Bye bye, baby crib prayers

The tyrannical news cycle continually screams at us to try to stir up our emotions – fear, anxiety, anger, mercy (even unsanctified mercy), etc.  Many Christians are motivated to pray according to the latest news.  If our prayers commonly follow the media reports, there is very high likelihood that we’re praying from our soulish emotions.  This is just one of the ways that we conform to the patterns of this world (Rms 12:2), which very likely puts the devil in charge of our prayer initiatives.  Why?  Because we’re being led by the latest ruckus that the devil is causing.  He gets to dictate what we pray for and when we pray.  I wonder how happy he is that he gets so much free attention!   

But if we’re going to be led by the Spirit then we must stop being led by our soul.

Soulish prayers are immature prayers… one might even call them ‘baby prayers’.  Babies don’t have the capacity to analyze the bigger picture when something goes wrong in their diaper. 😊 So as paidion sons (baby sons) they ‘cry out’ to daddy for help when the boogeyman rattles his chains.  But mature sons don’t let themselves be distracted by the devil banging his drums for their attention.  They listen to the Voice that is higher.  Mature sons dwell far above the cacophony of banging drums.  They’ve “set their affection on things above… not on things of earth”.  They listen for the higher report… and the higher directives.  This, my friends, is where God is inviting His sons and daughters.  This will qualify us to become huios (mature) sons and daughters who get to rule and reign with Him.

So, what I’m getting down to is that we may have made prayer an act of babies soulishly crying out plaintiff prayers to a god way out there and if he doesn’t answer right away, we cry louder trying to ‘deliver the mail’ across that great distance.  As we mature we realize that we are in Him and He is in us… and thus there is no need for delivering the mail to some far-off hard-of-hearing ears.   Our maturity has taught us how to experientially come into union with God and KNOW His thoughts… and realize that He KNOWS ours.  What a beautiful destination our Father has brought us to.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” – Eph 2:13   

Yea, not just near, but in union with Him, because listen to this: “He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” – I Cor 6:17.   We must learn to live in the reality and expression of this union.  This is our inheritance.

Set your attention on things above the banging drums and rattling chains of the devil.  Begin to identify what prayer looks like when you are fully homogenized into union with God.  Consider what it looks like when He’s graduated you out of the baby prayer crib and you find yourself freely and voluntarily conversing with Him as a partner versus a plaintiff.  In this reality, what should your appropriate prayer posture be?  What is appropriate prayer vocabulary now?  How do you describe and define prayer at this level of intimate union?  A biblical conclusion to these questions will begin to define our new M.O.!

Happy graduation!   

–MLH

Resource:  Ascended Life Study Course   (New)
Level 1   New Creation Identity     
Level 2   Our Expanded Inheritance

Where’s my pearl earring?

This Is another chapter to our unfolding “Where’s my Passport?” story!  When Julie heard the story, she asked the Lord if He would do the similar thing for her.  And He did!  She tells her story here…
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“Where’s my pearl earring?”

I listened to testimonies of people having assistance from angels finding their lost passports.  I had never heard of such a thing.  To be honest, I was ‘on the fence’ about it.  But as the service moved into worship I began to sing along and sing in the Spirit quietly to myself.  Faith began to stir up inside of me.  I said to the Lord, “If those testimonies were really real I’d love to find my lost pearl earring.”  So I asked the Lord and ‘finding angels’ to bring it back.  I said, “I am seated in Heavenly places with You Lord.  Can You show me where it is?”  As I was praying, in the Spirit, I saw a quick flash of my earring laying on something beige in color.  I thanked the Lord and thought that if I lost it while I was sleeping, maybe it fell on the carpet near my bed.  I had already combed the area very well.  But later, with a flashlight, I looked really well throughout the whole area.  Nothing turned up.  I was a little bummed.

Friday I was cleaning my bathroom and next to my jewelry box I found the backing that looked like the one that belonged to my pearl earring. (The actual backing had been lost down the drain about eight months ago. The substitute one didn’t fit well which is why the earring came off easily while I was sleeping.)  It had to be cleaned a little bit because it had something like calcium buildup around it.  I put the backing with my other earrings and I pondered where this even came from.

Saturday my husband’s friends came over with their two young boys.  I laid out a large blanket and pulled out some construction toys for them to play with.  On the blanket, I dumped piles of rice and lentils for them to push around like dirt.  I told the boys’ mother to dump the toys onto the blanket.  A few moments later she said, “Hey look it’s an earring.”  In the palm of her hand was my pearl earring!  “I can’t believe it”, I exclaimed!  “You don’t understand. I lost this earring 6 months ago when I had laid down to take a nap and I’ve looked everywhere for it.”

This was the first time I had ever met the boys’ mother, and she kind of looked at me sideways as I tried to explain it to her.  When I asked her where she found it, she pointed to a pile of beige/brown lentil beans on the blanket.  And interestingly, the toys had been dumped out of a beige colored construction bucket.

I had prayed earlier in the week that the Lord would bring it back to me.  The earring backing turned up yesterday… and now the earring!  This is a huge answer to prayer!  I praised God over and over again!  Here’s a picture of the earring and the backing. – JD

See here and here for more ‘chapters’ in the ‘Where’s My Passport’ story.

What if there is no distance between you and God?

Beyond words
Have you ever felt like in an instant you knew something new, ‘in your knower’?  God frequently communicates through what we might call ‘micro-bursts’ of knowing—instant spiritual downloads that completely bypass the need for long paragraphs of words or complex explanations.  This capacity is available to us as well: to move beyond the clunky machinery of language and into the fluid speed of spiritual exchange.  This spirit-to-spirit communication represents the highest form of divine union.  

“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.  For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” — 1 Cor 2:10

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
– I Cor 2:14

The 24-inch journey from head to spirit
Every sincere believer must travel the twenty-four-inch journey from the brain down to their spirit, described by Jesus as being in the ‘belly’(Jn 7:38).  This is the seat of our spirit and is the place where our true self resides, untouched by the noise of the world.

Maturity in the faith is marked by learning to be led by the Spirit rather than by fluctuating emotions.  

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” — Rms 8:14

Obliterating separation
When we start our faith journey, many of us view ourselves as fundamentally separate from God.  We act like babies crying out from a distance, hoping to be ‘picked up’ or noticed by a far-off deity.  However, true maturity embraces the staggering realization that there is absolutely no distance, no delay, and no separation between you and the Father.  You are not a distant observer; you are an included participant within the Trinity (I Cor 6:17).

This is not about replacing God, but about being merged into a perfect oneness with Him.  His DNA and His attributes are within our very being.  When we maintain the illusion of distance, we inadvertently stifle our ability to walk in all that Jesus promised.  To walk in power, we must first obliterate the thought that we are ever truly alone.

“But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”
— 1 Cor 6:17

“I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” — Jn 15:5

Operating in Divine union
Operating from a place of union affords us unprecedented access to the ‘omni’ attributes of God… His Omniscience – all knowledge… His Omnipresence – everywhere… and His Omnipotence – matchless power.  As we marinate in this reality of oneness, our prayer life becomes less of a formal plaintiff petition to a distant king and more of a constant, seamless spiritual exchange between two who are one.

We must graduate from just being consumers who always take from the Kingdom.  We must acknowledge our life-giving spirits to become the co-reigners with God who release our influence into the earth.  When we embrace our union, we stop trying to reach God, and we start living from the place where we already dwell with Him.

“He has made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…” – Eph 2:6

Sum it up
Maybe the greatest hurdle in the believer’s life is the perception of distance from God.  When we grow out of the ‘baby mindset’ of separation and into the revelation of our literal union with Christ, we transition from laborious effort to effortless flow.  We are invited to live spirit-to-spirit.  This union isn’t just a theological concept; it is a poignant reality that empowers us to govern, manifest signs, and bear fruit that remains.  This year, we’re going to obliterate thoughts of distance and move towards walking in ‘spirit-to-spirit’ transfer, which will revolutionize our natural experience.  Do I hear an AMEN!!

–MLH

View a related 35-minute video by MLH: https://youtu.be/Iy5ZgyI3KEg?si=BGVOrSbpa4BIBpY1

Resource:  Ascended Life Study Course   (New)
Level 1   New Creation Identity     
Level 2   Our Expanded Inheritance

A clean sweep and all Heaven breaks loose

Stories to Inspire

The Spirit realm is big!  And Holy Spirit is even bigger.  And He’s a great leader: “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (Jn 16:13).  This makes for exhilarating vistas expanding out in all directions.

Who knew that our effectiveness wasn’t limited to just our earthly physicality?  Our belief system used to limit our effectiveness to only what we could do while in our physical body.  But what happens when we get liberated from the confines of this body into the expansiveness of Holy Spirit’s realms!?  What happens when we are untethered from the natural laws of physics and find ourselves able to travel and function with Holy Spirit wherever He goes?  I tell you what happens!  Christian life just takes a quantum leap into “life and life more abundantly”!  Thank you, Jesus, for that quote!

Brian Nickens found himself in a Holy Spirit assignment, partnering with an angel to set the stage for a God-encounter for his whole group.  So cool!  More, Lord!
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A clean sweep and all Heaven breaks loose

“On a Monday night I was lying in bed reading a book by Praying Medic entitled, ‘Traveling in the Spirit Made Simple’.  I fell asleep but really ‘fell’ into the Spirit realm.  I found myself in the upper room of the church where I was going to teach a bible class the very next evening.”

“I was aware that there was a dark cloud or haze in the room.  An angel in the corner instructed me to remove the haze.  We were both hovering above the floor.  The angel further instructed me to use hand motions to ‘sweep’ the haze (which was fear, doubt and shame, etc) into the center of the room.  The haze responded to my ‘sweeping’ motions and collected in the middle of the room in the form of a ball.”

“The angel then instructed me to remove the ball of haze from the room.  It was now like a balloon floating about 3 feet off the ground.  As the angel ‘stood’ behind me, I pushed the ball out into the hall, down the stairwell and passed the security.  As I opened the front door and pushed it out the entrance of the church building, it got sucked out into the atmosphere.  The angel then said to go back to the upper room and release joy, peace, love, and the power of God in the room.  So back in the room, I began joyfully spinning and releasing just as I was instructed.”

“When the encounter ended, I found myself back in my bedroom covered in sweat.”

“The next night when a first-time visitor from Jamaica walked into the bible study… she raised her fist in the air, shouted “Glory! The Presence of God is in the room!”  As more people arrived, they seemed to automatically get ushered into an unusual encounter with God.  For the next 30-40 minutes, people were overcome with the power of God and were beside themselves with various manifestations.  This lasted about 40 minutes.  Word got out around the building that “God was in the room” and other people in the building, including security, came to join in the experience.”

“When the unusual encounter finally subsided, I recounted to those in the room what had happened with me the night before.  With Holy Spirit’s leadership and an angel’s assistance, I had cleaned the room, and released the powerful Presence of God to usher us all into a Heavenly experience that we’ll not easily forget.” – BN/CA

Hello, I am __________ !

Who are you?  Can you confidently answer that question?  

They say: “Anything worth having, is worth fighting for.”  Of course, this can apply to many areas of our lives.  But, if there is anything worth fighting or contending for, it has to be my own identity!  So… who am I?

I think you would enjoy reading through some of my discoveries in my personal journey of ‘finding Me’ in; Finding the Treasure called You and How’s Your Heart? and In Search of the Real Me.  

In our quest to find and walk in our true identity, we realize that most ‘voices’ around us do not feed us the whole truth, so it’s a constant battle to corral our mind and dispossess it of ‘stinking thinking’.  Paul the apostle, describes this battleground like this:

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, – II Cor 10:4-5

In the past, the devil has had us focus on the ‘cardinal’ sins; murder, adultery, etc.  Actually, these are worthy considerations, but there are issues and influences which are more subtle, yet even more detrimental to our futures.  And those things can creep up on us and take one ‘nibble’ at a time until a serious compromise has occurred.  

The saying is: “You are what you eat”.  Therefore, it’s vital that we ‘eat the right diet’ if we’re going to have the mind of Christ (I Cor 2:16).  Ultimately, He is the only One who can define me and give me my identity.

Here are just a few ways that I purposefully push myself in pursuit of identifying and cultivating my identity…

~ marinate in what the Word of God says regarding my true identity
~ have frequent God encounters where He speaks value & identity to me
~ listen to my personal playlist of special heart songs that tenderize my heart
~ don’t listen to ’empty’ music or talk radio
~ subscribe to select videos, blogs and podcasts
~ glean from others who currently experience God in fresh ways
~ surround myself with as many of my ‘on-ramps‘ as possible
~ share my ‘on-ramp’ stories as often as I can
~ share about my true identity as often as possible
~ this kind of sharing often yields another God-encounter
~ pursue those who will remind me of my true identity
~ associate with those who inspire the real me
~ strive to live from my heart more than my head
~ don’t allow negative thoughts to lead me… or determine my decisions
~ commit to do something that I’ve never done, each time I’m ‘front and center’

Most of these points are basic wisdom issues… but it’s surprising how our society disregards wisdom, in favor of trend, comfort and instant gratification. 

As I become confident in my own identity and get ‘comfortable in my own skin’, this eradicates insecurity and vulnerability to the fear of man.  It frees up my heart to hear from Holy Spirit because I’m not tyrannized by fear.  I can initiate more quickly, with more boldness and with more authority of ownership in whatever is before me.  And that is an exciting and liberating way to live life! 

Knowing who you are, makes you able to confidently say, “Hello, I am _______!”

–MLH

Everything after their kind

Every living thing (plant, animal and human) begets after its own kind.  This is a law of natural science.  The source determines the fruit.  In fact, God stated it clearly

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. -Gen 1:24

And this is true in the Spirit realm, also.  Our goal must be to differentiate between our soul and our spirit, knowing that each one of them beget after their own kind.  Our objective is to learn to live ‘in-sync’ WITH and live FROM our spirit.

Premise, pathway and goal
A huge belief that governs over all of my serious discourses, is to try to ‘live, move and have my being’ in the Spirit.  This is my premise, my pathway and my goal.

1.   If I converse around mental / brainwave exchanges, then I beget the fruit of my brain which is: knowledge, data and basic truth, etc.  

2.   If I converse in and from my spirit man, I will beget the fruit of my spirit: spiritual life and Heavenly power, etc.

One begets knowledge and truth, the other begets spirit and life.  Which will I choose?

Simply put

Body begets body – physical impact, offspring, etc
Soul begets soul – basic data and truth & soulish emotions
Spirit begets spirit – spiritual life-giving impartation

Any time we gather as a corporate expression of the body of Christ, we want to learn to discern our thoughts and impressions.  Where are they from?  Are they from our soul or from our spirit.  Does what I’m sharing have the power to impart and awaken life?  Or is it just facts and data?  Believers actually have the ability to GIVE life, as we choose to activate in this mode.  In this regard, we are like our elder brother Jesus (the last Adam), who was/is a life-giving spirit.  This is very different from the first Adam who was only a living soul.

“The first man, Adam, became a living soul.  The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” – I Cor 15:45

We ACTUALLY have the ability to GIVE LIFE!  Learning to live this way will be a life quest and a years-long learning project because most of us haven’t been trained to live from our spirit.  Most of the world and most of the church teaches us about our physical behaviors and our mental thoughts.  These of course, are reflective of our body and soul.  Even though religion references our spirit and that it is ‘saved’, we haven’t been taught about connecting and communicating with our spirit.  This is a big frontier.

We want to do things for much more than just earthly impact.  We’re reaching for spiritual and eternal impact.  Imparting spiritual life from our spirits is very much in line with several passages in Scripture:

“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.  And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.” – I Cor 2:12-13

This skill requires a disciplined effort from each of us, as we learn to differentiate between the sources of our thoughts and inspirations.  Are our inspirations soul or spirit originated?  And then we must use discernment as to when and how to share those thoughts and inspirations.  Finally, the reason we want to learn how to ‘live, move and have our being’ in and from our spirit is because this skill must become first nature in order to live and rule in the Heavenlies!

“Our minds cannot be our ‘tour-guide’ through the Heavenlies.” – Bill Johnson

Think of it, co-governing with God in the Heavenlies will require much more than just our mental capacities!  So, we call our spirit up to full height and full attention and fully authorize it to lead us into the Heavenlies (under Holy Spirit’s lead, of course).  Happy spirit sailing!

Activation
Try this prayer to ‘Align our triune self’ (click here and here).  Then speak to our spirit, acknowledge it, bless it, called it up to attention and full height, and commission it into its proper leadership position over our soul and body (under Holy Spirit, of course).  It’s amazing how our spirit begins to stir and respond when we acknowledge Heaven’s proper order for our triune being.  The Spirit of God and our spirit begin to resonate in harmony with each other and spill over into our soul.  Actually, this Song of Solomon passage describes it pretty well.

“My beloved reached into me to unlock my heart.  The core of my very being trembled at his touch.  How my soul melted when he spoke to me!  My spirit arose to open for more of his touch.  As I surrendered to him, I began to sense his fragrance, the fragrance of his suffering love!  It was the sense of myrrh flowing all through me!” – SoS 5:4-5 TPT

We’re learning.  We’re learning how to become Jesus’ ecclesia – which is those who know how to speak from our spirit and by the Spirit of God and thus become confident and effective ruling ones.

O boy!  This is exciting.

— MLH

Bob Jones video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Gmg5MuB2_4 (start at 3:45mins

The Merger

Continuing the theme of untethering from this world…

The history of God

The Bible is an account of 1) God’s history with man 2) the history of man with God and 3) the history of man with man.  It is NOT the totality of the HISTORY OF GOD.  Actually, we only know fragments of the history of God outside of time and the earth paradigm.  The Bible is fairly silent on God, pre-time and pre-world and pre-creation.  While He enjoys working in our physical realm, He is primarily above and beyond our temporal realm.  I believe that as we move into this newly emerging age of learning to live in the Heavenlies, God longs to unveil the ‘beyond time’ eternal realm to us.

In short, He is inviting us into understanding the eternal realm, experiencing the eternal realm and learning to govern from the eternal realm.  If we thought our current world was big, we ain’t seen nuthin’ yet!

Let’s begin

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing IN the heavenly places in Christ” – Eph 1:3

I like to remind us that we are blessed with “spiritual blessings IN the Heavenly places”.  1) Where do you have to be to experience these spiritual blessings?  2) How many different places or realms are there in the Heavenlies?  3) How many places are you familiar with?  4) How many places are you skilled to govern from?  You see, this very familiar verse in Ephesians actually implies so much more than we ever realized.  It opens up a vast and mostly unexplored and un-understood part of our inheritance.

A teaser

In the ‘seen realm’, we are governed by time, space, gravity, laws of physics, etc.  Humans have had millennia to discover and understand many of these tangible-world realities.  But have you ever asked, “What entities govern and influence the unseen realms?”

Is it possible that the Heavenly governing influences may be Heavenly Virtues… (Truth, Wisdom, Love, Joy, Peace, Gentleness, Meekness, Temperance, Kindness, Humility, Patience, Hope, Justice, Prudence, Gratitude) etc?  Selah!  Consider: IF these virtues were to govern over Heavenly realms with their influences, would you be a good ‘citizen’ in each of their realms?  Could you ‘commute’ through these realms and receive the spiritual blessings in these realms… and then begin to govern over earth from these realms?  

Well for sure, the Heavenly realms are governed by things and entities that are ethereal, non-physical and not bound by earthly paradigms.  In fact, Jesus said,

“The kingdom of God does NOT come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” – Lk 17:20-21

“If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” – Jn 3:12

It’s time to untether

It seems to me that we have been tethered way too firmly to this natural world.  In fact, many of us probably can’t engage the Heavenly realm without imposing some kind of natural world restricting ‘law’ over it.  For instance, we might say, “That can’t happen because of some law of physics.”, or “I don’t know anyone who has done that before”, etc.  And it is just this type of thinking that will prevent us from fully entering the Heavenly places.  So, what does Paul say about this?

“Do NOT conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” – Rms 12:2

There is a clear charge here, to disengage… untether… from this world’s patterns and paradigms.  In fact, Paul continues by saying the requirement to be transformed (transfigured – Greek metamorphoo) is that we MUST get a new mind about the Heavenlies.  And to take it even further, we can’t even begin to ‘test’ and approve the Heavenly realms, UNTIL we have a new mind and get transformed.  O boy!  If we have real aspirations of moving into the Heavenlies, we’re gonna have to get serious.  Here’s a simple yet jarring take-away from Romans 12:2.

“Transfiguration is the evidence of the fully renewed mind.” – Bill Johnson

I haven’t transfigured.. YET!  Sadly, I only know of less than a handful of people who have transfigured.  Now, this news could either be discouraging… or inspiring to you.  But I love hearing the stark truth about a matter, because now I know what I have to do.  I have to find a personal pathway that leads to untethering from this world!

That pathway is in my crosshairs.  And it’s exhilarating!  It is more consuming to me than many other things.  But here is the good news, our Father wants us to find our home in His Heavenly places much more than we want to.  Thank You, Father!!

The merger 

I feel confident that this new emerging age will be hallmarked by an unprecedented ‘merging’ of man with God.  God wants to bring man into His world… His ‘home’.  And the truth be known, this was also our home before we were conceived and born into this world.  So, in reality, we are returning to the realm of our pre-existence before earth.  It may be like a most welcome reunion with our pre-Adamic selves… only better!  O boy!  Can you get your mind around this?  

IF this is true

I believe Father desires to unlock powerful latent capacities that already reside within our spirit.  In our near future, believers across the world will begin experiencing Heavenly realities that will eclipse even the best spiritual experiences in the Bible and in modern history.  And all of this is to be experienced while we are fully alive, in these natural bodies!  (Jesus validated this mode in Jn 3:13)  Learning to live in our Father’s world will be wondrous and without comparison to anything in our current paradigm.  

Can you feel the merger, yet?

–MLH

Companion Scriptures:  Jn 3:13, Jn 17:24, Rev 4:1, I Jn 3:2, II Pet 1:19, Job 38:4, Lk 15:1-7, Heb 6:1-3

For further reading, check out my friend Ron Jones’ book, entitled: The Merger 

She can cry if she wants to

Stories to Inspire #46

One of our many new frontiers in Heavenly realities has been in sending spiritual text messages.  Yes, this sounds ‘new agey’, but even if new agers do it, remember, the devil never invented anything.  Rather, he is a counterfeiter of something that God created.  Jesus acknowledged that there are wrong ways of entering the spiritual realms… and He said that if we do it the wrong way we are a thief and a robber (Jn 10:1).  So, it is our aim to find the Godly way of moving into these new frontiers.  Jesus gave us specific instructions and parameters:

“I am the Door.  If any man enters he will be saved, and he shall go in and out and find pasture.”  – John 10:9

So what is the safe way?  Hear from Him and then do it through HIM!!!

So how do you send a spiritual text?  Of course, everything is by faith, just like when we pray for the sick or when we prophesy… or even when we get saved!  But it boils down to engaging our spirit with God’s Spirit.

1) Ask Holy Spirit what He wants ‘sent’
2) Get ‘in touch’ with your spirit
3) From your spirit ‘send’ that impression to its intended focus

The only thing left, is to believe, and then later, check in with the person you sent the ‘text’ to.  We will no doubt have to grow in this… grow in hearing… grow in faith… just like a little child.

O boy!!!  God is opening a LARGE door to the Heavenlies… larger than we ever realized.  This next story ended with a surprising outcome and a happy heart.

“He’s blessed us with ALL spiritual blessings IN the Heavenly places.” – Eph 1:3

________________________________________

She can cry if she wants to

Taking my que from Jesus who “knew their thoughts”, I engaged my spirit to send a ‘spiritual text’ to a fellow ascended life leader.  We had given each other special permission to engage in this exercise.  As I asked Holy Spirit what I should ‘send’, and out of the blue I heard the phrase, ‘She can cry if she wants to’.  That was so different that I thought it must be the Lord.

So, I engaged my spirit and by faith, ‘sent the text’.   The next day I called my friend and asked if he had received my ‘text’.  He said he had completely forgotten about our project.  So I told him my experience and what I ‘sent’.  He said, “You know, yesterday I was counseling a married couple when the lady began to cry.  When this happened, the thought came into my mind, “She can cry if she wants to.”

When he told me the account of the previous day, we were both surprised and inspired.  I suggested that it might be good to tell the lady that the Lord was with her and endorsed her tender time during that counseling session.  Later, my friend told the lady and she exclaimed, “That 60s song was very special to me in an earlier time of my life when I was going through difficult times.”  The song is, ‘It’s My Party’ – by Leslie Gore (1963) 

It was amazing how God let the lady know that He was with her in her early life experiences… AND He comforted her in the current struggles.  

Don’t you just love the innovative and wonderful ways of God!! – MH/MO

–MLH

Also published here: https://www.alc.one/storiestoinspire 

Hearing and Ascending

Humanity has had millennia to established the rightness or wrongness for many familiar decisions and issues in our lives.  The accepted principles to make our decisions… and the consequences of those decisions… have been on display for all to see.  This gives us much incentive and accountability as we walk through temporal issues of life.

We’ve had 2000 years to learn how to live as a Christian on the earth, in earthly mode.  But as we move into the Heavenly places, we have very few Biblical or historical patterns and protocols to guide us.  Thus, it is imperative that we learn how to hear the Voice!

The Voice
Most people don’t know how to hear or discern the Voice.  Many times, Charismatics and Pentecostals just say “the Lord told me”, without a sober qualifying process to ascertain veracity.  And sadly, after a failed or erroneous decision, most people are not interested in going back to ruthlessly reevaluate the process.  So, without learning from that failed decision, they just lean on Mercy, try to forget the past… and try to work through the consequences of their bad decision.

As we move into the Heavenlies and partner with angels and saints and travel in the Spirit, our hearing MUST get better.  When we’re young in the Lord… and young in the Heavenly ways… the Lord will cover us with lots of mercy.  But as we gain more stature, clout and authority in the Spirit, we can’t afford to spout off or run off ‘halfcocked’ – as my mother used to say.

Years ago, Bob Jones made a 6 second disparaging remark about a ministry in another city.  When he arrived back home that evening, he was afflicted in his back for 6 weeks.  He could only lay on his sofa, until I happened to bring a man from England to Bob’s house and he prayed for Bob.  Bob was instantly healed.  Bob’s commentary on that incident was, “Because of my stature in the Spirit realm, just 6 seconds of soulish disparaging words, cost me 6 weeks on my back.  The stakes get higher as we move into more consequential territory.”  I learned a great lesson from my mentor. 

‘In season’ virtues
So, we try to stay in conservative territory with our Ascended Life groups.  We rarely engage in ‘spiritual warfare’, binding, fighting the devil.  We believe there are better ways of displacing evil… at least at our current maturity level.  Normally, we release the fruits of the Spirit or the equivalent – because “against such things there is NO law”… they are always ‘in season’.  In our groups, we release these virtues: Light, Life, Love, Power, Presence, Joy and Shalom of God. 

I am committed to staying in the Light… in the 3rd Heavens… and engaging God and the angels to do whatever needs to be done in the 2nd heavens.  I am more interested in our longevity than I am in engaging demons and 2nd heaven stuff.  At this stage of my maturity, I think our angelic partners are better equipped.  There will be a time that we saints will mature into our full God-ordained inheritance and stature in the Heavenlies.  We will “judge angels”, then.  But for now, I want to honestly assess my true maturity and stay within that.

Case in point
God told the Israelites (the essence of a couple of passages): “I’m NOT going to give you the promise land all at once, lest the beast of the field overtake you.”  In other words, even though the promised land had their name on the title deed, God knew they couldn’t possess it… YET!  So, God’s plan was to give it to them, incrementally.

We’re now engaging things that aren’t written about in many religious writings and there is very little precedent for the things that we’re invited into!  I feel that being conservative is imperative.  It’s also called staying within our metron!!!

Years ago, I believe the Lord gave me a ‘methodology’ for how to acquire the will of God… and to be confident that I had heard the will of God.  This way involves a process, rather than a moment.  I think our Lord loves the time spent in partnership much more than just being our ‘answer man’.  This way involves time and walking with Him and dialoging (not nagging) with Him as a friend speaks with a friend.  I won’t go through the ‘methodology’ here, but if you’re interested, follow the link below for more on this subject.

Sum it up
To live and move and have our being in the Heavenlies, we must be able to clearly hear and truly discern the voice of God.  If we do this successfully, our authority and influence will increase until we come to a place where God can fully endorse us – like He did Jesus at His baptism and transfiguration.

Happy hearing… and Happy ascending!  We’re entering the rest of our inheritance.

–MLH

For more about finding the will of God: Beyond the Map https://marklhen.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/using-a-fleece-template 

Red Baron angel

Stories to Inspire – #54

Heaven and earth are merging!

“that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in ONE, all things in Christ, BOTH which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.” – Eph 1:10

 And the activity of Heavenly beings in getting more common.  Listen to the narratives of churches and conferences these days.  I hear more mention of angels and angel activity than at any other time in my life.  And interestingly, not only are people more interested in angelic interaction, but I believe angels are delighted to engage with the saints. In fact our Bibles say angels have desire to look into our Gospel.

“… preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.” – I Pet 1:12

We’re on an exciting track to learn the ways of the Heavenly places… and literally make known the manifold wisdom of God to the Heavenly powers.

“to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places” – Eph 3:10

Well, this next story tells of a powerful Sunday morning when a very unexpected holy roar erupted up out of the people as we were visited and helped by angels.
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Red Baron angel

One Sunday I was asked to share in a beloved church that I pastored many years before.  I didn’t know what I was going to share that morning.  God hadn’t given me anything.  But this situation wasn’t my ‘first rodeo’, so I wasn’t concerned.  That just meant that God had other plans.  Those plans were on a ‘need-to-know’ basis… and I didn’t need to know… yet.

The worship time was pretty stiff that morning.  The worship leader tried several times to get the people to move into spontaneous free worship, but it just wasn’t going to happen.  The people were ‘locked up’.  

Well, I felt impressed to activate my angels to unlock the people’s hearts.  So, standing on the front row facing forward, I raised my hands and turned my palms backwards and made several assertive declarations of soliciting partnership with a couple of my favorite angels who help in this type of ‘mission’.

As the worship leader was nearly ready to close the time of worship, she ended a song without any encouragement for free worship.  Even the instruments were nearly quiet at that time.  But a phenomenon begin to happen!  The people – on their own – began worshiping gently at first… then it built to full blown sound that was unusual by anyone’s measure.  It continued without ANY encouragement from any leader.  And when it began to subside, the people began to speak blessings and prayers over each other from across the room.  VERY UNUSUAL for any congregation, but especially this one!  It was authentic and completely un-orchestrated. 

Well, the leadership was prompted at that time to facilitate personal ministry for a few individuals at the front and copious tears flowed by those being prayed for and by some in the room.  There was an amazing sense of His Presence over everything. 

When this God-flow began to subside, one of the lead elders stepped up and said that he had a vision earlier when the holy eruption occurred.  He saw a ‘Red Baron angel zoom from the Throne’ and come to visit the gathering.  That blessed my heart because earlier I had engaged my angels to unlock the people’s hearts for worship.

When this holy flow finally settled down, they handed me the microphone at quarter till noon… with only 15 minutes to share.  I took the mic and told them how God knew I would not need a message to speak today.  We all laughed together, at how amazing God is.  He just wanted me and others, to be willing spontaneous participants in His grand plan.  I affirmed the people’s freedom that they had experienced and blessed them like a ‘grandfather’ would.

After the meeting, I asked several people if they had ever heard this congregation worship with abandon like that before?  They all said, “No!”  In fact, when I asked, several people described it as sounding like a “ROAR” in the room.  During my nearly 2 years of pastoring them I had never heard such an outbreak.  It was a WOW moment for all of us.

Thank you angels of God.  We love your partnership.  Thank you for ministering to those who inherit salvation!  You are so good at fulfilling Father’s desire!

–MLH

ALC video channel version here