Spiritual Intuition

As you mature as a follower of Christ you will learn how to trust your gut instinct – your intuition.  Some in the Church resist this kind of thinking because it lacks an outward image of spirituality.

There are two kinds of intuition. There is a natural intuition that can only draw on human logic and common sense.  This intuition cannot accomplish the work of God’s Kingdom because if it could we would not need the Spirit.  The other kind of intuition is the intuition of God’s Spirit. This intuition is hard to explain.  It is simply something your new Spirit-inspired nature knows to be right.

When the Spirit of God entered your life the old nature took a back seat to the greater nature of your new identity in Christ.  Because your spiritual default has been reset as a new creation the desires of the old nature and its accompanying sin is not your first response. Your default has been reset to live righteously.

Today, trust those small inner impressions of the Spirit that some will dismiss because that lack religious drama.  Some of the greatest miracles will take place because you followed the lead of something in your gut that sounded like God.

Choose Wisely

Some of the goodness you are now experiencing can be traced back to a single decision someone made years ago not to compromise.  Someone made a decision to believe for more and that choice has become a blessing in your life. God began to position His promise around that single decision for its fulfillment somewhere in the future.  You are now living in that future.

Your current circle of relationships and alliances were all positioned to intersect your life today because of decisions made long ago.  Do not think that your decisions are without the power. These decisions can help create a future where people you do not yet know will be released to move into their destiny.

The most insignificant appearing decision you make today has tremendous potential both now and in the distant future.  It can be too easy for you to think some of these less prominent decisions  – the ones without lots of fanfare – have little consequence.  No decision is without power and consequence. These seemingly small decisions have the potential to set in motion your destiny and the destiny of those yet to be born.   Future generations will trace their blessing back to you and the decisions you make today. Choose wisely.

Possessing After Pursuing

You are coming to a moment in time when what you have pursued will be overtaken. This has been a dream that has always been out in front of you – just out of reach, but now you will take hold of it. 

Your coming circumstance will be like that of the children of Israel who walked in hope for so many years and then finally arrived in the Promised Land. Upon their arrival they needed to make a transition from being a pursuer to becoming a possessor.

When a promise becomes a reality there are three things you will need to do to fully possess and experience it’s goodness. There will be enemy encampments waiting to rob you of what has been promised. These encampments are driven out by exposure to the light of God’s truth. Your promise will need to be governed. This government is installed when you choose to eat the fruit of self-control instead of personal demands. And finally, you will need to create a nurturing environment where the Spirit is free to speak words of comfort and encouragement when the promise is challenged by internal doubt or outward opposition. In the end you will find out that possessing the promise is more challenging than its pursuit, but once you taste of its goodness it will be far more rewarding.

One Season Will Overtake Another

You have entered a season of unusual harvest.  You thought that once you harvest this current crop you would need to plow again and sow more seed, but God has another plan. As you enter your field of labor and begin to harvest this current crop another crop will sprout up beneath your feet.

The cycle of normal seasons has ended.  You are entering a time where one season will overtake another and all your efforts will become a single act of harvesting. An unusual moment in history is here that will manifest simultaneous seasons of reaping and violate the natural laws of harvest. As Amos the prophet said, “The time will come, says the Lord when the grain and grapes will grow faster than they can be harvested.”

Let God humble you as you experience this harvest.  The people who have gone before you planted seeds in anticipation of a future harvest they would not get to see. Harvest this crop in humility knowing that you have been sovereignly positioned in this unusual moment of history.  This harvest will come forth not because you are more faithful than those who have gone before you.  This harvest is coming because God has said, “This is the time” and you happened to be the one present when the harvest began.

The Coming Wind Of God's Presence

You just had one of those nudges of God’s Spirit that felt like a small wind disturbing a leaf and blowing it across your path.  This kind of impression would not normally be anything of importance, but you are beginning to realize it was God speaking to you.  The sense you have is similar to how great storms are birthed in the natural realm. All storms begin with the slightest of breezes.

Each move of God also begins with a gentle breeze. God uses these movements of spiritual air to gain the attention of His people. The prophets of old discerned these breezes and prophesied the coming of the mighty rushing wind of Pentecost.

You have been made aware for a reason.  God did not remind you of the coming wind of His presence to run and hide in a religious storm shelter.  Don’t be afraid. His wind only destroys those things that stand in the way of His will and the destiny of His people.  When the next wind of heaven begins to blow go outside and stand in its power.  Experience the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit. Don’t be concerned with what you cannot explain in the storm.  The greatest spiritual winds will swirl with mystery because we are dealing with the Creator God of the universe.

Jumping Into Nothing

You jumped without considering the consequence.  It was a reflex action that now has you airborne and you don’t know where you will land. 

As you fall you hear the Lord say, “Declare a landing zone”. His words seem strange because you know what you did was impulsive without asking the Lord what He wanted.  The Lord’s request reveals His heart for you.  He wants you to know that it’s not over until He says it is over.  There is always hope when God is involved. Though your initial leap was without inquiry, God in His mercy still wants to deliver you safely into a good place. 

As you continue to fall through the air of your impulsive decision and begin making your declaration for a new landing zone some people in your life will think you are playing games with God and with your circumstance.  Their opinion is not what matters in this moment.  What matters is that you are obedient to God.  Declare a new landing zone and you will find your feet landing in a place of strength and security.  In this newly declared landing zone, you will land possessing a humble heart because you realize you were just rescued by the mercy of God.

Vertical Leadership Structures

You have been struggling with a vertical structure of leadership.  This form of leadership resembles a totem pole.  The leaders on top must fall off in failure or die before those beneath them can rise higher.

We are in a time of Church history where the most effective forms of leadership will lay down this totem pole model and become horizontal in form and function.  The totem pole advances its mission by addition – you add to the bottom to create vertical increase. With an increase in height this structure becomes increasingly unstable.  The horizontal model of leadership allows each member of the team to move at different speeds based on their unique gifts and calling.  The horizontal model is stable because all the boots of the team are on the ground at the same time.

Apostolic structure is not hierarchal and vertical.  In the horizontal model apostles stand side-by-side with the other equipping gifts.  They are first not in a position on a totem pole, but first off the line once the leadership model is brought down to earth. These sent ones simply move out ahead of the rest of the team to explore new spiritual territory.

For some of you it is time to jump off the totem pole.  The higher you rise in this vertical model of leadership the more distant you become from those you are trying to reach.  As your leadership team surrenders their position on the totem pole and chooses to lay down the vertical organizational structure, the results of this newly adopted horizontal model will begin to multiply supernaturally releasing the untapped potential of your team.

Running Scared

You have been running scared. God is asking you to slow down and start walking in faith. This walk of faith is a gentle stroll. Its cadence is set by peace, not by fear. What has pursued you can only overwhelm you if you continue to run in fear. Fear can never outrun and overtake a walk of faith.

Pushed Into Something New

A quick shift has taken place. Everything has changed. You didn’t see it coming. You feel like you have been pushed from a familiar room through an unseen doorway into a strange new place. No one asked your permission. It just happened. Nothing looks the same. The room is empty and unfurnished. Your heartbeat is the only sound that echoes off the bare walls.

You understood how to live your life in the room of your past. This new place is strange and uninviting. You want to go back, but the door behind you is closed. There is a reason all of this happened this way.

God was the one who pushed you into this new place. What happened contradicts your current understanding of God and how He works in your life. You have always thought you had to make the decision before this kind of change would take place. What God is showing you is that He answers unformulated prayers. He knew your deepest desires. He heard the cry of your heart that had not yet formed a conscious prayer for deliverance. His love set circumstances in motion to bring you into this new place. Trust Him. God is about to furnish this new and unfamiliar place with an increasing awareness of His presence and when it is all over it will feel like home.

A Train Without Tracks

Recently, your life has felt like a fully loaded locomotive moving at full speed with train cars lined up behind you as far as the eye can see.  There has been a tremendous momentum developed in your life in this past season. 

Through unforeseen events all of a sudden you see the end of the train tracks ahead of you.  The visible rails of this current season are coming to an end and there is nothing ahead of you but unknown and untested desert sand.  It is too late to put on the brakes. There is not enough time.  You are thinking that in just a few moments your life will derail and crash into the soft sand of your undefined future. The possibility of this coming crash has taken your breath away.

God will make a way in this fast approaching desert when no way seems possible. God will not allow what He has set in motion in your life to end in disaster.  He has laid tracks under the sand of your developing future that are not yet visible to the natural eye.  These tracks will rise up and catch the wheels of your life and deliver you across this undefined desert place.  He has been this route before with many others just like you.  He knows what He is doing.  Trust Him to get you to your promised destination.  Instead of crying out in fear at the end of the tracks, cry out in joy for what God is about to do. Your act of faith is to believe in the substance of tracks not yet seen.

A Reality Check

With international tensions rising and fear taking hold of nations, I want to release the words of Isaiah the prophet as a timely reality check. The news broadcasters and the fear mongers want to rob the Church of her peace. This is a time to take hold of the hope within you. Don’t allow fear to determine how you think or how you will respond to the challenges of life. Receive what Isaiah wrote almost 3,000 years ago as a reminder for us today:

“The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, “Don’t call everything a conspiracy like they do and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear.’” Isaiah 8: 11-13

Religious Talking Points

Put down the religious talking points.  Someone else crafted these words and handed them to you. Now they are demanding that you speak them if you want to belong to the group. These are not your words, nor do they express the heart of God.  It is right for you to feel uncomfortable because these talking points put God in the restricting box of human understanding.  

This old worn out script comes up with every new move of God and tries to silence those experiencing a new expression of joy. Give the script back and bless those demanding that you look and sound like them.  Pick up the new thing God has put in your heart and declare it with love and boldness.

Not everyone will understand your decision.  Your words will challenge a controlling religious spirit.  Take courage.  This is a work of God  – even the things you cannot adequately explain to your inquisitors. Keep your heart pure so the same spirit that now challenges your freedom does not have the ability to taint the new and fresh words you are about to speak.