Unless YOU change...

Matthew 18:3..."unless you change and become like little children"...

Unless YOU change...because I am unchanging. I am not moveable. I am the same yesterday, today, forever... and become like little children...You have spent your whole lives trying to grow up, trying to mature, trying to be in control of your future and your destiny. Many of you have too many pains from childhood to ever desire to go back there. You may have even been robbed of your childhood...you may not know how to act like a child. But you must let go and change and become like little children. All that is changing around you is my grace. I want you so badly to come back to me. I want to be your Father. I want you to rely on me as your provider. I want you to trust me for your future. Children do not worry about money and retirement accounts and all of the things that have occupied you over the years. They do not try to control everything and are not self reliant. They are dependent. The world has been teaching you differently and you have become it's student. Turn back to me as your teacher. Change. Trust. Release the complicated and embrace the simple. Rest. Rely on me. It's time.

The Lines are Blurred

I heard that yesterday as I was praying about Keith's truck getting stolen.  I realized that the lines are getting very blurred.  What we once would have expected in other places but not in our own backyard is getting ready to be prevalent.  The Lord showed me that because we, as a nation and as a people,  have blurred the lines between right and wrong, because we have watered down the truth, because we have called evil good and good evil...that the lines around us are going to get more and more "blurred".  It is time to stand up and shout the truth from the mountaintops...IN LOVE...and stand up and say no more...without fear of persecution, without fear of what others will think of us (pride) and with boldness and with the knowledge that the Lord will protect us coming and going.  Stopping the blurring of truth has to start with us...for the ONE who IS truth lives in us.  

Availability precedes possibility

I was recently asked to speak for our Friday night SOS meeting.  As soon as I was asked I heard/saw the word POSSIBILITY...so, I wrote it down.  I realized that the day before, in church, I had heard the word AVAILABILITY...so, I wrote it down.  I love the way the Lord gives us bits and pieces!  I began to pray about those two words and as I was riding my bike the next night the Lord said to me..."Availability precedes possibility".  Wow.

The suffix ITY means to be in a state or condition of.  So, availability means to be in a state of being available.  Unity would mean being in a state of oneness.  Activity means being in a state of being active...and so on...you get the picture.

The Lord wants us to begin to be a people who LIVE IN A CONSTANT STATE OR CONDITION OF BEING AVAILABLE!  Available means ready for use, at hand, readily obtainable and accessible.  How do you act when you are available?  Ready, prepared, senses sharp, waiting with expectation, present, seeking, on go, eager for what awaits.  It is time for us to get unencumbered by all that preoccupies us so that we can be available.  I had to clear my plate two years ago...and seek, wait, make myself available for whatever HE wanted.  

So, that state precedes possibility...living in a state of possible!!  "WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!!"  That word WITH in the hebrew means:  properly near, beside, in proximity to. It is so much more than a nice scripture that we say when things feel impossible. It is a deep truth that we really need to grasp. If we are with God (properly near, in proximity to) impossibility cannot even exist for it cannot be in His presence!!! Can you see it??? IMPOSSIBILITY CANNOT EXIST IN PROXIMITY TO HIM!!!! We have accessibility and availability NOW to the kingdom of heaven where, because of proximity to Him impossibility cannot even exist!!!

It is time for us to be properly near, beside, in a state of mind and a condition of heart, to be ready for use and walking in total belief, completely relying upon God's ability and not our own and KNOWING that all things are possible because we are available and so near to Him that impossibility has to flee!!!  Believe it, see it, grasp it, and walk in it!!  

Provoked

This one may come across too strong but I woke up thinking about this so here it goes.

76% of Americans claim to be Christians.  There are 310,749,195 people in the United States.  That means that roughly 240,000,000 million people say they are christians.  I am provoked at this and call NO WAY!  There is NO WAY that many people are Christians and we still have the issues and non-transformational communities and cities that we have.  There is no way that many people can be Christians and yet we have over 700,000 people homeless in our country.  There is no way that many people can be Christians and yet there are only around 120,000 adoptions each year.  There is no way that many people can be Christians.  WHAT IF just 1% of those who claim to be Christians woke up to the truth about what it really means...

Can you imagine 2.4 million people loving their neighbor as themselves!  

Can you imagine 2.4 million people seeking to restore people caught in ANY trespass!

Can you imagine 2.4 million people who know their job is to edify and build up and never tear down!

Can you imagine 2.4 million people realizing that Jesus is IN THEM...what would they do!??!?!?

Can you imagine 2.4 million people that choose to stop looking at self issues, self problems, self stuff, and started looking and asking the question...who can I reach out to, love, and pour into today!

Can you imagine 2.4 million people on fire to fulfill their purpose and to walk in their calling and to become the solution to the problems of this day instead of seeking what they want to do for a career and to make money!

Can you imagine 2.4 million people rising up to speak truth in love!

I could go on and on but I won't.  Feel free to add your own "Can you imagine"...would love to hear them!  

1% of the passionate can affect the 99% who are lukewarm and lethargic.  1%.  Again, I am provoked.  Wake up people!  Be who you are called to be!  Realize WHO YOU ARE and more importantly WHO IS IN YOU!  That means if just 3 people in a lukewarm church of 300 would get provoked and become so sick and tired of the status quo and the mediocrity and the Sunday morning socials...that they may actually spark others into seeing that there is SO MUCH MORE!!!!  Be the one.  Choose to be passionate, and a builder, and a lover, and one that seeks to reach out.  Choose to go deeper and deeper.  Choose to not settle with the problems you see and not to be overwhelmed and to think that JUST ONE can't affect change.  Yes you can.  It has to start somewhere...might as well be with you.

Easy and Light

I haven't been able to stop thinking about this scripture all week.  Matthew 11:29 says:  " Take MY yoke upon you and learn from ME, for I am gently and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and My burden is light."  These are words you can trust in and believe.  Not until now, do I think I have really understood them.  I am walking in the place that HE called me, that HE designed for me, that He ordained.  I am not there due to credentials, background, greatness, or because I filled out an application.  I am there because I hungered for the One who knows more about where I should be and what I should be doing than I ever could.  He wants to place us where it is BEST...but in order to get there, we must listen, trust totally, and obey instantly.  To be yoked with Him means that we are right beside Him.  It IS easy and light and effortless.  I just keep saying to Him this week as MSU bootcamp has started...is it really this simple Jesus?  Yes...it is.

Words for 2011

I have been meaning to sit down and write these out...and tonight, since I cannot sleep, it simply seemed like a good time to do just that!  These are just the four very clear words that I have received personally from the Lord about 2011.  Enjoy.

1.  2011 will be a year of weakness.  

At first glance, a year of weakness does not sound great.  When the Lord first told me this on September 18th, I thought it was more of a "corporate" word and didn't realize how quickly it would hit me personally.  

Entering a year of weakness means that we can actually stop trying so hard and just let God be God.  When we are weak, He IS strong.  He is our strength.  He wants us to stop trying to figure everything out. This busyness of the mind is actually causing depression and anxiety for people.  It is keep ing people focused on their problems.  It is taking people out of peace.  Imagine, in business for example, if people would just get simple and stop trying so hard to get it all together.   Our flesh is weak, but our spirit is strong.  It is a year to let our flesh operate in the way it was intended to.  When we actually acknowledge our weakness, our spirits will begin to rise up and take the lead over our souls and our bodies.  In this year of weakness, we will begin to see how much we need each other.  We will stop trying to be independent and realize that interdependency is a beautiful thing.  We will become more transparent and more reliant on others.  So this year, I encourage you to be WEAK.  Become totally dependent on Him and on others.  Tell your soul (mind, will, and emotions) to stop trying to figure it out and to take a back seat to your spirit.  

2.  2011 will be a year of Love and Obedience.  

We are in a year of Deuteronomy 11.  "Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgements, and His commandments ALWAYS."  

I heard this from the Lord very clearly on New Year's Eve.  It is a year for Love and Obedience to reign.  I know for me, personally, obedience is what unlocked the door to actually begin to love and see people (including myself) the way God does.  Obedience is hard for many because it usually means doing something we wouldn't otherwise feel comfortable doing.  It causes us to yield to self.  But obedience is a path that you can trust.  He is calling each one of us to remembrance of what He has done in our lives....what He has done for us even in the wilderness.  " Your eyes have seen every great act that the Lord did...THEREFORE...keep every commandment which I have given you, BE STRONG, and GO IN and possess the land which you cross over to possess."  Remembrance stirs something up in you.  It takes your eyes off of the now and reminds you of how much you have been blessed already.  THEREFORE, He says...keep every commandment.  The first and greatest of which is LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.  That love will be strength to your bones.  It is time to GO IN.  There is a "land" that you are to possess....a land that is your inheritance.  It could be your marriage, your city, your business, the next generation, any number of areas.  There is a land that you KNOW you are called to take possession of.  Stop focusing on how and just start focusing on loving more.  

Vs. 10 says: "For the land, which you go to possess, is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden."  In other words...where we are going in 2011 is NOT like the place where we are coming from. You are leaving  a land where you were in captivity and where you were striving.  That is the sowing and watering by foot.  Striving is no good and never leads to a large crop!  It produces small vegetable gardens that have to be worked over and over again....by you...by hand. 

vs 11 BUT THE LAND WHICH YOU CROSS OVER TO POSSESS IS A LAND OF HILLS AND VALLEYS WHICH DRINKS WATER FROM THE RAIN OF HEAVEN!!!  Doesn't that sound so much better!?!?!  It is so much larger than you can imagine, so lush with greenness, and it drinks the rain of heaven which means there will be no striving!  

vs 12 " a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are ALWAYS on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year."  Wow.  That's the kind of land I want to possess...Ask God what land HE wants to possess through YOU this year.  I'll bet it will be a land that will require love and obedience for you to possess it.  

So much more on this one to write.  More to come!!

3.  2011 will be a year of Certainty.

This will be a year where God will actually begin clothing you with certainty.  He will remind you of the dreams and visions He has given you.  He wants you to walk in them.  There is no room for doubt and unbelief because this is the year to see them come forth.  IF you will stop, look, and listen, you will hear Him and see confirmations all around you that you can walk in CERTAINTY on the path He is calling you to...in the land HE is calling you to possess.  As an example, He told me two years ago that I was an unlocker.  He showed me a set of "jailer's keys" and said..."let's go unlock some prison doors"... we went in together and it was so dark.  There were people piled on top of people behind these prison doors just clawing at us wanting to get out.  I saw the faces of so many, and as Jesus and I would unlock a door, they would come out, one by one, from that place of darkness into the light.  One girl was dressed in really goth clothing, she looked so sad, and when she came out from behind the door she began to twirl and was instantly a beautiful ballerina.  One guy was the same way and walked out and was instantly dressed as a doctor with a stethoscope around his neck.  It went on and on.  THe Lord told me that day that I was to unlock dreams and destiny in people.  Recently, I was at the mall and bought some items from two different stores.  Each receipt totaled $42.42...Odd, I thought.  That night, as I was falling asleep, I knew I was supposed to look up Isaiah 42.  You will have to read the whole scripture....but around verse 6 it says that I, the Lord, have called you!  And I WILL hold your hand and I will be with you to open blind eyes and to bring out prisoners from the prison...those who sit in darkness from the prison houses (paraphrasing)!!!!  WOW!!!  I couldn't believe it!!!  It was such a kiss from the Lord.  Such a reminder when I needed it most.  Such a reminder in a time of doubt and wondering.  

What He has shown you and asked of you or promised you He will make sure you are certain of this year.  Your calling is sure.  It is time to walk in it with such certainty and to know that HE will take your hand and lead you this year by a way you did not know before and that He will make your crooked places straight.  

This year is time to stand on the promises and not forsake them.  Bring them back out.  Blow off the dust.  Look for Him to speak to you and show you through even the littlest of things like purchase totals!  You CAN BE CERTAIN!!!

And Lastly...

4.  2011 will be a year of promises fulfilled.  

Deuteronomy 1:11" May the Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous that you are, and bless you as He has promised you."

His promises are forever.  They are always yes and amen.  You can stand on them.  Your unfulfilled dreams and promises are your greatest arguments before the throne of God.  Stir them back up.  This is not a season to lie down and forget.  It is not a season to roll over and play dead.  It is not a season to look at your circumstances and your surroundings and give up.  That is exactly what the enemy wants you to do.  Pull those promises back out and KNOW that IF it is  a promise from God you can take it to the bank!  

I bless you all this year with promises fulfilled, a certainty of your calling and where you are going,  more love than you can handle, the courage to walk in obedience, and the ability to be totally weak and lean on Him and His strength 100%.    2011 is going to be a great ride, so buckle your seat belts and let's go!!!