Exerpt from The Dream Giver

Day after Day, Ordinary showed up at his Usual Job. But while he worked, he thought about his Dream. He thought about how wonderful it would be to do what he loved to do instead of just dreaming about it.

Ordinary's longing for his big Dream grew and grew until finally he realized that he'd never be happy unless he could pursue it. Why didn't the Dream Giver make it possible?

If the Dream Giver didn't, how could Ordinary ever leave Familiar? He had payments and expenses. He had regular duties. A lot of Nobodies counted on him for a lot of things.Ordinary felt completely stuck. Time passed, but nothing changed.

He began to hate his Usual Job. This isn't what I was made to do, he'd say to himself. I just know it!

After a while, he began to worry that maybe he hadn't received a big Dream after all. Maybe he'd just made it all up.

And he grew sadder by the day.

One evening after work, Ordinary went to this Parents' to watch the box. But their box was broken, so the house was very quiet. It was even more quiet because his Mother was out shopping at Familiar Foods.

In the quietness, Ordinary started to think about his Dream again. He looked over at his Father sitting in his recliner, staring at the single page of Nobody's News. Maybe HE could help.

"Father", said Ordinary, "I'm growing sadder by the day. I don't like my Usual Job anymore. In fact, I think I hate it."Father looked up. "That's terrible!" he said. "What happened?"

Before he could stop himself, Ordinary started talking about the Dream Giver, and about his Big Dream. "I was made to be a Somebody and achieve Great Things!" he said. And then he told his Father the Name of his Dream. As he spoke, his voice trembled. He was sure that his Father would laugh or call him a fool.

But his Father didn't. "I'm not surprised to hear you say these things," he said.

"You're not?" said Ordinary.

"No," his Father said. "You've had that Dream ever since you were little. Don't you remember? You used to build that same dream with sticks and mud in front of this very house.

"Then Ordinary did remember. He'd always had this Dream! It was what he'd always wanted to do, and what he'd always thought he'd be good at doing. His eyes filled with tears.

"Father," he said. "I think I was born to do this."

Ordinary and his Father sat together quietly. His Father seemed to be remembering something, too. After a while he asked, "When you woke up to your Big Dream, Son, did you happen to find... a feather?"

Ordinary was shocked. "How did you know?" he asked.

"A long time ago, I woke up to a Dream, too." his Father said. "And it came with a long white feather. It was a wonderful Dream. I kept the feather on my windowsill while I waited for a chance to pursue it. I waited and waited. But it never seemed possible... One day I noticed the feather had turned to dust."

Of all the sad words Ordinary had ever heard, these were the saddest. Before he left that night, his Father hugged him.

"Don't make the same mistake I did, Son," he said. "You don't have to stay a Nobody. You can be a Dreamer!"

When Ordinary got home, he went straight to the window and picked up the long white feather. He turned it over carefully in his hands. He thought about his Father and the Dream he'd left behind.

Then he had a surprising idea. Could it be that maybe the Dream Giver gave every Nobody a Dream, but only some embraced their dreams? And even fewer pursued them?

The more he thought about it, the more he thought it had to be true.

One thing Ordinary did know for sure: He didn't want to repeat his Father's mistake. He wouldn't waste another day waiting for his Dream to seem possible. He would find a way to pursue it.

Time passed. Ordinary worked hard on his plan to begin his Dream. He made hard choices. He made difficult changes. He even made big sacrifices.

Finally, one morning, he was ready.

Ordinary ran all the way to his Usual Job, his Dream pounding hard in his chest. As soon as he saw Best Friend, Ordinary blurted out the news: "That Big Dream I told you about-- I've decided to pursue it!"

Best Friend looked concerned. "You know as well as I do that Nobdodies who pursue their Dreams leave Familiar," he said. "They set off like fools into the Unknown, in search of a place where--"

"Yes, yes. I know," Ordinary broke in, "and I can't wait to get started!"

"But Ordinary, that journey is anything but sensible or safe. Why leave Familar? It's so comfortable here. And besides, you've always lived here."

"I've thought about all that, too," said Ordinary. "But my Big Dream is too important and too wonderful to miss."

Best friend shook his head. "So you're going to become a Dreamer," he said.

"I am a Dreamer!" answered Ordinary. "Today I'm going to tell my Boss that I'm leaving my Usual Job. Tomorrow I will begin my journey. Hey, Best Friend," added Ordinary eagerly, "you can have my recliner and my box!"

And with that, Ordinary walked away, humming a tune that he'd never heard before.

Loving me some Inner Healing

Whhewwwwww, my crazy but LIFE CHANGING week is almost over! I just told a few friends tonight that I feel like what I have learned and how I've grown this past month is more than what most Christians receive in their lifetime! Talk about humble thanksgiving!

Today, during the last day of the Restoring the Foundations seminar, the Lord took me back to a time in my childhood where I was hurt by someone or something and just wept at my bedside. The Lord showed me the picture vividly and I remembered family members laughing and yelling at the top of their lungs from downstairs, "We can't hear you, Kellie! Cry a little louder! Cry a little harder!" It was a spirit of mockery and rejection, a Sin of my Fathers, that had permeated its way into my life up until this morning when I received healing and deliverance.

Most people know my personality is very outgoing. I am people-oriented and my motivational gift is compassion. So I love people and I love having fun-- I look for it in everything I do. My life is a true testimony of living joy every day (and I can say that knowing what I have been set free from!). But when it comes to hearing jokes I have always cringed inside. I realized how I've been mocked, teased and rejected over the years, being the center of the joke, or because I haven't understood the jokes. There has always been a line, even in clean joking, that when crossed leaves me feeling incredibly hurt. Unfortunately, I have become so immune to the pain that I have actually reinforced it myself by laughing it off and leading others to believe I am okay with it. Sadly, the person would never know she has ever hurt me because I wouldn't even realize it myself until later that day, and I would never call the person to tell her she hurt me, to repent myself or to receive forgiveness from her. I would repent to the Lord, release that person and receive forgiveness from my Father, and even love the person when I saw her again, but the jokes at me just pierced me in such a way I purposed in my heart to avoid her until she contacted me again, and then I would go on loving her as usual.

The problem was that I was suppressing a Soul/Spirit hurt from the time I was 9 years old. Although I exercised forgiveness each time someone mocked me with a simple, clean joke, I developed bitterness in my heart towards that person. Because I didn't recognize the deep wound I had that needed to be healed I brushed off every mockery joke and forced myself to never revisit it again because "it was just a joke", all the while I was building a layer of bitterness towards each person who hurt me and I never confronted.

When the Lord showed me the picture of me being mocked for crying and teased for something that deeply affected me, which followed throughout high school for me with "stupid" blonde jokes (when I was blonde) and others, I immediately repented, released and received forgiveness with my family members and all those who had ever hurt me in the past. Then I renounced the sin.

Especially the past few weeks I've harbored bitterness in my heart towards some people for cracking coarse jokes (which the Bible does refer to as sin) about what they know or assume I am uneducated on or "should have been taught" in school but wasn't or forgot. It has deeply hurt me and instead of confronting these friends who I unfortunately rarely see anyway I just made it up in my heart to avoid them or worse, cut off communication with them until they ever contact me again.... even though I love them dearly.

For a few years I convinced myself I was just being over sensitive. I thought there was a level of fun I must not have understood, yet I always wondered what was wrong with people for liking jokes because they are usually at the expense of someone else. But being "over sensitive" wasn't it at all; I was wounded by jokes because a spirit of mockery has harassed me since that terrible incident I experienced at 9 years old.

From this point on, because I know the healing process in this area will take a bit longer, I will lovingly confront those who hurt me and come against the spirit of bitterness that would want to attach itself to my heart. I'm so thankful the Lord brought this up and so grateful He only gives us what we can bear!
We are healed and yet daily need healing from our Father... thank you, Father, for healing the brokenhearted and setting the captives free!

Just... in awe

There's been a lot going on in my head and heart lately. We've been in the RTF (Restoring the Foundations) Seminar all week during the evenings and it has been simply eye opening. Filling out the paperwork about my past caused me to recognize the absolutely beautiful work God has done and is doing in my life. The transformation, deliverance, healing... it's almost unbelievable! To think that 5 years ago I was bound in abuse, alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, and sex among incredibly deep roots of bitterness, depression and anger-- and to see me now... it's like "who ARE you?!" I am still in desperate need of my Savior every day, but this seminar is awakening me again and again to the incredible POWER of my living God.

Completely off the subject (it's late and my thoughts are a bit choppy), yet not... is my FAMILY. I cannot tell you how I have LONGED to be with them, near them, around them just lovin' on them. I have cried looking at pictures just desiring to experience life with them again, only REAL life this time. Since my Grandma passed in August 4 of my family members have received Christ and are walking out a relationship with Him... God is doing so many exciting things in their lives (there is also counterattack..) that I just want to be apart of. My niece and nephew are growing up so fast and I want to enjoy them while they are young. I want to pour into their young souls and I want to be fed and taught by them. (Most of the time I think I am preaching to children when they are preaching to me) I want Christ to be glorified in my body, and I want them to experience the love of their Father.

The mind blowing part of what I just shared is that I once was completely cut off from my family. Growing up feeling like an orphan left to fend for herself, I developed a bitterness and hatred towards my parents. At a very broken age 19, immediately following my first operation to remove cancerous cells from my body, I cursed them both, completely dishonored them and told them to stay out of my life forever. Out of revenge, I told them that since they neglected me for 19 years, I would neglect them for 19 years. I can't remember how many times I cussed at my mom and called her every name in the book, while screaming at her at the top of my lungs. My dad and I never even shared enough time together or on the phone to even develop such a grand relationship. They were shut out completely (not that they were really seeking a relationship with me). My sister hated me and didn't talk to me for a good year or more when we only lived a mile away from each other, and my other step/half siblings lived out of state or hours away. The enemy completely scattered our family and the pain was so intense that the only thing I knew to do was to cut it off by cutting them out.

4 years later... I am willing to give up everything I know and love to share real LOVE with them. Forget the incredible job opportunity right now, forget the great little apartment, forget my supportive and on-fire-for-Jesus friends (in the best way).... LOVE, has ruined me!!! To me, as it is with transitioning into missions, it's worth risking everything to go share the Good News, disciple and build memories together. My only motive is love.

Next to the nations, they are all I think about, take the most of my prayer life and are the loves of my life. I wouldn't dream of living a day without knowing I am in relationship with every single one of them. God is restoring to us the years the locusts have eaten, the years the enemy has stolen from us, and it is so precious that I want to be in the midst of it, breathing the fresh air of salvation and tasting the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

It's late, so I ramble, what I can say... ;) There's my heart in a nutshell right now... I would post pictures of my beautifully, joyful niece and unfathomably smart nephew but my sister hasn't e-mailed the pictures yet... when she does, you'll be the first to see!

Celebrating "ME" on my Birthday!

Celebrating "ME" on my Birthday!

Myyy Biirrtthhddayyy

So my birthday is in less than a half hour and I can't describe the inexpressible joy I have! Truly my Father is showering His love on me!

My gracious boss gave me the day off so along with meeting with friends, reading and writing throughout the day, I am going to bask in the presence of my Daddy and soak in Psalm 139, and Jeremiah. What a day to celebrate that I'm free to be ME!

(Enjoy the pictures of me being ME throughout the years ;p )

:)

Interceeding for Mongolia

What a tremendous season I am in. I gotta tell ya, I have received more revelation, teaching, insight and understanding into my Father, His Word and Ways more than I ever thought was possible in two and a half months! The growth I've experienced is infathomable to me.

Tonight, Team Mongolia intentionally gathered for some fellowship and night of intercession for Mongolia. Besides loving and feeling so incredibly connected to my team, I had an expected yet unexpected slam of the Holy Spirit and it was inCREDible! I was sitting in a chair praying in the Spirit when I began to feel warm and actually numb in my hands. I heard the Lord tell me to lay my hands on the map of Mongolia that was layed out. So I got up, layed my hands on the map and all of a sudden my mouth went crazy! I knew I wasn't the one activating the intercession, I couldn't have been (for reasons I will not go into now). Later, it occurred to me that I had never heard myself pray in tongues in that language-- it was completely different than what I'm used to. And it didn't stop-- I must have prayed in this new tongue for 15 minutes straight.

I also had a powerful vision of a butterfly and shared an extended word I believe the Lord was speaking to me. It had a domino effect and our team went crazy praying for Mongolia. Even when I was praying I knew it was the Father opening my mouth; I was feeling pretty weak and tired and wouldn't have even had the strength to muster up those intimate prayers. And prophetically, my mind was FLOODED with pictures! I couldn't get them out! I kept seeing animals and bushes and people and situations. My journal didn't get to my hands fast enough! I just experienced an OVERFLOW of the Spirit of God and it was truly marvelous.

A few of us fasted and were really seeking God for what to pray over Mongolia. At the beginning of worship my first words were "Come Holy Spirit". Isn't it funny that when you ask you truly do receive? :) I wonder if we sometimes don't fully believe the power Jesus intended in that verse.... anyway, I am incredibly encouraged and edified and I know everyone else is, too. Thank you, Papa!

A Psychic Encounter

Recently, I had my first encounter with a Psychic who called my office. A very scheming man, he spent about 5 minutes talking/joking with me on the phone before he got to the point of the phone call—to ask about our walk-on-your-website advertising services. He said he called once and talked to my boss. When I asked him his name he led me to his website.

Catching me slightly off guard as I was discerning his website he said, “You’re a very bubbly person…. And you’re a writer, are you not? … Yes you’re very bubbly, but the problem is you’ve got a million other things going on right now….” When I realized what was happening I stopped him immediately and boldly said “Your website says you are a Psychic and a Spiritual Counselor. Which one are you?”

His response was neither. He avoided answering my question and in a very round about way tried to persuade me into believing he could help ME. He began describing what he does and I stopped him again asking, “If someone were to ask you what your title is, what would you say?” He stuttered and then said he was in the business of helping people by revealing spiritual insight to them. After telling me I was a very bright woman, and sensing I was disapproving of his “service”, as he later told me, he preceded to explain to me why people question his service and defended his practice. Doing my best to refrain confronting him with all the questions I REALLY wanted ask (knowing my boss is very much an “equal opportunity employer” and wouldn’t want me turning him away from business) I told him I was a Christian.

He immediately started talking about his meetings with Muslims and other religions saying that their thoughts are wrong because of their intense desire to kill those who oppose of them, while tagging the name of God on the end of his sentences. He then said he has read the Bible countless times, while at the same time saying he was a Wiccan in his former life (I have studied Wiccan practices and nearly became one myself when I was in 7th grade). I stopped him at that point and said, “Are you still a Wiccan?” He immediately defended himself and said he is not a Wiccan, but that he believes he was in his former life. He then tried to use his services on me again and I authoritatively told him to stop and put him on hold.

I’m not an idiot-- I knew what the enemy was doing and how this man was being used. His Simon the Sorcerer spirit was fluffing up his credibility by catering it to my beliefs. The man uses the word “spirit” casually. That is, not our Holy Spirit-- the Spirit of God-- but just the “spirit” that is somehow universal and animistic in nature.

So this guy can read people. How does that help them? Maybe it affirms who they are, what they do and gives them temporary answers to temporary problems and questions, but besides creating a superficial wow factor it doesn’t edify, exhort or comfort them or the church like the Bible says prophecy does, nor does it hold any eternal value. And if it doesn’t edify, exhort or comfort people or the church and hold any eternal value, it serves no true purpose. It is just another sad, false form of edification for the Christless. The demonic sources of Psychics mask their ways to appear as if they are of God, all to stir others from hope and freedom in Christ. But essentially, it says of the Psychic “Look at me! Look at me! I have the answers you need!” (while charging a nominal fee for it). Their services are structured in pride, the very sin that caused Lucifer to loose his position as an angel and get cast out of heaven. Personally, I believe Psychic services are a very pathetic yet illusory attempt of the devil to reveal himself to humanity and maintain foothold of his followers. God the Father speaks to His children cost-free; the price was already paid at Golgotha. Jesus is our mediator, not man. The Shepherd knows his sheep and the sheep know the Shepherd’s voice.

My boss walked in as soon as I put this man on hold and my boss couldn’t talk with him. I picked up the phone to get the man’s number and he immediately sounded defeated, as if he had lost his first “case” in 40 years. He said, “I am very sorry if I offended you. But you are very different. I have not faced anyone like you in a very long time. I get very hurt by people like you, and feel rejected. When I was talking to you, you just shut down and that scared me. I did not know what to do”. Knowing what was happening, I told him he didn’t offend me because I don’t offend easily but that I was processing his practices.

He never gave me his number. He said he would call back at another time. I pray that man receives Christ, but I had to laugh at the devil. “I sure hope you didn’t think I would be deceived by this man and use my gift for the kingdom of darkness, ‘cause if you did you CRAZY!” (For years my sister and I were bound by the occultic, and before we both received Christ—at different times--we almost became Mormans. Because we were bound for so many years the enemy tries to use deception intensely in our lives to get us to renounce Christ and serve him again. The only good that came from flirting with satan the few years that I did is that as a Christian I can now easily detect his tactics in my life) But what was happening, and what a powerful revelation it was at the time, was that the very Truth Himself, the CHRIST, who lives in me, caused the demons in him to shudder. The power of God at work within me had the final say—He rendered this Simon spirit powerless to the point it received and verbally admitted it was powerless against the Christ. I literately felt and heard the power of Christ overcome in the conversation.

I would say Psychics do operate with power—power given to them by the devil. But the power of the evil one doesn’t hold ultimate authority in this world. It was defeated at the Cross for all humanity. The victory is now ours in Christ Jesus. The enemy is limited in what he can do. But what makes Psychics especially deceptive to the human race is that often times they are strangely accurate in their readings. Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8) astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great. His services were incredibly deceptive because he had a long history of this psychic power. The Samarians actually thought he was the power of God Almighty… yet Simon didn’t even know the Lord!

So what makes psychics (mouthpieces of Satan) different from prophets (mouthpieces of God)? Especially when both acknowledge the name of God? If you believe in right and wrong you believe in good and evil. You either serve God-- the omniscient, omnipotent Creator of Heaven and Earth and Potter of YOU, or you serve Satan--the killer, thief, destroyer and accuser of the world.

Psychics serve the devil; Prophets serve the living God. Psychics serve multiple masters; Prophets serve One. Psychics are rooted in pride and money; True prophets are grounded in love-driven obedience. Psychics deliver deception; Prophets deliver Truth. Like Simon, Psychics are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity; Prophets are seasoned with insight and have victory from the price paid at Calvary. Psychics promote themselves; Prophets promote the Word of the Lord. Psychics want the fame; Prophets give God the glory. Psychics seek a response, Prophets do not. Psychics see the obvious; Prophets see beyond the surface and have creative imagination. The voice of the Psychic is manipulative, spooky and temporary; the voice of the Prophet is true, powerful and eternal. Psychics lead people back to themselves; prophets lead people back to the Father.

Friends, the Simon spirit is TOXIC because it poisons the receiving mind with ungodly information. Its purpose is to intentionally steer people away from the Ultimate Answer, which is communion with God the Father in Jesus Christ. My prayer is that we would have the discernment to recognize truth and lie, supernatural and demonic, eternal and temporary. May we avoid swimming in a boatload of trusting in man, instead of God, and invest our time and resources in the Word and Kingdom of God rather than the kingdom of darkness.

May is the Month of the Sent One

A new journey embarks in May for many. It marks the end of a long, tumultuous training period and the beginning of a new season afresh with God’s grace and anointing. Many will be sent into new horizons, new landmarks, new nations to proclaim a message of hope, a message of deliverance. Many who have trained, exercised and moved in the Spirit will have a large door open, filled with light. The door is yet another beginning of a long, windy and exciting road for you by which only God can lead. Surrender to God’s direction. Many will not know where the road takes, but will be positioned to trust step by step, day after day. It truly is the beginning of a new era—newness will come.

Do not hesitate or be afraid. What takes place in May is a step towards the fulfillment of your call. This is what you were created to do. Walk boldly, do not resist. Hear the voice of the Lord speaking to you—do not resist. Do not back down. Move forward. Walk through the door and into the realm of light, prepared just for you.There will be yet new creations, new births, new dreams and new visions as you take your step. Hear, hear the voice of the Lord speaking to you. Impartation will come to you. Receive what I have for you. As a ship is sent to sea so I send you. Go forth into the Kingdom of God and preach the Good News. This is your time, your season. Many will wave goodbye to their current land and will be sent into the sea of the unknown. Trust. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will keep your path straight.

Sharks may come at you, wind will shake you but stand firm, Beloved, for your ship is being hand directed by the Lord. You will soar through waves, defeat the tides and propel into your destiny. Go, ye. Do not be afraid. Keep your eyes ahead. The anchor will fall and keep you in a certain place, but it is only temporary. There I will teach you my ways, my decrees, my laws. Hold fast, persevere and you shall prevail against the set back. Prepare yourselves, arm yourselves with the shield of faith and the Word of God. The chain to the anchor will be broken and you shall once again soar into the unknown sea. Trust. Trust in the Lord. Let not your hearts trouble you.

Do not bypass the island that awaits you on your journey. Do not be quick to overlook what I have strategically positioned in the sea for you. Look intently. It is a beautiful land of refreshment, rest and revitalization. Take what I have provided for you, do not bypass it. Manna awaits you.

The Voice of the Lord is powerful; it breaks cedars. Listen and obey and the unknown land will be yours.

The Reality of Darkness... and LIGHT

Saturday mornings are my FAV :) Sleep in until 8 or 9, open the windows, spend a good hour in the Word, receive revelation, write... I love it. It's my weekly rejuvenation. I don't regretfully say this, but this will be my last Saturday morning available for an entire month (seminars & conferences every weekend in March)... so even though I have a list of things I need to accomplish today, I am determined to enjoy it ;)

I rarely watch T.V. In fact, since I've been living on my own (which has been on and off for almost 6 years), I've only ever had basic cable. Ten channels are good enough for me. The main reason I have it is to watch the news, and after I watch the news I sometimes keep the T.V. on, but on mute while I read or write. Last night as I was laying in bed I was flipping channels and stopped when I saw this beaten, 65 year-old woman on the news. She looked like she had just stepped out of 10 boxing matches... from her nose up she was black and purple, swollen and cut up. Her house had been broken into, her money and credit cards stolen and all her food smashed on the floor. By the time she escaped having her head beat against a door over and over by the three intruders and being duct taped from head to toe to her toilet in her own pool of blood she nearly tripped over all her broken glass and china items on her way to call 911. Only, her cell phone had been smashed and her land line disconnected. Thankfully, she made it to a neighbor's house but the intruders/beaters/smashers escaped.

After my heart started beating again I flipped through some more channels. I stopped when I came to another news program and heard the shrieking screams and floppy legs of a 5 year-old strapped to a dentist table having 16 crowns in one sitting. Next thing I knew the welfare mother of that child was crying to the news reporter about how the dentists and assistants not only forbade her from seeing her child during the 2-hour brutal procedure, but when he came out with a soiled shirt and blood dripping from his mouth all she could see was silver-- SIXTEEN of her child's teeth were crowned. The money-driven dentist's response? "I don't want Langley Park to be the laughing stock of the entire Small Smiles nation with the ridiculous production of $7,000. We can't stay in business making $7,000. You can spend 2 hours on a kid who is not stablized and that is not cost productive for us..."
The part owner of that chain of dental offices declined interviews. And by the way, he owns a 7-bath, 12,000 square foot house in Colorado complete with a swimming pool, hot tub, dance studio and personal gym. All while the Medicaid children who were treated in his clinics are left with silver smiles and scarred for life.
See for yourself: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=7016055&page=1

I couldn't take any more. In tears, utter disgust and sick to my stomach, I immediately turned the T.V. off. I am so grieved by injustice and human suffering. Unfortunately, it is a reality in this sick, fallen world but my eyes just can't seem to bear it anymore. When I walked into the burn victims unit at the Macha Mission Hospital in Macha, Zambia Africa last summer and heard the cries of excruciating pain from those 2 and 3 year-old children I immediately wept and had to leave. When I hear about sexual perversion, human trafficking, brutalities, murders, abuse, etc. I have to turn away. My eyes can't bear it.

To think this kind of twisted and sick sin has been around since the day of the first man and God has had to bear it since the creation of TIME just burdens me. I've often asked Him, "HOW can You stand it...?" I indentify with His heart so much when it comes to the reality of sin because my motivational gift is compassion-- I love people more than I can explain and when I see them hurting and in pain I am moved and stirred to action. The Lord took me to the book of Judges this morning and again, I am grieved by what I read. These people didn't have a leader and were walking in spiritual deception and sin.

So how does God handle this dispicable sin? A lot of times, exile. He is forced to drive His people out of their familiar land and turn them over to their sin. They will suffer the consequences. Throughout Judges God gets to the bottom of the sin issue and says, "But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?" People during the Judges period, over 3,000 years ago disobeyed the Commandments of God that would lead them into prosperity... and 3,000 years later, we still haven't understood the vitality of obeying God.

I'm grateful for the mercy and grace of God. He doesn't have to, but in the midst of destruction He raises up mighty men and women of faith, like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Deborah, Ruth and Esther to lead the people into righteousness and faithfulness. And today, we reap the benefits of our faithful, spiritual fathers and mothers-- true heroes-- of the faith, who despite all odds trusted and obeyed the Word and Voice of God that lead the people of God into freedom. Thank you, Lord, that although we haven't chosen You, You have chosen us.

Don't Push Before the Due Date

You hit the ball with agressive force, more than you thought you were capable of... it makes it into the air, past shortstop, and way out into left field. You see the left fielder jump for the ball and miss and excitedly, you run as fast as you can around first. You round second, inch closer to third and bypass your coach standing at third base, knowing Him well enough to know that unless He waved you to "GO!", you stayed at third. But after glancing into left field you realize you can probably make it home so you increase your stride and determine your slide. Head first-- only, after squinting to avoid getting dirt in your eye you don't realize that the ball makes it to the catcher's glove just in time to meet your head. Best slide of your life, yet you walk away with a black eye and a killer headache. Although you knew the risk before walking to the plate the last thing you expected was to get hurt and set back from playing when you thought you could make it.

A few weeks ago I took a step towards God's call on my life without being certain I had the green light from Him. I knew I was walking to the plate without God's O.K. and could potentially abort God's plan, but I figured this HAD to be the way He would work it out so I took the step. The visionary, compassionate leader and designator in me saw the potential in the idea that could lead to accomplishing the vision so I took the steps to "make it happen". I think the primary reason I did it was because I was anxious to see how God could open up the right door. So, I did it and then invited God to hop on my bandwagon. My prayers went something like this: "C'mon Jesus! I know you could work this out! "

A door recently opened that appeared to be the right door-- the perfect person, the perfect need, the perfect timing. It all seemed right. All I had to do was run the "idea" by the big dogs and everything would be PERFECT. Well, the big dogs rejected my "idea" and even gave me an overwhelming consequence if I went through with it. I suffered great disappointment because my motives were pure-- this would have made a way for eliminating hindrances to the fulfillment of my call & essentially brought it to pass sooner as I continue in my season of preparation. What's a girl to do when she feels like she's done everything right, everything looks right yet it doesn't work out?

In this case: back up, repent and wait.

Waiting is the story of my LIFE, and yours, too, if you are a child of the living God. No body likes to wait for God to move and if you are a "visionary step taker" like me you find it challenging to sit back and do nothing when you know you can do something. I find it interesting that although I find complete contentment in trusting in the Lord for the things to come, I still find inpatience in me that sometimes causes me to step beyond my bounds... and likewise hurt myself. Paul Johanssen said something a week ago that convicted me like crazy. He said something to the effect of, "Will you, knowing full well that you could easily make the vision happen by yourself, let the Lord do it all? Will you take your hands off?" It just pierced my spirit in a powerful way. Although my wholehearted prayer every day is that I remain surrendered in every area of my life, I realized I had some trash I needed Jesus to take out. I couldn't believe I tried to "help God out". EW! I was so disgusted with my pride.So my "idea" failed... PRAISE GOD! So I was incredibly disappointed... PRAISE GOD! My omnipotent yet intimate God has a perfect plan in place for this vision to come to pass. And it's one that I could never make happen. I have a lot to learn, but what I have always known (and unfortunately haven't always recognized) is that I would much rather have God's door open in God's time than my door open in my time. The only thing on the opposite side of my door is a disaster waiting to happen.

Please, spare yourself the disappointment: leave God's plan up to God. He doesn't need your help. Hearing and discerning or not hearing and discerning are crucial to determining His steps from your steps. His thoughts and ways are higher than yours. Don't push before the due date, otherwise you risk harming your baby and causing yourself pain that was never intended. Don't position yourself for injury by taking a step without having your Coach wave you on to home. Listen for God's personal voice, and respond by faithfully waiting. Your plan will only abort the process God wants you to walk through. Remember, the PROCESS is key to the PROMISE.(The PROCESS is KEY to the PROMISE. -R. Hotchkin w/ P. King)