even the surrounding area. Soot and smoke can hinder the flow of the light and leave a residue on things/people who it contacts. Luke 10:38-42, Now while they were on their way, it...