·
“Unbelief
is actually faith in something other than God.” (chapter 4)
Wow, that sounds a bit harsh, but when you
take the time to think about this statement its power is revealed. God is the
able to do anything and when we believe that it is considered faith, the type
that brings the Kingdom of heaven to the earth. When we don’t believe it we are
not believing that God is omnipotent and
therefore we are believing in something
else. This sounds so simple. Why can’t we just live out the simplicity
of this statement? Sure faith comes out of relationship, hearing and responding
but when we really break it down our lack of faith is really just our lack of
belief in God being…well… God.
·
Prayer
allows us to come into a place of faith, gives us perspective on problems and
empowers us to act in radical obedience. (Chapter 5)
Prayer and intercession is a very special
topic for me. It is the place where Holy Spirit taught me how to hear the
heartbeat of heaven. I love prayer because it appears so innocent and yet has
the power to transform the world. I have led many prayer/intercession groups in
places that were hostile to the things of the kingdom and yet visions and words
from God were not only experienced by people who say such things don’t exist
but also they were accepted. I really loved Bill Johnson’s challenge to pray
until you come into a place of faith and gain heaven’s perspective on the
situation but rather than asking God to take care of the situation act out of a
place of faith and command “mountains to
be moved.” Prayer is tool to gain heaven’s strategy and God’s
heart but coupled with faith it is our battle plan to bring Heaven to earth in
every situation.
·
It is
impossible to see the Kingdom of heaven come to earth without knowing the Holy
Spirit and experiencing His baptism. (Chapter 6)
The Holy Spirit is the great gift that
Jesus left for us a gift that the prophets of the Old Testament could never
have imagined. I love how this chapter points out that baptism of the Holy
Spirit puts even the least of the new covenant believers ahead of the OT
prophets. WOW! So why don’t we act like
it. A great point is made in this chapter that we should be so overflowing with
the Holy Spirit that our mere presence brings an atmosphere of heaven that
requires a response from those who come in contact with it (believer or
non-believer). “one baptism, many
fillings. Why? We leak.” This was a great reminder to me that I am broken and
if I am not seeing an overflow of HS in my life and those around me I need to
look at where I am leaking and seek out ways to be refilled.
I love how these three chapters gave us three important, no vital, ingredients
to seeing heaven invade earth. Faith. Prayer. Holy Spirit. The three work
together and yet they all have one thing in common, they are not a formula they
are established out of relationship.
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