Stay In Your Lane

Each of us has different things we’re passionate about because God has placed them on our hearts. Some are more focused on praying heaven to earth, others on intimate worship, still others are drawn towards creativity or wise problem solving or caring for those in need—all of which represent our Father’s heart and nature. Each person reading this—YOU carry an aspect of God’s heart that is unique to you and incorporates your passions, your life experiences, your stage of life and your history of encounters with the Lord.  You are alive to make a difference and what you are fashioned to do will be uniquely suited to who God created you to be.   This past week I had a vision from the Lord. I saw my own life as a one lane highway winding through the countryside. That one lane represented the importance of me being true to what God has had me focusing on—what I’m passionate about in the stage of life I’m in. That one lane highway will wind through the countryside and impact many people along the way.   Then, God showed me an 8-lane mega-freeway and said, “If you will come along side of others who are faithfully in their lanes and you will honor what I’ve given them to do, even though it may not be exactly the same passion or focus as you, but you choose to value their place equally to your own in the one body of Christ on the earth, together you will all reach multitudes with my multi-faceted heart.”   Later that same evening, I went to a worship/prayer event that was the beginning of 50 days of prayer for the Bay Area (www.bridgethebay.org). The humility I witnessed that evening as people from many different streams or “lanes” was tangible. No one was boasting of their own ministry or passion—it was simply and profoundly all about Jesus! And when I saw that, I remembered the vision the Lord gave me that same morning. Friends, I believe that the body of Christ has been quietly, powerfully growing in maturity during these past two years of isolation and my heart is filled with great hope that we are embarking upon an awareness of the true heart of our Father that will draw multitudes to him unlike anything we’ve witnessed before.   I’m really not trying to oversell this, but to tell you there is something special and significant rising up and we’re all invited to continue drawing near to Jesus and giving God our heartfelt YES to all he is doing in the hearts of his children across the Bay Area and around the world. Don’t be timid about loving people and revealing the beautiful truth of Jesus—hearts are hungrier for him than they’ve ever been.   And if you ask me what exactly that should look like in your life, I would tell you…stay in your lane! Be unapologetically you and continue to shine forth the passion and focus of the Lord he’s placed within you! Your life is making a difference—keep going!!

Life in the Spirit

When Jesus talked to His disciples about the life He was calling them to live, they were often confused.  So much of what He said made no sense, even sounded impossible.  Why?  He was explaining how to live their lives supernaturally from heaven to earth, and they were working hard to figure out how that could do that in the natural from earth to heaven.  When we use reasoning to try to understand the Kingdom of Heaven, we engage in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; we measure, compare and judge based on our experience.  As 1 Cor 2:14 says, "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."   But God designed us to live with our spirit leading our soul, in constant communion with Him, and not with our soul: our mind, will and emotions making all the decisions.  Our spirit dwells in heavenly places with Jesus (Eph 2:6) while at the same time being present with us in the body.  Isn’t that amazing?  Our spirit drinks directly from the river of life from which we receive every spiritual blessing from on high.   So if you are feeling “burned out on religion” it’s because your soul has been doing all the work.  "He says: Come to me, get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace."  Matt 11:28-29 The MSG.   As we learn to live from our spirit, we will enter rest.  We will begin to see things from heaven’s perspective.  Our hearts soften, we receive wisdom and revelation, and we stay in more continuous union with God.  And it is by our spirit that we know we are His children, and that we unequivocally belong, welcomed and enjoyed with open arms.  Here are words from a familiar hymn that perfectly describe how life looks when we are living from our spirit:  Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in his wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of his glory and grace With much love, and a huge infusion of blessings to your spirit; Susan

A New View

“I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he SEES the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” John 5:19   God asks, “what do you see?” throughout the bible (Jeremiah 1:11, Amos 7:8, Zechariah 4:2). Jesus often challenged the disciples to see from heaven’s perspective. Currently, it may seem easier to see what’s not going right in our world than to take the time to see all the good. But Jesus is always encouraging us to see from a different viewpoint. Our spiritual sight allows us to partner with what God is doing. It bypasses our limited understanding and temporal perspective to see the eternal; what’s lasting.   “Faith celebrates as certain what hope visualizes as future. Faith alone explains what is not apparent to the natural eye; how the ages were perfectly framed by the Word of God. Now we understand that everything visible has its origin in the invisible.” Hebrews 11:1-3 (Mirror translation) When I have faced something difficult for a long period of time, my vision gets tainted. The pain clouds the lens I’m seeing through. When familiarity settles in, it’s important to invite Jesus to change my perspective. I want to encourage you to take some time to ask God to show you how he sees the challenge you’re currently facing. What does he want you to know about it? I pray that your eyes would be open to see what God wants to show you today and that hope would fill every place in your life that needs it.   Love, Karena

God's Victorious Right Hand Holds Us

For years I've heard scriptures that mention the right hand of God. Somehow I hadn't thought to ask the question, "Why the right hand? Is God right-handed?" Then came a time when Holy Spirit brought me to Isaiah 41:10 - 13 in the midst of a very trying time I was going through.  Here's what it says:  "Do not yield to fear, for I am always near. Never turn your gaze from me, for I am your faithful God. I will infuse you with my strength and help you in every situation. I will hold you firmly with my victorious right hand. All who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced. All who contend with you will perish and disappear. You will look for your enemies in vain; those who war against you will vanish with a trace! I am Yahweh, your mighty God! I grip your right hand and won't let you go! I whisper to you: 'Don't be afraid; I am here to help you!'" God was talking to Jacob and Israel.  Often when He speaks to Israel His words pertain to us, His Own, now. For me it was such a direct pointing to this passage at 4:00 in the morning. He was giving these words to me.  This comforted me so much, and had such an impact, that I wrote a song with these words. I sang it earnestly in those wee hours.  At some point it struck me that I'm singing about His right hand lifting me up, but I didn't know why His RIGHT hand. Upon opening a study about this I discovered that the "right hand" is seen as a place of honor and status throughout the Bible. When it makes statements that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, it is affirming that he has equal status to the Father. (Hebrews 1:3, 12:2; 1 Peter 3:22; Acts 7:55-56)  For me this was like when you opened your presents, then went to another house and there were more presents awaiting you! I discovered that not only is God saying He's going to hold me, but that He's going to hold me through a place of honor and strength!  You guys, this was during a time when there was a "Saul"-type person in my life, tearing me down low and trying to put me low in people's eyes. God absolutely ministered to my heart, my mind, my spirit, my LIFE in those dark, morning hours when it was just Him and me.  Sometimes this broken and temporary place we're in has structures and broken peole to take us out....but the King of Glory dances over us and sings songs of freedom and deliverance as He holds us up with His victorious right hand. He even say's He'll hold OUR right hand and won't let go! Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey! Love, Todd

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.