Gradual vs Suddenlies

We are in the beginning stages of a huge move of the Lord. A prophetic pastor I have known for years shared with me that the Lord showed him it was going to be 10 times bigger than the Toronto Blessing/Renewal in the mid 90s. I felt a wave of tingling go through my body when he said this. Ho!!! The Lord showed me in a vision the crew compartment of a ship where the hammocks held sleeping crew. In the ceiling of this room I could see the hatch to the deck partially cracked open with a small, brilliant stream of sunlight pouring in. He said that this is where we are at now. The hatch was slowly opening and He said that the hatch would not be thrust open all at once, but gradually open. He then showed me a runner needing to stretch and warm up before positioning himself at the starting blocks. He then showed me a baby in the womb with the head pointing down toward the birth canal. He then showed me a plane on the runway building up speed before lifting off. He wants to make clear that were are being eased into an incredible move of His Spirit. He wants us to get used to moving more and more into this and to take it one step at a time like a sprinter warming up and stretching before the gun goes off. Rather than experiencing His great move suddenly, He is gradually increasing it day by day. By the mere fact that we have faith in this and eagerly await it, it is part of the outpouring. We are already in the outpouring, the stream of light beaming down from heaven. Wow! About 25 years ago as the Toronto Blessing seemed to fade, the Lord told me to enjoy the slower, quieter times because what was coming was going to be a lot of hard work – fun hard work. I recall being tired from having so much fun in the wee hours of the morning as the Lord consistently showed up powerfully. Since then it has been about changing my spiritual point of view in radical ways and grasping more and more about His amazing grace. It has been about His desire to cultivate a deeply intimate relationship with us in the greatest friendship we could ever know. From this powerful foundation will launch us into an amazing kingdom harvest. When a building is created, it often takes a long time to create a solid foundation before it can rise. He has been and is building a solid foundation of His wisdom and love in our lives to contain what is coming upon us. He is saying to focus on what is today and not so much tomorrow. Tomorrow will surely come soon enough. Practice peace today.

Outrageous Promises

The past two Saturday nights at Blazing Fire we’ve been pondering the outrageous promises of God who assures us that everything we need for life and re-presenting God’s good heart has already been lavished upon us because God shares with us His divine nature! (2 Peter 2:3-4) This is all by God’s own doing and God’s own choice!   “When the extraordinary compassion of God our Savior and his overpowering love suddenly appeared in person, as the brightness of a dawning day, he came to save us. Not because of any virtuous deed that we have done but only because of his extravagant mercy. He saved us, resurrecting us through the washing of rebirth. We are made completely new by the Holy Spirit, whom he splashed over us richly by Jesus, the Messiah, our Life Giver. So as a gift of his love, and since we are faultless—innocent before his face—we can now become heirs of all things, all because of an overflowing hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)   Take a moment to soak in the goodness and grace of your Father who has chosen you and saved you completely!  As you do, enjoy this poem by Shannon that highlights the goodness of God who holds you and brings you from one place of sharing in his glory to another!

We Share God's Divine Nature

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” 2 Peter 1:3-4 (NLT)   What does it mean that God shares his divine nature with us? It means that when God says we are created in his image and his likeness, what is true of God’s nature is equally true of ours.   The implications of this are staggering, but this is a place most of us haven’t allowed ourselves to go to because we see actions and motives in ourselves that don’t reflect the goodness of God, so we come to the conclusion this couldn’t possibly be true. But if you read my last sentence again, you’ll catch the key to our refusal to believe who God says we are: “we come to the conclusion.” It’s our conclusion, not God’s. Our own conclusion based on our own reasoning; not what God knows to be true about us.   Over and over again, our refusal to believe God comes down to eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the fruit of which causes us to come to our own conclusions, judge for ourselves, and decide for ourselves what we think is true or not true. It’s called independence and it robs us of everything that is ours through our union with Jesus because of our own misperceptions.   Our Father is calling out to us to return to light of His truth. His truth that paints a bright and vivid picture of each one of us created stunningly brilliant and altogether good. And how will you see what he sees? By eating from the Tree of Life, or as Jesus put it, “I live by every word that comes from the mouth of my Father.” (Matt 4:4)   What does it mean that you share God’s divine nature? God’s nature is love, so your nature is love. God’s nature is good, so your nature is good. God’s nature is merciful, kind, compassionate and forgiving, so your truest nature, created in God’s image, is the same.   This isn’t something for your mind to figure out, it’s for your spirit to feed on continually. God’s truth is the truth that sets you free—free to be who he says you are. When we start embracing that, then treating each person we encounter as one created in his image is the natural progression.

A Prosperous Future Breaking Forth

When D-Day happened where allied troops invaded Europe, it along with other events in the world eventually lead to the end of World War II. Just so the world will be seeing astonishing and unexpected events ahead that turns around despair, turmoil, suffering, poverty, pain, angst and sorrows. I saw in a vision a great dam holding back humanity and humanity like water behind the dam was cresting the dam with great waves, almost tempest like. The dam cracked to spill its contents of a teeming humanity. The dam was the many sorrows and pains the world has carried over the last couple of years. Humanity was bursting forth with new life because it could not be held back forever. A turn around and unexpected joys are coming. Fortunes will be restored, lives changed for the good. This will happen across the board, across all of humanity. I heard “Justice in the Land!” It seemed like paradoxically nothing was lost, but hope was being stored up in all our lives until the great release. Whether the world believes in Him or not, everyone will experience some creative thing coming forth almost like a rebirth. How this will play out will be amazing in many lives. When WWII ended there was dancing and celebration in the streets. It’s time to believe for a better future and welcome the blessings ahead. Victory!