Stay Hungry, Stay Humble

Sunday night we graduated 39 students from the Austin School of Supernatural Ministry. What a year of discovery, growth and adventure we have had together!

 In thinking of some final words to share with the students, the Lord led me to the story of Zacchaeus, the "wee little man" found in the 19th chapter of Luke. Zacchaeus is familiar to us because of the nursery school song that made him famous, but there is more that we can learn from Zacchaeus if we take a closer look.

Zacchaeus had undoubtedly heard of Jesus, but had not personally seen or encountered Him. When he heard that Jesus was passing through Jericho he made an important decision. He let his hunger take him where he needed to go.

Luke tells us that Zacchaeus was a short man and because of the crowd, he could not see. Not to be outdone and in a burst of ingenuity, Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree....for the Lord he wanted to see. We often pass over this part of the story quickly, but it is really pretty amazing that an affluent man, the Chief Tax Collector, would humble himself to climb a tree just to get a view of Jesus.   
                                                                                                      
Tree climbing is for children, or the foolish it would seem, but this did not deter him. To his credit, Zacchaeus' hunger led him into a life-changing encounter with this man called Jesus. We probably won't be given the same opportunity as Zacchaeus, but in each of our lives we are given opportunities, or 'Divine setups' where we might encounter Him in surprising ways. The choice is ours as to how we will respond to His invitations. I want to be like Zacchaeus, and let my hunger take me where I need to go to encounter Him.

When Jesus reached the spot where Zacchaeus was perched in his tree, He called out to him to come down immediately. Jesus threw out an invitation that required obedience. Had Zacchaeus chosen to remain safely hidden in the branches of the tree, he would have never stepped into this relationship that would change the very course of his life. Obedience always leads us into greater intimacy. Zacchaeus' choice to come down from his tree preceded Jesus coming into his house.

When Jesus comes into the house, everything changes! You know something dramatic has taken place when a tax collector decides to give half of his possessions to the poor. Deliverance came to the house of Zacchaeus because he chose to lay aside his prominence and position and humbly follow his hunger into undignified places.

I pray that we would remember that we don't usually get to choose our place of encounter, but we can choose the heart position that will cause us to stand out as an easy target like the wee little man in the sycamore tree.

I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 18:3-4

Rebuilding the Walls of the Church

 My husband and I just attended some meetings where pastors and leaders from all over the Austin area had come together to seek God, be refreshed, and take the first steps in developing some strategies for reaching our city as a unified force.  It is so evident that the Holy Spirit is moving and orchestrating something so much grander than anything we might have tried to dream or imagine. 

In January as I was reading in the book of Nehemiah, I was impressed that the Lord wanted to speak to me about the Body of Christ through this story.   Nehemiah carried the burden to help rebuild the wall that surrounded Jerusalem, and Neh. 1:3 describes the wall as broken down and its gates burned with fire.  I saw that this was a picture of the church not just in our city, but in many places throughout our nation.

Nehemiah must have recognized that the task was far too large for any one man and so the work was shared by officials, leaders, priests, and men from many different areas.  The work was systematically divided up so that each did their share, but it was a cooperative effort.

What a beautiful picture of the Body of Christ coming together to build up the walls of the church. In the book of Nehemiah, the wall that surrounded Jerusalem was built for protection.  In the same way, the Body of Christ is to be a spiritual wall around this city.  Those who live within the walls will experience a sense of peace, prosperity and protection as the Body of Christ links arms.   The task of rebuilding the spiritual walls around our city is far too big for any one church to fulfill, and it will only be through linking arms together that we see the 'heaps of rubble' become life-giving stones chosen and selected by Him to fit perfectly into the corporate wall that surrounds our beautiful city.

 Nehemiah's work of rebuilding the wall did not happen without opposition.  In fact, as soon as Sanballat and his buddies heard about what Nehemiah intended to do, the mocking and ridiculing began.  Nehemiah's response reveals a type of resolve and confidence that we must have in order to withstand the opposition that will surely come.

Nehemiah answered his taunters by simply saying, "The God of Heaven will give us success.  We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it."

This is to be our answer to our enemy as he seeks to discourage or dissuade us from the task ahead;    "Satan, we His servants WILL start rebuilding, but as for you, YOU HAVE NO SHARE IN AUSTIN, or ANY CLAIM OR HISTORIC RIGHT TO IT!"

Jesus,  call your people everywhere to rise up with humble hearts.   Give your leaders strategies and plans that confuse the enemy and exponentially build the church.  Thank you, Jesus, that "no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ".   Let the "amen" of agreement from your people rise up to the glory of God our Father as You fulfill your promise, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it". (Matt. 16:18b) 

Bottom Line Faith

Be still, and know that I am God....

Many times our faith flows out of what we know.  The 'what we know' kind of faith is how we learn to obtain our promises through His spoken word and revelation.  We hear a truth and the Holy Spirit quickens it in our spirit, and we attach our faith to claim the promise as our own.   But, the bends and turns on this faith journey will at some point likely find us in a place where the 'what we know' no longer seems to suffice.  We may have declared and claimed a particular promise to no avail.   When our hopes have been dashed and we experience firsthand the brutality of life, it is time then to hold on to the Who of our faith.

This is the bottom line of our faith, and it is the richest of places to visit in our journey with God, though you might not willingly choose this trip.  Abraham, known as the Father of Faith, made this journey, and when it seemed that all hope of seeing his promises become reality had passed, Heb. 11:11 says, "he was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise."


Too often, we only attach our faith to the promise itself, or even worse, we have faith in our faith.  But, like everything else in the kingdom, obtaining our promises should come through relationship.  We hear our promises through relationship, and we come to know the fulfillment of them through relationship as well.

There comes a crisis of our faith when it seems that there is no possibility on earth that we could see the actuality of those things spoken.   But, our faith transactions are not of this earth, in fact, they are very much a heavenly transaction as we put our hope in the God who calls things that are not as though they were.   The bottom line comes as we take our eyes off of the promise and place them fully on the the Faithful One.  This is the transaction that all of heaven must celebrate, when a child of God says, "No matter that I cannot see and no matter if I ever see, I choose to believe in You God, because You are altogether good and altogether faithful.

Consider Job, who in the midst of his suffering chose to say, 'though He slay me, yet will I trust Him' and then was blessed in the latter part of his life more than the first. Or remember, Abraham, who was willing  to lay down his son of promise, Issac,  and just in the nick of time, the angel of the Lord stopped the sacrifice and the ram in the thicket appeared.

Every person has a unique faith walk, a journey carefully mapped out with delights, discoveries, and challenges all along the way.  This walk is an ever deepening journey into our relationship with Him, filled with beauty and joy in the fulfillment of our promises, but better than that, intimate encounters with the Who of the Promise.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..."   Heb. 12:2

Traction Needed

Some time ago I went through a season in my life where I felt stuck.   By stuck, I mean that simultaneously, in several different areas of my life, I was not moving forward.   The areas were partly emotional, partly physical, and partly spiritual.  This went on for quite some time, and I experienced great frustration and periods of unpleasant introspection as I sought solutions to my predicament.

During this time the Lord kept giving me a picture of a car stuck in the mud, it's wheels spinning wildly and mud slinging everywhere as it dug itself deeper and deeper into the mire.  This was exactly how I felt!    He then began to show me that all the car needed to free itself from the muddy prison was a thing called 'traction'.   Traction defined is "the pulling or drawing of an object" or " how well something grips onto something, and moves ahead without slipping".   I was definitely in need of traction.


I can remember as a child getting stuck in the snow in our car and my Dad placing some boards underneath the tires to provide the 'traction' needed to move forward.  As I began to seek the Lord about the traction I needed, He led me into a process that would serve to provide the 'boards' that I would need to get me out of this muddy hole where I had lived. 


The first area that He showed me was that I didn't fully trust Him.  I was able to trust Him fully in some areas, but others I found were difficult for me to relinquish.  I was shocked, humbled, and heartbroken to realize how this one thing had caused so much trouble in my life and emotions.  Basically, I had believed some BIG LIES about His goodness and faithfulness in my life and this produced a fear based mentality.  I gladly repented of my choices not to trust, and then received His love into my life.  This didn't happen overnight, and this journey into His love continues as I write this blog.    I am amazed some days at just how much my thinking has changed in this area, and how much more at peace my heart feels as He continues to change my fear based mentality into a love based mentality. 


The second necessary area of traction He showed me involved my mouth.   Many years ago, He began the process of revealing to me the damaging effect of my negative words and confessions.   Ever so slowly, I began to change the way I spoke, and had prided myself on cleaning up this area of my life.  What the Holy Spirit showed me was that it was not enough just to stop speaking negative words, but I would need to begin to speak positive or 'truth based' words in order to experience the change that I so longed to see.


I would like to tell you that speaking the truth and making these confessions was easy, but for me it was like World War III had broken out in my head.  My spirit so wanted to move forward and vocalize the truth, but my soul (mind, will, and emotions) was screaming "No!" at the top of it's lungs.  For a while, it was two steps forward and one step back, but little by little, I began to notice change.  It was no longer as difficult to speak the truth.  I could say, "By His stripes I am healed" without opposition from my head, though I still had not seen the manifestation of this truth in my body.   I began to use my mouth as the traction needed to get from point A to point B in a number of different areas. 


The last area of traction involved a phrase borrowed from Nike.....Just Do It!   I became aware that the Holy Spirit was showing me the very next step to take in several different areas of my life, but for whatever reason, I had been lulled into a passive state or 'victim' like mentality.  It sort of reminded me of the cows who had been put in a pasture with electric fence.  They soon learned not to venture too close to the fence since they would be unpleasantly shocked.  But, even when the fence was removed, the cows passively remained in their little square of pasture unwilling to venture out again or take a risk.  After this realization, the Holy Spirit showed me the 'fences' were a lie in my life.  Next, He had me write down in each area of my life, the very next step He was showing me to take, and then said, "Just do it." 


I found that as I began to trust Him more fully, using my mouth to confess the truth of who He is, who I am, and where I am headed, then I could find the traction needed to make this next step and 'Just do it'.  'Just doing it' in my life involved lots of things like taking steps to forgive past hurts, restructuring my day for more time with Him, and making diet and health decisions.  I have a feeling that 'Just do it' will remain a part of my personal language with the Holy Spirit.


Even as I write, I am still very aware of other areas of my life where I long to see change and the light of God manifest.  The cool thing about walking with Him, though, is that the further down the road we go, the more we realize just how very good He is, and how faithful He is to bring about the desires of our hearts.  He doesn't leave us where we are, stuck in our places of captivity.    I am oh so grateful that I get to do life with Him.   Thanks, Holy Spirit, for gripping me, and not letting go. 


Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. - Phil. 1:6

Standing in Graceland

One day last summer, I stood in my backyard mindlessly watering my geraniums when I felt something resembling a hot poker touch my foot.  A quick glance revealed the dreaded Texas enemy, fire ants.   After a great deal of screaming, brushing off, and hopping around, I quickly found a new place to stand.

I thought of this incident today as I read Rom. 5:1-2, "Therefore, we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand."

It's important to know just exactly where we are standing.  If we are born again, we are standing in grace!   Before we met Christ we were standing in the enemy's territory.  It might as well have been a bed of fire ants, because we were vulnerable there to his assault and his plan for us which was, and always has been, to kill, steal, and destroy.  Romans tells us that Jesus provided access for us into a whole new place to stand.

As believers, an unfolding revelation of this 'grace land' in which we now stand, is one of the joys of discovery that Father has set before us.  Imagine receiving a letter from a wealthy king inviting you to come and live with him in his kingdom.  With a welcoming smile and a enveloping hug, he welcomes you in with a beautiful robe, sandals, and a ring.   He tells you that everything he has is yours to enjoy.  You have access to every part of the castle, grounds, and resources.   You enjoy long walks with the king and hearing the plans on his heart.  He asks you about the dreams on your heart and even tells you to "ask, and it shall be given to you".

If this all sounds vaguely familiar, it's because it is the reality in which we now stand.    If you're like me, you probably feel as if you don't deserve such favor, and we don't.   We didn't do, and can't do, a single thing to earn our way into this grace land.   It's been paid for, and we've been given an access code.  It's a five letter word called 'faith'.    Our faith is placed solidly in Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for not only our sins, but the sins of all mankind.    We are tempted to believe that it's too good to be true.   But, no!  It is true and it is good news!   Very, very good news!

Sometimes it's so easy to only see through our natural eyes this realm in which we live every day, but we have been given eyes that can see the Kingdom according to John 3:3.   Refuse to settle for the level of revelation that you are walking in today, and press in for greater sight, clarity and understanding. Stir up the expectation within you that there is more.  We access the riches of His kingdom through the revelation given to us.  We will not look for more if we don't believe there is more.

Try asking the King to show you the grace in which you now stand.   Prepare to be amazed.

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.  I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe."              Eph. 1:17-19

Choosing Hope

"Why so downcast O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God." Psalm 42:5

As 2012 made her grand entry into all of our lives, you may have heard a theme emerging in many prophetic words and messages. Hope! Funny, but the very word 'hope' conjures up different images for different people. To some, hope may be a scary thing. Those who have hoped, only to have their dreams dashed on the rocks of the very shores from which they had longed to one day set sail, no longer want to risk this elusive thing called hope. Proverbs calls this 'hope deferred' and even goes so far as to say, 'it makes the heart sick'. The word 'deferred' means 'to put off until a later time'. And this is Satan's insidious plot. He inserts himself into our circumstances and his chief goal it seems would be to remove our hope. After all, his hope has been removed and he wants us to take a ride with him on the sinking ship called 'Hopelessness'. This is a miserable place to find ourselves. I know because I have been there before, and know that I never want to go back.

Long before 2012 arrived, I was being prodded by the message of 'hope'. A certain difficult issue had crept into my world and I hate to admit it, but I felt somewhat hopeless. I'm grateful that Holy Spirit wouldn't leave me alone on this one and kept nudging me towards the truth. In a moment of insight one day, I realized that hopelessness is really just unbelief in a little nicer sounding package. In other words, when I was feeling hopeless I was basically saying that it's too late for God to work, or it's too difficult for Him or He doesn't care about this situation.

Remember how it was unbelief that kept the children of Israel from entering into the Promise Land? If we could have interviewed them as they circled the desert over and over, they would have told us that they, too, felt hopeless. Repeatedly, they were given choices throughout their journey. Each time they had to decide whether or not they would trust God (and hope) or would they grumble, complain, and feel sorry for themselves, manifesting their unbelief and hopelessness. We know how the story ends.

It is no wonder that it was Joshua and Caleb who entered the land of promise. They were two men who chose not to look at the circumstances or giants who faced them, but who chose to be men of hope and believed in a God who does what He says He will do.

Though we may not be wandering in a sandy desert, we have our own set of issues to overcome and the choices really boil down to the same choices as those of Joshua and Caleb. Will I trust God in spite of what I can see with my natural eyes? Will I choose to hope in my God and not give way to self-pity, bitterness, and defeat?
I am so aware that there are incredibly difficult circumstances that many face everyday. The temptation to give up, throw in the towel, or even settle for a lesser level of living is something that we all will face just because we live on planet Earth.

But, we as believers are called to a higher level of living. In fact, one of my favorite quotes is from Francis Frangipane, " Any area of your life that does not glisten with hope is under the influence of a lie." When I first heard that I almost felt mad! How could every area of my life 'glisten' with hope?  I began to learn that my perception of God was way too small. There is no situation too far gone that He can not still redeem. Anything other than that way of thinking is under the influence of a lie.

We have been in a season of training and things that were acceptable in our thinking 10 years ago are no longer acceptable. God has his finger on hope right now and as He births this new wave of grace to hope, I pray we will become a culture of hope that is attractive like a magnet to this hurting world.

We have a choice, and we can choose hope.


"He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." Heb. 10:37-38

The Best of Times & The Worst of Times

I don't recall ever hearing more people talk about what a difficult year it has been than that of 2011.   Many said  early on that it would be a year of transition and that it was.  Change can be difficult, yet it is so very necessary if we are going to get where we need to go in the Kingdom.

Some may recall that in January of 2011 I wrote a blog where I shared my experience of sensing that God had said for me personally that it would be "the year of the Lion".   And for me it was a year of learning just exactly what that meant.  As His words to me often are, it was multi-faceted in meaning and came right in the middle of a season where I experienced "the thrill of victory" as well as "the agony of defeat".  

Getting to the bottom line, when the Lion of Judah comes into a situation He comes to make things right and set things back in order.  Like Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia, whose very presence began to thaw the frozen land,  He brings all of who He is which involves His love, peace, joy, and lots of other good things.  But, His nature also includes His holiness, His purifying fire and His uncompromising nature.  He stands as the plumbline by which we are to measure ourselves.  It is an intense and paradoxical mystery and to put it simply, "it hurts so good". 

So, I am thankful for the journey of 2011 and all that He has done because I know it is out of His passionate love for myself and others that He pursues so relentlessly.

I am excited about 2012 and the unfolding of another new year. As I have listened for anything He might say concerning this year, I have sensed that He is wanting to establish us in the ground that has been taken in 2011. It is not enough to be set free; we must learn how to live free. In many ways, the Church(at large), and the believers who make up the Church, have been like a city without walls.

I believe we are in a season like that of Nehemiah, who helped rebuild the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. It is a time of fortifying, building up, and establishing the work that He has done in us. Those who built the wall knew how to build, but they were prepared to do warfare at the same time. Their defeats had caused them to "wise up", yet didn't keep them from building and moving forward.

 Another part of the establishing has to do with government. I have heard that the number 12 is a number of "government". We will see even more shifting in the realm of government this year not only in nations but in the church as well. I am thankful for the promise of His word, "....and of the increase of His government, there will be no end."

As we have experienced the transitional birth pains of 2011, we have learned to yield to His process and the purposes in His heart. Now it is time to nurture and steward the growth of what He has done and will continue to do in us.

Below I am including a word that I journaled on New Year's Eve during a time of worship at our church. May the fire of His love and the goodness of His nature pursue you in 2012 as never before!

Word for 2012 - Dec. 31, 2011

As 2011 has been a season of transition it is time for the birthing to be complete. You have fought and you have gained ground. It is time to plant the flag of your victories. The land is yours, but you must go in and claim it. Don't believe the taunts and lies of the enemy as you move forward. I have released to you your identity and given you the riches of your inheritance. It is my delight to watch you step into the fulness of all that I have for you.

“Eye has not seen nor ear heard, no mind has conceived what I have prepared for you who love Me”, but I will reveal it to you by my Spirit. My Spirit will lead you into the deep things.(I Cor. 2:9) You can not go it alone, for you will surely fail. You must hold hands with Grace and Truth and the way will open before you.

You must change your mindset to that of an Overcomer. Call yourself by what I have said about you. Don't define yourself by your struggle or the battles that you have fought. I have spoken a new name over you and this is how you are known in heaven. It is how you are to know yourself. Rise up to take hold of your new name. It is a matter of life or death. “Do not be of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved”. (Heb. 10:19)

Rise up, rise up and step joyfully and confidently into your destiny. Trust completely and obey my voice and the zeal of the Father's love will accomplish it.