Words from my Heavenly Father (05.13.10)

We spent some time in prayer (being still) asking God:

1. Who are you?
2. Who am I?
3. What do you want me to do?

Here are the word from my Heavenly Father to me:

I am your Father, your Protector and your Provider, your EVERYTHING!
I LOVE you, more then you will ever know!
I have GREAT purpose for you!
You are MY child, with whom, I am WELL pleased!
You are BEAUTIFUL and LOVING!
You will be mother to many!
You will carry My Word to the ends of the earth and bring HOPE where there is NO hope!
I want you to be BOLD!
I want you to GO!
I want you to FOCUS on ME and the things I have for you and not be distracted!
I want you to LOVE me like I LOVE you!
I want you to embrace everything that I am teaching you right now and in the time to come and to do it with patience and thanksgiving!
I want you to have a GREATER faith to believe in the IMPOSSIBLE!
I WANT YOU! I WANT ALL OF YOU!
I want to BREAK you, WRECK you and give you MY heart!
I want to show you how to love the broken and forgotten!
I want you to be STILL and know that I am GOD, LORD over ALL, LORD of your life!

What SWEET and PRECIOUS words! Please pray that I would be obedient to ALL He has for me, that I would give Him EVERYTHING!

DTS Week 4 - Freedom in Christ

I LOVED the lectures this week! Andrew and Faith Dutton were our speakers, they are amazing! Andrew is one of the base leaders here in Kona, HI! The lectures were a great reinforcement of things that God has been teaching me over the last few months and years!

Just a few things that stuck out to me this week are:

• God wants the BEST years of our life - NOT the leftovers!
• Often our selfishness is in the midst of our anger.
• We are NOT to stay in this place forever!
• Grace is something given to us to ENABLE us!
• We must be willing to give up something that costs us to get ALL that God has for us! What will we give up?
• Pride is like body odor; you have to wash it off everyday!
• Without FAITH it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God!
• Walking in truth brings GREAT FREEDOM from shame, guilt and fear!!!!
• We need to be DESPERATE to be right before the Lord!

On Friday, we had a time of public confession of our sins, laying them down at the feet of the cross! By admitting them publically, bringing them to the light, the devil can NO LONGER use them to black mail! It was an absolutely AMAZING week! I can now walk in FREEDOM from things that have held me in bondage for SO many years, things that I didn’t even know had a stronghold on me! PRAISE GOD!

Reflection on Matthew Ch 21 - 28

Matthew 28:19 is a verse that God spoke to me several years ago and has been instrumental in getting me here to Kona, HI, a remote part of an island, thousands of miles away from everything I am familiar with. It has been preparing me to GO to the Nations and make disciples! We are commanded to GO, whether it is to our neighbors, our co-workers, our families or across the seas, we are commanded to GO! I am going! Will you join me? You can be a part of going with me, without leaving your home, ASK ME HOW by commenting below or sending me an email.

LECTURE Podcasts available online

Our lecture podcasts are available online. They are completely worth listening to!!

Reflection on Matthew Ch 15 - 20

I love the passage in Matthew 19:1-10 where Jesus talks about marriage and divorce. It reminds me that marriage is a LIFETIME commitment and I am so very thankful God has made me wait SO long for it! It make it all the more sacred and special for me! There are times that I get frustrated with waiting, but they are few and far between, yet I know that it is for something SUPER, SUPER SPECIAL and makes me want to wait! In week 3, Kristen Williams talked about Jesus being our bridegroom, which made me really thing and pray about giving Him the FIRST place in my heart an thoughts, the FIRST thing that I think about when I wake in the morning and the last thing I think about as I drift to sleep. I want to KNOW Him intimately, to court Him, spend time with Him!

DTS Week 3 - Lordship

The topic of week 3 was 'Lordship'! Our speakers were Kristen Williams and Cindy Ruarkee. I loved when Kristen talked about God raising up unshakable people! I feel like I have gone through many trials in my life and have learned to embrace them as them come, to pray for patience and strength through them because they always strengthen me! I also loved when he talked about marriage, about seeking FIRST the Kingdom of God. I intentionally kissed dating goodbye about six years ago for that reason, which has played a major role in where I am right now, being here doing a DTS, giving up everything to follow Jesus! There was a brief second that I thought about not coming for the possibility of a relationship, but it was just a brief thought and God made it VERY clear He wanted me FIRST and I was to give EVERYTHING up to follow Him, even putting relationships aside! This week God called me to lay a relationship on the alter, it was not a bad relationship, actually quite the opposite, however it was becoming a distraction for what He called me here to learn and blocking me from hearing from Him! Sometimes God asks us to do crazy things, it made no sense to me, it wasn't something I wanted to do and He has blessed me in return, He is radically changing my life! I didn't even realize my life needed to be radically changed! I don't want to miss out on the plans He has for my life, He has called me to do something big, I know that I can only do it with His help, because on my own, I am nothing! God uses nobodies, messed up people. Moses was a murder, yet God picked Him! David was a murder and an adulteress and God said he was a man after His own heart. Rehab was a prostitute and God said 'do you want to be My Son's great-great grandmother?'

Jesus' leadership program began with TWO words - 'Follow me'!
Jesus says, "BE with ME, Walk with ME, Catch my Heart, Go with me".

Another thing that stood out, is that it's better to DO 'something' and find out it was wrong then to spend our whole life wondering IF we should have done it! At least we have eliminated an option, by doing nothing, we haven't eliminating anything!

Every day, I am more and more amazed by the love my Heavenly Father has for me, more aware of the presence and need for Jesus and the Holy Spirit in my life, falling more and more in love with my Lord and Savior! There is NO place I'd rather be, then in His presence!

love letter

Dear ___________ (insert your name),

My Child You may not know Me, but I know EVERYTHING about you [Psalm 139:1]

I know when you sit down and when you rise up [Psalm 139:2]

I am familiar with ALL your ways [Psalm 139:3]

I know the very number of hairs on your head [Matthew 10:29-31]

For you were made in My image [Genesis 1:27]

For you are My offspring [Acts 17:28]

I knew you even before you were conceived [Jeremiah 1:4-5]

I CHOSE you BEFORE I planned creation [Ephesians 1:11-12]

You were NOT a mistake, for all your days are written in my book [Psalm 139:15-16]

I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live [Acts 17:26]

You are fearfully and wonderfully made [Psalm 139:14]

I knit you together in your mother's womb [Psalm 139:13]

And brought you forth on the day you were born [Psalm 71:6]

I have been misrepresented by those who don't know Me [John 8:11-14]

I am NOT distant and angry, but I am the COMPLETE expression of LOVE [1 John 4:16]

And it is My desire to LAVISH My LOVE on you [1 John 3:1]

Simply because you are My child and I am your Father [1 John 3:1]

I offer you MORE than your earthly father ever could [Matthew 7:11]

For I am THE PERFECT Father [Matthew 5:18]

EVERY good gift that you receive comes from My hand [James 1:17]

For I am your Provider and I meet ALL your needs [Matthew 6:31]

My plan for your future has always been filled with HOPE [Jeremiah 29:11]

Because I LOVE you with an EVERLASTING LOVE [Jeremiah 31:3]

My thoughts towards you are countless as the sand on the seashore [Psalm 169:17-18]

And I REJOICE over you with singing [Zephaniah 3:17]

I will NEVER stop doing good to you [Jeremiah 32:10]

For you are My TREASURED possession [Exodus 19:3]

I desire to establish you with all My heart and all My soul [Jeremiah 32:11]

And I want to show you GREAT and MARVELOUS things [Jeremiah 33:3]

If you seek Me with ALL your heart, you will find Me [Deuteronomy 4:29]

Delight in Me and I will give you ALL the desires of your heart [Psalm 37:4]

For it is I who gave you those desires [Philippians 2:13]

For I am able to do MORE for you than you could ever possibly imagine [Ephesians 3:20]

For I am your GREATEST encourager [2 Thessalonians 2:16-17]

I am also the Father who COMFORTS you in ALL your troubles [2 Corinthians 1:3-4]

When you are broken hearted, I am CLOSE to you [Psalm 34:18]

As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to My heart [Isaiah 40:11]

One day I will wipe away EVERY tear from your eyes [Revelation 21:3-4]

And I will take away ALL the pain you have suffered on this earth [Revelation 21:3-4]

For I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my Son, Jesus [John 17:23]

In Jesus, My love for you is revealed [John 17:26]

He is the exact representation of My being [Hebrews 1:3]

He came to demonstrate that I am FOR you, NOT against you [Romans 8:31]

And to tell you that I am NOT counting your sins [2 Corinthians 5:18-19]

His death was the ULTIMATE expression of My LOVE for you [1 John 4:10]

I gave up EVERYTHING I loved that I might gain your love [Romans 8:31-32]

If you receive the gift of my son, Jesus, you receive Me [1 John 2:23]

And NOTHING will EVER separate you from My love again [Romans 8:38-39]

Come home and I'll throw you the BIGGEST party Heaven has ever seen [Luke 15:7]

I have ALWAYS been your Father, and will ALWAYS be your Father [Ephesians 3:14-15]



My question...

Will you be My child? [John 1:12-13] [Luke 15:11-32]

I am WAITING for YOU!!!

LOVE, Your Daddy

30 DAY CHALLENGE

I have had this for many years, thanks to my good friend, Julia Blanchard. I recently went through it myself and have given it to several others. It is amazing how transformational this can be, I challenge to you commit to do this for 30 days! It takes 21 days to form a habit and much longer to break one! Will you do it?

30 Day Challenge: Read these pages out loud to yourself, preferably in front of a mirror daily every day for a month. See what happens concerning how you view yourself, your life and God.


The Bondage Breaker
Neil T. Anderson

The Christian’s Scriptural Identity and Position

The following statements summarize your scriptural identity and position in Christ and form the foundation for your freedom in Christ. Read these statements aloud often. If you are presently involved in a spiritual conflict, read these statements aloud at least one each day for a month.

Who am I?

Exodus
I am not the great ‘I am’ (3:14; John 8:24, 28, 58), but by the grace of God, I am what I am (1Cor 15:10)

Matthew
I am the salt of the earth (5:14)

John
I am a child of God (1:12)
I am part of the true vine, a channel of Christ’s life (15:1,5)
I am Christ’s friend (15:15)
I am chosen and appointed by Christ to bear his fruit (15:16)

Romans
I am a slave of righteousness (6:18)
I am enslaved to God (6:22)
I am a son of God; God is spiritually by Father (8:14, 15; Gal 3:26: 4:6)
I am a joint heir with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him (8:17)

1 Corinthians
I am a temple – a dwelling place – of God. His spirit and His life dwell in me (3:16; 6:19)
I am united to the Lord and am one spirit with Him (6:17)
I am a member of Christ’s body (12:27; Eph 5:30)

2 Corinthians
I am a new creation (5:17)
I am reconciled to God and am a minister of reconciliation (5:18, 19)

Galatians
I am a son of God and one in Christ (3:26, 28)
I am heir of God Since I am a son of God (4:6, 7)

Ephesians
I am a saint (1:1, 1Cor 1:2, Phil 1:1, Col 1:2)
I am God’s workmanship – His Handiwork – born anew in Christ to do His work (2:10)
I am a fellow citizen with the rest of God’s family (2:19)
I am a prisoner of Christ (3:1, 4:1)
I am righteous and holy (4:24)

Philippians
I am a citizen of heaven, seated in heaven right now (3:20, Eph 2:6)

Colossians
I am hidden with Christ in God (3:3)
I am an expression of the life of Christ because He is my life (3:4)
I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved (3:12, 1Ths 1:4)

1 Thessalonians
I am a son of light and not of darkness (5:5)

Hebrews
I am a holy partaker of a heavenly calling (3:1)
I am a partaker of Christ; I share in His life (3:14)

1 Peter
I am one of God’s living stones, being built up in Christ’ as a spiritual house (2:5)
I am a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession (2:9,10)
I am an alien and stranger to this world in which I temporarily live (2:11)
I am an enemy of the devil (5:8)

1 John
I am a child of God and I will resemble Christ when he return (3:1,2)
I am a child of God, and the evil one – the devil – cannot touch me (5:18)

The above has been taken from Neil T. Anderson’s – Victory Over the Darkness)



Since I am in Christ, By the Grace of God……


Romans
I have been justified – completely forgiven and made righteous (5:1)
I died with Christ and died to the power of sin’s rule over my life (6:1-6)
I am free forever from condemnation (8:1)

1Corinthians
I have been placed into Christ by God’s doing (2:16)
I have received the spirit of God into my life that I might know the things freely given to me by God (2:12)
I have been give the mind of Christ (2:16)
I have been bought with a price; I am not my own: I belong to God (6:19-20)

2 Corinthians
I have been established, anointed and sealed by God in Chris, and I have been given the Holy Spirit as a pledge guaranteeing my inheritance to come (1:21, Eph 1:13-14)
Since I have died, I no longer live for myself, but for Christ (5:14-15)

Galatians
I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I am now living is Christ’s life (2:20)

Ephesians
I have been blessed with every spiritual blessing (1:3)
I was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy, and I am without blame before Him (1:4)
I was predestined – determined by God – to be adopted as God’s son (1:5)
I have been redeemed and forgiven, and I am a recipient of His lavish grace (1:6-8)
I have been made alive together with Christ (2:5)
I have been raised up and seated with Christ in heaven (2:6)
I have direct access to God through the Spirit (2:18)
I may approach God with boldness, freedom and confidence (3:12)

Colossians
I have been rescued from the domain of satan’s rule and transferred to the kingdom of Christ (1:13)
I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins. The debt against me has been canceled (1:14)
Christ Himself is in me (1:27)
I am firmly rooted in Christ and am now being built up in Him (2:7)
I have been made complete in Christ (2:10)
I have been buried, raised and made alive with Christ (2:12-13)
I died with Christ and I have been raised up with Christ. My life is now hidden with Christ in God. Christ is now my life (3:1-4)

2 Timothy
I have been given a Spirit of power, love, and self-control (1:7)
I have been saved and set apart according to God’s doing (1:9, Titus 3:5)

Hebrews
Because I am sanctified and am one with the Sanctifier, He is not ashamed to call me His brother (2:11)
I have the right to come boldly before the throne of God to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (4:16)

2 Peter
I have been given precious and magnificent promises by God, by which I am a partaker of God’s divine nature (1:4)


The above has been adapted from Neil T. Anderson, Victory Over the Darkness




The following prayer was taken from Wild at Heart by John Eldridge:

14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,
“Lord, I put on the belt of truth. I choose a lifestyle of honesty and integrity. Show me the truths I so desperately need today. Expose the lies I’m not even aware that I’m believing.”

with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
“And yes, Lord, I wear Your righteousness today against all condemnation and corruption. Fit me with Your holiness and purity – defend me from all assaults against my heart.”

15 And with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
“I do choose to live for the gospel at any moment. Show me where the larger story is unfolding and keep me from being so lax that I think the most important thing today is the soap operas of this world.”

16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
“Jesus, I lift against lie and every assault the confidence that You are good, and that You have good in store for me. Nothing is coming today that can overcome me because You are with me”.

17 Take the helmet of salvation
“Thank you, Lord, for my salvation. I receive it in a new and fresh way from You and I declare that nothing can separate me now from the love of Christ and the place I shall ever have in Your kingdom.”

and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
“Holy Spirit, show me specifically today the truths of the word of God that I will need to counter the assault and the snares of the enemy. Bring them to mind throughout the day”.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
“Finally, Holy Spirit, I agree to walk in step with You in everything – in all prayer as my spirit communes with You throughout the day”.

Making Jesus Lord

The last two weeks we've been reading a book called Making Jesus Lord, The Dynamic Power of Laying Down Your Rights by Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM (Youth With A Mission). As with the first book, I really enjoyed reading this book. To our culture, the concept of laying down your rights is foreign. "We live in a world in which the protection and exaltation of individual rights has become an obsession".

At the beginning of the book, Loren, talks about walking barefoot, something I have absolutely come to LOVE about living in Kona, HI. We get to worship barefoot; we can walk around campus barefoot, and even take our shoes off during class. In Scripture, taking off your shoes had a very special meaning. God told Moses to take his shoes off during their first confrontation at the burning bush because he was on holy ground. Boaz’s relative took his shoes off when negotiating the right to marry Ruth. David left Jerusalem walking barefoot after being defeated in rebellion. Jesus walked barefoot to Calvary. In the culture at that time, walking barefoot was a sign that you were a slave. Jesus freely surrendered His rights, first as God when He came to earth as man, then rights to a normal birth, rights to be with His earthly family, gave up right to marriage, to a home and money, He surrendered His reputation and finally right to life itself and became obedient to death on the cross. And he did ALL of this to restore US to God. This simply amazes and baffles me!

Jesus showed us how to live our lives and how to conquer the devil. “The ONLY way to conquer is to submit. Jesus wants us to follow Him, going barefoot, losing our rights and gaining the world”.

It’s hard to remember that everything we have is not only a gift from God, but it BELONGS to Him as well. This includes our families and our right to be married and to have certain things.

“RESPONSIBILITIES – RIGHTS = REWARDS OF RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD”

P 24

An important concept the book teaches is for family relationships, as with everything in our lives, “God’s principle always works: We only win when we give up. As we grasp something, we lose it; when we surrender it to God, we gain it. If we hold our loved ones in a tight grip, we end up losing them. Putting any person first in our lives results false expectations, disappointment and hurt, and finally alienation. Only God deserves to be first”. I have found this to be so true in my life, yet also a task that can be seemingly impossible to do sometimes. The beauty of this is that in my weakness, His power is perfected (2Cor12:9). Last week I surrendered my right to be married and began embracing God’s call on my life in a new way! It’s not that I didn’t embrace it before, now it’s a different kind of embrace. With this comes a new freedom. For years, probably since I was a kid, I would always dream about flying, I had these dreams that I could literally fly, in my human form, flapping my arms. Crazy, I know!! Last Friday, as I released this and surrendered other things to God, I felt the extreme freedom that comes with this; I finally realized that God has been telling me that I am free, like a bird, to fly. On a side note, as we were praying and closing up the morning teaching last Friday, a bird pooped on my toe, and in such a random tiny spot. While it sounds gross and crazy, to me it was affirmation of what God was telling me, through His amazing creation, in a way that only made sense to me, a beautiful way! This freedom requires great responsibility and laying down my life, my rights on a daily basis, but the cost of freedom is nothing compared to benefits!

When we relax grip on what we own and open our hand, we allow Him to use what He has placed in it. Scripture is clear that we cannot serve both God and money. We have the right to own things, but God asks us to freely give back what HE has blessed us with. God owns everything, so we can either be a thief and steal from Him or a good steward of what He has entrusted us with, personally I would rather do that latter, even when it’s hard. God is our Provider, every good and perfect gift comes from Him, when we release our rights to spend the money He gives us, we truly see Him this way.

This really stood out to me, Christians already have the resources to fully evangelize the billions in the world who have never head the name Jesus Christ, we have enough to preach the Gospel and physically meet the needs as well. Here are some examples, Loren gives:

· If each person who calls themselves a Christian would give $1, every home on earth would have a bible.

· There are 2,000 unreached ethno-linguistic groups in the world (based on the publication of the book). If only 40 million Christians gave $1 a year, we could support two missionaries for each of these groups.

· For the cost of caring for a pet dog or a cat for a year, a child in a Third World could be given a Christian education.

· There are 16 million refugees in the world, according to most sources. To feed every one of those refugees, it would only cost the 1.6 billion who call themselves Christians one penny a day.

When we give freely as the Lord lead, we are allowed the privilege of seeing God multiply our resources to reach the world.

Each of us is either a missionary or a mission field and is either part of God’s answer or part of His problem. The word missionary means ‘one who is sent’. We are missionaries regardless of our geographic location. We can be missionaries in our classroom, at our work, and in our neighborhoods.

“Christianity that cost nothing is worth nothing” (p.78)

We are made in God’s image, we need to have His view of ourselves and our self-worth, which helps us be secure and transparent with others and gives us the power to forgive. The spirit of immorality must be met with the spirit of purity. Much of sexual immorality is rooted in rejection and satan has a field day with rejection and alienation. Both, men and women, look for acceptance and affirmation through all types of sexual immorality. It is only when we walk in the light, in purity that we can have true freedom. Even if we have confessed to God, when we expose our sin, confess it to others, we no longer have to live in fear of being found out. If we expose it, bring it to light, it can no longer control us, the evil one cannot blackmail or hold the secret over us.

God’s spirit enters into the world through His people, when we move in the opposite spirit. Jesus commanded us to GO and to disciple ALL the nations! He wants to teach us His principles, so we can teach others to observe all He commanded and He can have a great harvest of souls. He has called us and wants us to succeed. He just needs us to OBEY HIM!

Jesus doesn’t promise that it will be easy, He actually tells us it won’t. He doesn’t promise us comfort or ease or that we will be rich, BUT He promises to meet our needs, He will feed us, and provide shelter, although it won’t be by the world’s standards. He promises us that we WILL reach an entire generation, every creature! How do we do this? By taking up our crosses, by becoming His slaves and take leadership through serving, as slaves, as the meek, ask the humble. Scripture tells us that the meek will inherit the earth!

So I am taking up my cross, taking off my shoes, going barefoot, becoming a slave, losing my rights and WINNING the kingdom! I chose to rule and reign with Jesus!!