Devotionals, Letters

Not Reluctantly. Not Under Compulsion.

Not Reluctantly, or Under Compulsion

Should believers ever charge for their services, for the exercise of their God-given gifts?

Many people quote this verse (from 1 Corinthians 9), “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion.”

Then they use it to judge each other.

They use this verse, often quite forcefully, to say, “I should have the freedom to give you what I want for your services (or products). You should not make your prices compulsory!” The most frequent examples are authors, counselors and conference speakers: they are “reluctant” to pay $80 an hour for professional counselling, or $40 for a weekend of worship and teaching at a conference, so they pull out this verse to justify their outrage at having to pay for the services they voluntarily choose to make use of. “That’s a gift from God. How dare you charge me for what you got for free?”

Some have been audacious enough to suggest, “Well, if you don’t want to pay for that conference (or book, or counselling), don’t buy it. Nobody is forcing you.” This is generally met with yet more outrage. “It’s my right! Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do!” (And this is an excellent illustration of a spirit of entitlement in action.)

It’s interesting that we can recognize the foolishness of this when we apply this “principle” in other places. “Walmart shouldn’t have prices. We should be free to pay whatever we want!” “Chick fil A shouldn’t have prices on its menu!” or “I’m going to have my car's engine rebuilt, but I don’t think I should pay the mechanic. After all, those skills are just a gift from God.” I’m pretty sure those wouldn’t be received well.

I find it curious that these people are not willing to let the conference speaker do the same thing they demand for themselves, to “decide in [her] own heart what to give.” Rather, these outraged consumers insist that authors and public speakers make their life work available for whatever they themselves have decided in their heart to give in exchange.

In other words, “It’s for ME to decide if I want to give you money, but YOU don’t get to decide if you want to give away your life’s work!”

Don’t we see the hypocrisy in this?

Perhaps it is significant that I’ve never heard anybody use this verse to defend someone else. If we’re going to apply it to ourselves, then it applies to our brothers and sisters, doesn’t it? Yet nobody has ever said, “This conference speaker should give what he has decided in his time to give, not reluctantly and not under compulsion. He should not be required to work for the rate that I want to pay him. That’s his choice, not mine!”

The verse in question (2 Corinthians 9:7) doesn’t actually apply in this conversation, anyway. Paul is not laying this down as a general principle for doing business in this. Not at all. He’s talking about receiving a voluntary offering for an impoverished church. He’s not talking about demanding things from other believers. He’s certainly not talking about how we demand others run their businesses and ministries!

Bigger picture: Are we not sons and daughters of the King of Kings? That makes us royalty, doesn’t it? Royalty never (not ever!) go around demanding goods and services for free. In fact, royalty goes out of their way to out-give others, to demonstrate generosity. That is our heritage, not shaming people trying to feed their family with the tools God has given them.

We, as sons & daughters of the greatest King of all, should behave like royalty, not like begrudging beggars, particularly with one another.

~nwp



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Prophecy

Seniors Arise

by Patricia King

Prophetic Word for Seniors:
Are you 60 years of age or older? If so, this word is for you!

I am launching Seniors on the Frontlines this July and as I was seeking the heart of God for this event, I received this prophetic word for the Senior Generation. It is awesome!

I see a company of radical Believers in their 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and beyond arising in these days. This generation will experience personal revival that will re-ignite their passion and their purpose. They are full of wisdom, zeal, and they carry dreams yet to be fulfilled. Their latter glory will be greater than the former.

I see them walking with the younger generations and empowering them with encouragement.

They are gathering together and redefining the term “senior”. They will be a sought after generation. They will be honored and respected by the younger generation. Many will rise into places of predominance and leadership. They will produce more fruit in their latter days with less effort.

Financial increase and sudden provisional surprises will come to them. Favor will rest upon this generation and a wave of healing, health, and rejuvenation will visit them. Their “latter glory” will be greater than the former and they will be filled with joy that overflows!

Patricia King
www.patriciaking.com
https://www.facebook.com/patriciakingpage



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Prophecy

Seniors Arise

by Patricia King

Prophetic Word for Seniors:
Are you 60 years of age or older? If so, this word is for you!

I am launching Seniors on the Frontlines this July and as I was seeking the heart of God for this event, I received this prophetic word for the Senior Generation. It is awesome!

I see a company of radical Believers in their 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and beyond arising in these days. This generation will experience personal revival that will re-ignite their passion and their purpose. They are full of wisdom, zeal, and they carry dreams yet to be fulfilled. Their latter glory will be greater than the former.

I see them walking with the younger generations and empowering them with encouragement.

They are gathering together and redefining the term “senior”. They will be a sought after generation. They will be honored and respected by the younger generation. Many will rise into places of predominance and leadership. They will produce more fruit in their latter days with less effort.

Financial increase and sudden provisional surprises will come to them. Favor will rest upon this generation and a wave of healing, health, and rejuvenation will visit them. Their “latter glory” will be greater than the former and they will be filled with joy that overflows!

Patricia King
www.patriciaking.com
https://www.facebook.com/patriciakingpage



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Prophecy

Church, Impropmptu

So the other evening, I invited a couple of guys over for an impromptu barbecue. And it turned into a glorious gathering of some of my favorite saints.
The four of us sat on the back porch, doing very un-churchy things, in the presence of God. 
What kind of un-churchy things? Well we were eating New Yorksteak, fresh off the barbecue, for one. Some of us had a beer with the steak (a nice, black oatmeal stout, in fact!). And we were telling God stories: stories that makes God look good.
After we finished the steaks, a couple of us lit up our pipes, and we listened to the peaceful sound of the rain on the roof. 
And we shared story after story of God intervening in our lives and lives of others we knew. 
And we relaxed.
That was it. Nothing else. No signs and wonders. No offerings. No sermons (got close once, but we dodged it!). Didn’t even get out our Bibles. We just enjoyed God and each other.
I wanted to tell this story for a couple of reasons.
First, the evening really touched me pretty deeply. These are some of my favorite men, and I treasure their company. I just thought I’d share my joy with you.
Second, we sometimes still have the expectation that we need to be doing godly things to be in God’s presence. Bosh! The Incarnation put that one to death. God didn’t seem to be offended by good beer, good tobacco or even the occasional wide-eyed expletive in response to his amazing exploits.
There’s a third reason, and it may not make sense to everybody reading this, and that’s OK: In my world, there isn’t much that says “You’re off duty!” as much as an oatmeal stout and pipe full of Black Cavendish. And if we can’t be “off duty” in our Christian fellowship, then something is seriously wrong!
Yes, I’m suggesting that we put our religion away, far away, and build real relationships with real people in the real world. Those are the ones that will keep us strong in the long run.

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Prophecy

Help! Get Me Outta Here!

Have you ever been stuck in a situation that was really hard to put up with? Maybe it’s a job with long hours, no respect, lousy pay, no growth opportunities. Maybe it’s a relationship you can’t escape: parents, spouse, neighbors, co-workers. Whatever it is, you know things are not like they ought to be, and you seem powerless to change them.

It’s hard in that place. It’s easy to get disgruntled, angry, bitter in that place: why isn’t God changing this? It’s like he doesn’t even hear your prayers on this.
 
Here’s my experience, my testimony: I spent a bunch of years disgruntled in a lousy job, and I surely didn’t thrive. I complained to God and man about legitimate issues, blatantly illegal issues. I ended up doing the job poorly, and the boss noticed. Yikes.
 
I realized that I was letting my job be the thing that determined the state of my soul: my circumstances were the thing that determined whether I had joy or depression, whether I was thankful or ungrateful. Yikes again: I decided I wasn’t OK with somebody else controlling me.

I took positive steps to change my attitude. The job didn’t change; if anything, it got worse. But I looked for places to rejoice (often the people) and ways to excel (one big one came through an on-site accident: weird how that worked). I went out of my way to perform that lousy job to the best of my ability, while submitting to their stupid and unreasonable limitations. More, I went out of my way to be positive and encouraging to the people I worked with, and with myself.
 
Time went by. A couple of years later, my job was pretty much the same, but I was happy and thriving and doing my job well. The boss noticed, and talked about promotion, but even more, Father noticed, and he released me to the next opportunity: I was not released from the prison until I overcame my own soul in the midst of it.
 
It seems that he wasn’t willing to bail me out when I’d given up: he doesn’t reward disgruntled
ingratitude. God’s ways do not include giving in to our petulant temper tantrums and continuous whining. He rewards faithfulness, especially in tough circumstances. He always has.
 
That appears to be his way throughout scripture: he rewards those who are faithful, whether with great gifts or with small ones. This is also his way: he always saves us through the difficulties, never from them.

It’s when we’re faithful in the midst those difficult circumstances that he is free to reward us, not before.

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Devotionals, Letters

Some Thoughts About the Purpose of the Prophetic

How many times has it happened that a prophet gives a word to someone you know, and you think to yourself, “They missed it! That is SO not them!”
                                               
Sure, it might be a muffed prophecy; the only guy who never muffed a single prophetic word was murdered for it a couple of thousand years ago. Nowadays, we all completely miss it occasionally. It’s like the man said, “Now, we see in a glass darkly.”
But it might not be a failed prophecy. That’s actually the goal sometimes. The goal of the prophetic is NOT to declare what everybody already knows.
The prophets declare the goal, solution, the finished product, the end result of God doing something in the person’s life. And sometimes they declare it as early as when God is just beginning work on the project. They’re “declaring the end from the beginning.” If you don’t know what you’re aiming for, how do you aim?
So when God speaks to a destitute homeless guy, “I see you as a man of substance, a man of wealth,” he’s probably not saying “This is they way you are now, in case you didn’t know.” No, he’s more likely saying, “This is your calling, this is your destiny. If you come with me, this is where you could go. Do you want in on this?”
Or he might say to the destitute homeless guy, “I see you as a leader of men,” and that may not show up the way we expect it to. The English language – especially American English – is not God’s first language. When he speaks of a “leader of men,” he may not mean what you’d mean: a recognized position of appointed leadership or power. 
I’ve known guys that chose to be homeless so that they could reach those that nobody else would reach. Their leadership was often just conversation between bunks in the local mission. They are indeed “leaders of men,” but nobody except the homeless guys they lead recognize it.

Really often, the fulfillment of the prophetic promise doesn’t line up with our expectation of what it would look like. But it does line up with the word.
Second, the prophetic declaration releases God’s resources to bring about that which they declare. 
When God speaks to the destitute homeless guy about wealth, that declaration, when activated by faith, is releasing the grace of God, the power of God, to gather wealth to the guy. Power to accomplish the word is carried by the word.
That doesn’t necessarily mean people will hand him cash money, though I’ve seen that happen. It may mean that God is lining up an educational opportunity, or bringing him an advocate, or giving him an idea for an invention, or lining up other, unexpected circumstances to make it happen. 

And fairly often, it’s true about prophetic words: “If you don’t declare it, it won’t happen.” 
If we want to be in on what God’s doing, we can discern what God is breathing on in the prophetic declarations (1 Corinthians 14:29), and then join in with that. We can add the prophetic word to our worldview and begin to see and relate to people according to the things that God has said to them.
Or we can bury the prophetic declaration, and the power that it carries to accomplish the thing of which it speaks, under our own unbelief and jealousy and resentment, and kill the word.
It’s our choice.

Come join the conversation at https://www.facebook.com/northwestprophetic. 

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Devotionals, Letters

Who Is Your Comforter?

I have it on good authority that someone very competent already occupies the position of “Comforter” in your life (John 14:26). Holy Spirit is a remarkably competent comforter, and he is capable of doing a magnificent job of it.
Now, if you try to bring someone else in to fill that position in your life, there’ll be trouble. You will have invoked the threat of Exodus 20:3: “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
If I go to a prophet, or to a pastor, or to a friend with the intent of getting from them what I should have received from “The Comforter,” then I’ve caused a real problem. I have endangered that prophet, that pastor, that friend. I have set them up “before God” in my life, and God himself promises that he will not permit that. 
If you look at how God handled “other gods” in scripture, you’ll see it wasn’t pretty, not ever. You might review the story of Dagon in 1 Samuel 5. Men set gods up; God knocks them down. 
I do not wish to ever be put in that place, where I am “before God” in someone’s life. Frankly, I’ve had to learn this the hard way.
If you come to me asking for comfort, I may pat your hand, and say, “There, there!” or if you ask for advice, I may offer some (typically, too much, but that’s a guy thing). I’m figuring out how to mourn with those who mourn.
But if I feel that I’m being asked to provide for you what Holy Spirit should be providing, to speak into your life instead of your listening for Holy Spirit to speak, then I will probably point you back to him.
(It’s ironic that people are so often offended at me for pointing them to God. I haven’t figured that one out.)
And if you come to me and say, “God’s not talking to me. Would you give me a word?” you may see me run screaming.
You might be thinking, “If I can’t get it from God, I’ll go somewhere that I can get the word I want.” But I hear it as, “The God I’ve had isn’t living up to my expectations; I’m going to replace him with you.”
Nuh-uh! No you’re not. I’m sorry (on multiple levels) if this offends you, but I will not take the place of God in your life. I’ve seen what happens to other gods in the lives of God’s people. No thank you!
The job of the pastor, and the prophet (and the rest of the ascension gifts!) is to equip the saints! If you’re a saint, then pastors should be equipping you for works of ministry, teachers should be equipping you or works of ministry, prophets should be equipping you for works of ministry, etc.
If ever we ask them to do for us what God should be doing for us, we have seriously erred, and we have tempted them towards something that (in my opinion) should scare the daylights out of them.
Let’s not go there, m’kay?  

Come join the conversation at https://www.facebook.com/northwestprophetic. 

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Prophecy

God’s Time of Preparation and Purpose

Editor’s note: This word from Kathi Pelton comes from the greater Pacific Northwest. It has application personally, regionally and in the broader community.
I have had a stirring in my spirit the past few months regarding the new season that the Body of Christ has entered. I keep hearing the words: “The old and the new are merging as one.”As I was waiting on the Lord the morning of August 17th, I heard Him speak these words:
A Personal Word for God’s People

“My people have entered into a time of great purpose and preparation. I am preparing My yielded ones to be a landing strip that receives all that I desire to bring forth in this strategic time in history. I am clearing the debris in order to make room for the things of Heaven to come to Earth. I am clearing both lives and land that were created to be green pastures in the days to come.

“Disappointments and hope deferred have taken root, causing thorn bushes to overtake many who are called for such a time as this. I am removing the root of bitter disappointment in those who will respond to My invitation to restoration. I have sent My angels to usher you to the green pastures of My Spirit where you will be healed, nourished and restored.”
A Corporate Word for Lands and Nations
The Lord says, “I am revealing and restoring ancient gates at this time. These ancient gates have been long forgotten and forsaken, but I am once again revealing them to those who have eyes to see what My Spirit is doing. I am sending My chosen ones to repair the ancient gates.
“Like in the days of Nehemiah, when the city walls were in disrepair, I am sending many to the lands where ancient gates are located. These are places where The King of Glory will appear in order to accomplish My end-time purposes. These Heavenly gates have existed from the very beginning of time and the time of their opening is near.
“I have places throughout the Earth where I am opening up portals of Heavenly supply for the preparation of the Great Harvest that is coming soon. There are lands of promise and places of strategic purpose that I will lead both individuals and ministries to dwell in. I am preparing places that will be storehouses for My people at this time.
“The ancient and the new are merging as one in this hour; the beginning and the end are intersecting. In the midst of violent times I am establishing peace and bringing forth peace makers and peace keepers. In the midst of drought I will pour out My latter rain.”
The Lord says, “Even now I am recruiting those who are willing to leave all and follow where I will lead them. They will be sent to the ancient gates, the predestined cities where peace, purpose and praise will open the gates and restore the land. These sent ones will not fear the evil one; they will overcome him through their faith, their trust and their obedience to My voice. Faith’s assurance will be their strength.”
The Coming Harvest: A Word for the Body
A great harvest is coming to Earth and God is preparing both people and places. As the Lord has spoken, there will be storehouses established in this new season. I believe that these storehouses will be both small and large
Some will be in homes and on personal properties, while others will be in cities and on large property owned by Christian ministries and businessmen and women. There are workers, even now, being called to be a part of what the Lord is building in preparation at this time. I hear the Spirit speaking these words of encouragement:
“I, the Lord, will provide for all the work of preparation. I will bring wealth to the storehouses and to those who are called to be gatekeepers and those who are called to repair the walls. I will raise up those who have wealth to support those who are preparing the way and clearing the land for My great harvest. Do not miss the time of My invitation. Do not miss this time of great purpose and preparation. You are My chosen ones.”

Submitted in love,
Kathi Pelton
Oceans In The Desert
Come join in the conversation at www.facebook.com/northwestprophetic.
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Prophecy

God’s Time of Preparation and Purpose

Editor’s note: This word from Kathi Pelton comes from the greater Pacific Northwest. It has application personally, regionally and in the broader community.
I have had a stirring in my spirit the past few months regarding the new season that the Body of Christ has entered. I keep hearing the words: "The old and the new are merging as one."As I was waiting on the Lord the morning of August 17th, I heard Him speak these words:

A Personal Word for God's People
"My people have entered into a time of great purpose and preparation. I am preparing My yielded ones to be a landing strip that receives all that I desire to bring forth in this strategic time in history. I am clearing the debris in order to make room for the things of Heaven to come to Earth. I am clearing both lives and land that were created to be green pastures in the days to come.

"Disappointments and hope deferred have taken root, causing thorn bushes to overtake many who are called for such a time as this. I am removing the root of bitter disappointment in those who will respond to My invitation to restoration. I have sent My angels to usher you to the green pastures of My Spirit where you will be healed, nourished and restored."

A Corporate Word for Lands and Nations

The Lord says, "I am revealing and restoring ancient gates at this time. These ancient gates have been long forgotten and forsaken, but I am once again revealing them to those who have eyes to see what My Spirit is doing. I am sending My chosen ones to repair the ancient gates.

"Like in the days of Nehemiah, when the city walls were in disrepair, I am sending many to the lands where ancient gates are located. These are places where The King of Glory will appear in order to accomplish My end-time purposes. These Heavenly gates have existed from the very beginning of time and the time of their opening is near.

"I have places throughout the Earth where I am opening up portals of Heavenly supply for the preparation of the Great Harvest that is coming soon. There are lands of promise and places of strategic purpose that I will lead both individuals and ministries to dwell in. I am preparing places that will be storehouses for My people at this time.

"The ancient and the new are merging as one in this hour; the beginning and the end are intersecting. In the midst of violent times I am establishing peace and bringing forth peace makers and peace keepers. In the midst of drought I will pour out My latter rain."

The Lord says, "Even now I am recruiting those who are willing to leave all and follow where I will lead them. They will be sent to the ancient gates, the predestined cities where peace, purpose and praise will open the gates and restore the land. These sent ones will not fear the evil one; they will overcome him through their faith, their trust and their obedience to My voice. Faith's assurance will be their strength."

The Coming Harvest: A Word for the Body

A great harvest is coming to Earth and God is preparing both people and places. As the Lord has spoken, there will be storehouses established in this new season. I believe that these storehouses will be both small and large

Some will be in homes and on personal properties, while others will be in cities and on large property owned by Christian ministries and businessmen and women. There are workers, even now, being called to be a part of what the Lord is building in preparation at this time. I hear the Spirit speaking these words of encouragement:

"I, the Lord, will provide for all the work of preparation. I will bring wealth to the storehouses and to those who are called to be gatekeepers and those who are called to repair the walls. I will raise up those who have wealth to support those who are preparing the way and clearing the land for My great harvest. Do not miss the time of My invitation. Do not miss this time of great purpose and preparation. You are My chosen ones."

Submitted in love,

Kathi Pelton
Oceans In The Desert

Come join in the conversation at www.facebook.com/northwestprophetic.


Standard
Prophecy

God’s Time of Preparation and Purpose

Editor’s note: This word from Kathi Pelton comes from the greater Pacific Northwest. It has application personally, regionally and in the broader community.
I have had a stirring in my spirit the past few months regarding the new season that the Body of Christ has entered. I keep hearing the words: "The old and the new are merging as one."As I was waiting on the Lord the morning of August 17th, I heard Him speak these words:

A Personal Word for God's People
"My people have entered into a time of great purpose and preparation. I am preparing My yielded ones to be a landing strip that receives all that I desire to bring forth in this strategic time in history. I am clearing the debris in order to make room for the things of Heaven to come to Earth. I am clearing both lives and land that were created to be green pastures in the days to come.

"Disappointments and hope deferred have taken root, causing thorn bushes to overtake many who are called for such a time as this. I am removing the root of bitter disappointment in those who will respond to My invitation to restoration. I have sent My angels to usher you to the green pastures of My Spirit where you will be healed, nourished and restored."

A Corporate Word for Lands and Nations

The Lord says, "I am revealing and restoring ancient gates at this time. These ancient gates have been long forgotten and forsaken, but I am once again revealing them to those who have eyes to see what My Spirit is doing. I am sending My chosen ones to repair the ancient gates.

"Like in the days of Nehemiah, when the city walls were in disrepair, I am sending many to the lands where ancient gates are located. These are places where The King of Glory will appear in order to accomplish My end-time purposes. These Heavenly gates have existed from the very beginning of time and the time of their opening is near.

"I have places throughout the Earth where I am opening up portals of Heavenly supply for the preparation of the Great Harvest that is coming soon. There are lands of promise and places of strategic purpose that I will lead both individuals and ministries to dwell in. I am preparing places that will be storehouses for My people at this time.

"The ancient and the new are merging as one in this hour; the beginning and the end are intersecting. In the midst of violent times I am establishing peace and bringing forth peace makers and peace keepers. In the midst of drought I will pour out My latter rain."

The Lord says, "Even now I am recruiting those who are willing to leave all and follow where I will lead them. They will be sent to the ancient gates, the predestined cities where peace, purpose and praise will open the gates and restore the land. These sent ones will not fear the evil one; they will overcome him through their faith, their trust and their obedience to My voice. Faith's assurance will be their strength."

The Coming Harvest: A Word for the Body

A great harvest is coming to Earth and God is preparing both people and places. As the Lord has spoken, there will be storehouses established in this new season. I believe that these storehouses will be both small and large

Some will be in homes and on personal properties, while others will be in cities and on large property owned by Christian ministries and businessmen and women. There are workers, even now, being called to be a part of what the Lord is building in preparation at this time. I hear the Spirit speaking these words of encouragement:

"I, the Lord, will provide for all the work of preparation. I will bring wealth to the storehouses and to those who are called to be gatekeepers and those who are called to repair the walls. I will raise up those who have wealth to support those who are preparing the way and clearing the land for My great harvest. Do not miss the time of My invitation. Do not miss this time of great purpose and preparation. You are My chosen ones."

Submitted in love,

Kathi Pelton
Oceans In The Desert

Come join in the conversation at www.facebook.com/northwestprophetic.


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Devotionals, Letters

Preparing for an Uncertain Future.

I’ve been asked recently, “How should we prepare for the upcoming hard times in our nation?” The topic comes up a fair bit in one form or another.
I started to reply to the individual who asked this one, but there are several folks with questions on this topic. Here’s what I observe on the topic:
§         No single prophet will have all the insight on this (or any other) topic. Father promises to reveal his secrets to “the prophets” not “to each prophet.” I won’t have anything close to a complete picture. Having said that,
§         It’s not the prophet’s job [ever] to replace your hearing from God yourself. Take what you hear from the prophets to God to get your instructions for your own situation.
 
§         I believe that fear is the primary danger ahead of us: the enemy is making a pretty strong focus on this sin, trying to drive God’s. If believers resist that temptation, we’ll be positioned to get the rest of it right. (This means, of course, filtering what we listen to, and HOW we listen to it.)
§         It’s my opinion that the disaster prognostications flooding the media are fear-based, and are in error, if only because they’re based on fear.
§         While God is calling some of his children into the prepping community, “prepping” is not the answer. Luke 12:20-21 applies to those who, because of fear, store up all they’ll need to survive Armageddon: I don’t believe that’s actually possible; if we knew all that we needed to store up, that violates the First Commandment, and God has promised to not permit that. (Note: the “first commandment” is more of a threat than a commandment: “You will not be able to have any other gods before me: you set ‘em up & I’ll knock ‘em down!” [http://bit.ly/1nn65Rm])
§         I personally believe that the epic disasters of Matthew 24 and the Book of Revelation are clearly behind us, not in front of us (that is perhaps another conversation, and others believe differently). Nevertheless,
§         That does NOT mean I see blue skies and butterflies. Someone really smart said, “In this world, you will have tribulation.” I suspect that’s related to the fact that we are engaged in the greatest war this universe has ever known. It’s NOT “good vs evil.” It’s about the Kingdom of Heaven vs the lesser kingdoms (of which there are many: “good vs evil” is one; fear is another, and self-sufficiency is a third).
§         It is my opinion that the most critical things we can do are in John 2:5 (“Whatever He [Jesus] says to you, do it.”) and Hebrews 12:1&2 (“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”) Key: fix our eyes on Jesus. Having said that,
§         This does not mean “Don’t prepare.” It means look at what Jesus is doing and do what he says. He has had me make SOME preparations (we have gotten out of debt, and we grow some of our own food on our city lot, etc).
§         I’m reminded of stories like Matthew 17:24-27 (and we could choose many others!): It appears that Jesus is invested in provisioning us. Which leads to,
§         I believe we’re coming into a season where we rely on the supernatural for our daily lives. We need to (and are, in fact, beginning to) get used to miracles, so that we can multiply food or raise the dead comfortably and consistently.
§         Whatever troubles that come are an opportunity for the Kingdom of God, not obstacles. Even if there is real persecution against believers, upheaval of any sort open people’s hearts and minds to the King of the Kingdom. If we respond in fear we’ll miss the opportunity (see Romans 8:15).
§         Other people may be called to different responses. I am clearly called to a non-political response, but Father has specifically spoken to me about others whom He may be calling to be involved with politics, or even with forceful resistance to evil. Their calling is not my calling, but I need to not hinder them.
§         The story remains unchanging: God’s goal for us is still intimate relationship, his instruction is still to extend the kingdom, by means of the Great Commission.

So what do you hear God saying to YOU about this season ahead of us? 
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Devotionals, Letters

The Vision of the Wooden Spoon

The vision began with a quiet stream, in a quiet, green meadow; it reminded me of Narnia for some reason: that peaceful. The stream was wider than one could jump across, and deeper than you’d want to wade across, and its flow was smooth and fairly fast. All in all, it was a very peaceful environment. The birds were singing.
Then a giant hand appeared in the sky, holding a giant wooden spoon, the kind of spoon that people use in the kitchen to mix cookie dough. The spoon dipped into the stream and stirred.
For a while, nothing much happened, except the stream became more turbulent from the spoon’s motion. After a minute or two, the stream darkened, and soon I could see things in the muddy stream: old tires, boots, cans, bottles, sticks and stones, jars, bags of rubbish. The hand with the spoon withdrew into the heavens.
I was kind of appalled. This had been a peaceful stream, in a beautiful meadow, and now it was full of trash and garbage and muck and mess. Well, actually, the peaceful stream had always had the trash and muck and garbage and muck and mess, but it had been lying hidden in the mud on the bottom of the stream. Now the stuff was out in the open.
The vision continued, and the stream kept flowing, and then I saw it: the garbage was flowing downstream with the flow of stream. Some of what had been stirred up came to the top of the stream, and was carried far downstream, out of the picture. Other things, heavier things, were carried a little ways downstream but they settled back to the bottom of the stream. Soon the stream was clear and peaceful again, but I knew that old tires, discarded shoes, bottles and cans were still there, lying on the bottom of the stream.
The hand with the spoon appeared again, and stirred the water again, and again the stream darkened with mud, again tires, discarded shoes, bottles, cans, and other detritus were stirred up, and again they floated various distances downstream.
The cycle was repeated several times, until eventually, the stirring from the almighty spoon did not bring up muck and garbage.
The stream returned to peace, but it flowed smoother, faster, than it had before, and I realized that it flowed cleaner than it had before. The garbage on the stream bed had settled under so much mud that the stream flowed smoothly over it, but still the garbage had polluted the stream.
Now the stream was actually clean.
I believe that this is what Father is doing in some of our lives. He’s stirring things up in our lives, and it’s uncomfortable. It’s easy to be appalled or offended at what he’s doing, because he’s good at what he does. Things are being stirred up, memories, habits, relationships that have been in our lives are being stirred up from the dark depths of our lives, and brought into the light.
And the reality is that much of what he’s stirring up is garbage: shame, embarrassment, memories of foolishness, of sin, histories of unwise choices, character weaknesses. It’s easy to resent these coming to the surface after how many years of being hidden in history.
But he’s bringing them up in order to wash them away, in order to remedy the issues. Trust him. Have hope, rest in the confident assurance that he does know what he’s doing, and that he’s working for good in you, for the purity that we really have wanted. He’s answering our prayers.
We can trust the spoon. More specifically, we can trust the hand wielding the spoon.

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