A Significant Generation

You are called to take over the world. You are part of a revolution. You are appointed to overthrow the government of darkness that has enslaved people in sin and sickness, and to establish the Kingdom of Light on earth as it is in Heaven. Our revolution is not a worldly anarchy of violence and control; it is a Heavenly reformation of truth—spoken in love, and demonstrated in supernatural power. We are armed with uncompromising love and the power of God. You were never created to hide, cowering in some corner, subordinate to evil. Rather, you were born to step out into the midst of plagues of darkness—to stand between the living and the dead and terminate plagues!

You are a plague stopper! Your mandate is not passive, subdued, indifferent or irrelevant. And Jesus freely and unrestrainedly grants to you and me the authority He has been given on the earth.

Christ made another promise when He commissioned us with His authority to disciple nations. He said, “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b). The mindset of the new breed of revivalist is founded upon the awareness that God is with them. This is what gives them their sense of significance. If you read the Old Testament, you’ll find that every man and woman who performed great exploits for God walked in this revelation.
Joshua is a prime example. Joshua was a revolutionary who refused to bow his knee to the lie of insignificance and inferiority. He knew his call was to take over the land promised by God to him and the children of Israel—a rich land, flowing with milk and honey. Before they entered, Moses sent spies ahead to assess the region and its inhabitants. However, the spies returned from their expedition giving Moses a bleak report: that the land was full of giants and enemies that could not be defeated.

But Joshua’s assessment was completely different. He stood before the people of Israel with confidence fortifying his voice and said:

“Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them” (Numbers 14:9, emphasis mine).

Joshua knew that God was with Israel, and therefore, they had the ball. With the Lord on their side, their enemies and all they protected were there for the taking. “They are our bread.” Now that’s boldness! With the inspiration that the Lord was with them, Joshua wasn’t going to shrink away from His promise into some hidden corner. He was determined to take the land, and he simply viewed the current inhabitants as provision. He had a different perspective—a new breed mindset! He refused to be intimidated by the circumstances or culture or voices around him. He rejected the lie that the world around him was greater than the God who was with him.

The truth is, you cannot impact the world around you if you feel insignificant. Brandon Smith is (at the time of this writing) a senior in high school at a top-level school in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. His school has one of the top basketball teams in the nation, and Brandon was on the varsity team as a freshman—the youngest player on the team. Early one morning after a practice, Brandon was in the locker room dressing for school, when the senior captain of the team, along with other teammates, approached him and his friend (who was the only other freshmen on the team). The captain of the team asked Brandon if he was a virgin. Without shrinking back at all, Brandon proudly proclaimed, “Yes, I am a virgin. And I am proud of that. It is something that is precious to me, and I am saving it until my marriage.” The team was shocked at his answer and looked at him like he was crazy. There was even chuckling as the guys walked away. During that day, different young men came up and told him how much they respected his decision and how they wish they had done the same. But the label of virgin stuck with him throughout his high school years, so much so, that a couple of years later at a game with their local rival school, Brandon was on the free throw line and the student crowd was chanting, “He’s a virgin! He’s a virgin!” Brandon said he wanted to shout back, “I’m proud of it! I’m proud of it!”

God truly is raising up a new breed who refuse to believe they are insignificant. Brandon knew he wasn’t called to just survive and be ashamed of who he was. He was called to stand out, not fit in. Even though he was nervous, and even though he knew it could cost him approval from his peers, he accepted that it was worth it. Brandon was secure in who he was in God and had no need for others to tell him who he was. He had established his life in intimacy with the Lord and was not agitated by the pressure to be accepted or relevant in the eyes of the world.

Taken from Jesus Culture: Living a Life that Transforms the World a new book by Banning Liebscher

Night to Honor Israel

Last night was A Night to Honor Israel in San Diego. It was a tremendous night with great speakers and music. As a Christian, I recognize that with out the Jewish people, I would not believe as I do. They gave birth to my faith! Jesus was a Jew. Mary was a Jew. Paul, Peter, Matthew, Mark.... all Jews! How can I be a Christian and NOT support my Jewish brothers and sisters? How can I not support their right for the land that God gave to their father, Abraham?

A Night To Honor Israel has been explained as a party that the younger brother is throwing the older brother. It is a show of solidarity; Christians saying we are not trying to convert you, we are not trying to bring you to believe the way we do. We are simply telling you that we stand with you, support your right to exist, and while we are here, we will fight for you, for your rights, for your existence, and for your peace.

We live in a day and age where the threat against Israel has never been more real. There is a new Hitler in the world, and he has said without apology that he will see Israel wiped off the map. In the same breath, he has threatened the existence of America as well. On the floor of the United Nations, the very ones that say there are there to stand for the rights of ALL nations, he declared war against the nation that God put into place. And we have done nothing.

Our own government, that owes it's very existence to Haym (Chaim) Solomon, the Jewish man who financed a great portion of the revolutionary war, has done very little but throw words at this terrorist. The threat is real, and our brothers, those that worship the same God that we do, need our support and our love, not our condemnation nor our beliefs shoved down their throat. They need to see that we love them as they are. Let God be real. Let Him do the work.

We worship the same God... the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God of our fathers.The same God that set both our countries on a course toward greatness. This brought me to look at some articles on the Psalms in worship.

Some Very Ancient Liturgy

The Book of Psalms, Hebrew Tehillim, ("Praises"), is the first book of the third section of the Bible, the Ketuvim or Sacred Writings, and comprises 150 psalms. Many of the psalms have superscrip­tions, describing their contents, their author, and, it is generally assumed, in some cases, the melodies to which they were sung in the Temple. In the Jewish tradition, but not in the King James Version, these superscriptions are counted as separate verses. (The New English Bible translation omits the superscriptions altogether: an extremely odd procedure, since, even if the superscriptions are later additions, they became part of the book at a very early period, and one would have thought that the aim of any translation should be to convey the book as it has come down though the ages.)

Many of the psalms are obviously liturgical compositions. The Levites [in the Temple] sang a psalm for each day of the week and on the Sabbaths and festivals, accompanying the song with instru­mental music.

Are They All King David's?

It has long been noted that the first Psalm appears to be an introduction to the book as a whole, as Psalm 150 appears to be an epilogue. There is a concluding note at the end of Psalms 41, 72, 89, and106, which suggests that the book is in five separate sections. The rabbinic midrash [rabbinic interpretation from the period of the rabbis of the Mishnah and the Talmud] to Psalms states that David com­posed his Psalms in five books, just as Moses wrote the five books of the Pentateuch. In this Midrash, and very frequently in the Rabbinic literature, David is assumed to be the author of the book of Psalms.

But in the famous Talmudic passage (Bava Batra 14b) on the authorship of the biblical books, it is said that David included in his book psalms written by some who preceded him. The superscription to Psalm 90, for instance, is: "A prayer of Moses, the man of God." In fact, while seventy-two of the psalms are attributed to David, this one is attributed to Moses, and some to other authors. Some of the psalms are attributed to no par­ticular author and are known, in the tradition, as 'orphan psalms'. Itis incorrect, therefore, to say that in the traditional view David is the author of all the psalms in the book. Neverthe­less, the tradition still sees David as the final author of the book, although he is said to have included the works of others in his final compo­sition. In 2 Samuel 23:1 David is described as 'the sweet singer in Israel'.

An Anthology With Davidic (or Older) Roots

This view of Davidic authorship was not left unquestioned in the Middle Ages and is rejected by all modern biblical scholars as anachronistic. Psalm 137, for instance, speaks of the period, hundreds of years after David's death, when the Temple had been destroyed and the Jews were in exile in Babylon. The book of Psalms is now seen rather as a collection or anthology of psalms compiled at different periods, though there is no real reason to deny that some of them may go back to David himself, with psalms or groups of psalms added later to the collection.

There is no agreement on the dating of the various psalms. The older view that the whole book dates from as late as the period of the Maccabees is nowrejected by the majority of scholars, some holding, on the analogy of an­cient Near Eastern texts unearthed fairly re­cently, that psalm-making, even with the employment of the same terms and language­-patterns, was a feature of the surrounding culture long before Israel came on to the scene. Needless to say, the question of dating and authorship is totally irrelevant to the value of the book of Psalms as religious outpourings of the highest order, recognized as such by the millions of worshippers, Jews, Christians, and others, who have used the Psalms to express the deepest emotions of their ownreligious heart.

Special Psalms for Special Days

It is interesting that in the Talmudic period no Psalms were recited as part of the service except for the Hallel psalms (a special grouping of psalms of praise) on the festival[s]. As the post-Talmudic liturgy developed, a large number of further psalms were incorporated into the Prayer Book, not all at once but gradually over the centuries. To the daily morning service were added: Psalms 100, 145 and 150. To the Sabbath and festival services were added Psalms 19, 34, 90, 91, 135, 136, 33, 92,93 in this order, since on these days people, not having to go out to work, did not have to hurry from the synagogue.

At the end of the morning service, a special psalm for each day is recited, prefaced with the words:"This is the first [second, third, and so on] day of the week, on which the Levites in the Temple used to say . . ." Psalm 24 is recited when the Sefer Torah is returned to the Ark after the reading on weekdays, and Psalm 29 on the Sabbath.

The penitential Psalm 27 is recited at the end of the morning and evening service during the penitential season from the beginning of the month of Elul until Hoshanah Rabbah [the final day of Sukkot]. Be­fore the evening service at the termination of the Sabbath Psalms 144 and 67 are read. Psalm 104 is read during the morning service on Rosh Hodesh, the New Moon, and during the afternoon service on winter Sabbaths. As part of their ritual for welcoming the Sabbath, the Safed Kabbalists [mystics who lived and wrote in Safed in the Land of Israel) in the sixteenth century in­troduced the recital of Psalms 95-99 and 29, corresponding to the six days of creation, on the eve of the Sabbath, andthis is now the universal custom at the Friday night service. Verses from Psalms are scattered through other parts of the Prayer Book.

A Storehouse for Individual Use

In addition to their recital as part of the standard service, the Psalms have been recited by individuals whenever the mood took them. Some pious Jews would recite the whole book of Psalms each week, some even each day. "Saying Psalms" (Zoggen Tillim, in Yiddish), as it is called, is often practiced as a prayer for a sick person or when other calamities threaten. In some communities there is a custom to recite on a Yahrzeit [the anniversary of a relative's death] verses of the eightfold alphabeti­cal acrostic, Psalm 119,the initial letters of which are those of the letters of the nameof the deceased.

There are various chants in which the Psalms are recited, and the Hebrew Bible even has notes for cantillation [traditional chanting] of the Psalms but the musical system these represent is no longer known. The Lithuanian tradition has a particularly yearning and plaintive melody for "saying Psalms."

Rabbi Dr. Louis Jacobs (1920-2006) was a Masorti rabbi, the first leader of Masorti Judaism (also known as Conservative Judaism) in the United Kingdom, and a leading writer and thinker on Judaism.

Worship Is More Than A Song

Worshiping our Savior, Jesus Christ, is fundamental to living a faith-filled, Spirit-led Christian life. There are multiple worship methods, plans and styles that vary among cultures and geographic boundaries.

The Lord enjoys the diversity of sincere worship when expressed through His Spirit and in truth. Worship should be a way of life, with many facets of expression.

Some worship leaders declare that a certain defining style of worship is the only correct way to worship the Lord, but that is a narrow view of His inexhaustible riches. Music and song are ways we can praise God's name, but the Word says we can worship God with feasting (see Ps. 22:29) and with sacrifices and offerings (see Is. 19:21), among other means.

Regardless of the method, the act of worship must be in spirit and truth—from our rational consciousness and consistent with the rest of our lives (see John 4:24). We don't have to be great singers or musicians to worship God. But we do need to be in a personal relationship with Him and live with the truth of His greatness reflecting through all we are becoming and all we do.

I have lived under the weight of many unhealthy labels in my life. But I have a longing in me for the King of heaven to label me, along with Mary of Bethany, as an "extravagant worshiper" (see John 12:3).

Extravagant worship is not achieved by taking shortcuts. I have tried shortcuts to worship, and I have tried to do things my way, but I ended up frustrated and farther away from my goal.

Worship involves the giving of ourselves totally to the Lord. It is neither a ritualistic activity nor a musical emotion. It reflects the selfless generosity of Christ.

Worship is a movement of our hearts, our thoughts, and our wills toward God's heart, thoughts, and will. To practice extravagant worship, you'll need to get good at saying, "I lay down my life."

Sacrificial Worship Pleases God

In the Old Testament, Noah was an extravagant worshiper. Genesis 8:20-21 tells about his building an altar to the Lord after the flood and sacrificing offerings on it.

Noah had just witnessed the drowning of all mankind save him and his family. Yet he was still obedient to God's instruction to offer a sacrifice of praise when they were on dry land again.

When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma of Noah's sacrifice, He gave us a covenant promise that He would not ever destroy all living creatures again because of one man who offered extravagant, overgenerous worship in obedience to God's command. Noah lived through extreme circumstances, but he still praised God in the midst of them.

Likewise, when God tested Abraham, He said, "'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about'" (Gen. 22:2).

Abraham built the altar and then bound his son and laid him on it. But when he took up his knife to slay his precious boy, "The angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, 'Abraham! Abraham!'

"'Here I am,' he replied.

"'Do not lay a hand on the boy,' he said. 'Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son'" (vv. 11-12).

Abraham was excessive in his act of worship. He was prepared to give to the Lord the thing he loved the most.

David wanted to offer a sacrifice to the Lord to stop a plague on the Lord's people. So he asked Araunah to sell him a place on his threshing floor to build an altar (see 1 Chr. 21:18-22).

Araunah wanted to give the area and livestock needed for David's sacrifice at no charge. But David said, "'No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing'" (see vv. 23-24).

When Paul and Silas were in jail, even though they had been flogged for preaching the gospel and now had their feet in stocks, they prayed and sang to God. Suddenly, while they were worshiping, a violent earthquake opened all the doors of the prison.

Thinking his prisoners had escaped, the jailer was so distraught that he was about to kill himself, but Paul and Silas stopped him and led him to salvation before they were released. God supernaturally delivered them from that prison (see Acts 16:23-39).

Throughout the Bible, whenever someone demonstrated extravagant worship, God reacted with extravagant blessing. What makes worship extravagant? It must cost us something.

Worship is an act of obedient faith, even when circumstances offer opportunities to fear. It is also a life of extravagant love for God. Worship, love and obedience are tied together.

As you seek first the kingdom of God and obey the Spirit of God, He calls you on to a deeper knowledge of Himself. The first commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind (see John 14:21-24; Matt. 22:37).

David prayed, "Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name" (Ps. 86:11). Make this your prayer as you serve God passionately with your life. This will cause the blessings of heaven to pour out upon your world.

Love Expresses Worship

To be a worshiper is to fall in love with God, the Author of love, and accept the love He has for you. God gave you His Word as a living love letter that contains everything you will ever need to get through this life and beyond.

His love is at work within us, filling us to the measure with the fullness of God. If we could understand even an inkling of this love Christ has for us, our hearts would be full of extravagant worship for the One who loves us so much.

The many songs I've written to express my love for God don't come close to what I'm trying to say. But I can demonstrate my love for God by living out my part of the Great Commission and bringing the Author of love to our love-starved planet. I can determine to love others as He loves.

When I was saved I cried and cried in the presence of God. Tears of gratitude flowed easily as He restored my heart and filled me with His unconditional love. Now all I want to do is sing of His awesome, healing love forever.

One of the biggest challenges in life for the mind and soul is simply to accept God's love for you as a gift. It is the greatest absolute in your life.

John 3:16 states, "For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (The Amplified Bible). Because His love is in our hearts, we have the power to love others (see 1 John 4:7-13).

Loving others is an act of worship toward the Author of love. But until you know through personal experience who God is, you will never know the depth of His love for you. And until you know that you are loved, you can never love others as you love yourself (see Matt. 22:39).

Know Your Worth to God

Many people, including myself, have battled with insecurity, inadequacy and intimidation. It is difficult to carry the weight of inferiority into our time of worship.

Worship is a time to focus on who God is. It is a time to enjoy the awesome authority and anointing that He puts on His people who come into His presence with praise. Sometimes the enemy works very hard to keep us from worshiping freely, but sometimes we simply lack discipline in our thought life.

If we read the Word and keep God's truth in our hearts, we will focus our attention on His greatness and on the value that He places on us. God sees all our inadequacies through the blood of Christ. Because of Jesus, our heavenly Father sees us just as He sees His Son—beautiful and perfect.

God looks at us just as a loving parent looks at his children. My three daughters could be naughty, but I look at them, and I think they are perfect.

Unapologetically, I think they are magnificent. That is the heart of a parent. How much more does God look at us and say, "Oh, they are My precious, beloved children."

When you understand who you are in Christ, a rest enters your soul that cannot coexist with striving and struggling. Just as darkness cannot coexist with light, striving for approval does not coexist with confidence in His grace. And who you are in Christ matters more than what you do.

I was the girl "least likely to succeed." But my future has never relied on anyone else's opinion of my ability.

I'm a testimony of God's grace. The very least we can do is give God our lives and let Him show us the great things He can do through our yielded hearts and hands.

We have been created with the divine purpose of having Jesus as the center of our existence. We were created to worship Him in all we do (see Heb. 10:19-23).

Through worship we put Christ as the chief cornerstone of our lives, and the power we have access to in His presence is real. He longs for us to draw closer to Him.

God has cleansed our hearts and made them pure so that we can stand in His presence. We can continue to praise our mighty Lord—to sing, clap, dance, celebrate, get soaked in His presence and be overwhelmed by His grace.

Offer Him Your Heart

One thing that can stop us from being truthful worshipers is feeling as if we have nothing to offer to God. Feeling empty-handed with nothing to contribute to the relationship with God can stop us from plunging boldly into worship.

God says, "I don't need your talent. I don't need your gift. I don't want all the stuff that you can do. I just want you. I want your heart."

God doesn't want what you are going to be or what you would like to be. He wants all that you are today.

When we worship Him, He is exalted, and our problems shrivel in His presence. Everything about us—the good, the bad and the ugly—is decreased as we focus on Him.

Offer yourself to God in worship. Let that explosion of faith force you to praise His name and offer your attention to bless Him. Through your worship, love and obedience, you will bless God because He looks past all the stuff of life and looks straight at the heart.

Darlene Zschech has been part of the Hillsong Church praise team since 1986 and is the co-producer of Hillsong Music Australia's highly successful albums. Adapted from Extravagant Worship by Darlene Zschech, copyright © 2002. Published by Bethany House. Used by permission.

Go and Burn!

I see myself on a journey to the Sun. The Sun is a long way off, but still blindingly intense. Darkness fills my vision if I turn away from it. As I get closer to the Sun I start to feel the warmth of it on my body. I not only see the light but I also start to experience its effect on my body. The heat increases the closer I get, until the intensity begins to make me feel uncomfortable, but I’m drawn ever closer.

The heat gets so intense that my skin and flesh start to burn, but instead of seeing and feeling decay, there is transformation or transition. The feelings are very intense, my brain tells me it’s pain, but it’s really like nothing I have felt before. As the “pain” leaves I see what I can only describe as “Sun matter” taking the place of my flesh. I am literally changing into the material I am being drawn towards as my flesh gets consumed; It’s best described as having the appearance of gold and white molten metal.

I realize that the new material needs to be kept white hot or it starts to solidify, go grey and become heavy if it is allowed to cool. Finally I am close enough to the Sun that my whole body is like molten metal. I shine as the Sun shines and radiate heat and light with the same intensity but on a smaller scale. I see gigantic flames that leap off the Sun’s surface and those same flames now leap off me. Suddenly there is a thunderous voice commands “Go”. From all over the Sun’s surface I see thousands of ‘bodies’ of flame leaping from the Sun and descending to Earth; As they descend there are cords of flame connecting the ‘bodies’ to the Sun. My spirit tells me I must join them; I want to join them. I jump off towards the Earth with my flame cord connected to the Sun.

As I stand on the Earth I feel a big difference; when I was on the Sun the heat intensity was both inside me, and all around me. Whereas now I feel the cool of my surroundings and only burn from the inside out. I see the flaming cord as my lifeline, as a deep sea diver sees his ‘air line’.

I notice that my feet start to cool on the cold earth and in response I draw energy down my cord and then direct the flames to the parts of my body that need it. As I do this, my feet burn again and I affect my surroundings rather than my surroundings affecting me.

I ask myself what I must do, and the same thunderous voice commands “burn”. As I am already burning I ask for direction but Heaven is silent. Then I see people start to come over to me, drawn by the light and then the heat; some observe from afar and some come close. I offer out my hand, some take it but jump back when their hand feels the intensity of my burning. I tell them to “trust me, hold on and look past the ‘pain’”. Some refuse and get angry with me for hurting them, saying “they were fine before but now their hand hurts”. A few take my hand again and hold on and are transformed just as I was. I take some of my cord and attach it to them and repeat to them my Father’s commands, “Go” and “Burn”.

This process of multiplication continues until there are so many cords connecting the Sun to the Earth that they join into one, great, River and engulf the whole Earth. Until the whole Earth is covered there are those who walk around with burns on their hands, resenting the Church and blaming it for their discomfort; to an extent they are right. The problem is they want to hold onto their flesh and refuse to give up what they know for something better. They had their eyes open to the frailty of man but refused to go any further.

Then there are some that went the whole way and became burning ones but didn’t guard their cord; it was weakened as the cold Earth influenced them. They now walk around almost disabled by the solid, heavy metal that has coated their body; they are more bound now than they were before. Some regret making the move, but others look for someone with a flame to ignite them again. They don’t realize that they are still connected to the Sun and even though their cord is cool they can pull down flames again to ‘burn’. It is important to show and tell them this news otherwise new people will be reluctant to be transformed, looking at their present predicament.

The Lord said, “The ‘pain’ that is felt when flame meets flesh is phantom. It should hurt but I didn’t want it to, so I took that pain at Calvary. There is no pain in coming to me, only transformation. What you feel, can be used as a weapon by the enemy to support a lie; which can prevent or hinder further progress.”

The Spirit asked me “at what stage I thought I was in the Vision”. I placed myself near to the Sun being transformed. The Lord said “No. You are on the Earth as one of my burning ones, connected to Heaven and transforming the earth. The intensity at which you burn is dependent on how much flame you draw down from Heaven and pass on to others; The more you give, the more you will receive, that is the way of growth. I have made all of Heaven available, you choose how much of Heaven you get.”

I then asked, “How do I burn?”

“That is something you don’t need to concern yourself with” came the reply. “What you must concentrate on is feeding the fire. Feed on Heaven and you will burn, making sure every action, thought, motive, deed and plan has it’s origins in the Kingdom.

- Vision by Anthony West

A Good Day to Die by Loni McIntosh

Scottish Highland warriors throughout history were commonly viewed as being at least a little bit crazy. They would enter battle outnumbered and overpowered and would fight like wildcats for their homeland, their families and their lives. And, knowing how highly every man's life was worth against a larger army, they would throw themselves into battle shouting into the faces of the enemy, "It's a good day to die!"

As Christians, we know that Christ came that we may have "life, and life more abundantly. (John 10:10)" In John 7:38-39, Jesus said, "'Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified." All of which makes sense, since the Holy Spirit's purpose is to lead us into and reveal Jesus to us, he was not given to believers until he could lead us to and transform us into the likeness of Jesus resurrected and glorified.

Several months ago, one of the young guys on our student leadership team (theCORE) had a dream. We were in a meeting talking about what God was saying to us as a group and several young people were sharing dreams God had given them recently. A young guy named Aaron spoke up and said, "I have a dream for you.” In his mind, this dream was so crazy that there was no way it could be from God.

In the dream a bird flew out of the sky and landed on the branch of a tree. It sat there for a minute, then it died and fell out of the tree. When it landed on the ground, it burst into flame and lit on fire the wheat field it landed in and the tree it fallen from. Then the bird multiplied, becoming three birds, which rose, living, from the flames. The birds flew off lighting other trees and other fields on fire.

In John 12:23-25 Jesus says, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

Jesus has called us to live as he is now – glorified. Life and life more abundantly. Greater works than these shall you do. The state that Jesus lives in now, which the Holy Spirit leads us and transforms us into, is "glorified." Jesus is alive and he is glorified, but he is alive as a direct result of having been resurrected. A key part of Jesus' "glorified" state is the fact that he has died. He is not dead, but he certainly has died. It is impossible for us to live lives of complete Christianity in fully abundant life if we have not died. We definitely should not be dead, but we should be living as those who have died.

Aaron’s dream was a parallel of Jesus' John 12 analogy. We talk about spreading "the fire of God" around the globe, and we talk about seeing a massively abundant harvest come into the Kingdom of God. Up until this point in time, the harvest has been by addition. A person gets saved; he goes to heaven; God loves him a whole bunch. But if we are to see a massive harvest sweep the earth in a way that fulfills the Great Commission, our "sowing" must be multiplying, rather than adding, into the Kingdom. By looking at John 12 and Aaron's dream, it is simple to reason that in order to see that happen, in order to multiply the harvest and see the fire of God cover the earth, we must die. But the truth is, we're called to be like Christ, and Christ isn't dead. It is not, then, that we must die – we must have died.

Dying is, of course, a very big part of having died. Dying in life, as John 12 says, involves serving and giving up our own plans and ideas about what life ought to look like and, instead, "being transformed by the renewing of your mind.... (Romans 12:2)" It involves trusting God's opinion about who we are and what we can do more than we trust our own thoughts. It involves sacrificing our time, our resources, our dreams and desires in order to see God's Kingdom multiplied.

To serve Jesus. To love. Love is a directionless beast. Dying involves relinquishing the right to pick and choose who we love. Our love must be for any and all who appear on our path, regardless of what we are doing or where we are going.

So we are called not just to live, but to have died. We live abundantly, full of the goodness and fullness of Christ glorified, having relinquished all rights to living life to benefit ourselves. It is this that makes us a little bit crazy in the eyes of the world. But it is this that confounds the enemy and will multiply the harvest and spread the fire of God around the world.

For me there is no question: It's a good day to die!

True Love

Love is pure and limitless....

Heart of our Father…

by Jason Vallotton @ www.jesusculture.org

We as the body of Christ are called to stand. In the mist of defeat we stand, in victory we stand, In conflict we stand. We carry the standard for our nation; It is us that set the bar. We have been mandated to represent the father’s heart to the whole earth. So much of who Christ is to the world is manifest through our words and actions. We have an opportunity in every situation to demonstrate the love of God in everything that we do…

So often, we let the circumstances of life decide what we will represent to the world. I can’t tell you how many times in the last few day’s I have heard someone say “Obamma is the Antichrist” or “ things are going to be bad”. Every time I hear these words, pain shoots through my heart. It is the Church, the BODY of CHRIST who has been sent to BULID up the WORLD. Romans 2:4 says “ the goodness of God LEADS us to REPENTANCE!!! As ambassador’s of Christ, how can we tear down the leaders of our nation and expect the kindness of God to invade their life? When we curse the leaders of our nation with our words, we are destroying the very thing we have been charged to build up. If you truly believe that your words create, then every curse that is spoken out of your mouth has a destructive effect in the world we are working so hard to preserve.

Change happens when we re pre sent the Father heart of God everywhere we go. In order to be in places of influence and power we must put on the mind of Christ and let compassion rule our tongue and actions. Take a look at Daniel in the Bible. When trapped in an evil empire, ruled by a wicked king, Daniel put on compassion like a cloak and served Nebuchadnezzar with the heart of Jesus. Nebuchadnezzar received a dream from the Lord telling him that he was going to be torn down to nothing. Nebuchadnezzar did not understand the meaning of the dream so he called Daniel in to interpret for him. Upon hearing the dream, Daniel became terribly troubled and replied “My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries! Daniel was heartbroken at the word of the Lord because of his deep love for Nebuchadnezzar (the wicked king). What troubles me is that most of the church would think this is the time for great rejoicing, God has judged Nebuchadnezzar. We would be saying, “ This is what he deserves, he got what was coming”. Have you ever had to discipline your children? Have you looked them in the eyes and let them know how their actions have torn deep into your heart? I can’t imagine their brothers and sisters saying, “this is what you deserve, that’s what you get”. This is what we are doing every time we rejoice in someone’s pain. God say’s to mourn with those who mourn, to weep with those who weep. It does not say to weep with those who did nothing wrong, He says to mourn with THOSE who mourn. Why? When we take time to mourn with those who mourn, we will also take the time to love them into health and restoration. When you love someone in their hardest season of life, you have now sewn seeds towards the prosperity of their soul.

Daniel’s heart for his king planted seeds of love into his life and because of this, Nebuchadnezzar surrendered himself over to the love of God. I will say it again, change happens when we represent the Father heart of God everywhere we go… If you believe that Obamma needs God then shine the love of God his way.

It is not our job to send destruction with our words, to hate those in leadership or to curse Gods children. We do not overcome hate with hate, there is no fear in love and no peace in accusation. We have been hand selected, placed here to shine our light into the darkness making it whole. The love of God is the only thing that breaks down the walls of death and destruction; it is the only tool that wins over the heart of a wicked king…

We are salt and light, we must learn how to guard our hearts and mind for we know that salt and light belong in the dark and hard places of the world. The power that we draw from in these trying times comes out of our love, compassion and honor for those we are preserving. When we fail to love, respect and honor who God has called us to, we violate our authority and miss represent the Father, ultimately tearing down the very thing we are called to preserve. Put on the full armor of God. Guard your heart and mind with his truth. Wrap yourself in pure love and shine to the world, the heart of our Father…