That probably sounds strange. It's an attempt at saying, my heart was expanding and growing as she spoke. Filling with the atmosphere of Holy Spirit, my heart broadened, flowering with wonder. I was hearing confirming grace, that we had entered into a season of HIS fullness.
I felt this new season. The open country of his boundless kingdom. I felt the correlation to the places the Lord was leading me. The wind of the Spirit filled my spirit. I was receiving a confirmation of what I perceived back in August 2016. After 30 Days of 24/7 prayer in our region and 24 hours of continuous prayer and worship, the atmosphere changed. We went from fighting for righteousness to the wide open country of his fullness. An invitation seemed to run out before us. An invitation to enter into this fullness of Christ. Fullness of Christ, the vast expanse of blessing and favor the Lord won for us. I felt it. I could see it in the Spirit. Now my friend was confirming it to me and my spirit was soaring.
Even while my spirit soared,
I sensed through the Spirit that this word, though releasing freedom in me, would reveal the passive, wounded and apathetic heart.
The first point of ministry, as we step into the fullness of Christ, will be ministry to the heart.
To enter into abundant freedom we need an undivided, undaunted and unhindered heart. Any other condition of the heart is overwhelmed by the expanse and boundless glory of his fullness. This is the heart Jesus carried and carries as High Priest. Forged in perfected and perfect worship, this heart is our in him.In an environment of fullness in Jesus, some hearts will not be able to move forward. Into such a space or atmosphere, the wounded heart cannot expand without healing and renewal. The reason? The invitation to fullness requires a heart that is fully devoted and undivided. It exalts in the joy of salvation and the invitation of God to greater and greater intimacy. This heart rejoices in the certainty of the uncertainty found in the fullness of Christ. The rootedness of this rejoicing heart is in the character of the Lord and the boundless glory and grace of his un-boardered Kingdom.
Healing, mending and the fresh air of the Holy Spirit are required of the heart that feels limited in the boundless freedom of the fullness of Christ.
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| Sonya Day - Visit her site |
Things like apathy, passivity, and protecting the heart, things caused by cruising along and following the currents of life, never make the heart whole. Rather they reveal it's true condition. These postures do not provoke or fuel first love devotion to Jesus. Fullness in Christ requires a whole hearted devotion and freedom.
Rather than ascending into the expanse, this heart needs consoling and encouragement. It needs hope restored. And for some the sorting out of overwhelming ministry assignments and battle weary passivity have gone untended.
All these conditions are heart statements, messages from the heart. Ringing out from a heart that needs healing and encouragement, to taste deep abiding love again.
This should never surprise us. At the urging of Paul, "don't lose heart", is and was a real possibility. True for him and for us is the possibility. Jesus encouraged us as well when he said, that we should continue in prayer and not lose heart. (Mark>?)
Such a heart has lost it's love. Such a heart can be invigorated and renewed in the beauty and power of the heart of Jesus before the Father. Yet, it must be recognized and surrendered. Growing cold in the calculations and the mindset of the flesh rather than the glory mindset of the mind of Christ, is always before us as a choice. Again, visitation always reveals our true and present standing before the Lord.
A heart perfected in obedience through suffering.
We are All the same. We are all following the forerunner, Jesus, who went before us with an undivided heart. This heart is given to us as a gift by grace through faith.
Continued struggle over long periods of time create opportunities to lose heart. One very small piece at a time we give way to apathy of heart. Ending up passive, lacking faith action and without clear devotion. The consuming fires of faith and first love drift away without notice.
Though tempted in every way as us, Jesus did not lose heart. He never become passive. In the face of the enemy, his connection to the Father's will, and his love for the Father, Jesus pressed on in obedience. His gaze fixed on the face of the Father and in carrying out his will. In the face of suffering and opposition Jesus learned obedience (Hebrews 5:7-9). With loud cries and tears he offered up prayers. We will find ourselves in similar paths along the journey of obedience. We are in the way of the Master, the forerunner Jesus, who carved out a new and living way. To read some testimony of victory in prayer click here -
The heart finds it's air and energy in the loud cries and tears of supplication and intercession. In the honest and raw presence of abiding in Jesus.
A few days later I was meeting with our worship leaders. We needed a re-group and some new fire. After asking some probing questions I realized their hearts needed encouragement. Before they could move out into a message of fullness, they needed to bring their hearts into undivided devotion. Having a sense for this word of Fullness and the prompting of the Spirit to mend hearts, I focused our breakfast on consolation, encouragement, and heart talk.
It was snowing. We looked out the window to see this. The heart appeared on the car while we ate breakfast.
No one touched the car. We were sitting in a booth with this very view the whole time. Simple encouragement makes a significant difference. Thank you Lord for your amazing and simple supernatural ways.
So my sense for mending hearts before the impact of freedom and fullness, was confirmed. I've seen it now on multiple occasions in different ministry settings as the word of fullness is shared.
The stages of freedom are laid out before us. It's time to surrender our hearts to him again. The freedom we need to run into the wide open country of his fullness requires a whole and healed heart. Wholehearted and perfected in love, we will be ready to run freely in the boundless fullness of Christ.
Some definition may help to awaken the heart to watchfulness.
If you've made it this far with the talk of the heart, you recognize it's not a mortal condition. HOPE mixed with faith activating the grace of God can carry us through any and all struggles. So we can take a step further. We can drill down into this heart that is not altogether settled.
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| Leah Reynolds - Prophetic Painter |
It is a weary heart.
This heart is not a faithless heart or a discouraged heart. It is a weary heart. It's a heart that is slowing down under the weight of constant and persistent hindrance. Opposition and lack of seeing the hope you are fighting and praying for daily, wears down the heart. It can move in courage but it is confused about the direction. Lacking clear direction, faith in action has turned to passivity.Grace activated in faith is a fading memory. It is not a heart in unbelief. At least not completely. Just a little maybe. It's a heart that needs some relief. It is just side tacked with a bit of confusion. It's a heart wrestling with God and apparently getting no answers.
It's not a rebellious heart. In the course of working hard and running after the Lord in obedience, it has wandered off into passivity. No longer acting in faith on a daily basis.
In truth, this is an easy thing to do. To just fall back into the normal routines of life. Work and family occupy so much of our time. It is easy to ride those currents and not seek first the Kingdom. Due to the normal and accepted levels of spiritual pursuits no one typically perceives the difference. We can melt into the life around us. And no one really takes notice.
No longer pouring our worship into obedience. No longer moving forward in the way Jesus is carving out for us. A way that requires real and active faith to gain ground. Passive, yet appearing to many well and on the way, we are no longer living by faith or in faith. The grace deposited in us by Christ is voiceless and not being exercised.
Letting the weight of glory fill us up, overwhelm us? No. Sorry. That is a distant memory. Not a present reality. But it can be again.
Years ago, in the Toronto blessing, I felt the weight of glory. So weighty in fact I was unable to stand. I was face down on the floor. I felt as if I could not get up. The weight of glory weighing down on me so heavy my face seemed to make a permanent impression on the carpet.
It didn't. But the weight of glory made an impression on my heart and my walk with God. Tangible weight bearing down on me from the Most High is not quickly forgotten. When I finally was able to get up, hours later, I had a whole new appreciation for the "weight of glory".
I tell this story to point to the weight of first love. The heart of first love for Jesus is a heart heavily weighted under the glory of the Spirit. It is not passive, coasting or apathetic. The steadfast love of God is heavy on the first love heart. It is veil-less perception of the Lord. It is raw and real weight. Glory can be felt.
As we mature in the Lord, the realization that we can walk in steadfast first love through the grace of Jesus, becomes a daily reality. This heart is like a forgotten land in the heart I am pointing toward.
This heart has stopped resting in abiding steadfast love. As a way, as a discipline, this heart is adrift. It no longer waits for the Lord's witness of encouragement and kindness. The deception is believing is not gone. Rather, the practice of entering into his rest and loving kindness is no longer exercised.
Resting, the kind that avails us to the Lord's Spirit, is no longer pressed into. Deep is crying out for deep but we no longer give way to the invitations of the Spirit. More simply put, this heart no longer waits on the Lord. It is to occupied with what is next and how to get there. Occupied with getting an answer, the benefits of rest and peace in Jesus are not tapped.
Forgotten, Christ is always the answer. The way, truth and life, he is the actual answer and fulfillment of our search. Paradox. Yea. Easy to forget and let slide away. Yea. Easy to restore as well. Simply rest and wait before the Lord. Psalms 27:14
Such an atmosphere is easily adjusted. Such a posture is easily addressed. But the issues of the heart, the real and tangible things in which the heart is stumbling must be aired and addressed.
Right here. At this place where the heart is adrift, people miss the opportunities of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the best disciple maker. He leads us to quiet waters and green pastures. He leads us to healing. He leads us to Jesus. When we "see" the heart we possess and find that it is hindered by anything, it is our next steps that make all the difference in freedom and entering into fullness.
Unify the Heart and Mind. Undivided Heart.
This heart off track is not in unison with the mind. And this mind is not informing the heart in faith and clear action. The division is subtle but powerful. When the mind and heart are not united in faith apathy and passivity become welcome guests. As if all the space left over, space once occupied with faith action, is now void and empty. Passivity and apathy move right in and fill these voids without knocking.
This heart appears apathetic but is really just undecided. It has not lost conviction of truth or knowledge of the ways of the Lord. At least as ascribing to teachings and beliefs go. It has simply wandered off the paths of first love and the connection of Jesus to our walk and understanding. Wandered from the solid practices of devotion, it is easy over time to not recognize what we left behind. With the rising of a few "why" questions and a string of days without the usual vibrancy, passivity can slip in without notice. We say a lot more no's than yes'. We get into the habit of having no habits of love and devotion, prayer or word.
Lukemia - lack of oxygen to the cells and body.
Spiritual Lukemia - lack of the oxygen of first love to the heart, mind, soul and strength.
When people of high commitment allow to many experiences and disappointments to go unprocessed with the Holy Spirit, the first love heart takes the hit.
It is a heart in the middle. The heart was not made for the middle.
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot: I wish you were cold or hot. So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue you out of my mouth." Revelation 3:15-16
The heart that cannot stay in such a place and live. This is a good thing.
When people of high commitment allow to many experiences and disappointments to go unprocessed with the Holy Spirit, the first love heart takes the hit. Such "dings" can go unnoticed as they are not major crisis or events requiring our full focus.
Typical of ministry service and highly committed people, we spend our focus and energies on others and often overlook our little wounds along the way. These bumps and questions and disappointments that go without healing or a clear process of applying grace can pile up unexpectedly. After a while the devout heart cannot bear up under the weight of the why, the losses in relationships, and the seeming hits on their hope.
When faithful believers are acting and moving normally in faith walking in the Spirit and carrying out the commands of Christ the weight of hindrances, failures, relational let downs, opposition, and persecutions can dull the heart. It's like the drip of a faucet that needs repairs but just is not enough of a problem to shut down the progress for a day. With such decisions the heart starts showing signs of wear.
The small but penetrating confrontations with the enemy wear away and pile up too many unanswered why's.That is the Enemies favorite question to sow. Why? I don't recall ever getting and answer for that one. Why points us to Trust. Why points us back to who God is and if we will believe in the NAME. Why is a question looking back. With the plow in hand this is a bad direction to look. Why forgets Romans 8:28-29. Why is the seed of offense at God for whatever has befallen us.
We need to replace the why with worship. With the insight of Jesus at Gethsemanie. Not why but "is there another way?". If not, your will is life and love and my desire.
Good news. The Holy Spirit is remarkable and full of loving kindness. He is able to heal these dings of the heart. The Spirit is skilled at restoring the heart to freedom. The freedom it was made for.
This is a heart that needs Psalm 139. Search and know through the grace and compassion of the Holy Spirit what things have gone unnoticed. This is a heart that needs Ephesians 3:14-21 prayer over it with fervency and love. This is a heart that needs healing. Real ministry to address the small thorns and hindrances.
To move into this message of fullness and wisdom building your heart has to be free and abounding in love, worship and grace.
Here is a series of blogs about the heart that may help.
1. The Unhindered Heart - Sharpening the Arrow Point of Grace and Glory - https://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-unhindered-heart-sharpening-arrow.html
2. Undivided - Undaunted - Unhindered Heart After God - https://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2017/02/undivided-undaunted-unhindered-heart.html
3. Love for God Is A Never Ending Open Country - An Undivided Heart - Wholly Devoted - a place to follow not hide.
://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/03/love-for-god-is-never-ending-open.html4. Five Thorns to Pull From a Wounded Heart -https://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2015/10/5-thorns-to-pull-from-wounded-heart.html
5. Personal Unity. Can the Heart and Mind be United in the Spirit Always? https://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/02/personal-unity-can-heart-and-mind-be.html
Thanks for reading.
The dialogue is awesome. Thank you.
Testimonies? Share em with me.
I am hoping to do Google Hang Outs Soon on Friday's.
Uganda was amazing.
Thank you for your prayers and support!
So appreciated. Such an offering. Makes all the difference.
With much love in Jesus
You can do this thing! He's got you.
Jeff Reynolds ---
Brother Jeff
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