TRY THIS AT HOME - by Todd Benjamin Lout

Last Saturday night Karena had us participate in an exercise that was really effective. It's something we've done in our youth ministry from time to time over the years and has always been a healing time. She had us take some minutes to allow words or phrases to come up that have been spoken over us that tagged us in a negative way.  These words could be years ago or just yesterday.  Maybe it was a school teacher who labeled you wrong. Maybe a kid on the playground who called you names that cut deep. It could even be someone close to you now who has misjudged you. Or it could even be you, yourself, who has labeled you the wrong way.)  We were to write these things down on paper and hand them over to Jesus as we trust Him to dow away with that label and tell you His replacement.   On Saturday we put these papers in a box with a cross on it.  In youth ministry we would throw these directly into a fire pit.  Karena actually took these negative declarations out of the box this last week and burned them to smithereens! (You can see the photo of this in the above banner in this article.) I was thinking of how this is something that everyone should try at home...and maybe multiple times, if needed, just as a reminder.   In Isaiah 62:4 & 5 God' people are told, "No longer will you be called forsaken or your land desolate. I will call you Hephziba and your land Beulah, for God delights in you (Hephzibah) and your land will be whole (Beulah). We see in the Bible that God changed people's names often, shifting them from baron to fruitful, from Abrim to Abraham (father of many) and so on. The Word also tells us that God has our names tattooed on His hand. (Isiah 49:16)  If that's the case, do we really believe He would have negative declarations on His own hand? No way!  He would have our names as He calls us, which are His own.   Try taking the action of this faith step and doing away with what wrongly spoken over you.  Heck, write it on a piece of toilet paper and flush it down the toilet if you have to! (that's actually not a bad idea) Love, Todd

HIS STRENGTH IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU - by Karena Lout

!! CHANGE OF TIME !! For this Engage encounter, instead of meeting Saturday afternoon we’re going to incorporate it into our evening worship service. Please join us Saturday at 6 PM to experience the Lord‘s presence together in a deep way!

“My grace is always more than enough for you, and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.” So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I’m weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me. So I’m not defeated by my weakness, but delighted! For when I feel my weakness and endure mistreatment- when I’m surrounded with troubles on every side and face persecution because of my love for Christ- I am made yet stronger. For my weakness becomes a portal to God’s power.” 2 Corin. 12:9-10 (Passion) There was a time in my life that I used to shame the parts of myself that felt weak. But as God began to heal my heart, this verse became alive for me. “Weaknesses” are simply areas that we need more truth and healing. When we stop hiding these parts of ourselves, Jesus meets us in the middle of it all and his strength is made perfect in us.   Before Saul had a life changing, supernatural encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus,  his identity was wrapped up in legalism, his intellect and religious beliefs. He was born into a family of pharisees. We see his journey of surrender throughout so much of the New Testament. In 1 Corin. 2:4 Paul says, “My message was not with persuasive arguments based on secular wisdom, since my aim was not to point people to me but to the powerful working of the Spirit in them.”   Power in the spirit comes to maturity by not being “able” in the natural. There is no boasting or taking credit. It is Christ’s work on the cross that we get to boast in.   In high school, I was labeled “the shyest senior” out of a class of 350 students. Looking back, that perception of me was probably due to pain and abuse I was experiencing that caused me to be withdrawn. Public speaking was the last thing I would ever imagine myself doing. So several years ago when I found myself speaking in front of whole high schools, I was reminded of that label as a teenager. That “thorn” caused me to lean on Jesus’ strength in a way I never would have otherwise. I became aware of his power to do exceedingly more than I could ever do in my own strength.   Jesus wants to take your valley of pain and struggle and make it your mountain of greatest victory. In Isaiah 51 it says, “he makes the wilderness like Eden and the desert like the garden of the Lord.” The areas in your life that you’ve been ashamed of are opportunities for Jesus’ strength and power to show up for you. If you’re tired of being strong and holding it all together, I encourage you to surrender to him and find true rest for your soul today.   Love, Karena

WORSHIP FOREVER - by Todd Benjamin Lout

So the ransomed of the Lord will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. Isaiah 51:11 Last Saturday our worship service was exactly that. It was a sweet sweet time of worshipping and soaking in worship of the Lord. There's nothing sweeter really.   I thank God for teaching of the Word of God, which we need so much. AND, I know that ultimately, sitting at the feet of Jesus is something He values so much. He knows that when we gaze on Him in adoration, His radiant face will shine on us, illuminating His nature, His kingdom, His heart to us.  Remember when Martha was busy doing dishes and cleaning up for her guest, the King of Kings? Her heart to serve was great and honorable, yet keeping her from something better. Her sister, Mary, was on the floor, locked eyes with Jesus, listening to His life-giving words. It bothered Martha that Mary wasn't hard at work, but Jesus said that Mary had chosen the better thing. (Luke 10:38 - 42) Friends, when we enter into glory we will not be able to help but worship God, just like the angels. Just like the 24 elders and other creatures. There's a beauty about God that we don't even understand yet, but worship here on Earth causes our hearts to feel the essence of Heaven's goings on. We won't be able to stop giving honor to God forever and ever.  Back when I was a teen, God had been teaching me the importance of lingering in front of Him.  My dad was the pastor of our church and I had the keys. I would sometimes go to the church in the middle of the night and worship at the piano. There is where Holy Spirit opened up the Word to me and spoke to my heart so organically the most of any other times.  Somewhere in that time period I started leading worship at the church. I wanted to go beyond the typical 10 or 15 minute song set that had to have standard songs sung a certain way.   There were very few folks in the church who loved things to be very traditional.  One older couple would get up and leave the room when I would start leading. They didn't like that I added guitars and that I went longer than 10 minutes.  There came the time when they confronted me about the length of the worship time (only about 20 minutes or so). I must admit here that I had (and still have) a bit of a mischievous streak.  I answered them by telling them that they might as well grow accustom to a bit longer worship times here on Earth because they wont be able to control how long we all worship throughout eternity...which will be all the time!  It's true though. The more we turn our attention on the King and have hearts full of gratitude, the more Heavenly-minded we will be. The attributes of the Eternal One will start to open up in us now, before we leave this temporary life. It will also enhance this temporary life.  Praise God we get to do here what is going on in the Eternal!

LIVING YOUR DESTINY AUTHENTICALLY IN THE LIGHT OF HIS GLORY - by Joel Pollard

Romans 8:19 in The Passion says, “The entire universe is standing on tiptoe, yearning to see the unveiling of God’s glorious sons and daughters!” When we look at the context of Romans 8:14-39, it talks a lot about our glorious destiny. In verse 22, creation is groaning for our glorious freedom. In verse 23, we are groaning to experience the fullness of our status as God’s sons and daughters. A few verses down in verse 26, the Holy Spirit groans for our complete destiny to be fulfilled here on earth and in verse 34, Jesus is praying for us, as He is seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession on our behalf. So we see two divine intercessors that pray for us everyday which means, two-thirds of the Trinity are actively engaged in intercession for us. All of creation is groaning for us, the sons and daughters of God, to come of age and become who we were created and designed to be according to His original plan and blueprint for our lives, to function in our authority affecting all spheres that He places us in. I believe in this season that the Lord is removing old constructs and paradigms from us in how we have encountered and “done” life. What moves you? I believe God is in the midst of restoring our wholeness, who we were originally created and formed as in the image and likeness of the Trinity (Genesis 1) that will begin to reflect the original truth and way of our being. God is unveiling the things off of us that have kept us from being fully revealed. Colossians 1:27 says, “it is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” In this unveiling, He is restoring our garden; He’s restoring His original design, intent and plan for our lives, His original beauty. We are predestined as Jesus was the perfect Lamb slain before the foundation of the world and that’s why our destiny is a prophetic promise. Genesis 1:26-27a in The Good News translation reads, “Then God said, “And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small.” So God created human beings, making them to be like himself.” Authenticity in being ourselves is simply choosing to partake of the Tree of Life, whereas partaking from The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil produces a counterfeit. Creation is the fruit of purpose. It is the outgrowth of a heart, willing and determined to accomplish a definite goal. Behind creation, our existence was the decision to give us (human beings) a place in the fellowship circle of Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Through a journey of evolving into our authentic selves, the Holy Spirit keeps reminding us and leading us to the place of who we already are in God. He is restoring us back to our “former glory” (Psalm 126:4) where it all began, a place that invites us in the process of discovering, becoming and embracing our authenticity. 2 Corinthians 3:18 in The Mirror says, “Now, we all, with new understanding, see ourselves in him as in a mirror. The days of window shopping are over! In him every face is unveiled. In gazing with wonder at the blueprint of God displayed in human form, we suddenly realize that we are looking into a mirror, where every feature of his image, articulated in Christ, is reflected within us! The Spirit of the Lord engineers this radical transformation; we are led from an inferior mindset to the revealed endorsement of our authentic identity.” Have you ever asked yourself, “God, why am I the way I am?” His heart in response to your question is, “Because I’ve always wanted to have a son/daughter like you”. Holy Spirit, thank you for leading us into a beautiful journey of authenticity requiring vulnerability that leads us into our original blueprint life with You. With Love, Joel Pollard

VALUING HIS PRESENCE - by Brent Lokker

One of the core values of my life that’s also Blazing Fire’s first core value is “Enjoying the intimate presence of our good and loving Father.” To that we would certainly add enjoying the intimate presence of our tender Savior, Jesus, and our comforting, sweet Holy Spirit.   During last Saturday evening’s worship service, we experienced what I would call the exceptional grace of God communing with us in an extra tender way. Worship lingered as we enjoyed face-to-face intimacy with the Trinity. When the last planned song ended, no one wanted to move on…and so we didn’t. We lingered in the stillness of the sweet presence of the Lord for quite some time because we treasure this above everything else and when he shares himself with us like this, there’s nowhere else we’d rather be. When you encounter the Lord in such times, you become keenly aware that nothing else compares because we were created for this kind of face-to-face intimacy.   So we lingered, which means we weren’t afraid of prolonged silence. And in that weighty silence several people had encounters of being drawn into heavenly places by God’s Spirit. At times the silence was broken with acapella songs of adoration and, for me at least, lots of tears streaming down my face. We lingered more through communion and several life-giving prophetic words straight from the Father’s heart. Numerous people experienced healing in their bodies as well, all because of the tangible, life-giving presence of Jesus in our midst.   Revival is happening in many places around the country and is clearly touching us as well. Revival means “to live again.” God is awakening our hearts again to hunger for the only One who satisfies so we will be satiated by him alone. Somehow the world we live in wears us out and often distracts us from our First Love, but the Lord’s unceasing passion for us is winsome and continually draws us.   Enjoying God’s sweet presence is the primary reason Suzanne and I started Blazing Fire twenty-one years ago and remains the primary reason we continue to gather with family like you who want the same. There are moments like last Saturday that we can’t make happen, but because encountering God remains our hearts’ desire, our Father graciously provides these seasons of deep encounters with him that we are engaging in once again. There’s a growing anticipation that we may be entering into the biggest wave of the Father’s love the world has ever known.   My prayer these past few weeks comes from Psalm 126:4 (TPT)   “Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of your refreshing flow over us until our dry hearts are drenched again.”   I encourage you to pray this a few times right now as your own invitation to the Father, to Jesus and to Holy Spirit to enfold you into the deep places of their collective heart of tender love for you. You were created for this above all else! With Love,  Brent Lokker