In an encounter, I saw the Hollywood sign and there was a bright bolt of lightning from heaven that hit the second "L" in the sign. It read Holy wood. There was a door where the second L used to be. I saw it open and blinding light shone forth. A huge lion with eyes of fire stepped out of the door. He roared over the city and it reverberated through all of Los Angeles. The air became frozen, like jello, and I saw stronghold literally breaking, crumbling and falling to the ground.
The Lord began to speak to me about the power of holiness. The holiness that came forth from the mouth of the lion was an audible reverberation of the love in His heart. Love made audible is a manifestation of holiness and no stronghold can stand in it's presence. This vocalization brought radical freedom.
There is a release over Hollywood and Los Angeles. The heart of God has been captivated by this region. The challenge of the impossible and the dreamers that have been crying out for the impossible has captured heaven's heart and a move of holiness that reverberates the heart of heaven is about to break forth. Strongholds that have stood for generations will crumble without a fight. It will be a season of the realization of dreams and the elevation of the dreamers.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Signs and Wonders
I was inspired by this quote from Bill Johnson's book When Heaven Invades Earth. “signs have a purpose. They are not an
end in themselves. They point to a greater reality. When we exit a building we
don’t go though the exit sign. The sign is real but it points to a reality
greater than itself."
Throughout my life I have constantly found myself with believers that are taught that the gifts of the Holy Spirit no longer exist, but they are hungry for them. One of the arguments I have heard time and time again is that they are not orderly and fit within the confines of the scripture and therefore signs and wonders can lead people astray. I love this idea that we do not exit through the exit sign, but through the door. The sign points the way to the door. It is the enemy's tactic to keep us from utilizing the powerful tool of signs and wonders to point people to Christ.
I learned long ago that the power of God can be messy but it can also be fun. God does have a sense of humor and loves to love us and reveal Himself to us in ways that are personal and fun. Since I am on the topic of signs... I will never forget the first time I saw God as personal and humorous. I was 9 years old and up to now I had always associated God as distant and loving but serious. My little sister (5 years old) sat on the edge of my parent's bed asking me where the hole was that the angels had gone through. She proceeded to tell us about how the previous night she had seen 2 angels. One had flown over to my mom's pillow and stuck a black sign with green letters on it. They had both disappeared through the ceiling. While her seeing the angels was amazing and fun my mom was more concerned about the sign the angel put on her pillow. She later told us that she had asked God the night before for a sign (for something she had been praying for). God in His sense of humor gave her a literal sign. When she asked what the sign said my little sister responded, "I don't know...I don't know how to read." God went out of His way to honor her request, but with a little sense of humor.
Signs and wonders are the key to unlocking people's hearts. There are so many that are desperate to know that they are important and matter. We not only do disservice to Jesus and what He did on the cross but also to the people we come into contact with when we do not allow the use of signs, wonders and miracles to point the way to the "door" Jesus Christ.
Throughout my life I have constantly found myself with believers that are taught that the gifts of the Holy Spirit no longer exist, but they are hungry for them. One of the arguments I have heard time and time again is that they are not orderly and fit within the confines of the scripture and therefore signs and wonders can lead people astray. I love this idea that we do not exit through the exit sign, but through the door. The sign points the way to the door. It is the enemy's tactic to keep us from utilizing the powerful tool of signs and wonders to point people to Christ.
I learned long ago that the power of God can be messy but it can also be fun. God does have a sense of humor and loves to love us and reveal Himself to us in ways that are personal and fun. Since I am on the topic of signs... I will never forget the first time I saw God as personal and humorous. I was 9 years old and up to now I had always associated God as distant and loving but serious. My little sister (5 years old) sat on the edge of my parent's bed asking me where the hole was that the angels had gone through. She proceeded to tell us about how the previous night she had seen 2 angels. One had flown over to my mom's pillow and stuck a black sign with green letters on it. They had both disappeared through the ceiling. While her seeing the angels was amazing and fun my mom was more concerned about the sign the angel put on her pillow. She later told us that she had asked God the night before for a sign (for something she had been praying for). God in His sense of humor gave her a literal sign. When she asked what the sign said my little sister responded, "I don't know...I don't know how to read." God went out of His way to honor her request, but with a little sense of humor.
Signs and wonders are the key to unlocking people's hearts. There are so many that are desperate to know that they are important and matter. We not only do disservice to Jesus and what He did on the cross but also to the people we come into contact with when we do not allow the use of signs, wonders and miracles to point the way to the "door" Jesus Christ.
When Heaven Invades Earth Summary
Ok...So I got a bit behind on summarizing the key points of the chapters I have been reading, so here they ALL are. It is crude and unfinished, but they are the key ideas that stood out to me. Though this is not the first time I have read this book, I have received new wisdom and revelation.
Chapter 10
“Pennies are not counterfeited because
they are not worth the effort. In the same way, the devil only works to copy or
distort those things in the Christian life that have the greatest
potential effect.”
The
devil sees the potential of powerful Christians that operate in the fullness
of the kingdom. Lies that he has infiltrate into the church, and we believe,
are things like; I am not righteous enough or I don’t have enough character. I
am not ready. Notice the theme, the focus is on us not God. By taking the focus
off our relationship and the fact that we are heirs to the kingdom of heaven
with full privileges now, we have become caught up in focusing on who we are
not and become powerless in the process.
(Focusing on what we are not disempowers
us and keeps us from being the powerful people Christ died for)
Chapter 11
Miracles reveal the nature of God. Demonstrations
of power are redemptive in nature. Power
exposes and forces people to make a decision. A power has an inherent ability
to humble and lead to repentance. “faith moves heaven so that heaven will move
earth.” Miracles remove influence of hell and establishes the presence of God.
Without power, we rob God of the glory He is due. It isn’t a complete message
without the demonstration of power. Many fear signs and wonders thinking they will be misled. “signs have a
purpose. They are not an end in themselves. They point to a greater reality. When
we exit a building we don’t go though the exit sign. The sign is real but it
points to a reality greater than itself.
Chapter 12
Encountering Godà
demonstrations of power that break yokes. He is creative and unexpected and the
supernatural requires taking risks. Our focus needs to remain on the God of
power not the power of God.
Chapter 13
Focusing on our unworthiness denies Christ of the honor of what was accomplished on
the cross and keeps us from participating in the power given to us through it. “It
is no longer a question of heaven or hell. It’s only a question of how much of
hell’s thinking will allow into this heavenly mind of mine. Our agreement with
lies can delay or avert promises.
Chapter 14
Spiritual warfare is real, but we should
be approaching it from the offensive not the defensive. We have already
won. “Satan reveals his plans to put us
on the defensive.” When we react with fear we are responding in the
defensive. When we refuse to fear our
victory is complete. It sounds so simple. When we look at it from this
perspective all we need to do to win EVERY battle is refuse to fall prey to
fear and stand firm and confidant in who we are because of who Christ is.
Chapter 15
Revival and transformation will be
recognized by those that need it the most. I love how this chapter points out
how it was the tax collectors, prostitutes, demon possessed and outcasts that
recognized Jesus as the messiah while the religious scholars missed Him. If we
are looking for true signs of revival we should be seeing healing and
restoration coming to the most needy. By not holding onto our own idea of what
revival or transformation will look like we can help ourselves not miss it.
“Many revivalist had such significant
breakthroughs that they viewed the Lord’s
return to be at hand. They failed to equip the Church to do what they were
gifted to do. As a result they touched multitudes instead of nations and
generations.
Chapter 16
We should be the leaven in world. Our
lives should infect all those around us and bring us into places where we can
change systems and nations. Daniel and Joseph are two people in scripture that
were leaven. Though both had the right to be bitter they chose to be loyal and
the “better person” in the situation they found themselves in and they both
transformed kingdoms. I does not always mean high positions and we need to be
reminded that the greatest in the kingdom of heaven is the servant.
Chapter 17
“Make room in your life for the risk
takers that don’t bat a thousand. They will inspire you to the greatness available
in serving a great God.” Christ is returning for a pure and spotless bride who
knows who she is and is ready for her bridegroom. He is not coming for a bride that is focused
on what she is not. When we begin to focus on Christ and who we are in Him and
operate in that power we will see a transformation in the Church that will
prompt the return of Christ to the earth.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)