Inspiring Summaries &

Revelations
Something Ive enjoyed doing has been reading inspiring books and compiling excerpts or
creating summaries from them. I finally compiled a lot of them into one document that I have
attached to this post. If there isnt an author listed next to the title of the chapter then its probably
because it was something I shared at my church or something from the Bible I compiled, or
something I compiled and didnt have the name of the author available.
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not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available
to advance understanding of spiritual, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. It is believed
that this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of
the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed
without profit to those who have expressed a prior general interest in receiving similar information
for research and educational purposes.
Enjoy! Click on the sentence below in order to read this book for free!
Final Random Selected Summaries and Teachings
Inspiring CHRISTIAN SUMMARIES
Table of Contents
1. Taste and See (Tim Dearborn)
2. Greatest thing (Love) (George Irving)
3. Learning to Love Him (Anna Roundtree)
4. Prophetic Vision for 21st century (Rick Joyner)
5. Loneliness of Jesus
6. 7 reasons to pray in the Spirit
7. Apostle of Abiding Love
8. God wants you helpless
9. In the hands of the Potter
10. 7 barriers of Protection
11. Watch of the Lord (Mahesh Chavda)
12. Within Heavens Gates (Rebecca Springer)
13. Prayer and Fasting (Mahesh Chavda)
14. Final Quest (Rick Joyner) & Listening Prayer (Linda Olsen)
15. Is that really you God- (Loren Cunningham)
16. 7 Priorities of God
17. Final Quest part 2
18. Titles of God
19. Frank E. Peretti
20. Forgiveness
21. Praying for Friends- Intercession-Thrilling- (Joy Dawson)
22. 7 Ways to Praise- Possessing the gates-(Cindy Jacobs)
23. Lost art of intercession- (Jim Ghol)
24. Hour that changes the world (Dick Eastman)
25. Spiritual Gifts- (Peter Wagner)
26. The Call (Rick Joyner)
27. Wigglesworth Nuggets
28. The Anointing (Benny Hinn)
29. Hells best kept secret (Ray Comfort)
30. Elements of Hell (Bill Weise)
31. Power of Kindness (Steve Sojern)
32. Meditation
33. One thing you cant do in heaven (Mark C.)
34. Caught up into paradise (Richard Eby)
35. To heaven and Back (Rita Bennet)
36. Ian Mcormicks testimony
37. My Glimpse of Eternity (Betty Malz)
38. Words from a Thesasurus describing God
39. Heaven Chapter
40. Solitude
41. Isaiah 58 & Apostolic Prayers
42. Commands from the Word
43. Cant Accept Not Trying (Michael Jordan)
44. Journey of Desire (John Eldredge)
45. Refiners Fire
46. 7 Golden Keys
47. Waking the Dead (John Eldredge)
48. Ransomed (John Eldgredge)
49. The man who talked with Angels (Sharon Buck)
50. When Heaven Invades Earth (Bill Johnson)
51. Favor Confessions (Bob Buess)
52. Breaking Soul Ties
53. Finding the Right Mate for Life (Kong Hee)
54. Jewish Customs of Matrimony (Zola Levitte)
55. Knowledge of the Holy (Tozer)
56. 7 Intimacies in Heaven
57. 7 Rewards in Heaven (Mike Bickle)
58. 7 Questions
59. Sun Dar Singhs & Oden Hetricks Heaven Visions
60. Paradise, Holy City, and the Glory of the Throne (Marvin Ford)
Taste and See
The root issue in spiritual growth isnt discipline and determination but desire and hunger. For
whom am I living, for my own fears and hopes or for our Lord? For what am I hungry, for success
and affirmation or for our Lord? The real question is not are we disciplined enough, but are we
hungry enough?
Our sins our gone and we look as clean as Jesus in the Fathers eyes when we accept what He
has done for us on the cross. God is looking at our heart. That is the question we need to ask
from time to time, how is my heart Lord?
All of us long for our parents affirmation. In Christ, God celebrates who we are. In Christ, God is
pleased with us, not because of what we are or what we have done, but because of who He is. I
may have known Gods love for me in my head, but I relied on my efforts to make myself lovable.
Gods love is not based on our performance but because through Jesus we are children of God
the Father. He loves us because we are His children and we belong to Him. This love drives out
fear. When this news sinks into our lives, that in Christ the Father continually says to us you are
my son or daughter whom I love, and in you I am pleased, we are freed from all the other voices
that would demand our attention and seek to define our worth by our works.
If we want to notice the surrounding signs of the presence of God, we need to walk more slowly
and notice what we see. We need to ask questions like what do I see in this of the hand of God,
or what are Gods purposes in this, or what is God doing and how does He want me to participate
in the fulfillment of His purposes? Or what do you see God doing in your current situation?
Learning to hear Gods voice requires training. Learning to hear Gods voice is the real training
and key to walking with God and fulfilling your destiny. Sometimes we listen best through
adversity, when other noises have been silenced. We need to receive whatever is knocking at
our lives as an invitation to join Christ at His feast. Our spiritual hearing will improve only as we
obey the truth we hear.
Everyday lets seek to focus on one thing thats beautiful, and do something for someone else
that costs us something. In whatever we see, hear, smell, touch, taste, we can encounter God.
The changes that God wills in our lives are for our wholeness, not for our harm. We can
encounter Christs presence in all we meet, and we can enable all we meet to encounter the
presence of the indwelling Christ in us. We can relax because all does not depend on us.
The Greatest Thing
God is love. Above all things have fervent love among yourselves. Love is the fulfilling of the
Law. You can take nothing greater to the lost world than the impress and reflection of the love of
God upon your own character. That is the universal language. It is the man who is the
missionary, not his words. His character is his message. Take into your new sphere of labor,
where you also mean to lay down your life, that simple charm (Gods love), and your life work
must succeed.
Love puts up with people a long time, it is kind and generous. Love doesnt envy, nor does it
vaunt itself. It is not puffed up. It does not behave itself unseemly. It seeks not her own and its
not easily provoked. It thinks no evil and rejoices not in iniquity but in the truth. The supreme
thing in short, is not a thing at all, but the giving of a further finish to the multitudinous words and
acts which make up the sum of every common day.
Love is patience. This is the normal attitude of love; love passive, waiting to begin, not in a hurry,
calm, ready to do its work when the summons comes but meantime wearing the ornament of a
quiet spirit. Love suffers long, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things. For love
understands, and therefore waits.
Love is kindness, love active. Have you ever noticed how much of Christs life was spend in
doing kind things, in merely doing kind things? You will find that He spent a great proportion of
His time simply in making people happy, in doing good turns to people. What God has put in our
power is the happiness of those about us, and that is largely to be secured by our being kind to
them.
Love never fails. Love is success, love is happiness, love is life. Life, with all it yields of joy and
woe and hope and fear, is just our chance of learning to love. The prize of learning how to love is
all of the joy that loving others gives. Where love is, God is. He that dwells in love, dwells in
God. Therefore love without distinction, without calculation, without procrastination. Lavish it
upon the poor, especially upon the rich, who often need it most, most of all upon your equals,
where it is very difficult, and for whom perhaps we each do least of all.
There is a difference between trying to please and giving pleasure. Give pleasure. Lose no
chance of giving pleasure. For that is the ceaseless and anonymous triumph of a truly loving
spirit. I will pass through this world but once. Any good thing therefore that I can do, or any
kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it,
for I shall not pass this way again.
Love is generous, it doesnt envy. Whenever you attempt a good work you will find other men
doing the same kind of work, and probably doing it better. Envy them not. The only greatness is
unselfish love. Even self denial in itself is nothing, only a great purpose or a mightier love can
justify the waste.
Nothing is a hardship to love, and nothing is hard. Christs yoke is easy. Its just His way of
taking life. There is no happiness in having and getting anything, but only in giving. It consists in
giving and serving others. He that would be great among you, said Christ, let him serve.
Remember, it is more blessed, happier to give than to receive.
Love is not easily provoked. Temper is significant; it is not in what it is alone, but in what it
reveals. Christ, the Spirit of Christ, interpenetrating ours, sweetens, purifies, and transforms all.
This only can eradicate what is wrong, work a chemical change, renovate and regenerate, and
rehabilitate the inner man. Neither will power nor time changes men, Christ does.
It is the deliberate verdict of the Lord Jesus that it is better not to live than to live and not love.
You will find if you think for a moment, that the people who influence you are people who believe
in you. In an atmosphere of suspicion men shrivel up; but in that atmosphere of love they expand
and find encouragement and educative fellowship.
Love thinks no evil, imputes no motive, sees the bright side, and puts the best construction on
every action. And if we try to influence others, we shall soon see that success is proportion to
their belief of our belief in them. Our ideal of what he is becomes to him the hope and pattern of
what he may become.
Love is the charity which delights not in exposing the weakness of others, but covers all things.
That is the supreme work to which we need to address ourselves in this world, to learn love. Is
life not full of opportunities for learning love? Life is not a holiday, but an education. And the one
eternal lesson for us all is how better we can love. What makes a man a good musician?
Practice! What makes a man a good man? Practicing His presence. Nothing else. Love is not a
thing of enthusiastic emotion. It is the Christ like nature in its fullest development. What was
Christ doing in the carpenters shop? Practicing. Though perfect, we read that He learned
obedience. Do not quarrel therefore with your lot in life. Do not complain of its never-ceasing
cares, its petty environment, the vexations you have to stand, the small and sordid souls you
have to live and work with. Above all, do not resent temptation. That is the practice which God
appoints you; and it is having its work in making you patience, and humble, and generous, and
unselfish, and kind, and courteous.
Do not grudge the hand that is molding the still too shapeless image within you. Do not isolate
yourself. Be among men, and among things and troubles and difficulties and obstacles. We love
because He first loved us.
Contemplate the love of Christ, and you will love. You can only look at the lovely object, and fall
in love with it, and grow into likeness to it. Love begets love. Once Edward Irving went to see a
dying boy, he just said, My boy, God loves you. And the boy started saying God loves me! God
loves me! The sense that God loved him overpowered him, melted him down, and began the
creating of a new heart in him.
Love lasts, it never fails. Covet that everlasting gift, that one thing which it is certain is going to
stand, that one coinage which will be current in the Universe when all the other coinages of all the
nations of the world shall be useless and un-honored, give yourselves first to love.
To love abundantly is to live abundantly. Eternal life is inextricably bound up with love. Why do
you want to live tomorrow? It is because there is some one who loves you, and whom you want
to see tomorrow and be with and love back. Love is the energy of life. Eternal life is to know
God, and God is love. Love must be eternal, it is what God is.
Love never fails, and life never fails, so long as there is love. No worse fate can befall a man in
this world than to live and grow old alone, unloving and unloved. To be lost is to live in an
unregenerate condition, loveless and unloved; and to be saved is to love.
Love is patient and kind. Get these ingredients into your life. Then everything you do is eternal.
It is worth giving time to. Address yourself to that one thing; at any cost have this transcendent
character exchanged for yours. You will find as you look back upon you life that the moments
that stand out, the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done
things in a spirit of love. Everything else in all our lives is transitory.
The final test of religion at that great Day is not religiousness, but love; not what I have done, or
achieved, but how I have discharged the common charities of life. For the withholding of love is
the negation of the spirit of Christ, the proof that we never knew Him, that for us He lived in vain.
It means that He suggested nothing in all our thoughts, that He inspired nothing in all our lives.
Who is Christ? He, who fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the sick, and where is Christ?
Whoso shall receive a little child in My name receives Me. And who are Christs? Everyone that
loves is born of God!
Learning to Love Him
In relating Bob Jones death experience, he says that he found himself in a line of people who
were standing on a moving path. One by one, each person in the line appeared before Jesus. All
those on the path were dressed in white and were exceedingly happy. On a parallel path moving
toward the Lord were people who were exceedingly unhappy. These were clothed in that to
which they had devoted their lives. Each was given the opportunity to look at Christ and He at
them before the path turned downward. When our friend appeared before Jesus, he was asked
the one question that everyone in the line had been asked: Did you learn to love? The Lord had
not asked, Did you do? Or even Did you go? But Did you love? In other words, while on
earth, did he fulfill the two greatest commandments?
Christianity is a way of life of supernaturally receiving that which we do not have and will never
have in ourselves. Our Lord and Savior is to be and do everything within and through His
disciples. It takes God to love God. His love has no limits. It was before all time and will be
forever. We ask that this eternal love of the Father for His Son be brought forth in us. We cannot
originate it.
Unbelief is an obstacle to love. Faith must always be the first aspect in any spiritual advance.
We cannot love Jesus until we trust Him to be in us what He requires of us. Christianity is not a
way of life in which we do more and more and therefore appear to be more Christ-like.
Christianity is a way of life in which we get out of the way more and more and allow Christ to
manifest Himself through us.
Faith and love are bound together in the Word. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. Fortunately faith and love are gifts
given to us because we are in Christ Jesus.
A second hindrance to Christs love flowing through us is unforgiveness. We are always to
remember the inestimable love of God in His forgiveness of our past sins through Christ Jesus.
For many this mercy is the greatest motive for loving Jesus. The Lord said, Therefore I say to
you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but to whom little is forgiven, the
same loves little.(Luke 7:47) Extending full forgiveness to others who may have wronged us is a
key to keeping our hearts open to allow the love of Christ to flow through them. If we pursue the
Lord with out whole heart, love for others becomes a blessed actuality.
The Bible tells us that another major impediment to our loving Jesus as His Father does is a
divided heart. In order for love to be effective, ones heart needs to be fully available for Christ to
dwell there. But what if part of our hearts loves the things of this world? Do you not know that
friendship with the world is enmity with God? God the Father cannot be satisfied with a heart
that is only partially available to love His Son. The apostle John warned that if anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15) This is speaking about the lust of the
flesh, eyes, and the pride of life, hollow rewards dangled before us by satan to entice us to turn
our eyes and our hearts from Jesus.
When we are born again, we receive a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). But our bodily desires and
unregenerate mind, will and emotions (the flesh), can back up into this new heart, clogging it.
Therefore the Holy Spirit daily prepares for each disciple his cross- opportunities whereby he
my choose God over his flesh. Each time we choose the Lord over gratification of our fallen
nature, a chamber is cleansed within the heart. Into each cleansed chamber rushes the living
God. (John 14:23)
Love begets love until we can be satisfied with nothing but complete union with Christ. Only
complete oneness satisfies our Father (John 17:21-23). Therefore, only complete oneness will
satisfy His children. We begin seeing others as the Lord sees them: either helplessly lost without
Christ, or in various stages of growing up into Christ. We begin to wake up; the world loses its
allure. Nothing it offers-fame, power, position-can motivate or control us. Why would we want
any of these? We are in love with and loved by the most renowned, wealthy, powerful and loving
person in existence. No mere human can love as He loves. We dont want to settle for less than
the best.
We dont want a passionate existence; we simply want to channel all our passion toward the right
One. We were created to experience the best. Mankind has searched this planet and beyond.
We have followed every false god and every form of distraction and thrill. But there is only One
who is eternal and who is a perpetual, ever-new delight: He is Jesus. Therefore, set yourself to
know Him, really know Him, and learn to love Him above all else. He is the prize, and when you
pursue Him, all things are added unto you. (Matt. 6:33, Col. 2:10, 1 Cor. 3:21-23, Rom. 8:32)
Prophetic Vision for the 21st Century
The only way we can come to know the voice of the Lord is the same way that the sheep came to
know their Shepherds voicethrough time spent in His presence. The single greatest endeavor
to help us cultivate this is to love the Lord. And the single greatest thing we can do to cultivate
that love is to ask for it.
One of the basic characteristics of true love is communication. It is the nature of lovers to share
everything. Every one of us is as close to the Lord as we want to be. The greatest spiritual
authority is the ability to touch and move Gods heart.
No one can properly understand the Scriptures, prophecy, or the will of God unless he maintains
true humility. Humility comes by simple dependence on God for everything we are or have,
including our next breath. The highest form of humility will be displayed in the wisdom of those
who seemingly have legitimate reasons to be proud if they compare themselves with others, but
remain humble because eternity is in their hearts. The fruit of true humility will always be
obedience, contentment despite circumstances, and compassion for others in whatever state the
Lord has them.
The Bible is the map to Gods kingdom. The Scriptures alone are used for establishing doctrine,
while the voice of the Lord is used to give us day to day guidance as well as revealing the
strategic will of the Lord. Christianity is a restored, living relationship with the Lord. In either case
we have nothing to boast about all that we receive is by grace. The book of Acts is an example of
normal church life.
Compared to eternity, all of the treasures in this world would be less than a grain of sand in the
ocean. We are both very wealthy and very poor. The Lord is courting His bride, and He
continually seeks to draw us after Him. Humility and intimacy are keys to hearing Gods voice.
The closer two people are the more intimate their secrets will become. Pray and give in secret.
Christians must view every encounter with others as an opportunity to sow life. Whenever we
can endure the often trying and unfair encounters of life without compromising our position in
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, we are
extending the limits of the kingdom of God.
The ultimate goal of the church is to populate heaven and our weapon is the gospel of salvation,
the words of everlasting life. The church will become the most desirable place in the world to be,
and the church will become the pure vessel she is called to be when she takes up the cross,
committing
herself to the life of sacrifice. In the times ahead, the life of sacrifice and service to others will be
the most desirable life in the world. We will find our true peace when we take up our cross to
serve others. Now is the time when all true bond servants will be revealed and they are the ones
who truly do all things for the sake of His gospel.
Every Christian has a ministry, a purpose he or she has been given in this life. God does not
want us to live in the perpetual frustration or boredom that comes from not walking in our true
purpose. He wants us to have the indescribable pleasure of knowing we have accomplished all
that He put us on this earth to do. Our fist step to getting out of our wilderness is believing that
He has something better for us and that He is able to bring us into it.
Five basic characteristics can be found throughout the Scriptures in the biographies of those who
fulfilled Gods purpose in their generation:
1. They have a clear vision of their purpose
2. They stay focused on their goal
3. Theyre resolved to gather resources to accomplish their purpose
4. They only associate with solution-oriented people
5. They refuse to let obstacles or opposition stop them and they stay resolutely
on the course to fulfilling their purpose, regardless of setbacks and
disappointments
Our path should become clearer as we proceed. The path of the righteous is like the light of
dawn that shines brighter and brighter until the full day. Our calling is possibly our most precious
treasure, and what make treasure valuable is that it is either rare or hard to find.
When you seek the Lord, get specific. Those who have goals that are too general rarely
accomplish them. The answer to what we are called to be is usually found in our own hearts,
because living waters can only come out of the inner most being. Because people often wear so
many veils and defense mechanisms, they have a hard time knowing the deepest desire of their
hearts.
The Loneliness of Jesus
Try listening to someone for a few hours, without getting in a word. It leaves you with a feeling of
loneliness. The person who got the load off his chest goes away feeling better, but the listener,
who could not offer a single word of advice or share his own heart, stands there unfulfilled. How
often have we left our Lord there alone in the secret closet, lonely and unfulfilled? We rush into
His presence with praise and petitions but how many times has He been so ready and anxious to
open His own heart to speak, when lo and behold, no one was there. Can you hear Him saying
Yes, yes, thank you for your praise. I accept it. Im so glad you took the time to be with Me. I
have heard your request and the Father will give you the desire of your heart. But please wait,
please be still awhile, dont leave just now. I have some things I want to share with you. My heart
is yearning to be unburdened to you. Ive bottled your tears; Ive soothed your troubled mind.
Now, allow Me to talk! Allow Me to tell you what is on My heart.
Our Lord Jesus wants to talk. He wants to tell us what is breaking His heart in our generation.
He wants to speak to each child about the beautiful plan He has for all who trust Him, revealing
glorious truths: guidance for ourselves and help in raising or discipling children: solutions to
problems, new ministries and outreaches that will save the lost; specific words concerning jobs,
careers, homes, life partners, truths about heaven, hell and the coming calamities. Most of all,
He wants to talk to us about how much He loves and cares for His own. We rob our Lord of the
joy of ministering to us. Jesus wants to talk to those on the battlefield. He must have open lines,
two way lines, to every soldier on every front.
When Elijah finally allowed that voice to speak, alone, quiet, away from all the power displays, he
got the most specific directions ever in his entire ministry to God. (1 Kings 19:12-16) How many
busy, busy children of God today have never had the voice come to them? They are so busy
witnessing, going about doing good, praying for a spiritual awakening in the land, fasting-so
intense-so sincere-so dedicated. Yet, they have heard everything but the voice of the Lord. John
tasted of the greatest joy a follower of Jesus can know. He said, I stood still and I heard Him talk
to me. His voice made my heart leap. He talked to me personally. I listened to my Lord. And
thats my joy; Just hearing His voice. The Lord still speaks directly to the hearts of those waiting
to hear. The Lord would say Im asking to be heard. Open up. Let Me into your secret closet.
Let Me talk with you and you talk with Me. Lets commune. Thats how I will keep you from the
hour of temptation that is coming on the entire world.
Seven Reasons to Pray in the Spirit
1. Praying in the Spirit builds up your inner man, while sowing strength to your
spirit.
2. Praying in the Spirit sensitizes your spirit to hear the voice of God, bringing
accuracy.
3. Praying in the Spirit sensitizes your spirit to the Holy Spirit, bringing alertness.
4. Praying in the Spirit helps you to be stronger when temptations come, building
maturity.
5. Praying in the Spirit keeps the joy of the Lord in your walk, developing
perseverance.
6. Praying in the Spirit helps you to love God when words arent strong enough,
providing a love language. Romans 8:26
7. Praying in the Spirit nurtures your spirit and keeps you in the love of God,
bringing contentment. Jude 20-21
The Apostle of Abiding Love
When God puts a desire into your heart, He will fulfill it. I learned to place myself before God
every day, as a vessel to be filled with His Holy Spirit. God will use each trial in your life to
remove all that hinders your devotion to Christ.
Andrew Murray wrote Take time. Give God time to reveal Himself to you. Give yourself time to
be silent and quiet before Him, waiting to receive, through the Spirit, the assurance of His
presence with you, His power working in you.
Murray learned that laughter and fellowship were two of lifes most important activities. He often
prayed, May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the light, love, and joy of Gods
presence and not a moment without the entire surrender of my self as a vessel for Him to fill full
of His Spirit and His love.
Abiding in Christ was the cornerstone to Andrew Murrays life and ministry. He writes: Abide in
Jesus: your life in Him will lead you to that fellowship with God in which the only true knowledge
of God is to be had. His love, His power, His infinite glory will, as you abide in Jesus, be so
revealed as it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive.
God Wants You to Be Helpless
My most spectacular answers to prayers have come when I was helpless. Psalms 4:1 says
When I was hemmed in, You have freed me often. Recognize this hemming in as one of Gods
most loving devices for teaching us that He is real and gloriously adequate for our problems.
God is a realist and insists that we be realists, too. So long as we are deluding ourselves that
human resources can supply our hearts desires, we believe a lie. Jesus said in John Without
Me you can do nothing. And in John 3:27 it says a man can receive nothing unless it has been
given to him from heaven.
The Word has many passages that point out our helplessness. Sometimes in life every one of us
finds himself out of control, caught in circumstances he is helpless to change. Welcome such
times! Often it is only then that we enter into the truth of Jesus statement without Me you can do
nothing.
With helplessness alone, one would be like a bird trying to fly with one wing. But when the other
wing of Gods adequacy is added to our helplessness, then the bird can soar triumphantly above
and through problems that hitherto have defeated us.
A.B. Simpson, the famous New York preacher had poor health including two nervous breakdowns
and a heart condition which led a physician to tell him when he was only 38 that he would never
live to be 40. In desperation Simpson turned to the Word and became convinced that Jesus had
always meant healing to be part of His gospel for the redemption of mans total being.
One afternoon he went to the woods and started telling God of his complete helplessness with
regard to his physical condition. But to this helplessness he added his belief that God was for
health all the way. It was that majestically powerful combination again, My total inadequacy,
Your perfect adequacy. He then asked Christ to enter him and become his physical life, for all
the needs of his body, until his lifes work was done.
He said I every fiber in me was tingling with the sense of Gods presence. A few days after that,
Simpson climbed a mountain 3000 feet high. From that time on he literally had a new heart in his
chest. During the first three years after this healing he preached more than a thousand sermons,
conducting sometimes as many as 20 meetings in one week. His testimony was that never once
did he feel exhausted. He lived to be 76.
The acknowledgment of our helplessness is the quickest way to that right attitude so essential to
prayer. Blessed are the children for there is the kingdom of heaven. Children have that
dependency; they know their
helplessness apart from their parents. Poverty and hunger lead people to do the unthinkable.
Blessed are the poor in spirit for theres is the kingdom. Blessed are those who hunger for
righteousness for they shall be filled.
Those that acknowledge their dependency upon Christ, their desperate need for Him, enjoy a
deeper fellowship with Jesus-the true purpose of our lives. Remember that Hes not looking for
perfection but a perfect relationship, one that has the lines of communication open and honest, a
perfect heart towards Him.
One sunny day in the future, you will look back and praise Him that He cared about you enough
to shut you up to Him alone. Without that stringently kind providence, you could never have
learned firsthand the amazing benefits of helplessness.
In the Hands of the Potter
Master Potter picks up a rock and begins to crush the broken pieces of clay; you cry out, God,
how can You crush me after everything Ive been through. But the stone beats down on you
again and again until the hard clay becomes a fine dust. Then, when His own scarred hands, He
reaches into the depths of your heart saying, I will take out all the rocks and thorns, all of the
debris you picked up along the highway of life. I have measured you; I know exactly what your
destiny will be. I will center your inner man and take away the double-mindedness and
confusion. God spoke to Joseph in a dream revealing the anointing on his life, yet the fulfillment
of that dream would be many years, many miles, and many tears down the road. The Lord has
placed you on the shelf to dry and after a long time you ask where are you? I dont feel you
anymore. I seem to be in a wilderness. Youre right, He answers, and youve been promoted.
But Lord I thought promotion was getting to start my ministry. Promotion is the wilderness, says
the Lord. My Holy Spirit led My Son into the wilderness to be tested. Now Ive called you there
so you can learn to recognize My voice. Im testing your heart. Will you continue to seek My face
in this wilderness, or will you turn away in anger?
The greater the call is on someones life, the greater the misunderstandings will be. You dont
need the approval of man, you need to be planted so deeply in Me that the storms of life will not
uproot you. One day you stop struggling and pray Lord, Ill stay in this wilderness forever if I
have to. Ive found You here and Youre all I need. Just then the Lord says now is the time for
Me to take you out of the wilderness. Are you feeling like Joseph? Is God using your family,
ministry, finances, and relationships to fuel the testing of your heart? The Lord is calling you, and
those around you, to a deeper place in Him. And the Lord says Just as My Son had a
Gethsemane, so you must have one too. All that can be shaken (competition, position, religious
intellect, critical nature, reputation, comfort, family, and even understanding), will be shaken, and
then Ill build you solidly upon the Rock.
In the midst of the black fire you feel like youre going to explode as the pressure builds. But
instead, a mystery takes place. This is the hidden time when all the brilliant, most beautiful colors
are pushed deep into the clay. These colors are formed in the darkest hours of agony and grief,
just like diamonds are formed by hot fires inside the earth. Now that you reflect My face and My
glory, He says, I can send you out to all the world. Are you willing to go into the Glory fire to let
God perfect His destiny and calling in your life?
7 Barriers of Protection
There are seven barriers of protection around each believer and four barriers around each non-
believer. The first three are around everyone, and the last three are only around born again
children of God.
1. Inner hatred of evil (we are born with this from God)
2. Angels (This is part of the love of God) Hebrews 1:14
3. Hedge of protection that God has built around us (Psalms 19:1)
4. Fellowship/Prayer with other believers
5. Jesus blood covering over our lives
6. Jesus prayers (John 17:9 and Hebrews 7:25- Continues on!
7. The Holy Spirit indwelling within us (Luke 17:21)
Watch of the Lord
The humble, holy, and hungry will be the first recipients of His visitation. Heb. 11:6. In a crucial
tone of voice the Lord said My watch is being repaired. The word watch means=the act of
keeping awake to guard, protect or attend, a state of alert and continuous attention.
Genesis 32 talks about how Jacob watched and wrestled all night with God for a blessing. We
are the Bride of Christ; we need to spend time in intimate communion and prayer with the Lord.
Have Date nights with Jesus. Hab. 2:1 says I will stand my watch and set myself on the
rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me. The times Jesus spent watching were more
times of communing intimately with His Father. They were a source of life for Him, a relationship
with Abba. And there He received the revelations and instructions He needed to fulfill His purpose
on earth.
We offer thanksgiving, then we praise, and when the spirit of worship comes and God touches
our spirit we worship for a long time. We always celebrate communion towards the end of the
watch. There is clarity of vision when the presence of the Lord comes. There is a place for
petition, intercession, prophecy, and faith proclamations. The fruit of fasting from sleep or time
and food to watch and be with the Lord is found in Is. 58. The Holy Spirit will water you, make
you fruitful, and empower you in difficult times. This kind of intercession is not something we do;
instead it is a place of being. At His feet we will receive instruction regarding His every desire for
us. This kind of prayer is not do, do, do, but be, be, be. His yoke is easy.
Mary was just being with the Lord at His feet. We journal any insights the Lord releases to us
during the watch. Often several individuals will be given a piece of the prophetic puzzle. Prophetic
intercession may come to our musicians, prompting spontaneous songs that are brand new,
elevating the Word of God to new heights. We designate a watchman captain who will lead
intercession. We appoint a watch communications officer who will record the events of each
watch as well as visions, scripture verses shared, prophecies given, urgent prayer requests,
prophetic songs, testimonies and prophetic prayers.
Establish a watch of the Lord protocol. Designate worship leaders. Pray for the local church,
nationally and around the world. Pray for more laborers, for the government, for the peace of
Jerusalem, national concerns, economic stability to facilitate the end time harvest. Pray for area
pastors, households and children of the watchmen, the elderly, lonely, the forgotten and those in
prison. Pray for the requests of individuals in the watch. Put on the armor of God. Rev. 16:15
says blessed is he who watches. Pray in the Spirit. Praying in tongues for a couple of hours a
week during your watch wont hurt you. End the watch exalting the Lord and declaring Him Lord
and Victor over every area of your life.
Within Heavens Gates
This account is true, though greatly condensed, a record of an experience during days when life
hung in the balance between time and eternity.
All through the grounds, people were walking, all with an air of peacefulness and happiness. As I
looked upon their spotless robes, I thought, These are they who have washed their robes, and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
If only we could realize while we are yet mortals that day by day we are building for eternity.
Every gentle word, every generous thought, every unselfish deed, will become a pillar of eternal
beauty in the life to come. We cannot be unselfish and unloving in one life, and generous and
loving in the next; the two lives are too closely blended- one but a continuation of the other.
I found the heavenly life and its loveliness unfolding to me like the slow opening of a rare flower.
Delightful surprises met me at every turn. One of the most wonderful to me was the occasional
meeting with some one whom with tearful eyes, would pour forth his earnest thanks for some
helpful word, or stern rebuke, which had turned him, all unknown to myself, from the paths of sin
into the life everlasting. Oh, the joy to me of such a revelation!
My first impulse after happy blissful rests, was to plunge into the river of life, so refreshing, and
inspiring. I always returned full of new life, hope and purpose to our home.
During a visit at a friends home I saw a stranger at the front entrance and arose to meet him. He
was tall and commanding in form, with a face of ineffable sweetness and beauty. Peace be unto
this house, he said as He entered. Sit beside Me awhile. How does the change impress you?
How do you find life here?
I never fully understood till now the meaning of that passage, Eye has not seen, nor heart
conceived, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.
Do you believe that all Christians truly love Him? he asked. Do you think they love the Father
for the gift of the Son and the Son because of the Fathers love and mercy? He spoke gently.
Oh, I said, you who so well knew the beloved Master, how can you doubt the love he must
inspire in all hearts who seek to know him? A radiant glow overspread the wonderful face, the
mist rolled away before my eyesand I knew him! With a cry of joy and adoration, I threw myself
at his feet, bathing them with happy tears. He gently stroked my bowed head for a moment, then
rising, lifted me to his side.
My Savior, my King! I whispered. Yes, and Elder Brother and Friend, he added, wiping away
tenderly the tears stealing from beneath my closed eyelids. Yes, the chief test among ten
thousand, and the One altogether lovely! again I whispered.
Ah, now you begin to meet the conditions of the new life! Like many another, the changing of
faith to sight with you has engendered a little fear. Have you forgotten the promise, I go to
prepare a place for you; that where I am, there you may be also? If you loved me when you
could not see me except by faith, love me more now when we have really become co-heirs of the
Father. Come to me with all that perplexes or gladdens; come to the Elder Brother always waiting
to receive you with joy.
I seemed to have drunk deeper draughts from the fountain of all good, since I had met Him
whom my soul loved.
Heaven is as beautiful and happy a place as it is to any who have ascended higher, simply
because we can enjoy only in the capacity to which our souls can reach.
Prayer and Fasting
Fasting with intercession is a powerful weapon to pull down strongholds and set captives free.
Being filled with the Spirit does not make you ready to move into the fullness of your calling in
power. We need to submit to the discipline of the Spirit, and during that time frame God will
disciple us in the crucial works of prayer, fasting and the skillful use of His Word as a weapon.
Jesus fully completed the process in only 40 days. Fasting helps to release the power of the
Spirit in our lives and it facilitates the freer flow of the Spirit through you by dissolving all the junk
in your life. God only wants you to measure up to His purpose for your life.
God may lead you to fast one day per week, month, or whenever. Some reasons why we fast
are; we fast in obedience to Gods Word. We fast to humble ourselves before God and obtain
grace and power. We fast to overcome temptations in areas that keep us from moving into Gods
power. We fast to be purified from sin and to help others become purified as well. We fast to
obtain Gods support in order to accomplish His will. We fast in times of crisis. We fast when
seeking Gods direction. I fasted for my wife even though I was not yet married and didnt even
know her. We fast for understanding and divine revelation.
The only eternal aspect of our lives on earth is our investment in the eternal life of others. We
need to learn how to laugh when we feel heavy. I believe that a lifestyle of disciplined fasting and
prayer is one of the elements required of a people who enjoy the abiding or lingering presence
and glory of God.
Fasting will help you to develop self-control. We need to learn how to minister in Gods rest and
not out of our own strength. We must learn the 2 prerequisites of victory in every battle. 1) We
must cast away all sin in our lives through his blood, and 2) we must obey every command and
follow each strategy the Lord gives us without deviation or hesitation through fear.
Final Quest & Listening Prayer
Take time to listen to my voice. The greatest weapon that I have given you is My love. Walk in
my love everyday. The more focused you are on Him, the more glory you will see regardless of
where youre at. Many leaders are doing good works, but very few are doing what I have called
them to do. Even my greatest leaders are seldom in harmony with Me. This is the result of
divisions among you.
Dont continue to measure yourself by others. If you are looking to Me you will go far beyond
what you would have otherwise accomplished. My Word is the power that upholds all things. To
the degree that you believe that My word is true you can do all things. Words have power and it
is wisdom to be careful with words.
As a family try sitting together before the Lord and have one member ask a question and all listen
for the answer. Ask the Lord for your marriage partner. Begin to establish a running dialogue
with the Lord about the decisions and the circumstances of your life. The more time you spend
listening the better at it you will become.
Dial down the flesh so you can hear God. When the Lord speaks you feel refreshed, rested,
peaceful, at home, comforted, special, empowered, courageous, and loved. The only way to
know what pleases the Lord is to listen to Him. Shut out the negative self-talk voice by praising
God.
In praise and worship we do more than merely sing to God, in this atmosphere we can readily
enter a dialogue with Him, spirit to spirit, just as we can in listening prayer. Ask God to open your
spiritual ears and eyes, so that you can hear what He is already saying to you.
Choose to spend a period of time each day waiting in His presence. God will speak to you
through the scriptures so read the Word. The more you ask, the more you will receive. Learn to
listen in your spirit to God. Jesus wants you just to be with Him. Dont be bothered by silences, it
is probably the Lord readying your heart to hear Him.
For directions you could try asking Lord what is the big picture, what are You doing? What does
it mean to be faithful in this circumstance? What is your way and will in this situation? Keep a
prayer journal, record what you want to say to God and then write down what He says back to
you. Pray with pen in hand. Tell God how you feel, record spiritual truth you learn.
Struggle to put into words what He teaches your spirit. Record meaningful poetry, songs,
prophecies, quotes from books and precious things people have said to you. Be led by God step
by step.
Is that really you God and Will of God
Success itself is the most dangerous obstacle to hearing properly the voice of God. We need to
confess places in our lives where we have failed to put God first or when we have robbed Him of
His glory.
Three practical steps in hearing from God are, 1) take Christs authority and silence the enemy.
2) Ask the Lord to clear from your mind any presumptions and preconceived ideas. 3) Wait,
believing He will speak to you in the way and time He chooses.
The first goal of guidance is to lead us into a closer relationship with Jesus. It is a higher price to
live for your self or the enemy than it is to live for God.
One of the most common of all ways that God speaks to us is through the quiet, inner voice of His
Spirit to our spirit. A clean heart is necessary if we want to hear God. The key question is have
you obeyed the last thing God told you to do?
Get your own leading. God will use other to confirm your guidance but you should also hear Him
directly. It can be dangerous to rely on others to get the word of the Lord for you. Dont talk
about your guidance until God gives you permission to do so.
The main purpose of waiting is to avoid Pride, Presumption, missing Gods timing and method,
and bringing confusion to others because they too need prepared hearts. The more you seek to
hear Gods voice in detail, the more effective you will be in your own calling.
Relationship is the most important reason for hearing the voice of the Lord. If you dont have
communication, you dont have a personal relationship with Him. True guidance is getting closer
to the Guide.
The men and women of God who changed history all had one thing in common; they knew and
did the will of God in their generation. God has chosen to give you freedom, and He works for or
against your choices to accomplish His over all purpose. His ultimate goal is for you to be
conformed to the image of His Son, the Lord Jesus. (Romans 8:29)
Jesus goals on earth were to seek and save the lost, destroy the devils works, and finish the
Fathers work. There are so many who are scared of doing their own thing, they dont do
anything. Before we were Christians we were alienated from the life of God but now that weve
been adopted into the family and turned from our own way to His, we receive a new nature and
the mind of Christ and our thoughts become Gods thoughts. We have new desires in our hearts
planted by God. One of those desires is that none should perish.
When I get desires to pass out tracts or witness I know they are not my unregenerate desires.
God has changed our hearts and we can expect God to honor our desires. There are some who
say you shouldnt move until you get a rhema from God. Thats true for big decisions. When it
comes to preaching the gospel we dont need a rhema. The starting gun was 2000 years ago.
The passivity of the saint arises out of his non-use of his talents. Our clear mandate is to go into
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Take initiative and God will honor your
exploits because Hes faithful to His word. God inspires our initiative. Proverbs 6 says to go to
the ant. The only ant you see doing nothing is a dead ant. There full of initiative. We should be
steadfast in the Lord, unmovable always abounding in the word of the Lord, knowing that our
work in the Lord is not in vain.
7 Highest Priorities of God (They are all related to the 7 Feasts of Israel!)
1. The Blood of Jesus (FEAST OF PASSOVER)-The demands of justice were
satisfied, the wrath of God appeased, and the records of iniquity erased through
the shedding of that blood.
2. Fellowship/Communion with God (FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD)-God wants
to fellowship with you and to enjoy an awareness of His presence every day.
3. The Resurrection of Jesus (FIRST FRUITS)-He is alive! Best way to witness is to
let others see Jesus life flowing out of you.
4. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit (PENTECOST)-Power to be and do like Jesus.
5. The Great Commission (TRUMPETS) -Go tell the world that they can come now!
6. The Atonement of Jesus is Everlasting (DAY OF ATONEMENT)-All of our needs
are covered in the atonement. Without the atonement we could not be accepted.
He wants us to know that our lives are covered when our sincerity, faith and trust
are in Him.
7. The Return of Jesus (TABERNACLES)-For His own, His return is the priority God
is looking forward to with such excitement that the angels of heaven are rejoicing
with him about it.
Final Quest
There was once a man named Angelo. He was an over-comer. He was faithful with the little that
the Lord had given him. His life was more pleasing to the Lord than a Christian teacher who
would always witness to people and pray for the sick.
The Christian teacher had been raised in a wonderful family which had always known the Lord.
He grew up in a thriving church and attended one of the best Bible colleges. He wasnt using
everything God gave him.
Angelo had been born deaf. He was abuses and kept in a dark, cold attic until he was found by
the authorities when he was 8. He had then been shifted from one institution to another where
the abuse continued. Finally he was turned out on the streets.
The Lord gave him 3 portions of His love and he used every one to keep himself from kicking a
kitten that crossed his path. That other man was given 100 portions of the Lords love and was
using 75. Angelo used all 3 and was given 3 more and with that love he had in his heart he
decided to stop stealing even when he starved.
We all have consciences. He worked for money to buy food. He collected bottles and did yard
work. He learned to read. He read a gospel tract that someone gave him. As he read it the Spirit
opened his heart, and he gave his life to Jesus. The Lord gave him 6 more portions of His love
and Angelo used all of them. Even though he lived in such poverty, he started spending over half
of everything he made on gospel tracts to give out on street corners. He led 1 soul to Jesus.
Angelo became like Jesus. He died a martyr. He wrapped his arms around a drunken bum on a
very cold night. He froze to death saving that drunk. Very few have overcome so much with so
little.
Many Christians dwell in houses that kings centuries ago would love but they dont appreciate
them, while Angelo would appreciate a cardboard box on a cold night. He began to love
everyone and everything, he would rejoice more over an apple than some do over a great feast.
Angelo was rejected by some churches. He bought a Bible and would read it over and over. He
would only do enough for himself to stay alive, and gladly sacrificed his life to save a needy
friend. Angelo lived for others like Jesus. Angelo is now one of the kings lower cased k in
heaven. Jesus is the King of kings.
Titles of God
Prince of Peace (Is. 9:6) The King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev.17:14) The Lamb of God
(Rev. 5:6) The Bread of Life (Jn. 6:48-58) Bright Morning Star (Rev.22:16) The Light of the
World (Jn. 8:12) Emmanuel (Isa. 7:14) Wonderful Counselor (Is. 9:6) JESUS (Mt.1:21) The
Same Yesterday, Today and Forever (Heb. 13:8 ) Our All Sufficiency (2 Cor.3:5) The Word
(Jn.1:1) Dwelling In Us (2 Cor. 6:16) Faithful and True(rev. 19:11) Easily Touched (He. 4:15) A
Sure Foundation (Es. 28:16) Upholding All Things By the Word Of His Power (He. 1:3) A
Rewarder of those Who Diligently Seek Him (He. 11:6) Our God is The Holy One(Ps. 16. 10),
The I Am(Jn. 8:58), YAHWEH (Example. 6:3), Alpha and Omega, Miracle Working God (Gal.
3:5), Creator (Jn. 1:3), Unchangeable (Nu. 23:19), Father of Lights (Ja. 1:17), Our Heavenly
Father (Mt. 6), Bread of Life (Jn. 6:48-58), JESUS (Mt. 1:21), Sure Foundation (Isa. 28:16) Our
Resurrection Our God isLove (1 John 4:16) The Holy One (Ps 16:10) The I Am (John 8:58)
Yahweh (Ex. 6:3) the Alpha & Omega, The Beginning & End (Rv. 1:8) God Almighty (Ex. 6:3) A
Miracle Working God (Gal. 3:5) The Creator Of The World (Jn. 1:3) All Knowing & All Powerful
(Jer. 32:17)(1 John 3:20) Ever Present (Ps. 139 1-13) Unchangeable (Num. 23:19) Jehovah
(Ps. 83:18) Everlasting Father(Is.9:6) Author of Salvation (Heb. 2:10) God who Raises the
dead (2 Cor. 1:9) Meeting our needs through Jesus (Ph.4:19) Giving us peace that surpasses all
understanding (Ph. 4:7) The Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6)
Frank E. Peretti
As I had a vision in my own life for what I thought God wanted me to do, oohhh, was there a wait.
If you are waiting for God to accomplish a certain thing in your life, bring about a certain goal,
supply a certain need, heal a certain relationship. If you are waiting on the Lord, understand that
a lot of times we set are eyes on what we want from God and were waiting and here are all these
riches going right by you. There are riches in the waiting. As God begins to work in your life, and
molds His character in you as you are trusting in Him. And putting up with the wait, there is riches
in the waiting. Times like Moses herding the sheep in the wilderness and Joseph in prison, David
fleeing from Saul, Jesus tempted in the dessert, Paul arrested and then shipwrecked, Jacob
working 14 years for his wife Rachel, Abraham waiting for his son, thats like when my wife and I
were living in a trailer, no job, no money, no direction. I just got through pastoring a church for 5
years. We had been pushed to such a limit that we went crazy.
We left the ministry, and during that time I was thinking Id like to be a writer, or sell some songs, I
was working on all kinds of things and nothing seemed to pan out. We had to wait. In my earlier
year I tried music and I failed at that. I tried banjo business and failed at that, I tried getting into
film and I failed at that, I tried the pastoral ministry and I drove myself into the ground. I tried
producing material for Christian radio and that failed. We didnt have any tricks. We just sat
there. Folks from the church brought us food. I remember while working in a factory some
childhood desires and something broke inside of me. I begin to confess to the Lord my desire to
have things my own way, to have them easy. Then I began to weep. God came next to me in the
factory and began to talk to me. In the process not in words but in knowledge the Lord said
youre right where I want you to be. And dont worry. Youve made all these mistakes, but I still
have a plan for you. This is all part of the script. I am going to use you to reach millions of
people.
A thought came to me write the book, Write the book. It took me 5 years to write the book
This Present Darkness. It took 3 more years to publish it and a year an a half for it to become a
best seller and another half a year for me to get out of the factory. Know that God will always do
the right thing. If you want to get mature in the Lord keep going. Things get dry and things get
kind of oh what are we going to do, dont go back, that was then this is now. The real victory in
your spiritual life comes from pressing on and it is when times seem the darkest if you will stay
with the Lord He will push you through to the other side. Youll be a different person on the other
side then when you first went in. Dont go in circles. The Lord says press on in a straight line. Aim
for the prize. You have to keep going. So press on, youll make it. Hebrews 10:32-39 You need
to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.
For in just a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.
Forgiveness
The following nine practical steps will produce sure forgiveness if diligently taken:
1. Realize that forgiveness is an act of the will.
2. Understand that resentment is destructive to the mind, body, soul, and spirit.
3. Realize that we will not be forgiven by God unless we forgive others who have
hurt us. (Mark 11:25)
4. Think of all that God has forgiven us for. Eph. 4:32. Col. 3:13. God forgives us
instantly, joyfully, and wholly.
5. Thank the Lord for any or all of the blessings He has brought to us through the
people who have hurt us.
6. Think of the needs-mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual-of the individuals
at the time of their hurting us. Their needs then-and now-are probably greater
than ours.
7. We ask God to give us His supernatural ability to love and forgive those
people. Acknowledge that this is the work of the Holy Spirit and receive it by
faith. Heb. 11:6. 1 Cor. 13:8.
8. We ask God for opportunities to express His love to these people both in word
and in deed. (1 John 3:17)
9. Pray for them that God would bless, encourage, comfort, strengthen and meet
their deepest needs.
10. Acknowledge the loss or hurt and release it to God, forgive the person and
bless them. Soak up in Gods presence while in thought about forgiving the
person until you can restore them to a place in your heart that they occupied
before they sinned against you! This includes you.
When Praying for Friends
1. Ask God for His intervention in our friends circumstance. Jer. 32:27.
2. Ask God to be glorified in their lives and that they would become more
conformed to the image of His Son.
3. Ask God to show us what Hes trying to teach us through our friends trials,
and give Him time to speak.
4. Thank God for the blessings received through our friends. Phil. 4:6.
5. Ask God to show us whether theres anything in our hearts that would hinder
our prayers from being effective for them.
6. Ask God to fill us with His love for our friends, and receive it by faith.
7. Ask God to reveal His character to our friends, especially His unfathomable
love, absolute justice, limitless power, infinite understanding, and unswerving
faithfulness, and that they wont lose faith in Gods character. (Is. 50:10)
8. Pray that our friends will be encouraged by seeing the trial of their faith in
light of Gods big picture, since God sees the end from the beginning
9. Ask God to reveal to them the need to give vocal praise and to Him.
10. Ask God to draw our friends by His Spirit to regularly read the Bible and to
quicken to them comforting and encouraging scriptures to build their faith.
11. Ask God to stir them to ask Him What is it you are trying to teach me? Ask
God to reveal to them the purposes and the causes of their difficulties.
12. Ask God to keep them from presuming upon His answers (Ps. 19:13)
13. Ask God to meet their deepest needs and thank Him that He will.
14. Stand against the powers of darkness and command them to scatter
15. Communicate love to our friends, and that were praying for them. Ask God to
show us any practical ways to help them, and obey His promptings.
16. Ask God whether theres anything He wants us to send our friends either from
His Word, or a taped teaching, or a book, or gift.
17. We must be sure to move from hope to faith each time we pray.
Intercessory Praise (7 Ways to Praise)
Ps. 149 verses 1, 3, 6-9 talk about intercessory praise. One time a girl was demonized and a
Christian couple worshiped God for 2 hours. After that was over the girl was normal again.
Davids music had driven the evil spirit from Saul. Ps. 22:3. When we praise God, He inhabits or
enters our praises, and His power overwhelms the power of the enemy. Light will dispel the
darkness through Gods entering into our praise. Not only does intercessory praise still the
avenger, but it also brings receptivity to the gospel. There are seven Hebrew words for praise,
and they can all be used at different times in our prayer meetings.
1. Halal. To be excited, tremendous explosion of enthusiasm in the act of
praising. This is connected with the overthrow of the wicked. (Ps. 117:1).
2. Yadah. To thank, to give public acknowledgment to, to extend the hand, to
worship with raised hands (2 Chron.20:19-21.
3. Barak. to bless, to bow, to kneel in adoration (Ps. 102:1-2).
4. Zamar. to touch the string, to make music to God. This is a musical verb for
praise.
5. Shabach. To speak well of in a high and befitting way. It means to address in
a loud tone, to shout, to command triumph (Ps. 117:1)
6. Tephillah. Intercession for someone, supplication, a hymn (Isaiah 56:7)
7. Towdah. Thanksgiving; also involves the extension of the hand in
thanksgiving; to give the sacrifice of praise (Ps. 50:23)
Once Cindy Jacobs sang over her little boy who had a club foot that wouldnt flex for an hour.
She sang the devil had me bound, but Jesus set me free (x3) singing glory, hallelujah, Jesus set
me free, for an hour and the next morning she noticed that her sons foot was flexible. Clapping
is good. Ps. 47:1. Clapping is one means of breaking yokes. Shouting is ok. Jeremiah 50:15.
Shout against her all around; she has given her hand. Joshua 6:16 says they shouted after
marching around Jericho 7 times.
The Lost art of Intercession
We have Gods permission and invitation to plead our case and make appeals in the courts of
Heaven before our great Judge and God. An intercessor is one who reminds the Lord of
promises and appointments not yet met and fulfilled (Isaiah 62:6-7), takes up the case of justice
before God on behalf of another,(Is. 59:15-16) makes up the hedge, and builds up the wall of
protection in time of battle,(Eze. 13:4-5) stands in the gap between Gods righteous judgment
which is due and the need for mercy on the peoples behalf.(Ez.22:30-31) We are only
authorized to argue or present our case for those things and petitions which are in accordance
with Gods will.
Plead the Honor and Glory of Gods Name-
Samuel prayed for the sake of Gods own name (2 Sam. 7:26), David prayed for Gods name
sake. Asaph prayed for God to help Israel for the glory of Your holy name (Ps. 79:9)
Plead Gods Attributes-
1) Plead Gods righteousness as Nehemiah did (Neh. 9:33) Christ speeds the cause of the
righteous (Is. 16:5).
2) Plead on the basis of Gods faithfulness as Ethan did in Ps. 89, where he makes his holy plea
according to Gods faithfulness six times.
3) Plead on the basis of His mercy and love. Join Moses (Deut. 9:18), David (Ps. 4:1; 27:7;
30:10; 86:6, 15-16) and Daniel and the three Hebrew children (Dan. 2:18).
Plead the Sorrows and Needs of Gods People-
David was one who took upon himself the suffering of his people. He even wept for the suffering
of his enemies (Ps. 35:11-13). Jeremiah used this form of plea as he prevailed for his people.
He pleads for God to look and see the sufferings (Lam 2:20), and to remember, look, and see
(Lam. 5:1).
Plead the past answers to prayer-
1) David reminded God of His past mercy Thou has been my help.. (Ps. 27:9) A number of
Psalms remind God and the people in detail of His past mercies (Ps. 78; 85:1-7; 105; 106; and
136.
2) Like David, you can present pleading arguments for new mercies on the basis of the history of
all He previously has done.
3) Just begin to praise and thank the Lord for the answers of the past
Plead the Word and the promises of God-
1) David pressed for fulfillment of Gods promise.
2) Solomon prayed the same way. He held God to the promises that He had made to David, his
father. (2 Chronicles 6:14-17)
Begin to pray the tenfold claim of Col. 1:9-12.
Five claims of Revelation- Pray for a revelation of Gods will, wisdom, understanding, a revelation
of Gods holiness and His pleasure.
Five claims of blessing. 1) Pray for increased effectiveness, productivity, fruitfulness, increased
devotional growth, an increase of strength, patience and joy. Pray that they will have an
increased delight in the work of the Lord.
The Hour that Changes the World
What we do for the Lord is entirely dependent upon what we are in the Lord. What we are in the
Lord wholly depends upon what we receive from the Lord. And what we receive from the Lord is
directly proportional to the time we spend alone with the Lord in prayer. Here is one model of
prayer.
1) Praise-The prayer in Matthew begins Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.
Praise is the vocal adoration of God. Adoration is the act of rendering divine honor, esteem and
love. Praise is unselfish and it produces forgetfulness of self. Pick a theme like His righteousness
and declare vocally all that God is.
2) Waiting upon God- Waiting says softly, God, I love you. Ps. 46:10 says be still and know that
I Am God. Those that wait upon God shall mount up with wings like eagles. It is a spiritual
silence with all thoughts directed to God alone. It gets your heart in tune for prayer. Concentrate
on Gods love.
3) Confession- Confession clears the conscience of faith-killing guilt and opens the heart to truly
believe God will hear our petitions. Ps. 51:10, 11 says, Create in me a clean heart, O God; and
renew a right spirit within me. After waiting in silence ask God to search your heart for any
unconfessed sin.
4) Scripture praying-The secret to receiving answers to prayer lies in how Christians apply Gods
Word during prayer. First read a passage from the Word of God. Read slowly from verse to
verse. Evaluate how the passage might be transformed into a specific petition. Psalms,
Proverbs, the Gospels, or Epistles provide the best setting for this method of praying.
5) Watching- Make yourself aware of the ways Satan seeks to hinder the effectiveness of our
prayer. Read a missionary magazine so you can pray for specific needs in Gods work around
the world.
6) Intercession-Fill your intercession with the four key scriptural claims. Ask God to give more
laborers to the harvest, to open doors, to bless them with fruit as the result of their efforts, and
with finances to expand their work.
7) Petition- Some things God will not give until we want them enough to ask. A petition is specific
cause even the simplest petition, when offered in faith, opens doors to the miraculous. Ask things
that will honor God.
8) Thanksgiving- It helps you focus on Gods faithfulness. Confess spiritual blessings, material
blessings, physical blessings, and external blessings.
9) Singing- Sing a specific song unto the Lord.
10) Meditation-Ponder the nature of God with full intensity. Focus on Gods word, the works of
God, past victories, then on positive thoughts.
11) Listening- It is in the stillness of the prayer closet that the gift of listening is given and
received. In the listening time of prayer do not hesitate to ask God very specific questions about
difficult situations. Search the Scriptures for specific answers.
12) Praise- Focus your praise on His power, knowledge, and presence. Thank God for hearing
all your requests.
Spiritual Gifts
A spiritual gift is a special ability given by the Holy Spirit to every member of the Body of Christ to
Gods grace for the benefit of the church.
1. Celibacy is to be able to remain single and enjoy it, and not suffer undue
sexual temptations.
2. Martyrdom is to be able to undergo suffering for the faith even to death while
consistently displaying a victorious attitude that brings glory to God.
3. Hospitality is to love to provide open house for those in need.
4. Intercession is to love to pray for extended periods of time on a regular basis
and see frequent and specific answers to their prayers, to a degree much greater
than that which is expected of the average Christian.
5. Giving is to be able to contribute your material resources to the work of the
Lord with Liberality and cheerfulness.
6. Voluntary poverty is when you can renounce material comfort; adopt a
personal lifestyle equivalent to those in poverty in order to serve more effectively.
7. Discerning of spirits- to know what is of God, the devil or the flesh.
8. Deliverance is from God to cast out demons and evil spirits.
9. Teaching- to communicate information relevant to the health and ministry of
the Body and its members in such a way that others will learn.
10. Pastor- to assume a long term personal responsibility for the spiritual welfare
of a group of believers.
11. Exhortation- to minister words of comfort, consolation, encouragement and
counsel to others in such a way that they feel helped and healed.
12. Administration is to be able to understand clearly the immediate & long range
goals of a particular unit of the Body of Christ and to devise and execute effective
plans for the accomplishment of those goals.
13. Faith is to be able to discern with extraordinary confidence the will
and purposes of God for the future of His work. They are goal oriented.
14. Evangelist- to share the gospel with unbelievers in such a way that
they become Jesus disciples.
15. Leadership- to be able to set goals in accordance with Gods purpose, to
communicate these goals to others in such a way that they harmoniously work
together to accomplish those goals. The best leaders are relaxed.
16. Missionary is to minister their spiritual gifts in a second culture.
17. Apostle-to exercise leadership over a number of churches with
an extraordinary authority in spiritual matters.
18. Knowledge- people can guide discussions, analyze info.
19. Wisdom-to know the mind of the Holy Spirit. They get to the heart of
the problem quickly.
20. Mercy-feel genuine empathy for people, while alleviating the suffering
21. Helps-to invest in other believers.
22. Service-identify unmet needs of to Gods work and meet those needs.
23. Prophecy is to receive and communicate messages of God.
24. Tongues liberate the Spirit of God that is within us.
25. Interpretation, Miracles and healing speak for themselves.
The Call
The more focused you are on Him, the more glory you will see regardless of where you are at.
The highest wisdom is to love God. Remember that He came to save the lost; He left the 99 to
go after the one who was lost. Will you help to fill heaven and take up this quest to bring joy to
heaven, to Jesus and to the Father?
When you fall short of the Lords grace and sin entangles you, it is hard for you to come to Him.
You must learn to always run to the Lord at such times, not away from Him. There is one
characteristic that is common to the over comers in every age-they did not waste their time. Your
love will grow cold if you do not deny yourself and take up your cross every day. The fullness of
wisdom is to obey God for your love for Him. We are on earth will remain a part of who we are
forever.
To know our purpose is one of the ways that our vision grows. If you do not use your vision by
walking in what you see, you will lose it. Vision and faith must work together. You do not have
true faith if you do not obey, and if you have true faith you will always obey. Faith and patience
go together. Every trial is for the purpose of changing us into His image. Dont waste any trials.
If your path is more difficult, it is because of your high calling. Discipline yourself for
righteousness.
All of the treasures of the earth cannot weigh in the balance with the value of a single soul. The
angels love to listen to your testimonies. Get the Word of God in your heart and love it. First you
must recognize Gods voice in your own heart and then as He speaks through others. Those who
know the Lords voice because they know Him will not be deceived. The Fathers glory was so
great and the power of His presence so awesome that it seemed like the whole earth would not
have even measured as a grain of sand before Him. There is no higher purpose in the universe
than to worship Him to bring Him joy. our highest purpose is to recognize Jesus, to hear His
voice, and to follow Him.
The humble cannot be embarrassed. The first grace that will keep you on the path of life is to
know the level of your present deception. Deception involves anything that you do not
understand as I do. Knowing the level of your present deception brings humility, and I give My
grace to the humble. My word is the power that upholds all things. To the degree that you believe
that My word is true you can do all things. Dont be careless with your words because to be
careless is to care less. Words have power and it is wisdom to be careful with words.
We need to be clothed with humility. Humility is the place of entire dependence on God. The loss
of humility is the root of every sin and evil. 1 Pet. 5:5, Titus 3:2, Col. 3:12, Acts 20:19. Without
humility there can be no
true abiding in Gods presence, or experience of His favor and the power of the Spirit. Humility
must be made the object of special desire, prayer, faith and practice. We must seek a humility
which will rest in nothing less than the end and death of self. Which gives up all the honor of men
as Jesus did, to seek the honor that comes from God alone; which absolutely makes and counts
itself nothing so that God may be all that the Lord alone may be exalted.
Study the humility of Jesus. His humility was simply the surrender of Himself to the Father; to
allow the Father to do in Him what He pleased no matter what men around might say of Him or
do to Him. Humility is the secret of blessing. Matt. 11:29, Matt. 18:4, Luke 9:48. Humiliation is
the only ladder to honor in Gods kingdom. Luke 18:14. Just as water always seeks and fills the
lowest place, so the moment God finds men abased and empty, His glory and power flow in to
exalt and to bless. True humility comes when, in the light of God, we have seen ourselves as
nothing, having consented to part with and cast away self- to let God be all. The chief mark of
counterfeit holiness is its lack of humility. The power of a perfect love forgets itself and finds its
blessedness in blessing others, in bearing with and honoring them, however feeble they may be.
There is no pride as dangerous as the pride of holiness. Let us flee to Jesus and hide ourselves
in Him until we are clothed with His humility. That alone is our holiness. It is the revelation of
God not only by the law condemning sin, but by His grace delivering from it, that will make us
humble.
Wigglesworth Nuggets
God can never bless us on the lines of being hardhearted, critical, or unforgiving. This will hinder
faith quicker than anything. The moment a person is cleansed the Spirit will fall. Bring everything
to the light. The blood of Jesus and His mighty name are an antidote to all the subtle seeds of
unbelief that satan would sow in your minds.
Every trial is a blessing. More of Gods glory can be revealed through it.
Youll never find Jesus missing an opportunity of doing good. He will meet you in your absolute
helplessness. Every trial is to bring you to a greater position in God. Do everything in the Spirit,
and be filled with the Holy Spirit, and when you are filled youll want to pray in tongues morn,
noon, and night. We should be like torches purifying the very atmosphere wherever we go,
moving back the forces of evil.
None of you can be strong in God unless you diligently hearken to what God has to say to you
through His Word. Read it in the morning and at night and at every opportunity you get. After
every meal, instead of indulging in unprofitable conversation round the table, read a chapter from
the Word and then have a season of prayer. You will find that the more of Gods Word you hide in
your heart, the easier it is to live a holy life. There is nothing impossible to a man who is filled
with the Holy Spirit. I have seen some who have been suffering for years and when they have
been filled with the Holy Spirit all of their sickness has passed away.
The secret of receiving power from God is to wait upon God. Pray this, Enlarge the vessel that
the Holy Spirit may have more room within. The more we know we are nothing, the more God
can make us a channel of His power. May the dear Lord save us from the things that cause us to
be proud-they are the devils traps. May the dear Lord take us to the place where our life is being
lived in the Spirit out of Love and compassion for others.
No one is any good for God and never makes progress in God who does not hate sin. God is
more anxious to answer than we are to ask. We need to eat and drink of the word of God. Every
day must be a day of advancement.
If your body is yielded sufficiently until it becomes perfectly the temple of the Holy Spirit then the
fullness will flow and his life shall be given to you as you need. The word will work out love in our
hearts. We must give all; yield all, as our great Refiner puts us again and again into the melting
pot. Everything depends upon our being filled with the Holy Ghost. The harder the place you are
in, the more blessedness can come out of it as you yield to His plan.
When the Lord reveals to you that you must be filled with the Holy Ghost, seek that one thing until
God gives you that gift. After the trials, temptations and everything, Jesus came out more full of
God, more clothed in the Spirit, more ready for the fight. What we want is a great hunger for
God. People are never safe until their baptized with the Holy Ghost. Separate yourself from
every material desire and God will use you for His glory. God only tries those who are worthy.
The source of all revival is the Holy Ghost. The Lord doesnt want you to trust yourselves so
sometimes He allows you to be tested beyond your strength so you will trust Him.
Everything that is not of faith is sin, the bible is supernatural in origin, eternal in duration,
inexpressible in value, infinite in scope, regenerative in power, infallible in Authority, universal in
interest, personal in application, inspired in totality, read it through, write it down, pray it in, work it
out, and then pass it on.
If you have lost your hunger for God you are missing the plan. We should want more of God. All
lack of faith comes from lack of bible reading. All things are possible with God.
We need to get to the place where rivers of living water floods our being. If you only knew the
unspeakable wonderful blessing of being filled with the third Person of the Trinity, you would set
aside everything else to tarry for this in filling. The Holy Spirit will come when a man is cleansed.
He fills you with His Spirit to be an effective witness.
The Anointing
You cannot know the power of Gods anointing until you experience the presence of God. Only
when you abandon self, totally emptying yourself, can you be filled with Gods presence. The
Holy Spirit is vitally interested in every aspect of your life. He doesnt divide things up into
spiritual and secular. There is no secular. He wants to be and actually is involved in everything.
Its time to say Here I am, Holy Spirit. Come. Walk with me. Help me receive what the Father has
for me. Help me hear what the Lord is saying. When the Holy Spirit is a reality in your life, He
provides an avenue through which the anointing, the power, can flow.
As you receive the Spirits presence, seven things will occur in your life
1. You will be liberated from sin
2. Righteousness will enter your life naturally as you learn to walk after the Spirit
3. You will set your mind on things of the Spirit
4. You will become totally at peace
5. You will be healed from your head to your toes
6. You will receive total death to self and total life to God
7. You will receive intimacy with the Father
Theres only one way to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and thats through prayer. Longing takes
one to the Outer Court, thirsting takes one to the Holy Place; and seeking leads one to the Holy
of Hollies.
As we long for God we go into prayer, the place where God begins to deal with and crucify the
flesh and the longer we are on our knees the less of the flesh remains. A death begins as we are
on our knees. Its a daily death on your knees. In the Outer Court, my mouth was talking to God,
in the Holy Place; my soul was talking, in the Holy of Hollies, my spirit talks-deep calling unto
deep. This is where prayer without ceasing is born where you bask in the glory of God. As you
enter the Holy of Hollies on a daily basis, it becomes more natural and quicker. It may not take
you half an hour to break through; it may take five minutes. The more time you remain in the
presence of God the more that presence will rub off on you. God will judge the prayer- less. Its
not your ability its your surrender to the Holy Spirit thats needed.
The anointing will not flow and touch anyone if you are afraid. Boldness is a must. Every born-
again believer has experienced the lepers anointing, which deals with salvation. The priestly
anointing is for ministry unto the Lord, including leading souls to Him. To be baptized in the Holy
Spirit is the priestly anointing. It is not a one time anointing, but you need a daily anointing. The
kingly anointing is the most powerful of them all. This gives the person authority over devils. The
Lepers anointing comes by accepting Jesus and the priestly anointing comes by fellowship with
Jesus, the kingly anointing comes be obeying Jesus. We will never reach the level of dominion
and authority that God intends for us until we receive the third anointing, the kingly anointing.
Repentance is the first step toward receiving the anointing. Holy Spirit does not glorify what you
have been through. He brings Jesus to the center. He shows the world what Jesus has gone
through to get you to heaven, not what you have gone through to get there. Repentance is a daily
experience for those who are forsaking their sins.
Hells Best Kept Secret
Many people have not seen their need for Gods forgiveness. Just ask them if they have while
youre talking with them. You could start by sharing your testimony or something like this, I didnt
see my need for Gods forgiveness either even though I broke the 10 commandments. I realize
now that if I never repented from my sins and asked Jesus to save me I would have been judged
for my sins without a lawyer on my side and would have been sent to hell. Then walk them
through the commandments. Ask them, Have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen anything?
Have you ever lusted before? According to your own testimony youre a lying, thieving,
adulterer at heart and youre going to have to face God on judgment day. This really gets them
thinking. The secret here is that the Law (10 Commandments) is a schoolmaster to bring the lost
to Christ.
When using the law while witnessing it is better the sinner be offended in order to repent than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season and be cast into everlasting fire. P. T. Forsyth said Our
churches are full of the nicest, kindest people who have never known the despair of guilt or the
breathless wonder of forgiveness. The law shows us our guilt before God and stops us from
justifying ourselves. The law brings to us the knowledge of sin. The law defines sin. The law was
designed for the very purpose of bringing men and women to Christ. See Rom. 3:19, 20, Rom.
7:7, and Gal. 3:24.
John Wesley said, Before I can preach love, mercy, and grace, I must preach sin, Law, and
judgment. He also said they must be slain by the Law before they can be made alive by the
gospel. A.B. Earle said they must see themselves lost before they will cry for mercy. They will not
escape from danger until they see it.
If you have an unconverted sinner, convict him, if you have a convicted sinner, convert him. Use
this verse in witnessing-it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, Heb.9:27
and tell them that the fist of eternal justice will grind them to powder if they remain in sin, that
unless they repent, they will perish. Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many will seek to enter
it, and will not be able Luke 13:24. As with natural birth, intense agonizing, affliction and groaning
should accompany ones entrance into the kingdom of God. Jesus never pushed for a
commitment from those who were not willing to forsake all.
They will only flee from the wrath to come if they believe that there is wrath to come. The law
shows the sinner that he deserves hell, thats its purpose. The anointing to a preacher is what ink
is to a pen. Ask God for more compassion for the lost and when your preaching to the lost if you
havent got tears in your eyes, let them hear tears in your voice. God must initiate the process
that leads a man to salvation. You can ask questions like, Whats your spiritual background?
Then you can ask them if they know the
Lord. Someone said a good rule of thumb to follow would be to presume the Lord wants you to
share the gospel with everyone unless He leads you not to.
Ask the person Do you see your own need of Gods forgiveness? Most people will say no. Then
you could say something like I felt the same way before I became a Christian. I didnt see myself
as being a particular bad sinner because I measured myself by mans standard. You could tell this
story- there was a girl who remarked to her mom how clean some sheep looked against the
green grass. Then as snow began to fall, she noticed how dirty the sheep looked against the
white snow. The background made all the difference. All have sinned does not tell him how much
he has sinned. Only the law does that. Bring up the individuals particular sins. Bring the person
to the point of where they cry out what must I do? It you arent consumed with the zeal of God,
ask the Holy Spirit to stir the depths of your soul. Confess your lack of faith in God as mistrust,
your inferiority as pride, and any other hindrance in your life as sin. Then call upon God to baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Seek God for souls as never before, and with equal zeal seek
souls for God.
The Lord God who made heaven and earth wrote the 10 commandments on stone tablets and
gave them to Moses. Do you think youre good enough to go to heaven? Our righteousness is
like filthy rags to God. Lets go through the 10 commandments and see if you can see your need
for Gods forgiveness.
1. You shall have no other gods before Me (That means that we should love
God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.)
2. You shall not make for yourself any carved image (The Bible warns that
idolaters will not inherit the kingdom of God in 1 Corinthians 6:9.)
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain (This is
blasphemy and I wouldnt want to be in the persons shoes who took Gods name
in vain and never repented on judgment day.)
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (If you never give God any of
your time on the Sabbath day and you work then youve broken the fourth
commandment.)
5. Honor your father and mother
6. You shall not murder (Also, scripture says Whoever hates his brother is a
murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.)
7. You shall not commit adultery (Jesus said that whoever looks at a woman
to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Adulterers
will not inherit the kingdom of God.)
8. You shall not steal (How many times do you have to steal something to be a
thief? No thief shall enter the kingdom of God.)
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (The Word of
God says, All liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and
brimstone.)
10. You shall not covet (This means not to be greedy or materialistic. The
covetous will not inherit the kingdom of God.)
God is holy and will not let sin come into heaven because He is perfect. If you die in your sins
God will be forced to give you justice and His judgment is going to be so thorough, every idle
word a man speaks youll give an account on the Day of Judgment. Stop and consider where you
are headed. Where are you going to spend eternity? To believe means to trust in, rely on, and
cling to the person of Jesus Christ alone for salvation. If you were judged today based on the
standard of the 10 commandments, would you be guilty or innocent?
I once heard of a judge who was ruling in a court of law. He was a good, righteous man, always
judging according to his conscience. One day he looked up to find his own brother standing
before him. He was guilty of a terrible crime. He wanted to say this is my brother, I love him, he
may go free, but his conscience wouldnt allow him to. He brought down the hammer and
proclaimed a verdict of guilty. I fine this man 5000 dollars. Then he took off his wig and gown,
came around the dock and put his arm around his brother saying, Because you are my brother
and I love you, I will pay that fine myself. So he satisfied his conscience, the laws of justice, and
demonstrated his love at the same time. God is holy and righteous. His very nature demands that
justice must be done. Sin must be punished. God says I will by no means clear the guilty. We
have committed a multitude of crimes against God. We are like the brother standing before the
judge. The verdict is guilty, the punishment is hell. But God who is rich in mercy had pity on us
like the judge and in a sense took off His robe, forsook His glory, and paid the fine for us by dying
on the cross. He satisfied the eternal laws of justice. On the cross He cried it is finished meaning
the debt is paid.
(Romans 5:8) You have to take Jesus up on His offer by repenting, praying in faith, and inviting
Him to save you from your sins. Hell clear you from all guilt as though you never sinned.
Elements of Hell
Nakedness
Heat (like walking on the sun at 12,000 degrees)
Weakness (no strength-Psalms 88:4)
Fear (no relief ever)
Torture from demons
Hopeless Despair
Darkness (Evil Presence can be felt- Lam. 3:6)
Putrid Smell, a rotten stench
Dryness, no water, everlasting thirst
Loneliness, isolation, (Stuck in a 5 foot pit or cell)
Loudness, Screaming (no rest, no peace)
Never Get Out (Eternal Punishment)
Purpose is non-existent, (useless wasting away)
No Sleep
Lack of Breath (Low Oxygen)
Feeling of being lost, isolated and separated from God and His Light, Love, and
Life forever is the worst part of hell
When lost people die, they are either led by spirits or just find themselves in a cell in the center of
the earth and will remain their for 1000 more years until the Great White Throne Judgment occurs
and then they will be let out and after they see that their name is not written in the Lambs book of
Life will be cast into the Lake of Fire. You can gather this info from 23 Minutes in Hell, by Bill
Weise.
The Power of Kindness
Small things done with great love can change the world. We can use the power of kindness to
penetrate the spiritually darkened hearts of people with the love of God. After you do kind deeds
for someone ask them if you could pray for them. As a result of practical love shown by
Christians, walls of spiritual resistance often come down. Try leading a team of windshield
washers on an outreach at a local shopping center and leave a card explaining that you cleaned
their windshield to show them Gods love in a practical way. Try leading a team of car washers
and do it for free and pray for the people whose car was washed. Or try feeding parking meters
and leave a card that says your parking meter looked hungry so we fed it. On the back of the
card have a map leading to your church and the times of the worship and a phone number. The
power of kindness can remove spiritual barriers that prevent people from seeing God clearly.
Taking away peoples spiritual blinders will ultimately help them receive Christ. Unless we
constantly remember to value people, we are destined to go off track.
Try cleaning toilets at a bar or a restaurant. On a hot day get a stand up and pass out free drinks.
People whose hearts are closed often become open and vulnerable when they are shown simple
kindness. Pray, Lord dont let a single person in (Your City) go into eternity without knowing you.
Bake cookies for someone that hates you and curses you for no reason other than that you
belong to Jesus. The kingdom of God is based on the power of love, servant hood, and kindness.
The kindness of God leads us to repentance. Try wrapping presents at Christmas. When the
climate of Gods love and presence is evident among a people group, spiritual barriers crumble,
old ways of thinking change, and people come to see and know Jesus as he really is. Try raking
leaves at a fraternity house. Some things change best when we stand back and let God be God.
Try getting a small group and sponsor an ice cream cone giveaway for the people going into the
movie theaters. Take an informal survey among your neighbors by asking What could I and my
small group do to serve you in a practical way? Begin a birthday card campaign in your
neighborhood. Soft drink giveaways are good. Just look around and ask God how you can meet
some needs in a practical way.
Meditation
George Mueller said, It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth I have not lost the benefit of for
more than 14 years. The first great business of the day is to have my soul happy in the Lord. I
saw the most important thing I had to do was to pray and give myself to the reading of the Word
of God and to meditate on it. Thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warmed, reproved
and instructed. Christ is in every page of Scripture.
Meditation is a chewing of the cud with Scripture so that Gods Word becomes a vital part of us.
Its spiritually digesting the Bread of Life, feeding and building the inner man of the spirit. Its a
cleaning stream for the mind. Thinking Gods thoughts after Him purifies the thought life. One of
the meanings of meditate is to mutter. To help grasp the meaning and fullness of a verse, read it
aloud. Repeat it to yourself a number of times. Many blessings are given through the discipline of
meditation. No meditation is really valid unless it leaves us with something to which we can return
during the days business and find it helpful there. Joshua 1:8, Psalms 119:15. The thought is
that we render special mental attention by bowing down in respect of Gods Word. 1 Tim. 4:15- In
this verse the Greek word for meditate is meletao meaning to be careful.
Meditation is more than merely thinking good thoughts. It is the giving of attention to how we
might specifically apply these ponderings after the devotional hour has ended. Scripture
meditation provides the believer with spiritual benefits through no other means. Isaiah 26:3,
Suggests meditating or thinking about Jesus. Ps. 139:17-18-here David is meditating on the fact
that God thinks about us. Ps. 104:34- David also said in the multitude of my thoughts within me
thy comforts delight my soul. Ps. 94:19.
Focus meditation on God Himself. In Ps. 62:5 David writes My soul, wait thou on only upon
God. For my expectation is from Him. Ponder the nature of God with full intensity. Probe
everything you know about your Heavenly Father. Ask these types of questions. What does the
Bible say about God that touches my life? What great attributes of God can I better appropriate
in my daily life?
You could focus meditation on Gods Word. Ps. 1:1-2. Although nearly 30 thousand promises
await us in Scripture, each promise is a focus for meditation, or you could focus meditation on the
works of God. Ps. 77:12. Every created aspect of the universe can become a focal point for
effective meditation. All these ponderings must be in reference to God.
Teaching received in a Sunday class or excerpts from a Christian periodical make excellent food
for meditation.
One Thing you cant do in Heaven
Every time we share our faith, it is a winning situation. Paul took something natural around him
and turned it into a supernatural conversation. When I feel it is time to swing to the eternal in my
conversations, I just ask, what do you think happened to those fifteen people when they walked
off the planet? Talking casually is a good thing to do with people. It builds rapport and trust, so
when you transition to the eternal they are more willing to listen. God allows us to be friends with
lost people so that we will plant seeds in their lives and help them to become eternal friends.
Repetition is very valuable in witnessing. I heard it takes an average of 7.6 times for people to
hear the Gospel before they commit their life to Jesus. Charles Spurgeon said, Have you no
wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that. We must be
available to the Spirit of God to initiate conversations with people when we go out. How shall they
believe if they havent heard? When you are friendly and smile, people usually respond the same
way. So the nicer you are, the more likely they will talk with you or accept a tract from you.
Hudson Taylor said, Gods work done in Gods way will never lack Gods supplies.
The most thrilling part of witnessing is a good conversation with someone who doesnt know
Jesus. Dwight Moody said that if he could get people to think about eternity for just 5 minutes, he
could lead the person to Jesus Christ. One thing you could say to people is, a hundred and fifty
years from now, will it matter if you made a million dollars, drove a Mercedes, or graduated from
college? No. The only thing that will be important then is whether you know the God who created
you, because you will be in one of two destinations foreverand ever. Remember, eternity is an
awfully long time; make sure youve got the right answer. There is a 100% chance that you will
die. Can you guarantee that you will wake up tomorrow morning? Dont put your head on your
pillow tonight unless you know exactly where you are going to spend eternity. When you plant
seeds of the gospel, and of love and of the fruits of Jesus into other people, God is faithful and
will do something with it.
If you can look someone in the eyes and say I care where you spend eternity and mean it, it will
have a tremendous impact. When people know that we care, they will listen when we share.
Make a friend, be a friend, lead a friend to Christ. Studies have shown that 87% of all people who
come to Jesus were introduced through a friend. We need to be about the business of making
friends who do not know Jesus, so the Lord can use us to draw them to Him. Personally, I dont
have time for temporary friendships (That is, just hanging out with people who dont know the
Lord). I do have a lot of temporary friends, but its for the purpose of making them eternal friends.
I have them as friends for the express purpose of loving them like Jesus would, talking to them
about Jesus as I have opportunity, and eventually seeing them in Heaven for all of eternity.
Ephesians 4:15 reminds
us that we should be speaking the truth in love. We dont need to shove it on someone, but to
love it on someone.
It is our responsibility to invite others to Heaven with us; it is their responsibility to decide how to
respond to the invitation. It might be that you are the only Christian friend or someone who is lost,
and God has strategically placed you in that persons life for a purpose. Have that conversation
with them, or write that letter, and you and God and they will be glad you did.
You can ask people, Can I ask you an interesting question? Where are you on your spiritual
journey? What is happening spiritually in your life? If you died tonight, are you 100% sure that
you would go to heaven? You can try Can you help me out? Im working on a project. Well, I
am asking people the question: If you died tonight, are you 100% sure that you would go to
heaven? This statement is true because the person youre talking to is the project. You could say
I use the data for talks that I give. That answer is true too, because youre using it to share the
gospel with that person. Another question you can use is, what do you think is out there when
you walk out of here? We need to let people feel comfortable talking about what they believe.
Then when we transition to the Gospel they will listen to us. Being a listener also helps you learn
about other peoples beliefs, so you will see where to counter the lies Satan has fed them.
Ask people why they wear a cross. Most people answer because it looks good. Ask them did
you know someone died on that cross? John Wesley said you have nothing to do but to save
souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work. He that wins souls is wise. God promises to
give us wisdom to reach the lost for Him. He knows how to help you get a catch. Remember
that if you are not fishing, you are not following. How many of us claim to be followers of Jesus,
but dont do anything to reach the lost for our Lord?
A tragedy is knowing someone will be dying and going to Hell for eternity, and not caring enough
to do anything about it. You have a divine task to accomplish in your life, and God will give you
the divine means to complete it. Look people in the eyes when you witness. You will learn a lot
from their eyes, but they will learn whether you really believe what you say by looking at yours. It
ought to bother people that they have friends who will die and go
to hell, and theyre not motivated to do anything about it. Your boldness will challenge others to
be bold. Hang out in places that dont necessarily glorify the Lord with a purpose: to share your
faith while you are there. The people I meet who are continually fired up for Jesus are those who
are doing the work of the Lord. They are active in their faith, they witness to the lost, work at
homeless shelters etc. If you want a full understanding of
everything that you have in Jesus, make sure that you are active in sharing your faith.
Caught up into Paradise
In the twinkling of an eye Jesus took me out of this world; one moment in suburban Chicago, the
next moment in suburban Heaven. One moment with a flesh-restricted mind, the next moment
with a heaven released mind whose speed of function was that of light! My initial gasp was
quickly followed by an overwhelming sense of peace-peace that passes all understanding-peace
so complete that I instantly knew it was the promised gift of the Spirit from the Lord. I was
enjoying a heavenly body, I was totally me. Aside from the complete absence of pain, and the
total presence of peace, I looked like me, felt like me, reacted like me.
Being a physician, my first instinct was to inspect my new body, and I instantly admired it. I was
the same size and shape, as the person I had seen in the mirror for years. I was clothed in a
translucent flowing gown, pure white, but transparent to my gaze. All this time I was perfectly
aware that the Lord of lords was everywhere about this place, though I did not see Him. Instantly
the sense of timelessness made all hurry foolish, so I resumed my anatomy lesson, knowing that
He would appear in His own time. There were no bones or vessels or organs. No blood. abdomen
and chest were organ-less and transparent to my gaze. There was no air to breathe, no blood to
pump, no food to digest or eliminate. (Everyone who goes to heaven now has Pre-resurrection
bodies)
The illumination fascinated me-not a shadow anywhere. There was no single light source as on
earth. I realized that everything seemed to produce its own light. The Heavens declare the glory
of God; know ye not that His is the Honor, and Glory, and Power? He is the Light of the world.
I stood overwhelmed with the sights of Paradise. But He had more-it was music. All this time
(Since there was no sun, there was actually no time reference), I had been aware of the most
beautiful, melodious, angelic background music that the ear of man can perceive. I was now
ready to concentrate on it. It was truly a new song, such as St. John must have heard from
Patmos. Not instrumental, nor vocal, not mathematical, not earthly. It originated from no one
point-neither from the sky nor the ground. Just as was true of the light, the music emerged
apparently from everything and every place. It had no beat-was neither major nor minor-and had
no tempo. In eternity, how would it have time? No earthly adjectives describe its angelic quality.
I was not prepared for the sweetest revelation of all: the all-pervading aroma of heaven. No one
on earth, minister or Bible teacher had mentioned to me this heady perfume! Like the sight and
the sounds, it was everywhere. I
bent again and smelled the flowers-yes it was there. The air was just the same. A perfume so
exotic, so refreshing, so superior, that it was fit only for a King! I simply stood quietly and let it
bathe my being.
To Heaven and Back
We need to free ourselves from undue attachments to this life, so that we can properly prepare
for the next. Those that have visited heaven through a near death experience come back with a
different appreciation for human relationships. Life is not about doing big things, but about doing
whatever you do for Him. Our purpose should be to love. The only thing that counts is faith
expressed in love. Day by day we are building for eternity. Every gentle word, every generous
thought, every unselfish deed will become a pillar of eternal beauty in the life to come. Eternity is
the present, the now that never ends.
Pam (a Christian) felt she had awakened in a place other than the hospital or her home. Being
aware that the physical pain was gone felt wonderful. A nice cool breeze blew on me. The
temperature was perfect. There was peace and an all-over comfort you could never even
imagine. The lightness and calmness I felt are hard to describe. I remember a bright light, like
sunlight on a sunny afternoon when youd normally need sunglasses-or like the reflection that
comes off a body of water. But I didnt feel I needed sunglasses for protection. This light didnt
hurt my eyes.
Everything in life leads to the day were going to go to be with God, forever and forever. People
have said there are no birds in heaven, but I heard them. God has a plan of total restoration, and
the end will be better than it was at the beginning.
As you pass the sparkling walls and enter the inviting pearl gate, there is a golden boulevard on
either side of a beautiful river of life that ripples and flows with vitality. There are trees of life, with
twelve kinds of fruit, growing on either side of this river. Our senses of sight and smell are nearly
overwhelmed by heaven. Everything is full of light. The light comes from the glory of God, which
has the most beautiful glow imaginable, and the transparent streets of gold add to the radiance.
There are parks as beautiful as the Garden of Eden itself and at least one mountain we know of
(Rev.21:10). The fragrances of roses and lilies of the valley are there, emanating Christs
presence. The fragrance of the flowers in the parks is carried by the gentle breeze. Music is
everywhere. Angels are singing Gods praises, people praising God with the words Holy, Holy,
Holy is the Lord.
Heaven is a place of total unity, healing and love. Our garments are white and spotless. No more
can temptations of the world contaminate our minds, souls, and bodies. This is a place of
friendship and fellowship. All are best friends. God will be our teacher and perhaps those He
designates will
assist. Well be taught about the universe by the Creator Himself. Well also be taught how to be
true leaders and kings Hes called us to be. This will be a time of preparation for the great plans
of the ages that God will reveal to us. The adventure with God will never end.
Ian Mcormicks Heaven Testimony
I went deep sea diving and got stung by some box jelly fish. These were fatal wounds. I almost
closed my eyes and I heard a quiet voice say son, if you close your eyes now you will never
open them again. On the way to the hospital I saw my life flash before me. I saw a vision of my
mom praying for me. I heard her say, Ian if you cry out to God from your heart He will hear you. I
wondered who to pray to because I saw hundreds of gods in the east. Then I remembered that
my mom was a Christian so I tried to pray the Lords prayer.
The only part I saw to pray in the vision was Forgive me of my sins. So I prayed that and then
the words, As I forgive those who sinned against me came up and I had to forgive everyone in
my life who hurt me. The next part that came was Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I
did it and surrendered to Gods will. Then I felt an incredible peace. In the hospital I took some
time to rest and closed my eyes and then I felt an incredible release.
When I opened my eyes I found I was standing and it was pitch dark. I was in a void of spiritual
darkness. I could feel evil coming towards me. I heard a voice say you deserve to be here. I
said deserve to be where? Then a voice said youre in hell now shut up. I just got told didnt I?
I thought I didnt believe in this place. Well its too late when you find yourself in it. I thought I
thought I had prayed in the ambulance. The moment I thought that a glorious light shone in the
darkness and immediately I was taken out of that place.
As I moved closer to the light an incredible sense of warmth and comfort filled me. Fear was
pushed back. I could feel a liquid peace flow through me. I wondered if there was a person inside
the center of this glorious light. A voice responded from within the light and said Ian do you wish
to return? I said if Im out of my body I wish to return. Then He said If you wish to return you
must see in a new light.
Words appeared God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all. I realized that within the
center of this light must be standing Almighty God. I thought, If thats God what am I doing here?
I started edging back from His presence into the darkness because I didnt feel like I belonged
there. In His presence youre undone. He knew my name. My thought was like speech to Him.
And I knew that His radiant light could search the inner most secrets of my heart. I didnt feel
worthy in His presence.
As I pulled back waves and waves of pure love came through me. And as I confessed my sins to
Him His unconditional acceptance came. This was pure love with no strings attached. I stepped
into His radiance and the first thing I saw was a mans bare feet with dazzling white garments on.
As I
looked toward His face, His face was emanating powerful pure light. This radiance hid the
features of His face. I came up literally 2 feet next to Him and He moved so I didnt see His eyes
or features. I then saw a perfect world. I saw perfect grass, gentle breeze. No disease or death. I
was standing on the threshold of eternity.
I wanted to explore, but then Jesus came to block the way to heaven. He showed me many lost
people still on the earth and hinted that if I chose to stay that many would not get a chance to
hear the gospel and perish in their sins.
Like Bob Jones, He was saying if you could stand to look at the people in the line that was
headed towards hell then he could stay. Ian and Bob could not bear to look upon the horror on
the faces of the lost that were doomed because it was too late. He also didnt want to leave his
mother thinking that he died and went to hell.
I chose to go back to earth to tell my mother that I now know God so she wouldnt have to worry
about the possibility of me going to hell anymore. I came back and was healed that day and read
the Bible in 6 weeks.
My Glimpse of Eternity
When I died in the hospital the transition was serene and peaceful. I was walking up a beautiful
green hill. It was steep, but my leg motion was effortless and a deep ecstasy flooded my body.
As the bottoms of my feet touched the grass, something alive in the grass was transmitted up
through my whole body with each step I took. Can this be death? I wondered. If so, I certainly
had nothing to fear. There was no darkness, no uncertainty, only a change in location and a total
sense of well being. All around me was a magnificent deep blue sky, unobscured by clouds.
Looking about, I realized that there was no road or path. Yet I seemed to know where to go. Then
I realized I was not walking alone. To the left, and a little behind me, strode a tall, masculine-
looking figure in a robe. I wondered if he were an angel. I sensed that he could go anywhere he
wanted and very quickly. We did not speak to each other. Somehow it didnt seem necessary, for
we were both going in the same direction. Then I became aware that he was not a stranger. He
knew me and I felt a strange kinship with him. Where had we met or had we always known each
other? It seemed we had. As we walked together I saw no sun-but light was everywhere.
Off to the left there were multicolored flowers blooming. I felt youthful, serenity, fulfillment, health,
awareness, tranquility. I felt I had everything I ever wanted to have. I was everything I had ever
wanted to be. The wall to my right was high and made of many colored stones. A light from the
other side of the wall shone through a long row of amber-colored gems several feet above my
head.
We came across a silver structure and as we walked toward it I heard voices. They were
melodious, harmonious, blending in chorus and I heard the word, Jesus. There were more than
four parts to their harmony. I joined the singing. I have always had a girls body, but a low boys
voice. Suddenly I realized I was singing the way I had always wanted to in high, clear and
sweet tones. The voices not only burst forth in more than four parts, but they were in different
languages. I was awed by the richness and perfect blending of the word-and I could understand
them! I do not know why this was possible except that I was part of a universal experience.
Communication between us was through the projection of thoughts.
The angel stepped forward and put the palm of his hand upon a gate which I had not noticed
before. About 12 feet high, the gate was a solid sheet of pearl, with no handles and some lovely
scroll work at the top of its Gothic structure. An opening appeared and I saw what appeared to be
a street of golden color with an overlay of glass or water. The yellow light that appeared was
dazzling. I saw no figure, yet I was conscious of a Person. Suddenly I knew that the light was
Jesus, the Person was Jesus. Every part of me was absorbing the light. I felt bathed by the rays
of a powerful, penetrating, loving energy.
Words describing God utilizing the alpha bet (Can be used in Q.T.)
Able= having the ability to perform well.
Abounding=alive
Abundant=generous, bountiful
Accurate=errorless, precise
Adventurous=Taking or willing to take risks
 Alluring=attractive, appealing
Amazing=fabulous
Approachable=Warm, welcoming
Aromatic=fragrant
Artistic
Astonishing=Fabulous, Startling
Authentic=Faithful, true, trustworthy
Awesome=Full of awe, endless wonder
Beautiful=having qualities that delight the eye.
Best=unsurpassed, surpassing all others in quality
Brilliant=blazing, glaring, dazzling,
Boundless=endlessness, endless
Bright=radiant, Beaming, shining, colorful,
Bursting=eager, full
Captivating=Attractive, mysterious
Cheerful=glad
Complete=lacking nothing essential, whole, Ruddy, Healthy
Concerned=interested, involved
Conquering=victorious
Convincing=satisfying, persuasive,
Decisive=determined, resolute, firm
Delightful=glad
Dependable=reliable, solid,
Desirable=desireful
Eager=Intensely desirous or interested,
Effective=Producing or Able to produce a desired effect
Enthusiastic=fervent, glowing
Eternal=infinite, ageless, endless, illimitable,
Everlasting=continual
Exalted=elevated, grand, sublime
Excellent=champion, great, sovereign,
Exited=thrilled
Exhilarating=inspiring
Extravagant=gloriously wasteful
Exuberant=full of joyful, unrestrained high spirits
Fascinating=attractive
Fresh=ever-new and ever-old, bright and clear, not dull or faded.
Glad=providing joy and pleasure. Delighted, cheerful
Glorious=marked by extravagant elegance, beauty and splendor.
Good=flawless, whole, entire, perfect
Gracious=Gives freely to the undeserving, (all of us). Generous.
Holy=divine, blessed, sanctified, so completely other than
Honorable=worthy of honor and respect
Incredible=beyond belief, contrary to all reason, everyday is a miracle. God
is better than a fairy tale.
Indescribable=unspeakable
Innovative=inventive, new, creative, original
Intoxicating=inspiring
Joyful=merry, glad
Just=right, deserved, appropriate
Lively=energetic, vigorous, vivacious
 Loving=God is love, affectionate
Magnetic=attractive
Magnificent=glorious, outstanding
Majestic=grand
Marvelous=particularly excellent, wonderful, out of this world, fabulous
Matchless=unique
Melodic=Musical, Melodious, I will rejoice over you with singing. Heaven is
full of music. Some say everything in the universe is made up of musical notes.
Mighty=powerful
Mysterious=mystifying, difficult to understand. God always was.
Never-ending=Endless, we are part of Gods never-ending love story.
Optimistic= dwelling on hopeful aspects.
Overflowing= alive
Passionate=blazing, fervent
Patient=long-suffering, Enduring inconvenience without complaint.
Perfect= impeccable, supremely excellent in quality or nature
Praiseworthy=admirable
Preeminent=eminent, outstanding, primary
Pure=Free from extraneous elements, absolute, perfect, undiluted
Ravishing=beautiful
Refreshing=tonic, reinvigorating
Relentless=continual, God is relentless in His pursuit of us.
Shepherd=guide
Source=contact, origin
Supreme=Ultimate, ideal
Thoughtful=Mindful, What is man that You are mindful of him?
Unconquerable=invincible, The unconquerable kingdom of God.
Victorious=triumphant, Jesus the victor.
Wise=Possessing or showing keen perception
Worthy=Honorable, Admirable, Valuable
Zealous=enthusiastic
Heaven Chapter
Yoori hugged her knees and closed her eyes, recalling the day she met the God Who Loves. She
relived the moment he carried her into the River of Life and washed away all her fears. Suddenly,
there were hands over her eyes. Jesus! Yoori squealed. Youre here!
Im here, he answered, smiling. Father suggested that I show you something today.
It felt so good to be close to Jesus again. There were so many things to talk about! I am
wondering where all the people in the little white gowns are going.
All those people are in gowns of salvation, Jesus answered. Those who overcome on the earth
receive a robe of righteousness like yours.
Oh! I love my robe! And I saw other people with robes like mine with different colored
sashes. But a few of the people wear wreaths on their heads instead of a crown.
Thats right, Jesus said. These saints in line at the river did not overcome on the earth, but they
believed in me to forgive them of their sins and so I brought them here. They are all heading
toward the throne room of Almighty God.
You are merciful, Yoori whispered. And you are the most merciful to me.
Im taking you to the portal, he called back to her. His words broadcast like streams of water
gurgling, gushing, and roaring in unison, a reverberation of authority that shook the very
foundations of heaven itself.
It was from this gateway that the Holy Spirit first hovered over the brewing void of darkness that
expanded the outside of heaven. Yoori did not understand, but she waited for him to explain. In
the beginning, we stood here and created the world, the universe, the seas, and dry land. We
created the first humans, too.
Suddenly a great screen appeared. Yoori watched in awe as she saw Jesus and his Father and
his Great Spirit create the earth, the seas, the creatures, the lights in the heavens. As she stared
at the grandeur of it all, she realized that Jesus was beyond imagination and it would take all of
forever to know everything that he was capable of doing. Wow! exclaimed Yoori. Is that how
you did it? Yes, Jesus answered. You lived in great darkness in North Korea. But you began to
talk to me, calling me, The God Who Loves. Yoori smiled. I remember. Jesus continued,
Your faith delighted my heart. Now Jesus smiled and Yoori felt that she could drink the pleasure
he felt in her faith on the earth. Did the star really go into Han Chun that night? Jesus grinned
and then shook his head. No, but your faith did. And your faith was a shining star in the
darkness of your situation.
I love the whole world, Jesus replied as he placed her hand in his. But Father and I cannot
help ourselveswe respond to faith. We love faith. And your faith, although you did not know
my name, moved our heart. Your faith even touched the hearts of the angels to want to bring you
here. Your guardian was pleased to be assigned to your rescue. Yoori tried to absorb it all. She
looked at the stars, the earth, the universe, and then back at the golden box at the left of the gate.
Immediately she noticed another golden box on the right side of the entranceway into
heaven. What is in this box?
At that question a tear formed in Jesus eye and his appearance changed back and forth, from
solid to liquid to a vapor almost. Yoori fell on her face and worshipped him. What is it, Lord? she
cried. What is it that could make you cry? Yoori sobbed at the tear in her Beloveds eye. She
could feel the emotion of grief again yet she wanted to feel what he felt and know him in this
awful yet effervescent way. Jesus did not come to her. This, he said slowly. This is the Fathers
box of love. Yoori felt sorrow come up in her throat as Jesus reached into the box. Why, its a
crown! she exclaimed. Jesus nodded, A crownand a robe. One night my Father and I stepped
on this very portico. I gave him my heavenly crown and my royal robes and we clasped one
another in a strong embrace. I needed his strength for the mission. That night, Father put my robe
and crown in this box and he reformed me and placed me into the womb of a woman, a virgin.
Her name is Mary. Shes here with everyone else now. Mary had faith to believe she could carry
me and with Gods help she could raise me, even though I was the Son of God and the Savior of
the world.
How beautiful, said Yoori. Did Father throw her a star, too?
Jesus tilted his head slightly, his eyes shining at some remote memory. Kind of; He gave her
reason to believe that he wanted her to give birth to me and raise me so that I could show Gods
love to the world. How did you show Gods love? asked Yoori.
Mostly, I showed Gods love by being willing to leave him in order to help the people on the
earth. I missed him greatly and while on earth spent a great deal of my time praying to him. I also
healed the sick, raised up a few dead people back to life, taught the people about God and his
love, and
His voice dropped off and Yooris heart urged him to continue. She did not say a word, but their
spirits were intertwined now and she knew that he knew her eagerness to hear the rest of the
story about the love of God.
The people on earth, some of them did not understand. They killed me. Suddenly the screen
was back again and Yoori saw her Beloved hanging on a cross, his face swollen, bruised, and
bloody, and his body dangling from large spikes hammered onto boards. His precious head was
mangled.
Oh, no, Yoori cried. She fell on her face on the floor of the portico and wept. No, no, no!
Yes, said Jesus. Sin and grief and sorrow and fear have no place inside these grand gates. It
was the Fathers greatest love test to send me to die so that no one would need to live in their
sins forever. Yooris body shook with grief over the condition of the body of the God Who
Loves. She trembled at the condition of her own heart when she was on the earth. She
remembered her hatred for the Gotchebee children and shuddered. She suddenly remembered
the lies shed told and all the wrong things shed done. It seemed unfathomable she never knew
what he had done for her until that moment. She wrenched the crown from her head and threw it
at his feet. Please, take my crown, take mine! Its all I have to giveto thank you. Jesus
squatted beside her and pulled the hair back from her wet cheeks, her golden crown in his other
hand. This crown is your reward, Yoori. It belongs to you. She looked up at him. There was so
much love in his eyes, so much tenderness and forgiveness. She was astonished utterly
consumed by the love in his eyes. Please? Its all that I have to give you here. I have nothing
else I can offer.
You have given me this moment together, he said. And youve given me your love. Will you
wear it? she asked. Jesus smiled and put the crown on his head. It fits right inside of my own
crown; Hows that? Yoori looked at him more deeply, not answering his question. His eyes drew
her into a trance of love, one that she did not want to return from for a long, long time.
After a time, Jesus helped her back to her feet and embraced her. Strength went into her and she
was able to feel his calm peace and love one more time. I am so sorry, Yoori said quietly. I am
so sorry for all my wrongs.
I forgive you, said Jesus. Even without knowing about my sacrifice for you, you were able to
believe in the God who loves. Many who know my entire story still do not believe me. Jesus
picked up his crown and robe. These are here, kept in this box outside the gate, to remember
the great love of the Father and to remember all those on the earth who have courageously left
their homes and families in order to travel the path that God has for them. Jesus put the crown
and the robe back into the golden box. When he turned back toward her, Gods love
overpowered Yoori and she collapsed onto the porch again. Jesus knelt beside her and gently
drew her into his arms, as he had that first day in heaven by the river, and lifted her up and
carried her back through the gateway into heaven. She thought her heart would break into a
million pieces. Then, just as they entered back into heaven, the gates gently closed and the wind
of heaven blew over her, tousled her hair and dried her tears. Heavens energy surged through
her being again and the bitter sorrow of his suffering became a reality imbedded in her memory
that only added to her love for him. The grief was gone and she stopped crying.
I love you, Yoori, said Jesus. I will love you forever, said Yoori. Forever and ever with all of
my heart. Jesus smiled. I know. I can feel your love.
Can Jesus feel your love?
Teaching I shared at Nikao on Solitude
How many times have we ran out of a time with the Lord before He was finished sharing what
was on His heart with us? He wants us to linger lovingly in His presence like Mary.
An example would be if someone talks for hours without letting the other person getting a word in
edge wise. This is another communication error we commit with the Lord. We must remember
that our Lord has a heart that is yearning to be unburdened to us. He wants to tell us what is
breaking His heart in our generation. He wants to speak to each of us about His beautiful plan he
has for all who trust Him. He wants to reveal glorious truths, guidance for ourselves and help in
ministering to others, solutions to problems, new ministries and outreaches that will save the lost,
specific words concerning jobs, careers, homes, life partners, and most of all, He wants to talk to
us about how much He loves and cares for us.
When Elijah got alone, quiet, away from all the power displays, he got the most specific directions
ever in his entire ministry to God. How many busy children of God today have never had the
voice come to them?
Hebrews 3:7=Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts!
Revelation 3:20=Look, I the Lord, stand at the door of your heart, and knock: if you hear my
voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. The Lord
would say Im asking to be heard. Open up. Let Me into your secret closet. Let Me talk with you
and you talk with Me. Lets commune.
John 16:12-13-I have yet many things to say unto you, buy you cannot bear them now, but when
the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.
God is always speaking; we just at times have stopped listening or stopped believing that we can
hear him. He wants us not to give up listening in times of dryness. He doesnt want us to be
intimidated by the silence. Silence before God is a key to our relationship with Him. Part of this
silence ought to be spent in meditation of Gods truths. We must learn to lit silently and allow the
Word to feed our spirit. Meditation is related to solitude but it is not solitude alone. Meditation is
more in step 4 where solitude is more in step 6.
The soul in one single quiet hour of prayer will often make more progress than in days of
company with others! I remember my psychologist saying theres nothing the enemy fears more
than when a believer gets on his knees, silences his soul and listens and waits for God to reveal
Himself through His Word, His voice, His Spirit, the revelation of His Person, and the revelation of
His will and desire. The Word in Psalms says, be still and know that I am God. That word still in
the Hebrew means be still, cease, let alone, to slacken. This is hard for many because were used
to be in a doing, doing, doing mode. The Lord wants to teach us how to be in a being mode, a
being with Him. We must cease from our own works. When we are in unrest you cannot hear His
voice like you should. And then we often end up guessing at what His will is for us at the present
time and or future.
Loneliness is inner emptiness. Solitude is inner fulfillment. There is a freedom of being alone, not
in order to be away from people but to hear the divine whisper better. Jesus sought out solitary
places regularly be alone with Father. One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the
void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss
of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair. Without silence there is no solitude. Though silence
sometimes involves the absence of speech, it always involves the act of listening. Refraining from
talking without a heart listening to God is not silence. When we repeat the intimate words of God
that he has left within us, our silence remains intact. Silence is one of the deepest disciplines of
the Spirit because it puts the stopper on all self-justification. In times of dryness, or aloneness any
overdependence on the emotional life is stripped away. Feelings leave and there is the sense that
we are not getting through to God. Rather than fighting, become still and wait. But whether in the
desert or at home, hold in your heart a deep, inner, listening silence and there be still until the
work of solitude is done. The fruit of solitude is increased sensitivity and compassion for others.
It enables us to come to terms with habits in our lives that need changing, recognize and reform
our inmost attitudes in our hearts towards people and events, and escape from image
maintenance and angry outbursts.
Psalms 27:4=One thing have I desired that will I seek after, to behold the beauty of the Lord, to
inquire in His temple, to dwell in His house all the days of my life.
Inquire: to seek out, to plough (which is turning over soil in preparing a seed bed). Application-as
we practice solitude/stillness, we are seeking out Gods face and voice (we are not blanking out
our minds and chanting for world peace), and the silence we maintain is preparing our hearts
which is like His seed bed, its preparing us for His Word to come and be planted deep in the soil
of our hearts.
John 10:3-5=My sheep hear my voice.
Revelation 3:20=I stand at the door and knock, he who hears my voice
Hear: give audience
Application-we are to give the Lord audience, our attention and be ready to receive His revelation
for that hour
Psalms 37:7=Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.
Rest=damam-in Hebrew means to be dumb, to stop, to cease, keep silence, quiet self, be still,
tarry, wait, to perish, to be astonished
Application-when we come before the Lord in this way; we must stop our activity so we can begin
to get a glimpse of Gods activity.
This quietness and ceasing from all effort is the secret of the highest activity of man and all his
powers. When God and man are spoken of as working together, there is nothing of the idea of a
partnership between two partners who each contribute their share to a work. The true idea is that
of co-operation founded on subordination or dependence upon the Lord. As Jesus was entirely
dependent on the Father for all His words and works, so we can do nothing of ourselves. What
we can do of ourselves is altogether sinful. We must therefore cease entirely from our own doing,
and wait for the working of God in us. As we cease from self-effort, faith assures us that God
does what He has promised to do, and works in us. Among the lessons to be learned of those
who are studying the blessed art of abiding in Christ, there is none more needful and more
profitable than the one of stillness of soul. In it alone can we cultivate that teachable-ness of spirit
to which the Lord will reveal His secrets, that meekness to which He shows His ways.
It is a soul silent unto God that is the best preparation for knowing Jesus, and for holding fast the
blessings He bestows. It is when the soul is hushed in silent awe and worship before the Holy
Presence that reveals itself within, that the still small voice of the blessed Spirit will be heard.
Quietness is blessedness, quietness is strength, and quietness is the source of the highest
activity, the secret of all true abiding in Christ. Let us try to learn it, and to watch against whatever
interferes with it. The dangers that threaten the souls rest are not a few. What are some we go
through so we can watch against them in the future?
If abiding in Christ through solitude really is our first aim, let us beware of all needless excitement.
Above all, there is the unrest that comes of seeking in our own way and in our own strength the
spiritual blessing which comes alone from above. Gods work is hindered by our interference. He
can do His work perfectly only when the soul ceases from its work.
Even when the soul seeks truly to enter the way of faith, there is the impatience of the flesh.
Blessed is the man who learns the lesson of stillness and fully accepts Gods word: In quietness
and confidence shall be your strength. Each time he listens to the word of the Father, or asks the
Father to listen to his words, he dares not begin his Bible reading or prayer without first pausing
and waiting, until the soul be hushed in the presence of the Eternal Majesty. Cultivate the
quietness as a means to the abiding in Christ; expect the ever-deepening quietness and calm of
heaven in the soul as the fruit of abiding in Him.
To begin to acquire this habit of silence first of all forget yourself, lay aside all self-interest.
Second, listen attentively to God. This will gradually produce in youre a love of that beauty which
is the Lord Jesus. This beauty is inwrought in you by Him. Third, try to find a quiet place. Outward
silence develops inward silence, it improves it. It is impossible for you to really become inward,
that is, to live in your inmost being where Christ lives, without loving silence and retirement.
Hosea 2:14-I will lead her into solitude, and there I will speak to her heart. There is little value in
being turned within to the Lord unless the end result is an anointing and a spirit of prayer which
continues with you during the whole day. Silence has a great deal to do with experiencing the
Lord on a deeper plane. Mary was still at the feet of Jesus while Martha represented the busy
soul. The Lords words to our spirit will satisfy our thirsty souls but we must learn to be still before
God.
My own experience with solitude:
At times when I really wanted to hear from the Lord I would seek Him the best way I knew how
and after I would be silent for awhile. Sometimes I would hear a guiding word that I needed for
peace and other times I wouldnt hear an answer but I knew I was in His presence and I knew my
spirit was strengthened because of that. Sometimes the answers or the words would be revealed
later that week. The seasons I have spent more time in stillness with God, those times I
remember having a closer sense of His nearness in my life during the normal course of my
schedule. It has helped me to think of a verse or something that has given me a sense of the
Lords goodness or character during the solitude times. But I do understand that there is a
difference between meditation and solitude. My moms cousin gave me a prophetic word from the
Lord which was dont do , but be. After reading and thinking about this topic of solitude I am
beginning to understand a little bit more about what that word means. I used to do so many
things for the Lord in my own strength and I burned out. The eagle just lays still on a rock while
absorbing the rays of the sunlight and receives new strength. Thats a good picture of how we
should be. Its humbling because we like to talk, and do. Doing to us is like an opium to the
soul. We have to lay that down so we can get on Gods frequency channel. When we still our
souls and give the Lord audience our heart is saying, God I want to know you more, I want to
hear you, I am yours and You are mine, here I am send me, show me whatever you want to show
me I am available for you to unburden your heart to me now.
Promises from Isaiah 58
Verse 8: Your health shall spring forth speedily; the glory of the Lord shall be
your protection
Verse 9: When you call, the Lord shall answer
Verse 11: The Lord shall guide you continually, the Lord shall satisfy your soul
in drought, and you shall be like a well-watered garden, a spring of water, whose
waters never stop flowing
Verse 14: The Lord will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth,
and feed you with the heritage of Jacob.
Confessions of faith from the Word regarding those who feed the hungry, clothe the naked, take
in the poor, help those who are needy in your own family, free captives, satisfy afflicted souls,
who dont make false accusations or spread vicious rumors, who enjoy the Sabbath, honoring the
Lord in what they do, not following their own desires and pleasure nor talking idly
 God is shedding His own glorious light upon me
My health is springing forth speedily
The glory of the Lord is my protection
When I call upon the Lord he hears me and answers
The Lord is guiding me continually
The Lord is satisfying my soul in drought & in abundance
I am like a well watered garden, a spring of water whose waters never stop
flowing
The Lord is causing me to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feeding
me with the heritage of Jacob
The Lord is enlarging me and stretching and filling my heart with more of His
love for others
Apostolic Prayers
Make me strong and mature in You and let the beauty of Christ be formed and
seen in me
May I have confidence in all of Your will for me
Strengthen me with Your divine might in my inner man
Fill me with the fullness of Christ and the fullness of Your Spirit
May I be rooted and grounded in Your love
Give me power to understand the depths of Your love
Give me the utterance that I might speak the right words in sharing the gospel
with those around me.
Give me holy boldness.
Give me complete understanding of what You want to do in my life.
Give me spiritual wisdom and fill me with your joy
Give me opportunities to share You with those around me
Give me an understanding of my glorious future with Jesus and the inheritance
I have in You
May I grow in understanding & knowledge about what really matters
May I always be filled with the fruit of my salvation.
Make me holy in every way, may love grow in me.
May my body, soul, and spirit be kept blameless till You come.
May the gospel spread rapidly & be honored in every place.
Send Your healing power, may signs be done in Your name Jesus.
Bring unity to Your church, may we be one as You and Father are
Let me see Your glory Lord Jesus.
Romans 15:5-7, 13, Romans 10:1, 1 Corinthians 4-8, 2 Thess. 1:11-12
Commands from the Word
The Lord said If you love Me, keep my commandments. Those who are called highest in the
Kingdom practice and teach the commandments of God. Those who do the will of God will abide
forever. Study them, learn them, understand them, memorize them, obey them, and teach them.
These are commands or exhortations or anything with some kind of instruction in it for us.
1. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30)
2. Love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31) (1 Peter 4:8)
3. Be silent before the Lord your God (Zeph. 1:7)
4. Prefer others over yourself (Rom. 12:10)
5. Give to those who ask (Matt. 5:42)
6. Tithe 10% of your income to God (Numbers 18:26)
7. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33)
8. Seek Gods face (1 Chronicles 16:11)
9. Honor your father and mother (Matt. 15:4)
10. Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus (Matt. 16:24)
11. Forgive everyone who has hurt you (Matt. 6:12)
12. Tarry until you be endued with the promise of Father (Luke 24:49)
13. Preach the gospel to all creation and make disciples (Mark 16:15)
14. Record the vision; write it down, though it tarries wait for it, it will come!
(Hab. 2:2-3)
15. Do not be unbelieving but believing (John 20:27)
16. Repent of your sins (Matt. 4:17)
17. Let your light shine before men (Matt. 5:16)
18. You shall not commit adultery (Matt. 5:27)
19. Fulfill your vows to the Lord (Matt. 5:33)
20. Guard your lips (Micah 7:5)
21. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two (Matt. 5:41)
22. Love your enemies and pray for your persecutors (Matt. 5:44)
23. Walk in Gods paths (Mic. 4:2)
24. Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is Perfect (Matt. 5:48)
25. Give, Pray, and Fast in secret (Matt. 6:4, 6, 18)
26. Store up treasures in heaven (Matt. 6:20)
27. Do not worry about your life or about tomorrow (Matt. 6:25)
28. Ask, seek and knock and the door will open to you (Matt. 7:7)
29. Treat people the same way you want them to treat you (Matt. 7:12)
30. Beseech the Lord to send out laborers into His harvest (Matt. 9:38)
31. Heal the sick, Raise the dead, Cleanse the lepers, Cast out demons freely
you have received so freely give (Matt. 10:8)
32. What does the Lord require of you? That you do justice, love kindness,
and walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8)
33. Wait for your God continually (Hosea 12:6)
34. Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord (Hosea 6:3)
35. Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matt. 10:16)
36. Do not fear those who can only kill the body but fear Him who has the power
to destroy both body and soul in hell (Matt. 10:28)
37. Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great things (Jer. 33:3)
38. Come to Me all wearied, take My yoke, learn from Me. (Matt. 11:28)
39. You shall not murder, steal, lie, or covet (Exodus 20)
40. Feed the hungry, Give drink to the thirsty, and Invite the stranger into your
home (Mat. 25:35)
41. Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning,
and rend your hear and not your garment (Joel 2:13)
42. Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness, break up
your fallow ground, for its time to seek God until He rains righteousness on you
(Hosea 10:12)
43. Clothe the naked; Visit the sick and those in prison (Matt. 25:36)
44. Let us examine our ways, and return to the Lord (Lam. 3:40)
45. Take communion in remembrance of Jesus (Matt. 26:26-28)
46. Watch and Pray (Matt. 26:41)
47. Have salt in yourself, and be at peace with one another (Mark 9:50)
48. Believe what you pray for (Mark 11:24)
49. Be on the alert for Jesus second coming (Mark 13:35)
50. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test (Luke 4:12)
51. Dont live by bread alone but by every Word from God (Luke 4:4)
52. Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only (Luke 4:8)
53. Proclaim release to the captives, set the oppressed free (Luke 4:18)
54. Bless those who curse you (Luke 6:28)
55. Do good to those who hate you (Luke 6:35)
56. Be merciful just as your Heavenly Father is merciful (Luke 6:36)
57. Do not judge or condemn (Luke 6:37)
58. Cast away from you all your transgressions and make yourself a new heart
and a new spirit (Ezekiel 18:31)
59. Be dressed in readiness keep your lamps lit (Luke 12:35)
60. Count the cost (Luke 14:28)
61. Rebuke a brother who sins, forgive him if he repents (Luke 17:3)
62. Be faithful until death (Revelation 2:10
63. Whatever the Master tells you to do, do it! (John 2:5)
64. Work for the food that endures to eternal life(John 6:27)
65. Love one another as Jesus has loved you (John 13:34)
66. Do not let your heart be troubled (John 14:1)
67. Abide in Me and I in you (John 15;4)
68. Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain (Rev. 3:2)
69. Be zealous therefore, and repent (Rev. 3:19)
70. Consider yourselves dead to sin, and alive to God in Christ (Rom. 6:11
71. Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice to God and be
transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rom. 12:2)
72. Let love be without hypocrisy, Abhor what is evil (Rom. 12:9)
73. Give God no rest till He establishes, and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth
(Is. 62:7)
74. Love truth and peace (Zech 8:19)
75. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love and give preference to one
another in honor (Rom. 12:10)
76. Be diligent and not slothful in business, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord
(Rom. 12:11)
77. Set up for yourself road marks, place for yourself guideposts, direct your
mind to the highway, the way by which you
78. went (Jer. 31:21)
79. Let him who glories, glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I
am the Lord who exercises loving kindness,
80. justice, and righteousness on earth (Jer. 9:24)
81. Persevere in tribulation, and be devoted to prayer (Rom. 12:12)
82. Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good
way is, and walk in it (Jer. 6:16)
83. Contribute to the needs of the saints and practice hospitality (Rom. 12)
84. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (R. 12)
85. Be of the same mind towards one another, do not be haughty, associate with
the lowly and dont be wise in your own estimation (R. 12
86. Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns, circumcise
yourself to the Lord and remove the foreskins of your heart (Jer. 4:3-4)
87. Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near (Is.
55:6)
88. Be at peace with all men (Rom. 12:18)
89. Do not be overcome by evil, overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21)
90. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another (Rom. 13:8)
91. Lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on armor of light (Rom. 13)
92. Put on Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh (Rom. 13)
93. Accept one another just as Christ also accepted us (Rom. 15:7)
94. Do not associate with a brother who is immoral, covetous, idolater, drunkard,
swindler, not even to eat with such a one. (1 Cor. 5:11)
95. Do not seek a wife (or husband) (1 Corinthians 7:27)
96. Run in such a way that you may win (1 Cor. 9:24
97. Flee from idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14)
98. Do not seek your own good but that of your neighbor (1 Cor. 10:24)
99. Do all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31)
100. Pursue love and desire earnestly spiritual gifts, especially prophecy (1
Corinthians 14:1)
101. Walk in the light of the Lord (Is. 2:5)
102. Let all things be done for edification (1Cor. 14:26)
103. Die daily (1 Corinthians 15:31)
104. Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (1
Corinthians 15:58)
105. Stand firm in the faith, be men of courage, be strong (1 Cor. 16:13)
106. Learn to do good (Is. 1:17)
107. Let all that you do be done in love (1 Corinthians 16:14)
108. Cleanse yourself from all defilement of flesh and spirit (2 Cor. 7:1)
109. Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christs will (2
Corinthians 10:5)
110. Aim for perfection (2 Corinthians 13:9)
111. Seek the favor of the Lord (Zech. 7:2)
112. Serve one another in love (Gal. 5:13)
113. Walk (Live) by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16)
114. Bear one anothers burdens (Gal. 6:2)
115. Do not lose heart (or become weary) in well doing (Gal. 6:9)
116. When you have opportunities do good to all (Gal. 6:10)
117. Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. Walk
in humility, gentleness, patience, showing tolerance for one another in love. Be
diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:1-3)
118. Speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15)
119. Put on the new self (Eph. 4:24)
120. Be angry and sin not, dont let the sun go down on your wrath, Dont give the
devil a foothold (Eph. 4:27)
121. Let no unwholesome word proceed your lips only what is good for edification
(Ep.4:29)
122. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30)
123. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other (Eph. 4:32)
124. Walk in love (Eph. 5:2)
125. There must not be any hint of sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among
you (Ephesians 5:3)
126. Be imitators of God (Eph. 5:1)
127. Walk as children of Light (Eph. 5:8)
128. Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord (Eph. 5:10)
129. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness but expose them (Eph.
5:11)
130. Be careful how you walk, not as unwise but as wise (Eph. 5:15)
131. Make the most of your time (Eph. 5:16)
132. Do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is (Eph. 5:17)
133. Do not get drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18)
134. Always give thanks for all things in the name of the Lord Jesus to God (Eph.
5:20)
135. Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ (Eph. 5:21)
136. Obey your parents in the Lord (Eph. 6:1)
137. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might (Eph. 6:10)
138. Put on the full armor of God (Eph. 6:11)
139. Pray at all times in the Spirit on the alert with all perseverance and petition
for all the saints (Eph. 6:18)
140. Maintain the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose (Phil. 2:2)
141. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit but with humility of mind regard
one another as more important than yourself (Phil. 2:3)
142. Do not merely look out for your own interests, but also for the interests of
others (Ph.2:4)
143. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12)
144. Do all things without grumbling or disputing (Phil 2:14)
145. Share your joy (Phil. 2:18)
146. Rejoice in the Lord always (Phil. 3:1)
147. Beware of the evil workers (Phil. 3:2)
148. Live in harmony in the Lord (Phil. 2:4)
149. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer with thanksgiving let your
request be made known to God (Phil. 4:6)
150. Whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, good report, any excellence or
anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things (Phil. 4:8)
151. Rejoice and exult with all your heart (Zeph. 3:14)
152. Set your hearts on things above (Col. 3:1)
153. Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience
(Col. 3:12)
154. Put on love which is the perfect bond of unity (Col. 3:14)
155. Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart and be thankful (Col. 3:15)
156. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly (Col. 3:16)
157. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus (Col.
3:17)
158. Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men
(Col. 3:23)
159. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt (Col. 4:6)
160. Stand perfectly and fully assured in all the will of God (Col. 4:12)
161. Take heed to the ministry which you received in the Lord that you may fulfill
it (Col.4:17)
162. Be sanctified and flee sexual immorality (1 Thessalonians. 4:3)
163. Comfort one another with words of Jesus coming (1 Thess. 4:18)
164. Encourage one another and build up one another (1 Thess. 5:11
165. Be patient with everyone (1 Thess. 5:14)
166. Rejoice always, Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17)
167. Abstain from every form of evil (1 Thess. 5:22)
168. Do not be undisciplined (2 Thess. 3:11)
169. Abstain from fruitless discussion (1 Tim. 1:6)
170. Fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience in accordance with
the prophecies made over you (1 Tim. 1:19)
171. Be constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of sound doctrine (1
Tim. 4:6)
172. Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness (1 Tim. 4:7)
173. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but in speech, conduct, love, faith,
and purity show yourself an example of those who believe (1 Tim. 4:12)
174. Keep yourself free from sin (1 Tim. 5:22)
175. Be content with food and clothing (1 Tim. 6:8)
176. Flee from the love of money, envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicion
(Tim. 6:11)
177. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness
(Tim. 6:11)
178. Fix your hope on God who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy (Tim.
6:17)
179. Be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share (Tim. 6:18)
180. Guard what has been entrusted to you, avoid worldly and empty chatter and
the opposing arguments of what is falsely called knowledge (Tim. 6:20)
181. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 2:1)
182. Entrust the things you were taught to faithful men who will also teach others
(2 Tim. 2:2)
183. Suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ (2 Tim. 2:3)
184. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not
need to be ashamed accurately handling the word of truth, study the Word. (2
Tim. 2:15)
185. Continue in the things you have learned (2 Tim. 3:14)
186. Preach the Word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke,
exhort, with great patience and instruction (2 Tim. 4:2)
187. Be sober in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry (2
Tim. 4:5)
188. Deny ungodliness and worldly desires and live sensibly, righteously and godly
in the present age (Titus 2:12)
189. Draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so you may receive mercy
and find grace to help you in time of need (Heb. 4:16)
190. Consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24)
191. Do not throw away your confidence for it has a reward (Heb. 10:35)
192. Lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us. Run
with endurance the race that is set before us (Heb. 12:1)
193. Fix your eyes upon Jesus (Heb. 12:2)
194. Pursue holiness and sanctification without which no will see the Lord (Heb.
12:14)
195. Let no root of bitterness spring up causing trouble and by it many defiled
(Heb.12:15)
196. Be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe (Heb.
12:28)
197. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers (Heb. 13:2)
198. Remember the prisoners as though in prison with them and those who are ill-
treated
199. Be content with what you have (Heb. 13:5)
200. Continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God (Heb. 13:15)
201. Dont neglect doing good & sharing for with such sacrifices God is pleased
(Heb. 13:16)
202. Obey and submit to your leaders (Heb. 13:17)
203. Consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trials (James
1:2)
204. Be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger (James 1:19)
205. Prove to be doers of the Word and not only hearers only (James 1:22)
206. Seek humility (Zeph. 2:3)
207. Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7)
208. Draw near to God, cleanse your hands, purify your hearts you double-minded
(Ja. 4:8)
209. Be miserable and mourn, weep, let your laughter be turned into mourning
and your joy to gloom (double-minded Christians) (James 4:9)
210. Humble yourself in the presence of the Lord and He will exalt you (James
4:10)
211. Do not speak against one another brethren (James 4:11)
212. Instead of saying we will do this tomorrow, say If the Lord wills we will do
this tomorrow (James (4:15)
213. Strengthen your heart for the day is near (James 5:8)
214. Do not complain brethren against one another (James 5:9)
215. Let your yes be yes and your no be no or else you will be condemned (James
5:12)
216. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another so that you
may be healed (James 5:16)
217. Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation
of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:13)
218. Be holy in all your behavior (1 Peter 1:15)
219. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth (Ecc. 12:1)
220. Put aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander (1
Peter 2:1)
221. Abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul (1 Pe. 2:11)
222. Sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart, always be ready to make a defense to
everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that lies within you, yet
with gentleness and reverence (Peter 3:15)
223. Fear God and keep His commandments (Ecc. 12:13)
224. Keep a good conscience (Peter 3:16)
225. The end of all things is near so be of sound judgment, sober spirit for the
purpose of prayer (Peter 4:7)
226. Above all keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a
multitude of sins (Peter 4:8)
227. Employ your special gifts in serving one another as good stewards of the
manifold grace of God (Peter 4:10)
228. Brethren do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes
upon you for testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you (Peter
4:12)
229. Clothe yourself with humility toward one another (Peter 5:5)
230. Cast all your cares on Him, because He cares for you (Peter 5:7)
231. Be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless (2 Peter
3:14)
232. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter
3:18)
233. Walk in the same manner as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6)
234. Do not love the world nor the things in the world (1 John 2:15)
235. We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren (1 John 3:16)
236. Love not only in word but in deed and truth (1 John 3:18)
237. Dont believe every spirit but test them for there are many false prophets
(1Jn. 4:1)
238. Pray in the Holy Ghost to build yourself up (Jude 1:20)
239. Keep yourself in the love of God (Jude 1:21)
240. Master sin (Gen. 4:7)
241. You shall not take Gods name in vain (Ex. 20:7)
242. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy (Ex. 20:8)
243. Learn to do good (Isaiah 1:17)
244. You shall have no other gods besides Me (Ex. 20:23)
245. Serve the Lord your God (Ex. 23:25)
246. You shall fear only the Lord your God, and worship Him (Duet. 6:13)
247. Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord that it may be well with you
(Deuteronomy 6:18)
248. You shall not bring an abomination into your house (Duet. 7:26)
249. Remember the Lord for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth
(Duet. 8:18)
250. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, and test Me in this says God, if I
will not open for you the windows of heaven (Mal. 3:10)
251. Meditate on the Word day and night (Joshua 1:8)
252. Do not waste time (2 Sam. 18:14)
253. Let your heart be wholly devoted to the Lord our God (1 Kings 8:61)
254. Do all that God has put in your heart (1 Chronicles 17:2)
255. Yield to the Lord (2 Chronicles 30)
256. Do not be grieved for the joy of the Lord is your strength (Neh. 8:10)
257. Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty (Job 5:17)
258. Ask the Lord for the nations and He will give them to you as your inheritance
(Ps. 2:8)
259. Be strong and let your heart take courage, all who hope in the Lord (Ps.
31:24)
260. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice you righteous ones (Ps. 32:11)
261. Bless the Lord at all times; let his praise continually be in your mouth (Ps.
34:1)
262. Taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8)
263. Depart from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it (Ps. 34:14)
264. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart (Ps.
37:4)
265. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it (Ps. 37:5)
266. Cease from anger and forsake wrath, do not fret, it leads only to evil doing (Ps.
37:8)
267. Thirst, long, pant, hunger after God (Ps. 42:1)
268. Cease striving (Be still) and know that I am God (Ps. 46:10)
269. Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you, He will never allow
the righteous to be shaken (Ps. 55:22)
270. Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them (Ps. 76:11)
271. Sing to the Lord a new song (Ps. 98:1)
272. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise (Ps. 100:4)
273. Forget none of His benefits (Ps. 103:2)
274. Seek the Lord and His strength, seek His face continually (Ps. 105:4)
275. Remember His wonders which Hes done in you and others and in creation
(Ps. 105:5)
276. Consider the loving kindness of the Lord (Ps. 107:43)
277. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps. 122:6)
278. Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding, seek
wisdom, search for wisdom like hidden treasures, and discover the knowledge of
God (Proverbs 2:2-5)
279. Keep to the paths of the righteous (Proverbs 2:20)
280. Do not let kindness and truth leave you (Proverbs 3:3)
281. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding,
in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight (Proverbs
3:5-6)
282. Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening
(Ecclesiastes 11:6)
283. Honor the Lord from your wealth (Proverbs 3:9)
284. Dont withhold good from those to whom its due, when its in your power to (Pr.
3:27)
285. Acquire, understand wisdom and understanding and do not forsake them,
love them, prize wisdom, embrace wisdom, guard wisdom give attention to
wisdom (Proverbs 4:5-13,5:1)
286. Watch over your heart with all diligence (Proverbs 4:23)
287. Watch the path of your feet (Proverbs 4:26)
288. Ponder the path of life (Proverbs 5:6)
289. Dig your own well and drink water from it (Proverbs 5:150
290. Observe the ants ways and be wise (Proverbs 6:6)
291. Treasure My commandments (Proverbs 7:1)
292. Abandon the quarrel before it breaks out (Proverbs 17:14)
293. Listen to counsel and accept discipline (Proverbs 19:20)
294. Do not love sleep (Proverbs 20:13)
295. Do not associate with a gossip (Proverbs 20:19)
296. Do not associate with a man given to anger (Proverbs 22:24)
297. Put a knife to your throat if you are a man of great appetite (Prov. 23:2)
298. Live in the fear of the Lord always (Proverbs 23:17)
299. Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine or with gluttonous eaters of meat
(Proverbs 23:20)
300. Buy truth and do not sell it, get wisdom and instruction and understanding
though it costs you all you have get it (Proverbs 23:23)
301. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might (Ecc. 9:10)
302. Do not reveal the secret of another (Proverbs 25:9)
303. Eat only what you need (Proverbs 25:16)
304. Let your words be few (Ecclesiastes. 5:2)
Cant Accept Not Trying
I always had the ultimate goal of being the best, but I approached everything step by step. I had
always set short-term goals. As I look back, each one of those steps or successes led to the next
one. I visualized where I wanted to be, what kind of player or rep I wanted to become. I knew
exactly where I wanted to go, and I focused on getting there. As I reached those goals, they built
on one another. I gained a little confidence every time I came through.
Take those small steps. Otherwise youre opening yourself up to all kinds of frustration. If youve
done your best, then you will have had some accomplishments along the way. I set goals,
realistic goals and I focus on them. I ask questions, I read, I listen. Im not afraid to ask anybody
anything if I dont know. Why should I be afraid? Im trying to get somewhere. Step by step, I
cant see any other way of accomplishing anything.
I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot. Why? Because when you think about
the consequences you always think of a negative result. I realized that if I was going to achieve
anything in life I had to be aggressive. I had to get out there and go for it. I dont believe you can
achieve anything by being passive. Any fear is an illusion. You think something is standing in
your way, but nothing is really there. What is there is an opportunity to do your best and gain
some success. If it turns out my best isnt good enough, then at least Ill never be able to look
back and say I was too afraid to try.
Failure always made me try harder the next time. Let your failures motivate you to press on
harder until you get where you want to go. Thats why my advice has always been to think
positive and find fuel in any failure. Sometimes failure actually just gets you closer to where you
want to be. The greatest inventions in the world had hundreds of failures before the answers
were found. Its no different than making a presentation in the business world or evangelizing. If
you did all the things necessary, then its out of your hands.
I can accept failure. But I cant accept not trying. It doesnt matter if you win as long as you give
everything in your heart and work at it 110 percent. Ecclesiastes 9:10-12 says, Whatever your
hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is non work or device or knowledge, or
wisdom, in the grave where you are going. And in the same book in chapter 11 verse 6 it says In
the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand. For you do not know
which will prosper; either this or that, or whether both alike will be good. And two are better than
one, because they have a good reward for their labor.
If you put in the work, the results will come. I dont do things halfheartedly. Because I know if I
do, then I can expect halfhearted results. There are a million excuses for not paying the price.
Count the cost before you go to work at anything. Part of this commitment is taking
responsibility. If you run into a wall, dont turn around and give up.
Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. I used to look for shortcuts. I still had
the desire, but I had lost my focus. You have to stick to your plan. Very few people get anywhere
by taking shortcuts. Very few people win the lottery to gain their wealth. It happens, but the odds
certainly arent with them. More people get it the honest way, by setting their goals and
committing themselves to achieving those goals.
Managers, just like basketball coaches, have to find a way to utilize those individual talents in the
best interests of the company. Its a selfless process, and in our society sometimes its hard to
come to grips with filling a role instead of trying to be a superstar. There is a tendency to ignore
or fail to respect all the parts that make the whole thing possible. If you think and achieve as a
team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Id rather have five guys with less
talent who are willing to come together as a team than five guys who consider themselves stars
and arent willing to sacrifice.
Fundamentals were the most crucial part of my game in the NBA. Everything I did, everything I
achieved, can be traced back to the way I approached the fundamentals and how I applied them
to my abilities. They really are the basic building blocks or principles that make everything work.
Whatever youre doing or what ever you are trying to accomplish; you cant skip fundamentals if
you want to be the best. The minute you get away from fundamentals whether its proper
technique, work ethic, or mental preparation, the bottom can fall out of your game, your
schoolwork, your job, whatever youre doing.
When you understand the building blocks, you begin to see how the entire operation works. And
that allows you to operate more intelligently, whether its in school, business, or even raising a
family. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things. You can practice gathering customers,
or shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique if wrong, then all you become is very good at
presenting the company deal, or shooting the wrong way. Get the fundamentals down and the
level of everything you do will rise.
I never really tried to motivate by talking because I dont think words ever mean as much as
action. Hard work and discipline are important for success. The second I let down, particularly if
Im perceived as the leader of my team or my company, I give others an opening to let down as
well. You arent the leader just because youre the best player on the team, the smartest person
in the class, or the most popular. You have to gain the respect of those around you by your
actions.
You have to be consistent in your approach whether its basketball practice, a sales meeting, or
dealing with your family. Those around you have to know what to expect. They have to be
confident that youll be there, that your performance will be pretty much the same from game to
game, particularly when things get tight.
Players can say anything they want, but if they dont back it up with performance and hard work,
the talking doesnt mean a thing. Thats why I tried to play through all the little nagging injuries, to
make a point, to set a standard. If I was considered the best player or I was making the most
money, I wanted everyone to know I earned those things. I wanted everyone around me to
understand it wasnt an accident. And I wanted everyone to know I was watching them, too. A
leader cant make any excuses. There has to be quality in everything you do.
Journey of Desire
There is a secret set within each of our hearts. This secret remains hidden for the most part in our
deepest selves. It is the desire for life as it was meant to be. To lose heart is to lose everything.
The clue as to who we really are and why we are here comes to us through our hearts desire.
We all have places in our past when life, if only for a moment, seemed to be coming together in
the way we knew in our hearts it was always meant to be. Moments we wish would last forever
and moments we wish had never begun. When the desire is too much to bear, we often bury it
beneath frenzied thoughts and activities or escape it by dulling our immediate consciousness of
living.
It is possible to run away from the desire for years, even decades, at a time, but we cannot
eradicate it entirely. It keeps touching us in little glimpses and hints in our dreams, our hopes, and
our unguarded moments. Even though we sleep, our desire does not. It is who we are. We are
desire. It is the essence of the human soul, the secret of our existence. Absolutely nothing of
human greatness is ever accomplished without it.
Our desire, if we will listen to it, will save us from committing soul-suicide, or the sacrifice of our
hearts on the altar of getting-by. The same old thing is not enough. It never will be. If we would
only listen to our hearts, to what Chesterton called our divine discontent, we would learn the
secret of our existence. Those timeless experiences we want to last forever whisper to us that
they were meant to. We were made to live in a world of beauty and wonder, intimacy and
adventure all our days. All good things come to an end is a lie. We abandon the most important
journey of our lives when we abandon desire. We leave our hearts by the side of the road and
head off in the direction of fitting in, getting by, being productive, what have you. We must return
to the journey.
Wherever we are, whatever we are doing, we must pick up the trail and follow the map that we
have at hand. Desire, both the whispers and the shouts, is the map we have been given to find
the only life worth living. We must listen to desire. The most tragic day of all is when you start to
prefer slavery to freedom, or death to life. We must not stay in this sleep. Bringing our heart
along in our lifes journey is the most important mission of our lives, and the hardest. It all turns on
what we do with our desire. If you will look around, you will see that most people have abandoned
the journey. They have lost heart. To desire something and not to have it- is this not the source of
nearly all our pain and sorrow?
Even in the bliss of love there is a certain exquisite pain: the pain of too much beauty, of
overwhelming magnificence. In both joy and pain, love is boundless. Desire is the source of our
most noble aspirations and our deepest sorrows. We cannot live without the yearning, and yet the
yearning sets us up for disappointment- sometimes deep and devastating disappointment. Do we
reach for nothing in life because our reaching opens us up to tragedy? Hope deferred makes the
heart sick, but when dreams come true there is life and joy. The life we have is so far from the life
we truly want, and it doesnt take us long to find someone to blame. In order for our longings to
be filled, we need the cooperation of others. No man is an island. Very few of our desires are self-
fulfilling; all our deepest longings require others to come through for us. Inevitable, someone
stands in the way. The reason why we dont know what we want is that were so unacquainted
with our desire. Dare we awaken our hearts to their true desires? Dare we come alive?
Augustine said, Longing is the hearts treasury. Jesus said and is saying what do you want?
By asking the man what he wanted, Jesus took him back into his desire. Why? It is where we
must go if we are to meet God. At its core, Christianity begins with an invitation to desire. The Jew
of his day was practicing a very soul-killing spirituality. They had abandoned desire and replaced
it with knowledge and performance as the key to life. To the weary, Jesus speaks of rest. To the
lost, he speaks of finding your way. Again and again Jesus takes people back to their desires.
Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door shall be opened unto
you.
My purpose is to bring you life in all its fullness, Jesus said. Eternal life is not primarily duration
but quality of life, life to the limit. Ps. 16:11, 42:1-2, 63:1. Christianity has nothing to say to the
person who is completely happy with the way things are. Its message is for those who hunger
and thirst, for those who desire life as it was meant to be. God is realistic, He knows that ecstasy
is not an option; we are made for bliss, and we must have it, one way or another. You are
intended for pleasure. The Father responded to the elder son in the parable of the prodigal, all
that is mine has always been yours. In other words, you never asked. Those who kill desire are
not the ones who experience the Fathers embrace. The question is not dare we desire, but dare
we not desire?
The great (and toothsome) sinners are made out of the very same material as those horrible
phenomena, the great Saints. (C.S. Lewis) Sauls zeal made him the foremost persecutor of the
church. When Christ knocked him off his donkey on the Damascus road, Paul was hunting down
the church. Christ captured his zeal, and after Damascus it led him to work harder than all the
other apostles. (Cor. 15:10) Augustine was also a passionate young man, sexually licentious,
enamored with the pleasures of Rome, scratching the sore of lust, as he would call it after Christ
got hold of him. He went on to become one of the great pillars of the church, laying the foundation
for the rise of Christendom after the fall of Rome.
Give me a man in love, he knows what I mean. Give me one who yearns, give me one who is
hungry, give me one far away in this desert, who is thirsty and sighs for the spring of the Eternal
Country. Give me that sort of man; he knows what I mean. But if I speak to a cold man, he just
doesnt know what I am talking about. And so Screwtape reveals the enemys ployfirst make
humans flabby, with small passions and desires, and then offer a sop to those diminished
passions so that their experience is one of contentment. How can we hunger and thirst for
righteousness when we have ceased hungering and thirsting altogether?
The greatest enemy of holiness is not passion; it is apathy. Look at Jesus. He was no milksop.
His life was charged with passion. God is a deeply profoundly passionate person. Zeal consumes
him. His profound desire for something greater sustained him at the moment of his deepest trial.
We cannot hope to live like him without a similar depth of passion. You cannot help someone who
doesnt want a thing. Your heart longs, and you go to seek the one you desire. She responds to
your seeking because it touches her hearts desire to be longed for. Yes, commitment plays a vital
rolebut only as the expression of desire. A woman doesnt want to be an object of duty; she
wants to be desired.
God waits to be wanted. The parable of the talents issue isnt capital gains; its what we think of
God. When we bury our desires, we are saying the same thing: God, I dont dare desire because
I fear you; I think you are hard-hearted. Like Brennan Manning so beautifully depicted in his book
Ruthless Trust, God takes pleasure in those who trust in His un-relentless love. Those who
know their desire and refuse to kill it, or refuse to act as though they dont need help, they are the
ones who live by faith. Those who do not ask do not trust God enough to desire. They have no
faith.
The deepest moral issue is always what we, in the heart of hearts, believe about God. There can
be no true praying without desire. Desire gives fervor to prayer, strong desires make strong
prayers. Pretending seems a much more reliable road to Christian maturity. The only price we
pay is a loss of soul, of communion with God, a loss of direction, and a loss of hope. Without
hope we cant trust God, and if we cant trust God we cant please Him.
Without a deep and burning desire of our own, we will be ruled by the desires of others. The poet
David Whyte states, the hope is to stay in the background away from the fire, and wait for
someone to come along and grant us immunity from these difficulties and sacrifices, someone to
offer reassurance, saying perhaps, take the safe way, not the way of passion and creativity, as
the path to your destiny, the life you desire. Follow it and you will never be touched, but we
cannot neglect our inner fire without damaging ourselves in the process. The damage of course is
a life lost unto itself. Millions of souls drift through life, without an inner compass to give them
direction. They take their cues from others and live out scripts from someone elses life. Its a high
price to pay. We can only hope for what we desire. No desire, no hope. Our hopes are deeply
tied to our real desires, and so killing desire has meant a hopeless life for too many.
Our idols become the means by which we forget who we truly are and where we truly come from.
They numb us. Ecstasy is not an option, we must have life. Revival is not an option. It seems at
times that God will go to any length to thwart the very thing we most deeply want. Job cried out,
what do you gain by oppressing me? You hunt me like a lion and display your awesome power
against me. Not every trial in life is specially arranged for us by God. But there are times when
God himself seems to be set against us. By mistrusting Gods heat, by reaching to take control of
what we wanted, Adam and Eve set in motion a process in our hearts, desperate grasping that
can be described only as addiction.
Addiction exists wherever persons are internally compelled to give energy to things that are not
their true desires. Addiction sidetracks and eclipses the energy of our deepest, truest desire for
love and goodness. If you dont think youre a chess player too, then prove it by letting go of the
things that provide you with a sense of security, or comfort, or excitement, or relief. You will soon
discover the tentacles of attachment deep in your soul. Remember we will make an idol of
anything, especially a good thing.
God must thwart us to save us. Mans worst fear is not measuring up. Every woman lives with
relational heartache and loneliness. A womans glory is her heart for others. A womans
imposters are nearly always an attempt to some how fill that ache for love or pretend she doesnt
need love. God promises every man futility and failure, he guarantees every woman relational
heartache and loneliness. No matter how hard we try, no matter how clever our plan, we cannot
arrange for the life we desire. Will life ever be what I so deeply want it to be, in a way that cannot
be lost?
God must take away the heaven we create or it will become our hell. The life that lies endlessly
before us is in the kingdom of God. We desperately need to possess a clearer picture of the life
that lies before us. In heaven everything is as it was meant to be. If there are dictionaries in
heaven the words sickness, death, dying, decay, orphans, widows, and the poor are not in it.
Arent every one of our sorrows on earth the result of things not being as they were meant to be?
The Kingdom of God brings restoration. Life is restored to what it was meant to be. It is the
Fathers good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. Do you see that eternal life does not become
something totally other, but rather life goes on, only as it should be? The creation we are told
groans for this day, the day when wethe sons and daughters of Godare revealed for who we
truly are. We get the earth back as well. He said He is creating a new heavens and a new earth.
When he says he is making all things new, he includes the earth. Fire is also used for cleansing
throughout the Scriptures. Paul declared that our lifes work will be tested in the fire, like gold.
Only the dross is burned away. The life we now have as the persons we now are will continue in
the universe in which we now exist. The only things destroyed are the things outside Gods
realmsin, disease, death.
We long to be loved by another person. We are surrounded by people, but truly known by so
fewif any. How we long for a soul-to-soul connection. How often do you feel deeply and truly
known? Do you have someone with whom you can commune in love? This is our inconsolable
longingto know and to be known. There is no union on earth like the consummation of the love
between a man and a woman. It is a small wonder that many people experience sexual passion
as their highest transcendence on this earth. After creating this stunning portrait of a total union,
the man and woman becoming one, God turns the universe on its head when he tells us that this
is what he is seeking with us. In fact, Paul says it is why God created gender and sexuality and
marriageto serve as a living metaphor. God creates mankind for intimacy with himself, as his
beloved.
True love is never constrained. So God sets out to woo his beloved and make her his queen. Jer.
2:2-3. True love never fails, it always perseveres. God will fight for his beloved. So the Old
Testament ends with a promise of reconciliation: Therefore I will block her path with thorn bushes;
I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way. She will chase after her lovers but not catch
them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will say, I will go back to my husband as
at first. Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly
to her In that day, declares the Lord, you will call me my husband; you will no longer call me
my master. (Hosea 2:6-7, 14, 16 NIV) And when he says to us, I am going there to prepare a
place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me
that you also may be where I am, he is making his proposal. (See Jewish Customs for
Matrimony)
Couples moved into the home of the grooms parents. It was preparing a place for her. When
all was ready, he would come for her and take her to be with him, so that where he is, she would
also be. We are in the time of waiting for the Bridegroom to return. It is the Bride who is panting;
Holy longing. By withholding of the vision, God extends the longing; through longing he extends
the soul, by extending he makes room in it. Let us long because we are to be filled, that is our
life, to be exercised by longing. This engagement is headed toward a consummation.
Sexual intimacy is the closest parallel we have to real worship. Why else would sexual ecstasy
become the number one rival to communion with God? We worship sex because we dont know
how to worship God. But we will. This spiritual intercourse with God is the ecstasy hinted at in all
earthly intercourse, physical or spiritual. It is the ultimate reason why sexual passion is so strong,
so different from other passions, so heavy with suggestions of profound meanings that just elude
our grasp. For many people, certainly, sex is the most powerful and moving experience that life
has to offer, and more overwhelmingly holy than anything that happens in church. As Allender
says, our hearts live for an experience of worship that fills our beings with joy that is so deeply in
awe of the other that we are barely aware of ourselves. Many people have a hard time
conceiving of this kind of intimacy with God. Our worship services dont get anywhere near
something like our wedding nights.
God is the expression of the very thing we seek in each other. God is the source of all masculine
power; God is also the fountain of all feminine allure. Come to think of it, he is the wellspring of
everything that has ever romanced your heart; the thundering strength of a waterfall, the delicacy
of a flower, the stirring capacity of music, the richness of wine. What we have sought, what we
have tasted in part with our earthly lovers, we will come face to face with in our True Love. The
French mystic Madame Guyon can write, I slept not all night, because Thy love, O my God,
flowed in me like delicious oil, and burned as a fireI love God far more than the most
affectionate lover among men loves his earthly attachment. And at the same time a monk, St.
John of the cross, can say, I abandoned and forgot myself, laying my face on my Beloved; all
things ceased; I went out from myself leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies. Where else
are we told about oil and lilies? In Song of Songs. Is there sex in heaven? It would be better to
ask, is there worship in heaven?
He gives us the joy of community, of family and friends to share in the Sacred Romance. Is it not
the nature of true loveto be generous in love? The naked intimacy, the real knowing that we
enjoy with God, we shall enjoy with each other. George MacDonald wrote, I think we shall be
able to pass into and through each others very souls as we please, knowing each others thought
and being, along with our own, and so being like God. Brent used to call it multiple intimacies
without promiscuity. It is what the ancients meant by the communion of saints. In Oden Hetricks
heaven testimony he said that the 4rth intimacy in heaven is when you unite with the covenant
companion that God has united you with in your spiritual glorified bodies and so occupying the
same space at the same time, the masculine and the feminine appearing as one glorified being,
united as two voices singing one duet. (Isaiah 34:16)
All of the joy that awaits us in the sea of Gods love will be multiplied over and over as we share
with each other in the Grand Affair. Imagine the stories that well hear and all the questions that
shall finally have answers. And the answers wont be one word answers, but story after story, a
feast of wonder and laughter and glad tears. In my small group one night, I asked everyone to
bring a piece of art that he loveda song, or a poem, or perhaps a film clip. Art is a glimpse into
our hearts, and you can learn so much about someone when he shares with you something that
has stirred his soul. Our conversation flowed from laughter to tears as we talked about each
persons window of the soul.
Though it will be unspeakable joy to live forever in a fully restored universe with the company of
the truly intimate, it is not enough. One of the Grand-Essentials of human happiness is having
something to do. Jesus said My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am
working. (John 5:17) Hes not just sitting around on a throne somewhere. New stars are born
every day, a new sunset painted and swept away each night. Such magnificent generosity, no
composer ever gave so many free concerts. MacDonald had it right: Gloriously wasteful, O my
Lord, art thou! You dont suppose he experiences his part in running the universe as drudgery, do
you? Does Michael Jordan love to play basketball? So God loves his work. He isnt ashamed to
call it all very good. He is simply one great inexhaustible and eternal experience of all that is
good and true and beautiful and right. This is what we must think of when we hear theologians
speak of him as a perfect being. And it is this life, with all its joyful creativity and power and
unending happiness that he says he is going to share with us.
We expect greatness from the offspring of the great. We humans are never happier than when
we are expressing the deepest gifts that are truly us. God shares with mankind his own artistic
capacity and then sets us down in a paradise of unlimited potential. It is an act of creative
invitation, like providing Monet with a studio for the summer, stocked full of brushes and oils and
empty canvases. Or like giving Mozart full use of an orchestra and a concert hall for an autumn of
composing. Or like setting Martha Stewart loose in a gourmet kitchen on a snowy winter
weekend, just before the holidays. You neednt provide instructions or motivation; all you have to
do is release them to be who they are, and remarkable things will result. Oh, how we long for this,
for a great endeavor that draws upon our every faculty, a great lifes work that we could throw
ourselves into. I was made for this, said one friend who after years of hesitation finally pursued
his dream of becoming a high school teacher. It energizes me.
God has created us and our gifts for a place of his choosing. We are, all of us, never-ceasing
spiritual beings with a unique eternal calling to count for good in Gods great universe. Some
people love what they do. They are fortunate souls, who have found a way to link what they are
truly gifted at (and therefore what brings them joy) with a means of paying the bills. But most of
the world merely toils to survive, and no one gets to use his gifts all the time.
We yearn to be fruitful, to do something of meaning and value that flows naturally out of the gifts
and capacities of our souls. But of course, we were meant to be the kings and queens of the
earth. What if you were given the freedom (the permission) and the power (all the resources
necessary) to do exactly what you were always meant to do? The day is coming when Christ will
appoint you as one of his regents over his great and beautiful universe. This has been his plan
all along. The One who created you and set all those loves and gifts in your heart, the One who
has shaped all your life experiences (including the ones that seem to make no sense), this God
has prepared a place for you that is a more than perfect fit for all your gifts and quirks and
personality traits, even those you dont know you have.
We will not sit around looking at one another or at God for eternity but will join the eternal Logos,
reign with him, in the endlessly ongoing creative work of God. It is for this that we were each
individually intended, as both kings and priests. His plan is for us to develop, as apprentices to
Jesus, to the point where we can take our place in the ongoing creativity of the universe all within
the fellowship and companionship with Himself and His Bride. God takes our training so seriously
because he fully intends to promote us. Will it be joy? Does Stephen Hawking enjoy physics?
Does Mark McGuire enjoy hitting it out of the park? To each his ownliterally. Each person will
live out the passion of his heart, set there by the Creator from before the beginning of time. We
will live forever, so if we dont get this done now, well get to it later. This is important, for no
human life reaches its potential here. How amazing it will be to have our souls released into their
true destiny, in a world no longer stained by sin or under the curse.
We must come to terms with the following three things deep in our heart.
1. We must have life
2. We cannot arrange for it
3. It is coming
Life is now a battle and a journey. We must fight the forces that oppose our becoming whole; we
must find our way through difficult and unfamiliar territory to our true home. We must watch over
our desire with a fierce love and vigilance, as if we were protecting our most precious possession.
How awful to reach the end of lifes road and find we havent brought our hearts along with us.
To find the land of Desire, you must take the journey of desire. If we are to take up the trail and
get on with our quest, weve got to get our hearts back, which means getting our desire back. I
continue to be stunned by the level of deadness that most people consider normal and seem to
be contented to live with. Our heart is our ally in this journey. Our core desires are good through
the new covenant and the transformation that comes with it. Yes we will struggle with sin, with our
tendency to kill desire or give our hearts over to false desires. But that is not who and what we
truly are. So lets come back to the simple question Jesus asks of us all: What do you want?
Dont minimize it, dont try to make sure it sounds spiritual, just stay with the question until you
begin to get an answer, this is the way to keep current with our hearts. The more attuned we are
to our true desire, the less prone well be to impostors. We need to take time to look at the desire
beneath the desire. Holiness is not numbness, it is sensitivity. It is being more attuned to our
desires, to what we were truly made for and therefore what we truly want.
The commands of God become our tutor in the healing of our desire. God tells us to love him with
all our hearts; its not a burden but a rescue, a trail out of the jungles of desire. All we truly need is
God. All the other desires find their place as we give God his place. Only as we truly delight in
God is it safe to give us our desires, for then they are not likely to become idols. And by our
delighting in God, he heals our false desires as our souls come true in the light of their Maker.
Worship becomes the means by which we most deeply heal our desire.
Henri Nouwen once asked Mother Teresa for spiritual direction. Spend one hour each day in
adoration of your Lord, she said, and never do anything you know is wrong. Follow this, and youll
be fine.
Worship is the act of the abandoned heart adoring its God. It is the union that we crave. There is
nothing created that can fully satisfy my desires. Make me one with You in a sure bond of
heavenly love, for You alone are sufficient to Your lover, and without You all things are vain and of
no substance. Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee. He is referring to desire.
We rehearse for the wedding now through worship. The more comfortable we are with mystery in
our journey, the more rest we will know along the way. Somehow being empty allows us to make
others rich. And if we are willing to let go, well discover something most surprising, that all is
ours. Longing leads to fullness somewhere down the road.
We have only three options
1. To be alive and thirsty
2. To be dead
3. To be addicted
Ps. 145:16. What am I waiting for? Is there anything I ardently desire that I am doing nothing to
secure? We are enlarged in the waiting. The longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more
joyful our expectancy.
Grief is our friend; the paradox of it is that it is healing. It somehow restores our souls. I believe
we must add two spiritual disciplines to everyday life. The first is worship. We must worship God
deliberately, regularly. The other is grief. We must allow a time for sorrow to do our own personal
sowing. I see no other way to care for our hearts.
We must have a measure of beauty in our lives proportionate to our affliction. How do you get to
know a person? Through stories. Reminders of the story are everywhere, in films and novels, in
the natural world around us, and in the stories of our own lives. Each year I take up a new journal
in which to capture my hearts journey. A journal is about the interior life. At the back there is a
section I have entitled this new day. There I am writing the central truths I must return to each
morning (at least) to guide my desire home. My journal will be filled with all the twists and turns a
year can bring, but here is the place I can go for the interpretation of the events and emotions
and experiences. Like the Benedictines, we must keep before us the deepest truths, morning,
noon, and night.
God is speaking to us more often then we can imagine. These are the treasures we must hide in
our own hearts. His word to us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling. And so I share a
few of my notes only in the hope that they will stir you to capture and hang on to the words and
images that bring the romance back to you each new day.
The Story Continues
This simple statement reminds me that life is unfolding, that we are headed somewhere, that the
story is moving toward its happy ending. No event is the final word. Faith increases to the degree
we are aware of, caught up in, enthralled by, and participating in His and our story.
It is Coming
The very thing that I am aching for now, missing now, seeking now in other things is exactly
whats coming to me.
Lift any obstacle you may have to filling your life with greater and greater amounts of beauty.
Buddha abandons his desire; Christ surrenders his will. It is no small difference. True surrender
is not an easy out, calling it quits early in the game. This kind of surrender comes only after the
night of wrestling. Then we choose to surrender our deepest desires to God. The freedom and
beauty and rest that follow are among the greatest of all surprises.
Refiners Fire
Every Christian has to go through the refining fire of God. Refiners fire, my hearts one desire is
to be holy, set apart for you Lord, I choose to be holy set apart for you my Master, ready to do
your will. Once God takes you through His purifying fire you will be ready to do His will with a
pure heart, pure motives. And youll be a vessel of honor. (2 Tim. 2:20) If you take the grace of
God, repent and cry out to God when His hand is upon you and humble yourself in His sight, you
will purge yourself from the junk in your heart and will be ready and prepared to do the good
works He has prepared for you before the foundation of the earth. (James 4:8-10) (1 Tim. 6:18-
19)
Build a good foundation for your eternal dwelling place by being rich in good works in the Spirit of
love. The hand of the Lord doesnt always give you the opportunity to repent or mourn. There
are times when God releases an anointing of mourning so you can mourn and mourn some more
and it is during these times that great heart operations are being wrought by the power of the
Spirit making you more like Christ. Cleanse, purify, be afflicted, mourn, weep, and humble
yourself in the fire of God.
The Lord is like a refiners fire according to Mal. 3:2-3. The Lord will purify His own and purge
them as gold and silver so we will be able to offer to the Father a life of righteousness (unfailing
ability to always do the right thing. We as servants of God have the sentence of death in
ourselves so we wont trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. So when we suffer
pains of death like pain in soul or some area in our life, we trust in the Lord to yet deliver us. (2
Cor. 1:9-10) We are always being delivered over to the death so that the life of Jesus may be
manifested in our mortal flesh (2 Cor. 4:11)
When the life or glory of Jesus manifests through your mortal flesh, your flesh wont like it, it will
feel like its dying but thats good, its when you know you are on the right track. God fills us and
fattens us up first with His Spirit, glory, grace, and love. Then he leads us out as sheep to the
slaughter when were ready to die for Him to bring Him that sweet smelling fragrance. Dont
complain about your lot in life that God has appointed for you. Your cross is different than others
but its because your course is not the same one as someone elses. God knows the right
amount of pressure He needs to use on you to prepare you for your eternal calling. He knew that
Paul the apostle might get too prideful if He didnt give Paul a thorn in his flesh. He did this so he
wouldnt get prideful and so he wouldnt trust in his own strength and self to finish his course, but
in Gods strength and power to fulfill Pauls destiny.
God is counting on you to fulfill your destiny to finish your course, so take a fresh hold of His
grace for your journey each new day for Gods grace is sufficient for you. (2 Cor. 12:9-10) for
when your weak in your infirmities, thats the perfect time to take a hold of Gods overcoming
strength and be made strong. Count it all joy when you are put through the refiners fire of Gods
grace. For this trying of your faith is working patience, and when this happens you get the
chance to let patience do a perfect (maturing) work which makes you perfect. (James 1:2-4) So
glory, get excited and happy and celebrate in the refiners fire for you know its working patience in
your spirit which lasts forever. Proven character or the character of Christ is being worked into
your spirit during this fire as you allow it to give you a growth of your wings, enabling you to rise
above the winds of adversity. Let the fire take you higher and closer to God. This works hope
that doesnt disappoint into your spirit because Gods love is shed abroad in your heart by His
Spirit. (Roman 5:3-5). So do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which is for testing,
preparation and cleansing for whatever degree your sharing in Christ sufferings you are granted
to share, for to that same degree you will share His glory. (1 Peter 4:12-13)
Pain and suffering for God is in His will for you. God uses this to mature you and grow your
wings. You would be a fool to try to get out of the pain that God has ordained for you to go
through. This is why Wigglesworth didnt try to get out of having those kidney stones pass.
Remember God gave Paul a thorn in the flesh; Ive battled with bipolar which has pushed me to
lean more upon the Lord and to trust and wait for His deliverance. God has perfect wisdom and
knows just the right tools to get us acting and being like how He wants us to be like.
God promises us that after we suffer a little while He who is full of grace will perfect, confirm,
strengthen and establish you! (1 Peter 5:10) What an awesome promise. Another promise we
have from God is that our light afflictions are only for a moment, not a lifetime, and they are
producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. (2 Cor. 4:17)
This study gives great hope and encouragement to everyone suffering in the will of God. If you
are not suffering in the will of God at this time, just relax and thank God and rejoice that some is
on the way for Gods use and wise purposes. We are joint-heirs with Christ if we suffer with Him
so that we will be glorified with Him. (Rom. 8:17)
7 Golden Keys
1. Assurance to believer through the Blood of Jesus (Hebrews 9:28)
2. Authority to believer through Jesus name (Mark 13:34)
3. Holy Spirit baptism for believer to be like and do like Jesus
4. Touch and ever-present presence of Jesus through grace is the answer to
loneliness. (Hebrews 13:5)
5. Praise is the key that unlocks Gods power to push back the enemy and
everything that is not Gods will (Psalms 149:6)
6. Grace= I am what I am by Gods grace. (unmerited favor) 95% of the time we
receive without meeting the conditions (2 Cor. 12:9)
7. Faith confessions such as, Im saved, Im covered.
Waking the Dead
The glory of God is man fully alive. Sometimes we experience moments that arent rational, or of
a calculated progression of thought. Theyre more like being tossed out of a raft in a storm. It
comes fast and furious, but the pull of the current is always toward a loss of heart. Most of the
time we are swept away; we give in, lose heart and climb out of it sometime latter. Some never
climb out. Sometime you need to pray, Jesus, take away the fog and the clouds and the veil, and
help me to see, give me eyes to really see. I had a vision once, Jesus took me with Him on a
mountain overlooking the glory of the Father and the important thing was that I was with Him,
seeing the object that He wanted me to see, with Him, we were facing the same direction, I was
seeing the object the way the way He wanted me to, to the degree that He wanted me to see it. I
was seeing as He sees.
His happiness and my happiness are tied together. The offer is life but youre going to have to
fight for it because theres an enemy in your life with a different agenda. You were born into a
world at war, and you will live all your days in the midst of a great battle, involving all the forces of
heaven and hell and played out here on earth. We all were created in the image of God. Fearfully
and wonderfully made, fashioned as living icons of the bravest, wisest, most stunning Person
who ever lived. We dont see clearly because we dont see with the eyes of our heart. There is a
way of looking at life, and that those who discover it are able to live from the heart no matter
what. Facts stay lodged in the mind, for the most part. They dont speak at the level we need to
hear. But when you tell a story, you speak to the heart.
Myths are, first of all, stories: stories which confront us with something transcendent and
eternal; a means by which the eternal expresses itself in time. Things are not what they seem.
There is a whole lot more going on here than meets the eye. We have a crucial role to play. We
must discover the task that is ours alone to fulfill. We would find our courage. The hour is late,
and you are needed. So much hangs in the balance. Where is your heart?
The plan of God was to create a world where love reigns. By taking out your heart, the enemy
takes out you, and you are essential to the Story. In order to find our way out of these woods, we
must return to the heart. The subject of the heart is addressed in the Bible more than any other
topic, more than works or service, more than belief or obedience, more than money, and even
more then worship. The Bible sees the heart as the source of all creativity, courage, and
conviction. It is the wellspring of life within us, the fount of our life. Think about your work life for a
moment. Why are so many bored with their jobs? Their hearts are not in their work. Those who
are bored with their life work or their work life didnt arrive at what theyre doing by listening to
their hearts, because if they did they wouldnt be bored. The heart is central; to find our lives, we
must make it central again. The heart is the source of our emotions. Our conscience is in our
hearts. This is why it is so dangerous to harden our hearts by silencing our consciences, and why
the offer of forgiveness is such good news, to have our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil
conscience. Our deepest thoughts are held in our hearts. As a man thinks in his heart so is he.
(Prov. 23:7) It is the thoughts and intents of the heart that shape a persons life. Memory is vital
and one of the highest powers in our nature from God. This too is a function of the heart.
Creativity flows from the heart as well.
Success or failure can be pretty well predicted by the degree to which the heart is fully in it.
Everything you love is what makes a life worth living. Take a moment, set down the book, and
make a list of all the things you love. What is the real point of our existence? Loving God and
loving others. Do this, he said, and you will find the purpose of your life. How much have we
grown in love should be the question we ask from time to time. You cannot be the person God
meant you to be, and you cannot live the life he meant you to live, unless you live from the heart.
Spend a month in some breathtaking spot, doing nothing productive at all. Have yourself a good
laugh-the kind that sends tears down your face and makes you grip your side for the ache of it.
Listen to a beautiful piece of music. Find God.
Without your heart you cannot find the work that you were meant to do. In other words, without
your heart you cannot have life. We need transformation. Count yourself dead to sin and alive to
God in Christ Jesus. If we believed that we could do anything, we would follow Him anywhere!
You have a role you never dreamed of having. In Phil. 1:15 he tells us you shine like starts in the
universe as you hold out the word of life. The whole Christian thing is about healing your heart,
setting it free, restoring your glory. You are going to need your whole heart in all its glory for this
Story youve fallen into. Youll need every ounce of courage and faith and love you can muster.
So, who did God mean when he meant you? We at least know this: we know that we are not
what we were meant to be. Most of us spend our energy trying to hide that fact, through all the
veils we put on and the false selves we create. As we are liberated from our own fear, our
presence automatically liberates others. We can repent of our sin. We can work on our issues.
But there is nothing to be done about our glory. Its so naked. Its just there, the truest us. You
cannot love another person from a false self.
If youre not pursuing a dangerous quest with your life, well, then, you dont need a Guide. But if
you intend to live in the Story that God is telling, and if you want the life He offers, then you are
going to need more than a handful of principles, however noble they may be. The programs in
some churches, ask, does it teach a person how to apply principles, or how to walk with God?
Only Christianity can teach you to walk with God. We were created for intimacy with God. Teach a
man a rule and you help him solve a problem; teach a man to walk with God and you help him
solve the rest of his life. Our heart has been made good by the work of Christ, but we havent
learned how to live from it. What has God called you to do with your life? What does the future
hold for you-and how should you respond?
When the apostles needed the help of some good men to shepherd the exploding new church,
they chose men full of the Spirit and wisdom. The two go together; we need both. It takes time to
learn to walk with God in a deeply intimate way, and many challenges face us before we are
accustomed to the way of the heart. We must practice our chords; we must do our drills. The
Bible is full of counterintuitive direction from God. Would you counsel a father to sacrifice his only
child, the only hope for the promised nation? Whats the sense of slashing the ranks of your army
from 32,000 to 300, just before battle? The commonsense life, which, as Oswald Chambers
warned, can be the enemy of the supernatural life. How will we hear him call us out of Ur, lead us
to our own promised land, bring us through our own Calvary? God is still speaking. He wants to
speak to you; he wants to lead you to good pasture. Our ability to hear Gods voice and discern
his word to us grows over time. As Brother Lawrence had it, we practice the presence of God.
We cannot solve the depths of Gods work in this world. All we can do is stay very close by his
side and listen for his voice, obey his counsel. More depends on it than we know.
Second, we pay attention to our hearts. When I hear something that seems really unwise, I test it
again and again before I launch out. The flesh will try to use your freedom to get you to do
things you shouldnt do. Any word or suggestion that brings discouragement, condemnation,
accusationthat is not from God. His conviction brings a desire for repentance; satans accusation
kills our hearts. Often before I head out on a mission of some sort, I will ask God for his advance
words to me. Its proven to be a vital part of staying close to Him and avoiding disaster.
Third, we get alongside those who walk with God. I hope you will find a few folks who walk with
God to also walk with you through the seasons of your life. Hope deferred makes the heart sick.
(Prov. 13:12) The enemy will try to bring blows to you to turn your glory into shame. These blows
arent random or incidental. They strike directly at some part of the heart, turn the very thing God
created to be a source of celebration into a source of shame. And so you can at least begin to
discover your glory by looking more closely at what you were shamed for. Look at whats been
assaulted, used, abused. Through the hearts wound, I see its secret. He wants truth in the
inmost being, and to get it there hes got to take us into our inmost being. One way hell do this is
by bringing up an old memory. However he brings it up, go with him there. He has something to
say to you.
I went through some healing, over the course of several months my whole system of
perfectionism-so-as-not-to-be-seen unraveled. Maybe the thought began to creep in maybe
the world has been wrong about me. The world has been wrong about you. Theyve hated your
glory-just as the evil one hates the glory of God. But we need your gift. Come forth. I began to
believe the truth, and it set me free. Having a doctrine pass before the mind is not what that Bible
means by knowing the truth. Its only when it reaches down deep into the heart that the truth
begins to set us free. And so Ive started offering my heart. Ive started saying no to the voice of
the enemy that calls me to fearfully tone down, edit, and control my words and my actions for fear
of offending or bringing on rejection and shame. Instead, Ive been stepping out. Ive been
sharing what I see of my God and in my friends. Ive chosen to offer my presence, my heart, and
my love, instead of trying endlessly to figure out what else I should offer. Ive chosen to believe I
am loved and safe with God. Do you believe you are loved by God and are safe with Him?
Much of what troubles us comes out of the broken places in our hearts crying out for relief. When
Jesus brought something up I asked him to come and heal those wounds and bring what was
true about my heart to my heart. And he did; he counseled me deeply. Without your heart you
cannot hope to find God, for the heart is his dwelling place. If you ignore your heart, its like
looking for him everywhere but at home. He brings his comfort and mercy to those times and
places where we suffered the shattering blow, and the heart in that place often feels the same
age as it was at the time of the event, even though it might have been decades ago. Walking with
God leads to receiving his intimate counsel, and counseling leads to deep restoration. When we
are in the presence of God, removed from distractions, we are able to hear him more clearly, and
a secure environment has been established for the young and broken places in our hearts to
surface.
The evil one is still lying to us, seeking our agreement every single day. Your heart is good. Your
heart matters to God. These are the two hardest things to hang on to. Be careful what or who you
are agreeing with. The whole plan is based on agreements. When we make those agreements
with the demonic forces suggesting things to us, we come under their influence. It becomes a
kind of permission we give the enemy, sort of like a contract. Maybe half the stuff people are
trying to work through in counseling offices, or pray about in their quiet times, is simply
agreements theyve made with the enemy.
The religious Spirit has turned discipleship into a soul-killing exercise of principles. So heres a
bottom-line test to expose the Religious Spirit: if it doesnt bring freedom and it doesnt bring life,
its not Christianity. If it doesnt restore the image of God and rejoice in the heart, its
not Christianity. So much light could be shed on our lives if we would explore what we were
meant to be before things started going wrong. What were we created to do? What was our
original job description? Gen. 1:26-28. And let them rule. God appoints us as the governors of
his domain. We were created to be the kings and queens of the earth (small k, small q). The idea
of rule means a fierce exercise of mastery. It is active, engaged, and passionate. It is fierce.
Now, what will be our role in the kingdom of God to come?
During some of our hard times, we werent blowing it, nor was God holding out on us. It was
training. We are made to rule. We need to learn how. Spiritual Warfare is a great deal of our
training. We need to hear a persons story to get some understanding and context of whats
going on in their heart and life. This is the stream of Counseling. I always listen carefully for the
wounds, for how we mishandle them, and for where the enemy has probably come in. The
enemy will always try to get you to do to someone what he is doing to that person. The word
foothold from Ephesians 4:26-27, means more than just opportunity. It conveys a place of
influence, even strong influence. Paul is not writing about non-Christians; he is clearly speaking
to believers and he is making I clear that we can have demonic footholds in our lives. That is why,
before we could go after those enemies of Stephens heart, he first had to confess his part in the
mess. That is why, before we could go after those enemies of Stephens heart, he first had to
confess his part in the mess. Bitterness is one example of letting the sun go down on an issue,
and giving the devil a foothold. By bringing those sins under the blood of Christ, the enemy has
lost his hold.
The major ways we give claim to the enemy in our lives are through sin and through making
agreements with him. Most of our sins fall under the category of pride (independence from God,
self-sufficiency) and idolatry (giving our devotion or our fear or any part of the heart to something
other than God). In this part of the prayer we humble ourselves by declaring Gods rightful place
in our lives. And we ask him to search us so that we might confess any sin or agreement weve
unknowingly made with our enemy. The following is the prayer we pray when we need clarity
My dear Lord Jesus, I come to you now to be restored in you- to renew my place in you, my
allegiance to you, and to receive from you all the grace and mercy I so desperately need this
day. I honor you as my Sovereign Lord, and I surrender every aspect of my life totally and
completely to you. I give you my body as a living sacrifice; I give you my heart soul, mind, and
strength; and I give you my spirit as well. I cover myself with your blood, my spirit, my soul, and
my body. I ask your Holy Spirit to restore my union with you, seal me in you, and guide me this
time of prayer.
Dear God, holy and victorious Trinity, you alone are worthy of all my worship, my hearts devotion,
all my praise and all my trust and all the glory of my life. I worship you, bow to you, and give
myself over to you in my hearts search for life. You alone are Life, and you have become my life.
I renounce all other gods, all idols, and I give you the place in my heart and in my life that you
truly deserve. I confess here and now that it is all about you, God, and not about me. You are
the Hero of this story and I belong to you. Thank you for your forgiveness and constant cleansing
that comes every time I talk to you. Search me and know me and reveal to me any aspect of my
life that is not pleasing to you, expose any agreements I have made, and grant me the grace of a
deep and true repentance.
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me and choosing me before you made the world. You are
my true Father- Creator, my Redeemer, my Sustainer, and the true end of all things, including my
life. I love you, trust you, I worship you. Thank you for proving your love for me by sending your
only Son, Jesus, to be my substitute and representative. I receive him and all his life and all his
work, which you ordained for me. Thank you for including me in Christ and granting me his
righteousness, for making me complete in him. Thank you for making me alive with Christ,
raising me with him, seating me with him at your right hand, granting me his authority, and
anointing me with your Holy Spirit. I receive it all with thanks and give it total claim to my life.
Jesus, thank you for coming for me, for ransoming me with your own life. I honor you as my
Lord; I love you, worship you, and trust you. I sincerely receive you as my redemption, and I
receive all the work and triumph of your crucifixion, whereby I am cleansed from all my sin
through your shed blood, my old nature I s removed, my heart is circumcised unto God, and
every claim being made against me is disarmed. I take my place in your cross and death,
whereby I have died with you to sin and tom my flesh, to the world, and to the Evil One. I am
crucified with Christ, and I have crucified my flesh with all its passions and desires. I take up my
cross and crucify my flesh with all its pride, unbelief, and idolatry. I put off the old man. I now
bring the cross of Christ between me and all people, all spirits, all things. Holy Spirit apply to me
the fullness of the work of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ for me. I receive it with thanks and give
it total claim to my life.
Jesus, I also sincerely receive you as my new life, my holiness and sanctification, and I receive
all the work, and triumph in your resurrection, whereby I have been raised with you to a new life,
to walk in newness of life, dead to sin and alive to God. I am crucified with Christ, and it is no
longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. I now take my place in your resurrection, whereby I
have been made alive with you; I reign in life through you. I now put on the new man in all
holiness and humbly, in all righteousness and purity and truth. Christ is now my life, the one
who strengthens me. Holy Spirit, apply to me the fullness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ for
me. I receive it with thanks and give it total claim to my life.
Jesus, I also sincerely receive you as my authority and rule, my everlasting victory over satan
and his kingdom and I receive all the work and triumph of you ascension, whereby satan has
been judged and cast down, his rulers and authorities disarmed, all authority in heave and on
earth give to you, Jesus, and I have been given fullness in you, the Head over all. I take my
place in your ascension, whereby I have been raised with you to the right hand of the Father and
established with you in all authority. I bring your authority and your kingdom rule over my life, my
family k, and my domain.
And now I bring the fullness of your work, your cross, resurrection, and ascension against satan
against his kingdom and against all his emissaries and all their work warring against me and my
domain. Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. Christ has given m authority to
overcome all the power of the evil one, and I claim that authority now over and against every
enemy, and I banish them in the name of Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit, apply to me the fullness of the
work of the ascension of Jesus Christ. I receive it by faith and with thanks and give total claim to
my life.
Holy Spirit, I sincerely receive you as my counselor, my comforter, my strength, and my guide.
Thank you for sealing me in Christ. I honor you as my Lord, and I ask you to lead me into all truth,
to anoint foe for all of my life and walk and calling, and to lead me deeper in Jesus today. I fully
open my life to you in ever dimension and aspect, my body, my soul, and my spirit- choosing to
be filled with you, to walk in step with you in all things. Apply to me, blessed Holy Spirit, all of the
work and all of the gifts in Pentecost. Fill me afresh, Blessed Holy Spirit. I receive you with thanks
and give you total clam to my life. Heavenly Father, thank for granting to me every spiritual
blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. I receive those blessing into my life today, and I ask
the Holy Spirit to bring all those blessing in my life this day. Thank you fro the blood of Jesus.
Wash me once more with his blood from every sin and stain and evil device. I put on your armor,
the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the readiness of the gospel of
peace, the helmet of salvation. I take up the shield of faith and sword or the Spirit, the word of
God, and wield these weapons against the evil one in the power of God. I choose to pray at all
times in the Spirit, to be strong in you, Lord, and in your might.
Father thank you for your angels. I pray that you would release them to war for me and my
household. May they guard me at all times this day. Thank you for those ho pray for me; I
confess I need their prayer, and I ask you to send forth your Spirit and rouse them, unite them,
raising up the full canopy of prayer and intercession for me. I call forth the kingdom of the Lord
Jesus Christ this day throughout my home my life and domain. I pray all of this in the name of
Jesus Christ, with all glory and honor and thanks to him.
Weve been praying along these lines for several years now. Every time we do its like a fog
lifting, the clouds break, and suddenly faith is obvious, God is near, we see again, and we can
breathe. Give it a week or two, youll see.
The first Christians or the followers of the Way lived together, ate together, fought together,
celebrated together. They were intimate allies; it was a fellowship of the heart. When Neo is set
free from the Matrix, he joins the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar. When they go back into the Matrix
to set others free, each one has a role, a gifting, and a glory. They function as a team. And they
watch each others back. Though we are part of a great company, we are meant to live in little
platoons. The little companies we form must be small enough for each of the members to know
one another as friends and allies and who will fight for your heart.
The four streams are something we learn, and grow into, and offer one another, within a small
fellowship. We hear each others stories. We discover each others glories. We learn to walk with
God together. We pray for each others healing. We cover each others back. Devotion takes
place in small units, just as in a family. A group is the right size, when each member can pray for
every other member, individually and by name. The sort of devotion we want and need takes
place within a shared life. Over the years our fellowship has gone camping together. We play
together, help one another move; paint a room; find work. We throw great parties. We fight for
each other, live in the four streams. This is how it was meant to be.
One time I suggested something my group should do; write down on a piece of paper five words
or phrases that capture your life right now. What does it feel like? Dont edit. Dont make it sound
better than it is. How are you doing? It began an incredible eye-opening journey. I then asked,
what stories or scenes or characters help you interpret those words, help you see whats going
on, give a context to your words for your life right now? You see, no experience or feeling
provides its own interpretation. Are you Elijah on Mount Carmel, on the brink of great victory? Or
are you Paul in Thessalonica, and youd better get out of town, fast?
There are two things you now have that you didnt have before, and they enable this sort of
fellowship to work. First, you know the heart is good. That is the missing key in most fellowships.
Your heart is good, and the others hearts are good. This makes it so much easier to trust and to
forgive. Knowing full well that we all are facing battles of our own, we give one another the benefit
of the doubt. Leigh isnt intentionally being distant from meshes probably under an assault.
Thats why you must know each others stories; know how to read each other. Community
cannot live without solitude. We first must go to God alone, so that we have something to bring
back to the community. I know my community needs me; everyone is coming over tonight. So Id
better get with God this afternoon. I want to contribute. I want to play a vital role.
Celtic Spirituality is not a top-down form of church, but bottom-up. It allows spirituality to flow from
the heart. It allows the five senses to be used. Its creative. Its a flowering of creative arts. Its an
expression of Christianity which believes that to be Christian is to be fully human. Your heart
matters to God, it has always mattered to God. Roy Orbison sang if not for my careless heart,
and it might be the anthem for our lives. Things would be different. I would be farther along. My
faith would be much deeper, my relationships so much better. My life would be on the path God
meant for me if not for my careless heart.
We live completely backward. We are called to live in a way that we store up reserves in our
hearts and then offer from a place of abundance. God is the most joyous being in the universe.
Has it ever occurred to you that God is such a loving and generous person because his heart is
filled, like a reservoir, with joy? Care for your heart for the sake of others. What will you bring to
others if your heart is empty, dried up, pinned down? Love is the point. And you cant love without
your heart, and you cant love well unless your heart is well. Caring for your heart is also how you
protect your relationship with God. You cannot cut off your heart and expect to hear from God.
What brings you life? For some its music, for others its reading; for still others its gardening. You
know what makes your heart refreshed, the things that make you come alive. We need beauty.
We need to drink in beauty wherever we can get it, in music, in nature, in art, in a great meal
shared. These are all gifts to us from Gods generous heart. Friends, those things are not
decoration to a life, they bring us life. Ps. 104:15. We need silence and solitude.
Mark 1:32-38. If Jesus really wants to launch his ministry, increase sales, expand his audience,
this sure looks like the chance to do it. What does he do? He leaves, He walks away. Everyone is
looking for you! Oh, really then wed better leave. It cracks me up. Wendell Berry might have
been writing of Jesus when he said, His wildness was in his refusalor his inabilityto live within
other peoples expectations. We are just the opposite; our entire lives are rules by the
expectations of others, and when we live like that, the heart is always the first thing to go.
What does your heart need? A simple starting place would be to ask God what do you have for
my heart? Youll be stunned by what he guides you into. In my small group one night, wed taken
an evening to write down the things wed love to see happen in our lives in the coming year. Its a
simple way of listening to what your heart needs: what do you want? What is your heart longing
for?
Hyenas cannot bring down a lion in its prime. What they do is run it and taunt it and wear it down
to the point of exhaustion. Once they see it cannot defend itself, then they close in. The strategy
of our enemy in the age we live in now is busyness or driven-ness. An affair isnt even appealing
when you have the real deal. Its the famished heart that falls for seduction.
Ransomed Heart
Arent you thirsty? Listen to your heart. There is something missing. You long to be in a love affair,
an adventure. You were made for something more. You know it. Frustrated by our hearts
continuing sabotage of a dutiful Christian life, some of us silence the voice by locking our heart
away in the attic, feeding it only the bread and water of duty and obligation until it is almost dead,
the voice now small and weak. We make sure to maintain enough distance between ourselves
and others, and even between ourselves and our own heart, to keep hidden the practical
agnosticism we are living now that our inner life has been divorced from our outer life.
If there is meaning to this life, then why do our days seem so random? No wonder we keep losing
heart. We find ourselves in the middle of a story that is sometimes wonderful, sometimes awful,
often a confusing mixture of both, and we havent a clue how to make sense of it all. With every
step of our lives we enter into the middle of some story which we are certain to misunderstand.
Walk into any mall and you will see a large map the red start and the encouraging words you are
here. Oh, that we had something like this for our lives. This is the Story in which you have found
yourself. Here is how it got started. Here is where it went wrong. Here is what will happen next.
Now this is the role youve been given. If you want to fulfill your destiny, this is what you must do.
These are your cues. And here is how things are going to turn out in the end. We can discover
the story. Maybe not with perfect clarity, but in greater clarity than most of us now have.
The heart is central. It is addressed in the Bible more than any other topic. The Bible sees the
heart as the source of all creativity, courage, and conviction. The heart is central; to find our lives,
we must make it central again. Were not fully convinced that Gods offer to us is life. We have
forgotten that the heart is central. Id love to wake each morning knowing exactly who I am and
where God is taking me. Zeroed in on all my relationships, undaunted in my calling. Its awesome
when I do see. But for most of us, life seems more like driving along with a dirty windshield and
then turning into the sun. In the end, it doesnt matter how well we have performed or what we
have accomplished-a life without heart is not worth living.
To lose heart is to lose everything. It isnt just the addictions and affairs and depression and
heartaches, though, God knows, there are enough of these to cause even the best of us to lose
heart. But there is the busyness, the driven-ness, the fact that most of us are living merely to
survive. Beneath it we feel restless, weary, and vulnerable.
All of these stories (Braveheart, Titanic, Star Wars series, Gladiator, Lord of the Rings trilogy)
borrow from the Story. We hear echoes of it through our lives; some secret written on our hearts;
a great battle to fight, and someone to fight for us. An adventure, something that requires
everything we have, something to be shared with those we love and need. Christianity, in its true
form, tells us that there is an Author and that he is good, the essence of all that is good and
beautiful and true, for he is the source of all these things. It tells us that he has set our hearts
longings within us, for he has made us to live in an Epic.
We have grown dull toward this world in which we live; we have forgotten that it is not normal or
scientific in any sense of the word. It is fantastic. It is fairy tale through and through. Really now.
Elephants? Caterpillars? Snow? At what point did you lose your wonder at it all. He enables us to
love. He gives us the greatest treasure in all creation: a heart. For he intends that we should be
his intimate allies who join in the Sacred Circle of intimacy that is the core of the universe, to
share in this great Romance.
At one point in my own spiritual pilgrimage, I stopped to ask myself this question: What is it that I
am supposed to be doing to live the spiritual life in any way that is both truthful and passionately
alive? The clue as to who we really are and why we are here comes to us through our hearts
desire. The Lord is a warrior. He has come to rescue us.
In all of our hearts lies a longing for a Sacred Romance. Philosophers call this Romance, this
heart yearning set within us, the longing for transcendence; the desire to be part of something
larger than ourselves, to be part of something out of the ordinary that is good. The deepest part of
our heart longs to be bound together in some heroic purpose with others of like mind and spirit.
The Romance has most often come to us in the form of two deep desires: the longing for
adventure that requires something of us, and the desire for intimacy-to have someone truly know
us for ourselves, while at the same time inviting us to know them in the naked and discovering
way lovers come to know each other on the marriage bed. These two desires come together in us
all as a longing to be in a relationship of heroic proportions.
God created us in freedom to be his intimate allies, not religion, not good church people, but
Lovers, Allies, Friends of the deepest sort. God warned back in the Garden that the price of
disobedience would be death. Not just a physical death, but a spiritual death-to be separated
from God and life and all the beauty, intimacy, and adventure forever. It is the thoughts and
intents of the heart that shape a persons life. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Everything
you love is what makes a life worth living. What is the real point of our existence? Jesus boiled it
all down to loving God and loving others. Do this, he said, and you will find the purpose of life.
We know love is the point. We know if we could truly love, and be loved, and never lose love, we
would finally be happy. And is it even possible to love without your heart?
Men are made for battle. Adventure is a deeply spiritual longing in the heart of every man. Every
woman is in some way searching for or running from her beauty and every man is looking for or
avoiding his strength. God yearns to share a life of beauty, intimacy, and adventure with us. I
have loved you with an everlasting love. This whole world was made for romance-the rivers and
the glens, the meadows and the beaches. Flowers, music, a kiss. So God endows Woman with
certain qualities that are essential to relationship, qualities that speak of God. She is inviting,
tender, embodies mercy, intimate and alluring, and fiercely devoted.
Beauty is powerful. It may be the most powerful thing on earth. It is dangerous because it
matters. Remember what its like to come into a beautiful place, a garden or a meadow or a quiet
beach. There is room for your soul. It expands. You can breathe again. You can rest. That is what
beauty says: All shall be well. Beauty is transcendent. It is our most immediate experience of the
eternal. Think of what its like to behold a gorgeous sunset or the ocean at dawn. Remember the
ending of a great story. We yearn to linger, to experience it all our days. Sometimes the beauty is
so deep it pierces us with longing, for life as it was meant to be. Beauty speaks of heaven to
come, when all shall be beautiful. Beauty draws us to God.
We yearn to be fruitful, to do something of meaning and value that flows naturally out of the gifts
and capacities of our own soul. We were meant to be the kings and queens of the earth. Awake,
come fully alive, your good heart set free and blazing for him and for those yet to be rescued. You
have a glory that is needed. You are given a quest, a mission that will take you deep into the
heart of the kingdom of darkness, to break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron so
that your people might be set free from their bleak prisons. You must not go alone. You must cling
to those intimate allies that you have.
As our soul grows in the love of God and journeys forth toward him, our hearts capacities also
grow and expand: Though shall enlarge my heart. (Ps. 119:32) The word passion means to
suffer. This is why many Christians are reluctant to listen to their hearts: They know that
their dullness is keeping them from feeling the pain of life. Many of us have chosen simply not to
want so much; its safer that way. Awakened souls are often disappointed, but our disappointment
can lead us onward, actually increasing our desire and lifting it toward its true passion. Beauty
helps us in our letting go. Beauty is the closest thing we have to fullness without possessing on
this side of eternity. The Romance tells us life will flourish when we give it away in love and heroic
sacrifice.
The church viewed the gospel as a Romance, a cosmic drama whose themes permeated our
own stories and drew together all the random scenes in a redemptive wholeness. Do not forsake
the secret of life; we abandon the most important journey of our lives when we abandon desire.
We leave our hearts by the side of the road and head off in the direction of fitting in, getting by,
being productive, what have you. The display of Gods works through our wounds, losses, and
sufferings is yet to be revealed. And so, we groan and we wonder.
Paul says, arm yourselves, and the first piece of equipment he urges us to don is the belt of truth.
We arm ourselves by getting a good, solid grip on our situation, by getting some clarity on the
battle over our lives. Gods intentions toward us are life. Even in the bliss of life there is a certain
exquisite pain: the pain of too much beauty, of overwhelming magnificence. Further, no matter
how perfect a love may be, it is never really satisfied, in both joy and pain, love is boundless.
Jesus extends the offer to anyone who realizes that his life just isnt touching his deep desire: If
you are thirsty, come to me! If you believe in me, come and drink! To the weary Jesus speaks of
rest. To the lost, he speaks of finding your way. Again and again, Jesus takes people back to their
desires. Ask, seek, knock-these words invite and arouse desire. What is it that you want? They
fall on deaf ears if there is nothing youre hungry enough to bang on a door over.
The enemys strategy is to disconnect us from our heart and the heart of God toward us by any
means possible. Our experience of life deteriorates from the passion of a grand love affair, in the
midst of a life and death battle, to an endless series of chores and errands, a busyness that
separates us from God, each other, and even from our own thirstiness. All of these smaller stories
offer a taste of meaning, adventure, or connectedness. But none of them offer the real thing. Are
you taking the necessary steps to keep the thirstiness in your heart alive for God?
The danger of disowning desire is that it sets us up for a fall. Eventually, we find some means of
procuring a taste of the life we were meant for. Our souls are designed to flourish in an
atmosphere rich in love and meaning, security and significance, intimacy and adventure. Nature
at the height of its glory shouts, beauty is essential! Our intense desire for eternal and intimate
communion with God and each other in the midst of Paradise-is the desire
that Jesus himself placed in us before the beginning of the world. Nothing less than this kind of
unbroken communion will ever satisfy our desire. Only Gods Spirit himself can free us or even
bring us to our senses. Our addictions prevent us from truly loving God and one another. God
himself is standing before us with a better offer. It seems at times that God will go to any length to
thwart the very thing we most deeply want. The things we do to save our psyche, our self, those
plans to save and protect our inner life, those are the things that will actually destroy us. It is out
of love that God thwarts our imposter. God thwarts us to save us. We must be saved from what
really will destroy us. Venture out with God. We are made for union with Him, and nothing about
us works right without it.
Healing never happens outside of intimacy with Christ. The healing of our wound flows out of our
union with him. We can work on our issues. But there is nothing to be done about our glory. Its
so naked. Its the truest us. You cannot love another while you are still hiding. You cannot love
another unless you offer her your heart. It takes courage to live from your heart. Be what he
meant us to be. It is about fully coming alive. If youre not pursuing a dangerous quest with your
life, then, you dont need a Guide. There are too many twists and turns in the road ahead. In all
the ins and outs of this thing we call living, there is one narrow path to life, and we need help
finding it. Wisdom is not cramming our head with principles. It is developing a discerning heart.
We seek wisdom because were dead if we dont. The Bible is full of counterintuitive direction
from God. Thats why we need revelation alongside wisdom.
You can begin to discover your glory by looking more closely at what you were shamed for. Look
at whats been assaulted, used, abused. Through the hearts wound, I see its secret. Dont wait to
forgive until you feel like forgiving; you will never get there. Feelings take time to heal after the
choice to forgive is made. If your forgiveness doesnt visit the emotional core of your life, it will be
incomplete. We acknowledge that it hurt, that it mattered and we choose to extend forgiveness to
whoever hurt you. Forgiveness says, It was wrong, it mattered, and I release you. When God
looks at you he does not see your sin. He has not one condemning thought toward you because
of that blood. Until we are broken, our life will be self-centered, self-reliant; our strength will be our
own. I dont trust a man who hasnt suffered. Where a mans wound is, that is where his genius
will be. First, the wound was given in the place of your true strength, as an effort to take you out.
Until you go there you are still posing, offering something more shallow and insubstantial.
Therefore, second, it is out of your brokenness that you discover what you have to offer the
community. When we begin to offer not merely our gifts but our true selves that is when we
become powerful.
Little boys want to know, do I have what it takes? Little girls want to know, am I lovely? Elijah
became worn out from doing and badly needed restoration of spirit. It is in the gentle whisper
that he finds God. God desires to talk with us in the quietness of our own heart through his Spirit,
who is in us. There is a place on each of our spiritual journeys where the Spirit also desires to
lead us into the desert. We must have a place in our lives where we are removed from
materialism, entertainment, diversion, and busyness that the Vanity Fair of our society and culture
immerse us in. The things sold at the booths in the Fair are tranquilizers that separate us, and
protect us, from the emptiness and need of our heart. Our emptiness is often the first thing we
find when we face honestly the story going on in our heart. When we lay down our false self and
the smaller story of whatever performance has sustained us, we experience the freedom of
knowing that he simply loves us where we are. We begin just to be, having our identity anchored
in him.
The spiritual disciplines of silence, solitude, meditation (heart prayer), fasting, and simplicity
practiced by Christ and passed on to us, bring us through our emptiness and thirst into the
presence of God. When we begin to abide in Gods heart, the blades of grass on heavens
outskirts no longer puncture our feet.
Faith and love spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven. Our courage for the
journey so often falters because weve lost our hope of heaven-the consummation of our Love
story. The reason most men, to quote Thoreau, live lives of quiet desperation is that they live
without hope. With Christ formed in us we will be ready to reign with Him. God really does want
you to know who you are. He wants you to be able to understand the story of your life. The
religious spirit has turned discipleship into a soul killing exercise of principles. Most folks dont
even know they can walk with God, hear his voice. One day we will have glorified bodies with
which to partake of all the beauty of heaven. Every faculty will be an inlet of delight. We do not
want merely to see beauty. We want to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to
receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. And so we shall. He who has been
faithful in the small things will be given even greater adventures in heaven. Few of us ever sense
that our talents are being used to their fullest; our creative abilities are rarely given wings in this
life. Christ promises that we shall be actively fulfilling our total design in the adventures of the
new kingdom.
We must fight the forces that oppose our becoming whole and the enemies of our hearts-those
sirens that would seduce and shipwreck our desire and those arrows that aim to kill it outright.
How awful to reach the end of our lifes road and find we havent brought our hearts along with
us. Life is not a game of striving and indulgence. It is not, as Henry Ford once said, one-damn
thing after another. Life is a desperate quest through dangerous country to a destination that is,
beyond all our wildest hopes, indescribably good. To find the Land of Desire, you must take the
Journey of Desire. If we are to take up the trail and get on with our quest, weve got to get our
hearts back, which means getting our desire back.
How can we offer the stream of Counseling to one another unless we actually know one another,
know one anothers stories? The four streams our something we learn, and grow into, and offer
one another, within a small fellowship. We hear each others stories. We discover each others
glories. We learn to walk with God together. We pray for each others healing. We cover each
others back. Church means community. The little fellowship of the heart that are outposts of the
kingdom. A shared life. They worship together, eat together, pray for one another, and go on
quests together. Over the years our fellowship has gone camping together. We play together;
help one another move; paint a room; find work. We throw great parties. We fight for each other,
live in the Four Streams. This is how it was meant to be. I love this description of the early church:
All the believers were one in heart.
God wants to live this life together with you, to share in your days and decisions, your desires and
disappointments. He wants intimacy with you in the midst of the madness and mundane, the
meetings and memos, the laundry and lists, the carpools and conversations and projects and
pain. Art is, in the final analysis, a window of heaven. The heart cannot live on facts and
principles alone; it speaks the language of story, and we must rehearse the truths of our faith in a
way that captures the heart and not just the mind. We were meant to remember together, in
community. We need to tell our stories to others and to hear their stories told. We need to help
each other with the interpretation of the Larger Story and our own. Remembering is not mere
nostalgia; it is an act of survival, our way of watching over our hearts with all diligence.
The loss of sensitivity is the dullness that most people accept as normal. It actually leads us into
sin, to sensuality and lust. The deadened soul requires a greater and greater level of stimulation
to arouse it. Holiness is not numbness; it is sensitivity. It is being more attuned to our desires, to
what we were truly made for and therefore what we truly want. All we truly need is God.
Worship occurs when we say to God, from the bottom of our hearts, You are the One whom I
desire. As Thomas a Kempis prayer, There is nothing created that can fully satisfy my desires.
Make me one with You in a sure bond of heavenly love, for You alone are sufficient to Your lover,
and without You all things are vain and of no substance. Augustine said our hearts are restless
until they find their rest in Thee. He is referring to desire. We rehearse for the wedding now
through worship.
Contentment is not freedom from desire, but freedom of desire. Being content is no longer being
ruled by your desires. God grants us so much of our hearts desire as we delight in him (Ps.
145:16). God delights to give good gifts to his beloved. But that old root would have us shift once
more from giver to gift, and seek our rest through being full. This is the turn we must be vigilant to
see, watching over our hearts with loving care. We are expanded by longing, enlarged in the
waiting. Something grows in us, a capacity for life, love and God. There is actually a sweet pain in
longing, if we will let it draw our hearts homeward. What will you bring to others if your heart is
empty, dried up, pinned down? Love is the point. And you cant love without your heart, and you
cant love well unless your heart is well. You cannot cut off your heart and expect to hear from
God. Christian maturity is the stage where we love ourselves for Gods sake, meaning that
because he considers our hearts the treasures of the kingdom, we do too. The hour is late, and
you are needed. Youll need everything that helps you see with the eyes of your heart. You have a
crucial role to play. It is a dangerous thing to underestimate your role in the Story. You will lose
heart, and you will miss your cues. The heart is the center of life. We must bring the truth into our
hearts to guard and to guide our desire; this is the other half of our mission.
How do we get to know a person? Through stories. Reminders of the Story are everywhere-in film
and novels, in childrens fairy tales, in the natural world around us, and in the stories of our own
lives. In fact, every story or movie or song or poem that has ever stirred your soul is telling you
something you need to know about the Sacred Romance. Arent the greatest joys and memories
of your life associated with family, friendship, or falling in love? Arent your deepest wounds
somehow connected to someone also, to a failure of relationship? There are no formulas with
God. He operates not like a system. But with all the originality of a truly free and alive person.
Take Joshua and the Battle of Jericho. He has them march around the city blowing trumpets for a
week. It works marvelously, of course. It never happens again. Israel never uses that tactic again.
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Our souls speak not in the naked
facts of mathematics; they speak the images and emotions of story. Our heart is made to live in a
Larger Story; having lost that we do the best we can by developing our own smaller dramas. The
only fatal error is to pretend that we have found the life we prize. One man called such a life the
sleep of prisoners. The most tragic day of all is to prefer slavery to freedom. Bringing our heart
along in our lifes journey is the most important mission of our lives-and the hardest. It all turns on
what we do with our desire. If you will look around, you will see that most people have abandoned
the journey. They have lost heart. They are camped in places of resignation or indulgence, or
trapped in prisons of despair. Without this burning (desire), we lose the meaning of our days.
No one gets all he desires; no one even comes close. What if life is a dress rehearsal? What if
the real production is about to begin? That is precisely what Jesus says; he tells us that we are
being shaped, prepared, and groomed for a part in the grand drama that is coming. All the rest
was rehearsal-not for just a few shining moments, but for an eternity of joy. Lets see, Im going to
be alive forevermore, so if I dont get this done now, Ill get to it later. This is important, for no
human life reaches its potential here. He had never once considered that he would be a great
writer in the coming kingdom, and that he was merely in training now. To desire is to open our
hearts to the possibility of pain; to shut down our hearts is to die altogether. The full proverb
reads this way: Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true, there is life
and joy.
Relationship is the most important thing in the universe. There are many things God calls us to
do, but loving well always comes first. Dont your relationships feel opposed? They must be
fought for. All the Enemy has to do to destroy peoples lives is to get them isolated. In order for
our longings to be filled, we need the cooperation of others. We need others-its part of our
design. All our deepest longings require others to come through for us. The reason we dont
know what we want is that were so unacquainted with our desire. If you are going to find a life
worth living you simply must get your heart back. You must head up into the high country of the
soul, into wild and uncharted regions and track down that elusive prey. We dont need more facts,
and we certainly dont need more things to do. We need Life, and weve been looking for it ever
since we lost Paradise. When we abandon desire, we no longer hear or understand what he is
saying. Christianity has nothing to say to the person who is completely happy with the way things
are. Its message is for those who hunger and thirst-for those who desire life as it was meant to
be. He who has the Son has life. I John 5:12. Things are rarely what they seem.
Desire gives fervor to prayer, strong desires make strong prayers. The neglect of prayer is the
fearful token of dead spiritual desires. There can be no true praying without desire. We dont
pray like Jesus because we dont allow ourselves to be nearly so alive. Pretending seems a
much more reliable road to Christian maturity. The only price we pay is a loss of soul, of
communion with God, a loss of direction, and a loss of hope. Without a deep and burning desire
of our own, we will be ruled by the desires of others. I think of Charles, an attorney in his fifties
who still doesnt know what he wants to be when he grows up. There is Paul, a young man in his
twenties who doesnt know what to do with himself now that college is over. He focused on grade
and left his heart behind. Millions of souls are drifting through life, without an inner compass to
give them direction. They take their cues from others and live out scripts from someone elses
life. Its a high price to pay; Too high. God is captivating Beauty. Our nature was nailed to the
cross with Christ; we died there, with him, in him. Your heart has been set free. Gods intention is
to use spiritual warfare to draw us into deeper communion with himself.
Pleasure isnt nearly so much about true enjoyment as it is about anesthetizing ourselves. Think
about the relief your idols provide: Is your desire truly and deeply satisfied, or does the relief
come more through the temporary absence of desire? We are usually too close to our lives to see
whats going on. Because its our story were trying to understand, we sometimes dont know
whats real or imagined. It often takes the eyes of someone to whom we can tell our story, bare
our soul. Our lives are not a random series of events they tell a Story that has meaning. We
arent in a movie weve arrived at twenty minutes late; we are in a Sacred Romance. There really
is something wonderful that draws our heart; we are being wooed. He created us for Himself, and
now he is moving heaven and earth to restore us to his side. His wooing seems wild because he
seeks to free our heart from the attachments and addictions weve chosen, thanks to the arrows
weve known.
Weve either given our heart to other lovers and cant get out of the relationships, or weve tried
our best to kill desire and live lives of safe, orderly control. Satan comes with the offers of less-
wild lovers, hoping to deceive us in order to destroy our heart and thus prevent our salvation or
cripple our sanctification. When we are in the presence of God, removed from distraction, we are
able to hear him more clearly, and a secure environment. The only thing more tragic than the
things that have happened to us is what we have done with them.
Every woman yearns to be fought for. She wants to be wanted. She wants to be pursued. Every
woman also wants an adventure to share. She wants to be strong and a part of the adventure. A
woman doesnt want to be the adventure; she wants to be caught up into something greater than
herself. Every woman wants to have a beauty to unveil. There is also a deep desire to simply
and truly be the beauty, and be delighted in.
When you are with a woman, ask yourself, what is she telling me about God? It will open up
wonders for you. First, youll discover that God is relational to his core, that he has a heart for
romance. Second, that he longs to share adventures with us-adventures we cannot accomplish
without him. And finally, that God has a beauty to unveil.
When a man withholds himself from his woman, he leaves her without the life only he can bring.
This is never more true than how a man offers-or does not offer-his words. She is made for and
craves words from him. A woman knows, down in her soul, that she longs to bring beauty to the
world.
One of the deepest ways a woman bears the image of God is in her mystery. By mystery we
mean something to be explored. God yearns to be known. But he wants to be sought after by
those who would know him. This is crucial to any womans soul. You cannot simply have me.
You must seek and pursue me. I wont let you in unless I know you love me.
A woman is not a problem to be solved, but a vast wonder to be enjoyed. Few women can or
even want to just do it. Foreplay is crucial to her heart, the whispering and loving and exploring
of each other that culminates in intercourse. That is a picture of what it means to love her soul.
She yearns to be known, and that takes time and intimacy. It requires an unveiling. As she is
sought after, she reveals more of her beauty. Every woman has a beauty to unveil.
The Man Who Talked With Angels and Roland Buck
This is an account of one of my uncles last visitation by the angels before his death. The
following is edited from the tape as he shared it with his congregation Sunday morning, October
14, 1979. I had an unusual experience that made me think about how much God cares for the
individual. It has been about six weeks since Ive had a visitation from the angels. God has given
so many ways that He speaks. He speaks through His Word, He uses human beings as agents to
answer needs, and He uses circumstances.
Last night in my office, I found out that the visit six weeks ago wasnt the last one, because
Gabriel and the angel that travels with him came in. My head was down, and I was doing some
meditating, and looking at the Scripture. They came in just like those people on the television
series, Star Trek. I was breathless because I never get accustomed to their presence.
They were talking with me and gave me some beautiful truths about Gods concern for the total
person. Even our humanity is really a concern of God. Then the telephone rang. I let it ring for a
few minutes, because I hated to be bothered with menial things like that while Gabriel was
standing right there. I finally picked up the receiver, however, and it was a little lady from
Sacramento.
Her first question was, have you seen any of them angels lately? Then she told me that she
had some needs, Ive asked preachers to pray for me. Ive asked friends to pray for me. Nobody
seems to know how to get hold of God for me, and I dont even know if God knows about me. Im
seventy nine years old and my husband is sick. Would you, the next time you see one of those
angels, ask them to tell God that I really need some help?
I said to her, Well, theyre in here right now! She choked a little bit, so I said, do you want me
to ask them? That isnt really their work, because you have the same kind of connection as they
do to God. She said, Please ask them. I was going to turn and ask, not because I expected any
answer, but Gabriel had been listening to the conversation. He evidently has a way of picking up
the sound without it coming through the receiver.
He told me that he heard what she said. He said, Tell Bonnie Thompson that God already knows
her need, and He cares for her and loves her! I told her, and she let out a squeal, He knows my
name! She hadnt told me who she was earlier, so I didnt know her name. She said, I dont care
if I ever get this help, as long as I know God knows my name! This incident brought to my
attention once again, that God knows my name, and He knows your name!
The following account of an angelic visitation is taken from my uncles journal dated April 29,
1979.Early this morning I was awakened about 2:10 a.m. by voices downstairs. I went down, and
as I suspected, Gabriel and his companion were there. After a few words of comfort, Gabriel
seemed to speak direct words from God in the first person.
The Lord speaks now to you. All your life forces are in me. Your drives, your talents, your skills,
as you commit yourself, wholly, even your potential springs from me. Bring these words to the
world. I have loved you, cared for you, yes; I have planned your steps, and when you would yield,
have directed your path. Your successes come from me; your wealth has come from my hand.
Your creative skills, your abilities to succeed are because of Me.
Because of your failure to recognize Me and walk in my ways, you have limited the Lord your
God, your lives have been restricted so that you have not known the potential of your life. As you
make Him Lord of all, He will also be Lord of what you can be, not only of what you are. (Exod.
31:1-6) Money and its power belong to the one who directs the use of it. It is not a force apart
from the one who controls it, satan or God.
On two different occasions I have been told that Gods plan before He ever made the earth was
to take us to be with Him. Gabriel made this statement that although people fail to agree as to
whether they go through the Great Tribulation, through half of it, or are raptured before, or dont
believe in the Great Tribulation at all, when Jesus comes, He is not going to look in peoples
minds to see what position they hold on this. Hes just going to look in their hearts to see if Hes
living inside. Gabriel went on to say that it would be totally contrary to the character and nature of
God for even one believer to go through even one day of the Great tribulation time!
I will never forget an early morning hour in my family room when the giant warrior angel, Chrioni,
was given permission by God to speak with me again. One of the things he told me was that Man
will never fully comprehend the love of God! He said that many of the people he and his hosts
had been sent by the Spirit to help, had defied God. They had shaken their fist in Gods face and
were filled with lawlessness and evil. Many were in Satanism and witchcraft. They were Gods
enemies. But God said, Those people need help. Go and help them!
What can separate us from the love of God? We did nothing to earn it. So even if you are
completely away from God and sentenced to hell because you havent accepted Him, His love
reaches out, and He says, I want you! I have room for you! I see God now, like I have never
seen Him before, and I feel that one of the purposes of these experiences has been for me to see
God like He really is!
On August 27th 1979 my uncle had another unusual experience from God. It portrayed the great
love of God. Here are his words; I was awakened about 1 a.m., God allowed me to witness again
His great plan in operation for making us acceptable in his sight. Coming alive before me was the
message of Paul in Colossians 2 concerning the greatness of Jesus. He is the head of all Gods
forces. I saw the believer not only sharing in His life, but in His accomplishments fulfilling the law.
His death, His resurrection is ours because of our faith in Gods operation. I saw Him strip Satan
of his authority and spoil him, never restoring it. He clothes us with confidence, and forgives
every sin.
Then something happened, and I was escorted into the presence of Jesus by these angels. Like
Paul, I am not sure if I was in body or spirit. I saw Jesus, met Him, and talked with Him for the first
time face to face. His appearance was identical to that described by John in Revelation 1:13-18.
He appeared as the great judge of all. It is possible he will take on a different appearance upon
his return. What I was allowed to see was His eternal appearance. His white hair hung to His
shoulders. His face shown like pure white light. He wore a wide gold belt that was contoured to
partially cover His chest.
My spirit leaped within me as He stated that His servants, these angels, had been sent forth to
compel men and women to come to the point of choice. He made reference to the words that He
himself had said, that which his angels said, there was still room. He said to go out on the
highways and the hedges and compel them to come in. This is what Hes doing now. Gods last
call to the feast. This is all because of the Fathers great love for them. He also spoke of the
numberless hosts sent into all the world to help prepare, and He used this term, the precious fruit
of the earth for the harvest, the redeemed souls that He has purchased and prepared.
Jesus stated that His purpose for this meeting was to remind me, and to remind the world, of the
urgency and importance of linking arms with Him and telling the world that He really cares and
telling the workers around the world that they are not alone. There are missionaries who feel like
theyre working alone, but Jesus wants them to know there are workers sent forth with sickles
ready to work beside them in preparing the precious fruit of the earth for the harvest. The
countdown is nearly finished. The sickle has been thrust in. We must be alert, awake, full of faith,
alive with His Spirit, and make each breath count for God. Jesus stated that even the Great
Tribulation would not separate men and women from His love. He said that millions will be saved
during that time by their own death, in standing for God in those days.
He wanted me to carry the message to people who were worried about their loved ones,
wondering whether God really cared in bringing them as they were, refusing and rejecting. Some
may feel at that time of the trumpet sound that many of these people have not made their start for
God, but Gods love still reaches them! Theyre going to seal their redemption by their own death
during that time. They will die and be united at the resurrection, at the close of those days of
sorrow, with their loved ones who have been taken in the rapture when He returns for those that
are His. Theres going to be a great reunion as Gods great body moves out into the millennial
days.
Jesus also said It would be totally contrary to the nature of God to cause His people to dwell in
His wrath! He then reminded me of 1 Thessalonians 5:9, where He said, God has not appointed
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. That word taken used in Matt. 24
was prepared by God and only used once in the whole Bible, it means called to one side in an
affectionate manner. And in that great calling, He is calling us as His bride to be with Him during
that great joining of Christ to his church.
The Lord allowed me to see that there are three barriers that stand between man and God, and
even if we got rid of every sin, we could still not approach Him because we still have human fault,
human failure. But He said that by the covering of the Blood of Jesus Christ that sin is atoned for,
that human fault is covered, that human failure is no longer there. Colossians 1:22 says that
because of the body of His death, we have been accepted, holy, unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. All three barriers are gone.
When your faith is in the blood of Jesus, its not your performance. Its based on His performance.
When your faith is in what He has done, you are covered, whether you wake or whether you
sleep you are the Lords. The Lord wants you to know that He has so much invested in you that
He is going to protect that investment. And Hes not going to let you out from under that covering
without a lot of effort. Gods plan is to make it easy to come in and hard to get out. There is
nothing we can do to enable us to achieve the righteousness of Jesus that is given to us freely
when we believe in Him.
Many coincidences are angels on the job. God will never do anything to violate His character.
When He looks at man, he does not look at the evil which has taken place, but He looks at the
very heart of man. God gave the apostle Paul a bigger brain capacity so he could write most of
the New Testament. God has a book for each person that trusts Him with all of the good deeds
and God doesnt record failure in heaven. The Bibles highest purpose is to reveal the character
of God.
Gods plan is to restore us to the place of total innocence and fellowship with God which Adam
and Eve enjoyed in the garden before sin came. God says You have given Me your sins. I am
giving them back to you now, and letting you see the empty shells, the ashes of something that
has lost its power and its life. It is reduced to nothing because the fire of judgment has been
diverted to a substitute, and your sins which were there on the body of that substitute, were
destroyed. Jesus literally tasted hell for us, His body being struck by the righteous judgment of
God. We can joyfully say, His wrath has been diverted from me to Jesus, and my sins were
judged when He was judged.
It is when we get down on the level of human need and take a person into our hearts and actually
meet their need that something is written down in our book in heaven. There is not going to be a
person present at this believers judgment who will hear one harsh word of condemnation,
because Jesus has already paid our penalty through His death. Many more people are going to
be saved and turn to God when they see us doing Gods work for Him by meeting their needs,
then when we are trying to put the bee on them for salvation. God wants us to fill up our good
works book in heaven so He can reward us.
When Heaven Invades Earth
The lack of miracles isnt because it is not in Gods will for us. The problem exists between our
ears. A renewing of the mind is needed, and its only possible through a work of the Holy Spirit
that typically comes upon desperate people. If He performed miracles because He was God, then
they would be unattainable for us. But if He did them as a man, I am responsible to pursue His
lifestyle. We must learn how to enforce the victory obtained at Calvary.
Kingdom means: Kings domain. The invasion of God into impossible situations comes through a
people who have received power from on high and learn to release it into the circumstances of
life. Turning from sin to God is more the result of true repentance than it is the actual act.
Repentance means you change your way of thinking. And its only in changing the way we think
that we can discover the focus of Jesus ministry, the Kingdom. Repentance is not complete until
it envisions His kingdom. It was as though He said If you do not change the way you perceive
things, youll live your whole life thinking that what you see in the natural is the superior reality.
Without changing the way you think youll never see the world that is right in front of you. Its My
world, and it fulfills every dream youve ever had. And I brought it with Me.
Some things are only discovered by the desperate. Our abundant life is hidden in the Kingdom
realm. And only faith can make the withdrawals. The realm of Gods dominion, that realm of all
sufficiency, is the realm called the Kingdom. The benefits of His rule were illustrated through His
works of forgiveness, deliverance, and healing. It was common for Jesus to teach so He could
explain what He had just done. Jesus reveals the attitudes that help His followers to access His
unseen world in the Sermon on the Mount. The beatitudes are actually the lenses that the
Kingdom is seen through. Examine the promised result of each new attitude, receiving the
Kingdom, being comforted, obtaining mercy, seeing God, etc.
Grace is different from the Law in that the favor comes before the obedience. Grace enables what
it commands. The unseen world has influence over the visible. Faith is the key to discovering the
superior nature of the invisible realm. It is the gift of God within to uncover. Faith provides eyes
for the heart. Jesus expects people to see from the heart. They (Pharisees) became blind to His
dominion because of their own corrupted hearts and were judged for their unfulfilled potential.
All of the Fathers resources, all of His benefits, are accessible through faith, but faith and love
must work together like the two rails of a train track. Learning how to see is not the purpose for
our worship, but it is a wonderful by-product. Those who worship in spirit and truth, as mentioned
in John 4:23-24, learn to follow the Holy Spirits lead. Its in the environment of worship that we
learn things that go way beyond what our intellect can grasp, and the greatest of these lessons is
the value of His presence. Faith lives within the revealed will of God.
When I have misconceptions of who He is and what He is like, my faith is restricted by those
misconceptions. If I believe that sickness is to the body what sin is to the soul, then no disease
will intimidate me. Faith is much freer to develop when we truly see the heart of God as good. A
woman who needed a miracle once told me that she felt God had allowed her sickness for a
purpose. I told her that if I treated my children that way Id be arrested for child abuse. She
agreed and eventually allowed me to pray for her. After truth came into her heart, her healing
came minutes later. God has created all things to speak of Him. The natural realm carries the
witness of His greatness, for those with eyes to see and ears to hear. I was provisionally healed
2000 years ago. There are no tumors in heaven, and faith brings that reality into this one.
The fear of man is very strongly associated with unbelief. The fear of God and faith are very
closely related. Faith and love is the currency of heaven. Faith comes by hearing. It is the
listening heart, in the present tense, that is ready for heavens deposit of faith. Even though we
may know the will of God from Scripture, we still need the Holy Spirit to help us with the
interpretation, application, and empowerment to perform His will. Fear attacks the foundation of
our relationship with God, our faith. Fear is faith in the devil; it is also called unbelief. Issues such
as bitterness, jealousy, and hatred qualify as the decay of the heart that invites the devil come
and give influence, yes, even to Christians. Fear is also a decay of the heart. It attracts the
demonic in the same way as bitterness and hatred.
Some people would have no belief system were it not for the error of others. Their thoughts and
teachings are the antithesis of what others believe and practice. As a result those who strive for
balance become anemic. The word balance has come to mean middle of the road, of no threat to
people or the devil, with little risk, and above all, the best way to keep our nice image intact. Faith
offends the stationary. Jesus was concerned about finding people with faith, the kind He
displayed. The whole nature of faith implies a relationship with God that is current. The emphasis
is on hearing, in the now. I emphasize the use of testimonies to stir peoples hearts to believe for
the impossible so He might invade. Just as fear is a tangible element in the spirit world, so faith is
tangible there. Rest is the climate that faith grows in. It comes out of the peace of God. What is
restful for us is violent to the powers of hell. That is the violent nature of faith.
This world is our assignment, but not our home. Our purpose is eternal. The resources needed to
complete the assignment are unlimited. The only restrictions are those between our ears. Praise
and worship are the primary activities of heaven. Worship is our number one priority in ministry.
When the believer prays according to the revealed will of God, faith is specific and focused.
When the King of kings manifests His domain, the fruit of that dominion is Liberty. It if is not free
to exist in heaven, it must be bound here. We can only bind or loose here what has already been
bound or loosed there. Once again, heaven is our model.
Heaven sets the standard for a Christians material world, enough to satisfy the desires born of
God and enough for every good work. James 1:13 and the line in the Lords Prayer Lead us not
into temptation, is actually a request for God not to promote us beyond what our character can
handle. When promotion comes too soon the impact of our gift brings a notoriety that becomes
the catalyst of our downfall.
One of the most important messages Ive ever received came from Derek Prince. It was a
message on praise. In it he suggested that if we only have ten minutes to pray we should spend
about 8 praising God. Christ-likeness-excellence with humility is the real goal. Promotion comes
from the Lord. If we spend more time developing a Kingdom heart, wed have more people in key
places of leadership. All of our Kings resources are at our disposal to carry out his will. Consider
the sparrow. Pray until theres a breakthrough. Then exercise the authority given to execute His
will over the circumstances at hand.
Salvation was not the ultimate goal of Christs coming. It was the immediate target, the marker in
the lane. The ultimate goal was to fill each born again person with the Holy Spirit. Gods desire is
for the believer to overflow with Himself, that we might, be filled with all the fullness of God. We
could travel off of this planet in any direction at the speed of light, 186,000 miles a second, for
billions of years, and never begin to exhaust what we already know to exist. All of that rests in the
palm of His hand. And its this God who wants to fill us with His fullness. Hell give us His baptism
of fire if well give Him something worth burning.
Contentment short of Gods purposes would mean having to learn to live with the enemy. The
problem is not in receiving more of the blessing of God. Its the refusal to give it away to others
once we have received it ourselves. The incomprehensible becomes possible because He is with
us. His presence makes anything possible. The Holy Spirit is released through faith and
compassion, and faith and compassion are never self-centered. Jesus was completely
dependent on what the Father was doing and saying. Jesus often healed after being moved with
compassion. I frequently detect the leading of the Holy Spirit by recognizing His affection for
someone else. Being drawn to a person through compassion usually means that there will be
some realm of supernatural ministry to them, either with a word of encouragement or a miracle of
healing or deliverance. Loving people is Christs agenda, and surrender of my own agenda
makes me available for His.
The word anointing means to smear. The Holy Spirit is the oil of God that was smeared all over
Jesus at His water baptism. He was to reveal the Father. In doing so, He was to unveil the
Fathers realm called heaven. These miraculous ways helped to set something in motion that
mankind could inherit once we were redeemed. Heaven, that supernatural realm, was to become
mankinds daily bread. In the O.T., it was the anointing that qualified a priest for ministry.
Anointing brings supernatural results. Today, the real issue is the priority we place upon His
presence. Its difficult for most to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit because we are so limited in
our experience with Him. If our study of the Bible doesnt lead us to a deeper relationship (an
encounter), with God, then it simply is adding to our tendency towards spiritual pride. We are
being saturated with His presence in order that we might learn His voice.
The church cannot afford form without power, for it creates Christians without purpose. Jesus,
the model teacher, never separated teaching from doing. He is the patter for this gift. Gods
revealed Word, declared through the lips of an anointed teacher, ought to lead to demonstrations
of power. Jesus said, The Father who dwells in Me does the works. Its apparent that we speak
the word, and the Father does the works, miracles. Moving in the impossible through relying on
God short-circuits the development of pride. There comes a time when simply knowing truth will
no longer satisfy. Teaching must be followed with action that makes room for God to move. God
is a person, not a philosophy or a concept. Its time for those who have encountered God to stop
pandering to fear by watering down their story. We must whet the appetites of the people of God
for more of the supernatural. Testimony has the ability to stir up that kind of hunger. God has
promised to back up our message with power if our message is the gospel of His kingdom. God
loves to feed those who are truly hungry. Are you truly hungry?
The Holy Spirit directs, reveals, and empowers me to be and do what the Word says. Unless
Scripture leads me to Him, I only become better equipped to debate with those who disagree with
my way of thinking. We must remember that the love of God is the greatest power in the
universe. We must be moved with the love of God to the point that we seek His face until we are
clothed with power from on high.
Jesus was driven by one overwhelming passion: pleasing His heavenly Father. He said I must
be about my Fathers business. He confessed that obeying the Father remained His priority. It
actually brought Him nourishment, My food is to do the will of Him who sent me. Jesus
life illustrated what that pronouncement was all about-bringing salvation to the spirit, soul, and
body of man, thus destroying the works of the devil. This was an expression of a kingdom that is
ever increasing, and continually unfolding. The gospel is the story of the Father wooing the heart
of mankind through His love. All the other stuff we do overflows from that discovery. I learned a
long time ago that more people are healed when you pray for more people. Until we act on what
we know, our knowledge is nothing more than a theory. Real learning comes through doing.
Character is shaped through obedience. When Jesus returns will He find faith on the earth?
If we would learn would it means to not grieve and not quench the Holy Spirit, we would know
the secret to being full of the Spirit. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit explains how our sin affects God.
It causes Him grief. This command is character centered. Departing from the character of Christ
in either of these ways brings grief to the Holy Spirit. Do not quench the Spirit. This mandate is
focused on our need to follow His leading. To quench means to stop the flow of something. As
the Holy Spirit is ready to bring salvation, healing, and deliverance, we are to flow with Him.
Failure to do so hinders His efforts to bring us into the supernatural. My life reflects what I see
with my heart. I will not lower the standard of the Bible to my level of experience. If you want to
see people healed, look for those who are sick and offer to pray for them.
If I minister to the needy, I give Him an opportunity to show His extravagant love for people. We
have grown fat on the theories of classroom Christians. We must learn from those who just do it.
I am responsible to protect what God has given me. No one else has the assignment. Burning
within my soul is a piece of the original flame from the day of Pentecost. Learn how you function
best, and then function! If we teach, preach, or witness and nothing happens, we must go back to
the drawing board, our knees. Do not make excuses for powerlessness. Some of our prayers are
too general. God could answer them and we would never know it. The absence of power is even
more costly than what the anointing costs. Win for the Lamb that was slain the reward for His
suffering. Power removes the middle ground. Power exposes sin and brings people to a
decision. To insure they didnt forget, they were to build monuments that would help them to
remember the invasion of God into their lives. When the expectation grows, miracles increase.
When the miracles increase, testimonies increase as well.
This passage of Scripture makes a distinction between religious cities and those known for sin.
The religious city had a numbed awareness of its need for God, while the sinful city was
conscious that something was missing. Religion is even crueler than sin. Jesus only did what He
saw His Father do, and He only said what He heard His Father say. When Mary first mentioned
the need for wine to Jesus, it is say to say He noticed that the Father was not involved in doing
any miracles for that wedding. Jesus again looked to
see what the Father was doing and now noticed that He was turning water into wine. So Jesus
followed His lead and did the miracle. Her faith so touched the heart of the Father that He
apparently changed the chosen time to unveil Jesus as the miracle worker. Faith moves heaven,
so that heaven will move earth. There will be a generation that will catch this and will invade the
world system with this living testimony of who Jesus is! Without miracles, there can never be a full
revelation of Jesus.
Nothing thrills the heart more than knowing God. The disciples in the upper room were to wait for
Dunamis, the ability to perform miracles. A glass is only full when it overflows. Fullness can only
be measured by overflow. The fullness of God ought to do more for me than give me a
supernatural language. But His purposes bring us into more, to a divine partnership in which we
become co-laborers with Christ. Power came to make us witnesses. Power was displayed, and
impossibilities gave way to the full expression of Gods presence.
Some people place high value on the presence of God. The ones who do enjoy fellowship
throughout their day with the Holy Spirit are extremely conscious of how He feels about their
words, attitudes, and activities. In the kingdom of God we only get to keep what we give away. I
owe the world a Spirit filled life, for I owe them an encounter with God. Without the fullness of the
Holy Spirit in and upon me, I do not give God a surrendered vessel to flow through.
I believe angels have been bored because we live the kind of lifestyle that doesnt require much
of their help. Their assignment is to assist us in supernatural endeavors. If we are not people of
risk, then there is little room for the supernatural. When the Church regains its appetite for the
impossible, the angels will increase their activities among men. A godly self esteem is derived
from doing as He pleases. Service is an overflow of worship. In the natural we use signs to help
us find a city, or a place of business. Its practical. In the same say, signs and wonders are a
natural part of the Kingdom of God. They are the normal way to get us from where we are to
where we need to be.
We have nothing without the cross. Religion is unable to mimic the life of resurrection with its
victory over sin and hell. If Im the main subject, talking incessantly about my weaknesses, I have
entered into the most subtle form of pride. By being sold on my own unrighteousness, the enemy
has disengaged me from effective service. The first place that faith must be exercised is in our
standing with God. The boldness we need is not self-confidence, but the confidence that the
Father has in the work of His Son in us. Isnt it a greater from of humility to believe Him when He
says we are precious in His sight when we dont feel very precious? Doesnt it honor Him more
when we think of ourselves as free from sin because He said we are?
The only part of the past that we have legal assess to is the testimony of the Lord. The rest is
dead, buried, forgotten, and covered under the blood. When God silences the voices of unbelief,
it is usually because their words could affect the outcome of a promise. The superior potential of
this generation has nothing do with our goodness, but id does have everything to do with the
Masters plan of placing us at this point in history. He leads us only into a battle we are prepared
to win.
The safest place in this war is obedience. In the center of His will, we face only the situations we
are equipped to win. Outside of the center is where many Christians fall, facing undue pressures
that are self-inflicted. His will is the only safe place to be. Intimacy with God is our strong suit.
Never allow anything to distract you from this point of strength. There is something about
desperation for God that enables a person to recognize whether or not something is from God.
We maintain our sharp edge as we recognize our need and passionately pursue Jesus. This first
love somehow keeps us safely in the center of Gods activities on earth. First love is passionate
by nature and dominates all other issues in ones life. If they didnt correct this problem, God said
He would remove their lamp stand. A lamp enables us to see. The above mentioned blindness or
dullness is not always the kind that leads to hell. It just doesnt lead us to the fullness of what God
has intended for us while here on earth. When passion dies, the lamp of perception is eventually
removed. Is your lamp burning brightly for God?
Every Christian is supposed to maintain a desperate heart for God. Remaining poor in spirit,
combined with a first love passion for Jesus are keys God created to anchor us to the center of
His work. Its that absence of desperation that causes believers to miss God. Where no oxen are,
the trough is clean; but much increase comes by the strength of an ox. Messes are necessary for
increase. A humble heart keeps us useful to God. Risk takers, the ones who thrill the heart of
God, become the targets of those who never fail because they seldom try.
The depth of wisdom was actually identified by these three attributes: excellence, creativity, and
integrity. Excellence comes from viewing things from His perspective. A heart of excellence has
no place for the poverty spirit that affects so much of what we do. We must reveal who our Father
is through creative expression. It will be easy to distinguish between those who are satisfied and
those who are hungry. This anointing will also bring about new inventions, breakthroughs in
medicine and science, and novel ideas for business and education. New sounds of music will
come from the Church, as will other forms of art. The list is endless. The sky is the limit. Arise
and create.
Religion is not only boring, it is cruel. It takes the breath out of every good thing. True holiness is
refreshingly good. An Olympic athlete will never get to the games by gifting alone. Its the
powerful combination of a gift brought to its full potential through discipline. That is the picture of
the Church becoming a mature man. I do believe there is a maturity of function, without jealousy,
that will develop as His presence becomes more manifest. That intimate love relationship with
God will help us to receive all that He has desired to release since the beginning of time. These
manifestations of the Holy Spirit will be taken to the streets where they belong. It is there that they
reach their full potential.
The word greater is mizon in the Greek. It is always used to describe quality, not quantity. The
message was to be a declaration of His lordship and dominion over all things, followed by
demonstrations of power, illustrating that His world is invading ours through sings and wonders.
As we pursue the Extravagant One with reckless abandon, we will discover that our greatest
problem is the resistance that comes from between our ears. And its time for us to make Him
unconcerned about whether or not Hell find faith on the earth when He returns. Are you pursuing
Him today?
Favor Confessions
Today I will be a blessing to the Lord, I am a blessing everywhere I go, the
favor of the Lord is upon my life and it is making me rich
God is doing exceeding abundantly above all that I can ask or think according
to the dunamis power of God which is working in me
I am increasing in favor with God and with man; I am the head and not the tail,
God has crowned me with glory and honor
God is shining His face upon me this day, He is being gracious to me today, I
am filled with Gods fullness, and am rooted and grounded in love
I like people and people like me, God is guiding me today, I am flowing in
Gods love and people are being healed
I reign in this life as a king through Jesus Christ. Romans 5:20, I am growing in
the Lord, I am waxing strong in spirit, and learning today
I have favor with God, with my teachers, boss. Just as the Lord brought Daniel
into favor, he is also bringing me into success
Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who looked upon her. I shall have favor
today with people. I shall have good relationships with people today. I am sowing
blessing into others and the Lord is supplying seed to me. Im seeking first His
Kingdom- Mat. 6:33
I love the Lord, God is blessing me, He honors me, I am strong like the sun in
full strength. God is with me. I am His honored son.
All things are mine, I am a son of God, a king and the Lords priest today,
failure and poverty is under my feet, satan is under my feet
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God has blessed me
with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
I am flourishing like the palm tree. Gen. 14:19 says, I am blessed of the Most
High God, possessor of heaven and earth.
Joshua 1:8 says, Gods Word does not depart out of my mouth. I meditate
day and night upon the Word. I have good success.
The Lord is my Shepherd; I do not lack any good thing. Ps. 23, The Lord has
pleasure in my prosperity for I am His servant.
 Ps. 65:11 says God crowns my year with His goodness, and my footsteps drop
abundance. Ps. 112:1,3 says I fear the Lord, and delight greatly in Gods Word.
Wealth and riches are in my house.
Proverbs 8:21, I love the Lord and He causes me to inherit substance. He fills
up my treasuries. Proverbs 22:4
Breaking Soul Ties
A definition of a soul tie: bonding together, knitting together of two souls in mind, will and
emotions. Soul ties are an ungodly covenant with another person based on an unhealthy
emotional and/or sexual relationship. This covenant binds the two people together. God honors
or recognizes these covenants. He leaves us free to decide when and if we will appropriate His
provision to break or cut the ties and release both people.
Godly soul ties are good. 1 Samuel 18:1. Jonathan and David. Jonathans soul was knit to the
soul of David.
They can exist in healthy parent, child relationships, balance close friendships, intimate, healthy
marriages. They are a blessing from God. Unity=strength.
Most common ungodly soul ties=fornication and adultery causes ungodly soul ties. Unhealthy
emotional soul ties. Girl friend/boy friend, first love even if no sexual relationship (Later they may
say or think things like, If Id only married so and so, if the soul ties are not broken. Some child
to parent relationships are unhealthy like if the parent continues to control the child when older,
(not allowed to leave home etc.) hatred results. Any friendship where the motivation of the
relationship is impure, all of these hinder relationship with God and with others, type of idolatry-
causes: emotional dependency, control, manipulation, or confusion.
A. Repent and confess and forgive yourself and the person who bound you.
B. Break the tie and renounce it then break any sexual soul ties or bonds.
C. Break generational sex sins resulting in curses if applicable
D. Rebuke and bind any demonic spirits (tormenting, guilt, shame, divination, witchcraft, control,
manipulation)
E. Renounce and cancel the assignments of all evil spirits sent to attempt to maintain the
ungodly soul ties (jealousy, confusion, co-dependency)
F. Break any vows made
G. Call back every part that was given away (every emotion, will and thought that was part of the
bond through the blood of Jesus so it comes back sanctified
H. Release the other person by sending back all that was taken from them. (Every emotion, will,
and thought through the blood of Jesus so it goes back sanctified.
I. Pray healing over mind, will and emotions and ask for memories to be cleansed and healed.
J. Thank the Lord for wholeness, holiness, and grace.
Sample prayer (will work if you pray from your heart)
Father God, in the name of Jesus, I come to you in complete trust! I repent of wrong choices Ive
made in relationships. Forgive me for entering into ungodly soul ties; for emotional and sexual
sins. I choose to forgive each person that I have been involved with in any ungodly way. I ask
you, Lord, to forgive me from my sin that resulted in an ungodly soul tie.
Lord I renounce and break all vows or promises made and ask you to forgive me and release me
from them. Lord, I receive your forgiveness and thank you for your forgiveness and cleansing. I
choose to forgive myself and no longer be angry at myself, hate myself, or punish myself. Lord, I
break the ungodly soul ties with ______. I release myself from him/her, and I release him/her
from me through the blood of Jesus. I call back every part of me that was given away, every
emotion, will, and thought, that was part of this ungodly bond and I call this back through the
blood of Jesus. I release everything that was taken from ___ in this ungodly bond, every
emotion, will, and thought through the blood of Jesus so it goes back sanctified.
I pray that you would cause him/her to be all that you want him/her to be, and that you would
cause me to be all that you want me to be. Lord, please heal and wash my mind from all
memories of ungodly union. Make me free to give myself to you and to the one youve chosen for
me in marriage. I renounce and cancel and break the assignments of all evil spirits attempting to
maintain these ungodly soul ties by the authority in the in the name of Jesus Christ. I renounce
and cancel jealousy, control, confusion, and any co-dependency related to this ungodly soul tie.
I rebuke and bind any demonic spirits of torment, guilt, shame, witchcraft, control, manipulation,
or/and lust. Lord, thank you for restoring me to wholeness. Let me walk in holiness by your
grace. In Jesus name, Amen

You can pray this pray for every other person that you feel has formed an ungodly soul tie with
you. Leave the healthy soul ties in tact.
Finding the Right Mate for Life- Gods Purpose for a family
We all need companionship, friendships, and people we can relate to. The moment were cut off
from the people in our lives we begin to die inside. The family is first and foremost a shelter for
the storms in life. We all need a place of stability, somewhere we can count on. So when the
winds of adversity are blowing, our family is our island of security.
The four blocks of turning a home into a shelter are, 1) Hear 2) hug 3) help 4) hope. You need a
listening ear if you are going to build a shelter from the storms of life. We all need physical
affection in our family.
Your happiness in life is connected to how well you can get along with others and how you relate
with people in healthy ways. Healthy relationships take effort, honesty, transparency,
forgiveness, vulnerability. Character is more caught then taught. God uses the family life to
prepare us for the launch into our ministry. If you cant manage your family well, how can you
manage the house of God? If you cant manage your own finances, how can you manage the
churchs finances? The way we treat our family members is an indication to God of how we will
treat others. If you want to build a strong family you have to help them to get to know Jesus, and
help them to serve Him.
Eight Types of Relationships that wont Work
If you marry right, your life will be a heaven on earth. If you marry wrong, your life will be a hell
on earth. Marriage is a God-ordained blessing. A good marriage develops your character as a
person.
If you are in a relationship and you realize it wont work, get out of it today. Dont waste another
Kleenex box. God doesnt choose your mate for you. He may have the best partner in His mind
for you, but in the final analysis it is still your decision. Proverbs 22 says he would finds a wife
finds a good thing. So you do the finding. You have to search and look; you need to put some
effort into it. Dont get too comfortable in your life if you know you are not be single the rest of
your life.
If you feel emotionally empty before you entered the relationship, you will still feel empty. The
emptiness that all humans feel can only be filled when we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ.
Falling in love takes a lot of energy from you. When youre more in love you are pursuing. So in a
healthy relationship this role goes back and forth, back and forth. If you are the one who is always
doing all the pursing then you will end up feeling cheated, miserable, anger, and hunger for love.
You will feel controlled by your partner.
Three myths about love
1. True love will conquer everything. Wrong. You need compatibility and
commitment. Not just passion and romance.
2. Youll know true love at first sight. Wrong. Reality is that true love takes time
to grow.
3. The perfect partner will fulfill you completely. Wrong. If you feel incomplete
going into the relationship, by the time your deep into youll be finished. Only
God can fully fulfill our needs.
Eight types of relationships that wont work
1. You care more about your partner than he/she does about you.
2. You are in love with your partners potential. The person, then, is not your
lover they are your project. Make sure you love and respect the person that they
are today. They should be enough for you as they are right now. They can still
grow of course, but a question you should ask is, if your partner doesnt change
the way they are right now, will they be enough for you for the rest of your life,
will you still be in love?
3. You are on a rescue mission. People on rescue missions often mistake
symphony for love. Do you often feel responsible for helping your partner get his
or her life together? Do you feel afraid that if you were to leave your partners life
will fall apart? If you answers yes to any of these you are probably a rescue-holic.
Rescue-holics dont look for partners who are compatible. They get into
relationships with partners they feel compelled to help. They want to be the
savior. The key word to remember is respect. The person you choose to love
must be someone you can feel respect for, and be proud for who she or he is.
4. You look up to your partner as a role model. You cannot relate to each
others as equals. How can you have a balanced relationship? I am talking about
attitudes. People who fall in love with role models usually have low self-esteems.
How can you love someone if you dont love yourself? The type that will work is
that if you love and appreciate yourself as much as you love and admire him or
her.
5. You are infatuated with your partner for external reasons. Ask yourself, If
that person didnt have the beautiful brown eyes, would you still be with him or
her? Proverbs 31.
6. You and your partner are really trench buddies. Trench buddies are people
who are thrown into the trenches of unusual environments, and they are able to
live life together for a short while. In that period they become intensely bonded
together. Im not saying you cant meet your mate during a vacation or a
project. But the danger is this, that you become so consumed by being together
during that time that you forget the rest of that relationship, you forget the rest of
his or her personality.
7. You choose a partner to be rebellious.
8. Your partner is unavailable. The meaning of available is, free to be in a
relationship with you, not involved with anyone else, not engaged, alone, single.
When you get involved with someone who is in relationship with another person
you are accepting that persons leftovers.
Eight Fatal Flaws (Finding the Right Mate for Life)
If you or your partner has one or more of these, it doesnt mean that he or she is not capable of a
relationship. But it does mean that these weaknesses can cause trouble in your love life.
1. Anger. Living with an angry person is like living with a time bomb. You will
feel controlled by his or her anger. You can never truly relax. Im not talking
about normal healthy anger. When we use our words to hurt others we cross the
line into sin. If shes quick to demean you or yell at you, its not normal. If you
see warning signs of this kind of anger in your partners relationship, get out of it.
There must be fruits of repentance.
2. Victim consciousness. It is an attitude that blames others for all of their
problems. If your partner has a habit of blaming others for his circumstances you
better watch out. To these people, everything will be your fault. They will have a
hard time of receiving your love. Victims enjoy sufferings. Holding onto their pain
gives them an illusion they have power over those who hurt them. No matter how
long you try to console them they wont be cheered up. It drains the life out of
you. If they dont want to change, that relationship will not work.
3. Control freak. A control freak must make all of the decisions by themselves.
They dont want to admit that they need you. They are highly possessive and
jealous. They need so much of you that they want all of you. If you love me,
youll call me every 5 minutes. These people have sexual problems because they
cant let go. In order to change they have to admit they have a problem. They
have to let go and let God.
4. Sexual Immorality. Addiction and obsession. Pornography destroys intimacy.
Intimacy is a shared experience in closeness and connection between two
people. The lack of sexual integrity is part of this fatal flaw.
5. Your partner hasnt grown up. If you feel like you have to take on the role of a
parent in your relationship then your partner has fatal flaw number 5. Your
partners carelessness with finances will reflect his carelessness with you. Jesus
said to be childlike, not childish. Does your partner seem to have no direction or
purpose in life? Is your partner unmotivated? Does your partner put off making
decisions of any kind? Does your partner have significant problems they are
unwilling to face? Everything in the kingdom of God grows incrementally. But
some people stay in a seemingly permanent immature state of mind. If you
continue in this relationship you will lose all respect, youll feel angry, taken
advantaged of.
6. Emotionally unavailable. Stay away from partners who are emotionally shut
down. Why choose someone who has a hard time opening up and spend half of
your life trying to pry them open? Whats the point of being in a relationship with
someone who cant share with you how they feel about you? You should expect
your partner to be able to demonstrate basic emotions. Can your partner talk
 about feelings? Is your partner emotionally unavailable? The purpose of a
relationship is to relate. Not just to keep each other company. It means sharing
feelings, ideas, and insights with your partner. You have to find someone who is
willing to do anything that knocks down the wall that divides.
7. Hasnt recovered from past relationships. The more anger towards the past
you carry in your heart the less capable you are of loving in the present. Does
your partner seem emotionally fragile? Is your partner afraid to trust you? If they
are you may be with someone whose heart is not healed enough to love you.
8. Emotional damage from childhood. Most of us carry emotional damage from
our childhoods. By the time you are 5 years old, 50% of who you are emotionally
is programmed. By the time you are 18 years old, 95% of you are emotionally
programmed. The good news is that God can take that remaining 5% to help
change the 95%.
Extreme religious flaky beliefs; Teaching from cults about sex or other important relational matters
that do not line up with the Word of God must be addressed and dealt with.
If you or your partner has any of these, they can be changed. If your dating partner does not
want to change any of these, if they have them, then you might want to reconsider going on in the
relationship before you commit to marriage.
Five Compatibility Time Bombs (Finding the Right Mate for Life)

1. Significant age difference. If your partner is 10 or more years younger or older

than you, its going to cause a lot of difficulties, in the area of patience. A
marriage is two coming together with equal standing. Im not saying a big age
difference cant work. It could only work if each others love is strong and really
want to be with each other.
2. Different spiritual conviction. When most couples are in love they only focus
on what they have in common. As the relationship matures, values and
convictions will come into play. The place of agreement is the place of power.
3. Difference social, ethnic, or educational background. Common interest makes
living together comfortable. Im not saying that you and your partner have to
agree on everything, or that you both have gone through all of the same
experiences, but too many differences will create too many tensions. You could
never find a partner who is exactly like you. That would be too boring. We
become better and more well rounded people because of this. But if these
differences are too extreme it will create tensions or possible conflicts. Things like
your goals, values, how you raise your kids, how you feel towards people who
were not as fortunate in life etc. Find the common grounds in your relationship.
4. Overbearing in-laws. You must gently but firmly establish your boundaries
with your in-laws.
5. Long-Distance relationships. A long distance romance makes it easier to think
that the relationship is better than it is. You will have an unrealistic view of your
compatibility in a long distance relationship.
Seven Qualities to look for in a Mate (Finding the Right Mate for Life)

Instead of looking for personality traits, we should be looking for character. A murderer can have
a sense of humor. Character determines how he or she will treat himself/herself, how they will
treat you, and how they will treat your kids.
1. Commitment to personal growth. If you can find this in a mate then half the
battle will be won. If you both have commitment to personal growth then when
problems that need to be dealt with, will be dealt with when they come up. You
want a partner who is willing to live by what the Bible teaches about love,
 forgiveness, acceptance, honoring one another, godly relationships. Your partner
ought to be willing to receive and want help when they need it. Proverbs 12:1
says to learn you must want to be taught. There are people who dont like to be
helped; theyre so self-sufficient and proud.
2. Emotional Openness= the person must be conscious of his blind spots or
emotional handicaps. It is dangerous to become involved with someone who is
oblivious to his own weaknesses or problem areas. Pride and stubbornness will
turn your relationship into a battleground. Staying in a relationship with someone
who cannot share their feelings is a form of self-punishment. If you or your
partner is shut down emotionally, how can you love them, or how can they love
you?
3. Integrity= this is the consistency of your character. Your actions match up
with your words. Your choices match your vision. Your behavior matches what
you believe. Honesty and trustworthiness are essential ingredients in any
relationship. You want someone who is honest with herself and with others. Look
for a partner who is upfront about how he feels and what he wants, and someone
whose actions match his ways.
4. Character of maturity and responsibility= Can he or she take care of
themselves? She will know how to be tidy and keep up her personal hygiene.
Our outward life is a reflection of our inward life. Maturity comes with acceptance
of responsibility. Responsibility is doing what you say you will do. You will keep
your promises.
5. Healthy Self-Esteem= A person with high self-esteem loves because she feels
good about herself. She comes from a position of freedom. The healthier your
partners sense of self-esteem is, the stronger your relationship will be. Some of
the signs of self esteem in a partner are that he knows who he is in Christ. He
knows that he is the head and not the tail. Secondly he doesnt abuse himself
and takes good care of himself. You can tell about someones self-esteem by the
way he treats himself. You can see how he eats. A person who has no healthy
self-respect will enlarge himself with junk food. The way he takes care of his body.
The way he takes care of his clothes. Does he iron his clothes? Does he polish his
shoes? The way he takes care of his car. The way he treats his possessions. All of
these are reflections of his self-esteem. People who mistreat themselves and
dont care about it, may not treat you well also. Also he wont allow others to
abuse him. Christian meekness is not the same as weakness. Meekness is the
same as controlled emotions. Ladies want to marry a real man, not a wimp. If you
have no healthy self-esteem you will let others walk over you. The more you love
yourself, the less you will allow others to mistreat you.(when you can help it) Paul
said to live peaceably with everyone as it is possible. Some situations you cant
help it because its persecution or tribulation for serving the Lord. Another area
under this quality is that he takes action in his life. A person with low self-esteem
is usually a procrastinator. He avoids actions because hes scared of failing and
feeling worse about himself. If you are a procrastinator its probably because you
have low self-esteem.
6. Positive attitude to life= Paul said to rejoice in the Lord always. If you are
going to spend the rest of your life with either a positive person or a negative
person, who will you choose? You want a positive partner who is full of faith.
7. Personal Chemistry =you either have it or you dont. You and your partner
need to have some sort of personal chemistry to distinguish your relationship
from a friendship, otherwise what makes him or her so different from the rest of
your friends. Personal chemistry doesnt always have to be instant. Gradual
attraction is usually more genuine because you arent just focusing on the way
they look. The couples that were friends before they fell in love have a much
higher success rate. The best thing to do is to befriend someone and then as you
develop the relationship, grow and get married. You need to have healthy
physical attraction to your partner unless you plan to keep sexuality out of your
marriage. For those who have lost this over time, it can be restored. If youve
 been seeing someone for awhile and theres no chemistry, dont continue. Dont
just go by personal chemistry.
Compatibility and Commitment (Finding the Right Mate for Life)
Some people are not looking for a mate; they are looking for a relationship. You should have a
basic compatibility list. This consists of your value system. Some questions to go with your
spiritual style are, does my partner have compassion for the lost and needy? Does he have a
similar speed of growth? Do they value prayer and worship?
What about the physical style? Appearance, etc. Eating habits. Personal hygiene. What about
professional and financial style? What about tithing. Etc. Emotional health. Attitude towards
romance and affections. Communication style. Does he tell you whats going on inside of him?
Can he accept feedback? Willingness to discuss problems. Social style. Is he outgoing?
Humorous. Sexual style. This means the persons attitude towards sex and morality. Does the
person have a right biblical view of what sex is? Maybe the persons been raped, or was a
homosexual. You dont want to interrogate, but to help. Maybe the person was violated and they
hate sex. This will be a problem if not dealt with. Background. Intellectual style. Attitude
towards learning. Creative mind. Cultural expressions. Attitude towards world affairs. This
doesnt mean everyone you meet must be an expert at world affairs. But do you have something
thats compatible? Hobbies and interests. Music. You dont have to have total compatibility in all
of these areas. You must have very strong compatibility though. The differences add spice and
challenge and opportunities for you. We learn to compliment and strengthen one another.
The two circles, over time, should become one. If over time, the two spheres are moving apart,
you will have a difficult time in living together. Ask, would I want to have a child with this person?
Would I want to have a child just like this person? Do I want to become more like this person?
Will I be willing to spend my life with this person, even if he or she never changes from the way
they are right now? If your answer is no to one of these, you are probably not compatible. If you
keep your eyes open and be sensitive to the Lords leading, you will find the best soul mate for
you.
Every intimate relationship needs character, compatibility, chemistry, and commitment. Without
commitment your relationship is very shallow.
Commitment gives your relationship purpose. A relationship without a purpose is like a ship
without a rudder. Commitment invests you into a relationship. A relationship without commitment
is like renting a house. Commitment creates emotional safety. Commitment frees you from
expending your emotional energy to everyone else, because you will begin to focus on one.
Some people are afraid of commitment because they have the fear of choosing the wrong one,
ending up like their separated parents, or other fears. You can overcome all of these fears
through avoiding the wrong types of relationships, watching out for the character flaws, for
checking chemistry, compatibility, and watching for the seven qualities to look for in a mate. God
is going to help you. Commitment level number 1 is agreeing with your partner that you and your
partner will be committed to only seeing one another and no one else. Commitment level number
2 is working towards a partnership. Youre sharing more of your time with each other and youre
starting to think as we and not I. At this point you and your partner agree that your relationship
is worth developing into a partnership. Commitment level 3 is your commitment to get ready for
marriage. Youre ready for this level when youre not always fighting and youre sure you have a
desire to spend the rest of your lives together. You dont feel like checking other cell groups for
other girls. Commitment level 4 is deciding on your wedding date and plan on living together after
the wedding. This is the commitment to spend the rest of your lives together. You are your
partner agree to continue working on your relationship. Marriage is the total commitment of the
total person for the total life. Marriage is like a big magnifying glass. It will exaggerate any
historic problems in the relationship that were not dealt with.
Jewish Customs for Matrimony
The Jews had no dating or courtship. Marriage to them was a practical legal matter, established
by contract and carried through by exacting procedure. These customs exist in a form today in
the Jewish wedding ceremony.
When the young man of Israel in Jesus time saw the girl he wanted (or the girl his father said he
wanted), he would approach her with a marriage contract. He would come to her house with a
covenanta true legal agreementgiving the terms by which he would propose marriage. The
most important consideration in the contract was the price the bridegroom would be willing to pay
to marry this particular bride. First of all, if the bridegroom was willing to sacrifice hard cash for his
bride, he was showing his love in a most tangible way. Secondly, it was a favor to his future father
in law. In those days of farming and heavy labor, it was something of a liability to raise a daughter.
A family with sons would prosper more because of the built-in work force; but a family with
daughter would expect to consolidate their losses when the girls were mature enough to attract
bridegrooms. And so the father of the bride was more or less paid off for his earlier expenses and
for his patience and skill in raising a girl to be good marriage material.
The bridegroom would present himself to the bride with this agreement, offering to pay a suitable
price for her, and she and her father would consider the contract. If the terms were suitable, the
bride and groom would drink a cup of wine together and this would seal the covenant. This cup
was most significant. It signified the bridegrooms willingness to sacrifice in order to have this
bride. It was offered as a toast to the bride, and it showed the brides willingness to enter into this
marriage.
Then the groom would pay the price. It should be said that this price was no modest token but
was set so that the new bride would be a costly itemthat was the idea. The young man would
pay dearly to marry the girl of his choice.
When that matter was settled the groom would depart. He would make a little speech to his bride,
saying I go to prepare a place for you, and he would return to his fathers house. Back at his
fathers house, he would build her a bridal chamber, a little mansion, in which they would have
their future honeymoon.
This was a complex undertaking for the young man. He would actually build a separate building
on his fathers property, or decorate a room in his fathers house. The bridal chamber had to be
beautiful and it had to be stocked with provisions since the bride and groom were going to remain
inside for seven days. This construction project would take the better part of a year, ordinarily,
and the father of the groom would be the judge of when it was finished.
The bride, for her part, was obliged to do a lot of waiting. She would take the time to gather her
trousseau and be ready when her bridegroom came. Custom provided that she had to have an
oil lamp ready in case he came late at night in the darkness, because she had to be ready to
travel at a moments notice. During this long period of waiting, she was referred to as
consecrated, set apart, bought with a price. She was truly a lady in waiting, but there was no
doubt that her groom would return. Sometimes a young man would depart for a very long time
indeed, but of course he had paid a high price for his bride; even though there were other young
women available, he would surely return to the one with whom he had made a covenant.
The bride would wear her veil whenever she stepped out of her house so that other young men
would realize she was spoken for and would not try to approach her with another contract.
As the year went on, the bride would assemble her sisters and bridesmaids and whoever would
go with her to the wedding when the bridegroom came, and they would each have their oil lamps
ready. They would wait at her house every night on the chance that the groom would come, along
with his groomsmen, and sweep them all away to a joyous and sudden wedding ceremony.
Meanwhile, the bridegroom would be building and decorating with all that he had. His father
would inspect the chamber from time to time to see if it were ready. If we came along the road at
this point and saw the young man working on his bridal chamber, we might well ask, Whens the
big day? But the bridegroom would answer, Only my father knows that.
Finally, the chamber would be ready and the bridegroom would assemble his young friends to
accompany him on the exciting trip to claim his bride. The big moment had arrived and the
bridegroom was more than ready, we can be sure. He and his young men would set out in the
night, making every attempt to completely surprise the bride.
And thats the romantic partall the Jewish brides were stolen. The Jews had a special
understanding of a womans heart. What a thrill for her, to be abducted and carried off into the
night, not by a stranger but by one who loved her so much that he had paid a high price her. Over
at the brides house, things had better be ready! To be sure, the bride would be surprised since
the groom would try to come at midnight while she was sleeping. But the oil lamps were ready
and the bride had her veil. And while she might be sleeping in her wedding dress, she was
definitely surprised.
Now there were rules to be observed in consideration of a womans feelings. As the excited party
of young men would get close to her house, they were obliged to give her a warning. Someone in
the wedding party would shout.
When the bride heard that shout, she knew her young man would be there momentarily. She had
only time to light her lamp, grab her honeymoon clothing and go. Her sisters and bridesmaids
who wanted to attend also had to have their lamps trimmed and ready, of course. No one would
try to walk through ancient Israel, with its rocky terrain, in the dark of night without carrying a
lamp.
And so the groom and his men would charge in, grab the girls and make off with them! The
father of the bride and her brothers would look the other wayperhaps just making one quick
check to see that this was the young man with the contractand the wedding party would be off.
People in the village might be awakened from their sleep by the happy voices of the young
people carrying the oil lamps through the streets, and thats how they knew a wedding was going
on. Today, we hear car hornsback then, they saw the lamps late at night. Those looking on
would not know who the bride was because she was still wearing a veil, of course. But she would
be returning through these same streets a week later with her groom and then her veil would be
off at the return of the bride with her bridegroom, all the people would know just who got married
and they would realize the total significance of this wedding.
When the wedding party reached the house of the grooms father, the bride and groom would go
into their chamber and shut the door. No one else would enter. The grooms father, meanwhile,
would have assembled the wedding guestshis friendsand they would be ready to celebrate the
new marriage. Since the wedding was actually going to take seven days (until the appearance of
the bride and groom out of the chamber), it was hard to plan for. Occasionally, the host would run
out of wine, as we can well imagine. The Lord Himself graced a wedding at Cana with His
presence and replenished the wine for the celebrants as told in John 2.
But the celebrating wouldnt start right away. First, the marriage had to actually be consummated.
The Jews were a most law abiding people and the law provided that the bride and groom become
one before their marriage was recognized. Thus, the friend of the bridegroomthe individual we
might refer to as the best manwould stand near the door of the bridal chamber, waiting to hear
the bridegrooms voice. When the marriage was consummated, the bridegroom would tell his
friend through the door and the friend would then go to the wedding guests and announce the
good news. The celebration would then begin and go for a week!
At the end of the week, the bride and groom would make their long awaited appearance to the
cheers of the crowd. There would then be a joyous meala marriage supper, which we might refer
to as the wedding reception to honor the new couple. At this point, the bride would have
discarded her veil, since she was now a married woman, and all would see exactly who it was the
bridegroom had chosen. The new couple and the guests would enjoy a magnificent feast to
conclude the entire matrimonial week.
After the marriage supper, the bride and groom would depart, not remaining any longer at the
home of the grooms father. They would go instead to their own house, which had been prepared
by the bridegroom. (The Bride of Christ will spend 7 years in heaven at the home of the grooms
Father, and then we shall return with our Bridegroom to occupy the Kingdom He has prepared)
Knowledge of the Holy
We need to be able to meet God in adoring silence. By the mercy of God faith can break through
into Gods presence if the seeker would believe His word and press on. Gods love is the way He
is, and when He loves He is simply being Himself. The spirit of a man alone can enter through the
veil and penetrate into the Holy of Hollies. All life is a gift of God. God never began to exist. All
that God is He has always been, and all that He has been and is will ever be. God has never
learned and cannot learn. God constantly encourages us to trust Him in the dark. The fear of the
Lord is the fountain of life. But this healing fear is hardly found today.
Forever Gods mercy stands, a boundless, overwhelming immensity of divine pity and
compassion.
As electric power flows only through a conductor, so the Spirit flows through truth and must find
some measure of truth in the mind before He can illuminate the heart. Father sees us perfect in
His Son while He disciplines and chastens and purges us that we may be partakers of His
holiness. We must detach in spirit from everything that unbelieving men set their hearts upon.
Practice the art of long and loving meditation upon the majesty of God.
7 Intimacies in Heaven (Oden Hetricks Testimony)
1. Intimacy of Being (Is the delight enjoyed by a soul as it dwells in a
glorified body and senses the delights of the Celestial City.)
2. Intimacy of Baptism (Is Gods Spirit united with your spirit. After
the resurrection you will be one with Gods Spirit in your glorified body forever)
3. Intimacy of New Wine (Is a love feast of partaking of Gods Spirit as the New
Wine of Heaven. (Mark 14:25)
4. Intimacy of Perfection (Happens when you unite with the covenant companion
that God has united you with in your spiritual glorified bodies and so occupying
the same space at the same time, the masculine and the feminine appearing as
one glorified being, united as two voices singing one duet. (Isaiah 34:16)
5. Intimacy of Worship (Happens when united Spirit-filled companions in the Most
Holy Place of Heaven, the very presence of God, lose themselves in the rapture of
wonder, love and praise to their Heavenly Father!)
6. Intimacy of Rapture (Happens after the worshipping saints have completed
their expression of love to God- They submit themselves completely to the control
of the Holy Spirit, who carries them up to the throne where God breathes upon
them.)
7. Intimacy of Divine Likeness (This is when companions become one in Christ
and in God.) (John 14:20)
7 Rewards in Heaven
1. The Glory of God in our resurrection body.
o There will be a vast difference in the measure of glory manifest in our
resurrected bodies. This will greatly differ according to the measure of ones
obedience. The largest star known has a mass about 100 times that of the sun
and is 10 million times brighter. 1 Cor. 15:41-42
2. Intimacy/relationship with Jesus (revelation of God)
o We will each receive a varying measure of revelation to encounter God
in intimacy. We will experience varying capacity to receive from Jesus based
on the capacity that our souls developed to know God while on earth.
3. Strategic Work Assignments (throne and authority)
 o We will each receive strategic work assignments in the Millennial
Kingdom that will bring us joy and fulfillment. The more like Jesus we become
the more wisdom and authority will be entrusted to us to reign and make
decisions in the Kingdom. According to 2 John 8 we can lose rewards! So finish
well.
4. Heavenly Crowns and Jewels (Precious Stones)
o Odem saw Jewels in a chest in his house in heave for all of his service to
God. (Revelation 3:11)
5. Heavenly Garments (white, bright, many colors)
o Gown of salvation- Matt. 22:11 (For every believer)
o Robe or righteousness (Rev. 7:14) varies by obedience
o Garment of Praise (Isaiah 61:3)
6. Life in the New Jerusalem (authority and revelation)
o Oden said there are some places in heaven that only those who have
obey God on earth to a certain degree can go or see or behold!
7. Heavenly Riches
o Riches and Treasure in heaven include the location and design of our
heavenly dwelling place and our garments and jewelry that exhibit our
dedication to God. (Luke 12:21)
7 Questions for thought
1. Who is God asking you to lay your life down for?
2. What needs does God want to open up your eyes to that are around you and
that He wants you to press into Him for in order to get enough fresh bread and
provision to meet those needs and what does love look like in this case and
sphere of influence?
3. If you cant think of anything in your schedule and life that are being recorded
in heaven and that will remain, then what steps can you take to begin to include
things that will remain
4. What do you think will remain?
o Your character
o Your relationship with God
o Your relationships with other saints
o Your obedience, service, love, and deeds
o Your knowledge, personality, and skills developed
5. Will you be ready to live in that city of Light? Will you have any regrets when
you get there or if you got there tonight?
6. Will you feel that you gave the best building material from your life and
obedience while on earth that you possible could?
7. Are you yielding to the Holy Spirit and have you learned how to love and follow
the Spirits leadings?
The Lord would Say
I want you to fix your eyes and gaze upon Me, the Author of the never-ending love story and
finisher of your faith. Develop a heavenly perspective. I told Ian he had to see things from a new
light when he came back; the light of love and eternity. Focus on the things that really count and
that will remain. Get quiet before Me, give me time to speak and develop your hearing ear and
your spiritual vision. Practice loving your neighbors. I will finish the work I started in you, I will
make you so much like Me that you will eventually have My nature and likeness fully formed in
you perfectly. Take the small steps now that will lead to that day. Yield to My spirit, share the
gospel and let me give you my heart and strategies to lead the lost to Me. Invest your time and
energy into things that have eternal significance and purposes for Me. Study to show yourself
approved. Develop your gifts and talents and use them with a heart of love and humility to bless
others.
Clips from Sun Dar and Oden Hetricks Heaven Visions
A man is as great as he can be useful to others, and the usefulness of his life to others depends
on his service to them. Hence, in so far as a man can serve others in love, just so far is he
great. Matt. 20:26. The joy of all those that dwell in heaven is found in this that they serve one
another in love, and thus, fulfilling the object of their lives, they remain forever in the presence of
God.
The degrees of goodness reached by the soul of a righteous man are known by the brightness
that radiates form his whole appearance. For character and nature show themselves in the form
of various glowing rainbow like colors of great glory.
In eternity, the spiritual progress of any one governs the degree to which he is able to know and
feel God; and the Christ also reveals His glorious form to each one according to his spiritual
enlightenment and capacity. If Christ were to appear in the same glorious light to the dwellers of
the darkened lower spheres of the spiritual world, as he appears to those in the higher planes,
then they would not be able to bear it.
A happy relationship with Gods indwelling Spirit is required before anyone enters the gate of the
Holy City. Are you yielding to Him, are you being careful not to quench Him, or are you careful
not to grieve Him? Do you follow His leadings?
The secret covenant of God simply stated is eternal companionship. Fellowship and
companionship is the purpose of this creation.
The angel at the gate has on record the name, the spiritual status and the works of every saint of
God. In the Temple wall in the holy of holies of heaven there are rooms with picture screens
where knowledge is presented in a 3 dimensional review of important events. Your lie is on record
here although God has wonderful editing software powered by the Blood of Jesus. One of the
events that are viewed by all is the sacrifice of Jesus.
Heavens highest pleasures are not given to unsanctified triflers. They are given to those who
drink of the Spirit of God as a thirsty soul drinks from a cool mountain spring
One of the most wonderful surprises that met was the occasional meeting with some one whom
with tearful eyes, would pour forth his earnest thanks for some helpful word, or stern rebuke that
had turned him, all unknown to myself, from the paths of sin into the life everlasting. Oh the joy,
oh the regret that my earth life was not more filled with this kind of work for eternity.
Paradise, the Holy City and the Glory of the Throne Excerpts
Your heavenly Fathers will, will become your will and all that you see, and infinitely more, are
yours to enjoy forever. If you made good use of your opportunities in your past life you have much
treasure laid up in the city of which our Lord spoke while on earth. The entire heavenly kingdom is
full of music without a discord. Those praise Him loudest and most who have learned how to
praise him best while on earth.
She represents a very large class in the world who has not made good use of earthly
opportunities; she was never deeply interested in her salvation till near the time of her death. Do
you not see how slim and lean she looks, and how little clothing she has, only a gown! Her
repentance has been genuine and her faith accepted the promises of eternal life in her Lord, and
her forgiveness has been complete. She has added but little grace and almost no growth to her
soul. Oh may I keep from doing things that keep my soul lean! And may I do those things that
cause growth to my soul.
I felt that strange feeling and tendency to bound upward toward the throne of God, and so I felt a
freedom to ask one near me if he could give me an explanation. Oh, we all felt the same. It is the
law of spiritual gravitation which draws all beings, which have been purified and made holy by the
blood of the Lamb, to this great kingdom and the throne where God is.
Some have made but little preparation for this glory while in the world and now the light is too
great for them; and as you see, they fall back in the rear and content themselves among the
trees, waiting for a further preparation by an application of these wonderful leaves of the trees.
When those, lean in soul, arrive here, they have but little relish for the crystal river, nor could they
enjoy the fountains at the throne, nor do they have great relish for the fruit upon the trees of
which no doubt you have been eating. They take more largely upon their coming here, of the
leaves, the fragrance of which is so sweet and powerful upon. God cannot reward them largely,
for their lack of capacity to receive, and yet as full as they are prepared to do so they will enjoy
the glories of this heavenly kingdom. One star differs from another in glory.
So those who dont live consecrated and yielded lives to God now wont be able to enjoy the
things of God in heaven to the same degree that those who did live close to God will. Or your
ability to enjoy in eternity increases when you grow in grace and soul.
One dear lady whom I had known as an invalid for many years, and yet a very spiritual Christian,
was in the group; she was rejoicing with exceeding joy. She seemed so well now and her face
was beaming with immortal youth. As I drew near to her there was a halo of light and heavenly
joy, beyond my power to describe to you, covering her soul. I told her she
looked well and she said, Indeed, when you knew me I was a great sufferer. I realize now Pauls
words, For our light affliction which is but for a moment works for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory. My soul is so full of glory.
No one in this entire heavenly kingdom has any feelings or wishes to disobey. The law of love
and light is the law of the heavenly kingdom and His will becomes law to you.
May His will become your will both now and forever!