Have you ever thought to yourself, "With so much going wrong how can I be Thankful"? 5 Ways to break through to thanksgiving.

Thankfulness is a key foundation of worship.   Thankfulness opens the way into deeper praise and encounters with the Lord.  It is the breakthrough attitude.  

Have you ever been stuck in worship?  You know.  Sitting in what appears to be crazy presence with people connecting with God all around you and you are a spectator?   Not a participant?  
Most often we may be thinking about WHAT GOD is NOT DOING.  Rather than WHAT GOD is DOING.   

"Christ and the Rich Young Ruler," by Heinrich Hofmann

Part of it is we don't like what HE is NOT DOING.  


When we focus on What God is NOT DOING we miss the moment, the voice of God and what he may actually be doing for us right then.   



Here are some typical things I find myself saying about what he is not doing....

• I don't feel him like I used to in worship.  He must be gone. 
• He is not resolving my current situation fast enough- where's God now.
• He is not touching me like I was hoping for.  I wanted a fill blown manifestation encounter.   Maybe he is not real.
• He is not talking to me the way he used to.  I don't hear him.   Did he ever talk to me?
• He did not answer me the way I expected.   Why can't God just answer me or talk to me like I was talking with another person?

Couple things to remember
Remember the mind of the flesh is in a decisive battle with God.   The world and the Devil are as well.   We are trained up in the ways of the dog eat dog world order. That path trains us to see what is lacking, bite and devour, and judge freely.   We are trained to pick out what people are not doing and in particular what God is not doing.   Then we become his judge.   This is a prime approach of the Enemy.  It is not easily seen by us because it is a mindset and a culture supports and upholds it.  

Second, we like to prescribe how God should act.  We regularly create in our minds a scenario for the Lord to act in and or orchestrate.   Like a play for God to act out.  Our play.  We write it and everything he should do and say in it.  Sadly,  He is not typically cooperative with this approach.   
So when God doesn't act like we think he should (keep in mind we frame the script from the mind of the flesh and the fallen world order and with the Devil's abundant resources of lies) we get mad.  We get offended.  Thankfulness and Mad do not hang out very well together.    It doesn't take a high degree of discernment to realize that Thankfulness will not be thriving in a garden filled with this kind of soil.   

Ex. God is a good parent.  Good earthly parents don't let the smallest, typically most self focused child in the household run the roost.   We train them up in the way they should go.  We teach them how to be responsible members of the family.  How to care, love and contribute.  Left to themselves we typically get Lord of the Flies households.  

Problem #1-  God doesn't play along.  


This is key -  Thankfulness is an ever flowing stream when we look at, celebrate, enjoy and remember what God is doing.   

What is God doing?  Right NOW.  Do you see it?  Can you say what it is?  
As we grow up into Christ the Head we learn more and more the ways of God.  
How he does things.   

Problem #2 - When we are God's judge thankfulness doesn't happen.  

Thankfulness and judgement are not good friends.  Thankfulness opens every doorway to worship and praise.   When we get an offense at God stuck in our hearts , worship drifts far away from.  Spirit and Truth worship begins in the heart, it sees everything that is good and seeks to reflect that back out into the world and to God' s heart as praise and worship.  

Problem #3 - Walking with Jesus requires staying in touch with thankfulness.   

Following Jesus requires trusting his NAME and character.  That he will lead us to the very best and to salvation through all of life's twits and turns.   When our life direction is in his hands there are many moments when the world is swirling around you and you can clearly see what God isn't doing.   This is when thankfulness can focus you again on what he is doing.  On the fact that he is good and all together loving.  


Problem #4 - Entitlement mentalities ruin creative Kingdom service and love

When we think we are entitled to certain ways of living, standards of lifestyle and outcomes for our work, we are going to struggle when those things disappear or are gone.   The problem arises when God does not agree to support those things or make them a baseline for serving him or loving him.   We have more idols than we care to let on to.   

Imagine Jesus at the garden before the crucifixion telling the Father he won't be following through on the crucifixion because he already gave up more than he really wanted.   



How do we break out of the place where we only see what God is not doing?  


1. Get back into places where worship happens and people adore God.  
Don't divorce yourself from the presence of the Lord or from people who express passion and encounter God.  Running from the presence is a sure sign of offense.  It may be a good time to measure your love and worship with those who press in no matter what.   Jesus called the Ephesian church to repent for lack of first love.  Ask the Spirit to show you any heart offenses against God. 

2. Look, See, Hear and Behold with a child like heart.  Remember Jesus said that if we do not look for him with a child like heart we will not see the Kingdom.   We will not see what God is doing.  The Holy Spirit is like wind.  We have to grow in understanding when he is active and working and what that looks like.  When the wind blows there are all kinds of responses to it.   Rest and Peace are as good as hilarity and wild expressions of joy. 



3. Give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to do some heart surgery.  
 When was the last time you were ministered to by a team for more than a quick prayer?   Many believers have never experienced this.  There are incredible resources available to us for encouragement, encounter with Jesus and ministry that imparts freedom, love and forgiveness.   Be purposeful about receiving ministry.



4. Fear is not part of God's Kingdom. 
Fear is from the big three.  The world, the Flesh and the Devil.  Fear is not going to lead you to thankfulness.  Fearing the Lord is about reverence, holiness, awe and wonder and he is perfect love that casts out all fear.  When we connect with the supernatural we can encounter a holy fear.  The flesh fears the overwhelming reality of heaven.   Hang in there when God is moving in power and wonder.   Your thankfulness will grow leaps and bounds by sticking close to God's activity.  

Start every worship time, prayer time and gathering with the Saints by thanking him.  Do it until you have freedom recognize his presence with a simple thank you.  Thank HIM for everything great to small.   Gas.  Working physical body.  Family.  A church.  Dinner.   Your Job.   Your friends.   Silverware.  Shoes.   We are so blessed.   


Hope this is helpful.  I want to see more freedom in worship and less offense in general.  
I've written some things on offense and what it does to us.   Here are some links.  

http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/04/you-fascinate-me-jesus-so-why-are-you.htmlhttp://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/04/you-fascinate-me-jesus-so-why-are-you.html

http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/01/offense-only-one-that-get-hurt-is.htmlhttp://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/01/offense-only-one-that-get-hurt-is.html


Thank you for reading and for the comments and +1's.   

Happy Thanksgiving.  


Love in the Lord
Jeff Reynolds Sr. Leader 
Capstone Christian Fellowship 
www.mycapstone.org
jeff@jeffreynoldsministries.com 
www.jeffreynoldsministries.com 

10 Keys to Praying with Power, Moving Mountains, and Releasing the Kingdom

Of course there are many more, but here are 10 keys that can help your prayers move mountains. 

Mountain perspectives widen vision

1. Learn to Abide as prayer vrs prayer as a tool or resource or a ministry necessity.   When you abide you line up with heaven and The Fathers heart.   He loves Jesus.   The Father will come to you and reveal the Trinity.   Where will that lead?  (John 14:15-21)

2. Learn to pray for more than you see, hear, and behold -  Let God fill up the voids and surprise you.   He loves doing that.  (Ephesians 3:14-21)

3. Ask for eyes to see what the Father is doing and how he is bringing his Kingdom around you -  Not for God to simply bless your ideas and what you are doing "for him".  (2 Corinthians 4:18)

4. Ask for the impossible -  Then don't grumble when you find yourself in an impossible situation.  This is the ground where miracles spring forth. (Luke 1:37)

5. Don't despise prophecy rather ride on its wings in power - build crafted seasonal prayer from how heaven sees you and what heaven is calling out in you.  Be a bull dog for what is in God's heart revealed to you. (1 Corinthians 14:1)

6. Stop praying for what is already yours in Christ -Faith puts prayer with vision into motion.  God already loves the world. Pray for ways to show that love.  (John 17:20-21)

7. Learn to pray from the Throne Room and let heaven fill the earth -  stop trying to call earth up to heaven or beat the evil out of it.   let heaven's grace, power, love and mercy fill the earth in you with the awesome taste of heaven.   (Hebrews 5:7-9)

8.  Learn to wait, rest and know that He is God - sometimes prayer is the action, the sound that shatters mountains and whispers power in waves. (Psalm 46:10)

9. Learn to pray without ceasing by bringing action and his presence into one continuous movement of God's desires.  Be the channel that releases the power  into the world's brokenness.  (Ephesians 6:18-19)

 10. Learn to pray with heaven in the mind of Christ through the leading of the Spirit for the Heart of the Father.   Talk about a beautiful manifold wisdom witnessing to the powers and authorities.  (Ephesians 1:9-10; 3:10) 


Do you have one for the list?   

 Let's see the Heart of God explode into the world. 

Pass the list on, share it and +1 it.  Thanks in advance.


 Another post on prayer -  http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014_11_01_archive.html



 God is not the God of dead ends.  Isaiah 43:1-4  Message bible.




Thank you for reading. 
Please comment.  



Brother Jeff
Jeff Reynolds Sr. Leader 
Capstone Christian Fellowship
jeff@jeffreynoldsministries.com
jreynolds@mycapstone.org
www.mycapstone.org
www.jeffreynoldsministries.com

Why is the Prayer House Empty? As Cities Burn, What is the Place of Prayer?

First.  Is the Prayer House empty?  

I may have a skewed view.  Let me know if so.  But I don't see prayer and the House of Prayer for all Nations thriving around me.  



 




The High Priest of Heaven, Jesus, is in the prayer house.   Jesus is always present and welcomes abiding with him in the Father's will.  











I do see a very dedicated few keeping the doors open and pressing forward.  
I do see the call to honoring the presence of the Lord and building the house of prayer. 

I do see some ministries doing amazingly beautiful things in this arena.   I don't see the grass roots involvement and abiding in prayer on any consistent or impacting level in local churches.  At least where I live.

In our region the involvement, intensity and attendance at regular prayer is minimal compared to the number of believers.   

While a pandemic rages (175,000 dead), cities burn, churches are closed and sued, believers around the globe are bullied with hunger and starvation, the church remains content to...

• Hold services - if the government will let them.
• Keep the status quo - so we can?  What - retain our high impact on society?
• Speak message after message to individual believers sense of well being.... while the society we are called to transform with the Gospel literally burns.

We need corporate Prayer - United Prevailing Prayer in the face of such overwhelming turmoil and destruction.  

But where is the Call???  

The fasting?

The Cry for the Nation? 

There are "paid employees of the Kingdom" who don't lead, attend, impact their church or the wider local churches with prayer --- by being leaders of it.  

They pray alone while they lead hundreds.  

The hopes of revival through prayer ....?  What are they?  

The prayerfulness of our pastoral leaders of our churches?  

Certainly in times of crisis we place our bets on things we trust the most. 

Where does prayer factor?  

Trust in God?

  
Is this just our region?  
Poor articulation of ministry or leadership?  

Again, how are you seeing it?  

I see those with a compelling call to establish prayer, walking as if through mud. 

The cry of their hearts, to establish prayer in the hearts of the people of God, moves forward like a dribble not a river.   Yet, the response God in the experience of the Lord and his presence is phenomenal and ever growing.  


Some have been at it a long time. Sowing faithfulness to the faithful God.
They generally appear discouraged about the results and outcomes. 
Typically their open houses of prayer are not well attended.   

Example.  Churches of hundreds host 2 hrs week of prayer and most often fewer than 10-15 attend.  

That is not a call to prayer by the spiritual leaders of the nation, the local church, the inheritors of Christ's abundant victory and suffering. 

These dedicated few believe prayer is the critical alignment for the Bride.  

They focus on ministry to God and worship as abiding presence.   The Lord meets them in every gathering and speaks profoundly.  Often just two or three gathering in faithfulness to uphold the intercession and abide in his presence.  He is present and encourages these stout heart-ed fore runners with ever increasing grace and encouragement.  

But it can wear them down. 

So I ask, has prayer always been like this? 

Is it like this around the world? 

Why does it appear so unimportant?

What could happen if it wasn't? 

So, why am I saying the prayer house is empty?  

Welsh Revival 1904-05

On November 7th, 1904 Moraih Chapel was filled to capacity for a prayer meeting that lasted until 3:00 a.m. Soul winning spread through the coal mines. Profane swearing stopped. Even the miners' horses were puzzled when their masters stopped cursing. Orders to the Bible Society "for Scriptures from Wales during November and December, were over three times the amount for the corresponding months of 1903..." The Times said this resulted from the Welsh revival, adding that this demand showed no sign of falling off.
 
and 

The Salvation Army set apart January 19th, 1905 for a day of confession, humiliation, and prayer throughout England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. All day prayer meetings were held in many of the principal cities of the British Isles, according to the London Times. The meeting was marked by "fervent prayer and any one who felt called upon to pray." 

Fires of spiritual revival and moral recovery were spreading.

Coal miners crowed into prayer meetings that lasted till 3:00 a.m. and then washed, ate breakfast and returned to work. Many drunkards confessed their sins and received Christ. According to the London Times of February 2nd, 1905 due to the Welsh revival many men abandoned dens of iniquity. Employers noticed a great improvement in the work produced by their employees. A judge named Sir Marchant Williams said that his work was much lighter especially regarding drunkenness and related offenses. 

Here are some examples that I have encountered.

Ex.  The National Day of Prayer.  2014  Central Oregon. 

One of the largest churches in our area hosted a mid-day prayer meeting (thank you for serving and leading this way) on the mall of the city.  Beside the leaders from other churches who were scheduled to pray there was a small handful of people who attended.   

Great urgency in the leaders. 

Zero urgency beyond them. 

It is now NO URGENCY IN THE LEADERS?  

Maybe it was the time of day?  
People are working.   

We have things to do.  Right?

Here's a description of the Welsh Revival prayer meetings -  

The revival fires burning in Wales in 1904-05 spread through England, Ireland and Scotland. Prayer meetings multiplied. As many as 2,000 attended a prayer meeting in the city of Bradford. 

In the City of Leeds, Samuel Chadwick reported that his church was never empty all day. An amazing work of grace transformed life in a factory.

  

We all know what urgency looks like.  Many have experienced urgency in prayer and the deep cry for God's deliverance and healing.   

There is a growing army of Saints who believe the Lord intends to sweep the nations with his compelling love
and to restore us to the
deepest devotion to Christ Jesus.  

 

Is the prayer house empty because we rely on other gods to rescue us and provide for us and deliver us?   

Is that why so many are taking God to task and judging him?   

Jeremiah was told by Israel:

17 mBut we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to nthe queen of heaven oand pour out drink offerings to her, pas we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. 18 But since we left off making offerings to nthe queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything qand have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” 19 And the women said,2 “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven rand poured out drink offerings to her, was it swithout our husbands’ approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

Money

Deception
Political power
Personal power
idols of our age
????

It is clear to me, the church of Jesus Christ needs to AWAKEN - REPENT and humble themselves in prayer.  

An interesting thing.   The Lord said to Israel. 
Since you will not serve your God in your own land.  You will now serve foreign gods in a land not your own.  Jeremiah 5:19


"It shall come about when they say, 'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' then you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.' 20"Declare this in the house of Jacob And proclaim it in Judah… Jeremiah 5:19




Example 2 -  24/1's - 24 hours continuous worship and prayer 

In the past, a few years back, our region has hosted 7 of these.   To my knowledge they had not occurred prior to this.  These 24/1's had worship teams and intercession carried by multiple ministries and churches working together.  Such a great time with Jesus as the focus and praise and worship flowing for 24 hours straight.

Besides the opening bell and first few hours that fit within everyone's "event schedule" there are typically many hours of just the worship team, sound person and one or two others.  

Please note.  These have been some of the most amazing times in the Lord's presence.  But there is an ache in those ministering to the Lord when before them is an empty house. 

So, within the struggle we search for reasons.  We search for answers.  We look for compelling options to move things forward.  

Quite possibly we actually step outside the most compelling reality of all; God's life giving assignments come packed with their own grace and power to walk with the Spirit within them.   We are offerings to the Lord (Romans 12:1-2)  We are servants of the Lord Jesus (John 12:24-26).  We are part of a much larger Kingdom that is coming in diverse and manifold ways throughout the world.   

We are not all the same. Doing all the same things.  Making all the same types of ministries and churches.  OR are we?  Do we have a McDonald's view of the Kingdom of God?

If the poor and needy, the broken and the wounded were part of the math, I would be on board 100%.  Sadly the church has left them behind --- and the very heart of God - for what reason? 

 
Every church trying to be like the corporate successful church.   The mega church?  

So test the waters.   Stop the show.  Call a prayer meeting at the mega church.  See who shows up?   I don't know maybe we will be pleasantly surprised.  
Many are praying so. 

I understand Kingdom success to be measured in the fiery eyes of Jesus and in relationship to him and his worship of the Father.   In Jesus I see success as....

Success is doing the will of the Father.   
Success is worship and abiding in Jesus in fruitful garden of the Father. 
Success is laying down our lives as a living sacrifice to the glory of his name. 
The results seem to be at rest with the Lord.   

"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."…Matt 16:18


We search for reasons.  We are practical and capable people - Americans.  And his Kingdom is "other" and his thoughts are not our thoughts.

Could the Father be stripping us?  Could he be bringing us back to the deepest relationship available? 

Could he be revealing Jesus in splendor and glory and awakening pockets of surrender and love?  

Could he be freeing us from the grips of the gods of this age and the idols of our times?   

Could he be calling us to simply love his presence? 

Are we inclined to hunger for him alone?  

What if he only met us at the point of our desire for him?  

Could the prayer house be empty because of the intensity of the presence of the Lord?
That he is seeking a holy and set apart people?  
Or the very lack of it?

Could it be that we encounter that holiness in the presence of the prayer house?  

• Our Korean brothers and sisters get up nearly every morning before work and seek the Lord in corporate prayer.
• Our Pakistani brothers and sisters cry out daily in prayer and intercession -- often for us!
• Our Ugandan friends in Jesus pour out more prayer in a day than we seem to muster in a month. And yes they pray for us also.  

 

Are we turning away from the pursuit of God?  

While he is running after us with incredible love?  

"Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you." 

6Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. 7Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.…Isaiah 55:5

Something big is brewing.   Under the surface and deep in the hearts of the Saints, a clarion call is emerging.  

It is a call to alignment and righteousness.   A call back to Jesus.   

Alignment. 

1. Arrangement or position in a straight line or in parallel lines.

2. The process of adjusting parts so that they are in proper relative position:

How is it that corporate prayer, abiding in Jesus and honoring his presence do not translate into a House of Prayer of all Nations?  

We need a few more holy fools to be wandering the world in the crazy love of Jesus.  

Are you one of them?  

Take a new step into the depths and riches of knowing Jesus.  Pray. 

Start today. 
Inspire - Pray - Decree 
Listen to or read the Scripture - Psalm 27:14 wait for the Lord. 
Grab some time and steal away with Jesus.  Make it as important as food

You will tap into the grace of God.
The Father sent Jesus to restore us to him and he is longing to know us in Christ.  (John 17:3)
United Prevailing Prayer changes everything - Hebrews 5:7-9!

1. 10 Keys to Praying with Power
http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/11/10-keys-to-praying-with-power-moving.html

2. 10 Keys to Sustaining Supernatural Life
 http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/12/10-keys-to-sustaining-life-in.html

3. Why is the Prayer House Empty?
http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/11/why-is-prayer-house-empty-or-is-it.html

4. Intimacy with Jesus Beyond Religion?

Feedback?  Ideas?  

I would love to dialogue with you. 

Share your comments.  

2017 

Transfiguration! 

Look forward, eyes filled with Abundance, Boundless, Victorious vision in Jesus.  

 Get a copy of my Prophetic Review 2016 - Salvation's Mountain Erupting with Open Doors, Shifts and Invitation.   Encouragement, focus, wisdom and insight into the prophetic seasons of the new year.  
www.jeffreynoldsministries.com 

Thanks for Reading!   

I love your comments. Ideas and thoughts.
Please share em.
Re-shares are great. thank U.

The dialogue is awesome.  Thank you. Testimonies?  Share em with me.   

Re-Shares lov em.  Thank you! With much love in Jesus 

You can do this thing!  He's got you. 

Jeff Reynolds   --- 

Brother Jeff

Jeff Reynolds Sr. Leader Capstone Christian Fellowship jeff@jeffreynoldsministries.com jreynolds@mycapstone.org

Your comments and thoughts on this topic are welcomed.  
What do you think?   
Are we on the verge of........?   


Thank you for reading.   

In the Lord, 
Jeff Reynolds.  Apostolic leader
Global Kingdom Harvest Ministries
www.gkhministries.com 

jeffR@gkhministries.com 
  

Who has the Courage to Run so far into Heaven that the Earth sees it's True Self?

Are you comfortable in heaven? 

You may say, "Wait a minute. I live on earth.  Come back to us".

Actually we are called to go deeply into heaven. 

We are seated in heaven with Christ  Eph 2:5-6
"even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  


We are called to set our minds on heaven  Col 3:2
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.…



We have Christ in us and the Mind of Christ. Col 1:27
to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  


So who has the courage to run so far into heaven that the earth will see it's true identity?  

 
Our Lord Did.  
Jesus went the farthest into the Father's will and Abba Daddy's heart.
Jesus perfectly worshiped in obedience.   Walking in all the paths of Israel, he fulfilled the will of the Father with a living sacrifice of Love and worship.   Jesus redeemed every way of the children of Israel and in so doing opened the way for the Gentiles to come into the House.  
Jesus laid down his life for us and so we too are called to a life of being laid down for the world.  (I John 3:16)

Real worship envelopes our lives in flames of righteousness and the deepest love known to humanity.  
We are worship.  Everything in the Kingdom of God flows from deep and true recognition of the NAME.  Holding on to the NAME and embracing heaven opens pathways to the deepest joy and abiding.  

Jesus paid for the absolute best.  He secured for us the pathway to the truest and highest expressions of the human self.   We are found in the Way, Truth and LIFE.     The highest aspirations of humanity are hidden in Jesus. 



So how far are you willing to go?  
Can you reach past the limitations of your own comfort?  James 1:2-4
Past the limitations of your own present understanding?  Proverbs 3:5
You can if you pour yourself into Christ Jesus as a fragrant offering.  Rom 12:1-2
You can if you let go of you and quit trying to make your old man live. Matt 10:39
You can if you surrender to the Living Lord Jesus Christ and the new life of resurrection power.   Col 3:1-4

Metolius River comes right out of the ground

What are you willing to loose? 
Jesus said that the act of acquiring this Kingdom is to loose your life.  Then we find the real life we were made for.  A life hidden in the love of God.

The harder you and I hold on the farther away from us the power of the Kingdom and the joy of our salvation flies.  
We died.     So Why do we spend so much equity and energy trying to gain and keep treasure here?  Treasures that will rot and fade.  
Jesus was clear.  Go after the treasure that cannot be stolen from you.   
Treasures of heaven.  

 Jesus is the Treasure of Heaven!

So how far are you willing to go to tap into heaven?  
Are you willing to forgive, throw yourself on God and generously grant to others what God has granted to you? 
We add up prayer time as if it is some kind of thermometer for heaven breaking into our lives.  
The real thermometer is that we bring transforming love and grace into the world around us. That we bring overcoming love and the power of the Kingdom of God to all. That is hard to do when we don't know how to overcome the world in our day to day and personal lives. 

We may love the world more than we care to think.  

Love not the world or the things in the world.... I John 2:15

Is most of our teaching and striving to bring order to this broken world which will never stay fixed?   It is fading away every day.  It will not be lasting.  It will crumble beneath us at any given moment.  

So does that mean we give up and live only in spiritual things? 
No.  We have a Kingdom that is coming in love, hope and grace.   By faith we are bringing that reality into what is fading every day.   We are called to burn with Christ.  Living fires of sacrifice.  What emerges when we live this way?   






"Everyone will be salted with fire"  Mark 9:49  

 Salt.  Eternal things. Stuff that passes through the fire and is not burnt or lost or destroyed.  
It takes fire to reveal the power of the eternal.  It takes a new perspective on and relationship to the world to begin to overcome the world.  To go the deep in Christ and hold salt in your life as a witness of eternal things takes faith and perseverance.   
What relationship did Jesus have with the world?  There is grace, power and his presence in learning to walk in that relationship. 



So, are you willing to go as deep into Christ as your calling and election prescribe? 
The world always needs a fire ball of devotion and love to look at, to watch burn.  Few are willing to...
Look foolish to the world
Look foolish to the Church
to be the friend of God 

Seems that today looking cool is a premium.  That it has some kind of Kingdom power?  That we can build the Kingdom of God on the good will of popular entertainers and football parties.

So, stop lauding the prophets and great men and women of old whose devotion we identify with if you are not willing to be foolish in the site of the world or the Church. 
They all were.  They were scorned and thrown out.   So was Jesus.

Jesus was not welcomed in the synagogues so he went open air.
Paul was kicked out of the synagogues and went open air and house to house. 
John Westley was not welcomed in the synagogues/churches so he went open air. 


We are well acquainted with the middle.  The ground that the masses agree with, identify with and can clearly "understand".  Some have even called out the "radical middle" as if such a think was noteworthy.  That is not up there on Jesus list of high achievements, blending in.   Doing the will of the Father leads where he desires.  That may make you look foolish.  It may make you look smart as well.  The important part is the will of the Father and abiding in Jesus. 

Problem.  There is a witness that is required that calls for total and utter surrender and without that witness we start loosing awe, wonder and the fear of the Lord.  
Some people get to be the Lord's fools.  To speak a better word to the masses.  
Contrasts make for understanding.  Front runners can take a beating from all fronts ----except from the Lord Jesus.  

Could this possibly be the current state of things? 
We are pretty comfortable with our understanding of "walking". 
Yet in truth it bears no powerful marks of the way of Jesus. 
It does not look like him so we see no real impact. 


In America a battle is being waged over voice and the Church is loosing credibility power. 
Its common knowledge that Christians reflect the culture more than the Kingdom. 
The transforming power of the Gospel appears to be inert. 
Alternatives are few and all forms of deep devotion come under fire from the masses. 
We strain a Nat and swallow a camel as Jesus said. 
Is Jesus our brother or are we Saul's holding the cloaks while Stephen gets stoned?

We are so used to the taste of condemnation.  it is the salt of our speech, understanding of God and relationships with the Church. 


This should be a witness to us that we need to turn our eyes toward God and ask for a new understanding.   
Our God is too small.   So small he fits right into our lives.   As if this life was the goal, the ultimate expression of his will and work. 

The God who formed the oceans and the Mountains high does not fit into our life box. 
That is not the God who sets the Thunder loose or flashed the lightning that lights forests a flame. 
The God who poured the oceans full and whose love could not be contained if it filled all of the earth is the one who poured his blood over the sins of the entire world, past, present and future.  

Those who know the NAME can stand up in the worst circumstances and abide in Christ and the reality of his grace and love.  Their worship is not silenced.   The Kingdom keeps moving forward in them.  They offer life where there is none.  And like their Father speak to what is not as though it was. 

The Kingdom of God is the compelling vision of the rule and reign of the Lord Jesus in everything.   This is what we carry with us everywhere.   It is active.  It is directed from heaven to bring heaven to earth.  It is powerful and capable of changing all things.   

Jesus made all things new.   Usher in the promise!


Those who run deeply into the secret place of Christ's heart know that his power overcomes the world.  It does not shrink back. It has gone to the deepest hell hole possible and won the victory.    Thank you Jesus.  We would be lost without you. 


So, how far are you willing to go?  

 

There is a place of rest and trust that frees us from the cares of the world and opens us wide into the reality of the Coming Kingdom and the rule and reign of Jesus.   
It is not a removed spirituality.  It is engaged in overcoming the world; of bringing light and love to darkness.  It is infused with the inheritance power and vision of the perfect work of Jesus Christ.  

So how far are you willing to go?  

Decide to let this perfect love lose on the world in which you live.  The lives you can touch.  The hearts you can deliver hope and power into today.  


 Comments?  Love the dialogue.  Thank you for comments and Google +1's.   The feedback and encouragement are great.  



With love and grace in Jesus
He is all we need for life and peace.



In the Lord,
Brother Jeff
Jeff Reynolds Sr. leader 
Capstone Christian Fellowship
www.mycapstone.org
jeff@jeffreynoldsministries.com