ECHOES

      I have never been in the mountains where you can shout and hear your voice echoing back to you. However, I have heard lots of echoes in my head, echoes from the past. Not necessarily a “picture” memory , i.e. a kind of a “visual echo.” Sometimes I think satan carries a special DVR under his arm and pulls it out periodically to get us off track. We may not have complete control over his recorder, but we do NOT have to react to these echoes. Being born again includes a direct WiFi connection with our Lord Jesus and His mind, anytime or anywhere. This is why Paul tells us to “renew” our minds, i.e. to consciously counter satan’s recorded messages with what the Word of God says about whatever it is that is echoing. When he turns up the volume and our minds, souls and bodies begin to react, we have to “turn up” the Word and look to the Holy Spirit.

     Sometimes we are not aware of what may trigger an echo. We just react. It is often difficult to see ourselves objectively. But I have a favorite verse that I frequently claim: "Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you." (Philippians 3:15) What a great promise!

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." (Romans 12:2)

CONSIDER THESE WORDS FROM RICK JOYNER

We Need Each Other

We are told in I Corinthians 13 that we know in part, see in part, and prophesy in part. This means no one has the whole picture, and if we are going to have the whole picture, we are going to have to put our part together with what others are seeing. We need each other. The Lord has composed His Body so that we all need each other. The more we are able to connect with other parts of His Body, the stronger we will be.

I know several relatively large movements that are likewise devoted to growing in prophetic ministries and gifts. Each one is very different from ours, but I think this is a good thing. They have been used by God to speak and give us invaluable prophetic revelation for our ministry. Their style may be different, and even the way they hear from the Lord is different, but it is still the Lord. 

We tend to attract those who are more prone to visions—those who see. Others may be more prone to hear words from the Lord, being more like ears. We hear as well, but we tend to be more visionary. Likewise, they see at times like we do, but still they tend to be more of those who hear.

When those who hear come around us I think our people start to hear better, and maybe they start to see a little more. We need to stir up the gifts in each other this way. We also need to be secure enough in who we are in Christ to be different from one another and still appreciate one another.

The Lord compared us to sheep for a reason—in many ways we are like sheep. One characteristic of sheep is that if flocks do not crossbreed with other flocks, they will get weaker with each successive generation. This happens to great movements and denominations that do not interchange with other parts of the Body of Christ.

Does “Positive Thinking” Really Change Things?

For years my husband and I were horrified by the extremes of certain Christian teachers and advocates of the hyper-faith movement. I can remember one particular horror story that surfaced about a young woman with breast cancer being ousted from her church because the fact that she continued to have cancer and was not healed gave the church a bad name, i.e. it was bad PR for the church. This incident was verified by her father who is a prominent Christian minister to the poor.

Recently I bought a book—at full price, ouch!—entitled Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich who is an established author. This is not a Christian book, but was reviewed in Christianity Today.  The author became interested in the subject after having breast cancer and being bombarded with Positive Think on every hand.

Being a former cellular immunologist the author refutes the theory that strengthening the immune system through Positive Think effectively counters the cancer cells in the body. She points out that the immune system is designed to counter “foreign” cells (such as microorganisms like TB or Strep) and not the body’s own cells. Cancer cells are the body’s OWN cells and therefore not attacked by immune cells! Then she goes on in the book to show how Positive Think has invaded our society and become accepted as “scientific fact”, which it is not, and even how it has invaded the Church.

My point: I would be willing to bet that every part of western Christianity has accepted Positive Think , and even consider it as an expression of the Bible. But, I would like to say that Positive Think, including it’s ability to change reality, is not scriptural. There is a vast difference between changing one’s heart and life in general by thinking positively and putting one’s whole faith and trust in the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says: “The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The Word divides between what emerges out of our soul/mind  and what emerges out of our spirit where God dwells.

I am not advocating that every one become a Grinch, but think on this: the Positive Think mantra is really a form of manipulation. Where in the Word are we told to “manipulate” God or one another?  Sounds like some kind of witchcraft!?!

Confirmations

In the last week since I posted my thoughts about learning lessons from putting together jigsaw puzzles I have received two newsletters with this theme. One was from Chuck Pierce (access through Glory of Zion ministries) and the other was from Graham Cooke, an awesome prophetic person. The latter guy was advertising an upcoming conference: I believe this year's conference, The Missing Piece, will be an incredible time with God. This is an excerpt from my introduction onThe Missing Piece:

The plans of God are big, bold and beautiful.
The Holy Spirit knows who you really are
and the part you were meant to play.

Recognize your turning point. Take the opportunity to rediscover and upgrade your status in the epic drama of Heaven coming to Earth.

If you have never been to one of our conferences, it is worth the trip.The Missing Piece runs March 4-6 at the Mission, our home church in Vacaville, California. For more details, click here.

Lessons from a Jigsaw Puzzle

Believe it or not, over the years I have actually learned lessons from putting together jigsaw puzzles.  Once a year, after the holidays, I like to put together a puzzle. It’s kind of like a release after all the activity, gift-buying, decorating, etc. It seems to help me clear my head.

Recently I completed a complex one with two large cats under a Christmas tree. I regretted buying it because the two cats had similar areas of color and I ended up with a pile of pieces for each color of cat but some pieces could go either way. I almost put it all back into the box about 20 times, but didn’t want to be a quitter. Two lessons: (1) Don’t quit, and (2) give yourself breaks away from the task. I didn’t quit because it was the principle of the thing. Also, I discovered that if I took breaks, when I returned  to the puzzle I could immediately place pieces that seemed invisible before.

When I was a kid our family used to put together jigsaw puzzles as a group activity. No TV or Wii games at that time. First, of course, we lay down all the border pieces. Now we had a frame/framework in which to place all the other pieces.  Then, while we all participated in placing individual pieces inside the frame, each person also worked on a section by themselves. They sorted out pieces that seemed to belong together. Eventually the sections were added into  the frame, and then finally came the very last piece. What excitement for the one who got to place that final piece.

I haven’t mentioned an absolute essential element to the successful completion of this puzzle: the box cover. Without the box cover there would be no way of knowing what picture was on the puzzle. How, then, could we possibly proceed without first seeing what it was supposed to look like; without envisioning the finished puzzle?

God’s plan may often seem chaotic or without point. However, if we study the Bible and seek understanding through our teacher, the Holy Spirit, we will be able to envision His eternal plan, His “Big Picture”. With the “box cover” in hand we can see historically how the pieces came together and how they will ultimately be completed. With each one of us helping and working on his own area, as well as working together, eventually we will see the “puzzle” completed and God’s Kingdom plans come to fruition. We must, however, keep our eyes on the "box cover".

More Staff Needed

MORE "STAFF" NEEDED

Last night I saw on the news soldiers coming home. They were filmed at the airport greeting their wives and children. It was quite an emotional scene. These were not green recruits, but now seasoned soldiers who had participated in warfare.

Green recruits. That’s what many of us are. Every Christian has been through some kind of “warfare” of faith and trust in the Lord, but are we seasoned enough and sufficiently knowledgeable of the Word that we could instruct others? If we are looking to our pastors or leaders to disciple others and are not trained or active in the process, we are pretty much “on the bench”.

Recently I had this dream:

I was standing in the hallway of a large suite of doctor’s offices. There were people everywhere and more were coming in. I saw a doctor kind of forced out of his office door by the large number of people waiting in his office. He sat at a table in the hallway and was bent over his charts, writing on them. Then a door opened on my right and I could see numbers of people in that room, waiting for some one to help them. It was very obvious that there was not enough staff to care for this sudden influx of people. It was a crisis situation. The doctor was not calling for help. He was simply trying to keep up with his charts.

At first I thought this was about the H1N1 virus, but them realized that the dream was symbolic of something else: a coming potential crisis in the Church because there is coming a harvest of new converts, but not enough mature Christians who were trained to care for them. Leaders must “look up” from their “charts” (current “patients”) and see that many need to be trained. He must be a discipler and trainer of “staff” to take care of the influx. This is an alert from God.

What do you think?

Angels--for Today

Angels--for Today

My angelic visitation

Angels are involved in my life and your life all of the time. Sometimes we are aware of their involvement, and sometimes we are not. But, we should expect angelic activity in our lives. That doesn’t mean we should seek them out or make weird efforts to contact them. As Daniel addressed God in his prayers, and not the archangels, so we should do likewise.

A few years ago when a number of distressing incidents had recently taken place in my life, my 30-year-old furnace decided to go on the fritz. I had attempted to start it for the first time that winter, and it was balking. My reaction? Blood-vessel-popping anger. Later, on reflection, I believed my anger was a “holy” kind of anger inspired by the Spirit of God. I grabbed a chair and set it in front of the door to the furnace area. I plunked down on it, began to pray, and was totally determined not to move from there until God had done something about the furnace problem! I was very serious. Within a few minutes a word came strongly into my mind: “Firefox”. In the next moment I almost jumped off the chair because I was suddenly aware of a “being” on my left side standing next to me. I didn’t see him with my natural eyes, but just knew that he was there. He emanated power and was as tall as the ceiling. The furnace promptly began to work properly.

As I processed all of this, I decided to go to my computer and Google “Firefox”. I learned two things from my search: there is a web browser named Firefox, and also a movie by that name. Clint Eastwood who starred in the movie was sent by the U.S. military to Russia to steal their secret plane that could fly undetected by radar and also could be controlled by the pilot’s thoughts (in Russian) with the aid of a special helmet. Since Eastwood was an experienced jet pilot and was fluent in Russian he was chosen for the job. Most of the film is about his efforts to get to the plane and then, finally, to steal it.

Guess what movie played on my TV the very next day? You got it: “Firefox.

Firefox, I believe, is the name of the angel who came to help me. His job was to steal the enemy’s weapons and undo what he had attempted to do to my furnace.

By the way, the furnace is still working.

Share your angelic experiences in the comments