christianity

In The Pit – Shelia Burrier

Whirlwind Devotional, Hearing the voice of the Lord , , , , , , , , ,

If, lately, it feels like you’re trying to climb out of a pit while getting knocked back down, here’s what you need to know.
•
Though you’re at a point of desperation, you are in a position to know your surroundings. So, look around.
•
Examine everything. Look for the claw marks on the sides of the wall from your attempts to escape, the puddles of tears you’ve released during this hard + holy process, the hole of freedom at the top of the pit taunting you with all of what could be.
•
But more than anything, when you look down, may you find the imprint of your knees in the dirt ground. It’s where you’ll remember that “His arm is not too short or weak to save, nor his ear too dull to hear”. I pray you’ll recall the faithful hand of a Father who doesn’t abandon His children. He’s been good for a long time, friend. He’s right here with you.
•
As you find yourself disoriented and absolutely exhausted, I pray you’ll muster up enough strength not for an attempted escape, but to lean into these surroundings and kneel. Get familiar with this place and disarm the enemy with the posture of surrender + prayer. Kneel.
•
And kneel again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
•
If you’re gonna be in the pit, it might as well be for His glory. And at just the right time, He will place your feet on solid ground again. You WILL come out of this.

Jesus Is Our Rest – Sheila Burrier

Whirlwind Devotional, Random Thoughts , , , , , , ,

Matthew 11:28-30 New Living Translation

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

May we bow to nothing and no one, but the Father Himself.
•
Not to feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, depression, or addiction.
Not to the opinions or approval of others.
Not to the ways or the weight of this world.
Not to the stagnant or victim mindset.
Not to toxic generational behavior.
•
Nothing.
Let all that we are be a posture of complete surrender to the One who is truly worthy.
•
If you’re feeling weak these days, check your posture. You might be bowing to the wrong things and our shoulders aren’t big enough to carry the burdens that God has asked us to lay down.

What We Have Been Given (Part 1) – Frank Work

Whirlwind Teaching and Equipping , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I have never thought of myself as the smartest man in the room, I don’t have that mindset because I do know my limitations. To a point. I have learned, more through trial and error, what it means to make mistakes, and continually making mistakes, sometimes the same one over and over again. I am fallible. I am weak. In and of myself, I can’t stop the sin which wells up within me on a continuous basis. I battle the urge to not sin, my flesh wants to sin, because that is what the flesh does, it sins and it rebels against the precepts of God and His Holy Word. What I want to say is that I am broken in my desire to fulfill the will of God through my own accord. I can’t accomplish anything that God has set forth before me, because the flesh has no desire to seek the will of the Lord.

I know I am not alone in this. I am not alone as the enemy will assault my mind with the, “What could have been.” I lose my ability to reason, because there is no reasoning in the flesh. The flesh is filled with it’s own desires, it’s own plans and scenarios. Trying to reason with the flesh is like trying to reason with the wind to change direction, it’s impossible. Impossible, unless there is a power above the wind. A force that controls the wind. A Father who has spoken the wind into existences with a small exhale of His nostrils. In the flesh, we are lost in a cave with no light.

This page was a vision I had to bring the word of God to life in some form or fashion. To see the living word of God manifest in reality for those that read it’s articles. I heard today that the church has lost it’s way in seeking the true prophetic word of God. I as the church have lost my desire to hear the real truth of God. Why? Because the prophetic word as we know it today has been prostituted for gain of wealth, fame, and notoriety. Accountability of the prophetic has been lost. What once was, has grown dark. Matthew 5:47 to me, sums it up.

Matthew 5:47Amplified Bible

47 And if you greet only your brothers [wishing them God’s blessing and peace], what more [than others] are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles [who do not know the Lord] do that?

Don’t get me wrong. I do believe that God still speaks to His church. I do believe that the same Spirit that is in Jesus, is the same Spirit that resides in those who call Him Savior and Lord. We prophesy to those we know, because it’s comfortable to us. The enemy knows this, and exploits a weakness in us. It’s call insecurity of worth. If our only desire is to speak to the same 5-10 people over and over again, because we know they will agree with us, then we/I have lost my way into true intimacy with the Lord. I can only gain intimacy with the Lord by spending time with Him and in His presence. Getting to know who He is, and why He chose to save a poor sinner like me. Listen, the reason why Jesus saved me is just as important as the next question. What now?

What is the next step to understanding and walking in true and mature relationship with Jesus? Hopefully in the next several weeks, you and I can help one another understand the true nature of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and how the Holy Spirit works in and through us. I don’t have any answers. I have a lot of questions. I have been following the Lord 20+ years and I am still asking questions. Is the prophetic still true and alive in our day, or have been duped by the charlatans who have tarnished it because of insecurity of worth? Help me with this journey and join me on this adventure.

Destiny – Karen Austin

Whirlwind Prophetic Teaching , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Time marks the realm of man. Eternity marks the realm of God. We are always in a state of transition, ever changing, ever growing. Your destiny is not far away in your future. You are living in the present, which includes your past, as you are entering your future. You see glimpses of your future, even as you live in the present, and have stones of remembrance from your past. Can you look back and see where your past has thrust you to where you are now? Are there places in your life that seemed impassable, but you overcame which placed you in an area where you may never have dared otherwise?

Our lives may look like a patchwork. But as we trust Him, the Father will take every part of our lives and sow them together to make something beautiful. He desires to redeem every pain and every failure and turn them into our greatest testimonies. His design for our lives are originals and are so very precious to Him.

His timetable is not like ours. Forty years is not a long time to Him. We are the ones with a microwave mentality. We call it delay. He calls it perfect timing. We call it slow. He calls it just right. Your journey will last your lifetime. There is always something going on in the spiritual realm. We do not always see this in the natural. This is a faith journey. If we try to make it happen in our own strength and in our timing, our dreams may suffer.

When we allow others to squelch our dreams or determine what we can do, it is like a slow poisoning, We are not being who we are created to be. No one benefits from this. We are not being who we were created to be. The measuring rod for our life is God’s Word and His intent for our lives…not anyone else. If we really knew how much our Father loves us, our lives would be dramatically different. We would know who we are and what our purpose is. This is why He desires for us to spend time with Him, so He may tell us who we really are.

God once told Jill Austin, “Your dreams are like a cup of water, but My dreams for you are like the vastness of an ocean.”

These are the days of dreams and destinies coming to pass. God wants to partner with you in your dream. He gives you the ability to imagine, to create, and then He speaks with gentle whispers in His still small voice – all the while teaching you to trust His perfect timing.

Jesus is calling you to come forth, to take off the grave clothes as He did Lazarus. He is saying to put on your running shoes. It is time for the adventure to begin. This is the hour for the adventurous and not the faint of heart. Come and run with your Heavenly Daddy.

Psalm 20:4 “May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your purpose.”

Putting the Kingdom of God First – Karen Austin

Whirlwind Prophetic Teaching , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hebrews 11:6 “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”

In order to please God according to the scripture above, we must believe that He is and that He desires to reward us as we seek Him. It pleases God when you and I live by faith. Faith is not to be released only regarding His promises for our lives, but also we are to partner with heaven in faith for the harvest of souls that are to come in. The Father desires that we pray and stand in faith for the protection of the unborn and for the young children to be delivered from sex trafficking. There are many injustices that are happening in our world. As the Father places that burden on our hearts, we are to pray in faith for His will to be done.

When we put the Kingdom of God first, all the other things we are stressing over the Father said will be given to us. When I only had a short amount of time to get some things done, I decided to put spend time in prayer. Later, I was amazed at how much I got done in a short amount of time. He multiplied my time!

Galatians 5:6 “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.”

Faith works by love. So in order for our faith to function as He intended, we must check our love walk. A lot of us have to change the way we see others. Jesus saw the tax collectors, the fishermen, the prostitutes from the Father’s original design for them. He treated them as if they were already restored to Him and His will. I believe this is just one of the area His Bride will have to mature in these last days. We must be looking through the lens of the Father’s heart to love people into the Kingdom as Jesus did.

I really believe that the Father is putting His finger on the prophetic culture today. Pure heart prophecy will be key in reaching the goal of bringing in the harvest. We cannot afford to have our personal judgment or opinions get in the way when the Father desires to release His heart to the world. Yes, we will see judgment come upon the earth, but this amazing love of the Father is going to shock the world. I believe it will even shock some church folks too.

He is looking for those who will partner with Him in faith and make a determined decision to love. This will pave the way for the outpouring of His Spirit upon all mankind. Can He trust you? Can He trust me?

Isaiah 62:10 “Pass through, pass through the gates, and go from old to new. Prepare a new path for the people. Build! Build up a highway for them to come to me! Remove every hindrance and unfurl a banner for the nations!

Reality of Spiritual Influence in Our Lives – Karen Austin

Whirlwind Prophetic Teaching , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Most of us go through our day-to-day lives not giving much thought to the spiritual influence in our lives. We tend to just go along with daily events and not think of taking authority over what is disrupting our day. We may think we just are having a bad day or so-and-so was in a bad mood. While these things are true, a lot of them are affected by spiritual influences. We can affect our atmosphere by what we choose to think upon or say. You have probably walked into a room after the ones in the room had an argument. You could sense the heaviness without them saying a word about their disagreement.

During the time of our son’s illness, I was shown and experienced the effects of yielding to His Spirit and the effects of when I yielded to the enemy. The difference in the atmosphere in our son’s hospital room was evident when I came into agreement with the enemy and began to grumble and complain. I learned real quick that I could not afford to allow my emotions to agree with the lies of the enemy! Even though there was truth to what the enemy was saying and in the natural I had every right to get bitter, I had to release the situation to the Father. It was a lesson in dying to self. I could not afford to yield to my feelings or my “rights” if I wanted the atmosphere of heaven, the atmosphere of healing in his room.

I’m sharing these things so you will understand, as I came to understand and am still learning, the reality of how darkness in our attitudes, moods and words that are spoken affect the atmosphere around us. They attract light or darkness to us and those around us. They hinder our going deeper in the spirit to work in coordination with heaven.

It was during a time when I was frustrated and grumbling that I heard Him say, “You must not allow the external (world) to become internal. But instead, you must allow the internal (spirit) to become external.” The inner force of His love, light and power to change our outer world is within us. We must understand that as a news commentator says. “I’m Walter and this is my world.” We must say “I’m God’s agent and this is my world.” We have Holy Spirit influence in us to change our outer world. We must become conscious of what we are releasing.

We must guard our hearts and create a place to be a holy womb for His Spirit to possess. Even in Charismatic circles, we tend to think we only need to guard our actions, words and flow in the spiritual gifts….these are what is important. We can confess and preach the Word, but if we have envy, jealousy, rage or bitterness in our hearts, our spiritual power is diluted. We are coming into a time that our spiritual power cannot be diluted!

It truly is a time of “coming up” as spoken of in Revelation 4:1, to learn what He desires to show us. But this “coming up” is more than that. It is a coming higher to walk in holiness of mind, imaginations, thoughts and beliefs. It is a time to come up out of fear, self-pity and negative speech. So it is not just word and deed, but also, it is what we allow to rule in our heart. It’s being aware of our moods and attitudes that are affecting our spiritual atmosphere…that weaken us spiritually and can also affect us physically. Proverbs 4:23 “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.”

Realize it is in the times when you are tempted to get an attitude, to think evil of another, that God is wanting to use you to bring heaven into the situation. I remember Kenneth Copeland told of a story of him seeing a swarm of flies in the area where he had a freezer of meat. The freezer that had gone bad along with the food in it. The rotten meat released the smell of death and attracted the flies, even though the lid was closed. We are instruments of attracting heaven’s fragrance or hell’s stench. We are partnering with light or with darkness.

So I ask myself and I invite you to ask yourself, “What have I been releasing this week?” If we sow into heaven, we receive heavenly rewards. We are constantly attracting one of two kingdoms. Our spiritual weapons against darkness are prayer, worship, thanksgiving and the Word of God. These keep us wrapped in a protective garment of light….the Kingdom of Light.

The Overshadowing – Karen Austin

Whirlwind Prophetic Teaching , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In the book of Luke, we read of Holy Spirit coming upon and overshadowing Mary which resulted in the God seed of Jesus deposited into her womb. “The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:35

It is only through intimacy that anything is birthed. Within our spirit is the womb of heaven. It is where eternal seeds of destiny have been sown in our spiritual womb. It was the same Holy Spirit that hovered over Mary and impregnated her with spiritual seed that has impregnated you with your dreams and destiny. It is this dream that you hold onto, even though it may not have yet manifested. It is this dream that serves as a compass to your destiny. It is not too late. You are not disqualified because of your gender or your age. You are not disqualified if your family is not walking with your spiritually. Your dream and desires have not been cancelled. In the realm of eternity, His promises are eternal.

So what gets in our way of seeing heaven manifest? He once said to me that the enemy wants to entangle you with the world, while I want to intertwine you with the heavenly. I wasn’t aware there was much of a difference between the two words and had to the difference between entangle and intertwine. Here is what I found:

ENTANGLE: A tangled, twisted mess, not easily separated, to make confused, caught in a net, cause to get involved in something in a way that makes it difficult to escape, conflicts, examples: stress, conflicts with others, impatience, anything that takes you out of peace and joy.

Can you see how the enemy does this in your life?

INTERTWINE: Twisted together like threads of cotton, lover’s limbs interwoven together, closely related as family; a metaphor – getting married, thread of life tangled together, very closely involved.

Truth be told, we are so much more intertwined with the things of the spirit than we imagine!

2 Corinthians 4:18 “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

I am sure all of us have experienced cooking something too long and the food became crusty and stuck to the pan. If we then filled the pan with water and let it sit awhile, the food that was stuck and hard became soft and easily removed. This was my life many years ago before I yielded to the wooing of Holy Spirit to come and spend time in His Presence.

I was crusty and shut down emotionally. I had endured many hurts, disappointments, rejection and had hardened my heart to everything…even receiving love…even to God. It was in this place of intimacy, many tears of healing were shed. Much of the time, not a word was said…but He read my tears and knew my desperation to be healed emotionally. It is so vital to spend intimate time in His presence for it is the place of transformation.

Holy Spirit began to woo me, in that place of intimacy to learn of Him, of His goodness, His tenderness and His fiery love for me. This was not only my journey to healing but also began my journey in becoming more aware of the spirit realm interacting in my life.

He is inviting every one of us on a journey to learn how we can more cooperate with Holy Spirit. There is so much that He desires to share with us. Let’s choose to yield to Him and become atmosphere changes for the Kingdom! Light truly does overcome darkness!

The Quest – Karen Austin

Whirlwind Prophetic Teaching , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

From the moment of our birth upon this earth, the quest for acceptance, true unconditional love was already beating in our very being. We came from a place of unconditional love, as we were created and formed by our Father’s loving hands. “You formed my innermost being, shaping my delicate inside and my intricate outside,
and wove them all together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13.But how could we be searching for something that we never knew existed?

My belief is that we knew the pure love of our Heavenly Father in the realm of eternity. Then when we were born flesh and blood, we instinctively knew we were missing something that made us whole. We quickly learned though how to make our parents jump and give us what we wanted.

As we grew into a toddler, the closest thing to fulfilling the empty place in our hearts was our family. Some of us were blessed to live in a family that affirmed us, many did not. Still, even the best of families could not fill that which we sought.

We then became of age to leave our secure home, our dependence on our parents and off to school we went. We believed everyone would love and dote on us as our parents. We believed everyone was just like us. We had not been harshly judged, told we looked funny, or didn’t wear the latest fashion. For the most part, we had been happy.

Once again, we looked to be accepted. The games we played with our parents to get what we wanted didn’t work with our teachers. We were just one of many who were a little “princess” or “prince”. We began playing sports or joined clubs – or wished that we did, but maybe we didn’t have the money or talent to be included. We wanted to belong to something so much and be like everyone else, so we would fit in and be affirmed. By this time, we were willing to try anything to be loved and accepted. Some of us studied hard to make perfect grades. Others joined every extracurricular activity they could to be “in the crowd”. Though some of our attempts we stumbled on to some things we were good at. Little did we realize that these were a gift that our Heavenly Father deposited into us for His glory.

All the while, our Father was watching over us…seeing the wrong choices we made, seeing the hurt and rejection we endured. He saw some of us ended up hiding from others, even ourselves. Still, in His love, He was always lovingly reaching out to us…longing for us to turn to Him.

We went on to search for the exact career that would fill that still aching need to be loved as we had experienced by our Heavenly Father. We thought being fulfilled was being successful – making it in the world so we would have the acceptance of our peers and our neighbors. We met Mr. or Miss Perfect, got married and had children. All this is wonderful but still….the longing remained.

Somewhere along the way, we finally heard the call of our Father. We accepted Jesus as our Savior. His Presence enveloped us and the pure love. That which we have been seeking our whole life was now not only revealed. Unfortunately, many of us learned more laws than unconditional love. We then began again looking for acceptance from our Pastors and those we deemed “spiritual”. We volunteered for everything there was to do. We worked in the nursery, parked cars, cleaned and did lawn work. We fed the poor, joined the choir and went to nursing homes. Still…we knew there was more. We accepted Him as Savior, but had yet to allow Him to be Lord. Still, all of this is just the Outer Court.

He is RISEN – Bill Chilcote

Whirlwind Prophetic Teaching , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

HE IS RISEN!

He is the Resurrection and life eternal.

His Blood is the power of the Eternal Covenant.

The incorruptible blood of Jesus Christ is on the mercy seat,

it is there as a witness that you and God have a covenant.

When we understand the blood covenant, we will never be the same. We will be as fearless as David facing the Giants in our life. The giants don’t have covenant with God. So when you face uncircumcised problems, remember they are defenseless and defeated… and you have a covenant with a God who will fight your battles for you. If God is for you, we are more than conquerors through Christ. The Blood is the evidence.

He rose triumphantly from the grave on the 3rd day… for you!

He gave us authority in our world to exercise dominion over every giant in our life… because the blood speaks a better word.

It is an honor and a covenant right to use His Name, Jesus Christ!

So in Jesus Name… circumstances, fear, sickness, poverty, devil, this is the day the Lord will give you into my hands. We don’t ever have to be defeated in life, because we have a covenant with God our Father. We sit with Christ Jesus on His Throne in the completed victory on the Cross.

Thank you Jesus for what you did for me. Thank you that you love me deeply. Thank you for Resurrection Sunday!Galatians 4:7 (TPT) Now we’re no longer living like slaves under the law, but we enjoy being God’s very own sons and daughters and because we are His, We can access everything our Father has– for we are heirs of God through Jesus, the Messiah!

The Holy Spirit is…. – Karen Austin.

Whirlwind Prophetic Teaching , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

One day I was meditating on how much Holy Spirit means to me and began to write. I decided to share my musings with you today. I pray they will stir up your love for Him and remind you of all He wants to be and do in your life.

“How can I not love Holy Spirit? How can I not have Holy Spirit as my best friend? His thoughts towards me are always pure. He always sees the best in me. When He corrects me, I know He is showing me truth and not an opinion of man or tradition. Holy Spirit is so full of joy ready to lift my heavy heart. He knows the very heart of my Father – the One who created all things. For it is in the Father that all wisdom is hidden [Romans 11:33]. Holy Spirit accesses that wisdom and reveals it to my heart,

Holy Spirit is the spirit of my soon coming King [Galatians 4:6]. He empowered Jesus upon the earth to withstand all evil and temptation. He does the same for me. He worked through Jesus to heal the sick, cast out devils and raise the dead [Acts 10:38]. He does the same through me. He hovered over chaos and brought order. [Genesis 1:2]. He brings order to my chaos.

Holy Spirit imparted the purest, most powerful love within me as the Father poured His love into my heart through Holy Spirit [Romans 5:5]. Holy Spirit is the change agent in my life conforming me into the image of Christ [2 Corinthians 3:18]. He picks me up when I fall. He encourages me to keep pressing on when I want to give up. He comforts me in my brokenness. He gives me wisdom beyond my comprehension. He releases strength to me when I am weak. He imparts healing when I am sick. He imparts hope when I have none. He believes in me when no one else does. He leads me when I don’t know which way to go.

He is my bright light in times of darkness. He opens the Word to me giving me divine insights. He is always with me, communing with my spirit, even as I sleep. He is my confidant. He never shares my secrets with another. He convicts me of sin, but without condemnation.

He is unpacking all the potential and destiny my Father has placed within me. His nature gifts me with love, joy, unshakeable peace, longsuffering, gentleness, kindness and self-control, patience and goodness. His gifts me with His abilities: words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues.

How can I not love Him? How can I not have Him as by Best Friend?”

“And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Savior, the Holy Spirit of Truth, who will be to you a friend just like me—and he will never leave you. The world won’t receive him because they can’t see him or know him. But you will know him intimately, because he will make his home in you and will live inside you.” John 14:16 TPT

“Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” Psalm 51:11