The Power of a lie

I was recently reflecting on Romans 8:19 which says "...creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God." All of creation is waiting, we ourselves are groaning, and the Spirit is interceding for the revealing of the sons (and daughters) of God. This is a big deal, thus the Enemy has worked very hard to keep your identity from being revealed. I have recently been reminded about how powerful a lie is in our life, when we believe a lie about our core-identity. I have had a struggle resting and sleeping over the last 2+ years, some of it I have attributed to some burnout. Burnout is when the power source begins to be inadequate for the challenges of life, so in other words I must be living out of my own resources rather than the Holy Spirit. As these core lies would operate in my life and I could not sleep, this would reinforce the belief that "I am the problem" because due to lack of sleep I would be not as present for family activities. I am amazed at how powerful lies are because they affect the manifestation of Christ in us. Lies have their own manifestation, it first leads us to being tempted, then led away from dependence on Christ, then choosing sin, and finally sin bears fruit for death (James 1:14-15). In the midst of a lie being triggered (like "I am the problem") your feeler is flooded with feelings that match the lie then puts pressure on your will (chooser) to choose to depend on flesh rather than Christ in you. This is why Satan is called the "father of lies" because these lies lead us to manifest the nature of the liar (darkness) and not Christ (Light). In Matthew 6:22-23 Jesus says, "The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, you whole body will be full of light. But if you eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" In these verses Jesus is talking about the eyes of the mind or heart, so if we are believing a lie, then darkness is what we see and so this is what we experience inside. I heard Ed Silvoso define a lie as, "A thought contrary to the will of God impregnated with hopelessness." In 1 John 1:5 we have the pronouncement that "...God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." We all experience darkness at times but my prayer is that we would come into the Light more and more, experiencing His love and freedom. I pray that as you understand how lies operate in your life, you will be able to take these lies to the Holy Spirit (John 16:13) called the Spirit of truth for a reason. I believe so much of our inheritance is unlocked as these lies/strongholds are taken down by the power and love of the Spirit of Christ. I pray that Jesus prayer from John 16:13, may the Spirit of truth lead you into all truth.

In Christ,
Bret

Honor beyond what I deserve

As I took my daughter to the "Father/Daughter Dance" I was struck by the power of a father in a daughter's life. I had not slept well the night before and I was somewhat "slogging" through the day but my daughter was so excited that as a dad I needed to rise above my circumstance. She looked so cute in her poodle skirt and pony tail for the 50's themed dance. The gym was decorated with white Christmas lights, a balloon archway, and balloons littered one side of the floor. As the DJ poured on the 50's music and I took my daughter's hand to lead her to the dance floor, I caught the twinkle in her eye. In this twinkle it communicated to my heart that there was no other place in the world she would rather be than with me at this dance. As she laid her head on my chest as we danced; I realized that my assessment of how good a dad I was or how crappy a dad I was, I was her dad. As I looked around at the other fathers and daughters I wondered if these fathers understood that God had given them a key to their daughter's heart. In Luke 1:17 the Word says that through John the Baptist God was turning the hearts of the fathers to their children. I am honestly scared, honored, and taken a back by the influence the Lord has given me in my daughter's life. It is such grace that she sees me so much bigger than I really am, when I seem to see all my faults in 3-D they are barely noticeable to her. I don't believe it is most important for her to not see my weakness but to extend grace in those areas of weakness. I pray that through me she would see the unconditional love of her Father in Heaven. How blessed I am to have children and enjoy the revelation of the Heavenly Father as I sense some of His delight over His own children.

In Papa's Arms,
Bret

God better than GPS?

Of course God is better than GPS but I sensed the Holy Spirit teaching me something about God's Kingdom through my GPS. Now some would say this is strange but is it not true that, "My sheep hear my voice" (John 10:3). On Wednesday mornings I have an early morning Bible Study downtown (30 minutes from my house), so I take my GPS because it is traffic-enabled. Which simply means it has a fancy cord that allows the GPS to get traffic information. So as I am heading to the office from downtown, I punch in the address of our office for directions, not because I don't know how to get there but so I can see the traffic. And up pops the little red triangle with a number indicating the number of minutes delay because of traffic on my route. When I hit the traffic button on the GPS screen, it gives a place where I can select alternative routes with less or no traffic. Cool! So instead of sitting in traffic I just bypass all the traffic via an alternative route. I sensed the Spirit reveal to me that this an analogy for what the Word says "... seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:6) The GPS gave me a view from above the earth through Global Positioning Satellites which relayed information to my GPS unit. All of this enabled me to see into the unseen realm (traffic miles away) and then gave me a new route. I got the idea of GPS illustrating (albeit crudely) spiritual concepts through Steve McVey's example. Steve McVey said GPS is like God's grace in that whenever we get off course the GPS (God's grace) simply recalculates to get us back on course. Thus mistakes are not detrimental but can be handled by God's grace (or the GPS in this example). I also find it interesting that the GPS gets information from satellites that are high above the earth in space, giving us a perspective of earth that is much different than what you get walking around on the ground. Point, does the Father see things from a different perspective when He looks on the earth from His heavenly throne. Yes! The amazing news is that the Word says that the Father and Jesus Christ will come make there abode in us (John 14:23). It does not say this will happen if we do everything right, not sin, and pray hours in the day. The Word is saying that through the finished work of Jesus Christ and God placing us "in Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:30), that we now become the dwelling place of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One of the three of the Godhead blew me away but that God place the Trinity within us is totally incomprehensible. I pray that God will speak to you through this and if not you will have had a laugh. Life can be too much to not laugh.

In His Grace,
Bret

Grace Through Others

I was amazed at the grace I received as I spent time with my extended family because my aunt was ending her 15 year battle with cancer and then last Wednesday went to be with the Lord. Having been raised as an only child in a single parent home my heart had longed for family because this is part of what I was created for. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are a family. There is a dimension of the love of God and life of God that can only be experienced through family. I thoroughly enjoyed the joking, the camaraderie, and the sense of being a part of something bigger than me (family). I shared with my wife that something deep inside me (identity) grew and there was even a sense of greater authority. No one specifically laid hands on me or imparted to me, yet the grace that was on their life touched me. It is such a blessing that most all of my extended family have a relationship with the Lord. There are a couple of dimensions in operation here, first is the Kingdom of God functions through humility and not pride (see 1 Peter 5:5-6). Also Ephesians 5:21 says "and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ." The term "be subject" means to arrange under or subordinate. When we are willing to take a lower place (humility not self-condemnation) then we receive grace from a person's life to add to what we have already received. I found that I was so blessed by some of the gracious words people said to me and I was also able to speak words of grace that built up. Words of grace are ones that build another person up "in Christ", not seek to tear down or be dominate. This is part of why I believe the Orphan Heart is so destructive because then we don't place ourselves in place of humility or subjection but seek to be unaffected or rejected by others. If we are going to experience being built up to full maturity "in Christ" we need to understand how the Holy Spirit transfers grace through us to another person or through another person to me. So much of the New Covenant is addressed to a company of believers, whereas our culture thinks only individualistically. I pray as you honor the Spirit of God on another person's life you would receive a touch of His grace that you may experience more of Him and who you are in Him.

In His Love,
Bret