Spiritual Combustion

Spiritual combustion takes place when we step over the threshold of an obstacle in faith, and enter a new realm of the Spirit. It is like an explosion of fire in the natural when smoldering embers deprived of oxygen are suddenly exposed to increased oxygen, and accelerated combustion takes place.

I remember watching a video of a house burning. A firefighter was working through the house and opened a door behind which a fire was smoldering. When increased oxygen flow entered the room the fire exploded. Fire is a chemical reaction that requires fuel, heat, and oxygen. Those three components are called the Fire Triangle. Flammability increases as the level of oxygen increases. 

Never underestimate the potential of a simple act of obedience. Your “yes” to the voice of God may have you to step across a spiritual threshold where a smoldering promise has been waiting for the wind of the Spirit to be released by your obedience.  The fire God does not kill or injure when it accelerates in intensity. The purpose of God's fire is to burn away the lies and plans of hell that stood against the potential of a promise becoming a reality. 

God wants to open a door in your life to allow the wind of His Spirit to go before you. The Spirit will ignite a promise that has been smoldering out of sight behind a closed door. He has been waiting for your “yes” so He can open the door. When your "yes" becomes an act of obedience aligning you with a promise from God, supernatural combustion will take place. 

Sprung Traps

The traps set for you will come to no avail. The hands placing these traps in what was perceived as your weakest place was a tactical mistake. It was a mistake because the trap setters did not realize God's power is revealed most profoundly in our vulnerable places. Deceitful and cunning hands will emerge from these weak places with their traps having sprung prematurely, catching the deceivers in their own devices. As they pull their hands out from what they thought was a place of easy prey, their sprung trap will be clinging to their deceitful motive for all to see. The sound of unrighteous traps being prematurely sprung will be soon be heard in the land, from the highest places of influence to the most ignored and hidden servant of God.    

The Love That Never Disappoints

You have most likely heard the phrase, “If the election were held today…” Those words are typically followed by predictions based on data obtained at a given moment in time. This way of looking at life is not predictive. It is short-sighted and spiritually myopic. This short-sightedness takes place not only in the arena of politics but in every area of life where premature judgment calls are made based on what is, not on what could be. 

God is vastly different in how He sees and creates outcomes. He does not rely on polling research or what the status quo is saying. The Lord relies only on His love when He evaluates our life and our future. The love of God sees our future in an expansive redeemed view unrestricted by human fear or faithlessness.  He sees a future where intersecting events are destined to come together to release a miracle of transformation that has been determined by His will to take place. 

The self-described pundits that surround your life can only evaluate your life based on raw, unredeemed data available at the moment. God sees something beyond the moment - something only visible with the eyes of faith. 

God is not done with you or those you love even if the evidence supports your feelings of discouragement and disillusionment. It does not matter if your “election” was held today or tomorrow or next week. What matters is what God has planned for your life. That is where you should place your hope. His love will never disappoint you.

Turned Hearts

The older I become, the more I find myself less impressed with human credentials. Educational achievement, financial portfolios, or professional alliances no longer tell me anything about a person. It is the condition of a person’s heart that is the most critical indicator of the quality of a person's life. Someone can gain impressive personal credentials and professional accolades and have a heart turned away from intimacy with God.

Solomon was noted as the wisest and wealthiest man who ever lived. He was versed broadly in all fields of scientific insight. He could settle the most challenging of social disputes. World leaders sought out his counsel. With all the acclaim he garnered, Solomon had a point of weakness in his character. That weakness caused his heart to turn away from wholehearted devotion to God. His greatest possession, the condition of his heart, was given to the demands of his many foreign wives who asked him to worship their pagan gods, some of those gods were the most detestable false deities of the day.

Solomon’s downfall was disobeying the Lord’s command to Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods” (I Kings 11:2). At the beginning of his downfall, Solomon had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines, and they did turn him away from worshipping God alone. Painfully, I Kings 11:4 describes what happened to Solomon, “In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord His God.” 

The words, “they turned his heart” are chilling. As I read those words, I asked myself, “Is there anything I have allowed to turn my heart away from a singular devotion to God?”  Each day the most important thing any of us will do is to check the condition of our hearts and determine which way it is turning. Any movement away from intimacy with God, even the slightest direction change, must be confronted as our worst enemy and dealt with swiftly or the epithet of our life will produce a sad testimony like the painful end of Solomon's life.

Unfurled Rest

I always tell Jan she makes things better. Everything she touches becomes more peaceful, beautiful, and joyful. One area that receives the benefit of her touch is the way she regularly changes our bedding. Atop our bed is an array of big pillows and down comforters covered with linen duvets. The bed extends an invitation to come and rest. As I crawl into bed each night and feel the crisp, clean sheets, I let out a sigh. As I sigh, I thank God for the peace and comfort of our home. I also thank God for Jan’s thoughtfulness.

This morning, as I sat in my writing chair asking the Lord what to write, I saw an image. The Lord was unfurling a fresh sheet atop a bed. With a flick of His wrist, the sheet unfurled over the bed and floated gently down atop the mattress. The Lord was changing the sheets and making up someone's bed.

Some of you are tired and weary – tired and weary to the bone. These feelings of fatigue are not only from the busyness of your life but from the constant drip of negativity taking place in our culture. It seems freshness and peace are not possible. You feel like you are trying to find a place of rest on a set of old dirty bedsheets long overdue for a change. 

The Lord sees your need for a place of refreshing rest. In the middle of all the fatigue producing issues you are experiencing, He is preparing a bed of rest for you.  He is about to change your emotional and spiritual sheets. You will be invited to lie down on a fresh word from the Lord for the next season of your life. When you lay down on the promise offered by this word you will let out a sigh of thankfulness. The Lord is preparing this place of rest so that you will be able to receive what He is about to speak to you. The word He wants to speak can only be heard from a place of rest.

A Father's Blessing

I've held off releasing this blessing written by Jan for a few days waiting for the right time. I sense today is the right time. Some have had challenging relationships with their earthly father or a father figure. Others are trying to help someone get healed from the wounds of a broken father relationship. I believe hearing the words of this blessing will become a healing salve of the Spirit. These words of blessing will confront the lies embedded in the painful wounds of neglect and abuse. Knowing and receiving God's love is the first step toward healing and restoration of any broken relationship. 

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A Father’s Blessing - Genesis 28:3-4 & Psalm 139

David the Psalmist has a clear picture of the Father’s heart and I turned his words into a Father’s blessing. I also included God’s blessing we inherit through Abraham to Jacob and to all His people of faith (Galatians 3:5-9).

In the Name of Jesus Christ,

may your spirit and soul and body

believe the value your Father

places on you; may His understanding

of you bring you wonder and strength.

Listen to His heart for you—

receive the Father’s blessing:

My hand of love is upon you, imparting

a Father’s blessing to you.

I cherish you constantly;

every single moment I’m thinking of you!

I created you in love, by Love, for love:

I formed your innermost being—

carefully and skillfully shaping you.

My desires for you and your destiny

are more than the grains of sand

on every shore!

I saw who you were created to be

before you became you;

the number of days I planned for you

were already recorded in my book.

I thoroughly know you—

I understand your thoughts

and perceive every movement

of your heart and soul;

I read your heart like an open book.

I know the words you are about to speak

before you form a sentence;

I know every step you will take

before your journey even begins.

When you arrive at your destination,

I am there waiting for you.

I’ve gone into your future to prepare your way;

I follow behind you to spare you

any harm from your past.

I bring light into your night—

there is no such thing as “darkness” with me;

the night is bright as day,

with no difference between the two.

My presence is everywhere.

Never imagine that you could be here

and I somewhere else;

it is impossible to be separated from me.

Wherever you go my hand will guide you,

and my strength will empower you.

May you multiply and be fruitful

and your descendants with you.

May you inherit the land I give you.

May all the generations after you,

and all the families of the earth

be blessed through you.

Through the Veil of Impossibility

God will deliver you into a destination you did not plan, one you could not even imagine. This will be an expression of His love and mercy extended to you through the veil of what you considered an impossibility. Your arrival will become a living testimony that confronts and disempowers the lies that have held you back from living in the fullness of God’s goodness.