Showing posts with label challenges. Show all posts
Showing posts with label challenges. Show all posts

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Here's Why Not to Give Up by Heidi Baker

Here's Why Not to Give Up 

by Heidi Baker

Identity Network
 
Sometimes we feel foolish dreaming the sorts of dreams God puts in our hearts. Our truest dreams always look too big for us.
 
We may be afraid of how bizarre we will look trying to achieve them. We might start out trying to paddle a kayak alone to islands many miles away only to find the task much harder than we ever knew. Nonetheless, we can be confident that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion (Phil. 1:6).
 
Scripture says Paul prayed for the church to have patience and endurance (Col. 1:11). Sometimes we give up too quickly. I might have given up when my kayak idea turned out to be laughably inadequate. I might have given up when our first real boat sunk and we found ourselves shipwrecked.
 
Never mind the boats - I might have given up on Mozambique in general many times before that. I might have given up when people shot at me or when gangs were chasing me. I might have given up when we were in deep psychological distress after friends of ours in the Congo were dismembered with machetes in a church. I might have given up when I was reported in the newspapers as a drug dealer because of mistaken results at a lab, where they were testing some vitamins that were donated to us. I might have given up on the fifth, sixth or seventh occasion when crowds began to stone me for preaching about Jesus.
 
Most especially, I might have given up when my husband, Rolland, got cerebral malaria and suffered a series of microstrokes that almost killed him. Though he was eventually healed, for two years he lost his short-term memory and was totally unable to function in ministry or administration.
 
The only reason I did not give up any of these times was because I know the One who placed His promises within me. When you know Him intimately, you never give up, because He is worthy!
 
Being Overshadowed by God
 
You have to wait a long time for some promises. I was 16 when the Lord told me I had a destiny in Africa, Asia and England. It took me over 20 years before I reached Mozambique and began to step into that piece of my calling.
 
Truthfully, I am being overshadowed more now than I have ever been before. At times it is still very uncomfortable. There are days when I feel terribly stretched as God's promises grow within me, but even those days are a joy because I long to birth what God has given me.
 
Continue to carry your promises faithfully. Nurture them as they grow. It does not matter how old you are. It is never too late. The Lord wants to take you beyond who you are and what you can do. God is the One who can take a barren woman in her old age and make her fruitful for the first time, just as the angel told Mary: "Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail" (Luke 1:36-37, NIV).
 
Two things will come from being overshadowed. The first is a particular promise from God that is naturally impossible to fulfill. The second is a general promise from God that nothing is impossible with Him.
 
Our God is the God of the impossible. He can take a barren ministry and breathe His Spirit into it. Even in your old age, He can breathe over you and cause you to bear a ministry, a promise or a revelation - a beautiful gift that will carry His glory to the ends of the earth. He can take the most barren and broken life - even the kind of life that has aborted its own promises many times - and in it plant a glorious new promise, along with all the strength needed to carry it to full term.
 
We have a mighty calling to carry God's heart and to reveal His glorious love to the world. None of us can fully imagine or expect what the Lord has for us or what the journey to its fulfillment will look like. I don't think Mary was expecting to carry a child before she was married or to give birth to the Son of God. She could never have anticipated the magnitude of the call or the price she would have to pay.
 
If we are wise, we will make the choice to say yes to God many times a day. We say yes to taking the time to worship, to having a positive attitude, to releasing people, to stopping for people when we might be in a hurry, to trusting God for a seemingly impossible financial situation. Our yes is a daily choice. There is a daily sacrifice and a daily joy as we participate in God's dreams for this world. As we do this, we participate with Jesus in the sacrifices He too made for the joy that was set before Him. What an awesome privilege!
 
Heidi Baker
 
This article was adapted from Birthing the Miraculous (click to order) by Heidi Baker.
 
 
 
 
 
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By Heidi Baker
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Monday, March 24, 2014

The Father's Wisdom For You by Garris Elkins (The Elijah List)

Garris Elkins:
The Elijah List

Garris and Jan ElkinsAt my age and length of service in God's Kingdom, I am now what some people would call a spiritual father. In most gatherings I am one of the older pastors in the room. As we age, wisdom can increasingly be present and in operation in our lives if we have allowed God access to our hearts along the way in our journey of faith.

A spiritual father should be able to speak words of wisdom, but he should also be able to reveal the heart of God out of which that wisdom was birthed. Understanding God's heart is what motivates our obedience. Wisdom, without knowing God's heart, is a limited understanding of wisdom.

For the last month the Lord has been asking me as a spiritual father to join with Him to encourage His Church to believe for something new. He began to give me simple sentences of understanding, and then a few days later He would reveal His heart behind each of those words. This deeper revelation helped me understand His heart that motivated His wisdom.

I invite you to read these words delivered by two fathers – an imperfect earthly, spiritual father and a perfect and loving Heavenly Father. 

God wants to encourage us to keep believing and trusting that He is good and has good things planned for His children. Understanding this truth is the foundation of true wisdom.

Honor Is the Victory

Jacob honors EsauAs you walk in honor, God desires to turn your enemies into allies. Those who have opposed you will now come to your rescue. Honor is the victory.

"I am about to do a turnaround. This turnaround will surprise you because you would never think your enemies could become your allies. This is a time to give honor to those who have betrayed you. Once the honor is given, the enemy of your soul that has caused this division will lose his ability to control the outcome. 

(Photo via Wikimedia Commons by the Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld and Providence Lithograph Company)

"This will be like the meeting of My sons, Jacob and Esau, years after a great division took place in their relationship. Jacob humbled himself before his offended brother, bowing down before him in humility, and I did a powerful work of restoration. I have this work of restoration planned for you and those defined as your enemy."

The Door That Can Only Be Crossed With A Humble Stride

At every point of adversity a door of destiny is opened. The threshold of this door can only be crossed with a humble stride.

"There have been places of adversity in your life – places that you now run from. I am calling you to step with humility into these places of adversity, and I will open a supernatural doorway. This doorway is hidden from prideful eyes. Only the humble will see this doorway and walk across its threshold. 

Step forward, and I will show you what I am about to do."

There IS Treasure In the Debris of Your Challenges

After difficult discussions and challenging interaction there has been relational debris left behind. The way forward is found in the debris.

The Power of Passionate Intention by Mark Chironna"The world collects debris and calls it garbage. I collect debris and transform it into treasure. 

There have been painful outcomes in some of your relationships. What was left behind has been defined as debris. I am about to change your definitions. 

(Photo via Flickr by International Labour Organization,license, resized by The Elijah List)

"This is the same kind of debris Peter faced when he failed Me the night of My betrayal. Peter thought his future would be navigated around the constant reminder of his failure. I had another plan.

"If you are looking for the way forward, it will be found in the restoration of those relationships that now look like piles of debris. The restoration you seek will be found by making right your contribution to the failure in those relationships. If you do this, I will show you the treasure I see within the debris."

ElijahList Prophetic Resources

First Encounter God

New direction is the result of realignment. Realignment only takes place after an encounter with God. Encounter is the priority, not a new direction.

"Your desire for a new direction has replaced your desire for the sound of My voice. Seeking new direction will not bring you peace. Only My voice brings peace. You are in need of realignment, not to a new purpose or direction, but to Me. Encounter Me as My Church did in Antioch when they waited before Me in worship and prayer. Encounter Me and I will reveal to you a new direction."

Just Obey

Return to the feasting table of fresh revelationA word from God loses its impact and becomes diluted when we run it through too many relational or corporate filters before we obey.

"Invite people to your obedience. Do not wait for consensus. You have allowed My word to become diluted in your heart. The filter of man's opinion has strained out the meat of My word from within you. I have prepared a wonderful meal for you. Return to the feasting table of fresh revelation. Put down your fear of failure and your need to have others walk with you in your obedience. I have not left you alone. I am the One who will do what I promised." 

(Photo via Flickr by BuzzFarmers,license.)

Your Destiny Waits For You In God's Presence

For real change to take place there must exist both a willingness to let go of the present and a willingness to embrace the future.

"You are holding on when you should be letting go. I have promised to lead you to a good place – a place of blessing and purpose. Do not fear the future you define as 'unknown.' I know this future because I reside there. It is from that place that I am inviting you to come. Your destiny waits for you in My presence. Let go. Come to Me and I will welcome you."

Wisdom Moves At the Speed of Revelation

Wisdom moves at the speed of revelationWhen God is moving and someone says, "We need to slow down," this is fear speaking. Wisdom moves at the speed of revelation.

"My wisdom is not limited to the measurements and restrictions of the natural world. When I gave you the word of hope, I gave it knowing it would seem too fast to you. I was after more than the accomplishment of that word. I was after that place of fear in your heart that caused you to pull back and ask for things to slow down. Trust Me. Take hold of My promise and move forward with confidence in My faithfulness to perform what I have promised." 

(Photo via Flickr by photologue_np, license, edited and resized by The Elijah List)

God Honors Your Faithful Persistence

If you keep pressing in, you will eventually break through. God honors faithful persistence.

"You will move forward in the direction you have chosen to lean. Lean toward My grace. Press in toward My faithfulness. Tilt your life in the direction of My promise. This is your act of pressing in. Even in your failure, you will fall in the direction you have chosen to lean. This is how breakthrough will take place in your life.

"I have promised to give you the desires of your heart if you will first delight yourself in Me. Your delight in Me is your persistence in the middle of opposition. I will honor your persistence with breakthrough because you have chosen to press into Me."

Garris Elkins, Senior Leader
Living Waters Church – Medford, Oregon

Garris Elkins' ministry, Prophetic Horizons, is a ministry of teaching, writing, and prophecy committed to raising up a prophetic generation to speak to the cultures of our world with the empowered voice of Heaven. Garris and his wife, Jan, are the Senior Leaders of Living Waters Church in Medford, Oregon, and have two grown children, Anna and David.

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March 24, 2014
Garris Elkins:
Steve ShultzFrom the desk of Steve Shultz:

Wisdom is always needed...and increased wisdom is needed in this day in which we live! This is an excellent word by Garris Elkins about "The Father's Wisdom" made available to us.

Be encouraged by this word and by Garris' statement here: God wants to encourage us to keep believing and trusting that He is good and has good things planned for His children. Understanding this truth is the foundation of true wisdom.

Enjoy!
Steve

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ProductThe Leadership Rock:
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ebookPrayers From the Throne of God
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