God

Let the Walls Fall!- Karen Austin

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One thing that I sense is that the Father’s heart is pleased as His Body is beginning to arise. I have seen multiple worship folks who got together to create live worship during the day to glorify Jesus on Facebook, even though they come from different churches. Live Facebook prayer gatherings are taking place. Messenger prayer groups are sharing prayer requests. People are watching pastors from another church’s services. Once again families are coming together in prayer. We are seeing neighbors talking to one another as they step out of their homes to get some fresh air.

My prayer is that the dividing line is coming down in His Body. It is going to take all of us laying aside our spiritual pride and our idols to see things change as we desire to see them change in our nation. Our nation’s leaders are doing a terrific job, but ultimately the responsibility lies with the Church. I truly believe church will no longer be as it was. We have known a shift was coming, but did not know that a virus would be part of what prompts this change.

The church as a whole has gotten very complacent regarding spiritual things as spoken of the Laodicean church. “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Revelation 3:15-17. We lost our fire, our zeal and our passion for the things of the Lord. Now, I am not speaking of all who identify as believers, but I am speaking of the church at large. As long as things were going well in personal and professional lives and we had a quick Sunday service, we were satisfied. As long as there wasn’t much of a demand placed upon us to change and die to self, all was good. But times have changed and I believe it is a good thing.

We will look back at this time and see that this interruption in “normal” church life was exactly what was needed. As we can see from the early church in scripture, “normal” was not in their vocabulary. We read of boldness in the face of opposition and persecution. Healing’s disruption and elimination of disease. Deliverance from demonic possession. What the enemy has meant for destruction, if we as His church partner with Heaven, will turn this around for resurrection of His church. Interruption meant for destruction will instead result in resurrection! Can I tell you we should never be satisfied with where we are spiritually. There is sooooo much more!!

May we not go back to being comfortable and complacent!! Times have changed and will demand a church totally filled to overflowing by Holy Spirit, full of power and on fire for His Kingdom to manifest in today’s world!

Whats Eating You??? (Part 3) – Gary Florence

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So here we are again, are you ready to walk down memory lane with me on a day that I was a total train wreck? I will ask you one thing, as you read this can you identify with what I am sharing and maybe even see yourself in it? It all started on a Saturday morning have you heard the phrases “waking up on the wrong side of the bed” and “a bear with a sore behind.” That is how my day started and ended and to make matters worse my wife works for a hospital and she has off every other weekend and it just so happens this is her weekend off.

So I am sure she was thinking “Really this had to happen on my weekend off and now I have to put up with this all day instead of only a part of the day?” Murphey’s law was in full effect, “anything that could go wrong will go wrong.” All day long one thing after another kept going wrong and instead of addressing it I kept stuffing it down inside of me until the volcano eruption took place. The smoke was billowing and the hot lava was spewing out all over the place. I could not reel myself in and needless to say my wife was getting the brunt of the storm. So I went to bed the same way I woke up. The next day (Sunday) I got up and took our dog a walk to try and release the stress that had built up from the previous day. The guilt, shame, and condemnation was coming at me from all sides as if it was a flood drowning me in it.

I literally was walking hunched over hanging my head in sorrow. I remembered 1 John 1:9 and was mumbling it over and over out loud to myself. “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and purify us from all unrighteous.” When I was a young Christian I remembered being taught this very verse because I was told you are nothing but a miserable sinner and you will have to say this scripture over and over. So at this point I am feeling pretty bad about myself “nothing but a miserable sinner” trying to convince God that He had to forgive me according to His word which He does time and time again, as this guilt, shame, and condemnation was eating away at me. Then all of a sudden the Holy Spirit arrested me and said “If you think repentance is something (a Law) that you have to do then it will be something (a Law) that you feel you must do (a Law) but if you look at repentance as a gift from God and receive it as a gift and not a law when you stumble and fall instead of being like Adam and Eve where they ran and hid from Him you will run to Him and freely open up this gift of repentance and forgiveness.”

I am going to end this right here and the next time we get together I am going to share with you what happened in my life when I took the advice from the Holy Spirit and received repentance and forgiveness as a gift and not as a law and opened it up and what the result had on guilt, shame and condemnation throughout my life. I will give you a hint, it’s exciting!!!!!

Don’t Social Distance from God – Karen Austin

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I am sure we have all heard the new buzz words “Social Distancing”. Even though that is what the experts are advising and I concur with this advice, I sense these are the same words Holy Spirit is saying. Not that we do not have a social life or social contact in one form or another, but that we distance ourselves from bingeing on social media and instead spend the time praying and seeking His face. Of course, we should catch the latest updates from our nation’s leaders, but guard against the temptation for 24/7 media gorging. It is so easy to get caught up in that.

We have been given a parenthesis in time from other activities which we say prevent us from spending time as much time as we would like in the Word and with Him. We have entered a new era and can no longer move along our spiritual journey by being on rote. It would behoove us to distance ourselves from hours of intake of Facebook, fear and doom statements from some news media, and enter into His chambers to obtain His wisdom on how to maneuver spiritually in these days and hours that lie ahead. Holy Spirit will share with you what to do to be healthy He will lead you as to where to go or not to go. We must be a people led by the Spirit and a people of peace. After all, He is the One who knows all things! He knows how this will end. I do sense, however, things have changed from now going forward.

We need to social distance ourselves from those who speak nothing but negativity and fear into our lives and have no desire to change. We certainly pray for them, but do not continue to expose our self to their draining negative opinions. Guarding our ear gates and our eye gates will be very important.

Feed yourself on His Word. I can tell you after our son passed, I had very little physical strength or emotional strength from the long season of continual high stressors. When I began spending time in His Word, I would come away from those times actually feeling physical strength coming into my body. It was what made a marked difference in my journey back to health.

My prayer is that a fire has begun in His church and will continue to grow…that His church will not go back to being lukewarm after this virus issue is solved, as in former days. May you and I be a catalyst of His Holy fire spreading faster and more powerful than any virus ever can and this HOLY FIRE brings LIFE!!

Speaking the Word of the Lord in Power – Karen Austin

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How many of us believe that our words have power? But do we really? We know that scripture says out of the abundance of our hearts, our mouth speaks. [Luke 6:45] It is in times like these, when the pressure is on, that what we speak is what we are really believing. I have to ask myself, what is it that I have been saying? What is the greater truth that I’m believing in my heart? This is why scripture says for us to hide His Word in our hearts so that is what we will not sin against Him and so what comes out of our mouth is releasing His Kingdom power.

As I have said before, this is our time. We were born for this. It is time that we speak and act different than the world. How else are they going to know who to come to for help in their times of distress if we act and speak like those who have no hope? In the past they may have heard us proclaim Jesus and His promises, but they are looking at us now to see if we really believe what we have been saying.

So we, as His ambassadors on the earth, have to come up higher in our believing and in our speaking. It is time to agree with Heaven. We have to have Heaven’s words in our mouth which release peace, power, healing and hope. He is looking for those who will partner with Him.

Prayer:

“Father, I repent for agreeing with the spin the world has taken on this virus pandemic. I understand that is all they know, but it is not all that I know. I know Your Word is true and I choose to agree with You. May we be instruments of Your peace and healing in this time of distress in our nation, in our cities and in our families. May we lead people out of chaos and into knowing Your divine peace, healing and Your abundant love. Thank You Father, for You have chosen us to be alive in this time. May we rise up to accomplish all that you have assigned us to do to expand Your Kingdom in the sphere of authority You have given us. We look to You and praise You for Your redemptive purposes in times such as these, We rest in You.”

“May the words that come out of my mouth and the musings of my heart meet with Your gracious approval,” Psalm 19:14

Shalom Over Chaos – Karen Austin

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As I was reading Psalm 34 the other day, something in the commentary of The Passion Translation stood out to me. The scripture reference was Psalm 34:12-14 “Do you want to live a long, good life, enjoying the beauty that fills each day? Then never speak a lie or allow wicked words
to come from your mouth. Keep turning your back on every sin, and make “peace” your life motto. Practice being at peace with everyone.” As you remember, I shared about peace last week. I keep being lead back to this topic and feel it is a vital concerning what this nation and others are facing with the coronavirus.

Here is what was stated in the notes: “Twice the Hebrew uses the word shalom. This word means much more than peace. It means wholeness, wellness, well-being, safe, happy, friendly, favor, completeness, to make peace, peace offering, secure, to prosper, to be victorious, to be content, tranquil, quiet, and restful. The pictographic symbols for the word shalom (shin, lamed, vav, mem) read “Destroy the authority that binds to chaos.” The noun shalom is derived from the verbal root shalam, which means “to restore,” in the sense of replacing or providing what is needed in order to make someone or something whole and complete. So shalom is used to describe those of us who have been provided all that is needed to be whole and complete and break off all authority that would attempt to bind us to chaos.”

Did you get that? “The pictographic symbols for the word shalom reads “Destroy the authority that binds to chaos”! Is chaos not what we are seeing take place? Chaos means complete disorder or confusion. A few synonyms for chaos are disorder, pandemonium, hell, confusion. Can you see what the plans of the enemy are in the situation we are currently experiencing? Some words that describe the opposite of chaos are order, tranquility, calm, clarity.

We have been given spiritual authority to break off the power of the enemy that is attempting to bind this nation to fear and afflict sickness and death upon the people. We must not come into agreement with fear and chaos! Remember it is stated in Genesis that Holy Spirit was hovering over the chaos [Genesis 1]. He is still hovering waiting for the Sons of God to arise and take their place and use their authority. There are angels ready to be dispatched on our behalf. But we must do our part.

First, we must be submitted to God. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7. We must humble ourselves and repent of anything that doesn’t look like Him or act like Him. Get real with Him and allow Him to reveal any darkness in us. Then deal with any issues He may show you. Then we are to partner with Heaven, using the authority He has given us to bind and loose.

It’s time my friends to arise and shine. These are the days that we have been created for. I have heard other prophets say this is the beginning of “birth pains” that Jesus talked about [Matthew 24]. This is our call Bride of Christ. What will be our response? What will be your response?

Whats Eating at You??? – Gary Florence

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Before we dive into What’s Eating at You??? Part 2 I would like to say to you that if guilt, shame and condemnation really has never been an issue in your life. I would like to encourage you to right now begin to thank the Lord for that and to give Him praise and to give those who have at times or maybe even as they read this struggle with this, please give grace and your prayers. Guilt, shame and condemnation can be very real.

When you look at yourself in the mirror and all you see is your faults, failures and shortcomings it can have an impact on how you do life. Your relationships with your spouse, your children, other family members, coworkers etc. can become very strained because a lot of the times the way we see ourselves is the way we see others. If we are the judge and jury towards ourselves we can become the judge and jury concerning others faults, failures and shortcomings. Someone might be asking the question “Why share this part of your life with us, we do not know who you are, we will never meet you?” “You are opening yourself up to criticism, finger pointing and even judgment.”  My answer to those questions would be if just one person who stumbles upon this blog and can identify with what I am sharing and would then be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to walk them through the process of freedom from guilt, shame and condemnation it would be worth allowing you into a portion of my life.

In Ephesians it declares that we would be blameless and holy before God even before the foundation of the world. I do not know about you but that is hard to wrap my mind around that. So if I am “now” in Christ, that blameless and holy before God is part of who I am and that when God looks at me I am clothed with the righteousness of Christ Jesus. WOW!! So if I could see through the lens of God at me, He sees me without guilt, shame and condemnation. Just think about that for a few moments.

Take a deep breath inhale and now exhale, you are awesome in the sight of God and you are not what the enemy or others have labeled you as being. You may be thinking to yourself “I do not feel blameless or holy.” It’s not based on feelings but on His word about you. Next time I am going to allow you to walk down memory lane with me on a day in which I was a total train wreck, have you ever been a total train wreck? Then I will share what happened the following day when the Holy Spirit arrested me and asked “Do you want to be set free from guilt, shame and condemnation?” I cannot wait to share with you these keys He shared with me.

The Father’s Heart in Prayer – Frank Work

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I don’t know about many of you, but this past several months have been a real time of seeking the Lord on decisions and paths that are in front of us. When I say, “us” I mean my wife and I. Before I was saved, my wife was the spiritual head of the household. She did all the things she possibly could do to maintain the presence of God in our home. It was a battle for her, a real struggle, especially since I was in the camp of the enemy. So here you have this spiritual struggle in a home, a home divided against itself, while all the time, our children were trying to figure out what their role was in all this. Prayer is not an easy task, and quite frankly I don’t think it’s supposed to be. The act of “praying” is easy. Assuming the position of prayer, head down, eyes closed mumbling away the prayers that you have listed out that day or come to mind at that moment, and then I’m done.

Here let me outline the prayer I do with my wife in the morning to give you a better perspective of what I mean;

Father we thank you for this day; I ask that you watch over and keep us, guide and direct us, be with us as we go about the task of the day. We ask that you watch over. Watch over our two children and their spouses, watch over our 3 grandchildren.  Watch over our parents and family members. We lift up our home, our vehicles and our finances. Help us to be good stewards of those things you have placed with in our hands. Open our eyes to see and our ears to hear what You are doing in and around us so that we may follow the path You have for us this day. We thank you Lord for your sacrifice on the cross for our sins and help us to be in remembrance of that as we go out this day. We thank You and give You the glory, in Jesus name, Amen.

Now I don’t think that is a bad prayer, I covered all the bases as far as our personal life and gave God the glory at the end. So I should be set for the day, right? Problem is, if that is my first conversation with the Lord in the morning when I first wake up, I am missing so many facets of Him, and the very essence of who He is. I am never really getting a true sense of direction for the day that lies ahead. What I am doing is hoping that He will hear what I am praying and answer those prayers according to my expectations.

I still believe that Jesus was giving a command when He spoke the following words, “This is how you should pray.”

8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen”

When Jesus refers to “them” he is speaking of the heathens who use vain repetition hoping to be heard (Matt 6:7). Prayer to me is an intimate communication between myself and Jesus. Prayer isn’t just asking for something selfishly, but it’s aligning my heart with the heart of the Father. Yes there are moments when we can come before the “Master to Petition Him” (Luke 18) He listens to His children and would never turns His back on the elect which are covered in the blood of His Son. Selfishly praying will not yield a fruitful prayer life, but only disappointment and eventually mistrust in Jesus that He will not accomplish anything in your life. This is a direct assault of the enemy against the body of Christ. When we see our prayers not answered, the enemy, who is Satan, will begin his assault on our hearts and whisper to our spirit man, “You see, He doesn’t care about you, He won’t answer you because He has no time for your request.” The enemy is relentless when it comes to attacking the body of Christ, he will never cease, there is nothing he wants more than to draw your focus away from God, and onto yourself.

Finally here to me is the clearest direction on how we pray and how we can align our hearts with His and to know without a shadow of a doubt what the Fathers heart is concerning any situation in our life.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

This is the best description in my opinion of what it means to have the desires of your heart answered. Because it’s not about us at all, it’s about the Fathers heart for us. When we line our hearts up with His heart and His will, the Holy Spirit will cause our hearts to line up with His heart. At this point, His desire will become ours and we will be praying in line with His will for us. The keys to this are in the scripture I just shared, “Trust in the Lord, Feed on His faithfulness, Delight yourself ALSO in the Lord, and THEN He will grant the desire of your heart.”

If we as Christian really do give our lives to Jesus, then we are saying we trust in fact that Jesus knows a better way for us to pray and ultimately serve in a “right spirit” in His kingdom.

Look Beyond the Natural- Karen Austin

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In stillness I shall reveal mysteries to you; mysteries that will enhance healing manifesting in your midst. For oh, when you release My glory and My sound in your midst, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of Moses, the God of Elijah; shall be loosed in your midst. You shall see signs as in the days of old.

But know when I move in your midst, it is not only for those whom I will touch, but for you to see. For I will unveil your eyes to see what I am doing – the scene behind the scenes. [2 Kings 6:17] I desire you to see and hear beyond what you see and hear in the natural. When you begin to look, to see and to hear, you will begin to operate more in sync with what My Spirit is doing. As you recall, in My Word you read where I asked man to look and even asked him what he saw. [Jeremiah 1:11; Exodus 3:2-3] This is My invitation to you – to look beyond what you see. You in Me and Me in you. A union such as I planned from the beginning. [John 17:20-26; Romans 8:9-11] You will be caught up where you will be more aware of the Spirit realm than of the earthly realm. [Isaiah 6:1] You are a child of the Spirit!

I long to teach you. I am so excited to show you things and relish in your excitement at each revelation that I share with you, just as I was with Adam. Stay rooted and grounded in My Word and you will not go astray. My boundaries and My confines are all around you to keep you in My area of grace. Don’t look to what others are doing and desire that for yourself. Their grace is different than yours. I have distributed gifts to man that are to work in unity with one another. This is how My fullness shall be demonstrated upon the earth.

There will always be time and there will always be a way for you to slip away with Me. You must recognize these times, especially when I specifically call you to set yourself apart with Me. Seek first My Kingdom and all these things that concern you shall be given..finances, family, routine tasks..all will be provided and cared for. [Matthew 6:33] I am the God of abundance and in Me there is no lack.

“…because we don’t focus our attention on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but the unseen realm is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 TPT

Being Desperate for the Lord

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“Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.” Isaiah 58:12 NASB

The path of the ancient ruins I have called you to rebuild are not the desolate places of latter moves for those moves were with a mixture of man. But what I have called you to rebuild are the desolate, forgotten places that lead to My throne. For it is there that you will find My blueprints for this awakening that you cry for. There are ancient paths soon to be rediscovered. They have been there all along, but I hid them from those who would take them and illegally attempt to make way to My throne by the arm of their own strength, as was attempted with the tower of Babel. This would bring destruction and taint My righteous cause with darkness.

But now, this day, there are a people, a remnant, that I have kept for Myself. I have placed within them a hunger, a desperation for more – things that they are not even clear what they are crying out for, but they know there is more. Their passion – their heart cry is for Me – desperate for a move of My Spirit, desperate for face to face communion as Moses, desperate to be a man, a woman after my heart as David.

Know that I am raising up forerunners that shall go ahead of the multitudes and prepare the way that others may follow. They shall be shown the way of holiness so they may represent Me with purity of heart. For this last move of My Spirit will be through vessels that have sold out to Me. They will not be tempted with the things of this world for they will have tasted of the power of the age to come [Hebrews 6:5]. They shall shine brightly for Me and lead many to righteousness.

“They will be as mighty men, Treading down the enemy in the mire of the streets in battle; And they will fight, for the LORD will be with them; And the riders on horses will be put to shame.” Zechariah 10:5 NLT

Offense is Deadly (Part 2) – Frank Work

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Now before I go any further, I have offended people. Sometimes knowingly and other times, without knowing. People have and still ignore me, walk by me without saying a word, avoid contact and so on. All the while I am wondering what I have done to cause such a reaction. Sometimes people want to be mad at you because of the offense and are wondering why you haven’t asked for forgiveness. How can I? I don’t even know that I have offended you, or what the offense is. There are a few scriptures that I don’t walk in as much as I should;

Matthew 5:23-25 (NKJV)
23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

Matthew 18:15 (NKJV)
15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

Mark 11:24-25 (NKJV)
24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses

Bottom line, I am offended because I want to be offended. I am offended because I hold on to offense. I am offended because I have taken on a heavy-laden burden, that I never should have in the first place. Jesus did not come to offend, but because of the message of the gospel, the “brood of vipers” were offended. The religious minded who held on to man’s traditions and laws, were offended. We who hold on to the things of this world, are offended. When we are saved, when we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are no longer of this world. I have to stopped allow myself to take on the offenses of this world, and take on the love of Christ.

Lastly, I would like to share a story; I was teaching a prophetic class at my church and it was the end of the class at which time I open up the class to a questions and comments period. One lady stood up and said, “Frank when I first came to this church, I didn’t like you very much.” I was a little shocked, but I knew in my spirit that she felt this way since our initial meeting. I asked her why she felt this way and she responded, “I didn’t like you because someone from my other church, who had some of the same mannerism as you did, offended me and without even knowing who you are personally, I automatically took offense to you because of the other man who offended me.” She took an offense and transferred that offense to me. This is the power that offense can have over us. Even though we don’t realize it, we can carry an offense from someone in our past, and transfer it to someone in our present who may remind us of that person. Don’t let this happen, it’s so easy to do and we do it sometimes without even realizing we are doing it.

I would like to thank Pastor Paul Black for preaching a sermon on this topic to give me a better understanding and clarity on what offense will and can do.