Recently I read a comment on Facebook regarding how people give credit to God when they succeed but don’t blame him for their failures. He was pointing out how hypocritical it is that they give God the Glory when they succeed yet wont blame him for their failures.

The act of thanking Jesus in a public venue sometimes is cultural and sometimes it is a true expression of ones faith. The issue as I see it is not necessarily in the outcome but an expression of thanksgiving. We all have faith and we place it in whatever paradigm we are willing to accept.

Faith is a substance and it manifests itself in whatever it is invested in. Some just don’t believe invest it and don’t see any thing

A fundamental difference for a Christian is that they have encountered the living God.

That encounter has changed their lives forever. Now some have encountered God but yet their cultural construct of what is real or what is not real may prevent them from accepting that it was a God encounter.

The existence of God is not dependent on your acknowledgement or not.

As fundamentalist as this may sound there is a living God who interacts with his children every day. He is not dead and buried somewhere or a simple construct of peoples imagination. His language is not simply English and he communicates in a variety of ways.

He makes himself known in all of his creation yet his creation does not contain him (by that I mean restrain).

A persons faith no matter how small or large is not dependent on my interpretation. If he chooses to express his thankfulness that is his choice. One important thing to consider is we are all a work in progress and some of us are further along than others. It is not for me to decide what is and is not acceptable for someone to do because on my best day the most I can do is control myself.

Spiritual realities are as real as natural, the manifestation of these realities in the natural real comes about when activated by faith.

Heidi Baker in Mozambique is an example of going to the poorest of the poor. Taking what she had and God multiplied it. She has seen blind eyes healed, dead raised, food multiplied, and much more. She is passionately in love with God and she sees miracles every day. She has a book Always-Enough-Miraculous-Provision-Children which is a collection of the miraculous stories and encounters they have had. I can go on to list a whole bunch more people who have seen miraculous interventions of God.

The biggest problem is not on Gods end it is on ours. Unbelief is what restrains him. He has done everything possible to get us to co labor with him yet we act as spoilt children demanding our way, despising him because things go wrong. He asks what do you want me to do about it I left you in charge. When we come to the realization that we can do very little without his help and start co laboring with him listening to his instructions and doing it we see his miraculous interventions.

To a man who denies the existence of God he has no framework within which God can begin to work in his life. He will consistently look for another plausible reason not to believe to put his faith in the natural created realm. The denial of the existence of things beyond our reason is one of the greatest paradoxes I see in the scientific community because they are using what is known to explore that which is unknown yet deny some of the fundamental tenants that hold the unknown together.

Contrary to cultural opinion there is not a ying and yang equal and opposite power struggle. The struggle is on the earth granted but in the heavens it is decided. God has limited his power on earth to the will of man. Its the free will thing I mentioned earlier. He is not looking for clones he is looking for sons (and daughters) who will capture his will and his heart for people and release it on earth. Faith in the negative invites the negative to manifest. Evil will show itself when you place more faith in it and act upon it. Faith in God will manifest itself in signs and wonders.

Free will is one of the biggest values of the kingdom. If you look at the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis there are two trees in the garden. Have you ever asked yourself who put them there and why? God did. Why? He gave man dominion over all the earth but had one stipulation not to eat of the fruit of one tree. Man was completely free to choose.

He chose to listen to a serpent instead of God who had given them everything. The serpent lost his legs apparently (figure that one for evolution). Who created the serpent? Why?

God give man a choice and waits for man to ask for his help, to believe what he says so he can work on his behalf.

There are many seeming inconsistencies in the bible but the bible is Gods word not God. The knowledge of the book without the encounter only makes people religious (having the form without the substance.) If you read the bible and do not encounter the living God you are simply reading a story.

When you read the bible and encounter the living God, it inspires you, it builds you up, it becomes the resting place for your faith to grow. The more you encounter Him and his love the more you become like him, the more you become like him the more you do the things he does and the more of heaven is released on earth.

God is not angry at men, he poured out his wrath on Jesus on the cross to bring men back into relationship with him satisfying his being a just and true God. He even says in 2 Peter 3:9 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
9 The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

He also says
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (HCSB)
11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but man cannot discover the work God has done from beginning to end.

John 17:3 (HCSB)
3 This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent —Jesus Christ.

Life is a journey of discovery. Discovering who you are and who you are meant to be and the fullness of that is found in Jesus. The more we get to “know” Jesus the more we become like him. To the word know used in that verse does not simply mean to know about, it is fuller than that. It has many implications such as to; follow, allow, be aware (of), feel, (have) knowledge, perceive, be resolved, be sure, understand.

Do I have perfect theology, no, but I do have the perfect God who happens to be my best friend. He tells me things about people and lets me share his heart and goodness towards them, yes even those who don’t like me.

Just some thoughts.

I am really enjoying the creativity coming out currently. I love the song featured here. All I have to say is the story of Jesus is a Love story of a creator and His creation. Enjoy and be blessed. He truly does love you.

Have you ever considered the fact that ALL Father Gods’ wrath against sin was poured out on Jesus on the cross. Every drop of it!!! When we accept Jesus the Christ He takes all our sin and the punishment it deserves and places it upon himself on the cross. Father God in his righteousness poured out all the punishment for sin on His Son who had been full obedient and sinless. He had to be sinless to be qualified to take someone elses sin. By doing that He substituted his sinlessness for our sinfullness.

Now that all punishment for sin has been poured out on Jesus on the cross Father God has no anger or punishment left for those who have accepted Christs sacrifice by Faith. Faith is essential in this process. What is faith?

Hebrews 11:1 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)  1 Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.

We accept Jesus sacrifice by faith and we accept his sinlessness and forgiveness by the same faith.

Romans 5:1-3 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)  1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  2 Also through Him, we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Now having accepted Jesus we are free from the punishment of God and now enter into unhindered access to the love of God. We get to experience the great goodness and love of our God. What is so amazing is He is even good to those who dont acknowledge him. They will have no excuse when He returns. For us who believe we get to grow in our relationship with Him and experience greater depths of His love and goodness.

Be blessed. If you don’t know him thats easy to rectify. Ask him by faith to forgive your sins and enter into your heart and life. Leave me a note and I will get in touch and celebrate with you.

When Jesus was on the cross and the last thing He said was “it is finished.” He declared the battle tide had turned. The response that came from the Roman Centurion in Matthew 27:54 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
54 When the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “This man really was God’s Son!”

Jesus statement had significance for them. During their battles, in amongst all the confusion in the intensity of battle, when men fighting for their lives they had no idea if they were winning or loosing on that they were fighting for their very lives.
Their commander the general would be positioned on a high point watch the battle unfold and when he saw the battle tide turn in their favor he would shout out in a loud voice “It Is Finished” This not only rallied the troops but gave them vision that they are not fighting in vain, that total victory was immanent.

Jesus declaration on the cross in John 19:30 (Holman Christian Standard Bible) When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” Then bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Jesus declared the battle had turned. While we are in the midst of battle we need to hear the cry of Jesus on the cross, take heart and fight until we see the victory achieved by His sacrifice.

Another insight is that just before His death Jesus received the sour wine. Just like Jesus to take the old sour wine just before His death. On His Resurrection He released the New wine on the day of Pentecost.

He took the bitterness of the Law and released the freshness of life in the Spirit of Faith and Grace.

While meditating on a number of things the other day I felt impressed in my spirit that the Lord Yahweh wants His bride to intercede for mercy to be released on the Land. Don’t be deceived He is also a just Father. If the people rebel he will not violate their free will and will hand them over to their desires, and they will be consumed both by their lusts and their enemies, both spiritual and natural.

I ask that you read the post in its entirety as I lay a basic foundation to culminate in my conclusion.

Gradually the Godly heritage of this nation has been lost bit by bit, from the time prayer was removed from schools, legalizing the murder of innocents through abortion, the separation of state and religion doctrine, breakdown of family and marriage, pornography, the homosexual agenda and many more issues.

The moral consciousness of the nation has gradually changed through the use of various means that are controlled and directed by a few elite people. They have literally held their relativistic humanist philosophy up to be the epitome of civilized society rather than the Judeao Christian values that were core values that the founding fathers used to establish this nation.

I believe this nation has been deceived. There are evil spiritual forces at play over this nation. Gradually and insidiously they have wormed their lies, deceit and philosophies into the national conscience. The sad part about being deceived is that when one is deceived one does not know it. I am not talking about president elect Obama, his policies are just a symptom of a deeper issue of the deception that has entered the Land.

When truth is revealed it is usually met with denial, and the winner of that encounter depends on the strength of the opposing forces. If the truth is presented in a judgmental way it is under the spirit of the Law. The law only achieves one objective, it shows us how far we have fallen short. There is a higher power that was revealed through Jesus and that was Love, Mercy and Grace. If truth is presented in Love, Mercy and Grace the Spirit of God moves in and there is a power that is unstoppable. It is the power of God to transform a nation. So unless there is a greater power behind the revealing of truth that will open the eyes of the blind and give ears to the deaf, the lie and deceit will remain. The truth lived in Love, Grace and Mercy will escort the deceived captive into truth and release them into their divine destiny.

Sometimes the mercy of the Lord is shown by the fact that He protects us from ourselves.

Romans 1:20-25 (Holman Christian Standard Bible) – Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Nehemiah 9:30 (Holman Christian Standard Bible) – You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit warned them through Your prophets, but they would not listen. Therefore, You handed them over to the surrounding peoples.

Over the last number of weeks I have been hearing from some of the prophetic voices over this nation both blessing and judgment words. My personal opinion is they are both accurate in as much as the Bride will intercede, will capture the heartbeat of heaven and release it here on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Let me say this very clearly. Father God is in a GOOD mood. He is not intimidated about what is going on in the world and is secure in his identity. Jesus when he died said “It is finished.” John 19:30 To some that may sound like a statement of defeat, but the truth is it is the greatest statement of victory.

Jesus was completely obedient even unto death. It was by His blood that the Victory was won over sin and death. Now Father God could release the prisoners and set the captives free. Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law, faced the judgment for sin as a sinless man, gave His life freely. By doing that he earned the right to give life to all those who believe.

The blood, the cross, the empty tomb are his love song to a people who did not know how much He loved them. That has not changed because his love for you has not changed.

John 3:16-18 - “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world that He might judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Anyone who believes in Him is not judged, but anyone who does not believe is already judged, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.

You cannot do anything to achieve righteousness because it is all about Him, it all comes from Him, and it all goes to Him. You came to him because He revealed Himself, who is love, to you. You got to choose because He gave you the choice and extended His love and Mercy to reach out to you.

So why have I written about all of this it is simple. As much as He loves you, He loves those who persecute him, who curse his name

All the great men of the Bible entered into the presence of God and had favor with God because they put their Faith and trust in Him.

Abraham found favor with God, so much so that God revealed His plans to Abraham
Abraham interceded with the Lord and the Lord God said he would relent from destroying Sodom and Gomorrah if he could find 10 righteous in the city. He found one family and they were saved. Had Abraham continued with the Lord down to one maybe Sodom and Gomorrah would have survived. See Genesis 18:17-33

How about Moses?

Exodus 32:10-14 “Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.” Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? “Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.

When Moses heard and saw God’s anger against His people, Moses interceded for them and changed the mind of God.

Wow Moses and Abraham interceding were able to change the mind of God.

That is the Old covenant where sin separated us from the Father. How much more do our words carry to the ear of Heaven now that we have been redeemed by the blood and have access into the Holy of Holies.

Sometimes when God is prophesying to you, declaring His purposes and plans, He is testing your heart not determining your destiny.

When God is prophesying a judgment word what are you going to do? Is your relationship such as that of Moses and Abraham who interceded for the people?

You see, Godly leaders intercede for the Lord to complete his good purposes and not turn over the people to destruction.

2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Righteous leaders remind God of His intent for blessing and not destruction.

Nehemiah 9:28 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
But as soon as they had relief, they again did what was evil in Your sight.So You abandoned them to the power of their enemies, who dominated them. When they cried out to You again, You heard from heaven and rescued them many times in Your compassion.

Are you moved to dialogue with Jesus? Are you going to get on your face before him? Are you going to meet him face to face to plead for mercy instead of Judgment to be released for those involved?

Matthew 18:33 Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?

James 2:13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who hasn’t shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Luke 6:36 Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

Does he find a great leader in you interceding for the people or does He find someone who, like Jonah, is arguing for the Judgment word to be released.

Proverbs 11:17 A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings disaster on himself.

Proverbs 21:13 The one who shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will himself also call out and not be answered.

Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, because they will be shown mercy.

I was struck recently with the picture of the Mercy Seat of God. It was placed on top of the ark of the testimony. It is my belief that as we will build a mercy seat to sit on top of the testimony of the goodness, graciousness and love of God the Lord himself will release such a manifestation of His Spirit that it would indeed turn the hearts of the nation back to him. Let his Glory come and be released upon the land as his people release mercy. I hope to write more about the mercy seat in a coming post.

Mercy seat

I am not naive that the days will be getting darker, but it is our responsibility to be the light. It is our responsibility to shine and reveal the Glory of God to all those who are perishing. And if Love takes us to the cross let us go with Joy for the Glory of God. If it saves one life from eternal separation from the lover of my soul I know it will be worth it.
He did it for me He is faithful and true to do it for you.

P.S. Thank You Kris Vallotton for declaring the truth. Your heart and words inspire me to dig deaper into the heart of God.

There is no such thing as pro life and pro choice! When looking at issues or debating issues you have two opposing points of view – a Pro and a Con/anti.

Pro-Life means “for life”.

Opposing the Pro-Life position means in essence one takes the anti-life position. Let us not use language to hide or confuse the issue. The opposite of pro-life is opposing life not pro-choice.

A Euphemism is defined as the use of a word or phrase that is more neutral, vague, or indirect to replace a direct, harsh, unpleasant, or offensive term. By hiding the real meaning of the opposing argument of pro-life in a euphemism we don’t confront the reality of the situation.

Pro choice is really just a euphemism for Anti- Life.

Do I hate people who are not pro life, gosh no. My heart, I like to believe, lines up with my Fathers. We love them and want the best for them. I believe most “pro-choice” folks are very sincere in their beliefs, unfortunately they are sincerely wrong.

The irony of being “pro choice” is you make the choice that is not yours to make. You do not have the right to choose life or death that is God’s choice. If you had infinite wisdom and were able to see the full destiny and plan for that child’s life then you may be in a position to be considered able to make such a decision.
Even then, it is not you who spoke that life into being from before the foundation of the world. By making yourself the authority over the life of that child you declare yourself to be God.
If you replace God with yourself you get in all sorts of God trouble. You in fact align yourself against God, you make yourself an enemy of God and withdraw yourself from his divine light, love and protection.

Now some people may say there is no God and my response to you is very simple. The fact that you have not or are not willing to experience him does not change the fact that He is very real and is very much in love with you. In fact He desires that you experience him and meet him.
You may say there is no evidence that He is real. Well there is plenty of evidence if you would be open minded enough to look free of opinion and bias.
I know where Bulawayo, Zimbabwe is because I have lived there. The fact that you have not been there is irrelevant to the fact that it is real and is there.
I have not been to Beijing, China yet I have seen evidence of it, heard testimonies of people who have been there even seen it on maps. Even still I am required to have a level of faith that what I have heard is real and true based on the evidence before me.
Well the same evidence is available for those who are truly seeking the truth. They will meet Him face to face.
If you are not sure take a step of faith and ask Him if He is real to come and reveal Himself to you. He is completely faithful and will be there. Here is a little tip. God’s Voice sounds like Spontaneous thoughts that light up on your heart and mind as you focus on Jesus.

If you have never read the Fathers love letter go to the following link.

John 1

You were born to experience the Love of God, every child deserves the same right you currently experience regardless of circumstances.

P.s – These are some of my notes and further thoughts from a sermon Bishop Joseph Garlington preached. He is an awesome man of God.

The more man walks by faith the less he will walk by the law. The law only shows us how much we fall short of the mark. Faith encourages us to move beyond the mark into the very nature and character of God. Yes even further into the very heart of God. It is only there that we find true acceptance and freedom. In the great exchange of life, which is faith in Christ Jesus do we get free from the law and performance into the true freedom found in Christ. From there we get the right to choose which path we want to take. We can stay trapped in things that harm us or move into the divine pathways that bring the fullness of life. It is not always easy but it is always worth it.

It is my hearts desire to see people experience true freedom in Christ. It is in this place we can truley love and be loved, forgive and be forgiven, in fact experience the fullness of life on Earth as it is in Heaven now.

Let me finish by saying that I dont have perfect theology, I dont know anyone who does, I do know perfect theology and his name is Jesus Christ. Religion is no replacement for a personal, dynamic one on one relationship with Him.

Jesus never had as many problems with the people as he had with the religious.