Giving Holy Spirit Acces by Pastor Russ Fochler

By Pastor Russ Going through the Book of Acts, we're now in the story of Stephen — a man full of the Spirit.  I entitled last Saturday’s talk “Stephen’s God Adventure Part 1”.  You can listen to it here.  This coming Saturday July 20th, we’ll continue exploring what Holy Spirit was doing with Stephen and through Stephen when he was falsely accused and faced the Great Sanhedrin for their judgment. When Jesus walked the earth, he spoke a great deal about Holy Spirit.  He was excited that by his work on the Cross, the gift of the Holy Spirit would be given.  So now, when we find ourselves in high pressure situations like Stephen found himself - the Holy Spirit will give us what to say.  “And remember this: When people accuse you before everyone and forcefully drag you before the religious leaders and authorities, do not be troubled. Don’t worry about defending yourself or be concerned about how to answer their accusations. Simply be confident and allow the Spirit of Wisdom access to your heart, and he will reveal in that very moment what you are to say to them.”  Luke 12:11-12 The Passion Translation “Simply be confident and allow the Spirit of Wisdom access to your heart."  Jesus and Holy Spirit long to have full access to our hearts.  Giving Holy Spirit access to our heart opens the gate for rivers of living water to flow from our innermost being into the world.   Our capacity to trust Holy Spirit with full access to our heart grows as we gaze into Jesus’ eyes of hesed love for us, and as we experience His goodness and faithfulness in our daily lives.  "Hesed" is a Hebrew word that means “lovingkindness, steadfast love, secure attachment, tender mercies”. David wrote about this: Because Your lovingkindness (hesed) is better than life, My lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. Psalm 63:3-4 NKJV We see Stephen literally live this out — experiencing Jesus’ hesed for him while being stoned to death.  And Stephen lived out Jesus’ call to love his enemies — the ones who were furiously killing him. We’ll hear this Saturday night from Matthew Guillot about a brief but very powerful experience of God’s love. "Holy Spirit, strengthen our inner being so we can be yielded to Abba’s love for us and so Jesus’ life can be revealed through us every day!   May we hesed our enemies -- so they too are restored to Father God’s family." With Love, Russ Fochler

Roadblocks to Kingdom Influence - Pastor Chuck McCollum of Psalm84 church

Last Saturday Chuck McCallum shared brilliantly about God's plans to expand his Kingdom through us into every facet of society to bring His life-giving influence wherever we go. You can listen to that podcast here. As a successful CEO of a business as well as pastoring a church, Chuck brings his unique perspective of how we were never meant to keep our light inside of the four walls of a church building. Listen to his wisdom in response to this question: Chuck, as someone in the business world, how do you bring Kingdom core values and influence in your day to day dealings with people? Influence is an important part of leading and creating success. However there are a few roadblocks to growing influence: Judgment One of the first steps to increasing influence is avoiding judgment of others that separates. There are two types of judgment: 1) judgment that separates; 2) judgment as discernment.  To judge with discernment is walking with wisdom, but judgment that separates is a punishment and it removes your kingdom influence because when you judge another in this way, you can no longer connect with them. People can feel this separation. If you work in business and you want to influence people, chose connection instead of judgment. Judgment can arise when there is a disagreement between two people. Treat people in such a way that they know that you value them, even if you disagree with them. Many times while dealing with people, I can disagree with their opinions, but because they feel the value I have for them and their opinions, they allow me to speak into their lives because there is no judgment in my heart against them. There is a tension in the business world of maintaining values that are strong while working with people that don’t share the same values. So, how do you work with people like that? You simply begin to find out what they do carry that you can affirm in them. The prophetic ministry of Bethel Church in Redding calls that 'calling out the gold' in people. How you do that in the business world is to begin to see what makes a person amazing and to start calling that forth into the true identity of who they are called to be. Pretty soon, they start acting more like that person you are calling forth. And because there is no judgment, you now have influence and can speak into their lives as a result. An Inability to Learn From Others  Judgment is only one barrier to growing influence. Another roadblock is an inability to learn from others. Part of learning from others is to listen well. If people feel like you are not listening to them, you will lose the power of influence. Knowing when to speak up and when to listen is key to having influence. This is another example of living with tension. This takes true discernment to be successful in any kind of business relationship. People have a difficult time listening because they themselves are afraid they are not going to be heard. Listening first and knowing when to appropriately interject input into the meeting is crucial to developing influence with that group because that creates the intended impact within the room.​ Mismanagement of your Time Managing your time well is another key element to growing influence. Not managing time well creates another barrier to accomplishing this. Understanding the tension of harmony versus balance and the difference between the two is what will make or break your ability to do this well. Harmony is more important than balance. Many people try to only balance their time by doing a little bit here, and a little bit there. They find the 20 things they need to accomplish and that is how to get it done. But the most effective people learn harmony, because harmony actually focuses on doing the right thing at the right time….with the right people. Harmony is more about knowing the flow of what you should do in the present moment. It’s also a matter of personal balance. It’s like a pendulum. Sometimes the focus should apply heavier towards work, and more worked hours should be the result. While at other times, when the pendulum swings the other way, more family time is the order of the day. Sometimes people are not willing to put in extra hours of work, because they walk the fine line of balance, or dividing work and personal time evenly, even if more time is needed on one or the other. The reality in this is that there are times to invest in something more than usual (work or family/personal) and it requires more focus on that area for a season of time. Getting Sucked Into the Drama Finally, the last roadblock to be wary of is, DON'T GET SUCKED INTO THE DRAMA! So many things come at you each day that has the potential to create drama. I have a client who is threatening to sue us on errors and omissions on a particular project. When reading their material, I could get wrapped up in the emotion and be traumatized by the threat or I can actually focus and have the ability to see what they are saying has no legitimate cause. They are simply trying to manipulate me emotionally to get me to respond to their demands. Drama comes from people. It comes from miscommunication. It comes through fear, and from people who are more focused on themselves than they are on their teams. When we focus on the wrong thing at the wrong time (and sometimes with the wrong people), drama results. This is directly opposite of harmony. Beware of the blocks to growing influence, and remember to focus on the right things at the right time, which causes harmony in your life. How do you know when you are focused on the right things? You will see the fruit--When you are focusing on the right thing at the right moment in time you will see the fruit of your success, so that what you've been working towards grows into something bigger. It doesn't take effort to create fruit. The effort went into growing the tree or the roots taking hold beneath the tree where they are unseen. Then one day...you see the fruit, which is the beautiful result of that unseen work. You will have a sense of confidence in rest—There will be a peace to it all. When you feel anxiety and fear, pay attention to the voice you are listening to and it may be indicative of focusing on the wrong things. These should be your warnings to find that sense of rest. When you see people around you succeeding and doing well, you will build that sense of confidence quickly, because that is a sure fire sign of success and that you are focusing on the right things in a company. You will find momentum as a leader—When other people join what you are doing and are thrust forward into success, you will know you are on the right path. Helping others find success is an obvious sign that you as a leader are doing something right. You will find the potential in the situation and in people—When Jesus looked out on a crowd and looked at them being helpless, he saw a great harvest. One of the things that marks a successful person is the ability to see what other people don't see in the middle of things.

Finding God In The Journey - Pastor Brent Lokker

Last Saturday Bill & Linda Boone shared their raw and vulnerable stories of how God rescued and turned their broken and tattered lives around, how they found each other after suffering through many destructive relationships, and how God loved them into something beautiful. Here's a podcast of their Testimony to a Father's Love. Now, hear the heart of your heavenly Father in your own journey... "You and I are on a life-long adventure together—climbing mountains, forging streams, hiking deep ravines and valleys and even flying above the clouds at times. All of your life is before Me like a book.  Since I’m the author, I can promise you there are some amazing chapters ahead for you.  The plot has plenty of twists and turns, but it’s brilliantly written and has a spectacular ending! At times your life may feel like a thrill ride where you need to keep your seatbelt fastened.  At other times it may feel stagnant to such a degree you might be wondering if anything of significance is happening.  And then there will be moments along the way where such tragedy and heartache arise that it may appear to you there is no way to endure. Trust Me.  Come in closer still!   I have wonderful surprises waiting for you along your path.  Not all of life will be lived on the mountaintops—that’s not the way I’ve planned it. The subdued times are just as planned by Me as the more exciting ones. Even the difficult times will be transformed into something beautiful. Keep going on the path I’ve placed before you and ask Me for My wise counsel every step of the way. It’s a great journey and I will never leave your side. I’m holding you up and giving you My strength for the journey, My child. I’ve given you My favor every step of the way." (Taken from Brent Lokker's Always Loved Summer Devotional) Your God continued to support you, as a man supports his son, all along the road you followed until you arrived here ... going ahead of you on the journey to find you a camping ground, by night in the fire to light your path, and in the cloud by day.  (Deuteronomy 1:31, 33 NJB) A man’s mind plans his way [as he journeys through life], But the Lord directs his steps and establishes them.  (Proverbs 16:9 AMP) However faint my spirit; you are watching over my path.   (Psalm 142:3 NJB) When you face stormy seas I will be there with you with endurance and calm; you will not be engulfed in raging rivers. If it seems like you’re walking through fire with flames licking at your limbs, keep going; you won’t be burned. (Isaiah 43:2 VOICE)

Initiative to Prophesy by Bill Hernandez - Prophetic Overseer

It's not a matter of if you can prophesy, but when.   As the Bible says in I Cor 14:31, you can all prophesy: "For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged."  Functioning in the prophetic will look and feel different to everyone because we are all unique. Most often people hesitate to walk in the prophetic or disqualify themselves because they feel they can never measure up to the more demonstrable forms of prophesy like speaking it out in public, publishing a word or singing a prophetic word. As a result people give up in their journey into prophetic expressions and experiences. Some actually do prophesy, but they give up because they may feel they don't measure up to others more skilled. Some find their gift shrivel up due to lack of practice.  But, what is really shriveling is initiative. Initiative is the thing that can break you out of sitting back, break you out of giving up or disqualifying yourselves from being used in this church building, body edifying gift bestowed upon us all by the Holy Spirit.

Initiative-killer inner statements include: “My word is too simple or cliché.” “When I speak a word to someone or a crowd no one reacts by shaking, laughing, crying or falling down.” “No one responded to a prophetic word I shared.” “A word I shared that I felt was correct was denied as being right on.” “Nobody is recognizing me as prophetically relevant.” “I have too many personal problems to prophesy.” "Who am I to say a thing?" "Only leaders are anointed to give relevant prophesy." "I am too shy or an introvert." "I have been judged or persecuted for prophesying and I feel sorry for myself." "I gave an inaccurate word and feel disqualified to ever be prophetic." We may never understand His purposes in the words we might share and so there could very well be a disconnect between believing what you shared was right and getting timely confirming results. There are no guarantees for seeing results when you step out and do God's bidding. Obedience does not necessarily have tangible immediate outcomes. To be an effective prophesier or minister in any area, you have to let go of needing to be affirmed in the moment. When He tells you to jump, you pretty much have to ask, "How high?" His ways are above our understanding and when we trust Him in those times when we don't understand, powerful things can happen. You may never know the full outcome on this side of heaven. But then again you can or probably will, from time to time, occasionally. Find your affirmation in His arms in your quiet time or worship. That's how to acquire initiative. That's where friends get their love and inspiration to keep on giving without seemingly getting rewards. His presence is reward enough. Finding this connection can feel like a chore and an uphill battle in itself. Until this is worked out, you will find discouragement dragging you back into being a spectator and not a participator in what God is doing. I suspect that many spectators are actually disconnected in some way in their relationship with Him. Invite Him to appear in your life by calling upon Him and He will show up. When that happens, you will have a good foundation to prophesy with confidence - even if it's a small word. I hope some of you can join me this coming July 6th when I provide training for the prophetic through activation and teaching. This could be a good start for you to discover the prophetic ministry working through you and to recapture lost initiative. God bless you, Bill Hernandez

Restored in God's Presence by Bill Johnson

Last Saturday at Blazing Fire in our ongoing adventure through the book of Acts, I tackled one of the more challenging passages in the Bible~the story of Ananias & Sapphira. I loved some of the spirited discussions that followed and I plan to go a bit deeper as we progress further in Acts 5 this Saturday night to talk about the place that the Fear of God has in a Covenant of Love. In preparation, I thought it would be timely to hear from a spiritual father of mine, Bill Johnson, from his new devotional called "The Resting Place." May the kindness of our King and the awareness of His majesty and holiness lead us to repentance and bring us into a deeper love for His sweet Presence! ~Pastor Brent

Restored in God's Presence Trust is the natural expression of the one in deep repentance. The nature of these two realities is portrayed well in Hebrews 6:1, "repentance from dead works and of faith toward God." In this one verse we see the nature of both repentance and faith--from and toward. The picture would be of one making an about face, from something and toward something. Here it is from sin toward God Himself. His Presence is discovered in repentance. Repentance means to change the way we think. Our perspective changes regarding sin and God. With deep sorrow we confess (fully own up to our sin without excuse) and turn to God (upon whom we place our entire trust). Similar imagery is given in Acts 3. "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19). Note the end result--that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. In these two verses we see the pattern, the order that God created to lead us to Himself, to His manifest Presence. While we were sinners, God chose us to experience Him in such a way that we were fully restored to our original design, to live in and carry His Presence. We are either walking in repentance, or we need to repent. Repentance is the lifestyle of being face-to-face with God. If that is missing, I must turn back. I must repent.

Super Bloom prophetic word by Diane Jung Overseer and Intercessor

Diane Jung is the head intercessor of Blazing Fire Church and part of the overseers team. She is passionate for Jesus and pure of heart. On June 1st after worship, she released this powerful prophetic word from the Lord. If you would like to hear this in Diane's voice from that night and capture the Spirit of this powerful word, listen here. Be greatly encouraged…

A couple of months ago I was reading an article about the super bloom. In the Anza Borrego Desert in Southern California, because of super abundant amounts of rain this past winter, they experienced a super bloom of poppies all over the place in this desert. People from all over place started to come and flood this little town to see it. I remembered that the color orange (the color of poppies) can mean perseverance. And as I was thinking about it, the Lord impressed upon me for those of you who have been persevering for so long, and have cried out and said, “When God? When’s my breakthrough? When’s the time?” I felt the Lord saying, “My Loved Ones, I was hiding you in the desert. It was not time for you to bloom. Not yet, because I did not want the enemy to come and choke you out. I was saving you. I was letting the seed germinate. I was watering you. And when the time was right, the Holy Spirit came and watered and watered you. And then it was time for you to super bloom. And I will turn your perseverance into something wonderful and beautiful! I will show the world how awesome you are! And people from all over will see who you truly are in me. You will attract those people because you are my beloved.” So I release over those of you who have been persevering: This is your super bloom year, in the name of Jesus!! We thank you, God!! We thank you, Lord Jesus for your goodness!!

Hosea 2:14-15 (NJB) Yahweh says, “But look, I am going to allure her and lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. There I shall give her back her vineyards, and make the Valley of misfortune a gateway of hope!” Isaiah 45:8 (NJB) Rain down, you heavens, from above, and let the clouds pour down saving justice, let the earth open up and blossom with salvation, and let justice sprout up with it. I, Yahweh, have created it! Hebrews 10:35-36 (TPT) So don’t lose your bold, courageous faith, for you are destined for a great reward! You need the strength of endurance—perseverance—to reveal the poetry of God’s will and then you receive the promise in full.

The Power of Testimony by Pastor Susan Fochler with Shannon Downs

When we tell our story of what Jesus has done for us, we release power for someone else to step into that same victory.  This is how the “testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy”  Rev. 19:10.  When Peter and John were challenged by the religious leaders to explain “in what name” they were going around healing and preaching, their answer was simple:  “there is only one name to whom God has given authority by which we must experience salvation: the name of Jesus”. Acts 4:12 TPT. The leaders were dumbfounded by the bold confidence of these simple fishermen and concluded it was because “they had been with Jesus.”  After three years of sitting at His feet, receiving His love and watching Him release heaven on earth, they had been transformed.  Peter and John absolutely believed they could walk in the same anointing Jesus had walked in.  And with that conviction they changed the atmosphere and released His glory  everywhere they went. Following is a testimony by Shannon Downs about how she has been transformed by being in His presence, moving out of the shadow of loneliness and into the light of belonging.  Allow these tender words it to speak to your heart and prophecy hope and life to your spirit! Find You by Shannon Downs Oh, my Lord I give you all of my worship Oh, my Lord I give you all of my praise Oh, my Lord I give you all of my thanks I give you all of me, all of me I am no longer on the island of a loneliness, the place called I don’t care or the cave of does anyone see me out there In you I have the faith in this journey ahead Even in the midst of the winds and the waves I can still find you; I can still find you No longer in the fog of despair I can climb the mountains with hind’s feet Steady as a gazelle, strong and bold as a lion My heart continues to beat with the One who calls me lovely And looks upon me with His unrelenting love I see your beauty, the beauty of heaven all around You whisper its mysteries to my heart, And as a child of God I fall upon holy ground You are the lifter of my head You look into my eyes with blazing fire burning my heart within, it is here that I have found you; I have found you ©Jennifer Shannon 05/24/2019 Love, Susan Fochler and Shannon Downs

Last week at Blazing Fire we looked at Acts 4 and how we have been changed by being with Jesus.  Every single one of us has a unique and powerful story in Jesus.  You can hear the message along with several testimonies of what Jesus has done for His kids: The Power of Being With Jesus