I've walked with Jesus since I was Seventeen.
In the course of the journey.....
I've learned...
Things happen
that completely change
the way I see
EVERYTHING.
I had such an experience in Bali in June 2018.
On June 19, 2018, I was in Ubud with our Bali Mission Team of 10. We were walking in the Spirit in some highly charged supernatural days. Dreams, divine appointments, prophecies and walking into them in real-time. A highly charged spiritual environment, Ubud is certainly one of the New Age capitals of the World.
I was leading a focused and deeply committed team of Saints in the day to day motions of walking in the Spirit, following the leading and promptings of the Spirit and going into every open door and welcome we received.
We diligently attempted to stewarded everything the Holy Spirit was speaking and revealing.
Flowing in a continuous "walk in the Spirit", the day was surrounded with Day and Night prayer and continuous awareness of our co-laboring mission we were in with Jesus. We were sent by the Spirit into Ubud for a few days. Now those days were unfolding "in the Spirit".
One afternoon, we had a few open hours. I had in my mind to follow the full circles of the previous trip to Bali and Ubud (2015) and go back to the home we stayed in. The house was in a small town called Tampaksiring. The missionary we came to visit, support, and encourage lived there. We stayed there praying day and night and walking in the Spirit.
As with this current trip (2018), we met key people, wandered into divine appointments as well as seeing prayers answered within hours. I also experienced the voice of God in supernatural ways that translated right into the very moment I was living in.
During this 2018 trip, the condition and status of the property in Tampaksiring was not fully known to me. We had lost touch with our missionary friend and did not know what eventually happened. We anticipated the previous missionary not being there as he communicated the intention of leaving the work behind and moving back to the USA. The lingering sadness of seeing such a supernatural work left behind and the lack of finality in knowing the current status called my heart to "go and see".
So, I asked my team mates about my impression to go and visit the house in Tampaksiring and bring things full circle. We in turn asked the Holy Spirit if we should go. We felt an agreed "yes, go".
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| Water Temple - Tampaksiring |
This venture was important to me. I longed to get a clearer picture of the current state of things. The Holy Spirit had connected us to a mission that he orchestrated through our friend, by giving him the oversight of this particular property through supernatural means and then calling us to come and encourage and support him.
Jesus planted the ministry there in the ancients fields of 1000-year-old temples, a presidential palace, stronghold understandings, a royal family and captivities of life and faith. It was a piece of ground given over to Christ. But a piece of ground highly contested by principalities and powers. The supernatural components of this location and the divine story behind it are remarkable. Equally remarkable is the disappointment and lingering confusion of the abandoning of such a clearly supernatural mission base.
So we booked a car and headed out. Daniel, my friend, and amazing mission leading partner didn't think I could find the place. It was about 4o minutes drive from Ubud. The driver actually went the way I knew and traveled on a scooter a number of times. All things looked familiar and we were on the way.
In Tampaksiring I identified the critical turn after passing it and trusting my gut to go back a little way. Sure enough, we were now heading down the jungle path in very familiar places. The guys were happy and celebrated with me; I did know how to find the place after all this time. We wound our way past the cemetery, that fearful place for our Hindu friends, and pulled up in the driveway of the house.
My emotions were running deep and my memories churned up inside me. We stepped out and knocked on the outer Gate door. No answer. But it was open. We pushed it open a bit and called out for anyone who might be there. No one answered. There were signs of someone being present but our continued calling out did not rouse anyone.
The property was definitely in a state of disrepair. The roof covered with a ripped tarp was decaying. The general state of the property unkempt. Disappointing. The promises and vision rang out in my mind. "Barefoot on God's given land, you will find it." That's how this place was discovered. Now it was wasting away. An old man was walking along the path just outside the driveway. I thought we should talk to him and gain any information he had. He answered our questions but offered little more. We walked around the perimeter and prayed. Took some photos. Wondered. Eventually, we all gathered back at the car and agreed we were done for now. So we loaded up the car to head back to Ubud.
On the jungle path on the drive out, the old man was walking toward us. I asked the driver to stop the car. To the driver, I said, "Please, ask him who owns the property?". The driver and he conversed and he acted like he knew. So we asked him to write the name down in Bryan's journal. We thanked him and gave him a small Rupia thank you. He smiled and walked off. We asked the driver if we could go see the person, the name now written in the journal. The driver showed visible signs of being uncomfortable with the request. So we pressed in and asked again.
His response was, "He is the richest man in Ubud." Undaunted by this response, I asked the Holy Spirit if we should go see this person. My gut feeling was yes. "Go visit him". I asked the guys what they thought. They were in agreement that going to visit the person was a "yes" from the Spirit.
Ok. So how do we find a person we have no contact information for? No phone number. No address. No specific location? Just his name and some stories?
Remember my lead off.
Sometimes things happen that change your whole perspective.
Jesus is a living God. He speaks and leads us today. Not and idol or piece of stone.
So, I asked the driver if he knew where we could find this person. Visibly unnerved, he replied, "He has nine palaces. I don't know where he maybe." Undaunted, I said, "Can you take us to one of them?" He said, "yes, with hesitation".
I looked at the guys for final agreement to go and they nodded. We were off to find this man and meet with him. By the leading of the Holy Spirit and following the full circle of the house in Tampaksiring, our missionary friend and all the gaps and stories in between, we headed out.
We drover for 40 minutes down into Ubud. I recognized different streets and sights. The driver intended to take us to the main royal palace complex, we did not know this until later as we knew nothing about the Royal Family of Ubud or the prince who owned the property. We came to the main street to go into the palace complex and could not enter. It was barricaded and police were directing traffic away. Later we found out the President of Indonesia was visiting. Huh. Turned away to...
Arriving in the parking lot we spotted an open temple area to our left and decided to ask the older man attending there if he knew where we could find the person listed on the journal, the prince. He spoke little English and we struggled to explain our purpose. He pointed toward the palace complex and said we should go there. The one we could not enter. We felt we hit a dead end. So we walked across the street to the office complex with the princely seal out front. It looked empty. We googled the names on the sign and found them to be offices of non-profits and random service agencies. Now we were really stumped. Was this a dead lead? Were we done with the search?
Then Daniel said, "I think we should tour the temple back where the older man was." We looked at each other and internally sought the Spirit's lead and all agreed we should do it. So we headed back to the entrance of the temple with the Old man and went in. We let them know we wanted to "do the tour" and they began getting us into the proper attire.
While the guys got outfitted, I talked with a woman Bryan was conversing with. He was sharing the story and our search and showing her the name written in the journal; pressing into the Spirit's lead with boldness and tenacity. I joined in and told some specific stories of our missionary friend and the connection with the Royal Families history, about the house and our desire to learn what happened. I gave her my card with our friends' name written on it. She gave me her card and said, "Please next time you are in Bali come and visit us and we can talk more about these stories." Jasmine is a lovely person but again, it looked like we had reached a dead end. I shared some more compelling information and stories and asked if she would share my card, stories and asked if we might see the Prince? That is if she had any way to connect with him or share the information. She appeared to have some connection to the Royal Family but was essentially putting off any requests. She said nothing more and we went on the tour. Here are some photos from the tour.
Amazing place.
Overwhelming beauty.
We were in awe.
And we felt we were close to our goal of meeting the Prince.
This was a reception area for Royal activities.
I've never been to a place like this.
We were a bit taken back.
The Spirit had directed our path to what appeared to be a Royal Family compound of some kind.
We went in.
When we came out after the tour, the guys were giving back the clothes we were required to wear and Jasmine said something like,
"The Prince will see you now."
I heard the words, but they bounced around in my mind and soul for a minute before landing. I asked the guys, "Did I hear that correctly? What did she say?"
Calm cool and collected Daniel said, "I guess we are going to see the Prince now."
In truth, I wasn't really ready to see a Prince. Though I had a prophetic word pointing to such things. I never really counted it to happen. Yea. Definitely, I had not prepared myself in prayer as if it would. And so even though I was bold in the search, I now was fearful in the actual happening. As we walked down the stairs and into the Royal Family compound, down along the long pathway being led along by the old man, I ran through my mind the question, "Now What? How do I meet a Prince? and what does God have in mind for this meeting?"
Now, if the story ended here, I think it would still be remarkable. But it doesn't.
We were ushered back into the family compound and to the door of the Prince. He came out and greeted us and shared welcomes and greetings. We all sat down on the porch outside his door. He asked us questions politely and sought to understand our connection to our missionary friend, to Tampaksiring. We asked questions and sought to know anything he knew about our friend and his leaving and wear abouts. He expressed his own concern about our friend and that he did not have much in the way of information on him.
He was warm, happy and welcoming and we made it past the initial concerns of who we were and what our intentions were. As we continued talking he told a few stories. We told some of our own. We all laughed as we were reminded of the uniqueness and creativity of our missionary friend. His wild story and the supernatural connection he had too many in Bali, sheer joy. The Prince laughed along with us. Deep and joyful we remembered our friend. And sadly we missed him along with the Prince.
There was a guitar sitting up against the wall. I asked if the Prince played. He happily said he did and recounted some jamming sessions and his love of playing music. He grabbed the guitar and handed it to me. I don't know why but I handed it on to Daniel who oversaw all the prayer and worship on the trip. He grabbed it up and then sat thinking about what to play. Then he started in......"Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing gonna be all right.....
Rise up this mornin',
Smile with the risin' sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin', ("This is my message to you-ou-ou: ")
"Three Little Birds"
"Don't worry about a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin': "Don't worry about a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right! "
Rise up this mornin',
Smile with the risin' sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin', ("This is my message to you-ou-ou: ")
Singin': "Don't worry 'bout a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right."
Singin': "Don't worry (don't worry) 'bout a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right! "
Rise up this mornin',
Smiled with the risin' sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin', "This is my message to you-ou-ou: "
Singin': "Don't worry about a thing, worry about a thing, oh!
Every little thing gonna be all right. Don't worry! "
Singin': "Don't worry about a thing" - I won't worry!
"'Cause every little thing gonna be all right."
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin': "Don't worry about a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right! "
Rise up this mornin',
Smile with the risin' sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin', ("This is my message to you-ou-ou: ")
Singin': "Don't worry 'bout a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right."
Singin': "Don't worry (don't worry) 'bout a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right! "
Rise up this mornin',
Smiled with the risin' sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin', "This is my message to you-ou-ou: "
Singin': "Don't worry about a thing, worry about a thing, oh!
Every little thing gonna be all right. Don't worry! "
Singin': "Don't worry about a thing" - I won't worry!
"'Cause every little thing gonna be all right."
Ok. Still awesome. But it gets better.
Daniel is a prayer house worship leader. He felt the Holy Spirit prompt him to learn one song that was not a worship song prior to our Bali Team Mission. It was this one.
As he sat there debating what to play, this one song came to mind.
Three little birds. Uh.
When Daniel started in on the song we all started singing together.
The Prince was stoked and got very happy. He said he used to sing this song all the time with our friend and loved it.
The entire atmosphere changed. We went from visitors with interesting intentions to friends invited to return any time.
We celebrated and sang that song for a while and the three of us "little birds" marveled at our God. We were in awe, that we actually were led to this place with no details only promptings from the Spirit.
After finishing with the song and more details of our stay, a map to his sisters home - another palace - and an invitation to come any time, we asked if we could pray for the Prince.
He agreed and we prayed and interceded for him, his family and for Ubud. He gladly reached out his hands to us and we sat on his porch all bowed in prayer enjoying the wonder of God.
Wonder and awe filled me up and I began to wonder about the future. About what this all meant. About the next steps in the Spirit. About what God intended and the significance of this purely divine appointment.
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| Love you guys! |
I am prayerfully seeking the Lord and eagerly awaiting the next time I can sit down with the Prince. I am hoping it is with the other two little birds as well. I do think we will have a jam session and bring 'melodies pure and true" into Bali again. I also know that this new relationship is forged in the mind of the Lord for his purpose. Excited and humbled and so stoked that I walked this journey out with these two men of exceptional courage and Holy Spirit sensitivity, I saw everything new, fresh, different. This was a team effort of discernment and very simple promptings. Of action in the world now. Of the signs and wonder of the Holy Spirit.
I've been plying these roads for a few years now. Pressing into the simplest promptings of the Spirit as I journey in specific geographic places sent by Jesus. It is my goal to help others learn to walk in these ways. To find the open gates. To press into the divine appointments and story Jesus intends for us to write with him.
Sometimes we have experiences that change the way you and I think about everything.
Meeting Jesus Christ is the pinnacle - an experience that changes our eternal life forever.
Walking with him continues to be the same.
It is one thing to be blown away, encountered, seeing God on a mission and joining him. It is just the beginning though. The Day always flows into a WAY.
All the mountain tops turn into highways. Isaiah 49:11
And the world's geography is no limitation to the Kingdom of God. We need the same purposed and powerful following in the USA. The same step for step supernatural grace unfolding. Yes, there are plenty of roadblocks in the WAY we do church, evangelism and conduct our ministries in the USA.
During the trip to Bali, I had a dream. An American was walking with me over and through and in the mission journey. Through the jungle, over the hills, on the paths, and in places with no roads. I was on the move and he was right along with me. But, he was asking me about every part. Asking me about how these things were done. Asking me to take things apart and explain how we do and did such things. To be honest, I was stoked to even have someone ask. Seems the appetite for the supernatural forging its way in the natural and the changes required to walk in these ways is not that popular. So, not many questions get asked or answered. Very Sad. As this is such a joy for the Holy Spirit as he co-labors with us.
Of course, I welcome the opportunity. Mainly because I believe God is looking for a new kind of missional leader. One who simply follows the Spirit carries the Gospel of the Kingdom and moves in the power of the Spirit. Its a way born out of assignment and being sent and definitely a way paved by faith. It is a way walked in by one who can spot the open doors the Spirit is providing, a person who can roam with purpose in the ripe fields of the world....any part of it.
The time is upon us where these things occur in the USA. I've been experiencing them here as well. I also realize I have many more boundaries and limiting perspectives in my own country and culture than in another one.
So I am equally exploring with the Holy Spirit new ways of doing the ekklesia family as well as looking for the same kind of open doors and gates to whole new streams of divine activity and salvation.
As I unpack this way, I'm finding the normal ways of church life and how we flow with and process this Kingdom life to be bottlenecked and hindered. I'm also finding the resistance to changing these hindrances in the hearts of many called out ones. The personal flexibility and faith required to move in this way with the Spirit are demanding. But more so utter joy. It moves you into the realms of wonder and awe. The natural swept up in the spiritual.
We need a new cup, a new mindset and a new heart to enter into these paths. It means not knowing a whole bunch of stuff, but clearly knowing a few simple and powerful things. It also requires courage and wisdom. The still small voice of the Lord is to be obeyed.
Ask me how we arrived, Three Little Birds, on a Prince's porch.
Global Kingdom Harvest Ministries - is going out into the world with the Gospel of the Kingdom in the power of the Spirit.
We are taking teams Circuit Riding in the Northwest of the USA and in Japan, Indonesia, Uganda, soon Pakistan and India.
Saving the Lost, Reviving the Saved, Equipping Everyone we are following the Spirit to bring the Gospel to every open door and welcome.
Visit our web site and connect if you want to join a team www.jeffreynoldsministries.com
Find Jeff's stories and First Love encouragements at www.jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com
Want to give to this ministry? We live by faith and the generous gifts of the Saints.
paypal.me/GKHJeffReynolds - Gifts are tax deductable
Thanks for Reading!
I love your comments. Ideas and thoughts.
Please share em.
Re-shares are great. thank U.
Here are some other blogs posts that may interest you.
1.http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2015/01/7-things-enemy-devil-doesnt-want-you-to.html
You can do this thing! He's got you.
Jeff Reynolds --- Global Kingdom Harvest Ministries
Brother Jeff
www.jeffreynoldsministies.com
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