We recently watched the movie “Heaven is Real”. When we left the theatre, I wondered how many Christians actually believe heaven is a real place. It wouldn’t make sense to rejoice on Easter Sunday of Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead if a person didn’t believe heaven and hell are real places. The celebration begins on Good Friday, at the cross!
I have discovered there is a difference between stolen identity and lost
identity. If your home has been broken into, your wallet or purse taken, or your computer with all your personal information hacked, you know what it is to have your identity stolen.
There is another type of identity. This identity is all the unique, personal characteristics and circumstances that make you be you. The you that others recognize you by. It is also the particular way you see yourself as being.
I don’t recall the exact day or moment in our travels that the process of “losing my identity” began. Maybe it was the morning we overslept and needed to quickly check out of our RV park. Our perfected routine of getting ready to hit the road wasn’t happening. A sudden cloud burst of rain was accompanied with the insistent demands of Stella dog to go immediately outside. Out we went….without any thought of how I looked in my plastic purple rain coat, PJ’s, Larry’s gloves and my western boots. An amazing revelation came
later. . . Stella’s need overshadowed my need to look a certain way before going out! Wow!
It turned out this was not a singular incident. The key elements of no makeup, mis-matched clothing, hair curlers , etc all going public was nearly more than I could stand. Yes, we were on the road; no one had ever seen us before nor would probably never see us again. Yet, I found it hard to believe no one seemed to notice or care about how I looked. I wondered why it mattered so much to me.
The fullness of this scenario hit as we settled into our new location. It was much more than outer appearance. No one here acknowledged my being “Pastor BB”. There was no history here of community events we’ve hosted. There was no familiar greetings at the post
office or grocery store. We were the visitors who sat in the back row at the Sunday service. No matter where we went, no one seemed to notice how I looked or recognized me for “who I am”. I have no title, position or employees. Now that everything familiar has been stripped away, am I still me or did some part of me get left in Iowa or somewhere along the road?
Suddenly, my thoughts shifted, bringing a new understanding for the One, the Darling of
heaven, the One heaven held so dear, the Word of God, who willingly “lost, ie gave up” His identity. “…..Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery
to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a
bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as
a man.” Philippians 2:5
The Word became flesh!
It was not on earth as it was in heaven. Rather than desired and esteemed, He
was despised and rejected by men. He was a Man of sorrow, acquainted with grief.
He was oppressed, afflicted, wounded, bruised, carried our sin and poured out
His soul unto death. He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of
death, even the death of the cross.
Now, here it comes……”Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. . . .”
Our love for God is to birth in us the same willingness to submit to God’s will without
compromise. It was certainly not my idea to leave Iowa, our church, or walk away from so
many precious friends and relationships. They sang a song in church here last Sunday. . . one of the lines was “I give up my right to own my past”. I felt like I gave up a lot. I’m not who I was nor who I have yet to become. Out of obedience, I laid everything down to be raised up to a new place of freedom! Christ is still in me and has greater things for me.
New Year’s Eve is a great time to let go of the disappointments, heart aches, and hurts of the old year and step “empty” into the new year. Be encouraged to move out of your comfort zones, lose your identity, and allow God to do a new work in your life!
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God is doing a new thing! In the past, God “declared the former things from the beginning . . . Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you.” These things were then known and expected. True to His Word, what God declared came to pass, and thus testified of His power and sovereignty. The people could not attribute them to be works of their idols or graven images. Isaiah 48:3-5
But now, God is doing something different! There is a new sound in the spirit of old things passing away.It is truly a time of new beginnings! Our awesome God is so dynamic and alive! He is creating things right now that have never existed until now. “I have made you hear new things from this time, Even hidden things, and you did not know them. They are created now and not from the beginning; And before this day you have not heard them, Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them. ’Surely you did not hear, Surely you did not know; Surely from long ago your ear was not opened.” Isaiah 48:7,8.
In the spirit there are whirlwinds of change. We are standing on the supernatural threshold of all things being possible. The One Who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, is waiting on us! This is a time to rise up and exercise our full God- given authority and power! God wants to release His unlimited creativity into our lives! However, if we don’t have a solid relationship with Him, and really know and trust Him, we’ll be afraid to do anything and resist what He wants to do. When we fear change, and don’t understand where it’s coming from, we’ll continue to do the same things we’ve always done.
There is security in doing the same things day in and day out… but, the security of our routine can become an idol, and blind us to new things. We can pray and ask the Lord to deliver us from specific things in our life, but our refusal to change can block His moving in our life. We can actually prolong our miserable circumstances by resisting “stepping out of the boat”.
God has promised to feed the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. Luke 1:53 Don’t allow yourself to be content with your “riches”, ie present possessions and circumstances. Even more importantly, don’t be satisfied with your spiritual “condition”, and relationship with The Lord. We must stir ourselves to rise up and seek the Lord with all our hearts; to increase in experiential knowledge of Him, and move into new realms of the spirit.
It’s not enough just to say: “Lord I believe” ….we have to believe enough to act on what we believe! The church, the Bride, has said “yes and amen”, but now we must stand up and go forward on that yes and amen, and act on what we say we believe! Until we truly surrender ourselves totally to the Lord, and yield to His will for us, we remain stagnant, an empty sound of yes and amen.
As we continue to travel in our motor home, God is using our dog, Stella, to teach me some valuable spiritual lessons.
Being an enthusiastic dog, whenever we stop, her natural impulse is to rush out the door. Stella always wants to be out first and to run ahead of me. I am training her to learn to wait; I explain to her she doesn’t know where we are or where we are going. It is really about her learning to trust me – that no matter how things look to her, when I tell her to wait, she must learn to wait, listen to what I say, and obey. So far she is better at doing this than we seem to be.
WAIT means to delay acting, with a hopeful expectation; to stand in one place anticipating something.
It is one thing to wait on the Lord in prayer for His Presence to come. It is quite another thing to wait upon Him for specific guidance and direction. The greater challenge is to wait for Him to bring the fulfillment of His Word into our reality. Too often we allow impatience, fear or anxiety to prompt us to take things into our hands and make something happen. When we run ahead of God, we end up creating circumstances and obstacles that distract and hinder us from living in God’s will. The more I learn to wait for God to bring forth His plan into my life, the more I am in awe of the perfection of His timing! God’s timeline is often different from ours; He knows our end from the beginning, whereas we only see the “middle” or present moment. His heart is to work all things together to bring us into the fullness of the purpose and destiny He created for each one of us.
God revealed to Joseph in a dream a glimpse of such great honor even his brothers would bow down before him. True to His Word, in due season, God exalted Joseph to a glorious position in Egypt to be second only to Pharaoh. However, until that time, the word of the Lord tested him! (Psalm 105:19)
In the same manner, David was anointed to be king but it was almost 15 years from the time he was first anointed by Samuel to when he became king over Judah. Then he waited another seven years before he was anointed king over all Israel!
The Lord spoke to Joshua…. “Yet there shall be a space between you and it (the ark), about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.” Joshua 3:4
We are in a new season. Many things are happening that have never occurred before. I believe the Lord is releasing new callings, directions, and abilities. Greater measures of boldness and fearlessness are equipping people to do that which they thought impossible. Hearts are being awakened to a keener discerning of spiritual climates God is preparing a people to step into new places of authority. But, like Stella, we must learn to wait and listen for the Lord to direct us.
Exodus 14:13 “And Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid. Stand still (WAIT), and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.”
Psalms 37:9 “For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the Lord, They shall inherit the earth.”
Thank You, Lord, for teaching us to wait in trustful expectation for Your will to be done in our lives!
Much more than a mighty rushing wind, there is a sound in heaven right now that is resounding throughout the earth. All creation is hearing the sound and awakening! It is the sound of the Glory of God! Gates are opening….gates are opening!!! The double gates are opening wide….the King of Glory is coming among us! (Psalm 24)
Ha….in the natural, as the Midwest has been soaked with rain….in the spirit, the flood gates of heaven are opening! As the enemy comes in, the Lord of Hosts comes like a flood, raising a standard against him. The very presence of our Warrior King, this Mighty Man of war, is breaking gates open over nations, over cities, and over individual lives! Brass gates are breaking open and iron bars are falling down!
The gates of hell can not prevail against the righteousness of our God. We are to go forward and possess the gates of our enemies. Enter the gates with praise….the enemy can no longer hold us back from entering secret places of hidden riches. Treasures of darkness are made visible in the King’s light!
“There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God…” (Psalm 48:4) Rushing golden rivers of God’s glory are opening the gates of cities. Historically, there were 12 gates into Jerusalem; the new Jerusalem also has 12 gates. (Nehemiah 3; Revelations 21) Twelve (12) is a perfect number…it signifies governmental perfection. Understand the perfect apostolic rule of God is not only coming upon nations and cities but on individual lives as well. When you read the following names of the gates and their prophetic application, I believe you will have faith to hear the new sound from heaven invading the earth right now!
THE 12 GATES
1. SHEEP GATE. Jesus is the gate all the sheep must pass through to be saved.
2. FISH GATE. Jesus is making us “fishers of men”. Gates of evangelism are opening!
3. OLD GATE. The law of the old covenant is now seen through the grace of the new covenant.
4. VALLEY GATE. A “shadow of death” place where many are weeping and making decisions.
5. DUNG GATE. Waste/refuge was taken out here… places of deliverance are opening!
6. FOUNTAIN GATE. This gate was next to the pool of Siloam, where the Word and Holy Spirit work together. Miracles are happening!
7. WATER GATE. Many are being cleansed right now by the washing of the water of God’s Word!
8. HORSE GATE. The Lord of Hosts rides with His armies through these gates!
9. EAST GATE. This is the gate called “Beautiful” or “Golden”. The Lord returns to Jerusalem through this gate!
10. MIPHKAD GATE. The sheep were counted and inspected here; a reminder we all will be judged.
11. EPHRAIM GATE. Ephraim means double fruitfulness and a joining together – Jew and Gentile; heaven and earth. There is a new unity happening!
12. PRISON GATE. An angel led Peter though this gate…. Many are being set free through angelic deliverance.
Pray with faith. Come into agreement with what the Lord is doing right now and advance!
GO THROUGH THE GATES!!
The fulfillment of time had come…it was for this hour The Word had become flesh. The same night Jesus was betrayed He gathered His beloved disciples together to share a last supper with them. As He broke the bread and drank the wine He commanded them: “Do this in remembrance of Me”.
This is more than a pattern for a religious ritual…in the re-enactment, there is something to remember. Jesus is the living bread which came down from heaven. The bread we are to eat is the truth He gave His Flesh and Blood as the ultimate sacrifice for the life of the world. If we refuse this truth, we have no life in us. Jesus told His disciples “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:51,53, 63
The Word was about to be betrayed, crucified, and buried. But none of this could prevent the stone from being rolled away and His resurrection. The Word of God lives eternally and can not be bound or restrained. If this same Word abides in us, we live in and move in resurrection power!
The women came to the tomb, prepared to anoint Jesus’ Body, but they were astonished to find the stone had been rolled away. Two men in shining garments spoke to them: “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ And they remembered His words.” Luke 24:7,8
Ha..there it is; they remembered His words!
What about us? In the midst of terrorist attacks, senseless tragedy,and calculated evil, will we remember His Words? What Word(s) will we remember? I think there is only one thing that Jesus spoke that will empower us for this present age. It will make us fearless to confront evil, injustice, and senseless atrocities. These things can not have the last word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. The beginning Word is also the ending Word. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord, who is and was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Rev 1:8
Indeed, God is raising up an unstoppable army who understand there is no retreat, turning back, nor closing the eyes. They are sustained by the Bread of Life to confront evil and advance the Kingdom of God. They will invite multitudes to the banquet table of the Lord. They too will eat this Bread and be given the opportunity to manifest the power of the Gospel as the last Word.
The time is now. Come to the table and eat this Bread. Do this in remembrance of Me: “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” John 15:12,13
In the face of evil, our natural mind, our human-ness, cries out for vengeance or retaliation… anything except love. Love seems inappropriate or even weak. Such is the vast difference between our thoughts and the thoughts of God. We demand justice, but it is only found at the cross. How hard this is…to wrap our mind around the truth that love is justice to a God Who is Love. This Lover wills none should perish but rather purposes that all things be united in Him. Yet, He is the Righteous One, and all vengeance belongs to Him…He will repay.
In the end, the Last Word, will judge how well we remembered His Words and truly loved others unconditionally.
I couldn’t seem to let go of The Vision. There was more to be said…
The fact that help came to me in a most unlikely way, and from an unusual source, speaks for itself. We are stepping into a time that requires us to be open to things we have never seen or heard before now. As the Lord instructed Joshua to follow Him, that he had never passed this way before…so we must follow the Lord closely as we go into “the promised land”. This refers to both new circumstances and places in our everyday lives but also new realms in the spirit!
Because God is sovereign, He can use anyone or anything to accomplish His will. We must lay aside all prejudice and/or preconceived ideas of what is possible or impossible. If a snake could talk in the garden of Eden, and a donkey chatted with Balaam, my being cared for by the wolves doesn’t seem too bizarre. Out of the ordinary, yes, but that is where we need to be willing to go. Everything keeps coming down to hearing God’s voice, trusting Him, and being obedient to what He says.
Still, my mind was drawn back to the wolves….what was it about them I needed to know? My starting place, of course, was the Bible.
There are scriptures that alert us to false prophets, who are like wolves, appearing as sheep. Other scriptures warn of the destructive nature of fierce and savage wolves. Wow…this was not my experience! I knew there must be more. Suddenly, I found something amazing!
Genesis 49:27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at night he shall divide the spoil”.
Benjamin! What did I know about Benjamin? Apparently, not enough. I knew he was Jacob’s youngest and greatly favored son. I learned that Benjamin was born in Bethlehem, which means “house of food”. Benjamin’s mother died when he was born. She had named him “Benoni” (son of my sorrows), but Jacob changed his name to “Benjamin” which means “son of my right hand”.
My study progressed onward to the tribes of Israel, especially to study the tribe of Benjamin.
The children of Israel encamped, each one by his banner according to the insignia of their father’s household. Each tribe had a symbol related to the blessing which Jacob released to each one of his sons before his death. This was not only a blessing, but a revelation of the character of each tribe and a prophetic picture of the nature of the end time Church!
The first born son, Reuben, represents the early Church and Benjamin, the last born, represents the end time Church. Hence, Benjamin’s name reveals a Church that will be a ”house of food”, ie provide provisions for to feed others. When Joseph’s brothers came to visit him in Egypt, Joseph invited them all to eat with him. Benjamin received 5x’s the portion of food as his brothers 🙂 Biblically, five is the number of grace….grace multiplied 5 times! This is a picture of the extravagance of God available to the end time Church! There will be abundant resources, both physically and spiritually, to provide and care for others. As Benjamin represents those who have been abandoned or orphaned, this is a Church that will also oppose injustice toward widows and orphans.
Jesus sits at the right hand of HIs Father. The right hand presents authority and power. Benjamin, as the “son of the right hand”, lives in intimacy with the Father. Those who intimately know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits. (Daniel 11:32). This is a Church that will demonstrate a new realm of authority to release unprecedented signs and wonders.
The tribe of Benjamin was known to be particularly warlike and courageous. The symbol of the tribe was a predatory animal. Yes.. .the wolf! The biblical phrase on the banner tab reads, “…in the morning he shall devour the prey”. (Gen. 49:27)
I found another blessing, by Moses, in Deuteronomy 33:12 “Of Benjamin he said, ‘May the beloved of the Lord dwell in security by Him, Who shields him all the day, And he dwells between His shoulders.”
Suddenly it all came together. My wonderful God was not showing me He will shield me, be fierce to protect me, and devour those who seek to harm me but also revealing that the end time Church, positioned in intimacy, will be victorious!
pastorbb 