The Final Piece Of The Puzzle

This has been a week of tremendous movement in the realm of the Spirit. A significant shift has taken place in the heavens that will soon be released on Earth. God is about to amaze us with the rapidity and depth of the coming change.  

When I heard that word earlier this morning, I was drawn to look out the front window of our home.  In the Spirit, I could see a large puzzle hovering in the sky extending from horizon to horizon. It looked like one of those children’s puzzles made out of large pieces of brightly painted wood. I saw the final piece of the puzzle fall into place signaling that everything was ready. 

Expect this heavenly shift to have ramifications in each sphere of culture, especially in government.  We will see the release of unprecedented breakthrough that has been prophesied but not yet experienced.

Don't Waste a Perversion

From time-to-time, I have to block people from my social media accounts. It happened yesterday when a young woman named “Ginger” wanted to connect via Twitter. My first indication that something was amiss was when I noticed she did not dress appropriately for the occasion if you get my drift.

I blocked her and the demon behind the request. I also took a moment to pray for the young woman that God would gain access to her heart and reveal her true value. Whenever something like this happens, I take delight in messing with hell’s plan. Toss me a scrap of perversion of any kind, sexual lust, an abuse of power or the opportunity to control another person, and I try to turn it into a Kingdom adventure. I pray for the victims and perpetrators alike.

For the most part, I have done a pretty good job. The longer I walk with the Lord, the more I am able to see behind the initial presentation of these perversions, and discover the motivating power that created their inviting display and cunning invitation.

James told his readers God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. In the next verse he writes, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). 

When invitations to pervert God's original plan pay us a visit and we engage that visit with a version of personal pride that says, “I can do this in my own strength!” we have already stepped into a place of failure. Only a humble heart that realizes all our feet are made of clay can navigate these encounters with darkness and come out the other side spiritually intact. 

After the admonition to walk in humility, we are invited to submit to God before we offer up any resistance. Why is that? Because only by submitting to God in humility will we discover our personal plan of resistance. We begin to resist these invitations when we delete a “Ginger” and the spirit behind her invitation or when we refuse an offer to abuse our position of authority in another person's life or say no to another slice of apple pie when we are already ten pounds overweight. The devil flees when we begin to execute a plan of resistance that comes from a humble heart in submission to God.  

The next time a perversion pays you a visit don’t waste it. In humility let God know you need His grace to move forward with purity and clarity. In that moment of humble submission,  a plan of counter-attack will come. In the end, your resistance will have made you stronger and the power of hellish seduction will have grown weaker. The devil never imagined that would happen when he began his assault on your calling and destiny.

Our Ugly Moments

It doesn’t take much talent to catch a despised politician or someone we find disgusting in a moment of less than complimentary composure. In those moments a photo is snapped by an opportunist paparazzi to confirm our most base opinion about the person caught in a demeaning image. The photo sells, we repost it on social media, and our hearts remain unchanged. As a result, we become progressively more bitter and cynical and eventually lose our prophetic voice in culture.

God works within a different set of standards. In our most ugly moments, His love doesn’t capture our brokenness or a contorted facial image with an attached caption and broadcast it for all the world to see. He covers us with love. Yes, He exposes sin but He does it because He loves everyone, believer and non-believer alike. God's exposure is not like ours. He does it for love, to redeem and restore. We do it to support our delusion that we are somehow better than the people we demean.

Many of you reading these words have a prophetic calling to speak the truth in love to your culture. If you have identified that gift in your life, the greatest prophetic skill you can acquire will not be given to you just because you went to a prophetic school or conference and took good notes. True prophetic impact does not happen because someone has developed a large following who listen to their voice and buy their products. The kind of prophecy that changes culture prophesies the heart of God, not the heart of man. That level of prophetic ministry is available to anyone willing to come before God with a heart of humility.

Our lives will have the most significant Kingdom impact when we sound and act differently than the mocking spirit of an unredeemed culture.  That lesser kingdom values the expression of bitterness, cynicism and gotcha imagery more than it does revealing the heart of God. Its all about God's heart. That is the message of true prophecy. Choose to look past the ugly moments constantly being placed before your eyes. With that single choice will come a deeper revelation that will turn something ugly into a beautiful work of God. 

Your Gate is Opening

Gates of restriction are opening before you. What has been a hindering presence will no longer be able to restrict your access to what God has promised. Those who stood in opposition to you, and worked as gatekeepers restricting your entry into the place of your calling, will begin to run abandoning their post when they see the Spirit of the Lord going before you. God not only brings down walls of separation, He also swings wide fortified gates that seem to be impenetrable according to human standards. He does this so that you will know your way forward was created by God, not by your strength or determination. This will keep you humble when you enter the city of your calling and pick up the mantle of your destiny and administer its authority with dignity and honor.

Restorative Places

There are days when my soul is soothed by an hour or two of long instrumental electric guitar solos played by a master guitarist. (Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Steve Vai, Mark Knopfler, Joe Satriani, Gary Moore, Stevie Ray Vaughn and my friend, Caleb Quaye, to name just a few.) God uses the gift of music to chip away the crusty edges I have accumulated over time. In the reflection provided by the beauty of music, the Spirit speaks to me. Find that special place or experience that opens you up and exposes your soul to God. He will join you there and bring His gentle healing touch. Some of you reading this need to go to that place. It has been a long time. Refreshment awaits your arrival.

Thoughts and Prayers

The phrase, “thoughts and prayers” is getting some negative press of late. I get the intent of that challenge if, when offering our thoughts and prayers, we don't think or pray. Thoughts and prayers can be seen by some as a convenient kiss-off to actually offering real comfort or getting involved with a meaningful solution for the pain and suffering we see in the world.

Thoughts are never without impact when they are thoughts that come from a mind renewed by the Spirit. Prayers are never powerless when they are empowered by the love of God.

Allow me to make a suggestion. Don’t offer your thoughts and prayers on social media as a comforting post if you are only using it as conversational filler. This is dishonest if we are not doing what we promised. Maybe it is time to stop using those three words and actually create a sentence that will mean something to the reader.

The people you want to encourage may need to hear what you were thinking when you read about the pain they are experiencing. They may want to hear how you prayed for them. This will offer encouragement and hope because it says something of substance.

Maybe the challenge over the value of "thoughts and prayers" has a deeper purpose than just a challenge to its shallow appearance. Its purpose could be to release to the readers of social media what a renewed mind and Spirit-empowered prayer look and sound like.

The next time you hear a painful situation described, ask the Spirit to help you see and understand the situation from God's perspective. Turn that revelation into a meaningful prayer and share it with those in need. It doesn't have to be very long. It only needs to be honest. All of us would love to receive those kinds of thoughts and prayers the next time we are facing a personal challenge.

Stand Up

Many years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said he heard the voice of Jesus tell him to stand up for the cause of civil rights.  This week a television personality ascribed mental illness to anyone who thinks Jesus talks to His followers. Everyone has an opinion.

The word Jesus gave to Dr. King was so powerful that it changed our culture because it changed our hearts. Dr. King’s life and his mission were empowered by a word from Jesus that declared all people are created equal and should be treated with honor. In this moment of our national history, we need a word from the Lord incarnated in brave people who are willing to rise up and speak the truth in love.

Have you noticed after every traumatic event where unspeakable pain and suffering occur, the same solutions are offered, but no meaningful change takes place? People have come to think the solutions offered in the public square are the only way forward. They look at the buffet of opinion and pick a favorite entree and begin to mouth it along with the other frustrated voices, believer, and non-believer alike. While there may be some validity in each opinion, none of these solutions have created the traction needed for real change to take place. We have become an entrenched culture. In some cases, the Church itself lives in the same entrenchment. It is seen by many as intellectually sophomoric to think the answer to our problems could be as simple as a change of heart. Dr. King brought change to our culture because the word he carried and eloquently released changed our hearts.

In many ways, the prophetic voice of the Church has been robbed of its influence by special interest groups, not only in culture but also by special interest groups inside the Church. The emerging prophetic voices that will offer a culture-shifting change of heart will not resemble parrots uttering the same message as the surrounding culture trapped in frustration and dismay. They will be like John the Baptist crying out from a wilderness place offering something new. They will declare a message so powerful in its hope and promise they would be willing leave the confines of their personal Jerusalem and experience one of the greatest of all miracles - a change of heart.