Unleashed

Yesterday, Sunday, August 30, a significant event took place in the spiritual realm. I cannot fully describe what transpired, but like any result of corporate prayer, what sets off a chain reaction of answered prayer may not be fully understood until more history unfolds to provide a context for our understanding. 

On Sunday, I felt s heavy burden without definition or an identified source.  An accompanying depth of frustration, and at times anger, was also present regarding what is taking place in our nation. It was like I was being pulled in the wrong direction by an invisible leash. I felt like I had lost my peace. Then as evening approached, something began to lift, and this morning when I arose, it was gone.

 

Unleashed is defined as “set free from restraints.” For the last few months, we have been leashed emotionally to issues like a pandemic, protests, violence, and division by puppet masters determined to jerk us here and there at the end of their controlling strings. Yesterday, the leash was cut in the Spirit, and today many will wake up to a new perspective because they have been set free.

 

Be careful that you do not define this unleashing as hordes of people running to your preferred opinion. It is not about affirming a human opinion – any human opinion. This is an unleashing that will enable all who are willing to run toward God’s opinion and His heart for our families, cities, and nation. 

 

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1).

Avoiding Ambushes

Ambushes are being set to attack your credibility and derail your calling. Do not allow yourself to be drawn into the line of fire. The impatient and frustrated ones who are walking into these ambushes are being led by their emotions, not the Spirit. There are times when conversation and confrontation no longer serve a purpose. Wisdom may, at the appropriate time, ask us to shelter in place emotionally and relationally until the first wave of a social storm passes. This may be one of those times for some of you. In that sheltered place, the Lord will heal and restore your soul, bringing new clarity and direction.

It's Sad

On Facebook, I have a combined list of friends and followers that number in the thousands. I only mention the number issue for the context of what I want to say. From time to time, in a sea of "friends," someone will become a friend who disagrees with me. They stand out because of the unpleasant nature of their disagreement. I had a person like that who just unfollowed me. Over the years, each time this person confronted me through a negative comment, my first response was, “Did they actually read what I wrote.”  Today, I realized they had enough of me and unfollowed my Facebook page.

Here is the strange thing, I actually felt a bit sad when they left. I was sad that expressing a personal opinion would lead to a dismissal. The person is a follower of Jesus. I always thought the body of Christ could express opposing opinions and still be able to find the way forward, working together to understand each other's viewpoints and grow in the process.

 

What are our relationships going to look like on Wednesday, November 4, the day after the 2020 Presidential election? How about the day after a verdict is issued for a heated trial? Or what about the aftermath of another police shooting when the full video is released, not just a cropped version used to create a false narrative and stir dissent? 

We could make a long list of relationship breakers some people might think are reasons to say goodbye to a person of an opposing opinion. For me, it’s a sad thing because it can announce to the world that people of faith do not have the emotional or spiritual bandwidth to process challenging issues and still remain in a relationship.  It is also sad because if we remove opposing opinions and the challenges they bring to our thinking process, we will create an echo chamber where the only input we receive is the sound of our own voice.

 

Repairing a Frayed Faith

With so many opinions and demands pulling at us during this unfamiliar time in history, it is easy to feel like a worn garment coming apart at the seams. This fraying can produce a thin faith that will rob us of the pure essence of our relationship with God.

I never think of Paul, the great and fearless apostle, as ever being afraid of anything. Yet, he told the Corinthians he was afraid of one thing. "I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Unpacking the language Paul used to frame his comment, he described our faith as simple. Simplicity here refers to our focus. In all the cultural debris being tossed at us, a simple focus on Jesus is our greatest defense against deception. Paul described this simple faith as pure. In other words, unpolluted by any outside source no matter how noble or timely it might appear. He also said our faith should involve devotion to Christ alone. This is a phrase in the original text that means to enter into something, to move towards.

If you feel frayed and the seams of your faith are becoming threadbare, the only remedy for repair is to lay everything down and move once again toward the Lord as your only focus. Embrace the simplicity that you encountered when you first met Him. As you move toward Him, the pollution of other agendas will fall away, and a new clarity will come. A rewoven faith is a wise faith and a faith able to endure the harshest fraying abrasions that come from living in a challenging season of life.

 

  

Writing a Letter to Your Future

This morning while arranging some books and correspondence, I came across my daughter’s 50-Year Letter. It is a letter I asked her and her then-fiancé to write in preparation for their wedding last month. The letter would define what they hoped their marriage would become. In the letter, there was no mention of bank accounts, fast cars, opulent houses, or social status. It was filled with expressions of faith, relationship integrity, and lives yielded to the purposes of God.

When I was a pastor, each time I was asked to officiate a wedding, I had the couple write out a letter outlining their hopes and dreams. I used that letter to counsel them before their marriage and drew from its contents to craft my message during their ceremony. I also asked them to pull out that letter each anniversary and ask the question, “Are we still moving towards these goals and aspirations?” If not, I asked the couple to get some help from trusted friends and counselors so that none of their hopes and dreams would fall by the wayside and become unfulfilled.

 

As I held Anna’s letter in my hand, I felt a nudge to ask some of you, “Have written a letter defining the prophetic promises God has made over your life, your marriage, business, ministry, or your children’s or grandchildren’s future? If not, it may be time to write such a letter. The letter will become a promise-anchor that will keep you from drifting in times of fear and despair when your life and dreams seem to be wandering away from fulfillment.

 

When you write and read your letter in the years to come, you will be prophesying to the original promises made about your future. Just as someone might read God’s word to gain hope, so it is when we have allowed the desires of our hearts to be infused with promises made by God to become a statement of faith that will lead our unfulfilled desires to a place of fulfillment. 

 

Becoming a Usable Vessel

You can tell hell is at work when people choose to believe a bad report about longtime friends and then reject their influence from within a circle of fellowship. Those who believed the bad report may put on a happy face, but underneath the smiles, the dismissal has already done its damage. These negative reports are like rotted balls hurled back and forth, destroying what was once a beautiful thing. What is left behind after a bad report has been allowed to sow its death is the sorrow of betrayal. These experiences are not a complete loss if we can keep our hearts unoffended in the trial. God can use an unoffended heart for His glory in ways not thought possible when we were first tossed aside and dismissed. Passing the test of betrayal and remaining unoffendable will make us a usable vessel in the hand of the Master.

Keep Your Eye on California

As a native Californian having lived in Oregon now for more years than I spent in the state growing up, I have watched California's life and politics with interest. Yesterday, Kamala Harris was selected as Joe Biden’s running mate. Again, my focus was directed to California. 

I was born and raised in California. I love the state’s diversity of geography, climate, and culture. The state is now large enough economically to represent the status of a nation. It is also a state in trouble. Some of its cities are revealing deep despair. People are leaving California in droves. It is not the state of my youth. California has been described as a national indicator of the future direction of the nation. At this moment, it is indicating trouble. It is also destined by the Lord to become a spiritual indicator exhibiting potential for revival and transformation. God loves California, and its people and He has something good planned for the future of the state. 

Four months ago, I wrote a blog article titled, “Out From the Shadow” (linked below). At the time, I knew what the Lord was saying to me, but did not have permission to write in detail. My words appeared like a riddle by design. At the time, I told Jan I felt Kamala Harris would be selected as Biden’s running mate. In the brief article, I said, “One will come forth and walk in the shadow of another. This shadowed one is the primary, not the secondary.”

 

Like some have already expressed they believe Mr. Biden may not have an extended stay in office if elected, for whatever reason. Behind Vice-President Biden now stands Kamala Harris and behind Harris in the shadows, stands the Governor of California, Gavin Newsome. Harris and Newsome both came from the seedbed of the San Francisco political arena. Harris was the city’s District Attorney and later became the state’s Attorney General, and was eventually elected to the state Senate. Newsome was the mayor of San Francisco and later ascended to state politics as Governor. Newsome has been seen by some political observers as a person with presidential aspirations. Also hailing from San Francisco is Speaker Nancy Pelosi. San Francisco is a powerful and well-funded political machine that has produced state and national leaders.

 

What California is revealing to us is the course of a nation’s future in natural terms. Politics, whether you like them or not, do not accurately reveal a nation's spiritual future. Keep your eye on California, not for its politics, but for its spiritual potential. Politics are only natural indicators, not the future spiritual potential of a nation. People in office from any party are not an enemy. They are people loved by God who deserve our prayers. Look past the personalities and platforms to see what God is doing in the state. Begin to pray for those in power and those aspiring to power. Don’t limit your prayers to simply a change of those in office or a particular policy with which you disagree. Keep praying for the hearts of the state’s leaders to experience God’s love. Also, keep praying for God's justice to be revealed so that real change can take place.

 

I am believing in something beautiful and transformative to happen in my home state. God wants to show us that those we might deem as enemies of the good can actually become partners in righteousness. For some, this will be a leap of faith to believe it could be possible because they only know and have been led to believe a negative narrative, not a Kingdom narrative.

 

God is creating a new narrative for California, and that sound is being heard by those with ears to hear. That is the narrative we need to pray into and its where we should invest our resources and energy. Keep God’s heart for California in the forefront of your thinking and call to remembrance the prophecies of goodness spoken over her. 

www.prophetichorizons.com/2020/03/out-from-shadow.html

An Approaching Moment of Singularity

I listened to an interview with a scientist describing the concept of Singularity. Singularity is a moment in history when seemingly disconnected events happen at the same time with such rapidity, they seem to the human mind as a single event. It would be like all the scientific and technological advancements made in the last 100 years happening in a single moment. It will be an overwhelming experience to a mind not accustomed to such rapid revelation.

A moment in human history is approaching that will challenge our understanding of life and how the future will unfold. When this time comes, the Lord will be the only safe harbor as these events unfold, seemingly out of control. 

This is not another end-times scenario. It is a moment of transition where the Church will be revived and reformed to engage culture with hope and offer solutions that will solve many of the struggles faced by humanity. The opportunity these events offer will become gateways into Ephesians 3:20 moments in human history where God will accomplish more than we could imagine. These events will lead us to a hope-filled future.

On the world stage, events are beginning to cluster into what will become a moment of singularity. The prophets have spoken of these events many times but as isolated revelations. A moment of singularity is being formed that will bring together the fulfillment of multiple prophecies that seemed wild and questionable at the time of their initial delivery. This single moment of mass fulfillment will create confusion and in some cases, delusion for many whose eyes are not focused on the Lord, even among those whose faith appeared strong in the past.

 

As this moment of singularity appears, there will be only one way to survive emotionally and spiritually. As the psalmist said, “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Psalm 16:8). As the world shakes in a moment of unexpected singularity, we have an opportunity to live with an unshakeable faith in the One who is never shaken by the turmoil and transitions of humanity.

 

In Those Days and In These Days

“In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (Judges 17:6).

 

The spirit of rebellion manifesting in our nation has arrived and displayed its presence because many have become their own lords, believer, and non-believer alike. Just as Micah did in Judges 17, we can lose our way to such a degree that we create shrines and idols to honor our rebellion and begin to worship a false image of freedom. This indictment is for all from masked anarchists wanting to tear it all down to someone sitting in a church pew wringing their hands in disgust at what is happening in the streets and placing their hope in the outcome of the next election.

 

We don’t do well when we become our own lords and rulers. Only God can be Lord, and only He can rule righteously. This is why His Kingdom is not of this world but invades this world, displacing shrines of deception that rob us of real hope. 

 

A great apostasy is afoot, and the apostate spirit revealing itself is a practiced deceiver. Be careful where you hitch the wagon of your commitment. At some point, that commitment will require your worship. 

 

 

 

Your New Orbit of Understanding

Your attempt to process what is taking place in the world has been a dizzying experience. Life has been spinning with increasing velocity. It has been a challenge as you tried to hold on to the sense of stability you enjoyed within the familiar orbit of the past. 

As the speed of this emotional and spiritual orbit has ramped up, you feel as though you have lost control. You have been shot out from the security of your previous orbit into a universe of thought you did not know even existed. 

This loss of control is actually a work of the Lord. He has audiences that need to hear your voice. In the old orbit, you held on revolving around a limited understanding of a greater truth. What you have processed in the last few months will become the core of a message God will have you deliver to those who have been waiting for your arrival.  

Chasing After God

There has been only one principle that Jan and I followed when needing to discover our next step in life. That principle has been to follow the Lord at all costs. We had a few times when we stumbled, but when we finally stepped out in faith, that single principle has led us without fail in the last 47 years of marriage and 40 years of service in God’s Kingdom.

At times chasing after God made no sense financially or logically. It created challenging times with good friends who did not understand. It changed how people viewed us, and in some cases, radically altered the trajectory of our lives.

As someone on the last lap or two of life, I can look back over the previous four decades of life and say, following the leading of the Lord has been the single most important decision we have ever made. It has been our key to fulfillment in all areas of our life. Today, Jan and I have no needs, but if tomorrow should a need arise, we know that in Christ, we lack no good thing. 

If you want to know your next step in life - chase after the Lord. His is the calling of your life, not what you do to express that calling. Follow Him wherever He leads no matter the cost or the jeopardy that choice creates. The place where God is leading you and how you will execute that calling will be the by-products of obeying His voice. That choice will challenge your faith when your doubts and the counsel of others tell you to take a safe and predictable course. 

Each day, Jan and I wake up and thank God for our life together, knowing we did not get here on our own or by our wisdom. We were brought to this place by a faithful Lord who invited us to follow Him. He is waiting to take your hand and show you how to move forward to something you could not imagine. Take Him up on His invitation, and you will never live with regret.

Joy to the World

Yesterday, while on a hike, I found myself singing Christmas carols. It was an out-of-the-blue kind of experience. While I sang the carols, I began to feel lighter and emotionally free. It was a pleasant sensation.

This morning, Jan shared with me a couple of articles written just this week by prophetic voices regarding the topic of Christmas. The Spirit is saying something.  In this season of isolation where increasing levels of frustration and anger are manifesting, we don’t have to let the negativity of the season affect the moment. We can import experiences of joy, like singing Christmas carols in April, into a season filled with despair and literally shift our attitude and hopefully, the environment and relationships around us.

If this sounds too simplistic or like an attempt to ignore reality, you are missing the point. Faith is supposed to overcome the restrictions of this life that want to rob us of our joy or tell us something cannot be done. There is nothing simplistic about it. It is a spiritual act empowered by faith. The sanest thing I did yesterday was to sing Christmas carols in April on a mountain trail out in the middle of nowhere.

Jingle your bells!

Pouring Hot Faith

I like to get up in the morning and hit the brew button on our coffeemaker and, within a couple of minutes, have a hot cup of coffee in hand to go along with my Dutch stroopwafel. This morning, the coffeemaker beeped, letting me know the coffee was ready. I placed my cup on the counter and began to pour. Out came clear hot water. I forgot to add the coffee. This is not a good thing to experience early in the morning. The hot water lacked substance. Without the substance of the ground coffee, the water remained just water and did not become the magic liquid, so many of us enjoy each day.

Most of us are familiar with the traditional reading of Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The word “substance” is a pivotal word in the verse. It has been defined as “confidence, firm trust, assurance.” "Substance" is formed from two Greek words, “under” and “to cause or make to stand.” In other words, our confidence is based on something foundational that is not seen but makes us confident, firm, and assured. It allows us to stand in impossible places of belief and not give up, even when no natural evidence is present to support our faith.

If we do not believe in something not yet seen in the natural world, we will live a version of spiritual life that resembles someone pouring only hot water, not a fresh cup of hot coffee. When we live by faith believing in the substance of things not yet seen but promised, it is because we have anchored our hope in a realm beyond what we can see with natural sight. The greatest possibilities are waiting just beyond the line that defines something as impossible. Only a faith of substance can cross that line.

The Danger of Relevancy and Credibility

As warm and embracing as our faith might be to us personally, to some, it will come across as strange, insignificant, or even foolish. One reason why we are seeing unhealthy doctrines entering the church is that, in some cases, our core message has been compromised in the pursuit of relevancy and credibility. For some, the highest compliment of their faith is to be accepted by all. The record of Scripture paints a different picture.

The Epicurean and Stoic philosophers listening to Paul in Athens said of his message, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up? When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt” (Acts 17:18,32). These Greek philosophers were the thought-molders of the culture in their day.

The Roman court dismissively referring to Paul’s faith, “It was something about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who Paul insists is alive” (Acts 25:19). This “something about their religion” attitude conveyed a feeling of irrelevance toward the message of Christ in the highest civil court of the day.

The believers in Corinth, who in some ways resemble the Church in Western culture, faced a similar issue. In his first letter, Paul let the Corinthians know their faith will not always appear credible to the surrounding culture. Paul wrote, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the very power of God” (I Corinthians 1:17).

So, how then do we live? We live with an on-going tension between actually wanting to be relevant and credible in the right way, yet not compromising truth. There was something the Early Church carried with them each day that allowed them to move through the rejection of the message they preached. They carried anticipation of the supernatural.  The signs, wonders, and miracles of God confirmed their message in a way that legal or social acceptance could not.  The same is true for us today. An expression of faith without the expectation of God supernaturally confirming our message will always lead to compromise because we will seek an unhealthy expression of relevance and credibility as our solution. This compromise happens because the confirming element of what we preach is something we produce, not God.

“And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose” (Hebrews 2:4).

The Keeper of the Keys

From time-to-time, I will hear a simple phrase in my spirit that I know is the Lord speaking. This morning, I heard the words “keeper of the keys.” When I heard those words, I also received an expanded application. The phrase is a reminder for each of us who carry the keys of God’s Kingdom that those keys have a purpose. Jesus described the keys to Peter, “And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven” (Matthew 16:19).

We have some unlocking to do. This unlocking will take place in what Paul described as the second heaven, the realm between earth and the highest Heaven where Jesus sits enthroned alongside the Father. Jesus gave us the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to do our most significant form of spiritual warfare in the realm of the second heaven and ultimately take the fruit of that battle into the realm of earth to declare (forbid) the works of darkness.

Some of us are trying to insert our heavenly keys into natural locks in the first heaven - earth, and we wonder why nothing is opening up. The keys we possess have the power and authority to confront the activity of the dark powers at work in the second heaven that hold individuals and cultures in a place of bondage in the first heaven. 

The “forbid on earth” part of the Lord's instruction is our declaration of a victory that takes place after a lock has been turned in prayer and spiritual warfare in the second heaven. Once we turn Heaven's key in that realm, we will be able to confidently declare a victory on earth as it is in Heaven.

Crossing Frontiers

In your transition, you will cross a spiritual frontier. All spiritual frontiers have demons guarding them. Don’t ignore this reality. Stepping through the gates of transition will cause them to react. 

Every physical crossing recorded in scripture was a spiritual crossing. These crossings were guarded by dark spirits whose primary assignment was to detour and delay God’s people through fear and discouragement. 

This is not just a simple life adjustment you are making. You are crossing into destiny. In this crossing, you will come face to face with demonic powers whose primary assignment is to prevent you from crossing over into your destiny. They have been placed there purposefully to try to foil the plans of God. 

You may have forgotten that your battle is not against flesh and blood. You may even think the problem is just you and your personal issues. The battle is larger; it is a spiritual battle in which you are contending against dark forces. This is your reality check. 

 (An excerpt from the book, A Good Place.) 

Accusers and Accusations

An accusation, especially a public accusation, can be devastating. Imagine the sin you deplore above all others. Then imagine you wake up tomorrow morning and began reading through social media to find out, to your horror, you were being wrongly accused of that sin. You would then begin to read statements from people who chimed in to the comment section agreeing with your accuser saying the equivalent of “I had my suspicions!” No amount to public comment or explanation from you would ever be able to retrieve your previous reputation. 

Accusations are a tactic of hell. That is why Satan is called the accuser of the brethren. Be care to whose opinionated wagon of accusation you choose to hitch your honor. Accusers are a dime a dozen. Redeemers are few and far between. Redemption takes courage and will require the integrity of silence in the face of ongoing accusation until a process of restoration is complete. Anyone can publish a list of sins and bring accusation before the full story is known. Be careful. Be wise. Be slow to speak and even slower to believe the first draft of any accusation.

Today in Portland, Oregon

Today, two extremes of the ideological/political spectrum will confront each other in demonstrations in the streets of Portland, Oregon. Hopefully, the event will be peaceful. Many hold no hope for that outcome. As these two groups gather and confront each other, in the clash you will see the failure of each spectrum, especially if it takes a violent turn as these events have done in the past. 

I have friends who will be gathering to pray and worship in the midst of, and in the face of these protests. Not only is this a brave and daring thing to do, but it will also become a visible demonstration of another spectrum – the Heaven to Earth spectrum. This is what Jesus introduced to His disciples when He taught them to pray on Earth as it is in Heaven. It is a calling to stand in the cultural seams of discontent and reveal the heart of God.

In the United States, we are free to express our opinion peacefully in the public square. If Heaven does not take precedence in our thinking, in times of social intransigence, we will be left with frustrating and futile options like those that will be on display today in the streets of Portland, Oregon. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have been called by God to bring from Heaven to Earth the solutions and options not seen on either side of our heated social debate. Before you engage socially, ask God to reveal His plans and directives. These are the ones that are not always seen on our TV and computer screens by a news media who live by the motto “If it bleeds, it leads.” 

Today, the path of two distinctly different bloodlines will be revealed. One bloodline will follow a trail of blood left behind by misdirected and angry people who have no ability to change the culture for the better. The other bloodline will reveal a path of blood left behind by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as humankind's only hope. You will see that bloodline being demonstrated today in prayer and worship by those who get their marching orders from above, not from the spectrum of human opinion. What cannot be seen today by the natural eye are the angelic hosts that will descend upon the streets of Portland, Oregon in answer to those prayers and worship.

God's Plural Plans for Our Lives

When a life plan falls apart it and a feeling of discouragement arrives, it is too easy to believe a lie that says God has only one plan for our life. In those painful experiences, we can give up because we don't see a new way forward, thinking we serve a one-shot God. God has more than one plan for each life and He can make each one of them work no matter what kind of derailment has taken place.

During a lunch conversation with my daughter, Anna, she mentioned the plural usage of the word “plans” in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” I looked up the verse just to read it again with fresh eyes and contemplate what the Lord was saying. As I read the verse, I realized the beauty of God’s creative ability when it comes to the failed plans in our lives. He is the infinite God of all things, including the revelation of a new way forward when we think our failed plan was the end of our road.

If a plan for your life did not work out, come to God in prayer and worship and ask Him to reveal another plan. These other plans are not second rate or lesser in value or quality than the original plan. God’s plans are all created in love and filled with excellence. He is waiting to hear from people whose plan was painfully dismantled. 

The Lord wants us to believe He has more goodness in store for our lives beyond the pain of what fell apart. God's goodness is always ready to reveal a new way forward with a new plan that will lead us into a future filled with hope.

The Arrival of Your Good Deeds

As I read through the 14^th chapter of Revelation, I came across verse 13. One part of that verse caught my attention. The text reads, “…for their good deeds follow them.” As I pondered what that phrase could mean for us today, I began to get a sense of what the Lord wanted to say to some of you reading these words.

You have had seasons in your life that were filled with trials and challenges, but you kept moving forward in faith. At times what took place was overwhelming. You felt alone even though in your heart you always knew the Lord was near. It has been a struggle trying to find meaning in all that has transpired.

The Lord wants you to know your good deeds have not disappeared. They have been following you and are about to arrive to manifest something you could not have imagined or even considered as a possibility. These good deeds that have been following you are the acts of obedience and love you did in the name of the Lord when it would have been easy for you to simply bail out on your life of faith. 

Your good deeds have been silently following you waiting for a moment in time when at the Lord’s command, their accumulated goodness would be poured out upon your life. You will be overwhelmed when you see what has been following you.