The Cross as

Yesterday, just as I was waking, still half asleep/half awake....

 

I was pondering some current issues/struggles I’m dealing with in my soul.  As I did I saw a pic of myself hooked up to a dialysis machine.  But the machine was the Cross.  My blood was being purified via the Cross.  And the cool thing about this was I could ‘feel’ it.  I could feel impurities flowing out of me (anger, impure thoughts, frustration, and other stuff I couldn’t identify) and be cleansed by the Cross. 

 

Whether this was something that was actually happening or just a ‘positional’ reality I don’t know.  But I do know I felt refreshed and more pure as I woke.  This reinforces a feeling I’ve had recently to study ALL the benefits of the Cross.  I know I, and probably most Christians, see the Cross more one-dimensionally (“finished work of Jesus that gets me into heaven”) than we should.  I may spend my next season of devotions pondering the Cross.

Tips When Praying for Others

Over the years I've prayed for and ministered to a lot of people.  It's something I love doing. 
Here are a few suggestions when praying for other people:

Pray appropriately.

Different situations demand different prayers. You would probably pray differently for a stranger in the mall than you would a close friend at a home group.

Call to mind the person's worth.

Remember, Jesus left His place in heaven and came to earth as a babe in a stable for this very person.

You are a minister of the new covenant.

We are called by God to be bearers of glad tidings, ambassadors of His kingdom, and ministers of His new covenant. (II Cor. 3:6)

Pray with faith the things you "know".

As you begin to pray, pray what you know in your heart, as little or as much as that may be.

Leave out your opinion.

Ask God to make it clear to you what He is saying to the person.

Don't be surprised by opposition from the enemy.

Realize there is a spiritual war going on. Often there will be distractions that try to draw away your attention or the person's you are praying for. Keep focused!

You don't have anything to prove.

Just pray and don't feel like you have to apologize or explain if it "doesn't work". Leave the results to Him

The person should leave feeling loved.

If the person leaves your presence feeling loved, you can't go wrong.

Remember, it is always right to pray.

Take back whats stolen; restore whats been ruined

A friend asked me some questions about future events and what I thought was going to happen.  As I later re-read my answer to him I realized it reflected some of my core beliefs: 

1) we are to do the work of the Kingdom until he returns… and that’s all that really matters about ‘dates & times” and 

2) we are called to ‘take back’ what the enemy has stolen and restore what he’s ruined.
 Here is part of that conversation:

(his questions are italicized)

Do you believe something big is coming soon? 

Define ‘something big’ and ‘soon’ J… see below.  Without a doubt, we live in the ‘end times’ as both Paul and John said.  I do think there will be larger and larger events that happen… which I believe are opportunities for the church to demonstrate Christ-likeness.

Has God shown you anything along those lines? 

In 1983 I had a vision where Jesus actually appeared to me. It was a life changing event. “I’m coming soon” was His literal words.  In the vision I saw many ‘end-time’ things, some very disturbing.  As you can imagine I felt ‘soon’ meant in the next month or two.  Now I understand that ‘soon’ in light of eternity may be different than my understanding BUT [this is key for you] he’s making it feel urgent to you for a reason!  What that reason is, is what you need to figure out.

If so, do you believe that the Church can turn it around, or is it inevitable? 

I believe the church is to do the work of the Kingdom (ie preach the Gospel, heal the sick, release the captives, etc) until He returns. Period.  Good times, bad times, doesn’t matter.  So we must be about our business whether the economy we live in is in a depression or a bull market, or if we’re at war or peace.  The church is called to ‘take back’ what the enemy has stolen and restore what he’s ruined.  It gets back to the core theology of the Kingdom.  At least as I understand it. Geo. E Ladd’s theo textbook is the classic on this and the way I understand and view the coming of the Kingdom.  That shapes my view of everything from healing and deliverance to eschatology.  We’ll discuss this more sometime…    

...by the glory of the Father: Romans 6:4

Something I've never noticed in this verse before but the Holy Spirit highlighted to me recently... 

 ^"...just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father..."
Rom 6:4


In the Old Testament we see God's glory mentioned often:

• As God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt his manifest glory protected them in 'a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.'  
• it covered Mount Sinai when Moses went up to get the 10 commandments
• at the dedication of the temple Solomon built it was so think the priests couldn't minister but had to go outside

The glory was the tangible, visible presence of God and can be seen as part of his covenant love. It was God's covenant love that brought the people of Israel up out of Egypt.  It was his presence that protected and led them.


Fast forward to the Resurrection of Jesus and according to Paul in Romans we see that same covenant love in action; the saving, delivering power of God's glory as the power that raised Jesus from the dead.  

Built-in Favor

Last week we kept one year old grandson Micah overnight for the first time.  He’s such a blast.  He’s just getting his ‘wheels’ and acts like he’s discovering a new world at every turn.

As I was watching him play and listening to the little noises he was making I realized he has automatic favor with me.  Not just because I’m ‘supposed’ to like him.  But when I look at him I see my own son in him.  And that just gives him built-in favor with me. 

I think it’s the same way with God.  When he looks at us he sees his Son and we have the same kind of automatic, built-in favor.

Christian Tipping

Over the years I've had a handful of what I'd call 'open visions'.  Only a handful.  But what I share below is one of them.  As I drank my early morning coffee on January 31, 2012 this unfolded before me as if I was watching a movie at the cinema.  Here the vision and some thoughts:

VISION:

Two low-level demons named FEAR and INTIMIDATION were laughing together about how easily Christians were intimidated, discouraged, etc. For fun they were on their way to go  “Christian tipping”. They thought it was really funny and were making mocking jokes like Jr. High boys might do.

The next scene I saw was a flock of Christians roosting for the night (like a flock of birds).  The imps would pull on different tee-shirts; each with a different word spelled out in bold letters.  One said MONEY, another said RELATIONSHIPS, another HEALTH, another ADDICTION.  Same two demons of fear & intimidation but depending on who they were going to ‘tip’ they pulled on different tees.  Then they would walk up and ‘bump’ someone in hopes of tipping them over. 

With some the bump was a bad report about health (“oooo it’s cancer.  Isn’t that scary”) or finances (“IRS called and wants a word with you…”), etc.  If the Christian ‘tipped’ and gave in to fear and intimidation, left the roost to fly away into the night, sparrow hawks attacked them.  Much harm resulted.   

Then I saw the ‘roost’ was a dome of granite, like Enchanted Rock (a Central Texas landmark).  They were on solid ground.  All they had to do was stand their ground and not give way to the harassment.  As long as they remained on the rock they were fine.

As soon as the imps realized they couldn’t have any more ‘fun’ because the flock wouldn’t tip and fly away they got bored and left.  About then the sun came up and eagles filled the sky and drove away the sparrow hawks.

INTERPRETATION

·        The flock contained young and old believers.

·        The ‘bumps’ we’re bad reports of financial ruin, sickness, loss of relationship (divorce, etc) or fear of falling back into addiction.

·        Imps had no power or ability to make flock fly and leave the roost. 

·        The real risk of harm came as a result of giving into fear and the ACTION the believer took as a result.

·        Roost = solid rock of Christ

·        Eagles = angels

·        Sparrow hawks = higher demonic realms

APPLICATION

·        This is not a time to believe ‘bad reports’ like the children of Israel did.  It was true there were giants in the land.  It was MORE TRUE that God would deliver them, drive the giants out and give them the land.

·        When our flock gets bumped they must not give in to fear.  As Bill Johnson says “Believing the lie empowers the liar.”

·        Now is the time to stand (see all of 1 Peter 5) and keep standing on the Rock.

·        As shepherds we must keep the flock calm.  Assured of Christ’s faithfulness in every situation of life.

Radical generosity

Just had to re-post something Kris V shared this morning on FB:

By Kris Vallotton KVMinistries.com

It's impossible to separate generosity from revival. When we believe God is our provider we will simply act like it. Look at the early church's approach to giving. Luke records ;

Acts 4:34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

Two things stand out here to me;

1) people who were being rocked by God were suddenly extremely generous.

2) Although they knew the needs of the people in their town, (in those days pretty much everybody knew everybody as most people were born in the same community they would die in), yet they didn't sell their stuff and give it to the needy. They gave it to their leaders and let them distribute the money as they saw fit. In other words, they weren't just generous, they were trusting! They trusted their leaders insights into who should get the money and how much, more than they trusted their own opinion. Some would have us believe that this happen because they had perfect leaders and today's leaders are blah...blah...blah. Of course it's true that there are bad, selfish, greedy and irresponsible leaders today. But the early church had the same issues. I mean come on, the 12 apostles refused to feed certain widows because of their ethnic prejudice (see Acts 6:1). They solved the problem by choosing 7 men from same ethnic group to feed them.

Generosity and honor are two core values that are necessary for sustained revival that transforms culture.

At men's prayer this morning we prayed/declared/prophecied "Radical Generosity" over our city, businesses in our city, our families and the church.  So when I read this later it really resonated.

"Caleb driving a muscle car" dream

Had an interesting and very powerful dream Sunday:




My brother John had a classic ‘muscle car’ (’69 Chevy SS 396). It was canary yellow and in perfect condition. He let my grandson Caleb drive it (no hesitation, he had confidence he could drive it fine). I didn’t know how he was going to reach the pedals. And it was a stick shift. But there we were cruising around in this awesome car and Caleb drove it perfectly. Shifting thru the gears like a pro. LOTS of power, but he kept it under control and didn’t hot-rod. It was the perfect picture of power under control.



Not sure exactly what it all means but it was a powerfully symbolic dream with a strong emotional feel that stuck with me. Sense it was the passing of a powerful ministry to the next generation.