Posts

Posted on

Trustworthy Him

As we enter into this new year with our hopes and dreams and our goals and purposes, we can remember that God is trustworthy. We can trust that He is with us, He knows what is best for us, He will do what He said He would do and that we and our assignments are valuable to His Kingdom.

Webster’s defines trustworthy as “worthy of confidence” and “dependable.” Strong’s concordance (#4103), defines it as “faithful.” It can also mean “to confirm, support” and to “establish” (#539). It can mean to “build up” to “believe” and to “bring up.”

Psalm 111:7 TPT assures us that “All God accomplishes is flawless, faithful, and fair, and his every word proves trustworthy and true.”

This is good news because we’ll need Him and His perfect guidance to help us all throughout this new year and beyond as He brings His words to pass in our lives. 

For many, this is the year they’ve waited for. It’s the year of the door (on the Hebrew calendar) when they will step out of the old and into the new to begin to receive their big promised breaks. This is not to say, everything will happen in 2024. But it will begin to happen with even more to come in 2025.

By now, you’ve probably experienced some old doors closing, some transitional shifts, some clarity of direction, and God even settling some matters that have weighed on your heart. 

But there’s much more to come as God moves many onward into a whole new beginning that will touch every area of their lives. 

A couple of weeks ago, Holy Spirit revealed that He’s bringing in some “pillars” to help “support” this new reality. In fact, these support pillars are actually “doorposts,” upon which the door is hinged. If you research the word “doorpost,” you’ll find that it’s another definition of the word “trustworthy” (Strong’s #539, Brown-Driver-Briggs)! 

We know that Jesus is our Door. The One who brings a close to divine assignments, including opportunities and relationships, and the One who opens new ones.

So, these support pillars of the Door will be people God will bring into the lives of His faithful ones, who will be assigned as long-standing constants that will believe in them, bring out the best in them and help them rise. They will be strong, stable and secure. They will be established and will function as a gracious resource and even a kind of guardian. They will be dependable, purposed people that God has made trustworthy to help others fulfill their purpose in life. 

And, in some cases, it will mean they will even nurse people back to stability.

This is good news because it means that many are coming into new, strong relationship assignments, some of which may prove surprising. Some of which may even feel like reassignments as God brings in familiar people to be a part of His full-circle, outward blessings.

But even the familiar ones will serve in a new role and purpose for the long-haul that will prove out God’s plan. They will offer a sense of completeness with developed skills and extensive value with many benefits. 

There will also be many entirely new people, as God expands the reach of their missions.

One important element in all of this is to know when to let go of the past while moving forward. A focus on Jesus is imperative, as doing so sets the right trajectory that will hit the mark on time. 

Paul encourages us in Philippians 3:12 TPT by saying, “run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose for which Christ Jesus laid hold of me to make me his own.”

Paul assures us in 1 Thessalonians 5:24 TPT that “The one who calls you by name is trustworthy.”

So, we can depend on God to help us and know that He will bring it to pass. We just need to submit to Him in obedience and follow His lead into the Godly manifestations of His promises for which we have held to faith.

Pray with me if you will . . . 

Dear Lord, 

Thank You for being perfect and faithful. Thank You for Your beautiful plan for my life. 

I invite You to cut the ties in my life that bind me to whatever You are finished with. I choose to move faithfully forward with You into new assignments, according to Your plan for me. 

I forgive and bless everyone in my present and from my past and pray only good things for them. I trust that You love them and will guide willing hearts into Your beauty.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name, 

Amen.

This devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

Posted on

Gateway In Him

God is favorably converging His faithful ones in divine purpose with others. Those who have walked through the pain of divine alignment with Him are now entering into outward expressions of His promised John 10:10 abundance.

The key verse Holy Spirited highlighted to me was John 10:9 TPT, which says, “I am the Gateway. To enter through me is to experience life, freedom, and satisfaction.”

The Word “Gateway” here literally and figuratively means a door. It represents power and authority with the ability to open and/or close an entrance. It can reference a house door, a palace door, a temple door or a door to the kingdom of Heaven. It can also reference a door of opportunity. 

In this verse, it references an identity of Christ and is “the Name of him who brings salvation to those who follow his guidance” (Thayer’s). 

So, in Him, we find our living passage into all that He is and has purposed for us in abundance. 

In Matthew 7:13-14 TPT He invites us to “Enter through the narrow gate because the wide gate and broad path is the way that leads to destruction—nearly everyone chooses that crowded road! The narrow gate and the difficult way leads to eternal life—so few even find it!”

In verse 13, the TPT study note links the narrow gate with the Golden Rule and says, “Love is the true gateway that leads to life, for God is love.”

We also see in Luke 13:24 TPT that “There is a great cost for anyone to enter through the narrow doorway into God’s kingdom.”

This narrow “door of the kingdom of heaven” is described as “likened to a palace” (Thayer’s).

Holy Spirit said to me weeks ago that “It’s palace time.” So, it’s time to take the arm of our lover, Jesus, as our Bridegroom, and be escorted into His kingdom abundance. 

This is the kind of abundance described in 1 Corinthians 2:9 TPT – “…Things never discovered or heard of before, things beyond our ability to imagine—these are the many things God has in store for all his lovers.”

So, these stored-up treasures are full-circle, rainbow promises that He’s about to fulfill as not only the desire of our hearts but His, too. 

Another key element of this forward holiness process is found in Deuteronomy 7:11, which Holy Spirit highlighted to me weeks ago. In this verse, God says that when we do what He instructs us to do, He will bless us. 

So, the blessings come through obedience in submission to Him. Not in our own way but in His. 

Holy Spirit expands on this precept in Deuteronomy 7:12-13a. The Message version says:

And this is what will happen: When you, on your part, will obey these directives, keeping and following them, God, on his part, will keep the covenant of loyal love that he made with your ancestors:

He will love you,

he will bless you,

he will increase you.

This kind of all-around kingdom abundance that’s found in John 10:10 means whatever is centered around God will be blessed. This is why His bride had to be delivered from self-centeredness, where we considered ourselves first, instead of God. 

It’s also why He had to grow us in our faith that pleases Him and why we had to be delivered from cycles of tormenting root-sin, like unforgiveness. It’s why we had to have our shattered foundations of hope restored. And it was God’s purpose in every other painful reset. 

He was blessing us all along to bless us even more to become an even greater blessing to His heart and others. 

God restores things He loves. 

So, let’s look at this kind of golden gateway blessing even more.

It’s blessing that is all-around excess, beyond what is anticipated, exceeding expectations, more than enough (Strong’s #4053, HELPS Word Studies). It’s superior blessing, extraordinary and surpassing. It’s eminent and comes with advantage and honor. 

For many, this will be a time of refreshing with expressions of His life, freedom and satisfaction. A time of overflowing joy and praise unto God (Ps 118:19) that will prove beyond our imaginations (1 Co 2:9 AMP). It will be a time of radiance (Pr 31:31 TPT). A time of reaping with saturated favor (Pr 11:25 TPT). And a time of coming before the King and being heard to see loved ones saved (Es 5:1-2; Ps 24:4-5 TPT).

The Psalmist in 118:20 TPT proclaims, “I have found the gateway to God, the pathway to his presence for all his devoted lovers.” 

In Revelation 3:20 TPT, Jesus offers Himself as our Bridegroom by saying, “Behold, I’m standing at the door, knocking. If your heart is open to hear my voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with me.”

In Psalm 24:7, David commands, “So wake up, you living gateways! Lift up your heads, you doorways of eternity! Welcome the King of Glory, for he is about to come through you.”

If your response to Him is a resounding “Yes” then pray with me . . .  

Dear Lord, 

I praise You for all that You are, even as my Gateway-Bridegroom. 

Thank You for sharing intimacy with me, for loving me abundantly to become all You would have me be with You for Your glory.

I choose You as my Lord and Savior on earth and in Heaven. 

And I thank You for life abundant.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name,

Amen.

This devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

Posted on

In Truth

A couple of weeks ago, Holy Spirit expanded upon the precept He highlighted to me earlier, which is 3 John 1:4 TPT. It says, “It is the greatest joy of my life to hear that my children are consistently living their lives in the ways of truth!” 

The key here is to constantly choose truth, which is life. We know Jesus is our Source of life and that we are a wheel within a wheel with Him.

Therefore, we are to walk about occupied by Him in divine ability and purpose, full of life and growing in His truth as our reality. We are to follow Jesus and walk ethically and comprehensively in full circle, right into His rainbow promises fulfilled.

To live like this, we must focus on Him and grow in Word and Spirit, gaining revelation-light that delivers us into more of Him as truth.

In John 16:13-15 NLT, Jesus tells us that “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.” 

So, are we listening to Him? Because He desires to turn our sadness to joy.

Holy Spirit revealed to me that He is powerfully delivering hearts into all truth right now. He’s causing them to ascend by getting them unstuck from “con-descending” issues, especially roots of unforgiveness.

He revealed to me that there are people who have new mantles waiting for them. But to fit into them, roots of bitter unforgiveness must first be plucked out and strongholds dismantled. 

He showed me that condemnation through evil speaking has interfered with their identity, value and purpose. And for some, it has been going on for years, even decades. He also showed me a Word-vision of “Enough-enough!” So, He is putting an end to their longstanding suffering and restoring them to His truth.

This deliverance includes repentance and forgiving perpetrators at a root level, where there has been blame and bitterness for a long time. Holy Spirit showed me that there are some who have spoken words of “I forgive you” but continue to walk in a root of bitter unforgiveness, while continuing to be actively wounded and feeling that nothing they do has worked.

He revealed that they haven’t experienced deliverance from the spiritual torture of unforgiveness because they have not submitted to His ways. Instead, they have held onto a deep sense of someone owes them and have tried to change people and relationships in their own strength and way, not knowing any better. In this way, they have become their own worst enemy.

Holy Spirit led me to the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:30-35, which says:

…the one who had his debt forgiven stubbornly refused to forgive what was owed him. He had his fellow servant thrown into prison and demanded he remain there until he repaid the debt in full. When his associates saw what was going on, they were outraged and went to the king and told him the whole story. The king said to him, ‘You scoundrel! Is this the way you respond to my mercy? Because you begged me, I forgave you the massive debt that you owed me. Why didn’t you show the same mercy to your fellow servant that I showed to you?’ In a fury of anger, the king turned him over to the prison guards to be tortured until all his debt was repaid. In this same way, my heavenly Father will deal with any of you if you do not release forgiveness from your heart toward your fellow believer.

Friends, releasing forgiveness toward someone must involve the power of Holy Spirit. For this to happen, we must know Him, choose to trust Him, invite Him to search our hearts for blind spots. Ask Him to pluck up any root of bitter un-forgiveness. Then repent and follow up on His instructions. Because, only Holy Spirit knows the whole truth. And when we submit to Him, we get safely delivered.

If you have been tormented by unforgiveness, I pray you receive a revelation of this freeing truth, which is that God’s power of forgiveness releases the enemy’s grip on you that worked through perpetrators. When you receive this truth at the root, all of the anger in your heart will dissipate in an instant, and you will be free to fit into your new mantle. This is how the shift will happen for some. 

I challenge you to refrain from a cycle of torture and come more fully into God’s powerful abundance of truth and glory (Ja 1:25; 1 Jn 2:20, 27). Guard your heart from people who speak death through condemnation. And ask Him how to best do this. Don’t let the enemy of your soul prevent you from living in the fullness of life God has for you. 

Arise from among dead things and receive new life. 

In John 5:24 TPT Jesus says, “I speak to you an eternal truth: if you embrace my message and believe in the One who sent me, you will never face condemnation. In me, you have already passed from the realm of death into eternal life!”

So, for all who are willing, pray and declare these affirmations, taken from the books of John and Psalms: 

“Your Word is truth! So make me holy by the truth” (Jn 17:17 TPT) (emphasis mine).

“Escort me into your truth; take me by the hand and teach me. For you are the God of my salvation; I have wrapped my heart into yours all day long” (Ps 25:5 TPT)!

“I’ve chosen to obey your truth and walk in the splendor-light of all that you teach me” (Ps 119:30 TPT).

“… those who love the truth will come into the Light, for the Light will reveal that it was God who produced their fruitful works” (Jn 3:21 TPT).

In Jesus’ Mighty Name, 

Amen. 

This devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

Posted on

Trust Him

As we keep our eyes on Jesus during this advent season, we can remember that He is with us and comes to offer us new life through His Glory-Presence, grace-power and wisdom. This is especially important right now as many continue to break through into new and higher places.

Where there has been faithful submission to Jesus, there will be an outward shift.

Even where there has been imperfection in the testing, learning and growing, He promises to “overwhelm your failure with His generous grace” as in James 1:5 TPT. 

And especially where it has looked impossible and nothing in our own strength worked except to teach us that only His way does, He will bless us with grace-filled new beginnings. 

But it doesn’t stop here. 

God is blessing the seeds He instructed us to plant over the last-season years, including seeds of prayer. They are about to spring up, especially over the next couple of years. These harvests will be miraculous, ordered by God and multiplied for legacy purposes.

God will also remember our obedience to His instructions and He will bless our faithfulness.

Ruth 2:12 NCV declares, “May The Lord reward you for all you have done.”

In this light, a couple of weeks ago, as I sat before our Lord, He showed me these Word-visions in this order: Trust Him. Seeded lot. Harvesttime. Solid ground.”

These Words reveal a progressive path of upgrade He has had us on, which remains true against enemy battles. 

Holy Spirit reminded me of Abraham, who brought his nephew, Lot, along with him as he departed his father’s house (Ge 12:4). We know the story, where it gets to the point that Abraham had to delineate a boundary with Lot to sustain the blessing (Ge 12:9-12).

And so, Abraham offered Lot his top choice of land. At the point where Lot received this land, Abraham sowed a tangible seed. And God did not forget. 

God rewarded Abraham for what he did by blessing him even more. And this spiritual principle is what I believe many, who have sowed seeds, are coming into.

When we zoom out and look at the very beginning of God’s instruction to depart from his father’s house, we see that Abraham welcomed Lot along. To me, this reveals Abraham’s heart for his fatherless nephew. I believe his fatherly heart is largely what God blessed as Abraham stepped out into new places that were unknown to him by faith, trusting Father God. 

Over time, God separated Abraham out and enabled him to receive outward blessings, even increasing them beyond his lifetime on earth, through all the seeds he sowed.

The point here is that God blesses our hearts when we do our best, even when we don’t get it completely right. And He also blesses our tangible efforts of obedience. All of these seeds of action-faith are about to meet God’s grace to produce more tangible fruit. 

Just like Abraham, there are those who stepped out in faith and trusted God to go and sow seed. And now, they will be rewarded. There are those who sowed “land” seed, like Abraham, and those who sowed “hospitality” seeds, like Abraham, who are in the process of reaping their harvests. 

These harvests will put God’s faithful on solid ground as they reap that for which they contended, that for which Holy Spirit revealed and promised, that for which they prayed, for which they waited and for which they will ultimately receive. 

It may not come the way we anticipate. God will bring us through some unexpected elements to grow us in Him. But our faith will be made strong in the process as we trust Him and come to know Him and His ways more. And in so doing, He will test others—the onlookers, the immature, like nephew Lot—to also grow them. 

God is a God of wholeness, shalom peace. He will not stop until our feet are set on solid ground. He will not leave us part of the way. He will not fail us. He will see us through. 

And when we are fully set in place, a fullness of joy will come. We will experience new life, a new normal, a new beginning. As we depart from the past, God will grow us even more in delighting in Him. He will make our joy full. And He will cause us to flourish to the point of helping others. He will cause us to share Godly wisdom and tangible goods. 

He will instruct us on how to build upon what He gave to us. He will delineate some relationships, reunite others and bring in new ones. He will give us all we need to fulfill divine destiny, including leaving a powerful legacy that honors Him.

To Him be all glory, honor and praise. 

In Jesus’ Mighty Name, 

Amen.

This devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

Posted on

Connected Life

When I sat before our Lord a couple of weeks ago and asked Him what He would like to share with us, He showed me these Word-visions: “Connected lifestyle. Survey gathering, community” in this order. 

As it happens so often, Holy Spirit had me search out the deeper meaning of each Word. And what He led me to see were meanings that I never would’ve seen had I not made the effort to do so. 

If you’ll take these Word definitions before Him in prayer, I believe He’ll reveal specifics to you for your own life. I believe they’ll be unique for each individual and so fitting you wouldn’t want to miss them.

So, here are the definitions:

The Word “connected” means the point of place, time, purpose, or result that has been reached or entered (Strong’s). It implies motion, penetration and union (Helps). It means joined or linked coherently in sequence. It can mean related by family ties. Or having “social or professional relationships, especially with influential or powerful persons” (Dictionary.com). It means “having a connection.”

Going deeper, the Word “connection” means “all-around (on every side); encompassing, used of full (comprehensive) consideration where ‘all the bases are covered’ (inclusively)” (Helps). Connection can be translated as “all about.” 

The Word “lifestyle” means “conduct, life, behavior, manner of life” (Strong’s). It also means to turn from down to up, an up-turn (Helps). It can mean a “change of outward behavior from an ‘up-turn’ of inner beliefs.”

If we break up this compound word, we see that life has numerous meanings beyond a basic existence for growth, resilience and elasticity. “Life” can mean breath of life, eternal life and the quickening of life that we partake of through our faith and trust in Jesus Messiah. This kind of life is “equivalent to the gospel” and is expressed in moral conduct (Vine’s). “The sign of life is movement,” and it “can be enhanced by loving and serving God, by experiencing God’s deliverance, and by receiving divine blessings” (Tyndale).

“Style,” as in lifestyle, can mean a particular “form, appearance or character” (Dictionary.com). And a distinctive mode of action.”

Moving on, the Word “survey,” has a variety of definitions, according to Webster’s. It means “to examine, as in condition, situation, or value; appraise.” Also, “to determine and delineate the form, extent and position of (as a tract of land).” It can also mean to see, to view comprehensively, or to inspect or scrutinize.

When we think of the Word “gathering,” so often a meeting or assembly or an attraction comes to mind. But, according to Webster’s, gathering can also mean a collection or compilation. It can reference contributions or an intuitive conclusion. As a verb, gathering can mean to pick, to harvest, to haul in or to amass. It can mean to summon, to prepare, to gain by gradual increase or control. And it can also mean to bring together parts of something or to draw about or close something.

The Word “community” can be defined as “a unified body of individuals,” who share common character or likeness as well as joint participation or ownership (Webster’s).

Now that we have all the definitions, I believe the general interpretation to be this: 

God has released a time of grace to now move synergistically and powerfully into the manifestation of His promises He put in your heart. He has brought you to the place and purpose of an up-turning in outward behavior, resulting from the restoration of a renewed mind.

He is now positioning you outwardly as a joint owner, an heir, with shared character and the likeness of Himself to participate correctly alongside Him. You will work to complete your divine assignments with Him now, not in your own strength, but by His powerful Spirit.

In so doing, it’s time to survey that which has been gathered, during a period of gradual growth. It’s time to examine the elements comprehensively, to compile them and sequence them into a delineated form and bring them to the point of conclusion.

“This time,” says the Lord of Hosts, “you will do it in communion with Me and it’s going to come together; because My grace has now met your faith and I AM in it with you. Because we will do it synergistically, there will be momentum.”

Holy Spirit highlighted Amos 9:13 in The Message version, which He has many times before. It says, “Yes indeed, it won’t be long now…Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won’t be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills.”

To God be the glory. 

Amen.

This devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.