How To Hear God - Keys To Recognize God's Voice

God is a speaking God; He has never stopped speaking to His people. God is continually speaking and He wants YOU to be able to recognize His voice.

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God is not just the Author of a set of rules to be obeyed, or a clever philosophy on how to make life work better. God is a loving Father whose deepest desire is to have a two-way conversational relationship with the apple of His eye, His beloved creation.

It thrills me to know that we have an invitation from God Himself into the sacred privilege of a close, intimate relationship with Him.

The big secret about hearing God’s voice is… there is no secret! 

This book presents an uncomplicated and practical guide to hearing God. The fact is, God wants you to hear Him even more than you want to hear Him. He even promises that His sheep (that’s us!) will hear His voice.

Anybody can hear God. In fact, you probably already hear God every day, you just don’t always recognize that it is God speaking to you.

This easy to read coaching guide equips you to recognize God’s voice, even if your prayer life is currently weak or even non-existent!

 God wants to become more real to you than you can imagine. He intended prayer to be a two way conversation, two way dialogues between you and Him.

You will discover:

• Keys to hearing God’s voice 
• What God’s voice sounds like 
• How to easily have two way conversations with God How you can know that it’s God speaking rather than your own thoughts 
• What to do when hearing God is a struggle 
• And much more… 

This coaching guide is designed to help people who don’t think they hear God’s voice to know when they do – and also to help people who already hear God, to hear Him more often and more clearly.

Whether you’re just starting out on this exciting journey; or you already hear God but want to develop a deeper intimacy with Him, you will find essential keys to hearing God speak to you about everything from life changing decisions to everyday issues.

If you want to be able to more easily recognize God’s voice more of the time, this short coaching guide will be a big help.

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Check out the reviews, step inside and prepare to embark on an adventure with God that will transform your life forever!

 

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Announcing Closer Walk With God

I have relaunched A Closer Walk With God on another site. I will be leaving this blog in place so that you can continue to benefit from the rich spiritual food that God has already led me to share.

The new Closer Walk with God blog will focus more on Words From Jesus and I will be posting treasure as the Lord speaks to me.

There are already messages there that I know willl bless your heart. I hope you will pay a vist and comment on what the Lord has already shared with me.

Is It Time To Change Your Priorites?

The Lord has made it abundantly clear that He wants me to re-order my priorities.

I have become very busy with doing many good things, God is saying,

"Put your relationship with me first"

So, I am laying aside many of the things that have kept me busy and going back to giving the Lord first place in my life. I hope that you'll join me.

God doesn't want you to do more for Him, He wants you to spend more time with Him.

Abide in me

He says, I am the vine, and you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit; without Me you can do nothing.

Your heavenly Father wants you to choose to be with Him more of the time. He longs for you to choose to spend more of your day with Him.

I strongly encourage you to become closely connected then stay closely connected. Remember, without God you can do nothing of any lasting value.

If you want to grow in God, then you can no longer settle for giving Him second or third or fourth place. Make friendship with God your first priority.

Are you ready to give God FIRST place in your life?

What will you do differently to make sure that God gets His rightful place?

I am going back to spending the first part of the day with God. For me, that means meditating on His word, writing down what I hear Him say, and acting on it.

What does it mean for you?

Discover Your Purpose and Destiny

Be in Your Element! Discover Your Purpose and Destiny

by Kim Clement

"For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith...Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."
Romans 12:3, 6-8

Element is used to describe the place where things we love to do and things we are good at come together. Each one of us must find our element. Have you ever heard the saying, "He is in his element"? It's that place where everything you do well and beautifully is enhanced and expressed without hindrance because of the perfect environment you're in. Water is the element of fish for instance.

You've also possibly heard the saying, "He's like a fish out of water." Well, that simply means you are "out of your element." Many people suffer unnecessarily because they are forced to operate out of their element, and when this happens there is a pressure on them to be something that they're not.

This is one huge positive in terms of a prophetic gift. My belief is that a prophetic voice places a person in their element by releasing a word to them, that, in turn, forces them to seek an environment conducive or favorable for their gift. My goal and aspiration in life is to create environments for all whom I am privileged to be in contact with—where each one of them is inspired to grow creatively.

King David was in his element in the wild, on the hills and mountains with his harp in one hand and his sling in the other. He was chosen as king, but the environment that was afforded him was not favorable for his existence. Once he got into the polished, marble and gold palace, he felt like a fish out of water. He ended up with another man's wife and killing his best friend.

Eventually, King David built a mountain, a rough mountain, and called it Zion. On that mountain he placed a tent, and in the tent, the Ark of the Covenant. He called this place, "The City of David." He created an environment where he was inspired and "at home." He was in his element. People need to have the chance to do what they should be doing and to discover their element in their own way.

What is Your Purpose? What is Your Destiny?

The fact is that there is a difference between your purpose and your destiny. Your destiny is your ultimate election. Your purpose is your present call. What did God choose you to do ultimately on this earth? What is your ultimate election? What were you elected to do before you were born? That's what your destiny is. What is your purpose? Your purpose is whatever you are called to do right now at this very moment.

Again, let me mention King David. David was one of those guys that was in his element when he was in the field, with his harp and with his slingshot, when he was killing bears and lions and singing songs to God. One day the prophet Samuel came to him and said, "You are anointed to be the King of Israel." And from that point onward, destiny was released in David. David already had an election before he was born, but destiny was released. It was stagnant until the prophetic word came to David.

The same applies to you—there is something inside of you that has not yet been unlocked. There is a destiny inside of you that you don't even know about, that you were elected for long before you were born, and suddenly, the Spirit breathes on you and immediately that destiny inside of you is released, it's unlocked, and you suddenly become more aware of it.

Once Samuel had prophesied and laid his hands upon David and said, "You are the King of Israel," did David become the king immediately? No, not according to the Scriptures—it tells us that it took years until David was finally crowned as the King of Judah, and then later the King of Israel. This is important for you to realize—David lived according to his destiny while he was serving his purpose. Destiny is what you are ultimately called to perform in this life. Your purpose is what you are called to perform while progressing to your destiny.

First of all, David is elected and anointed to be the King of Israel, the King of Zion. But he is a young man. He goes out into the fields and one day he hears the sound of a giant that is challenging the people of Israel. Suddenly, something rises in David and he becomes enraged and boldness rises inside of him. His destined authority takes over and he begins to say things that he never dreamed he would say as a shepherd and psalmist. David begins to speak to the people and says, "Give me this uncircumcised Philistine, I'll take him down!"

This boldness provokes anger and jealousy amongst his brothers. His brothers say, "What are you doing here? You are supposed to be in the field looking after our Dad's sheep." They get provoked to jealousy, because sometimes that's what happens when the authority of God comes upon you when you have a destiny. So David says, "I want to have a chance to fight this giant."

You know this story. He prophesies to Goliath and tells him exactly what he's going to do with him in the name of the Lord of Hosts, and it happens! From that point onward, David's call or purpose is to be an armor bearer for King Saul. You may think, "He was anointed to be the King of Israel!" Well that's right, but you've got to understand that he has to serve a purpose before he takes the throne in his ultimate election.

What Are You Called to Do Right Now?

What is your call? What is your purpose? What are you called to do right now? David was called to be an armor bearer and psalmist-musician for King Saul; that was his temporary purpose. Your purpose is always temporary, always changing, but always promoting your destiny. Your present purpose is never permanent. It's important for you to understand that. What you are doing right now may only be for a specific time because God is leading you to your destiny. But if you don't fulfill your call, you may never get to your destiny.

What was David's "call" after that? David's call after that was to run into the wild and live there in exile. King Saul became jealous of David and chased after him, attempting to kill the anointing that he felt belonged to him. David's call, or his purpose, was to be in the field, in the mountains and the hills. Yet even though he was in a place of confinement, he was fulfilling a call and a purpose.

Joseph was anointed and had a dream of kingship. His brothers became jealous of him and were provoked to anger. Why? Because Joseph opened his mouth and spoke with boldness and said, "This is what I dreamed." You see, that boldness comes upon you only when you have been released into your destiny. Once you've been released into your destiny, you may not even realize it, but you are speaking out something that is already in existence. Many other people will be angry with you and upset.

After they sold Joseph as a slave, he was "called" to be in Potiphar's home. Joseph was then placed into prison, and even though he was in solitary confinement, he had a purpose. His purpose was to minister to the butler, to the baker and to the prisoners, and he did it! The Bible says that Joseph prospered in prison. You can prosper in any kind of confinement IF you realize that this is your purpose, and this purpose is leading you to your ultimate election.

You don't have to be confined by bars. You don't have to be confined by the words of people. You don't have to be confined by hatred, jealousy or competition. No matter where they place you, you will still prosper because your destiny dictates your present circumstances. Many of you don't realize that if you keep your eye on your destiny and you fulfill your present purpose—which is whatever you are called to do, whether mopping floors somewhere or working a menial job—YOU WILL BE HAPPY WHILE ON YOUR JOURNEY TO YOUR POSITION IN LIFE.

2 Peter 1:10: "Therefore brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and your election sure. For if you do these things you will not stumble."

When you are sure of your call and you are sure of your election, you will never stumble. The word "stumble" there doesn't mean that you're not going to sin and you're not going to make a mistake. It just means that you may fall down, you may make a mistake, but you will ultimately rise up and you will get back on track because YOUR CALL AND YOUR DESTINY WILL RESTORE YOU.

Your Call is Your Purpose in 2009

Now I'm going to rephrase this because I want you to be in your element. I want you to be at the place where you are doing what you enjoy doing and you are doing what you do well, so that you are not like a fish out of water. Remember, there's a difference between your call and your election. Your call is your purpose in 2009. What is your purpose in 2009?

"Well, I'm called to be a radio announcer. Well, I'm called at this time to be a janitor, but I know that one day I'm going to be a multi-millionaire. I'm going to be a great salesman; an entrepreneur." Make sure of what your call is, and make sure of your election. What's amazing in 2 Peter 1:10-11, "...if you do this...(if you know what your election is and if you know what your call is) an entrance will be supplied for you in the everlasting Kingdom..." What does this mean?

Everybody wants to enter the Kingdom. I'm not talking about going to Heaven. Entering the Kingdom of God means being effective, powerful, influential and affluent in every way on this Earth for the purpose of God. Peter says that,

"You have an entrance into the everlasting Kingdom."

The Kingdom of God is the rulership of God and we have to enter that. And he is also saying,

"If you know what your calling is, if you know what your election is, there will be a door open to you into the everlasting Kingdom."

Why was David able to sing in Psalm 57:7, "My heart is fixed oh God, my heart is fixed: I WILL sing praise" while he was in a cave? What gave him this boldness? He was hated by an entire army. King Saul was looking to kill him. He had a few men around him that weren't even trustworthy. He had no reason, while in a cave under miserable circumstances and conditions, to say, "My heart is fixed." He knew what his purpose was, he knew what his election was and so he sang to God, "My heart is fixed and I will sing praises."

If someone can say "My heart is stable, I'm not insecure, and I'm going to sing praises," then even if that person was in prison or in debt or whatever, that person has security, NOT in his circumstances, NOT in the things that are happening around him, but he is confident in this one thing:

"He that has called me is faithful and He will do it."

David knew he was the King of Israel. He was dumped in a miserable cave, chased by an army, but he lifted up his voice and he said, "My heart is steady, my heart is secure, and I WILL sing praise!" And he did it. He sang praise and the result was that he ended up being the King of Israel.

When Are You in Your Element?

When God breathes on somebody and speaks, He places that person in their element, which in turn forces them to seek an environment conducive or favorable for their gift. When God speaks to you and shows you what you are going to do one day, what ultimately happens then is the enemy of your soul tries to create an environment to stifle your creativity. He tries to create a religious environment to stifle your gift so it won't be effective and what that does is it forces you to find and create an environment where you can be most effective.

You have to seek and create an environment where you are in your element, where you are operating at your best, your finest, being your sharpest. You have the ability to create that environment.

I have found that if you can operate your gift, like David did in a cave and like Joseph did in prison, then you've learned to create an environment that brings the best out of you under the most difficult circumstances and one day when things are more favorable, you will perform perfectly. That's what God wants from you.

Don't ever think that you are going to be stuck in this rut forever. Start searching and saying, "What do I need to do to be most effective?" and then create the environment that will bring the best out of you. Go!

Kim Clement
Prophetic Image Expressions
http://www.kimclement.com/
As posted on http://www.elijahlist.com/

How Do You Discover God's Plan And Purpose For Your Life?

Imagine life where you no longer make choices based on circumstances, pressures or your present frame of mind. When you know your purpose you can focus and concentrate time and energy on what's important.

If you'd like to know how to discover your life purpose join me and Dr Jerry Graham for a free teleseminar on Tuesday 21st April. If you're busy that day, register anyway and I'll send you a link to the recording.

www.christianlifecoaching.co.uk/christian-teleseminars.html

"You weren't an accident. You weren't mass produced. You aren't an assembly line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly placed on earth by the Master Craftsman."

God's Transforming Power

We have much to learn from nature. It is one of the many ways that God speaks to us. Ask the Holy Sprit to speak to you as you share in what the Lord has been speaking to Kathi Pelton.

The Transformation of the Passionate Believer

by

Kathi Pelton

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5-6

There has been much talk about a transformation or metamorphosis occurring in the Body of Christ throughout the world. As I pondered what this transformation looks like, the verse in John 15:5-6 kept coming to my mind.

I know that God is drawing us into a deeper and truer intimacy and passion for Him. Abiding in this passionate relationship is bringing a restoration to true Christianity and Bridal intimacy. During this journey of transition, a friend of our family told me the true story of the life of the "the passion vine butterfly."

Looking at the Life of the Passion Vine Butterfly

Here are the facts regarding this amazingly prophetic little insect:

Entomologists study insects. Etymologists say that the word "butterfly" was originally "flutter by," but over the centuries it metamorphosed into its current form. The butterfly was once called a "flutter by," because as any amateur entomologist will tell you, this is what butterflies do.

However, not all butterflies exhibit this in-flight behavior. The "Passion Vine Butterfly" (Heliconius), flies in a slow, serene, straight line. This butterfly is so named because of its special relationship with the plant called the "Passion Vine" (passiflora).

The Passion Vine produces a cyanide releasing chemical that makes it inedible to most insects. But the caterpillars of the Passion Vine Butterfly are able to process the chemical without harm and voraciously eat the leaves of the passion vine. Not only do the caterpillars suffer no ill effects, but they store the poison in their bodies, thus becoming inedible to birds of prey and other predators.

This protection is retained when they metamorphose into butterflies. Since the Passion Vine Butterfly is unpalatable to birds, it does not need to fly in a "rapid and erratic fashion to avoid being eaten." Instead, it slowly flies in a straight, purposeful path from flower to flower.

There are mimics of the Passion Vine Butterfly that, due to coloration and general body shape, look very much like the Passion Vine Butterfly. These look-alike butterflies do not have the protective toxin in their bodies and therefore can be eaten by the birds - though most birds leave them alone as they are "fooled" by the mimicry.

However, there is one tropical American bird, the jacamar (galbulidae), that is able to distinguish between the inedible passion vine butterfly and the tasty mimics. The jacamar sits up in a tree and observes how the butterflies fly. If the flight pattern is slow and straight, the jacamar knows that even though it would be easy to catch, it would have a bitter taste and be inedible.

If the butterfly has the rapid, erratic, typical "flutter by" flight pattern exhibited by most butterflies, it knows that it is not a Passion Vine Butterfly despite the colorization, and it swoops down for a meal.

I believe that God is calling us to eat and drink of our "Passion Vine," Jesus Christ

We are to commune with Him and be partakers of His Blood and His body so that we might live. We are to feed upon the Bread of Life. We are to abide in Him, our Passion Vine, and as we abide in Him we will be like those caterpillars that can digest this "cyanide" and metamorphose into a butterfly that is not susceptible to the predator (the enemy) that would want to take our lives. We will also be distinguished by our "flight pattern"...rather than moving in a rapid (frantic) or erratic pattern, we will move in a serene, slow and straight pattern (the rest of the Lord).

The Passion of Christ

I found this story of a Jesuit priest in Peru during the 1600's who saw the Passion Vine and the Passion Vine Butterfly as a symbolic picture of the Passion of Christ. Here is what he wrote:

"The crown of thorns, the nails, the color of Jesus' robe, the whips for scourging, were all seen in the complex structure of the flower now known as the Passion Vine Flower."

This plant contains cyanogenic glycosides which release the poison cyanide. When the caterpillar of the Passion Vine Butterfly eats the leaves of this poisonous plant, it then has the ability to form a cocoon and become a butterfly. So too, when we accept the work of Christ's Passion; when we 'eat His body and drink His Blood,' we have the ability to be transformed into a new creation.

"And just as the Passion Vine Butterfly takes a straight flight path as it need not fear predators, so too, we have 'Christ in us, the Hope of Glory' and are now able to walk the 'straight and narrow.'

Indeed, if we try to walk in our own strength, we will only be 'faking it' and the mimicry will not fool the prowling lion who seeks one whom he may devour - just like the jacamar looks for the butterfly that can't fly straight.

"Entomologists say that the mimics of the Passion Vine Butterfly use about 20% more energy in flight than the ones they mimic. Are we weary? Let us return to the One who says that His yoke is easy and whose burden is light...light as a butterfly."

What a wonderful picture of our metamorphosis. Through the Blood and Body of our crucified Christ, we are a new creation that now can fly straight and slow...and serene, not fearing our predators that seek to devour us. We have taken the communion of the "passion vine," Jesus Christ, and now we can enter into His true rest.

To Know Christ Alone

"For I resolved to know nothing (to be acquainted with nothing, to make a display of the knowledge of nothing, and to be conscious of nothing) among you except Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and Him crucified." 1 Corinthians 2:2 (Amplified Bible)

Recently, I was enjoying a conversation with a man that I highly respect. For years now I have watched in awe the journey of this man's life and witnessed his involvement in decisions that not only affect individuals but also nations; he is a man who moves straight and steady...always watching and waiting to see what the Father is doing. He has always had a deep intimacy with the Lord that causes him to "hit the mark" and to make wise decisions.

During our conversation, he began to tell me about the "plumb line" that he lives his life by. He said that each day (and in every circumstance and decision) he looks for the plumb line that Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 2:2, "To know Christ alone, and Him crucified."

He proceeded to explain to me how he is always searching for where Christ is and what He is doing and then he aligns himself as closely as he can get to that. Christ alone (through the power of the Holy Spirit) is his compass, his delight, and the wisdom that he lives by.

As he spoke, I entered into a deeper understanding that I cannot put my confidence in any knowledge that I may have gained, nor anything that I have been acquainted with; but instead, I need to daily find where Jesus is in each moment and every decision and then get as close as I can to Him. To only do what I see my Father doing...because that is where Jesus will be.

But the verse goes on to say, "...and Him crucified." Through the Cross of Christ, we have been reconciled to God and filled with the Holy Spirit who will lead us, not with the wisdom of man, but instead with the wisdom that comes only from God alone.

By the power given to us through our crucified Christ, our weakness and dependency on His Spirit becomes the threshold for many to be carried into salvation, truth and relationship with the invisible God. The Cross is the threshold that we crossed to obtain eternal life, and it is the power that comes from the Cross that enables us to walk in confidence...slow and steady and fruitful.

Dependency on the Vine

We know that Christ is the true Vine, and just as the Passion Vine Butterfly depends upon the chemical that comes from the passion vine to keep it from harm, so we need to continually depend upon and feed upon the fruit of our true Vine to keep us from harm.

Apart from the chemical imparted to the caterpillar (that will become the Passion Vine Butterfly), it is not protected from predators, but as it feeds upon this vine it is infused with a protection that allows it, after becoming a butterfly, to fly slow and straight. No longer does it need to flutter up and down, here and there, trying to escape the predator that seeks to take its life.

As we abide in Christ and seek to know Him, we are infused with His precious Spirit that allows us to fly slow and straight, because we know that even our greatest enemy will recognize His Spirit who is within us.

I have to admit that much of my Christian walk has been spent "fluttering" rather than flying straight. I have walked in too much fear of the "predator" who seeks to devour our lives; forgetting that I have been infused with the Holy Spirit who is also like cyanide to the enemy. Our authority to fly slow and straight comes from the power of the Cross...from our Savior and Friend, the crucified Christ. As we remain in Him and go only where He is going and do only what He is doing, we will be kept from the "fearful fluttering" that attracts our predator's attention.

Ask the Lord to give you the confidence that the Passion Vine Butterfly moves in. We no longer want to live our lives "fluttering" in fear, but instead we want to live and move slow and steady, knowing that His Spirit is our shield and rampart. We want to abide in and near the Vine to keep our lives filled with His Spirit. If we are truly spiritual "Passion Vine Butterflies," then why do we fly as if we are imposters? Only the mimics have to flutter because they are not filled with the true chemical that makes them inedible to their predators.

A New Level of Surrender

"'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD. 'As the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.'" Isaiah 55:8-9

Since the very beginning of 2008, I have personally felt as though I was in a refiner's fire where all the "precious" in my life is being purified and all the worthless is being burned away. The interesting thing is that much of what I thought was precious has been burned away as worthless. Many things: thoughts, beliefs and even personal convictions, God has burned away because they had become "laws written in stone" by me rather than by the wisdom of His Spirit.

I have been challenged again and again to walk in every circumstance by the leading of His Spirit of grace rather than by what knowledge I have gained through past life experiences...making laws from past successes.

There is a spirit of surrender coming upon many that is causing them to allow the Holy Spirit to rid them of all of their own ways...even things that seemed good. I believe it is the making of the new wineskin so that the new wine will not be spilled out as God pours it forth. We have seen that God is pouring forth new wine, but it cannot be contained in old wineskins.

In God's mercy, He is exposing all that would cause a bursting and spilling of His new wine. Though some exposures are quite high profile, I believe that all of God's people are going through personal exposures of the areas in their lives that have become brittle and old...or where we have strayed from abiding in the true Vine. Remember as we pray for one another that where sin abounds, grace abounds even more. We pray for grace for those that have fallen and for our own fallen places.

"God's law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God's wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God's wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5:20-21

God is removing the stumbling blocks that are in the way of His Kingdom being established. He has called us to prepare the way for a great harvest and for His Kingdom coming to earth. He is preparing the way for the fullness of the Gentiles and the opening of the eyes of the Jews.

God longs to restore those who are bruised with sorrow for their sin. This is a time to pray for true repentance within all of the Body of Christ...for all of our wanderings and for all the areas that we have strayed from the purity of knowing Christ alone, and Him crucified. Let's look at Isaiah 57:14-19 from the Amplified Bible:

"And the word of One shall go forth, 'Cast up, cast up, prepare the way! Take up the stumbling block out of the way [of the spiritual return] of My people.'

"For thus says the high and lofty One - He Who inhabits eternity, Whose name is Holy: 'I dwell in the high and holy place, but with him also who is of a thoroughly penitent and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the thoroughly penitent [bruised with sorrow for sin].

"'For I will not contend forever, neither will I be angry always, for [if I
did stay angry] the spirit [of man] would faint and be consumed before Me, and
[My purpose in] creating the souls of men would be frustrated.

"'Because of the iniquity of his [Judah's] covetousness and unjust gain I was angry and smote him. I hid My face and was angry, and he went on turning away and backsliding in the way of his [own willful] heart.

"'I have seen his [willful] ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him also and will recompense him and restore comfort to him and to those who mourn for him.
"Peace, peace, to him who is far off [both Jew and Gentile] and to him who is near!' says the Lord; 'I create the fruit of his lips, and I will heal him [make his lips blossom anew with speech in thankful praise].'"

These verses are of great comfort to many of God's people in this hour. This is His promise of healing for not only the one who falls, but also for all those who mourn due to his fallings. We are learning as a people to rejoice with those who rejoice and to mourn with those who mourn. If we are one in the Spirit, then when one falls we all must own it and come to a place of corporate repentance. And when one is restored we can all rejoice in a corporate celebration.

God is calling us to abide in Him (the True Vine) and to drink of Him so that we might be those who fly slow and straight. No more fluttering, no more mimicking, no more fearful or frantic behaviors. It is a time of surrendering to the grace of His discipline and His transformation.

Will we allow Him to create in His Church the new wineskin that will hold the new wine? My white flag of surrender is raised and I want to go and drink from our Passion Vine.

Kathi Pelton Light Streams Ministries Email: jkpelton@sbcglobal.net

as posted on the Elijah List http://www.elijahlist.com/

God Is Waiting For You To Spend Some Time With Him

I really enjoyed John Paul Jackson's post Love and Humilty - Keys To Living a Prophetic Life

Here's a quote

"Life is all about intimacy with God. We were created for that. Everything we do should be done with that in mind. If it’s not, we’ll find ourselves burned out, broken, lonely and empty — because it’s not good for man to be alone. We were created for relationship, specifically with our heavenly Father. Nothing in this world, or in the next one, is as important as our relationship with God. "

I couldn't agree more. it's so easy to get busy, I hope you'll stop long enough to spend some time with your heavenly Father. He's waiting...

Nothing in this world is as important as your relationship with God. And when you spend time with God everything else will flow better. Time with God is time well spent.

Rest in God

Daily Words:Upwords from the "Logos" (written Word of God) and "Rhema" Words (spoken Words) meant to build up, to exhort or comfort

Heb 4:10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. NKJV

A message from Jesus

The Most Productive People ...

Discern the most spiritually productive people of all time and you will find their first priority was to linger in communion with Me for hours. You will know when you are truly abiding in Me because the more you are pressured to worry or to "do," the more you must "abide" in Me - listening - journaling - praising me ahead of time. Yes, you will do your part, like march around Jericho in silent faith, until the day I release you to shout. But, you will know that your battles are really won as you worship Me ahead of time and have quiet confidence in My strength.

Become more sensitive to your tendency to transfer your faith from Me back to yourself. When you feel that urgency to leave communion with Me because you must get up and "get something done," it will be wood, hay and stubble. True productivity (silver, gold and precious stones) comes when you are clear that apart from Me, you can do nothing. You will reproduce reproducers who are what 'you are' - not 'what you do.'

Try it; actively put your faith in what I alone can do.

I AM the omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent One.

Only Intimacy With God Makes You A Better Person

Are you struggling to live life the way you think you should?

Could it be that you've got things upside down?

Could it be that it's time to let go and let God?

Read this inspired teaching from John Paul Jackson and allow it to draw you to intimacy with the Father.

From the Beginning

Many, many years ago in a garden far, far away, there lived a man named Adam and his wife, Eve. They were both very happy and loved each other very much.

But then one day, an evil snake told them that they could become better, stronger, and wiser people if they simply set their minds to doing so. They could even become like God. They listened to the snake and chose fruit from the wrong tree--a decision that caused a separation between them and God.

A lot of time passed, civilizations came and went, and now, thousands of years later, every culture (with the exception of the Judeo-Christian culture) believes that God has failed. You see, time has a way of twisting things in the human mind--this is true even today.

The "Good Person" Category

The secular arena will tell you that if you want to become better and stronger, you need to embrace "the good" that is within you. As Christians, most of us realize that this isn't true, BUT we don't live like it isn't true. Despite its pagan roots, this mindset soaked very securely into the Church, with only a slight twist: If you want to become a better person, you need to trust God--and then work really hard to get yourself into the "good person" category.

Therein lies the rub. The idea that you can do anything to help yourself, does not come from God. It's fruit from the wrong tree. You were created in His hands; He held you and formed you with His fingertips. If your very creation did not require your assistance, what else would? The theory of evolution was born from the belief that we do not need God; that we as humans can fill God's role if we just have the time.

If we truly can perfect ourselves, then the last thing we need is a savior. After all, who wants to be the servant if they can be the master? That's what satan suggested to Adam and Eve, and it's the same battle we fight with every choice we make today.

Accordingly, we think God wants us to try very hard to be everything He's called us to be, and that simply is not true. Yes, we do need to make the conscious decision for His will and not ours to be done in our life, but that's about it. We can't, by our own strength, carry ourselves down the path of His will. This mindset is very hard to break, because we've been taught this since "The Fall."

For example, our parents reward us if we're good and behave ourselves. Nothing's wrong with that practice, but it naturally produces within us the belief that we need to be good for God, and if we have issues we're working through, God must be upset and disappointed with us, which just isn't true. Why did the issue come up in the first place? Because He's dealing with it in us!

As difficult as breaking this mindset is, it can happen with this simple realization: You cannot get rid of your issues by yourself. You cannot save yourself. You are not and cannot be a good person by yourself. You do not have your life under control. You are not in charge of your fate. You...you...you...are not the final answer.

Only Intimacy with God will Make You a Better Person

Only one thing will truly make you a better person--and consequently "enlighten" you, as people like to talk about--and it's called "intimacy with God." Getting past our issues happens automatically as we grow closer and closer to Him, but it is not the process itself. Once we realize who God is and who we are in relationship to Him, all of Heaven will open to us, and we will walk in our true calling and destiny. Oh, and we'll become better people, too. That's the proper order, not the other way around.

John Paul Jackson

Streams Ministries International

http://www.streamsministries.com/

Walk In Your God Given Authority

WHEN YOU KNOW THAT YOU HAVE ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY AND YOU WALK IN IT, THE ENEMY WILL KNOW IT TOO

For the body of Christ to be victorious, we must have an understanding of the rulership God has given to us.

In Genesis 1:26, God created man in His image and said let them rule over all the earth.

In Psalm 115:16, God says the earth He has given to man.

We are given the earth to rule over God's creation. This mandate has never been rescinded by God. God's position on rulership has never changed. Man's position changed when Adam fell. But the second Adam, Jesus, redeemed man from the curse (Galatians 3:13) and reinstated man back into rulership. We see this in Matthew 28:18 where Jesus said, "All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth."

Jesus held all power in His hands and then reinstated this power for rulership back to His body. This is seen in Ephesians 1:22-23, "And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the Church which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."

"We have been raised with Jesus and seated with Him in Heavenly places," it says in Ephesians 2:6. In Luke 10:19, we are given power or authority. In Romans 9:17, Jesus tells us that we are raised up with Him to demonstrate His power through us in rulership in order to proclaim His name throughout the whole earth.

The reason God gives us authority is that we would rule and reign on the earth. Notice that, in Ephesians 1, all things are in subjection under the feet of Jesus. Since we are now the body of Christ, all things are in subjection under our feet. This is absolute authority that we have on the earth. We're not subject to the enemy, he's subject to us. It's this truth that we need to know, because it will set us free (John 8:32).

This truth will put us in a proper position that will change our condition. When your position is unchangeable, your condition has to change. When you know the truth--that you have absolute authority and you walk in it--the enemy will know it also.

The enemy will always measure you by how you see yourself. If you went down to a street intersection and started directing traffic with the clothes on that you're now wearing, what do you think would happen to you? You might get run over. But if you were hired by the police department and given a uniform to direct traffic, you could step into that intersection and hold up your hand and traffic would stop. It would stop because you would be recognized as having designated authority.

When you are under authority, you have all authority. God gives you His armor of authority. When you wear it with confidence, without doubt, the enemy can no longer move you. You're not subject to this realm, because you have rulership over it. We must renew our minds to this truth, or we will be conformed to the world's order of things rather than God's order (Romans 12:2). The ability for the believer to walk in authority is determined by the measure of authority we give God in our own lives.

You cannot exhibit a demonstration of God's power if you do not believe you have authority. Without authority you cannot have rulership. The way to overcome the enemy is to be overcome by God. You can't have a fulltime experience with a part-time God.

Blessings!

Cal Pierce, Director Healing Rooms MinistriesEmail: healing@healingrooms.com

as posted on the Elijah List

http://www.elijahlist.com/

Where Is Your Hope?

Do you keep putting things off?

Do you delay taking time to spend with God?

Do you put off doing things even though you know God has told you to do them?

I wonder if you have as much time as you think you do.

It's time to wake up.

Your enemy isn't sleeping or taking time. He is using every opportunity to kill, steal and destroy.

It's time to get into God's presence, no more delay. Study and learn God's ways.

Father God wants to prepare you to be a shining light in the increasing darkness of the world's foolishness.

Where is your hope?

If your hope is in the things of this world rather than with God, you're headed for trouble.

Don't allow yourself to be lulled into apathy. Spend time in God's presence. He loves you. He desires the best for you. In Him you have a hope and a future.

God is looking for people to pour His anointing through. He's looking for people who can be trusted to work miracles, signs and wonders. He can only do that through prepared vessels.

Desire holiness, purify your motives and purify your heart. Walk in love, put your hope in God. Then, wait and see what He will do through someone like you whose heart is turned to Him.

The Power of a Thankful Heart

God's word encourages us to be thankful in all circumstances. What are you thankful for?

A THANKFUL HEART - PART 1

By Francis Frangipane

The very quality of your life, whether you love it or hate it, is based upon how thankful you are toward God. Our attitude determines whether life is to us a place of blessedness or wretchedness and misery. Indeed, looking at the same rose bush, some people complain that the roses have thorns while others rejoice that some thorns have roses! It all depends on your perspective.

This is the only life you will have before you enter eternity. If you want to find joy, you must first find thankfulness. Indeed, the one who is thankful for even a little enjoys much. But the unappreciative soul is always miserable, always complaining. He lives outside the stronghold of God.

Perhaps the worst enemy we have is not the devil but our own tongue. James tells us, "the tongue is set among our members as that which . . . sets on fire the course of our life" (James 3:6). He goes on to say this fire is ignited by hell.

Consider: With our own words we can enter the spirit of heaven or the agonies of hell! It is hell, with its punishments, torments and misery, that controls the life of the grumbler and complainer! Paul expands this thought in 1 Corinthians 10:10, where he reminds us of the Jews who "grumble[d] and were destroyed by the destroyer."

The fact is, every time we open up to grumbling and complaining, the quality of our life is reduced proportionally--a destroyer is bringing our life to ruin!

People often ask me, "What is the ruling demon over our church or city?" They expect me to answer with the ancient Aramaic or Phoenician name of a fallen angel. What I usually tell them is a lot more practical: One of the most pervasive evil influences over our nation is ingratitude!

Do not minimize the strength and cunning of this enemy! Paul said that the Jews who grumbled and complained during their difficult circumstances were "destroyed by the destroyer." Who was this destroyer?

If you insist on discerning an ancient world ruler, one of the most powerful spirits mentioned in the Bible is Abaddon, whose Greek name is Apollyon. It means "destroyer" (Rev. 9:11). Paul said the Jews were destroyed by this spirit. In other words, when we are complaining or unthankful, we open the door to the destroyer, Abaddon, the demon-king over the abyss of hell!

IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

Multitudes in our nation have become specialists in the "science of misery." They are experts--moral accountants--who can, in a moment, tally all the wrongs society has ever done to them or their group. I have never talked with one of these people who was happy, blessed or content about anything. They expect an imperfect world to treat them perfectly.

Truly, there are people in this wounded country of ours who need special attention. However, most of us simply need to repent of ingratitude, for it is ingratitude itself which is keeping wounds alive! We simply need to forgive the wrongs of the past and become thankful for what we have in the present.

The moment we become grateful, we actually begin to ascend spiritually into the presence of God. The psalmist wrote,

Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing. Enter
His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him;
bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, and His
faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100:2, 4-5

It does not matter what your circumstances are, the instant you begin to thank God, even though your situation has not changed, you begin to change. The key which unlocks the gates of heaven is a thankful heart; entrance into the courts of God comes as you simply begin to praise the Lord.

Blessed Lord, forgive me for being a complainer. Help me to offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving in all things. Lord, I come this day to covenant with You. By Your grace, I will be thankful regardless of what my life seems to be. Oh God, remember Your covenant pledge and gather me near to Your heart. In Jesus' name. Amen.

www.frangipane.org

Pursue God In The Secret Place of Intimacy

PURSUE GOD IN THE SECRET PLACE OF INTIMACY
DISCOVER YOUR TRUE IDENTITY AND DESTINY
2 Peter 1:10

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble.

God wants us to be clear about our destiny and calling. There needs to be something within us that will not settle for less than what He has called us to. God planted the seeds of destiny in our hearts before we were born (Proverbs 4:23).

How we grow and understand our destiny is in the place of intimacy and communion with God. This is where we will see destinies come alive to grow up and out of our lives. This is where we will discover our destiny determined before the foundation of the world.

Laying Hold From Birth

Genesis 25:26

Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau's heel; so his name was called Jacob.

Jacob was one who grasped at destiny from birth. From his mother's womb he was aggressive for the blessing of God on his life, grabbing for the heel of Esau. He did not have to be taught this. It was in him from birth to be this way. This desire for the blessing and inheritance of the Lord continued in his life to the point where He persuaded Esau to sell his birthright for nothing more than a bowl of soup (Genesis 25:33).

In this we see the difference in people. Esau was one who could be bought for a price. Jacob was one who would sell all for the inheritance of the Lord. Jacob knew what was valuable in God's sight and would do anything to get it. Jacob was a seeker of God (Psalm 24:6). He pleased God with his persistence and attitude, receiving the blessing that was meant for another. Esau acquiesced his authority and inheritance for a little more than nothing. Because he so belittled the blessing of God, he lost it all!

God's Blessing For You

Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Jacob was determined to have the inheritance and blessing of God. He had faith. He made the Hall of Faith in the Book of Hebrews. He knew it was for him. Do you know that the blessing of God is for you? Or do you think it is for someone else? Yes, it is for all. But do you realize that God is asking you if you believe it is for you?

Everyone who has been rubbed with the mud of religiosity and condemnation, where intimacy with God has grown cold, has a hard time receiving anything from God or believing that God would do anything good for them. They believe they are last on the Father's list. But the reality is that the Father wants to place His robe upon us, His signet ring of authority and have a banquet of celebration for our lives. See the story of the prodigal son:

Luke 15:22-24

But the father said to his servants, "Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." And they began to be merry.

The Father's inheritance is for all the sons of God. The older son represents one bound by the spirit of religion. He represents one who boasts in works and achievements but never finds true joy because of lack of intimacy with the Father. The older son was jealous and upset, not realizing the inheritance was always for him as well.

Luke 15:25-16:1

Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, "Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf." But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, "Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him." And he said to him, "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found."

We need to know that the blessings of God are for us individually as His sons and daughters. Jacob was taught humility through process and through encounter with God (Genesis 32:24). Faith brought Jacob to the place of humility. Because of Jacob's insatiable desire for God, he opened the door for many others to come to know Him. Because he followed God and coveted the treasures of heaven, he triggered events in such a way that an entire nation of people was born.

Staying in His Presence

We all have dreams and God-given desires. It is His desire to see these fulfilled. Just like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, there is a process the Lord takes us through to see destiny fulfilled (Hebrews 11). But it is worth it all, and many will be blessed in the process. As we position ourselves to receive in His Presence, we then can pour out upon others. Staying before the Lord will transform us and usher us into our calls and destinies.

2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

It is in the place of intimacy with Him that we discover who we are and what He is calling us to. It is in this place that we lay our lives down. All of our ideas and agendas must be laid at His feet. In seeking Him and beholding Him, we become like Him. By staying in the secret place with God, we find our true identity and destiny. Don't compare yourself to another. The Lord's call is unique and specifically designed for your life. As you stay in His Presence, you will find clarity of mind and blessings that overflow into the lives of others.

In His Overflowing Love,

John Belt
Live In His Presence Ministries
http://www.liveinhispresence.com

As posted on The Elijah List
www.elijahlist.com

The key to doing greater things than Jesus did is to become more like Him. You become more like Him by spending more time with Him and learning His ways. The door is open, God has done His part, now it's up to you.

Possessing The Mind Of Christ

To See as Jesus Sees

“He who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:15-16).

This is one of the most staggering statements made in the New Testament. Paul says that it is actually possible to be free of our carnal, jealous, fearful, unbelieving thought-life and, in its place, possess “the mind of Christ”!

This promise is wonderfully profound. Indeed, it is one thing to be taught edifying principles and truths about the Lord, yet quite another to actually posses the very thought-life of Christ! Listen to what Paul says,

“For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words” (1 Cor. 2:11-13).

When we were born again, we received into our spirits the Spirit of God. A spiritual man is one in whom God’s Spirit has risen in internal ascendancy. Paul tells us that a spiritual man can discern or appraise all things. It is unfortunate that some versions translate “appraises” with the word judges. Some Christians have actually used the word judges as a green light to become judgmental, which they associate with being spiritual. God does not want us to be judgmental, He wants us to be discerning. Indeed, a spiritual man is one who has renounced a judgmental attitude and, in its place, he possesses a redemptive attitude, which is the mind of Christ.How does Jesus view life? How does He look at the imperfections of our world? Paul taught in Philippians 2:5-8

“Have this attitude (KJV: “mind”) in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God . . . emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Christ's attitude was simple. Jesus saw the fallen, rebellious condition of mankind and then did everything necessary to redeem it. Although the world deserved judgment, He “did not come to judge the world, but to save the world” (John 12:47). And, with this very same motive to spread redemption, He said, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).

The Son of God saw the need of the world and emptied Himself to meet it. He gave up all that was His in the Godhead - His privileges, powers and position as the very form of God - and took the form of man. Then He humbled Himself further, remaining obedient to death in order to secure our eternal redemption. This is the mind that we are to have in us “which was also in Christ Jesus.”

Out of the nature of selfless love emerges the mind of Christ. The moment we accept that we are called to lay down our lives for others, we are beginning to understand what it means to posses the mind of Christ. The spiritual man appraises all things: he sees both the need and the answer and he is willing to be a bridge to complete redemption. The spiritual man possesses discernment: he knows the activity of the human heart, its vulnerability to demonic manipulation, its inability to rise out of woundedness. Knowing God's grace toward himself, he pays the price to see freedom come to another.

Beloved, if your motive is love, if you are guided by hope, if you desire to possess Christlikeness, if you love humility and walk with an unoffendable heart, you will certainly find the thought-life of God. You are possessing the mind of Christ.

Lord Jesus, how much I want to think like You. Lord, I want to possess Your mind and be moved by Your heart. Grant, Master, that I would receive in a greater way the character and nature of the Holy Spirit, that I might know the thoughts of God toward the world around me. For Your glory I pray. Amen.

Copyright Francis Frangipane http://frangipane.org/

Used with permission

Awake O Sleeper

This an excerpt from an article written by Jill Austin of Master Potter.com
If you'd like to read the complete article just click on the link.

Intimacy with God is our highest purpose - how much are we seeking His highest purpose for our lives?

If we fully understood God's love and heart for us, we'd be making radical choices to be with Him more than any other activity in our life!

If we had a revelation of His desire to have uninterrupted time with us, we'd turn the world upside down like His disciples did!

We've been lulled to sleep or we're enamored with the trinkets of life while missing the real treasures of God.

Many believers are experiencing "hope deferred" (Proverbs 13:12) "hope deferred makes the heart sick ...", so they're leaving the church because they have no passion, no purpose, no power, and no sense of His presence - but they have no secret life in God either!

Will it take a crisis to bring us into an intimate relationship with Jesus?

Take a look at the life of Deborah

What was it About Deborah that Caught His Gaze?

Deborah's uncompromising dedication moved the heart of God ... and He changed her heart. She spent SO much time in the temple in prayer and worship that she was "dripping with oil". Because of that

• she could hear the Lord's voice clearly
• operate with keen discernment for the times and seasons she faced as well as her daily decisions with the people
• when the call to battle came, she was absolutely ready

Deborah was being prepared for battle in the secret place! This is where the true victory lies - in communing with Him one-on-one. That is our place of safety and truth! It 's time to stop talking about intimacy with God - it's time to REALLY do it!

Who Was Deborah?

Imagine a black teenage girl being elected as Pope and single-handedly tearing down all the walls of division between Catholics and Protestants. It's hard to even fathom that possibility isn't it?

Now try to imagine over 3,000 years ago, that a middle-aged, gray-haired, Jewish housewife and mother was being raised up to lead Israel in one of the most improbable military victories in history!

Allow me to introduce to you our unlikely candidate and heroine of the faith: Deborah.

I've heard very little being taught about her. I always hear about Gideon, Samuel, and some of the other judges, but when I studied Deborah, I fell in love with her. Deborah is very unique and a little controversial because she was a woman who held the highest executive office in the land of Canaan (or Israel) at the time.

An ancient Joan of Ark, Deborah appears in the sacred annals of Israel's history as the nation's 4th judge, the third prophetess (after Miriam and Rachel) and a deliverer of God's people.

Deborah was in a class of her own; her leadership role was unprecedented and unparalleled! In a patriarchal era where there was no precedent for female leaders, she was a woman who led a nation to victory against all odds.

The journey of Deborah is a testimony of the power of just ONE life fully set apart for God. May her song be an invitation to you that a revolution can begin - with one person.

What will you do to ensure that you have a closer walk with God?

What does the Father have for you to do?

Have you asked Him?

Dig a Deep Well

We don't have to live powerless lives. We can dig a deep well and draw directly from God.

Our Father is always waiting for us in the secret place.

It's time to open our hearts to Him, dig deep and draw close.

When we do, God's life will flow in and through us.

We can live extraordinary lives powered by intimacy with the Father.

• What are your priorities?
  
• How do you spend your time?
  
• Where does time with God come on your list of things to do?

Matt Sorger tells us that,

"True spiritual power can only flow out of a daily lifestyle of abiding in and walking with God. Fruitful ministry is not produced by mere activity alone; it must be birthed out of prayer and hidden devotion."

I don't know about you but I want more than momentary touches from God. I want to carry His presence wherever I go. I want it to become a part of who I am.

The more time I spend in God's presence, the more time I want to spend being aware that He's there. I'm hungry for more.

Lord keep us from settling for mediocre lives. Keep us from settling for less than your best.

Practical steps to digging a deep well

• Decide what your priorities are. Your priorities will determine how you spend your time. Are you ready to make time in God's presence a priority in your life?
• Ask God to increase your hunger for awareness of His presence.
• Deal with areas of compromise and sin that might be separating you from him.
• Schedule time each day to wait in His presence. stop making excuses and choose to spend time in the secret place with God.
• Spend time meditating on His word.
• Invite the Holy Spirit into your life each day. Ask Him to fill you and lead you into all truth.
• Pray in the Spirit as often as you remember. Continually pray in tongues, it will build you up and do you good.
• Make worship a lifestyle habit. Fill your home and car with worship music. This sets an atmosphere for awareness of His presence and will lift your spirit in worship throughout the day.
• Keep yourself from being contaminated. Guard your eyes and ears from anything that would sully your mind and spirit.

I hope you'll join me in pressing in to God and developing greater intimacy with our Father. Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

We can walk with God and share His thoughts.

We can live in the reality of His presence every day.

I'd like to have the same problem that Brother Lawrence did. The continuous presence of God in His life filled him with such peace and joy that He saw God's glory in every area of His life. He said,

"his soul had been filled with joy and delight so continual, and sometimes so great, that he was forced to find ways to hide their appearing outwardly to others who may not understand."

Yes please Lord!

Parts of this article were adapted from an article by Matt Sorger which appeared in Destiny Prophetic Journal, published by Fresh Fire Ministries.

God's Presence

We're all as close to God as we want to be.

Jesus promised that if we seek Him, we'll find Him.

• How much of our time and energy is spent seeking the Lord?
• How much time do we spend seeking other things?

When we answer these questions truthfully, it helps us to see where our hearts really are.

Jesus promised that when we seek Him and His Kingdom, everything else will be added to us.

Our lives work better when we put Jesus first.

Getting closer to God is the most important thing we can do.

When we were born again we became part of the new creation. We don't just have fellowship with God, we've become His dwelling place. God doesn't just walk with us, as He did with Adam, He lives in us.

Christ is being formed in us.

• We're called to be like Jesus and do the works He did
• We're called to have intimate fellowship with our Father

The more we fellowship with Him, the more we become aware of His presence and grow to be like Him.

Ask God for an increasing awareness of His presence - He has no favourites.

Cultivate spiritual awareness until it's the biggest thing in your life.

• Turn to God
• Give yourself to Godliness
• Develop spiritual receptivity
• Exercise faith

Remember that the Father is always with us.

• Focus your attention on Him, throughout the day and say, "Thank You"
• Feed and nourish your soul with thoughts of God

Living in God's presence is His gift to us. We live in the world but we're not of the world, because we're part of God's Kingdom here and now.

• Practise being heavenly minded
• Talk with the Father through the day and make Him your main focus

"When I walk by the wayside, He is along with me. When I enter into company amid all of my forgetfulness of Him, He never forgets me. In the silent watches of the night, when my eyelids are closed and my spirit has sunk into unconsciousness, the observant eye of Him who never slumbers is upon me." Thomas Chalmers

Father we repent of our preoccupation with visible things. You've been here with us and we didn't know it. We've been blind to your presence - open our spiritual eyes and help us to be more aware of you and your presence in and around us.

Knowing God

We can know God as certainly as we know things in our physical world. We know things in the physical world by our physical senses.

We have spiritual senses too, and when we use them, can know God and the spiritual world - all we need to do is to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and actually use our spiritual senses.

How do we use our spiritual senses?

Faith is the key. It's faith that enables our spiritual senses to function, without faith, we can't know God.

We tend to think of the visible world as real and doubt the reality of the spiritual realm. We don't actually deny that it exists - we doubt that it's real.

Sin has clouded our sight so that we struggle to see the spiritual realm. But that doesn't stop the spiritual realm being real. The spiritual realm is real. It's time to break the habit of ignoring the spiritual. Now is the time to move our interest from the seen to the unseen.

If we really want to follow God we need to become 'other-worldly'.

God always intended that we enter into the Kingdom while here on earth.

As we focus on God we will begin to see the things of the Spirit. Obedience will lead to revelation.
When we are more conscious of God we will begin to taste, see, hear and experience God, who is our life.

As our spiritual senses become tuned, God will become more real to us and His presence will be evident.

Walking in Eternal Life

I thought you might be inspired by this article, written by Francis Frangipane.

Francis is encouraging us to be more conscious of God and more open to His Holy Spirit. Have you got a listening heart?

God's end time people will "end time." What I mean is that, as we near the end of the age, we will increasingly learn how to walk in eternal life, abiding above the boundaries, constraints and the pressures of the realm of time. We'll see what's coming and either avoid it or announce it, but we won't be limited by it.

Jesus taught that those who come to Him "have everlasting life" (Jn 3:16). Right now, we have eternal life in our spirits. Yet, how do we access the timeless place of God's presence? This is a serious question, for we have become more "time conscious" than "God conscious." Schedules, meetings, appointments and deadlines all fuel our anxieties and compel us to live horizontally, instead of vertically in the Presence of God.

The Lord seeks to deliver us from anxiety, but that can only happen if we truly learn to walk in the Holy Spirit. The sad fact is, most Christians fail to spend time with the Holy Spirit. We pray, even calling upon the Lord, but few are they who have cultivated moment by moment openness to the Spirit of God.

"But, when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come" (John 16:23).

The Holy Spirit will guide . . . He will speak . . . He will disclose" to us what we otherwise could never know or attain. To guide, speak and reveal are forms of communication. Clearly, the Father sent the Holy Spirit to talk to us.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. There are issues in our hearts that the Holy Spirit alone can reveal and remove. Listen to Him, like Christ, He does not come to condemn but to save. His voice is Salvation speaking to us.

Jeremiah said that the heart is deceitful above all things. We cannot objectively know ourselves. Yet the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Truth sees and understands our ways. Trust Him, He cannot be deceived. Indeed, the ancient Greeks used the same word for truth as they did for "reality." Thus, we could accurately say that the Holy Spirit is the "Spirit of Reality." He shows us the reality of our need and the reality of God's answer. To hear Him is to hear the voice of eternal life.

Jesus lived in union with the Holy Spirit continually. The miracles He accomplished came through the power of the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit He saw the things the Father was doing; He heard the words the Father was speaking. Every strategy we may come up with pales in comparison to seeing God and doing what God does and hearing God and saying what God says. You see, Jesus lived in the dimension of time, but was not limited by it. His consciousness was always aware of the eternal realm.

Even the urgent news of Lazarus' illness did not make Jesus move anxiously. As right as it seemed to rush to Lazarus' aid, Jesus was aware of another reality. He was conscious of the heavenly Father. Because He knew that the Father was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, He lived without hand-wringing or being driven by anxious thoughts or pressures.

Oh how we need to walk in the Spirit today. In every situation, we would consciously be aware of God's involvement in our lives!

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9).

God has a system of thoughts and ways that are totally on another plane, yet He invites us to abide with Him!

Beloved, we are not mere human beings. We each are a temple for the Holy Spirit, but we must cultivate a listening heart if we will do the things that God is doing. A Christian is not just someone living out a natural life, hoping that God will bless him. No, God has more for us than that. Jesus set the standard, and He's given us the Holy Spirit so we can follow Him.

Spirit Filled?

When we are born again, we begin a journey with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives us gifts to help us grow; He baptizes us in power to increase our effectiveness. All of this is to lead us until we are actually filled with the Holy Spirit, where we think and act like Jesus.

Many of us think we are already filled with the Spirit, but we are not. We have three quarts of self and one quart of the Holy Spirit, and we think we have a gallon of God. There is still too much self ruling in our hearts. In America, some pastors identify themselves as being Spirit filled and say they pastor Spirit-filled churches. To be perfectly candid, I have never attended a church that is truly Spirit filled. In the Book of Acts, we see a picture of a Spirit-filled church. The leaders met daily for prayer, and on the way to prayer, their shadows healed the sick! Their offerings went to feed the poor. Out of their sense of love and community, they held all things in common. In that atmosphere, the church grew exponentially.

I know some are thinking, "My church is getting close to this example." Oh, I forgot to mention, in a Spirit filled church, if you lied, you died (see Acts).

You see, let's not accept that we are further along spiritually than we are. God desires to take us further, deeper into eternal life. Having a spiritual gift doesn't mean that you are filled with the Holy Spirit; being born again does not mean you are also Spirit filled. I have never met a truly spiritually mature person who was anxious; no one who is nervous about time can truly be led by the Holy Spirit.

Where Do We Go from Here?

In our quest to walk in eternal life, we must allow the Holy Spirit to excavate our hearts of self. If we want to tune into the God channel we must tune out the "self channel," where the anxieties, fears and sins exist.

I want a heart that can hear God; I want perception that can see God. We are too much like the world. How do we break this? Spend time with the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to talk to your heart and then write down what you feel He is saying. If we want more of God, we must cultivate the awareness of His Presence, and especially listen for His voice.

We must also take faith and believe that the Spirit is here to help. Zechariah 4:6 teaches us that it’s not by our might or power, but it is by the Spirit of the Lord that we succeed. Acts 2:17 tells us that in the last days God seeks to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. I love the words "pour out." We must stop thinking "thimble" and think Niagara Falls!

It's time to step out of the box called "time," and live in the Spirit. I’m not suggesting that you become unreliable or are late for your appointments, but that you give yourself to learning how to hear God's voice and how to live in His presence. If you are one of God's end-time elect, then it's time to rise above the pressures of time and walk in the eternal life of God.

Published on 18.2.2005 by Francis Frangipane http://frangipane.org

Used with permission

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God - Our Best Friend - Part 2

We are on God's mind all the time. He's always thinking about us.

I spoke last week of God's longing to be our best friend. This week I want to encourage you to continue building your friendship with God.

We do that by sharing everything with Him. He wants to be included in everything we do.

When we invite God to be part of everything, we find that everything we do can be 'spending time' in His presence if we remain aware of Him.

God is with us all the time. Once we get a hold of that fact we can be in constant communion with Him.

Like Brother Lawrence we can learn to practice the presence of God. It is possible to be more and more aware of our friend and Father through the day. We can train ourselves to remember that God is always with us and wants to be part of all we do.

Make a point of talking with God constantly through the day. Talk to Him about everything, share your thoughts with Him and listen for His replies.

Ask yourself what you can do to remind yourself to think about God more and talk to Him constantly.

Whatever it is, plan to do it.

Growing friendship with God is a choice.

Ask yourself:

How much do I want it?
Is it worth the effort of developing new habits?

I reminded you last week that God promised the captives in Babylon that when they got serious about finding Him and wanted it more than anything else, He would make sure they weren't disappointed.

Is anything more important than developing an intimate friendship with God?

What will you do to make sure you grow closer to Him?

Take time to stop and think about it.
What one thing will you begin doing today to ensure that your friendship with God grows?

Write it down where you'll see it and make sure you do it.
He's worth it.

Next week we're going to start looking at the different ways that God speaks to us and how we can tune in to hear Him more clearly.

This week's free offering is 'Adventures in God' by John G Lake.
If you e-mail me and put 'Adventures in God' in the subject line, I'll send you a PDF file of the book.

Adventures in God, is a collection of stories telling of his adventures with God. His story will challenge you to reach a new level in your own spiritual walk.

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