Preparations for 2019

Posted on December 27, 2018 by

It’s a couple days after Christmas and our attention is beginning to turn to 2019. Some of you are thinking about what resolutions you are going to make, (we’ll talk about that in a second) and some of you are trying to talk yourself into taking down the Christmas decorations.

The few days between Christmas and New Years Eve are definitely a time of transition. Back in August I released the theme for 2019, Jesus and the Spirit of Faith. In that post I mentioned that nine is the Hebrew letter TET which is goodness and is the picture of a funnel. This is the Hebrew year 5779. The Hebrew decade of 70 is AYIN which means to see. In 5779/2019 expect to see the goodness of God funneled into your life.

I also mentioned in that post that 2019 would be a year to hunger after the Word in a fresh way. The Bible is not just a book, the Bible is a person and His name is Jesus.

How can we prepare for the funnel of God’s goodness in 2019? Last night Holy Spirit began sharing some things for me to do in 2019 to receive all God has in store.

  1. Forget the resolution

We all know how it goes, you make a resolution and within three to eight weeks it’s things as usual and no lasting change happens. The truth is resolutions are made from our own thinking and in our own ability. I want to get healthier this year so I am going to (fill in the blank). I want to lose weight so I am going to (fill in the blank). Instead of making a resolution, set aside specific time for extended prayer before January second and ask the Lord what changes He wants you to make in 2019; write them down, ask for divine strategies on how to accomplish them and ask Holy Spirit to empower you to see them accomplished.

  1. Connect to the prophetic word

Earlier this year I talked about connecting to a prophet or prophets. If you are not connected with a prophet ask Holy Spirit to give you a connection. That connection does not mean you will know them personally or even live in the same area. Prophetic connection is first and foremost spiritual. When you connect to the prophet find the word for 2019; print it, pray over it and declare it every day. Don’t be passive with the prophetic word; walk it out, be obedient to directives and sow into the ministry that is prophesying into your life.

A word of caution on the prophetic. Don’t Google prophetic words for 2019. Different prophets carry different words. The body of Christ is large and each of us have a specific alignment and assignment in the Kingdom. We can only receive from and walk in a word that fits our individual alignment and assignment. When we overload ourselves with everything that is being said we don’t have clarity with what the Lord is saying for us and we can get confused in the direction we should go.

  1. Immerse yourself in the Word

I love the Bible app, I use it when I can’t find a verse I’m looking for, it’s a great tool in so many ways but if our Bible reading is just the verse of the day we are missing our food for the day.

Job 23:12 NLT “I have not departed from His commands, but have treasured His words more than daily food.” My prayer for myself and everyone who reads this blog is that in 2019 we see The Word as more needed in our lives than food. That sounds crazy at first but take the time to read Psalm 119 and you’ll see what Job is saying.

Read through the entire Bible in 2019. I am going to read it chronologically. Don’t stop there though, immerse yourself in the Scripture. The word immerse or immersed in the Webster’s 1828 dictionary is defined as “to plunge, to cover deep, to overwhelm, to involve, and to be deeply engaged.”

everyone has busy schedules, there is no denying that. But an ugly truth emerges in the midst of our business, we neglect Bible reading. Before you go into 2019 take an inventory of your time. In the midst of business, when do you make the time to watch what you DVR’d or watch Netflix? when do you make time to relax? Examine those moments during the day and take from them to make more time for reading and study. if after looking at your schedule you say, I just don’t have extra time, pray and ask Holy Spirit how you need to plan your day.

Apart from reading through the Bible (which is typically four to six chapters a day, depending on the plan), read Scripture. Read it continuously. In 2019 I will be continually reading through the gospels, Acts and the books of Moses along with reading the Bible all the way through.

As much as you may enjoy your Bible app, I encourage you to get a printed Bible to read in 2019. Yes, Bibles can be expensive but what better investment of your money than the Word of God? Hold it, turn the pages, learn the order of the books, write notes in the margin, highlight and underline words and verses that speak to you. Get a Strong’s Concordance for deeper study of what Holy Spirit is saying to you, so you can understand the depth from the Hebrew and Greek languages.

Fall in love with The Word in 2019. Read and re-read Psalm 119 monthly, read a Proverb each day. Be consumed with the Word of God – the person of Jesus!

Pray on New Year’s Eve, Lord let me love, let become consumed and impassioned by the Word. Let me see Jesus on every page. Let 2019 be the year my mind is renewed and my life is transformed by your Word.

  1. Be expectant and prayerful

If we don’t expect anything, we won’t receive anything. Mark 11 says we must believe we receive when we pray. Be a person of continual prayer in 2019. I believe 2019 will be a great year. I am excited about all that we will learn about Jesus and the Spirit of faith. I am excited about how each of us will walk by faith and be victorious. Get ready for goodness of God to be funneled into your life in ways you never could imagine in 2019!

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REFLECTIONS: My Journey Into Jewish Roots

Posted on December 14, 2018 by

It’s Friday night, Jews around the world are resting in the peace and stillness of the Sabbath and I’m sitting in a recliner, writing this post after several days of reflecting on my first Chanukah (or Hanukkah) and my journey of discovering the Jewish roots of Christianity in general.

My celebration was minimal this year; lighting a Hanukiah (the nine branch menorah used for Chanukah), reading the history and listening to lectures and teachings to help deepen my understanding. This journey began four years ago, although the seeds were planted much earlier. I believe I was twelve when I first heard Pastor Larry Huch talk about the Feasts, Mezuzah, Tallit and the Jewishness of Jesus. I would say, being a child in a Christian home prevented me from understanding the truth at that point but seeds were definitely planted. Years later a friend invited me to a spiritual warfare conference at the Global Spheres Center, home of Glory of Zion. Three weeks later was Passover and they had another conference. I didn’t understand why I was going to a Passover conference but I went. Long story short; I was awakened to something that week when I saw a menorah, I got two books, The Messianic Church Arising by Robert Heidler and A Time to Advance by Chuck Pierce and Robert Heidler. That was the start of my journey to connect to the roots of my faith. I started Listening to Pastor’s Larry and Tiz Huch again and found Rabbi Greg Hershburg.

Four years into this incredible journey I still have barely scratched the surface. I’ve gone from Christian books on Jewish roots to reading books written by Jews and Rabbis. Some are automatically thinking that I am becoming legalistic so let me clear up something, the Jewish roots bring joy to my life. The feasts are just that, feasts, happy and joyus times. Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath.

I know many look at Jesus’ interaction with religious leaders and say He was against them. He was against the legalism. Jesus Himself said, do what they teach and that no part of the law would be done away with till all is fulfilled. the new testament says sin is lawlessness.

In writing tonight, I want to share how much deeper and more fulfilling my Christian life has become since I have begun reading the Bible with a Hebrew mindset and celebrating the feasts.

During the eight nights of Chanukah I lit the candles each night. I paused and thought about the Jews who gave their lives for G-d and His Word. Can you imagine the love for G-d, to give up your life because you refuse to give up the Bible, the feasts and you refuse to eat unclean animals? I was so inspired each night. I am so thankful that men and women of G-d stood for His Word. Without them we wouldn’t have a Bible. Without their stand, there would have been no Jesus. Basically, no Chanukah, no Christmas.

Like I said in the beginning, I have barely scratched the surface of the Jewish roots, the original meaning in so much of the new testament. I mean we read it with American eyes, not thinking about the eastern culture and the fact that Jesus, all His disciples and all followers and leaders in the Church were Jews up until Acts ten.

There is so much on my heart and in my mind it is hard to put into a post that is all put together. All I know is that, for me, the very thing that was missing in my life were my Jewish roots. Take some time and read Romans nine through eleven. Do a study on how the Church cut itself off from its roots. Messianic Church Arising and Our Hands Are Stained With Blood are great books to start with.

Am I saying you have to celebrate the feasts? No, I’m not. you are free to not celebrate. Jesus did though. Paul even wrote to Gentile believers at Corinth, because Christ our Passover Lamb is sacrificed, we celebrate the feast.

If you’ve ever felt like something is missing from your Christian life. if you’ve wondered why we’re not seeing miracles, signs and wonders, all I’m saying is maybe we lost something we were never supposed to get rid of.

*In respect to Jewish people and their high honor of the name of G-d, I have followed their example in this post by not including the vowel in His name.       

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Don’t Forget Your Neighborhood

Posted on December 5, 2018 by

Go into all the world and preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations, these are probably some of the most familiar words to the Christian’s ears. We know these words under the banner of the great commission found in Matthew twenty eight. We know these words, we hear these words preached but what about the words of Acts 1:8?

Acts 1:8 NASB “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

I’ve been thinking about the Church lately and how we are able to reach the world in so many incredible ways. I’m not even talking about the big churches and ministries either, we all have an ability to have a wide reach through social media. Relatively unknown churches can have huge on line viewing numbers. As great as all this is, have we been so focused on all the world that many of us have forgotten our own neighborhoods? Have churches become so missions minded that we have forgotten our own cities and states?

I believe we should do everything we can to reach the entire world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each of us should support missions and ministries. That being said, each of us live in a neighborhood, attend church in a certain city and have several personal interactions on a daily basis at Starbucks, the grocery store, on your Target run or any other number of places. This is where we can be personally effective. When we build relationships it enables us to lead people to Jesus and most importantly disciple them.

The Church has been really good at making converts and church attendees but we haven’t majored in discipleship. We need to get to know people, invite them to church and cultivate a friendship with them. We need to grow together spiritually as local bodies of Christ.

I am so thankful for the emphasis on going into all the world. We need to keep doing that. Along with that though, maybe it’s time for a renewed focus on reaching the neighborhood we live in and the cities our churches are based in.  

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Staying in Faith for Your Healing

Posted on November 6, 2018 by

I have been believing for physical healing for twenty one years. Actually that’s probably not accurate, I have had seasons of wavering and even giving up on healing in these twenty one years and that’s what this post is about. How do we keep our faith built up when answers seem slow in coming? While I’ll be specifically talking about physical healing, these principles can be applied to anything.

To summarize my story and where this post is going; I was born with a heart condition and have cerebral palsy, I walk with a limp and stutter on occasion. I grew up listening to Pastor Rod Parsley and Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, so I have a good foundation on faith and healing but as the years went on I heard things like God will use this to reach others, you’re strong enough to handle this affliction for God’s glory, etc. etc. I’m not writing to debate God’s sovereignty or why someone who had faith died. Not to sound harsh but I’ve been there and done that and those arguments do nothing to build confidence in God. To those who have lost someone, I am sorry and I know what that is like. But this is one of the main areas that can kill our faith, letting someone else’s experience or our own past loses dictate our faith in God’s Word.

Isaiah 53:4-5 AMPC ” Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy].5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.”

Psalm 103:3-5 AMPC “Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases,4 Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy;5 Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle’s [strong, overcoming, soaring]!”

These are foundational covenant verses of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. This is what we need to look at and what we need to believe. The Word must trump all of our experiences or anyone’s “testimony” of why God won’t do something. God’s Word is His will and when the blind man said if you are willing, Jesus said He was and now “the will of God” is a settled issue.

Faith is not about God’s will, it’s about our will. Our will to stand and continue to stand like Ephesians six says. When we look at the parable of the sower, we see that the enemy comes with negativity and care to take away the Word. But the Word says, cast all of your care on God. the Word asks, whose report will you believe?

Another area that hinders our faith is our words. proverbs 18:21 AMPC ” Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].” Have you ever wondered why death is first? I believe it’s because it’s easier to speak death than life. “How are you doing”? “man I’m hurting, this medication doesn’t seem to be working.” “I’ve been quoting Scripture for three days and nothing has happened.” It’s hard for us to hear it, but the truth is, if we’re speaking against healing in our bodies we aren’t walking by faith. Now I’m not saying deny the fact that pain is there or if someone asks what the doctor said that you lie about what he said. What I’m saying is, speak what you want, not what you have. Speak words of life and watch your situation improve.

Proverbs 4:20-22 AMPC “My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings.21 Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart.22 For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh.”

So what about when you have been believing for years and don’t see any results? Or what about a diagnosis that has no medical remedy like Chron’s or Fibromyalgia? One of the hardest things I’ve had to admit to myself is, I never really was in faith for healing after the age of ten. I had become mad at God and through the years bought into the lie that maybe I didn’t need to be healed among other things. The first thing I want you to do when you finish reading this post is to ask yourself if you are mad at God. If the answer is yes, forgive Him. That’s right I said forgive God and then start reading Scriptures to build your faith in His goodness and His will to heal you. If you’ve bought into various lies of the enemy about why you won’t be healed you have to renew your mind to the Word. This is not an easy thing and it’s not a short thing either. It’s so easy to think and talk negative and fixing these two areas is key to building your faith for healing.

To help get your faith going in the right direction again take Isaiah 53:4-5 and Psalm 103:3-5 and begin reading them out loud every day. Let those verses be the first and last words out of your mouth every day. Meditate on them and study them. Read the healing stories in the gospels and listen to healing teachings when you go to and from work.

If you don’t have a solid foundation about God wanting to heal you and being able to do it then get the books on healing listed on the recommended reading page. Even if you have a solid foundation, invest in your healing and in your future health by getting those books. Read them and reread them. Proverbs says the Word is medicine, take it daily.  

In Mark chapter five Jesus healed a woman with an issue of blood, she had seen every doctor and they couldn’t do anything for her and she kept getting worse. But she heard the Word, she kept saying she would be healed, and she touched Jesus. In order to stay in faith we must hear and speak the Word continually. This is something else we must correct, we must continually hear the Word. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking because we have heard something before that it is still strong in us. Faith comes by hearing, not from having heard. We must feed on healing Scriptures. If we eat natural food three times a day, we need to be just as serious about eating our spiritual food.

The truth is, if we’re going to be strong in faith and be able to outlast the devil’s attacks on our thinking and that’s what all this comes down to, our faith must be able to stand up to and outlast all the enemies attacks. We can only stand up to Him with our words and we can only outlast him by meditating on the Word.

There are no quick fixes or magic formulas when it comes to faith, there is only the Bible formula. Read the Word, speak the Word, receive the Word. We can’t put a time table on God, that is another thing that destroys faith. We must develop faith in God’s goodness and be willing to hold on for as long as it takes. It’s in that moment, when we determine, no matter what, I’m not getting off my faith, I’m not going to say anything about this except God’s Word. That’s when WE begin to change and when WE begin to change our circumstances, our health, our everything has to line up with HIS WORD coming out of OUR MOUTHS.

Be encouraged today, don’t give up hope. it is God’s will and His desire for you to be healed and whole in every area of your life. Let’s commit together to be in the Word more, to build our faith and speak words of healing, health and life.

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Saved, healed and delivered

Posted on October 25, 2018 by

So many times when we think of the Christian life or the purpose of the Church, we think in terms of getting saved and leading people to Jesus. That’s good and that is the entry point of Christianity but the purpose of being a Christian is not to just get our ticket punched for heaven.

Jesus quoted Isaiah 61 when He stood up to read in Luke 4:18-19 NASB “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed,19 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

When Jesus gave the model prayer He instructed to pray your Kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. There is so much more to salvation than just Heaven. In fact the Greek word for salvation is SOZO which means saved, healed, delivered, made whole and preserved.

FAITH FOR HEALING

We have no doubt about God’s will concerning salvation but when it comes to healing, in the Church world we’ve come up with some reasons why God won’t heal. One of the main reasons we have come up with is sovereignty, we just can’t know the sovereign will of God about healing. Sometimes He does and other times He doesn’t. God may also be trying to teach us something or draw us closer to him through sickness. The problem with these beliefs is that we can’t find them in Scripture. Jesus healed all who came to Him and he repeatedly said, according to your faith, be it unto you.

Many Christians, myself included, have heard so much doubt, unbelief and negativity that our faith isn’t strong enough to receive from God. We can’t expect to receive healing when we are constantly speaking words contrary to healing or if when we hear a testimony our first thought is, I don’t believe that, that didn’t really happen.

Proverbs 6:2 says we are snared by the words of our mouth. Proverbs 18:21 in the New Living Translation says, “the tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences”.

If we are constantly speaking things contrary to life, health, prosperity and good relationships we will reap a negative harvest. 2 Corinthians 4:13 NASB “But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed, therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak,”  Whether we realize it or not we are speaking what we are expecting. Proverbs says, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. If we want to walk by faith, if we truly want to receive what God has for us we must speak words of positive faith.

BREAKING GENERATIONAL CURSES

Many of us have a hard time speaking words of faith because it has been taught against in the church and made fun of. The thing is, those people have what they say, they are dealing with negativity, lack and sickness because that is what they believe for. We will get into this more next year as I teach on faith but faith is not the absence of problems but the ability to get through them.

Many of us struggle with negativity and are in bondage to certain things though because it is a generational curse. When we get saved we are on our way to Heaven but unless we also break the curse it is still in operation in our lives. We confessed Jesus as Savior and Lord to be born again. Many of us though are still confessing negatively in every other area of our lives and that is why we need to break curses and receive deliverance.

When Jesus quoted Isaiah, He said, “to set free those who are oppressed”. Look at Acts 10:38 NASB “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

RECEIVE MORE THAN A SAVIOR

We have looked at a couple of Scriptures today that show Jesus was about more than just our salvation. He’s about our healing and our freedom, we can add so many other things to that list as well. Today, I want to encourage you to receive more than just entry into heaven, pray the model prayer Jesus gave us. Ask for Kingdom here and God’s will in your life now. God’s Word is His will. Every promise in the Word is for us today. the moving of the Spirit is for today.

Matthew 6:33 AMPC “But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.” Jesus wants more for you than just Heaven for eternity, He wants you to experience God’s goodness now. We won’t need healing and deliverance in Heaven, that’s why Jesus’ death provided them, because we need them now.

search out the Scripture, discover the full meaning of Salvation. Find the promises of God for your need from Genesis to revelation. Don’t let the devil steal your promise from you. If God said it you can have it but it is up to us to use our faith and receive it.

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Tabernacles 2018: Stay connected and reap your harvest!

Posted on September 24, 2018 by

 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. These words in Hebrews chapter four have given all of us encouragement at one time or another. It is so wonderful knowing we can go to God at any time for anything.

As amazing as that is, there is something more incredible. Three times a year, we are not only invited to come away with God but He promises to come to us. These three times each year are known as the Feast of The Lord. (You can learn more about the three feasts by clicking on Feasts and Festivals or Hebrew Heritage Series in the sidebar). This week we are in the Feast of Tabernacles.

Leviticus 23:33-44 NKJV “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. 35 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. 36 For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.

37 ‘These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day— 38 besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord. 39 ‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. 40 And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ ”44 So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.””

What does all that have to do with us? As Christians we have been grafted in to Israel. The root of the tree is Jewish, we are branches (Romans 11) and as believers we are blessed with Abraham, the father of the Jewish people (Galatians 3). These are not feast, celebrations for the Jews alone, they are the Feast of the Lord and as Christians we have an open invitation to join the celebration.

John 1:1-3, 14 TLV “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were made through Him, and apart from Him nothing was made that has come into being. And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory, the glory of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Jesus said if we would abide in Him and His word abides in us we would be His disciples and we could ask anything in His name and the father would hear us.

Tabernacles is a time to draw closer to God. As the last feast on the calendar, everything has been building up to this moment that God has set aside for us to come tabernacle with Him. This is a week to hear His voice and receive revelation.

Tabernacles is also about harvesting. We can harvest finances, we can harvest people, even nations. This Tabernacles the word I have for you is get deep into the Word, make it your life source so that as we enter 2019, a year of faith, you are prepared to stand, believe, harvest and receive.

Make giving a priority, both financially and with your time and ability to help others. Set aside special time to be with God this week apart from your normal devotions. Take communion, read Scriptures and hear God’s heart.

Regain focus this week and build your faith through the Word of God. When Jesus told people they had little faith it meant they had underdeveloped faith. We can’t receive if our faith is underdeveloped. Get in the Word, hear God’s promises for you and reap your harvest in the areas you need. If things seem slow in coming, don’t give up, that is a sign of underdeveloped faith. Grow faith, become strong; read the Word, listen to good teaching and put it into practice.

Joshua 1:8 NLT “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”

Harvest is coming to those who are in the Word and walking in obedience to it. A harvest of souls, a harvest of health, a harvest of finances, a harvest of every promise you have been believing for. Don’t lose heart and don’t faint in your faith, continue to build it and know in your heart of hearts that harvest is not just on its way, it is beginning to manifest now in Jesus name.

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Step into a new place of maturity

Posted on September 21, 2018 by

Yesterday the Lord began speaking a word that I believe is for anyone in the body with ears to hear. There has been division in the body lately; denominations, theologies, emphasis, etc. but I heard the Lord say, “for those willing to enter a new level of maturity I will show how their stream connects with others. I will show individuals how they can receive and progress forward in revival in discipleship by reading books from other theological perspectives.”

It is important to know which stream God has us in, when the Lord gave me this word I also heard him encourage me and I believe will encourage others that as we step into this new place of maturity we will be able to receive from voices and teachings that used to trip us up.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NASB “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

I believe those who are willing to step into a new level of maturity and begin receiving from different streams will see a great wave of revival, healing and deliverance in their circles and in their churches. The days of secondary distinctives are coming to an end for those who want to be part of the next move of God.

If your heart is for revival and discipleship, ask the Lord to begin a maturing process in your spirit and to begin to lead you in receiving from different streams. Listen carefully for the Lord to begin to direct you to specific books or teachings. Part of this maturity is understanding God is not calling you to leave your stream or discard the anointing and call He has given you but allow that call to be furthered and the anointing strengthened by receiving from others in this next season.

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The Purpose and Power of a Prophetic Word

Posted on August 21, 2018 by

Today I want to look at the purpose and power of the prophetic word being spoken in our lives. I want to begin with three Scriptures.

Amos 3:7 NKJV “Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets.

2 Chronicles 20:20b NKJV “Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”

Proverbs 29:18 TPT “Where there is no clear prophetic vision, people quickly wander astray. But when you follow the revelation of the word, heaven’s bliss fills your soul.”

It is important to acknowledge the vast depth of prophetic that has come on the scene in the body of Christ and for that I am thankful. It is also important to recognize not every prophetic voice is one for you. There are even times when a prophetic voice that is assigned to your life may give a word that is not for you. each of us is still responsible for knowing the place and season God has us in. The prophetic word is designed to help give us direction in something we have already received, it is confirmation of where we are heading.

In my life the prophets that speak into my life are Kenneth Copeland, Chuck Pierce, Ryan LeStrange and Lana Vawser. There are other prophetic voices that associate with these people but God has not connected me to them, so I do not follow their ministries.

Before we continue, let me make a quick side trip. Unity in the body does not mean you listen to everyone or do ministry with everyone. Unity is my ability to stay in my lane and not criticize the person next to me for doing something differently. The river of God is made up of many streams. We are all in the river of God but we are not all in the same stream, we don’t all flow with the same current, that is the way God designed it.

Each year I get a word or theme from the year that is the umbrella for everything that happens that year. Kenneth Copeland gives a Word each year and I run with that Word, praying and declaring it, expecting it to be fulfilled in my life.

Ryan LeStrange operates in the prophetic by giving Monday Words for the week. There are times when I know a Word is for me and I run with it. Other weeks, it’s not in season for me.

It is important for each of us to have our own relationship with God and to know the season we are in. Every prophetic voice speaks to the larger body of Christ. Even those who flow in a specific stream are still speaking to a large number of people. I can’t say it enough, each of us must know the place and season we are in before we grab hold of a Word.

Chuck Pierce is a Apostle/Prophet who oversees Glory of Zion and Global Spheres. His prophetic words are released on national levels and corporate levels to certain parts of the body of Christ. Sometimes words fit with my season and other times that are for a different segment of the body of Christ.

Lana Vawser releases intimate directive words from the heart of God. They are very encouraging and help give direction and strength to keep going.

I mention the types of words these individuals give because the Lord uses them in different ways in my life. It’s important that you don’t just go “pick a prophet” but you allow Holy Spirit to lead you in connection to the prophetic voices you need to be connected to.

It’s also important to understand God may connect you to someone you may never personally meet or have any interaction with but that does not lessen the connection God has given you in the realm of the Spirit.

One key of spiritual warfare is using prophetic words. 1 Timothy 1:18 NKJV “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,”. Notice the phrase, “prophecies previously made”. Never let go of a prophetic word. God is a God of continuation. If there was a Word given in 2012 about financial increase and you haven’t seen the fullness of it yet, keep declaring it, don’t stop using the weapon of a prophetic word.

Along with that, keep the prophetic words in your thinking, read and re-read them, declare them and make them part of your prayer life. Prophetic words are not to be shelved they are to be believed and received.

Some people have the mindset that prophetic words will fulfill themselves but many times they require action on our part. Prophetic words are like the if/then statements of the Bible; if I do this, then God will do that. Timothy was told to wage a good warfare with the prophetic word, that took action on his part.

Look once again at the latter part of 2 Chronicles 20:20 NKJV “Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets and you will prosper.” We could say this is God’s prescription for us to have 20/20 vision. What did Proverbs 29:18 say? “Where there is no clear prophetic vision, people quickly wander astray.” If you find yourself off of the path God has for you, look at the prophetic words from the prophets God has placed in your life.

The prophetic words in your life are to be coupled with your reading, studying and meditating on The Word. they are to give confirmation to the direction you are going and the things you are pursuing. Believe God first and His prophets. If you’re spending all you time consuming different prophetic words and no time in the Bible, that’s not going to work for you. Chances are you’re confused because you’ve “cross prophesied” in your life and one word contradicts another. Remember, the body of Christ is big, not every prophet, not every teacher, and not every book or conference is for you.

To believe God, you have to know Him and you have to know His Word. Only then will believing the prophet bring prosperity.

The purpose of the prophetic word is vision and encouragement. The power of the prophetic word is it is part of producing your prosperity. Don’t take words lightly and don’t give yourself to every word. A quick comment about personal prophecy, test the spirits to see if they are from God. That is Scriptural. If someone says the Lord said you need to enter the mission field and the Lord has spoken to you about business and things are lining up in that, DON’T OBEY THAT WORD. That would be a false prophecy. At the end of the day you have to know something bares witness with your spirit.

On the other hand if a known prophet gives a word of direction or instruction and it doesn’t witness with you, that doesn’t make them a false prophet, it just means it wasn’t for you. One last thing on prophetic words. If a word of correction or judgement is given and it includes stipulations as to how the word will play out, pay attention to those things. many prophets have been labeled false because people haven’t paid attention to the entire word given.

Be encouraged today. If you aren’t connected with a prophetic voice ask Holy Spirit to connect you to the prophet or prophets that need to speak into your life. If you do have prophets that speak into your lives, don’t just hear the words, act on them. One other key to having access to receiving manifestation is to not just be a consumer of their gift or office but to sow into their ministry into your life. Pray for them on a daily basis. If they speak a word that brings about change in your life, send them an offering. Be active in every way of receiving a prophetic word. Don’t give up if a word takes time, keep warring with it and watch it come to pass.

*The prophets mentioned in this post have no affiliation with me, nor have they endorsed my blog or this specific post.

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2019: Jesus! And The Spirit of Faith!

Posted on August 15, 2018 by

I know you may be looking at the title and saying to yourself, ‘it’s only mid August and he is already posting the word for 2019?’ Yes, I’m posting it early and this post will explain why. If you follow the blog you know I haven’t posted regularly this year, I can already tell you that will be different in 2019. 2018 was a year, the Hebrew year 5778 was a year to revisit firsts and walk through new doors. For me it was also a year to focus on Jesus. Many of us have felt delayed this year but the year isn’t over yet. Prophets have been saying over the last couple of months that things are beginning to accelerate. This post is proof of that. Before we get into the word for 2019, I do want to say that 2018 isn’t over yet and if there are things you haven’t received stay on your faith, we still have four months to go and now is not the time to give up.

The Lord usually gives me a theme or word for the year in October but on July 25th (Christmas in July), the Father woke me up and said, I have a present for you. I am giving you the word for 2019 today. Needless today, I was shocked. So the day I normally focus on Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel became about hearing and writing down the word and beginning to process it. I still assumed I would post it in October but after hearing words from two prophets I knew I needed to post it earlier.

This is the word the Father gave me. “2019 will be a continuation of the word for this year. You will continue seeing and seeking Jesus in 2019. Double your time learning and being with Him. 2019 is a year to get back up on your faith. You faced a lot of distractions this year. You pretty much spent half of the year distracted. I am giving grace and extending your doors and adding that to 19. It’s another Jesus year, it’s the year of faith.”

Before we continue, you may have noticed I said the Lord usually gives me and when I wrote the word I said this is what the Father gave me. Normally, I get the word from Jesus but this year it came from the Father and a conversation followed the paragraph you read. We won’t get into this today but we can and should talk with all the members of the trinity not just the one. Anyway, I knew there was something specific about why I was hearing from the Father and not Jesus.

As 2019 gets closer we will dive more into this word but today will mostly be background and the word itself. I am a huge Christmas fanatic, it is my favorite holiday, I love everything about it. I enjoy Christmas so much I want to have a Christmas room in my house one day (crazy? Maybe. Awesome? Absolutely). It is my absolute love of the Christmas season I think the Father came to me on Christmas in July. I also knew that with what I was hearing from the two prophets I follow that this word to me was also a word for others.

After the initial paragraph Father told me to take my Hebrew book and look up the letter with the value of nine. The Hebrew letter TET has the value of nine and means goodness and the opening of the funnel. There are three dimensions of goodness in the Hebrew:

1. In the presence of God we bring our best gifts and rejoice.
2. God judges and gives us the next set of circumstances designed to best help us on our path.
3. We develop the understanding of our heart.

He then said search out what faith is and how to apply it.

I don’t necessarily think this word will click for everyone but if you’re reading this and it does, start today. I believe because of the words about acceleration this needed to be posted now and not late fall. I believe God is allowing such a flow from 2018 into 2019 that words are just coming together. In September we enter the last 70 decade, the decade of seeing, this is amazing. I believe we are in a time of seeing the Holy Spirit restore the Word and the moving of His Spirit to the Church.

This word, Jesus and The Spirit of Faith points to two things; Jesus, the Word and the Spirit of faith, seeing the Holy Spirit move and bring manifestation of what each of us has been believing for.

2 Corinthians 4:13 MEV “We have the same spirit of faith. As it is written, “I believed, and therefore I have spoken.” So we also believe and therefore speak,”

Jesus 2018 was and is the preparation for Jesus and the spirit of faith in 2019. I know I haven’t done any in depth teaching on Jesus, I think if you grabbed hold of the word for this year that Jesus had something specific for each of us in mind which is why none of the post were directed towards that. Looking to 2019 and even 5779 in a few weeks, whatever you saw about Jesus this year has prepared you to walk in a new level of faith next year!

Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word. I heard a minster say that faith comes by hearing not having heard. Jesus is The Word. As much as 2018 has been about becoming closer with Jesus it has been about becoming more aligned with the Word. This leads us back to the conversation I had with Father.

“Become a full fledged Word person in 2019! Jesus! And the spirit of faith! Ask for specific books to dive deep into. 2019 and even now is as about faith becoming second nature to you.”

That was the last sentence of the word. I want to close out this post by looking at faith and what it means for faith to become second nature.

The best definition of faith is Hebrews 11:1 AMPC “NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not yet revealed to the senses].

Faith, (assurance, proof and reality) must become second nature to us. For something to be second nature means a characteristic or habit in someone that appears to be instinctive because that person has behaved in a particular way so often. Abraham, in Romans four was not moved by anything, he stood strong in faith. Take some time and read Romans four. How do we develop that find of faith? By the Word, be meditating on the Word (Joshua 1:8).

I am looking forward to personally diving into faith in 2019 and being able to share with y’all and having conversations that build our faith and encourage one another. Faith is only faith if it carries us through delays and hard times. 2019 will be a year of developing strong faith.

Look at the word in full:

“2019 will be a continuation of seeing and seeking Jesus in 2019. Double your time learning and being with Him. 2019 is a year to get back up on your faith. You faced a lot of distractions this year. You pretty much spent half of the year distracted. I am giving grace and extending your doors and adding that to 19. It’s another Jesus year, it’s the year of faith.

The Hebrew letter TET has the value of nine and means goodness and the opening of the funnel. There are three dimensions of goodness in the Hebrew:

1. In the presence of God we bring our best gifts and rejoice.
2. God judges and gives us the next set of circumstances designed to best help us on our path.
3. We develop the understanding of our heart.

Search out what faith is and how to apply it.

Become a full fledged Word person in 2019! Jesus! And the spirit of faith! Ask for specific books to dive deep into. 2019 and even now is as about faith becoming second nature to you.”

2019 and even now, take what you have learned from Jesus this year and get started on your faith.

Here are some things I have started doing since July 25th to help get my faith in gear:

1. I am continuing to read the gospels so I am constantly thinking about how Jesus walked.
2. Look up Scriptures pertaining to things you want to see in 2019. If you want to see a loved one or friend saved, look up Scriptures on salvation. Wether you’re believing for family restoration, freedom, a better job, healing, increased finances, whatever it may be find the Word on it.
3. Pastor Keith Moore’s series, “True Faith” has been an absolute eye opener on what true faith is. How do you walk in faith, some of what we call faith is just pretend, how to stay in faith and more. This series is a must listen. I have already listened to it multiple times and will continue to help keep me on track.
4. Pastor George Pearsons and Gloria Copeland did a series called “Bulldog Faith” where Pastor George talks about a time in his life when he got off his faith and how the Lord instructed him on how to stay in fath. If you have been discouraged about something this is a series for you.

* The Inner Meaning of the Hebrew Letters: Robert M. Haralick

** Both series can be found on YouTube as well

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From Revival to Discipleship

Posted on August 10, 2018 by

The last few weeks the Lord has been talking to me about my desire and my prayer for this generation and the next. I have said the last several years that I am a person about revival, I want to pastor a people of revival. The Lord began to speak to me and say you are not a person of revival, you are a person of discipleship.

To be clear, I love revival, revival is necessary at times and revival is biblical. What the Lord showed me though was, revival without discipleship will not produce lasting fruit. Revival has the root of revive. Revive means to restore to life or consciousness, to give new strength or energy to, and to restore interest in or the popularity of.

revival is necessary, but if we are constantly needing to be brought back to life or to be given new strength every week, or need our interest restored in the things of God we are missing it somewhere. this is when we need to go from revival to discipleship.

We can all hit dry times, miss some days of bible reading and things like that, but that is not fixed through revival it is fixed through discipleship.

To be a disciple or be discipled means that we are a follower of Jesus, one who follows His Word and lives how he lived. When we become a people of the Word, when we study the life of Jesus, when we study the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament we learn what we are to live as, we discover who we are in Christ and we discover the path to victory laid out in Scripture.

There are always needs and times of refreshing, but to try to live from a place of revival instead of the place of daily following Jesus, is to miss the beauty of the Christian life. Revival is wonderful but revival achieves its purpose when it leads to discipleship. A daily time of prayer, worship, reading and a deep study of the Word. Reading Scripture is great, we are changed when we study it and allow its truth to take deep root in our hearts and spirits.

Ephesians 4:21-24 NASB “if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

Romans 12:2 AMPC “Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].”

I love revival and moves of God. I love great worship services. Let passionate worship cause you to pursue the person of Jesus. From Genesis to Revelation the Word reveals Jesus because the Word is not a book it’s a person.

John 1:1-5 NLT “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

If you have been a person of passionate worship, don’t lose your worship ask Holy Spirit to add to worship and unending hunger for the Word of God. If you are passionate in prayer, begin praying passages of Scripture. If you long for signs, wonders and miracles, remember the foundation of those things I’d the Word of God.

I am a very passionate person, I love the passion my generation walks in. I am someone who is quick to follow where I see God moving. I’ve also learned I have to be careful. The river of God is made up of many streams and just because God is moving in amazing ways in one stream does not mean I am supposed to be over there. Unity in the body of Christ does not mean we all do everything. True unity is me operating in my call and gifting so and celebrating the guy next to me who is doing something completely different.

The disciples came to Jesus one day and said that a group of people were baptizing but they didn’t walk with them. Jesus’s response was let them baptize, if they aren’t against us, they are with us.

Regardless of what stream you are in. Whatever your passion and call is, make the Word the foundation of your life and what you do. When revival happens, praise God and flow in it but move into discipleship at the right time.

There have been many discussions and books written about why particular revivals died, stopped, or gradually dissipated over time. I believe the answer in a nutshell is that those revivals became about the revival and not about discipleship. Many revivals have in turn lead schools of revival, when really we need to lead schools of discipleship.

The Apostles didn’t go spread the fire of Pentecost, they spread the gospel and made disciples. Love the move of the Spirit and remember the Spirit was given to us to help make disciples.

If we put Mathew 28 and Mark 16 together, we make disciples through teaching and that leads to new tongues, laying hands on the sick, and casting out devils.

Today’s ask for a new desire for the Word of God and to hear the Word taught, ask for a hunger. Spend time in places like Psalm 119 and Proverbs three and four. Develop hunger by reading the portions of Scripture that talk about its power and promise.

I do pray that you are revived today if you need it and I pray that the reviving will lead you to the Word so that you can be sustained and begin to grow. Become a healthy believer with a steady diet of the Word.

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Pentecost 2018: Build A Bridge

Posted on June 6, 2018 by

The celebration of Pentecost was a few weeks ago but I am just now getting around to posting. At Passover we talked about tearing down walls; tearing down walls between Jew and Gentile, tearing down walls of racism, and more. There have been several things on my mind for Pentecost since Passover all these things have an over arching theme of building a bridge from one thing to another.

Pentecost is not just a New Testament thing, Jews had been celebrating Pentecost for years. Let’s build a bridge.

 

From Old Testament to New Testament

Jesus is the bridge between Old Testament and New Testament. A bridge connects two things together. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 that He did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it, to show us how to live it. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:11 that the things that happened in the Old Testament are an example to us and were written down for our instruction.

James 5:10-11 MSG “Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You’ve heard, of course, of Job’s staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That’s because God cares, cares right down to the last detail.”

There is so much for us in the Old Testament, Jesus is on every page! We can’ truly understand the New Testament without understanding the Jewish customs of the Old. We can’ tree the completeness of the Old without the person of Jesus! As we talked about tearing down the walls between Jew and Gentile at Passover, let Jesus be your bridge at Pentecost.

In the Old Testament Pentecost was a celebration of the giving of the Torah, the Word of God. In the New Testament a new dimension was added to the celebration, the coming of the Holy Spirit! Jesus said the Holy Spirit would lead and guide us into all truth and bring to remembrance the Things He said.

1 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Let Jesus be your bridge. See the fullness of the Scriptures, learn from the stories in the Old and the parables in the New.

 

From the Founding to the Future

It’s easy for any of us to look at what God is doing right now and get so focused on that we forget where we have come from. In recent years we have heard of things like worship wars and the divide between the older and younger generations. What does a bridge do? It connects one generation to another. Yes, God is doing a new thing and it is springing forth. Yes, the message is the same and yes, the methods are totally different.

We need to be thankful for broader Christian history. Specifically each of us needs to be thankful and look to our denominations or movements history. We are only where we are at because of the people before us.

Today’s Church is dealing with the newly wrapped and presented heresies of the past we need to cross the bridge back into the past and grab the creeds, and theologies of our fathers and stand firm on the Word of truth. No matter how new something may look, universalism is still false teaching and saying we don’t need the Old Testament is a lighter version of the Marcion heresy that says the Church has replaced the Jews. When we don’t know history we are doomed to fall at the same places our fathers did and possibly even fall in places they did not.

Wether your Methodist, Pentecostal, Baptist, whatever stream God has placed you in, don’t forget your founding. Honor your fathers and mothers, hold to the truth, correct errors, and keep building.

 

From One Move to the Next

In that same line of thought, as the body of Christ, we need to continually move forward. We remember what God has done, we walk in what God is doing and look forward to what He will do next. The downfall of every great revival is that it wasn’t passed to the next generation. The loss of great ministries is when a leader doesn’t raise up a successor.

We become so worried about preserving a system or a style that we lose sight of why we were doing things in the first place. We do well to remember two things about Israel, they always followed the cloud when it moved and they never did well with blessing.

We need to be thankful for everything God has done, yet, the same disciples that were filled in Acts two were refilled in Acts four. When Israel was blessed they took their eyes off God and put on what He was doing or what He was giving them. How many times in the Church have we put our eyes on the miracles and the money and taken them off the Master?

Let’s remember the purpose of the bridge. To move from one place to the next and to be connected so if we forget something, we can go back and get it.

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Theowhat?

Posted on April 19, 2018 by

I’m sitting in a coffee shop with a mocha and a water, staring at this screen with my heart full about what I want to write today but I cannot come up with a good opening to capture your attention. I’ve been a Charismatic Christian all my life. I believe God still speaks today, in healing, prophecy, even unusual feelings such as goosebumps, falling down, etc.

With this wonderful introduction I am just going to state what’s been on my mind the last few days concerning my tribe in the body of Christ. I think many in the charismatic, prophetic, healing and such streams have become focused on experience to the point we have a lesser focus on Scripture and making sure our experiences are theologically sound.

I am all about experiences, I believe in experiencing God but I have watched some services lately that have had little Bible teaching in them. There has been round about talk from Scripture but no direct teaching. On the other side of this coin there is much Scriptural teaching on all that God will give you but little emphasis on magnifying God in our hearts, daily worship of Him, and the importance of delighting in God for God Himself.

Charismatics tend to dismiss theology, saying just focus on Jesus. But if your understanding of Jesus is simply based from experiences at events and not firmly based in Scripture, the “Jesus theology” you have may not be biblical.

The New Testament warns us about false teaching, false prophets, and other wrong interpretations of Scripture. While we like to focus on our experience and experience is good our first priority must be the Word of God, the Bible.

Theology is good! Let me say it again, theology is good. A right and thorough study of Scripture is important, it is the thing that will keep us from false experiences. The devil comes as an angel of light to be able to deceive. That deception will be easy if your relationship with the text of Scripture is shallow.

We know that Jesus is the Word made flesh, that should mean the written Bible is of utmost importance to us. If you see theology as dead and dry it isn’t. Men like Charles Spurgeon and Jonathan Edwards reached thousands in one service in the days before technology and social media. Those men walked in power that our generation hasn’t touched. Charles Finney who is known for theology and lectures would walk by people and they would cry out in repentance. When was the last time one of us had that happen?

Reading theology, old books, and even old sermons have the ability to draw us closer to God unlike the books of our day. With all due respect to our generations, books of old carry more of a weight and honor of God than the vast majority of our books. The books of old and book today written in that same manner go to the deep places of the Bible.

Encouragement is important but so is challenging ourselves and searching out the deep things of Scripture. It is just on my heart this week to encourage us all to go deeper in our relationship with God. Go deeper in knowing the person of Jesus. Get a book of sermons by Charles Spurgeon or Jonathan Edwards. Ask Holy Spirit to take you to deeper places in the Word. A experience of feelings is wonderful but nothing compares to the deep study of the Word of God. Scripture can touch the believer deeper than any feeling in a worship experience.

Understand, I’m not against experience, we just need to be based in the Word not experience. When we have a solid Biblical foundation, alarm bells will go off when we read a book that doesn’t line up with the Bible. Jesus is first experienced in the depth of His Word. Take time today to read Psalm 119. It’s the longest chapter in the Bible and it’s all about the Bible. The Word of God is eternal and will change our lives. A deep understanding and study of the Word (theology) will lead to a fuller, deeper and more stable experience.

Challenge yourself this year to read a deep book, don’t go fast with it, read it slowly, study it, read it with your Bible. Go deeper in God by going deeper in His Word.

Soon, I will be starting a series called Jesus Series 2018. In this series we will be looking at the theology in the life of Jesus. I believe it will give each of us a deeper love and understanding of our savior.

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Walking with Jesus

Posted on April 12, 2018 by

It’s a funny thing being a Christian. You get saved and you start this journey of living like Jesus. The Bible calls this being a disciple but it seems as time goes on we tend to forget Jesus. I know we would say that’s not true but if we’re honest at one time or another all of us would have to admit that we’ve fallen into the trap of just going through the motions. We do our checklist: go to church, pray, read the Bible and maybe a few other things.

Martin Luther once said “Everyday we need to be reminded of the gospel because everyday we forget it.”

Matthew 13:52 NLT “Then he added, “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.“”

As Christians we can develop a mindset that the gospel is basic, it’s the beginning and once we grow a little that the birth, death and resurrection is just something we know. When it comes to our daily walk with Jesus, the life of Jesus and the major events of incarnation (the birth of Jesus), His death and resurrection need to continually be a source of meditation and comfort.

When we read the words, new gems of truth as well as old, there are multiple meanings we can see there. Old and New Testaments, Jewish roots and in Christ realities, reformed theology and charismatic renewal, and on and on this list could go.

As we walk with Jesus we need to pray that we don’t just see black and red words on white paper but that the words we read become alive to us.

John 1:1-5, 14 NLT “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not understood it. So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”

When we grab a hold of the truth in that passage our Bible reading will never be the same. Our relationship with Jesus will never be the same.

God is so vast, Jesus is so vast that no matter how many years you have read and studied the Bible there is always more to learn. When we are firmly planted in Truth – God’s Word – our growth will never get off the right path. There are new things to learn and those new things will always line up with Scripture.

An everyday relationship with Jesus will connect things that we have been taught don’t go together. I have really been seeing that the last few days in my own walk with Jesus. We have to be willing to get out of our natural minds and see the unity in the spirit.

We all find ourselves at times going through the motions. We find ourselves reading and not getting anything out of it. We find ourselves praying and feeling like our prayers are hitting the ceiling.

Take a moment today and pray the two passages of Scripture I mentioned. Pray that how your relationship with God started will be connected to your present and that joy would rise in your heart. Pray that it would no longer be words on paper but you would receive life when you read the Bible.

One of the keys to getting out of a spiritual slump is to not give up. Go revisit the gospels and Paul’s letters again. Pray that as you read it would be life and encouragement. Ask and receive understanding and strength.

An everyday relationship with Jesus will have ups and downs. The important thing is we don’t give up in down times and in good times we still move forward with tenacity.

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Passover 2018: Tearing Down Walls

Posted on March 30, 2018 by

This year as I have been praying over my Passover post, one scripture has come over and over in my mind. Ephesians 2:14 NIV “For he himself is our peace, who has made two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.”

Passover is all about freedom from bondage and a shift in thinking. For the Hebrews to come out of bondage, it wasn’t enough to just physically leave Egypt, they had to mentally leave slavery.

The Church and our world today are both bound with wrong thinking and wrong perceptions. During this cycle of feasts in 2018; the Hebrew year 5778, a year of new beginnings, a year of war. This is also a seventy year, seventy meaning a choice between unity and disunity. Israel’s seventieth anniversary is this year! I want to focus on tearing down walls in the church world and in the world.

ONE NEW MAN

From the very beginning God intended for Jew and Gentile to be one. Even in the Old Testament (First Covenant) Gentiles connected with the Jewish people. Moses father-in-law was a Gentile who said, “I will follow you, but let me first go get my people and then come back to you.” It wasn’t until Acts ten that Gentiles first heard the gospel. From that time the enemy has pulled out all the stops to keep Jews and Gentiles separated. The truth is we as Christians have a Jewish Savior, a Jewish Bible, we have a Hebrew heritage. Wether you want to call it Hebrew heritage or Jewish roots, the New Testament (Renewed Covenant) is clear, Jesus never intended to start a second group divorced from the first.

Galatians 3:9 NASB “So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”

Romans 11:13-24 NIV “13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. 22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!”

There is much talk about end times and rapture and how almost all signs are fulfilled. Forget natural signs. Scripture is clear that Jesus is coming back for a bride without spot or wrinkle. The Christian Church even among people in the same denomination are so divided we are not close to the Lord’s return. Even with how far off we are with that, Jesus is not stopping in Jerusalem to get the Jews and then stopping at denominational headquarters to get the Christians. He is coming back for one new man. We Christians are called to provoke the Jews to jealousy. That isn’t going to happen because we have big bank accounts, that is going to happen because our relationship with Jesus produces revelation of the relevance of the first covenant and obedience to the Word of God including participating in the joyous feasts each year, resting at Shabbat each week, doing acts of kindness and sharing the Jewishness of Jesus, Yeshua, the Messiah with His chosen people. To the Jew first then the Greek.

There is more that can be said on this subject but for all that see my Hebrew Heritage Series along with the Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles teaching series.

The last several years have seen a surge in a love for Israel among the Church and I praise God for that! Along with that though, we must begin reading the Bible with Hebrew eyes and a Hebrew understanding. We must love and share the good news with our Jewish brothers and sisters and become one new man.

If this portion of the post has stirred something in you, I want to encourage you to read the other series I have mentioned and to sow a Passover offering to bless the Jewish people. There are a number of great Christian ministries that are blessing the Jewish people and sharing the Messiah with them. If you do not know of one, I encourage you to give to Larry Huch Ministries. They support a hospital, have an olive grove, help Holocaust survivors and more. If you would like to learn more about the Jewish roots of your faith, also check out the recommended reading page.

TEARING DOWN RACISM

America almost seems more divided than ever when it comes to racial issues. Wether it is gun control, cops and communities, all out Twitter wars, our country needs a healing and the root of racism needs to be plucked up. We all know this is true, yet many in the Church, myself included have been drug by the political spirit into nasty divisiveness. What is more, most churches in this nation are still divided by color. It is time for us to overthrow divisive politics in our own individual thinking. Yes, we all have positions and thoughts and that is fine but the Church isn’t helping heal a broken world right now.

My prayer during this Passover season is that we in the body of Christ would have eyes to see. That we would come out of bondage to political ideology and reach out to those we disagree and hear their stories and learn how to pray with and for one another. It sounds cheesy but it’s true, there is only one race and that’s the human race. Examine your heart today has a political spirit taken root in your heart that has put you on sides concerning racial issues or issues made to be about race? Do you hear someone you disagree with and automatically boil with anger? Remove the roots of anger, bitterness, hatred and anything else that does not belong in your life. Take back control.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

I try to keep these posts somewhat short and I’m already at length. Even though there is much more that can be said on these and other topics, I want to leave you with one thought. I am redeemed by the blood of the Lamb out of the hand of the enemy. That is Passover in a nutshell. Thanks to Dr. Robert he idler for that phrase.

Four years ago at this time, the Lord brought me back to the teaching on Jewish roots that I didn’t understand when I was twelve. It began changing my life four years ago and this year God accelerated that. If your heart has not come alive to that, that’s ok. I hope you will still be encouraged through the teachings on this site. If something has awakened in you, please don’t ignore it. Search things out, read books, listen to teachings and pray that Holy Spirit would give you direction.

Pray for your nation, wether you live in America or somewhere else. Pray that bondage of your fellow Christians would be broken and that the hearts of those who don’t know Jesus will be open to Him. Recommit yourself to the Lord on this Good Friday. Ask for a fresh revelation of the cross and resurrection. Set aside time to take communion today and reflect on our wonderful savior.

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Growing on Your Path

Posted on March 9, 2018 by

It has been a couple of months since I have posted but that has not been due to a lack of things to talk about. Since beginning #Jesus2018 it has been an everyday thing to hear and receive and as a result grow and gain revelation for my path, especially in the last four or five weeks. This is not going to be a post on what I have been hearing but my thoughts and observations of how we typically hinder our own growth and how to move forward.

One of the things Holy Spirit has been using to teach me lately is how the Hebrews moved in the wilderness, they moved when the cloud or pillar moved – they remained mobile. We need to do the same thing in our relationship with the Lord. Another thing I have seen is following in new obedience and going on a new path. One time Moses was told to strike a rock, the next time he was told to speak to it. Moses chose not to speak but to strike the rock as before and because of that decision Moses did not enter the promise land (Deuteronomy 20:11-12). Moses tried to operate in this season with last seasons word. As Christians part of our growth is changing seasons. Many times when the Lord begins to do something new in our lives it is easier to run to something comfortable, to the last revelation we received.

This has been a hard thing in my own walk with Father. Last season is so comfortable, an initial revelation or understanding is comfortable but a deeper understanding is unknown and at times scary. This is what has been revealed and is still being revealed to me. A few weeks ago Holy Spirit showed me that I was in a stream I was comfortable with but it wasn’t my stream. A message from Benny Hinn that was on YouTube confirmed this. As the weeks progressed I was also shown that the different streams I have been a part of formed the river that flowed out of me. A few days ago as I was catching up on some shows I heard the Lord say, Casey, it’s not healing that you are called to but deliverance and healing will be part of that.

In these last weeks the Lord has been making it clear who I am! Not what is comfortable, not what is easy, but WHO I AM! And I believe that is a word for many in the body and that has been confirmed through words from Chuck Pierce and Lana Vawser. We are in a season of finding our identity.

I have seen my foundation as who I am but you build on a foundation. My passion has always been for a continual revival and I am gifted and trained in the ministry of deliverance. These things are streams in me that make up the river. This has been growth. I have always heard and talked about the stream and BAM! A few days ago Holy Spirit says, let the streams in you make your river.

I discovered that I was trying to fit a mold, multiple molds actually – We have to stop! Jesus made each of us different for a reason, He used no mold. Denominations, movements, associations, they are to be vehicles not molds. Each car manufacture makes many different models under the same name, this is how we need to view the body of Christ. So many times we are running a race against each other, all trying to one-up the other and appear more spiritual and have the latest revelation. We are running the same race, we are a team, not competitors.

I am going to start posting on a regular basis again but I know these first two months have been important for me to become who I am and many people I walk this journey with are saying the same thing for themselves. Many are facing battles, keep your eyes on Jesus! Allow not only a shift but a complete new beginning in this year of 8! Get away with the Lord and ask for your identity to be revealed. As we are in this season of Passover and resurrection draw nearer to Jesus and see Him, hear Him and know Him in a new way.

I am praying that each of us grow beyond anywhere we have ever been and more than we could dream. I pray that each of us be willing to throw off old seasons and old identities. The Lord would urge you now to let go of past hurt and rejection, throw off bitterness and embrace the new identity He has for you. We are close to the beginning of this years feast cycle, take advantage of this time, draw close, Hear Father’s heart for you and receive your new identity.

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Jesus 2018

Posted on December 27, 2017 by

This has always been my favorite picture of Jesus

It may sound funny declaring 2018 the year of Jesus (and no, this has nothing to do with the rapture) because everything is about Jesus after all. That’s the thing, everything is so all about Jesus that it’s not. I have become so accustom to Jesus, He’s not Jesus anymore.

We’ve read (I’ve read) the stories so much, I’ve become so used to them that I catch myself many times skimming and not reading. Every year around October I pray and ask the Lord for a “theme” for the next year. He spoke quickly, 2018 is the year of Jesus, a year to get to know me, personally, who I am, what I’m like, the point behind my miracles, get to know my Jewishness, get to know me through other traditions. As funny as it sounded I knew 2018 was the year of Jesus for me.

I’m the type of person that I get tunnel vision easily, the Lord can speak and I focus on that one thing. When it comes to Jesus, I know that I am called to read, study, understand and teach from a Hebrew (Jewish) perspective but yet in 2018 I will be looking at Jesus from many angles including the catholic view of communion and prayer. This is something the Lord has been slowly moving me towards for a year, being able to see Jesus through many different perspectives. No Christian group has everything about Jesus down, we’ve missed the biggest part by divorcing Jesus from His Jewishness. Anyway, as I have prayed and talked with the Lord these last few months I have been asking for fresh insight, a reintroduction to Jesus if you will.

Ephesians is my favorite of Paul’s letters, yet in Revelation it is the Church at Ephesus that is told that it had left her first love. Paul hardly issues any corrections in Ephesians, they are a model church. Now I wouldn’t say I left my first love, it’s not something Holy Spirit has said I’ve done but I have let Jesus, I have let the stories become usual to me. My prayer during these last few months has been that 2018 will be a year that I fall back in love with Jesus, that the joy of my salvation will be restored.

As part of the year of Jesus, I will also be reading one biography a month of a minister that has had a great relationship with the Lord and an outstanding ministry. I will continually read Isaiah, Proverbs, the Gospels and the Books of Moses all year.

the Hebrew year 5778 is the year of the door, it is the year of new beginnings, wisdom (thus reading Proverbs continually) and financial prosperity. 2017 for me has been very much about preparation, going through the most rewarding, yet the most warring season I’ve been in. Jesus is the door of salvation, we now that, but He is so much more and 2018 is a year that I will be discovering Jesus all over again. If this interests you, join me on the path of rediscovering Jesus in 2018. I will be posting here throughout the year, but much will be posted on Instagram and Twitter as well, so if you don’t already follow me go ahead and join me on the journey there.

I am looking forward to an amazing year of knowing Jesus better.     

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The Lost Key of Personal Growth

Posted on November 15, 2017 by

In today’s society of microwave mentality and (the new and improved) 280 characters or less Twitter world, many of us have lost the ability to read anything longer than one page long. As much as we have access to in this digital age, if we are honest with ourselves we would say most have become lazy, lies on all sides of media, group think, and lives of running around like a chicken with our heads cut off have robbed us of personal growth.

I am a firm believer in reading books. Even though e-books have become popular I still believe it is more beneficial to hold the book in your hand and have a pen in the other to make annotations. It is necessary in our day to encourage us to become readers again and specifically readers of three types of books; books that encourage us, books that cause us to think deeply and biographies.  

Many people are able to read for pure enjoyment or as an escape of reality, there is nothing wrong with that but along with that, if we want to grow personally, if we want to learn, if we want to become better people we will read good books, books that make us better people.

Most of my reading as you can imagine centers around books on the Bible and theology. While I believe it is important for all believers to read these type of things from time to time, if you are not a minister, things that make you think deeply may be a book written by someone who has a different political opinion that you, or a book on psychology. if you have an interest in science or another field of study read those kind of books to help stimulate your thinking.

Biographies are amazing, we can read the good and bad in peoples’ lives. Reading biographies of great leaders also fit within the bounds of encouraging reading. I have found biographies to be inspiring, challenging and some are even very entertaining. Start with a historical figure you admire, and then move on to a biography of someone in your field that has accomplished great things.

If you are not a reader start by reading a book a quarter and as you become accustomed to reading move that up to a book a month. Once you have done this for a while you will develop an appetite for reading. You may even find yourself reading multiple books at a time. Next year I will read one biography a month along with whatever other reading I find myself doing. As you get in the habit of reading, make a list of books you want to read and maybe even the order you would like to read them. it can also be beneficial to set aside an extended period of time just to read books on a certain subject.

Even when you read for information you can find it to be relaxing. Why don’t you make an early new year’s resolution, whatever fits you, to read, whether it be a book every two or three months, or a book a month. Do yourself a favor in 2018 become a better person, become a more knowledgeable person, become better informed on things that interest you by reading more books.

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Developing Unwavering Faith

Posted on November 8, 2017 by

Do you ever find yourself wondering why something hasn’t happened yet? Do you struggle from time to time wondering if what you’ve been believing for is going to come to pass? We all have thoughts of doubt at times but it’s what we do with those doubts that matter. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 in the Amplified Classic Bible tells us how to manage our thought life. “For the weapons of a warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, 5 [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

Our faith can’t afford negative thoughts running freely in our minds. Romans 4:19-21 NKJV “And not being weak in faith, he [Abraham] did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waiver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He promised He was also able to perform.” Abraham did not waiver because he strengthened himself by thanking God in advance. Hebrews 11:6 says that we must have faith and believe that God rewards those who seek Him. Faith first and foremost isn’t used to get us stuff but to help us seek Him. When our faith only becomes about the getting of stuff you better believe you will get discouraged. Our faith must primarily be based on and in our daily relationship with God just because of the fact He is God.

Hebrews 12:2 NIV “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith…” Proverbs 4:24-25 in the Message Paraphrase, “Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies and gossip. Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions.”

When we keep our focus on Jesus and the Word of God and couple that with speaking things that are in line with God’s Word our faith will stay at an expectant level. A negative thought left unspoken dies. When we speak the thought of doubt is when the seed is planted and weakens our faith. To keep our faith strong our praise needs to be strong. Abraham thanked God before he ever saw the promise come to pass and we need to do the same.

It’s easy to allow negative thoughts to change our faith but when we have those thoughts we literally need to speak to them. Jesus spoke to the fig tree and it died. If we will speak to doubt and negativity it will die.

Faith is strengthened through time in the Word, praise, and helping other people. If you are believing for something, find someone believing for the same thing and sow into them. If you are believing for a family member to get saved, begin praying for a friends unsaved family member.

Faith only produces when it is firing on all cylinders. Get in the Word, start praising God, and sow into someone else and you will walk in an unwavering and immovable faith!    

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Reformed and Always Reforming

Posted on October 26, 2017 by

October 31, 2017 is the 500th anniversary of what’s known as the Protestant reformation. I thought about doing a series of posts on the history and the theology that developed from the reformation but I will leave that to Ligonier and Desiring God. Instead I want to focus on why the reformation still matters, my connection with the theology, how certain things from its beginning need to be corrected and how we can walk in the spirit of the reformation today.

WHY THE REFORMATION STILL MATTERS:

Martin Luther and his 95 Theses are known as the catalyst of the reformation. The interesting thing is Luther wasn’t looking to start a new church, just reform the Catholic Church. When that didn’t go as Luther planned things progressed from there. Luther ignited a Biblical resurgence that was later carried by John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, and my personal favorite, Charles Haddon Spurgeon and many others. I know many probably don’t read thick theological books or listen to theologically oriented sermons but we cannot have the practical without doctrine being established first and that is why the reformation still matters. Even if your church is Arminian/Wesleyan you still owe gratitude to Luther because without him, we would all still be in a system which base is not the Word of God but man-made extras. Yes, we have gotten off in areas as well, which we will address latter. There is no denying that through that point in history and the resurgence of the new Calvinism we began seeing in the early 2000’s hasn’t helped realign the Church doctrinally. I know the Church of today is all about practicality but if you don’t know and understand doctrine you will not know how to practically apply the Bible. You may not dive deep into the thick books but there are easy reads out there to help any level of study.

MY INTRODUCTION TO AND JOURNEY IN REFORMED THEOLOGY

My journey in reformed theology also known as Calvinism began in 2008. It actually began a little before that but I didn’t know it at the time. I had been listening to a radio broadcast from Pastor Steve Solomon since probably around the age of twelve. When I started driving I would go to his service on Saturday night then my church on Sunday mornings. in 2008 he started a series called Romans 8 in 2008. By late February of that year Riverwalk Fellowship became my home church. As Pastor Steve taught through Romans eight he mentioned two books; God’s Passion for His Glory by John Piper and The Sermons of Jonathan Edwards. I got both books from the church bookstore and that was the beginning of my discovery of Calvinism. This lead to reading more books by John Piper and Charles Spurgeon and listening to Mark Driscoll and Dr. James White. I began following The Gospel Coalition and its writers. Pastor Steve gave me Charles Hodge’s three volume Systematic Theology and for the three years I was at Riverwalk I dove head first into Calvinism. I left Riverwalk to move to Houston which lead me down a path of joining the Nazarene Church and studying Wesleyanism for three years. You may be wondering how I could go from a solid three years of Calvinism to the opposite view, my answer, the sovereign plan of God to expose me to both understandings. It is interesting that one of John Wesley’s closest ministry friends was a Calvinist. Jacob Arminius said Calvin had written the best Bible commentary. We can allow ourselves to become so easily divided. John Wesley said if it wasn’t for the belief in predestination he would be a Calvinist. There are parts of both theologies I agree with but when it comes to Christian beliefs I am Calvinist in theology and Word of Faith in practical application. These two things seem opposed to many but I have come to understand that the truth of God’s word is not relegated to one group. We all understand in part and we need each other. I got away from theology for more practical application in the last few years but recently the Lord called me back to refresh myself in my theological foundations so I am revisiting those first books recommended by Pastor Steve.

CORRECTING SOME ERRORS:

Martin Luther and some other reformers should be honored for how they helped move the Church forward but we should not celebrate them because they have also hurt the Church as much as helped it. Later in life Martin Luther became vehemently anti-Semitic which is a problem. We have a Bible because of the Jews, our savior is Jewish and while we are not called to be Jewish, Paul wrote in Romans nine through eleven that we should not forget we have been grafted in to a Jewish root and the root supports the branches. If you have read this blog for a period of time you know that I embrace a Hebrew understanding of the Bible and I love Israel. All of us can make mistakes in our beliefs, hating the Jewish people was one of Martin Luther’s and it spread throughout Church history but in our day we are seeing a number of believers begin to love Israel and the Jewish people again and for that I say praise God.

Many of  the early reformers were not known for embracing the move of the Spirit but what has been termed the “new Calvinism” has. Pastors and teachers such as John Piper, Wayne Grudem, Sam Storms and Mark Driscoll have been able to open up many in Reformed churches to the gifts and ministry of the Holy Spirit. My prayer is that as time goes on many who hold to Calvinist theology will also see the truth in Word of Faith teachings as well.

WALKING IN THE REFORMATION TODAY:

While the reformation did give rise to a specific theology it must be that and more to us today. The reformation happened because things in that day needed to come back into focus, just as things in our day and in the past have needed to become re-centered on Biblical Truth. We have a tendency in the Church world to disregard the last move with each new move, that’s why a reformation becomes necessary. As we continue to get new light on the teaching of Scripture let us remember we cannot build anew if we get rid of the foundation.            

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Brought out and taken in

Posted on October 4, 2017 by

Do you remember the old song, He brought us out to take us in….though there be giants in the land I will not be afraid, so let us go at once to our inheritance? This is what I think of when the feast of Tabernacles comes up. Tabernacles is a celebration commissioned by God so that Israel would remember their time in the wilderness.

The Children of Israel were not supposed to spend forty years in the wilderness, it was supposed to be a short trip through the wilderness to the promised land. How many times do we all do this, stop longer than we should or not heed instructions? But that is not what Tabernacles is about. Tabernacles is about God’s grace, God’s Provision and God’s nearness. Many of us start our walks as Jesus followers excited and then slow down due to distractions. God led the Hebrews the long way so they would not be tempted to turn around and go back. Why? Because the short route included a couple battles along the way, that alone is a message in itself.

The root word for wilderness and the Holy of Holies is the same word. It’s when we find ourselves in desert places that God is so close. We have misunderstood wilderness in our western culture. We look at wilderness as a bad thing, yet it was the wilderness where God spoke to Moses and let His goodness pass him. It was the wilderness where God’s presence first came to the Children of Israel, it is the wilderness where Jesus was filled with power, and it is the wilderness of life where many of us have found God and move forward.

Now grant it we should never live there but we should understand what the wilderness is, it is not a bad place but a meeting place with God for transitional time. Think about the instances mentioned, the wilderness catapulted those individuals into a completely different realm of life. Tabernacles is a celebration of God being with us.

Leviticus 23:33-44 gives us the outline of the celebration of Tabernacles and there are two things I want to look at. First, the giving aspect. Leviticus 23:37-38 NKJV “These are the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day – 38 besides the Sabbaths of the LORD, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the LORD.”

Now before we get into the giving aspect I want to share a quote from Tiz Huch, “God is not trying to get something from us, He is trying to get something to us”. The enemy has convinced so many believers that giving is a taboo subject and that all the Church is about is money. I’m going to have a moment of blunt honesty with us, we are willing to give money for game tickets, willing to give money to eat out, watch movies, and more why aren’t we willing to give to God, the one who has given us the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18). We must break out of this anti-giving, anti-prosperous mindset the enemy has over much of the Church. We are blessed to be a blessing and if we only have enough for what we need we cannot be a blessing to others.

Verse thirty eight says besides Sabbaths, gifts, vows, and freewill offerings. Giving during the Feasts is what opens the windows of Heaven. Malachi three says we rob God in tithes and offerings. If we are not givers, why should we expect the blessing of God? God loves a cheerful and prompt to do giver. We sometimes hear, that’s Old Testament, tithing and giving isn’t mentioned in the New, we can just give whenever. Jesus and all the disciples were Jewish, there was no need to go over things that were already established and Malachi three and four were written to Gentiles, it is for us. Giving is what unlocks the door of blessing. These are not celebrations relegated to the Jews, they are God’s feasts and we are grafted in to the root and invited to join the celebration. Do as Malachi says, give and see that God will open the windows and rebuke the devour. And give with expectation to reap a harvest.

The second thing I want to draw our attention to is found in verse thirty nine, on the first and eighth day there shall be a sabbath rest. Hebrews four tells us that a rest remains for the children of God. It is good, it is biblical for us to have one day each week that is set aside for rest, especially with the kids of lives we live today. The rest of God, can be present everyday for those of us who will be willing to walk in that rest.

Tabernacles is a reminder every year that we have been delivered from the bondage of sin and have open and free access to a relationship with God. One last Scripture in closing, Deuteronomy 23:13-14 NKJV “and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse. 14 For the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you.”

Bury your poop because God doesn’t want to step in it. Yep, that’s in the Bible. Sin is poop and God doesn’t want to see or smell it. That’s why Romans six through eight is all about how we are free from sin and how to continue to live free from it. It’s Tabernacles, check your toilets, make sure they’re flushed and spray some Febreze, God is coming to hang out.

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