Tag Archive for: spiritual

The Reality of Spiritual Substances

God is the God of manifestations, he simply is. He wants to reveal himself to you clearly so you can enjoy his tangible love, goodness, mercy, salvation, protection and all the good things he has in store for you. God’s glory is he who is and what he has and he poured it all over you in Christ! It can’t get any better.

A couple of days ago I met by a divine appointment a group of amazing believers, two sisters and one brother in the Lord. They came from a different country for a few days and I had the privilege and the honor to spend some time with them. We shared lots of God stuff in my country and theirs. We were both so blessed to hear what God is doing among his church and we were celebrating that! One of the dear ladies called Lin opened her heart and shared with us her many amazing precious God encounters and oh boy how blessed and excited I was to hear it. I was amazed and surprised by the simplistic childlike faith she has and how the Lord lands on her kind of faith with signs and wonders! She brought with her many things and photos that backed up her beautiful genuine stories and I had the opportunity to witness it all. She showed my friend and me different colored perfect gemstones (as examined by a gemologist) that fell from heaven on many occasion and each gem has a beautiful story that speaks about our good good heavenly Father. I saw Angel’s feathers’ photos, oil from heaven, heavenly bread with chunks of gold and other cool stuff. I kept wowing with each story and was definitely caught by the thrill of seeing tangibly these good gifts from dad not to mention that I felt the anointing and the presence of God on some items!

Later after they left back to their country, I was thanking God for this opportunity to meet them and pondering the amazing things my ears and my eyes experienced closely. Then as simple as this is, the Holy Spirit interrupted my excitement in his kindness and corrected a major thing in my heart. He prioritized it all to me once and forever.

What I saw was so awesome and with a big YES you must remain open for God’s signs and wonders and we want to see visibly his glory and blessings. I want God to invade all my dimensions, the invisible and the visible. But remember that in Christ, you are a SPIRIT being of light and God wants your thrill to be first in the spiritual because this is who you are FOREVER! The spirit world for you must be your main focus before anything else. You are a spirit, with a soul living in a body. Yes, God loves to see your smile and joy when you receive his gifts in the physical realm but he wants you to be excited to spiritual realities first, to the invisible king and kingdom within you. We tend to think that if it is touchable then it is tangible and we get frustrated if we don’t experience glory in our mortal fleshly senses. But my friend let me adjust you as Holy Spirit did for me if it is spiritual it is also TANGIBLE and more real and remaining (Matthew 6:19-21).

God wants you to believe that what he gives you as spiritual things and substances is tangible and real. The experience of it may be different from the physical and the natural because you are operating in another dimension a supernatural one but it is real and tangible for him so it must be for you! The presence of the invisible Holy Spirit with you is something spiritual and he will never become flesh like Jesus, he will stay your invisible helper. But being invisible doesn’t mean he is not a real person around you. Holy Spirit is real and tangible and not believing this is a dishonor of Jesus’ promise when he said he would send the helper to be with you forever and lead you into all truth and he did.

In Christ, you are a spirit first so making the spiritual your priority is important but press in to see God’s glory in other dimensions as well. We want God to fill everything but first the spiritual.

Final note: After Holy Spirit met me and adjusted my excitement, I lifted my hands to heaven and asked my heavenly dad to give me a gemstone because he is no respecter of men, he favors faith, not people. I was sitting on my bed and I was waiting on him after I requested that from him and it is up to him to give it or not, you can’t force him. Then I saw in a faint image in my mind a blue gemstone dropped on my bed, it was not in the physical realm (the lowest realm) but in the spiritual. So by faith and with so much innocence and simplicity, I stretched my hand to grab it, although, in the seen dimension my hand is empty, yet I believed I was holding a blue gem in the spiritual. BECAUSE I honor the spiritual first and it is tangible for me. I can say I have a gemstone from heaven from a different perspective :} and it is up to you to believe it or not.

Toni Francis

I Met Her In Traffic

I have been struggling a lot with the issue of relationships. Can you witness this with me? If so, continue reading this message to enjoy the good nuggets inside.

It started with a beautiful sunny morning, when I woke up energized, spent time with God, and dressed the best of my closet! I dress to impress me first not others. I am my first audience!

I ran to my car because as usual, I was a bit late to my work, I started the engine, put some rhythmic music, wore an attractive perfume with a generous smile! It was not on my focus list that day to meet or greet anyone. All I wanted was to reach my work, sneak into my place, turn on my computer and start working without announcing loudly my presence to my boss, if possible! (Danger: Don't try this at home lol)

I was close enough to my work, almost there, excited that I skipped some cars and saved some minutes when I suddenly entered a shortcut loaded with a long queue of cars. What’s going on? I said in frustration. I saw an officer coming toward handed me a violation ticket. Little did I know that I entered a wrong opposite shortcut and I broke the rules. I was not the only one guilty of ignorance. Many were in the opposite direction in that queue, whether by ignorance or on purpose, God knows! Bottom line, I caused traffic, I paid the penalty, I burned my time and others and surely I delayed my arrival. Thank God, things could have gone worse; I could have made an accident that caused my death! But I was given another chance to reconsider, to pay attention and to walk carefully.

You may be experiencing the same thing right now in your spiritual walk with God. You could be in the wrong direction of his will, trying some quick shortcuts and many of them are illegal in the spirit. There are always consequences for opposing God’s perfect will for your life. Let him adjust your ways, repent, pray and walk closely with him, ain’t a joke at all! Don’t miss your destiny in God.

That day, I met God’s mercy in the traffic, I was given a new chance to adjust my course of life on all levels. Today I fear and I tremble if I sense a slight shift in my directions from God’s perfect will for my life. Lord, have your ways in me!

Tony Francis
Glory to God

If Jesus was a CEO

Jesus runs the universe in his perfect wisdom and authority and preserves everything by the power of his word. It is wide and abstract for us to grasp and understand God’s position as the ruler of the world because we don’t understand its mechanics. But it is easier for us to catch this concept if the ruler of the universe becomes a CEO of a company. His first position is an unlimited authority and reign over the universe, his second position is about a limited authority and reign over a certain domain. But sometimes if we can understand the small picture we can have a glimpse of the bigger one! Earth is a shadow of Heaven!

The first day came! Jesus woke up in the morning, spent his time with his heavenly Father in prayer as usual then put his clothes on and got ready not to go to Jerusalem, Nazareth, any small village or a synagogue to preach, heal and cast out demons, but this time he went to his own registered company somewhere in the city! The Son of God has his own company now and he can’t wait to reach his office to salute his dear employees and get the business done to bring more glory to his heavenly Father in the business field.

What could his goals be? Will he run his company the same way other CEOs do? Who is going to hire to be on his team? Who will be his right hand assistant? He surely can’t fail, success is guaranteed! After all he never failed healing someone and never failed resurrecting the dead, he will surely never fail running his new business! How is he going to run his company? The world is waiting and watching closely to see Jesus in his new position as chief executive officer CEO.

His employees are the luckiest ones because they were given the chance to watch the Son of God running a business for the first time, not a spiritual ministry! Many launched their social media apps to tweet, post and broadcast the first activities of Jesus on his first day at work! And for the first time these employees will hashtag proudly things like #ILoveMyCEO #HisWordsAreMyCommandments #Obedience #WantToMakeHimHappy #MyCEOIsAlwaysRight …

You may think I went too far in my imagination about the Lord. After all he can’t occupy this position, he is a spiritual leader! But my dear friend, this Jesus living in you wants to take over and live through you whatever your position is! You could be the first one to give Jesus the opportunity to run your business on his terms! It is going to be so exciting and of course … supernatural!

Glory to God
Tony Francis

You can also watch this blog as a Vlog (Video Blog). Click here to watch it: If Jesus was a CEO

Recruiting Angels

Have you worked with some professional employees on your team that amazed you and took your business to a higher level? Working with gifted people is amazing it creates in you excitement to be around them daily. Although your team is highly gifted they will go nowhere without your leading. You are the boss, you are in charge and you see the wide vision of your life. Your highly gifted team will stay gifted but unfruitful if you don’t orchestrate the symphony. Your authority empowers your team and ignites the fire in them. Your team will do nothing without you arranging the tasks and creating an action plan for each one of them.

This is a close example to introduce you to your team of Angels that are eager to be recruited by you. They know that Christ has given you the authority on earth as it is in heaven and they can do nothing on their own without you binding and loosing and operating in your authority. Your home servant will do nothing unless you command him, right? Although it will be nice of him if he does something never been told to do. But it is mostly not the case! Scriptures are full of keys and insights to teach you how to activate your powerful team of Angels. I am not discussing here those keys although I may do it in another devotion, I just want to make you aware of your invisible team of support and great help that are waiting to join forces with you to bring heaven on earth daily. You don’t worship your team when they bring you success, you just appreciate them more, same with Angels.

Why miss the chance anymore for being greatly empowered? Today open up spiritually to see this long queue of unemployed Angels that are waiting long enough to be recruited by you!

Glory to God
Tony Francis

Elisha’s Double Anointing

By Barbie Breathitt

Christlikeness From the Life of Elisha: Tests and Double Mantle

Tests and a Double Mantle

After Elijah trained his servant Elisha to look and see, listen and hear, and prophesy the word of the Lord, it was time for him to return to Heaven. The heavenly chariot of God carried Elijah away from Elisha into the spiritual expanse of Heaven's eternity outside of time. Elisha was told by Elijah, “If you see me when I am taken from you, [you will receive a double portion of my spirit]…”

Elisha had to pass many tests and persevere in order to walk in Elijah's double mantle (see 2 Kings 2:1-18). Elijah asked Elisha to stay in Gilgal, the place of cutting, circumcision, and the rolling away of reproach, but he refused. This is a picture for us that when God removes our past failures and reproach, we must walk through the gates of authority into the new place with God; and so Elijah then moved on to Bethel, the place or house of God, the gates of Heaven. Bethel was a place where people went to seek counsel from God. Elisha followed Elijah to Bethel to learn how to obtain God's counsel.

We must follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to the next place of testing to progress spiritually. We cannot remain complacent or stagnant; the river of God always flows.

Next, the sons of the prophets came to Elisha in Bethel and said, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?' And Elisha said, “Yes I know; be still!” Elijah told Elisha to remain in Bethel while he went on to Jericho. But Elisha said, “I will not leave you” (2 Kings 2:3 NASB).

The sons of the prophets in Jericho, a place of fragrance and warfare, had also been shown that Elijah was going to be taken away from Elisha that day.

From Jericho, Elijah and Elisha traveled on to Jordan, a place of flowing down or descending, where fifty men of the sons of the prophets stood opposite them at the Jordan River. Elijah took his mantle, folded it together, and struck the waters of the Jordan, which divided, allowing both prophets to cross over on dry ground.

When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.” He said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to Heaven. Elisha saw it [the chariot] and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 2 Kings 2:9-12 NASB

However, Elijah did not hand his mantle onto Elisha; Elisha had to pick it up after Elijah was taken into Heaven.

What Was the Significance of Elijah's Mantle For Elisha?

The word mantle in Hebrew is addereth; its root word being adar, which is also the word for the last month on the Hebrew calendar. The month of Adar is the best time to remove any personal barriers to holiness, thus it is a time to create the potential for the greatest joy. Adar is the final month of the year, i.e. it completes the year, and hence it is a time of completion.The root meaning of adar is glorious, splendid, marvelous, and mighty. In a noun form it is rendered as a cloak or mantle.

He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over. 2 Kings 2:13-14 NASB

Jewish traditions indicate that the mantle that fell from Elijah was a tallith or prayer shawl. The tallith of a prophet or master teacher would have dark purple-blue threads in the corner tassel. People believed that the purple thread contained miracle power. This is why the woman with the issue of blood wanted to touch the hem of Jesus' tallith or garment. When she was healed, Jesus said, “Who touched Me?…I felt virtue leave Me.” Then He told her, “Your faith has made you whole,” not a purple thread (see Matthew 9:20-22 and Luke 8:43-48).

Elijah's tallith, mantle, or “adar” symbolized that Elisha had removed any barriers to his relationship with God. He was no longer the servant but now stepped into the place of the prophet he had served. Elijah's mantle was a doorway to God's power. Elijah told Elisha that if he saw him taken, he would have his desire to carry on the prophetic ministry with a double portion of his spirit.

The mantle is a symbol of joy and completion. Elijah left his mantle as a sign that he had completed his assignment. Elisha picked up Elijah's mantle indicating the start of a new year; he was picking up where Elijah left off and beginning his own ministry as a prophet. Elijah's mantle was a symbol of an agreement of power and authority between Elijah and God. Elisha's picking up Elijah's mantle symbolized that he was entering into the same agreement with God. When Elisha used Elijah's mantle to part the Jordan River, God established His agreement or covenant with Elisha.

What The Double Portion Looks Like

Everyone is at a different level of hearing and seeing in their spiritual understanding. Elisha had walked and been personally trained by Elijah for years. He had been tested and tried in spiritual disciplines. The sons of the prophets had been through training as well, yet they did not possess the level of seeing that Elisha had developed. Elisha saw the chariot of fire and the horses come to separate him from Elijah. He cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” (2 Kings 2:12 NASB).

The sons of the prophets only saw the whirlwind the chariot created. The sons of the prophets were left wondering if Elijah had been translated to Heaven or if he had possibly been transported to another geographic location. They had to search for three days in the natural to come into peace. Elisha knew Elijah had been taken to Heaven because he saw beyond the natural into the invisible realm of the Spirit.

Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him. They said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men, please let them go and search for your master; perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send.” But when they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men; and they searched three days but did not find him. They returned to him while he was staying at Jericho; and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go'?” 2 Kings 2:15-18 NASB

The New Testament shares an example of the audible voice of God speaking from Heaven when Jesus foretold of His death. Some that stood by didn't hear anything. Others who were present in the crowd heard God's voice manifested in thunder, while still others thought it was an angel.

So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes.” John 12:29-30 NASB

The names of both Elijah (meaning “the Lord is my God” or spiritual champion) and Elisha (meaning “God will save me” or protected) carries the record of what they represent, but not necessarily how they saw, if they are thought to be seers. Elijah's name means God is Jehovah or YHVH is my God. He functioned as the Father's recorder on earth.

In the case of God's servant Elijah, the chariot was a trans-dimensional carrier of God's servant. The chariot of God transported Elijah out of time into the eternal realm where Elijah had always existed in heavenly places. When the fullness of time came, God reached down to retrieve the recording of Himself He had placed within Elijah.

Elijah came to restore all things back to God. He was called to turn the hearts of the Fathers back to the sons, and to turn the sons' hearts back to the fathers', to make ready a people for God lest God curse the earth (see Malachi 4). Elijah's anointing was to restore righteousness and protect the earthly realm from being struck with a curse caused by sin.

Elisha's name means “GOD is salvation” or “My God is salvation.” He functioned under a double portion of Elijah's spirit.

Walk Like the Prophet Elisha

Elisha's eyes saw beyond the veil of the natural into the supernatural realm where God's army of fiery angels and chariots reside. His eyes were not limited by situations or hard facts. He knew to look beyond the natural to see God's provision. He trusted more in the realm of faith than what seemed to appear in the natural.

When fear blinded Elisha's servant, the prophet's prayer was able to open the attendant's spiritually blind eyes to see the coexisting spiritual realms of angels. Knowing that there are more for us than against us brings a peace beyond our present understanding.

Prayer delivers us from fear. Prayer opens our eyes to see God's ever-present answer, while at the same time prophetic decree will blind our enemies and place them at our mercy. For God to trust us at this level, it requires us to develop greater levels of obedience of compassion. God wants to trust us with the lives of our enemies. God tests and tries us until He knows that we will not execute our own judgment or harm people in any way.

When God delivers our enemies into our hands, we must return good for evil, blessing for cursing, and lovingkindness for abuse. The Lord is the only one who should ever move in judgment. He said, “Vengeance is Mine.” We have no right to be vengeful. It is God's place to vindicate us.

We are called to love our enemies, to be kind to those who persecute, use, and abuse our kindness. We should lead our enemies to salvation, and their eyes will be opened to God's saving word, loving spirit, and grace. It is time to love like God loves; see like God sees; obey what God's Word says, and then do what God does.

Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 2 Kings 6:15-17 NASB

When Elisha's enemies came down off the mountain to pursue him, Elisha prayed. We should follow his example. Elisha's prayers struck his enemies with blindness. This removed the enemy's power and control. They were forced into a vulnerable place, wandering in darkness and confusion. The army had come to do the prophet great harm, but God protected him. The prophet placed his trust in God. In this new state of total dependence and humiliation, the enemy had to trust and blindly follow Elisha to Samaria. Elisha said, “Follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek” (2 Kings 6:19 NASB). (Photo courtesy: Global Recordings Network)

When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Strike this people with blindness, I pray.” So He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city; follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he brought them to Samaria. 2 Kings 6:18-19 NASB

Elisha's enemies had to walk through the process of trusting the one they were sent to destroy. Once they arrived at the promised location, Elisha prayed that God would reopen their blind eyes. Their vision was restored. New vision was given in the midst of their enemies.

When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So the Lord opened their eyes and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 2 Kings 6:20 NASB

Many of us have been wounded by an enemy or betrayed by a close friend, but we are to respond to them with God's lovingkindness and compassion.

Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?” He answered, “You shall not kill them. Would you kill those you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow?…2 Kings 6:21-22 NASB

Elisha told the King of Israel to respond according to the greatness of God's loving-kindness, to make his enemies the objects of compassion in the presence of all their captors. Elisha encouraged the king to feed the Arameans, to provide for and care for his enemies instead of killing them. The king prepared a feast for the enemy soldiers and they ate to their fill.

“…Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” So he prepared a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel. 2 Kings 6:22-23 NASB

Elisha's mercy triumphed over judgment. Great grace leads us to victory. The King of Israel's enemies were delivered into his hands. The King was eager to execute judgment and destroy his enemies, but the prophet carefully redirected his focus to blessing and not destruction.

Good will always triumph over evil. Love will also bring forth a better result than hate. Never greet your enemy in the same malignant spirit. Never return evil for evil but learn to bless instead of curse. We are not of this world, so we cannot respond in the spirit of this world. God is love so we must respond in the power of His might.

Barbie L. Breathitt Ph.D.
Breath of the Spirit Ministries
Email: Barbie@BreathOfTheSpiritMinistries.com
Website: BreathOfTheSpiritMinistries.com

An Amazing Experience

By Joe Tannous

One night I was walking home and while walking I was in conversation with the Lord. I asked: “Lord, let me see sin, the way you see it”. Directly after I finished my request, I heard the Lord saying in my spirit: ” Joe do you know what sin did?” and I know when the Lord ask me a question means that I don't know the answer very well, so I replied: “tell me Lord”. “Sin limited me” He replied:” and every time you fall into sin, it's limiting you.” I said: “Lord how did sin limit you, you are God.” “Joe, what do Philippians 2:7-8 say about me?” He replied. I knew these so I replied: “rather, he made himself nothing, by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross”. He replied: “now you know how it limited me. it made me a human, I, God, became a man because of sin” when He said that, I began to cry on the streets, I don't know what people thought about me, and I don't really care, but His words penetrates my heart like a bullet, oh God my sin limited you, because of my sin you became a man, you took a limited flesh…

But I didn't understand the fullness of His words back then, until few days that I understood. Just see that with me, Jesus was a spiritual being, He is God the Son, and God is spirit, so The Father is spirit, the Son is spirit and the Holy Spirit is Spirit, but Jesus because of our sin, made Himself nothing, the Son, left His nature as a spiritual being, and took a flesh, a limited flesh, no longer a spirit, but a flesh, came to earth, born as a human, lived as a human, died as a human, God became a man, God died like a man dies because of my sin and your sin. but the good news is found in verses 9, 10, 11 of that epistle, ” therefore God [the Father] also highly exalted him and given Him the name which above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father”. (The emphasis is mine) the Father exalted Jesus, Hallelujah! That was His reward for leaving His spiritual being, and now He will always have a flesh, for ever and ever, just like you and me. Sin made Jesus a limited flesh, sin limited God, and so it's limiting you.

Blessings

The Bride of Christ

“And one of the seven angels who had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife.” Revelation 21:9

 What is the deep desire of a father? To see his son married! The wedding of Jesus the only begotten son of God was in the mind of his Father from eternity. This awesome dad of Jesus is obsessed with the idea of getting his son married! He has been thinking about it over and over, this glorious wedding was rolling like a tape in his mind and imagination! The wedding planners and organizations of our days are countless and they do their best to arrange weddings according to each couple’s budget. But if there is one in the universe who really knows how to plan for a wedding it is the heavenly FATHER, he is the expert and there is none like him! Abraham sent his faithful servant to look for a bride to his son Isaac and made him swear not to return empty hands because he so longed to see his son married and he found him one, Rebekah! The other spiritual facet of this story points to the heavenly Father who sent his faithful Holy Spirit to search for a Bride for his son Jesus and he found him one, YOU! “The king's daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is trimmed with gold. She shall be brought to the king in clothing of needlework; the virgins, her companions after her, shall be brought to you. They shall be led with joy and gladness; they shall enter into the King's palace.” Psalms 45:13-15. Oh, how beautiful the bride of the lamb is (Song of Solomon 4:7), how beautiful and holy the perfecting of the saints that the Lord is doing in our hearts preparing us for the wedding!

 Read in Ezekiel 16: 7-14 God’s heart toward his wife, toward you, it will stir your heart with so much passion and love and will connect you to the heart beat of your heavenly groom: “I helped you to thrive like a plant in the field. You grew up and became a beautiful jewel. Your breasts became full, and your body hair grew, but you were still naked. And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped my cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared my marriage vows. I made a covenant with you, says the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine. “Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin. I gave you expensive clothing of fine linen and silk, beautifully embroidered, and sandals made of fine goatskin leather. I gave you lovely jewelry, bracelets, beautiful necklaces, a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head. And so you were adorned with gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen and were beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods—choice flour, honey, and olive oil—and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were! Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign LORD.”

 Jesus loves his church in a way we can’t fathom, you can just foretaste a little bit of his extravagant love for you through the revealed word of God. Song of Solomon is such a concentrated love letter between Jesus and his church. The time is approaching, the wedding preparations are coming to an end, and the church is getting ready to be raptured after being captured by his love … Jesus is coming soon!

 P.S: Don’t be among the attendants, become his bride! Receive Jesus now in your heart!

Compaction

“By this we have known the love of God, because He laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother having need, and shuts up his bowels from him, how does the love of God dwell in him? My children let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:16-18)

In his epistle, John the apostle of love defines in simple words what true love is. If you are Christian, a follower of Christ than what do you think the greatest thing to pursue and to learn about is? How to preach effectively and make the masses convert and repent? Or maybe take some courses on how to cast out devils and look spiritual and violent with the enemy? Maybe some courses on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the prophetic activations or how to be healed in 7 steps? Look my friend, I thank God for all these blessings that we have in Christ but a true Christian is someone who is totally aware of his high calling which is loving God and his neighbor! This is Jesus’ greatest commandment for you and me that we have to pursue with all of our strength to be like our master and not to go astray from the pathways of love.

In a parable Jesus told us about a man who was victimized by thieves (Luke 10:30) and was left half dead, we read that 3 men passed by him, a priest, a Levite and a Samaritan. The first two looked at him and left him but the Samaritan had compassion on this tortured man when he saw him and helped him with first aids but also went the extra mile, not only the extra mile he went all the miles with him until he was totally whole and fully recovered. This Good Samaritan had a heart full of love and not just a religious head and a hardened heart. The Greek meaning of the word compassion means “to be moved with” and this is what happened to the Samaritan, he didn’t just felt pity and said few touching words for the victimized man and the people around: “Oh I am sorry for you brother, you don’t deserve this, God protect you and heal you …” No! A spiritual man is someone who acts because faith without works is dead. If you pretend that the love of the Holy Spirit is poured out in your heart without manifesting it in actions, than you are a liar! Compassion is love in action and I call it COMPACTION!

Glory to God
Tony Francis

The Devil

His name was Lucifer which means “Carrier of Light” before he became a fallen angel. He was created by God as an archangel anointed for worship & praise, he used to lead the citizens of heaven to worship God what a high privilege. But the very thing he was anointed and gifted with was tempted for! He decided one day to exalt himself to be worshiped as God. He was puffed up with pride and deceived by his own thoughts and he didn't know that if God designed you for something you will not delight in being and doing something else. He was immediately judged in the glory and was cast out of heaven with one third of his angels. In the glory he wanted to be worshiped as God but out of the glory he became darker and more proud and wanted God himself to worship him and this is what we discover when he tempted Jesus to bow down to him.

He is God’s adversary and opponent and he wants to mess with all of his plans and his creations and this is what we see when we look around us today. He is your enemy whether you know it or not and he hates you because you were made in the image and likeness of Jesus who defeated him for you on the cross and gave you back the authority and the victory over him. The scriptures clearly say that people are under the authority of the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of light. If you gave your life to Jesus you are translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light and you are no more subject to the Devil but to Christ although he will stay your enemy but glory to God who made us his sons and his daughters and subjected our enemies to us because we have been given Christ’s authority. This word is not to glorify the Devil whatsoever but to expose him who likes to work in the dark and to open your eyes and redeem your time by shifting your blame on God who is for you to the Devil who is against you. You need to biblically fight the Devil who works behind the scenes to knock you down and prevent you to go on in your spiritual life to glorify Jesus. Be aware of him and his schemes but stay focused all the time on Jesus who is your redeemer, your victory, your protection, your wisdom, your glory and your head lifter. Jesus is wonderful and no one compares to his awesome greatness, glory and power. It’s so ridiculous to compare an ant to an elephant. God is God and the Devil is NOT! Halleluiah

Glory to God
Tony Francis

4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice

By Mark and Patti Virkler

Christianity is unique among religions, for it alone offers a personal relationship with the Creator beginning here and now, and lasting throughout eternity. Jesus declared, “This is eternal life – that they may know God” (Jn. 17:2). Unfortunately, many in the Church miss the great blessing of fellowship with our Lord because we have lost the ability to recognize His voice within us. Though we have the promise that “My sheep hear my voice,” too many believers are starved for that intimate relationship that alone can satisfy the desire of their hearts. I was one of those sheep who was deaf to his Shepherd until the Lord revealed four very simple keys (found in Habakkuk 2:1, 2) that unlocked the treasure of His voice.

Key #1 – God’s voice in your heart often sounds like a flow of spontaneous thoughts.

Habakkuk knew the sound of God speaking to him (Hab. 2:2). Elijah described it as a still, small voice (I Kings 19:12). I had always listened for an inner audible voice, and God does speak that way at times. However, I have found that usually, God's voice comes as spontaneous thoughts, visions, feelings, or impressions.

For example, haven't you been driving down the road and had a thought come to you to pray for a certain person? Didn’t you believe it was God telling you to pray? What did God's voice sound like? Was it an audible voice, or was it a spontaneous thought that lit upon your mind?

Experience indicates that we perceive spirit-level communication as spontaneous thoughts, impressions and visions, and Scripture confirms this in many ways. For example, one definition of paga, a Hebrew word for intercession, is “a chance encounter or an accidental intersecting.” When God lays people on our hearts, He does it through paga, a chance-encounter thought “accidentally” intersecting our minds. Therefore, when you want to hear from God, tune to chance-encounter or spontaneous thoughts.

Key #2 – Become still so you can sense God’s flow of thoughts and emotions within.

Habakkuk said, “I will stand on my guard post…” (Hab. 2:1). Habakkuk knew that to hear God's quiet, inner, spontaneous thoughts, he had to first go to a quiet place and still his own thoughts and emotions. Psalm 46:10 encourages us to be still, and know that He is God. There is a deep inner knowing (spontaneous flow) in our spirits that each of us can experience when we quiet our flesh and our minds. If we are not still, we will sense only our own thoughts.

Loving God through a quiet worship song is one very effective way to become still. (Note II Kings 3:15.) After I worship and become silent within, I open myself for that spontaneous flow. If thoughts come of things I have forgotten to do, I write them down and dismiss them. If thoughts of guilt or unworthiness come, I repent thoroughly, receive the washing of the blood of the Lamb, putting on His robe of righteousness, seeing myself spotless before God (Is. 61:10; Col. 1:22).

To receive the pure word of God, it is very important that my heart be properly focused as I become still because my focus is the source of the intuitive flow. If I fix my eyes upon Jesus, the intuitive flow comes from Jesus. But if I fix my gaze upon some desire of my heart, the intuitive flow comes out of that desire. To have a pure flow I must become still and carefully fix my eyes upon Jesus. Again, quietly worshiping the King, and receiving out of the stillness that follows quite easily accomplishes this. 

Fix your gaze upon Jesus (Heb. 12:2), becoming quiet in His presence and sharing with Him what is on your heart. Spontaneous thoughts will begin to flow from the throne of God to you, and you will actually be conversing with the King of Kings!

Key #3 – As you pray, fix the eyes of your heart upon Jesus, seeing in the Spirit the dreams and visions of Almighty God.

Habakkuk said, “I will keep watch to see,” and God said, “Record the vision” (Hab. 2:1,2). Habakkuk was actually looking for vision as he prayed. He opened the eyes of his heart, and looked into the spirit world to see what God wanted to show him. This is an intriguing idea.

God has always spoken through dreams and visions, and He specifically said that they would come to those upon whom the Holy Spirit is poured out (Acts 2:1-4, 17).

I had never thought of opening the eyes of my heart and looking for vision. However, I have come to believe that this is exactly what God wants me to do. He gave me eyes in my heart to see in the spirit the vision and movement of Almighty God. There is an active spirit world all around us, full of angels, demons, the Holy Spirit, the omnipresent Father, and His omnipresent Son, Jesus. The only reasons for me not to see this reality are unbelief or lack of knowledge.

In order to see, we must look. Daniel saw a vision in his mind and said, “I was looking…I kept looking…I kept looking” (Dan. 7:2,9,13). As I pray, I look for Jesus, and I watch as He speaks to me, doing and saying the things that are on His heart. Many Christians will find that if they will only look, they will see, in the same way they receive spontaneous thoughts. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us (Matt. 1:23). It is as simple as that. You can see Christ present with you because Christ is present with you. In fact, the vision may come so easily that you will be tempted to reject it, thinking that it is just you. But if you persist in recording these visions, your doubt will soon be overcome by faith as you recognize that the content of them could only be birthed in Almighty God.

Jesus demonstrated the ability of living out of constant contact with God, declaring that He did nothing on His own initiative, but only what He saw the Father doing, and heard the Father saying (Jn. 5:19,20,30). What an incredible way to live!

Is it possible for you to live out of divine initiative as Jesus did? Yes! Fix your eyes upon Jesus. The veil has been torn, giving access into the immediate presence of God, and He calls you to draw near (Luk. 23:45; Heb. l0: 19-22). “I pray that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened….”

Key #4 – Journaling, the writing out of your prayers and God’s answers, brings great freedom in hearing God’s voice.

God told Habakkuk to record the vision (Hab. 2:2). This was not an isolated command. The Scriptures record many examples of individual’s prayers and God’s replies (e.g. the Psalms, many of the prophets, Revelation).

I call the process “two-way journaling,” and I have found it to be a fabulous catalyst for clearly discerning God's inner, spontaneous flow, because as I journal I am able to write in faith for long periods of time, simply believing it is God. I know that what I believe I have received from God must be tested. However, testing involves doubt and doubt blocks divine communication, so I do not want to test while I am trying to receive. With journaling, I can receive in faith, knowing that when the flow has ended I can test and examine it carefully, making sure that it lines up with Scripture.

You will be amazed when you journal. Doubt may hinder you at first, but throw it off, reminding yourself that it is a biblical concept, and that God is present, speaking to His children. Relax. When we cease our labors and enter His rest, God is free to flow (Heb. 4:10). Sit back comfortably, take out your pen and paper, smile, and turn your attention toward the Lord in praise and worship, seeking His face. After you write your question to Him, become still, fixing your gaze on Jesus. You will suddenly have a very good thought. Don't doubt it; simply write it down. Later, as you read your journaling, you, too, will be blessed to discover that you are indeed dialoguing with God.

Some final notes: Knowing God through the Bible is a vital foundation to hearing His voice in your heart, so you must have a solid commitment to knowing and obeying the Scriptures. It is also very important for your growth and safety that you be related to solid, spiritual counselors. All major directional moves that come through journaling should be confirmed by your counselors before you act upon them.

For a complete teaching on this topic, order the book 4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice at www.CWGministries.org. Online catalog of 60 books by Mark & Patti Virkler as well as 100 college courses through external degree: www.cluonline.com