Holy Spirit

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

Outpouring of His Comfort and Mercy – Karen Austin

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

Ever since I heard President Trump was sending two Naval medical ships to aid the areas hardest hit with the virus, I sensed the names of the ships were prophetic as to what God is going to do in the midst of this pandemic. As we know, New York has the highest number of reported cases and deaths. California is now ranked third in this national emergency.

The first medical ship named “Comfort” is being sent to New York. The Biblical meaning of “comfort” is to give strength and hope, to ease the grief and to console. 2 Corinthians 1:13 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

The second medical ship, which I believe is being sent to California, is named “Mercy”. The Biblical meaning of “mercy” is “to withhold deserved punishment”. Romans 9:14-14 “..then shall we say? Is God unjust? Certainly not! For He says to Moses:“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy…”

Our nation has turned so far from our Christian roots and has had such vile blatant opposition to Biblical values that we hold dear. We deserve punishment. If we were God, we probably would have destroyed this nation years ago. But the Father is so long-suffering to show such mercy and comfort to those who oppose Him. He desires that none should perish and everyone come to repentance…to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Taking this down to a personal level, you and I know that we did not deserve His mercy and at times His comfort, but His love for us is greater than we can even fathom! Joel 2:13 “And rend your heart and not your garments ” Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness And relenting of evil.”

Note these two ships are medical ships…carriers of disaster relief and healing. I believe this is exactly what the Father desires to do in the midst this pandemic, fear and grief. From one side of our nation to the other, in the midst of this horrific demonic attack, the Father is sending an outpouring of His comfort and His mercy. He is releasing healing to our land for many have humbled themselves, prayed and sought His face. We are turning from our wicked, evil ways as He has been revealing them to us during this time of consecration. The Father has heard us from Heaven and will forgive us and heal our land.

I cannot remember a time when I have witnessed so much public prayer, especially on social media, some news outlets and by our government leaders. Even those who have not known Him are calling upon His help for our nation. I sense this outpouring of His mercy, the withholding of punishment we deserve; and His comfort, the giving of strength; hope and ministering to our grief, will play a huge part in demonstrating the great outpouring of His Spirit upon us. It is the goodness of God that leads to repentance. The catalyst for an awakening has begun. It is not yet complete, but I can see the flames of revival rising from our land!

Psalm 116:1 “I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.”

Social Media or Jesus? – Frank Work

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

I often wonder how our fore fathers ever were able to get the any information out without the use of social media. To many ministries or people for that matter, have allowed themselves to be judged and swayed, by the opinions and comments of people who either like or dislike what has been posted on their social media sites. Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way against using social media to get the gospel of Christ out there. It’s when I am more concerned about whether I get likes or comments for any particular thread, than I am about pleasing and serving Jesus. If I distinguish what is good by the amount of feedback I get on every single post instead of seeking the heart of the Father, then I truly have lost sight of my first love.

Social media can be a great tool, when used in correlation in the leading of the Holy Spirit. I for one should be asking the big questions before I post anything. Questions like;

“Father should I post this to my social media for all to see, or is this just between you and I?”

“Am I posting this because you told me to post it, or am I posting it to get a rise out of people?”

“Is my post meant to bring hope in Jesus, or to cause controversy and therefore cause my brother to stumble?”

“Am I posting this to be popular and seek fame, or am I posting this because I just want to liked and noticed?”

Social media has become so warped in the past several years from its original purpose. Originally Facebook was meant for students on universities and college campuses to connect through their intranet network, purely as a means of communication through messages and pictures. Now we have what we have now. Facebook has created a generation of people that I have what I like to call, “Keyboard courage.” Basically they will say anything and offend anyone they want through social media, but are just the opposite when met face to face.

We are no longer walking as a people of purpose in spreading the gospel of Christ; we are a people dependent upon social media to do it for us. It’s a wonder that the first generation church ever made it at all. Paul the apostle was infused and connected to the throne of glory and his social media was preaching the gospel of Jesus where ever he went. Perhaps now, more than ever, I need to be more in tune with the Holy Spirit, and follow His leading instead of assuming I have it right. 

A dangerous mindset to have, in my opinion, is to walk through life with the theory of “I would rather ask for forgiveness later, than permission now.” Basically what is being expressed is, I want to do what I want to now, and I’ll worry about the repercussions later. Being selfish is a mindset of the enemy, and being chained by a spirit of selfishness is a gateway which opens up our hearts to many other spirits who will cling on to our spirit-man, and attempt to wrestle us away from turning to the Lord. Satan was filled with selfishness, as described by the scripture below;

Isaiah 14:12-14 (NKJV)

12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’

Lord guard our hearts against haughtiness and selfish ambition. Protect our minds against the voice of the enemy who would speak lies in an attempt to turn our hearts away from you. Fill us Lord with Your wisdom and Your truth.

God is Dealing With Idols – Karen Austin

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

While on a prayer call tonight, Holy Spirit led me to 1 Samuel 5:1-5 “After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.”

What I sensed He was showing me was He has been trying to deal with our idols, but we keep putting them back in place. Now He is coming to us in our times of being shut away to deal with the things we have allowed to become idols in our lives. But this time, if we allow Him, He is cutting off the head and the hands of our idols. Biblical meaning of the head deals with the seat of reason and intellect. The head is the one who is leader. Biblical meaning of the hand represents control, ownership and power. So in this time, all the things that were as idols in our lives, He wants to disarm.

He has been showing me mindsets I had that were just a little out of line with His. He also has been showing me things that I didn’t realize before that I had put in place of His desires.

When we have idols in our lives, we cannot see Him clearly.1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.”His ultimate goal in every one of us is to be conformed into His image as mature sons. Thus the reason of His desire for the destruction of idols we keep putting back in place in our lives.

The other thing He highlighted to me was the word “threshold” in the scripture reference I began with. We have to cross over a threshold as a way of entrance and a way of exit. We have crossed the threshold into this season one way, but His intent for you and for me is for when we cross over the threshold to come out of this season, we will be like Him!

Be Still – Karen Austin

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

Do not despair because of what we see being reported by man. Man has limited insight as he mostly views the present from the past. Man’s statistics are based upon past statistics. The natural man lacks the insight to see possibilities that only God can bring. The truth that we seek is in His Word and what we hear His Spirit speak to us in times of stillness. It is easy to get quite, but harder to become still.

Quietness is when we turn off the TV, Facebook and instant messaging. We may even turn down the lights. Quietness is when we turn off the outside world, but many times inside, our “apps” are still running..

Stillness, however requires a setting aside of our opinions, our desires, our needs and focus solely upon Him, His greatness, His majesty, His faithfulness, His love. It is turning off all the inside noise that causes distraction from what He desires to share with us or do in us. Stillness is simply ‘being”. Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.”Stillness is about being in the present, not in the past, nor in the future. It is not a time to try to figure out your problems or the problems of those you love.

I have had many times of stillness when not a word was spoken between Him and I. But, oh my, there were times when He would begin to overwhelm me with His love for me. I did not go into this time with an agenda, just to be with Him. A. W. Tozer is quoted as saying: “If a man wants to be used by God, he cannot spend all of his time with people.”

Quiet worship is a good tool to help us enter into stillness. So i leave you with these two scriptures and some “stillness” music. My prayer is that you enter into times of stillness with the One who loves you.

“Move your heart closer and closer to God, and he will come even closer to you…” James 4:8

“I am standing in absolute stillness, silent before the one I love, waiting as long as it takes for him to rescue me.
Only God is my Savior, and he will not fail me.” Psalm 62:

Am I that I Am – Karen Austin

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

“For many did not see this coming, but I did. I knew the plans of man and you will see me bring them to nothing. In the midst of what the enemy meant for chaos, I shall bring stability. In the place of great fear shall be great peace. You say, “How will this happen?” Know that I have a plan and it is being put into place even now by those whose hearts are close to Mine, those who have chosen to rise above the seen and enter the unseen, the realm of My Presence.

Have I not always had a plan to deliver My people? I am the One who knows all things and sees all things. My thoughts are above your thoughts and My ways above your ways. I will take the foolish things and confound the wise. You will see. I am the One who sits on the throne and through the prayers, through the worship of My saints, I shall release a deluge from Heaven that shall suffocate this that has come against you. Watch and see…and great shall be the rejoicing!

My name shall be proclaimed among the nations. Even now those in places of authority are calling upon My name and seeking counsel from those whom I have chosen. The harvest is now, even at the door, seeking the One whom you proclaim. These are the days that you have longed to see, but know this, they also come in the midst of great darkness. But I shall do as I have said in My Word, the knowledge, the awareness of My glory shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.”

Am I Being Prudent in What I Watch? – Frank Work

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

During this time when many folks have been home bound due to the recent restrictions caused by the corona-virus, I have heard and read from many, “I am just going to binge watch Netflixs, Hulu”, or whatever streaming service you have. Here is the problem. We become complacent and let our guard down in an atmosphere of boredom. This is when the enemy will strike and strike hard. The deception though will be subtle, but devastating at the same time.

You know I have read article after article over the years on movies that have come out and whether I should watch them or not. I know, like many of you, I have watched my share of questionable movies. When I see a movie come out with a Christian undertone, overtone, middle tone, side tone, I instantly want to know, “Is it biblical? Are the messages that are being sent out through the waves of space from the screen to my waiting and eager eyeballs, ready to receive whatever message I am about to ingest?”

I love some of the most bizarre movies I can think of, and I have had more than one eye roll from my lovely wife when I am watching them. I am a “B movie” lover, I also love me a good ol’ fashion kung fu movie, complete with subtitles or bad lip syncing. For some reason for the past year, I have been watching exclusively Korean Television dramas. Why am I sharing what I watch? Because I want you to know, that I am struggling right there with you.

One thing I rarely do when I am watching non-Christian/non-biblical movies or programming, is the one thing I should be doing first, and that’s asking my heavenly Father if this is something he wants me to watch. It’s not hard, takes one or two minutes to ask a simple question. Wait for a response and move accordingly. Oh also, in my opinion, not hearing anything is not a green light to do what I want. Not hearing anything should mean, I need to wait, or I need to go to the word and seek out what the Father may be saying to me through scripture. Don’t fall into the trap of “Well I didn’t hear no so that must mean yes” because I know, dollars to donuts, (I don’t know why I used that analogy) the enemy will also be trying to speak to you and encouraging you to do the opposite of God’s purposes.

Being jaded by the world makes for increasingly poor communication between the Father’s heart and mine. The more I make decisions based off my experiences or others experiences, the more jaded I become. I am no longer trusting in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, but I am trusting in this world.

It’s easy to fall into a trap of seeking knowledge elsewhere, rather than from the One who has endless knowledge and wisdom. One thing I am not saying is that research into something I don’t have knowledge off or experience in is bad, but if I make that my checks and balances to come to a conclusion, then I am missing the mark, and ultimately allowing my heart to become that much more jaded and distant from God.

Do I have any scriptures about seeking God’s will first and foremost in my life and everything I do? Glad you asked.

Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

1 Chronicles 22:19 (NKJV)

19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Therefore arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy articles of God into the house that is to be built for the name of the Lord.”

Colossians 3:1-2 New King James Version (NKJV)

3 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

1 Chronicles 28:9
9 “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.

Those are promises I can cling to, now I just have to make it a part of my everyday life. I have failed, but I will keep trying as I encourage anyone who has gotten this far in reading this, to do the same.

Let the Walls Fall!- Karen Austin

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

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

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

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

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

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!!