Showing posts with label don't give up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label don't give up. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

The Final Pieces are Coming into Place. Don't Give Up! by Gretchen Rodriguez - Identity Network

The Final Pieces are Coming into Place. Don't Give Up! by Gretchen Rodriguez  - Identity Network


Imagine if today were the day you received that breakthrough you've been praying for. 
Go ahead - imagine. 
Close your eyes and picture what it would be like. How would you react? Would you celebrate? Would you cry in relief? What would it feel like to finally have the answer to that prayer for finances, health, family, ministry...? The list is endless, but deeply personal to the one who's been believing God for a resolution.
Did you allow your imagination to take you to that moment, or did you scoff? So many of us have been believing God for things that feel as though they are never going to happen. Just because it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't happen. I understand what it's like to be afraid of stirring your hope; to believe again. 

But giving up is definitely not the answer! As my pastor, Bill Johnson, says, "Your greatest breakthrough is on the other side of adversity." The greater the opposition to the breakthrough, the sweeter it will be once it happens. The Lord is inviting you to release doubt and disappointment, and allow hope and faith to flood your being.
Anything is Possible
I'm here to encourage you today that anything is possible with God!
This year (2015) Yom Kippur (a Jewish time of repentance) coincided with the Year of Jubilee (which happens once every 50 years). Jubilee was a time of celebration when debts were forgiven, slaves set free, and all land was restored to its original owner, whether it was stolen, sold, etc. Before I knew anything about it being Jubilee, my spirit was jumping with excitement.  The Lord spoke to me and told me to get excited, because He was bringing surprises. I knew it wasn't only for me, but for the Body of Christ! He told me to stop looking at the circumstances and start anticipating the answer - to start thanking Him in advance. He told me that it would be even better than we've been imagining. This is our time of Jubilee! If you feel hopeless, the Lord wants to breathe hope within you. Just ask Him!
Focus
Right now everything may feel like it's being shaken and sifted, but don't let it scare you. It's just those final pieces coming into place - it is the enemy being crushed beneath the core of your faith. Keep your eyes focused on Him. Refuse to allow these last attempts to scare you out of faith and knock you off course. I see the Lord holding your face between His strong, yet gentle hands, and looking intently in your eyes. He's saying, "Focus on Me. I've got this."
What did it feel like when you imagined your breakthrough? Pretty good, I bet! The Lord wants you to start celebrating in advance, especially on the days when opposition is screaming in your face. I also want to encourage you to ask the Lord for Wisdom. Many will be receiving breakthroughs that are much bigger than anticipated, and in order to navigate them well, you must have God's Wisdom.
This is our time! Let's celebrate!
"No matter what, I'll trust in You to help me. Nothing will stop me from praising You more and more!" Psalm 71:14 The Passion Translation
Gretchen Rodriguez

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Wednesday, January 8, 2014

A Roller Coaster Year - Rick Joyner


A Roller Coaster Year - The Great Commission, Part 2

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Week 2, 2014

         When I prayed for this coming year, I was shown a roller coaster. This means we will have ups and downs this year. I realize that hardly takes a prophet to predict, but the encouraging thing about this vision was that the ride ended at the highest point. We’re going higher this year! So don’t be discouraged by the dips. Hang on and know that we will be going up again soon.
          Our prophetic friend, Bob Jones, told us several months ago that it was going to be a very hard winter. I think this one has already qualified for that. As I am writing this in South Carolina, it is 8 degrees outside. I don’t remember it ever being that cold here. However, the great thing is that spring will certainly follow! The point is that we must hang on during any dips or hard times. They will come to pass, but they will pass! As Winston Churchill once said, “When you’re going through hell, keep going.” Keep going.
          The roller coaster I saw was very rickety. It did not seem that it could make it through another turn or the ups and downs. It held together though. I love roller coasters, but this one was not the kind I would get on voluntarily. We don’t have a choice, we are on it. Even the strongest systems of this world are very shaky, and most can only make it through another day because God is holding them together. He is doing this for our sakes, so we should never stop praying for them.
          In the vision, there was a platform at the end of this roller coaster ride. It did not look any stronger than the roller coaster, but as we walked across, it became stronger and stronger. On the other side, there was a beautiful, brilliantly glistening train which we boarded. It was the most beautiful and well-appointed train I’ve ever seen. However, as I boarded I saw that when it left the platform, it would enter a long, dark tunnel that I could not see the end of. Even so, the tunnel was going up, and this was a powerful, mountain-climbing train. We’re going up. It may be dark and a bit scary for a while, but we are going higher. That was the end of this vision.
          Trains often speak of training in dreams and visions. We may still be on a rickety old roller coaster, but the vehicle that is going to take us to where we must go will be training. This speaks to me of Ephesians 4—the equipping of the saints to do the work of the ministry. Even though it may take a while for us to see where we’re going (the long dark tunnel) we will be going up. This is the vehicle that will get us to where we must go.
          It is the nature of the faith walk to not be able to see where you’re going, but you should know what you’re looking for. The one who started the walk of faith, Abraham, did not know where he was going, but he did know what he was looking for—the city that God is building, not men.
          The cities that men have built are impressive, but once you see what God is building, you can no longer be impressed with anything man is building. It takes revelation to see what God is building. John saw Babylon until he was carried to a high mountain. Then he saw the New Jerusalem, which is the city that Abraham saw. It is still being built. Being a part of it is the highest calling we can have. Do you see it?
          As we see in the Book of Revelation, the New Jerusalem is the bride, the wife of the Lamb. As Don Potter recently remarked, it is an amazing thing how a bride can look like she is in shambles just minutes before the ceremony. However, in those last few minutes she comes together and emerges so beautifully and so perfect that you know you have witnessed a great miracle. This may well be just the way it happens with the bride of the Lamb. We may look like a disaster right up to the end and then, miraculously, we come together without spot or wrinkle.
          Never give up.