Love Them with His Heart
AUTHOR: Robin Fields
To me, this scripture is the answer to a lot of unanswered questions during these times that can seem to be somewhat confusing.
Remember we have talked about what does it look like if someone says they love you?
What do you expect from them?
And then, what do you expect from God who loves you unceasingly, with a never ending love?
But what about what He expects from us when we say that we love Him?
Or when we say that we love each other?
How about those we don’t agree with?
Or How about those who have the responsibility for a whole county, city, state or nation that might be making choices we don’t like or agree with? (and that is a real struggle for me at times; we continue to hold each other accountable for our words, more than ever. Am I Blessing or Cursing with my responses?)
God is helping Roger and me during this time, to really understand what He is asking of us as Believers; as members of the Body of Christ, as part of a Royal Kingdom and Priesthood.
We are finally learning to see how to love with His Heart during times and circumstances that are so uncomfortable and inconvenient, to say the least.
What a broader view He has of His Kingdom than we do!!
What a bigger heart to love the unlovable!
Our hearts are broken right now over all of the seeming calamity over our nation.
For many that we minister to are caught up in this spiritual chaotic atmosphere.
What can we offer them to bring them peace?
Can we put aside our personal opinions, so that we can walk with each other through this season in love; understanding that many are in fear like never before or maybe they just have a different view than ours?
Can I still love them and hear them like I want them to love me and hear me?
My prayer is that I/we can really learn to live and walk as Nobility.
Much Love to you!
He pours in and we pour out
AUTHOR: Michael-Janelle
I’ve been spending a lot of time thanking God for what he has done in mine and Janelle’s life lately. We have seen his goodness in a very really way in many parts of our lives—Favor in work, a new place to call home, health, and more. I couldn’t help but stop recently to ask the question, “When did this all start happening?”
After some coffee and meditation, I can boil it down to two things—
1. Who really provides?—In the past I’ve struggled with worrying about how I am going to provide for my wife and our family. Many years ago, a good friend of mine shared a revelation he had on this. It took a while to sink in and become a truth for me. Here it is… I am not the provider for my family. That mindset is inherently prideful. It puts me at the top. It creates an unhealthy thought process that somehow my labor alone can fulfill all of mine and my families needs. Once I renewed my mind on this, and applied Philippians 4:19 (NLT) which says, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” It took off all the pressure, stress, and worry about “making ends meet”. Now I confidently know that God is the one from whom my provision flows and I start to notice that provision daily.
2. Giving generously, even when it hurts—this has become a practice of mine and Janelle’s in the past couple of years. It definitely wasn’t easy in the beginning. Naturally, giving to others means less for us. But that is a notion we’ve worked hard to beat back over time. Now, when we feel a tug to give to bless someone or give to someone in need, we’ve stopped hesitating. We made a determination to recognize God isn’t stingy with us, so we won’t be stingy with others. It made a noticeable difference in our perspective on our personal “needs” and “lack”. More over, giving to others has now become a place of joy for us.
I realized that both of these things take the focus off of ME. Understanding that God graciously pours his provision down on me enables me to then be an instrument of his provision for others. When this focus shifts, all that remains is gratitude.
Feel free to share in the comments any mindset changes you’ve noticed that helped unlock this reality for you.
Pause in His Presence
AUTHOR: Michael-Janelle
“I am standing in absolute stillness, silent before the One I love…” (Psalms 62:5)
I love the way The Passion Translation translates the word “selah” as “pause in His presence.”
I have a difficult time prioritizing Selah in my day. But it is so necessary. So important for living an abundant royal life. Selah moments allow us to hear from God clearly. They give Him the opportunity to speak to us without distraction. Just like the sounds in our current background, God is present and speaking; sometimes we are just too busy to hear it.
Rest. Stay. Abide. Be Still. Calm. Peace. Breathe. Refresh. Tranquil. Stop. Pause. Listen.
Often in times of pausing, God gives us a revelation that transforms our perspective, bringing us closer to Him. Selah positions us to hear His voice and be in His presence.
As someone who combats regularly with anxiety, I am seeing how integral it is to incorporate Selah into my daily living.
In the Selah moment is when we hear the breath and the heartbeat of Heaven.
Recently a good friend told me about a free app called “Pause” based on the book “Get Your Life Back” by John Eldredge. So I downloaded it. The next day I find an email from ChurchSource also promoting the app and included links to videos to watch as well. This app invites you into the simple practice of releasing everything to God.
If you are interested in downloading the app, here is the iOS link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/one-minute-pause/id1471913620
And the Android link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ransomedheart.pause
Here are 7 daily “pause” practices: https://tinyurl.com/y5lbfnzj
Here are the 6 session study videos: https://tinyurl.com/yymzpynm
How do you pause in His presence? How do you cultivate Selah moments throughout the day? How do you find rest for you soul? Let’s share with each other.
❤️
Waking Up to Love
AUTHOR: Patrice London
Good morning! First thing’s first, please help me wish Russ Painter a very Happy Birthday today!! Russ has been a very integral part of helping me get to a point where I am able to accept unconditional love from our Heavenly Father as he is one of several men I now know personally, who truly live and love this way.
With getting a firm grasp on God’s love, God is now teaching me to accept love in other areas of my life, namely, my marriage.
Some things happen in layers. For some, when a decent or reasonable father figure isn’t present in their lives, they have trouble relating to a Heavenly Father that they can’t see or touch, all while having this space, that only our Heavenly Father can fill.
Living the royal life is being able to accept unconditional love where it exists and being able to give it as well.
I have a pretty good handle on giving it, but have had many issues accepting it.
Early this year, someone dear to me prophesied that this would be the year I would begin to see how very much I am loved and by whom. It is happening left and right, and in several different relationships. I wrote about one relationship in a blog post a few days ago and wanted to share my experience with you.
The surprises have continued pouring in, even after the surprises I wrote about in my blog post. Just this past Sunday, I got a surprise visit from cousins from Maryland and California. We had a lovely time together.
I am focusing on opening my heart to accept love more and pray you do the same in your life.
Here’s the blog post I mentioned…
Waking Up to Love
Be a Hero
AUTHOR: Tom Kissell
I believe that right now, more than ever people are looking for a hero.
Someone they can look up to and see strength and victory in their lives.
Someone who they want to be like.
We are called to be that light, not hidden away in a church. But out in the world for everyone to see.
People are looking at you and me and how we act and how we react.
We were all wanderers in our previous lives, wandering through the world trying to find our place or where we felt loved. But we never could find it, just always seemed out of our reach. Until He called us into the Royal Life. And for the first time we could feel real love, not the fake imitation of the world.
We started to shine. How much we shine depends fully on how much we earnestly seek Him and desire to have a relationship with Him.
All else will fall into place – it’s just His way to shower us with gifts of love.
So the choice is now up to you. Do you want to shine and be that hero for someone who is watching you? Could be a coworker. Could be a friend. Could be your children or your spouse.
It’s time that we as the church….shine.
The Process
AUTHOR: Jennifer Lescano
THE PROCESS.
This subject has been on my heart for a few weeks now. Add some years to that. Like 20. But seriously. It’s something I felt needed attention and was the focus for today’s post.
And as I sat with my girls a few days ago to see a different Annie movie, Holy Spirit hi-lighted Daddy Warbucks’ statement in one of the scenes.
He said, “The house is all spiffed up. Looks like we’re ready.”
Yes, we’re complete in Christ. Yes, we’re always equipped and ready and we do not lack a thing.
However, there is a process that takes place in our lives that leads us to a place of spiritual maturity.
As I typed that last sentence, Holy Spirit brought up Elijah.
If we look at his journey in 1 King’s 17 and 18, we see he started on a journey. 17:2 “And the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 3 Go from here and turn east and hide yourself by the brook Cherith east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.
Cherith means cutting and separation.
God sent Elijah to Cherith and told him he would be fed by ravens. So here we have a prophet following the leading of the Lord. Followed by more leading to a place called Zarephath which means REFINERY. In that place, God now feeds him through a widow who says she has nothing and whose son ends up dying.
And when the son dies, he cries out to the Lord and says, “O Lord my God, have You brought further calamity upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?”
And he stretched himself upon the child 3 times. Boy comes back to life and now God tells Elijah to go to Ahab. And tells him he will send rain upon the earth. Let’s not forget that earlier in Chapter 17, Elijah prophesied no rain.
So now the Lord tells him to show himself to Ahab. Throughout the journey, we see the word of the Lord said this and do that and Elijah did it, right? There was obedience.
Now in verses 18 and 19, Elijah stands up to Ahab tells him what the problem is and in a place called Mount Carmel which means GARDENLAND, he gives him instructions where he gets to show off the God he serves.
That’s followed by Elijah hearing rain and prophesying it and ending up in a wilderness after he hears about a threat from bully Jezebel.
All that to say, there is a PROCESS.
There will always be fruitfulness. But with it comes the cutting and the refining process. The separation. The learning to depend fully on God and God alone. It’s a process.
The heart process. Where forgiveness and love is foundational. It’s a process.
In the refining process, we go through trusting God and not ourselves. In every area of our lives. It’s a process.
We learn to close the door on pride. Because it sure does feel good when you give a good word at the right time, right? But that bubble gets popped fast. Gently, but fast. It’s a process.
When gold is refined, impurities come to the surface. What impurities? Things we didn’t even know were there about ourselves. And it’s ok. Our heavenly Father knows how to handle us with care. It’s a process.
Fear of man. What’s that? I heard that so many times before even understanding it fully. It’s where what we do or say goes through a man-made filter for pleasing others. It’s a process.
Love is foundational with prophecy. Jesus is.
When we learn to prophesy or learn about “the prophetic,” we are not learning an art. It’s not a subject we want to master and get a certificate for to show the world we can prophesy and do it accurately.
It’s simply learning to hear God’s voice, know what that sounds like, and be his mouthpiece. We’re learning what it’s like to be Jesus. It’s who we are.
Learning what it’s like to know the thoughts of man at times and remain steadfast in love. It’s a process.
Growing in discernment and every gift of the spirit is a process.
There’s a dying to one’s self in all of this.
I think the process starts with dying only to find out we were dead all along. LOL Galatians 2:20 (I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God Who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Let’s embrace the process.
Some of us are in a process we didn’t even know we are in.
Father, show us where we are in the process and what that looks like.
Become mindful of that which your mind is full…
How to stop the madness…
Ignore Your Haters
AUTHOR: Gary Fishman
In Song of Solomon chapter 5 the bride is desperately seeking for the bridegroom.
In 5:7 the bride proclaims that:
The watchmen who went about the city found me.
They struck me, they wounded me;
The keepers of the walls Took my veil away from me.
Symbolically the watchmen represent church leaders who are called to keep watch over the flock and according to Hebrews 13:7 they are to “keep watch over your souls.”
When the leaders saw her fire and passion for the presence of the bridegroom they beat her and removed her veil. In modern terms many in church who burn for the presence and glory of Jesus the bridegroom are ridiculed, mocked told they are unbalanced and even marked as a flake. Religion hates a heart that burns for God.
The bride didn’t give in to rejection or give up or blame the bridegroom. Instead she proclaimed: “If you find my beloved, tell him I am lovesick!”
She refused to be defined by the spiritual abuse or allow it to put a damper on her flaming passion.
Don’t allow the words of religious leaders or wrong treatment at the hands of Gods people discourage your desire to live out all God has ordained for you as his royal child and don’t be afraid to proclaim it in spite of the haters.