Day 9 - Rooted

Rooted

Abide in Me, and I in you.

As the branches cannot bear fruit of itself,

unless it abides in the vine,

neither can you,

unless you abide in Me.

- John 15:4

My Father says:

"My child, abide in Me. Remain in MY love. Stay connected to Me. Fruit grows in you when you continue to let My life flow in you.

Abiding in Me means that you are always depending on Me for everything. Solutions to Your problems are not at all difficult for Me to do. I have the perfect solution for every difficulty you are encountering.

Let complete trust fill your heart -- know that I am completely trustworthy.

Flow with Me, believe that I know what is best for you.

Let my life-giving sap always be flowing in you.

Live in My joy.

Abide in My joy.

My joy will provide the environment for your healing."

Day 8: When a Gift Becomes a Burden...

...God can still turn it into a blessing!

Beautiful trees at autumn

Blue Ridge Parkway, Bedford, Virginia

October 21, 2013

"No weapon formed against you shall prosper,

And every tongue which rises against you in judgment

You shall condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,

And their righteousness is from Me,"

says the Lord.

- Isaiah 54:17

gift
/gift/

noun     a thing given willingly to someone without payment, a present





A gift is not really a gift unless it is given from a genuine, generous heart, without strings attached, without conditions. 

A gift is such a blessing if it is given with pure motives. 

So wise was the Lord when He said,

So when you give to the needy, no not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. - Matthew 6:2


But there are times when the gift turns out not to be a blessing... but a curse.

when a heavy burden is imposed... 

and attached to the gift is a price tag... 

a sense of obligation... 

a debt of gratitude that can never seem to be repaid.

I want to quote these words from Eugene's blog:

"Boaz recognized the favor that Ruth has extended to Naomi (Ruth 2:16, Ruth 1:16), his response was "May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge" (Ruth 2:12).

"This means that:

1. God will be the one to repay us when we are compelled to give. Boaz extended favor toward Ruth out of a heart of generosity.

2. It is God whom we must depend on for trust, security, hope, and for our future and refuge. Boaz gave to Ruth without expecting anything in return."


How beautiful and how refreshing the gift when it comes with no heavy sense of being indebted to the giver.

It is a gift that can be freely received and accepted. It is a gift with so much joy and blessing.

A true gift is never, ever taken back. Never.

A "gift" that comes with a heavy expectation of having to pay the giver back removes the true value of a gift.

Then it comes not with a sense of blessing, but with a deep sense of sorrow to the heart of the receiver.


 I take comfort in these words this morning:

The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it. - Proverbs 10:22

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. - James 1:17


This is a timely teaching from Graham Cooke, and has reminded me that instead of being oppressed by the words of cursing and dishonor that someone speaks to us, we can stand on our authority and fight the battle against the enemy. For the victory has been won... we just need to view my circumstances from the standpoint of victory, not defeat.

Excerpts:

"... In your favor, there is a place of authority for you.

"You have to go to the limit of your favor to discover what the promise is, what your inheritance is, and therefore what you have permission for against the enemy.

"You step over that line, you're into presumption, but if you stay within the line of your favor, you have authority to speak and say things [into existence].

"The more you press out your favor, the more you press out yourself to the limit of your current prophetic word, the more territory God is going to give you,the more authority He opens up for you.

"That is why you simply must work with prophecy.

"Implications to change is that you get power over situations that come against you, you get power over the enemy.

"In Christ you are condemned to victory. You have to be an idiot not to win. God always commits us to a good fight, and a good fight is one where you win...

"You have to sit down in the word. You have to relax before God in it. You have to make your prophetic word part of your devotional routine.

"The you get to walk in the word before God and before people.

"The word gives you power to expect and to anticipate. Use it!

"You walk into situations carrying your favor.

"And you can donate your favor to somebody else. Whether they're saved, or a Christian, or a pre-Christian is irrelevant. You get to donate the favor that you have into somebody else's life...

"And you have to learn how to stand on the word before the enemy.

"Declare your favor.

"This guy starts cursing me, but you have to understand this is how it works for me:

"'No weapon fashioned against me can prosper, because I know the limit of my current authority right now, and I can declare to you within the rhema of my current authority that God can take this curse and turn it into a blessing...'

"And I'm going to see what the opposite of those things are, and that's what I'm going to take on board. That's why I wrote down the opposite [of all the cursing words that were spoken to me] straightaway... I wrote out the opposite of all of that, and I asked the Lord, 'Lord is that enough?'

"And He said, 'No, write something else,' so I started again. And when I had something that the Lord was satisfied with, I could bind the curse and loose what God had told me was gonna be mine.

"Then I could burn that piece of paper, and that's over, it has no power anymore.

"And now I'm expecting this: I have a whole new level of expectation in God, and what I am about to come into.

"It's like a reverse prophetic word. What the enemy meant to kill you, God uses for you.

"David used Goliath's sword to take off his head. The very thing the enemy was going to use against him he used on the enemy. This is our authority in the spirit.

"You stand on the word against the enemy everyday... I told that piece of paper where I'd written all the blessings, and I began to declare everyday, "This is the word of the Lord to me."

"I start to press out, what would that look like in my life... If I come into this today what's it gonna look like... what's it gonna change for me...

"If I meditated a few days on the implications of me believing...[these things]   then I start stepping into it... and to press it through, and to declare it against the enemy... I start to declare my protection... my favor... and I ended up with a double portion."

Day 7 - An Accelerated Lifestyle

sunset over Lake Canandaigua

upstate NY

October 10, 2013

"Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, 

"when the plowman shall overtake the reaper

and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed,

the mountains shall drip sweet wine,

and all the hills shall flow with it."

- Amos 9:13

I have always loved the idea of the plowman overtaking the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who is sowing the seed.

It's such a wonderful picture of the accelerated life.

I desire to live not in the realm of the seen, but the unseen. In that way, I am not annoyed, or irritated, or disappointed, by the shortcomings and inconsistencies of others, or even the plans that don't turn out as expected.

Living the accelerated life is so freeing... and gives me a compassionate perspective when things go wrong.

Living the accelerated life, is living in the spirit realm... and that is really how I want to live.

Sharing these beautiful words spoken by the Father to Graham Cooke in Rise Up A Warrior:

I will teach you how to make the future incredible by living in a present that is beautiful.

When the present state of your heart is so enriched by my glory your current identity will run to meet your emerging destiny, and you will live in the power of an accelerated lifestyle.

Do you see now, dear heart, why you need the power of a renewed mind?

Earthbound logic cannot comprehend the true nature of life in the spirit. Only a heavenly mindset can do that. And that is, the mind of Christ.

Day 6 - Cleansing Word

Waterfall

image source

You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

- John 15:3

My Father says:

"I want you to understand just how powerful My spoken word is. It was My son who spoke the word to His disciples -- a word of acceptance and a word of cleansing over them, cleansing them from a foggy understanding of eternal realities. 

That same word applies to you this very moment. You have received that Word, that Living Word, into your life.

It has cleansed you from the guilt and the eternal consequences of sin.

That same spoken word continues to cleanse you from faulty mindsets, continues to purify your heart of what will not last for eternity. That spoken word has already made you clean. 

You are accepted in My sight...

That spoken Word will continue to give you a hunger for righteousness, and a desire to be restored to a place of intimacy with Me.

Trust that Word. Never let it go unheeded.

It will bring you to higher ground."

Day 5 - Pruning

Vinedresser

image source

Every branch in  Me that doesn't bear fruit

He takes away;

And every branch that bears fruit He prunes, 

that it may bear more fruit.

- John 15:2

I hear Abba Father saying:

"Every branch in the Vine of my Son Jesus is precious to Me. I do not easily give up, I am not easily disappointed. My heart is full of hope for my children who are not bearing fruit. I continue to believe in the best they can be. I lift them up, I give them help, I do not leave them alone to fend for themselves...

I want to bring them to an environment of growth so that someday - soon! - I will begin to see the fruit I am longing for.

And when I see the fruit, I begin to prune so that more fruit will come. I am thrilled when I see my children bearing fruit despite the difficult circumstances they are in...

A tiny seed of faith...

A small step of obedience...

A glimmer of hope...

That is fruit to Me.

I do not despise the small steps you take to draw near. I welcome your attempts with open arms.

You are a delight to me. I value you, and I believe in the best that you can be."