Why do we pray, but not believe they are really heard? Why do we read God's word, but doubt it's power? God help us to walk in unfaltering faith. Help us to walk the path already paved for us. Help us to walk in the power secured for us through Christ's victory on the cross. God has already done everything for us - yet we struggle with the smallest amount of faith needed on our end to receive.
I believe in your word. I believe it is the living word. I believe every word is true and good and just and righteous. I believe your word has the power to raise the dead, heal the sick and breathe life into dust. I believe Jesus defeated death, sickness and the devil at the cross, that every battle waged, every fear brought forth has already been defeated by our Lord Christ Jesus. The living word says that for those who believe, we are to speak in faith things that are not as if they are. I speak with boldness that what has died will become life. I know my God wants fullness of life for all of his children. Zeke is a child of God. If any of us speak in faith and with the knowledge of God's promises, we can speak life to that which is dead. Every time we speak Gods truth and it brings someone to salvation, we are bringing to life that which was dead. There is no difference between speaking forth this life (salvation) and speaking forth physical life (speaking forth resurrection) except the limits of our flesh-bound minds. God doesn't need us to believe to make anything happen, but he wants us to, he wants to reveal his glory through his creations rather than manifesting it despite us. The word says if we have faith to speak what isn't as if it is, it will be. His word says this. We only need to speak it in hopeful expectation to unleash the power of God in our midst. Why is this so hard? Why are we so weak? Lord, help us to believe, help us to receive, help us to be strong in your promises. We are to believe with unwavering faith that no matter what it looks like, no matter what the world tells us, and I matter what our flesh tells us - that your promises are true and always available. And no matter what the outcome is, we are to continue to believe. We have to train ourselves in this in all of the little things in our lives, so that when the big things come we are walking in God's power and calling forth signs and miracles, healing the sick and raising the dead.
So I believe with all my heart that the power of resurrection lies with Christ and that I have the opportunity to walk that out because I am seated with Christ at the right hand of the father. I believe that calling this child Zeke from the grave is my responsibility to him, to God and to myself. I know that in doing so, the majority of the world does not believe and stands against my belief in this. But I know the power of Christ is bigger than them, than me and than any disbelief. So Father God, I call forth your child Zeke from the grave knowing that you have more for him to do on this earth. And regardless of the worlds reaction, regardless of what is in front of me, and regardless of what my flesh tells me - I believe, help my unbelief.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
12.12.13
It's hard when something is burning on your heart so deeply, and you can't share it. My heart is burning today for two friends I love dearly, each for different reasons.
The great thing about God revealing things to you is the confidence it gives you in that area of your life, the bad part about that is trying to relay that to someone disconnected from God without coming across as arrogant and polarizing is almost impossible. Thank God that he has enough grace for all of us!
God has transformed me. He's taken all my broken parts and somehow reformed them into something completely new, something whole. There is no proper amount of gratitude that can be shown, no amount of praise that can come close to being enough. But when you are able to break through a stronghold that has been in your mind for 30+ years, that's transformative. How can you possibly stay the same?
But this transformation has cost me some that I love. And if you think you can go into the deeper things of God and it not isolate you, you're not being realistic. "Indeed, I count all things loss because of the surpassing worth of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (Phil. 3:8). Paul said it best, once you've tasted the deeper things of Christ, there is nothing you won't give up for him. But I think on those relationships lost or suffering because of my commitment to Christ. My heart aches for the ones I know intimately and deeply; but that I know will not receive what it is I have to give them. It is a sorrowful reality, to have found the answers to the questions everyone's asking but many can't see because the idea of it is too radical or too costly for them to embrace.
It is not arrogance from which I speak but from the humility of receiving the grace of God. But Satan's greatest pleasure is to turn God's grace against Him, to turn His love against Him, and to put a spin on every truth, especially the most obvious ones. We've heard these truths before. Jesus saves. God loves us so much he gave us his son. These are living words of truth and power that we've sucked the life out of to the point that they are meaningless to the masses. I've heard these and other truths a thousand times in my lifetime yet not until now have I had a revelation of their true meaning and impact on my life. You cannot intellectually comprehend the bible, you cannot cut and paste the parts that fit into your scheme of life and ignore the rest. It takes God to reveal God to us. Without his intervention, we cannot understand. And in our - I won't say ignorance because that's derogatory, many simply have seen no real example of God's grace and love in others to know its realness - absence of revelation, we make so many secret concessions in our lives that we can't hear or feel Gods presence in our lives anymore. So we modify what we know of God to suit ourselves instead of seeking truth.
I pray for a revelation of your spirit to fall upon those who I love but cannot reach. I pray for you to break through their dullness of spirit and give them a taste of what they are missing. I pray for their safety and peace, I pray that they seek you out in faith just enough to penetrate that first deeper layer. I pray that I am able to love them well and to show them your transforming power and grace through that love. And in the name of Jesus, I cast away all demonic activity penetrating their lives and minds, long enough for a moment of clarity to wash over them and set them on a path toward you. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
The great thing about God revealing things to you is the confidence it gives you in that area of your life, the bad part about that is trying to relay that to someone disconnected from God without coming across as arrogant and polarizing is almost impossible. Thank God that he has enough grace for all of us!
God has transformed me. He's taken all my broken parts and somehow reformed them into something completely new, something whole. There is no proper amount of gratitude that can be shown, no amount of praise that can come close to being enough. But when you are able to break through a stronghold that has been in your mind for 30+ years, that's transformative. How can you possibly stay the same?
But this transformation has cost me some that I love. And if you think you can go into the deeper things of God and it not isolate you, you're not being realistic. "Indeed, I count all things loss because of the surpassing worth of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (Phil. 3:8). Paul said it best, once you've tasted the deeper things of Christ, there is nothing you won't give up for him. But I think on those relationships lost or suffering because of my commitment to Christ. My heart aches for the ones I know intimately and deeply; but that I know will not receive what it is I have to give them. It is a sorrowful reality, to have found the answers to the questions everyone's asking but many can't see because the idea of it is too radical or too costly for them to embrace.
It is not arrogance from which I speak but from the humility of receiving the grace of God. But Satan's greatest pleasure is to turn God's grace against Him, to turn His love against Him, and to put a spin on every truth, especially the most obvious ones. We've heard these truths before. Jesus saves. God loves us so much he gave us his son. These are living words of truth and power that we've sucked the life out of to the point that they are meaningless to the masses. I've heard these and other truths a thousand times in my lifetime yet not until now have I had a revelation of their true meaning and impact on my life. You cannot intellectually comprehend the bible, you cannot cut and paste the parts that fit into your scheme of life and ignore the rest. It takes God to reveal God to us. Without his intervention, we cannot understand. And in our - I won't say ignorance because that's derogatory, many simply have seen no real example of God's grace and love in others to know its realness - absence of revelation, we make so many secret concessions in our lives that we can't hear or feel Gods presence in our lives anymore. So we modify what we know of God to suit ourselves instead of seeking truth.
I pray for a revelation of your spirit to fall upon those who I love but cannot reach. I pray for you to break through their dullness of spirit and give them a taste of what they are missing. I pray for their safety and peace, I pray that they seek you out in faith just enough to penetrate that first deeper layer. I pray that I am able to love them well and to show them your transforming power and grace through that love. And in the name of Jesus, I cast away all demonic activity penetrating their lives and minds, long enough for a moment of clarity to wash over them and set them on a path toward you. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)