"Facing Our Problems and Receiving His Healing"
Bob Hartley and Michael Sullivant, Kansas City, MO
The Elijah List
Intro by Michael Sullivant:
The Lord has graciously visited and encountered Bob Hartley on a number of occasions through the years. These revelations from the Holy Spirit are folding beautifully together into a unified, divine narrative that is meant to inspire and impart a much greater level of hope into the lives, callings, and works of His sons and daughters. It is a "journey of hope." There simply has been too much generalized despair, pessimism, and cynicism lurking around in our hearts and minds when it comes to what we are expecting/not expecting God to do in and though us in this age. Too many of our precious promises of living in our fuller inheritance in Christ have been pushed off, sometimes unwittingly, into future ages.
There is more for us all and the cities and nations of the world in terms of the degree of glory that He wants to manifest in His world before Jesus returns for a Bride fully prepared for him.He is inviting us to discover many more facets of His nature (His faces), and by receiving the specific graces reflected in such faces, we will know so much better how to be, how to live, and what to do.
Michael Sullivant
Radius Group
Radius Group
Bob Hartley's Recent Encounter: "Facing" Our Problems
The Lord will often have me revisit past encounters that I have had with Him and will then add new layers, make new connections, and reveal new applications for what He is unveiling to His children in these encounters. This recently happened in relation to the past visitation I had about how He wants to heal three fissures in the hearts of his hope reformers that Michael and I wrote about in May 2013 (read on The Elijah List).
Those three fissures were rejection, negation, and self-strength. This time He added to the revelation and revealed to me that there is a fourth fissure, in addition to the three others. He identified this resignation.
He said that He has a specific remedy to apply to these fissures so that we can become whole-hearted and energetically advance in this journey of the great hope reformation that has commenced in our generation.
In the first visitation, I saw these healings through the metaphor of Jesus sitting us down on a park bench and applying oil to the cracks in our feet. Those cracks represented these fissures...or cracks...in our hearts. Now He said to me that the remedy is applied to our hearts by "seeing" or perceiving four particular facets...or faces...of His nature. In order to do this, we are invited and challenged by Him to "look up" for Him and at Him rather than just try to forge ahead under such painful circumstances and conditions. He also revealed how one fissure can lead to the next unless we offer it up to Him for His healing touch. (Photo via Pixabay)
How to Heal Rejection
To heal our fissure of rejection, He said to "look up" and see His face as the "God of Peace." Personal rejection can obviously disrupt our sense of peace. Quickly, on its heels, we need to connect with the One who promises to keep us in perfect peace when our mind is fixed on Him. He never leaves or forsakes us. Our trust in Him will turn what the enemy means for evil into a classroom for cultivating hope in the midst of the challenge of feeling rejected. During this visitation, the Lord revealed to me to two examples from Scripture to confirm this divine remedy to me.
First, I saw the angel of the Lord visiting Gideon in Judges 6 to commission him as a reformer. He felt the weight of rejection during this time in his life. He felt terribly insignificant and abandoned by God and the rest of the nation of Israel.
And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, "The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor." And Gideon said to Him, "Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?' But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian."
And the Lord turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?" And he said to Him, "Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." And the Lord said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man." Judges 6:12-16
Then I saw how after Gideon prepared a sacrifice and the Angel of the Lord confirmed the authenticity of the divine visitation, the Scripture declares: "But the Lord said to him, 'Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.' Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace..." (Judges 6:23-24).
Then I was taken to the disciples in the boat during the terrible storm recorded in Mark 4. They were tempted to feel abandoned and rejected by the Lord in this situation, but He showed them the power of His peace and His ongoing commitment to preserve them.
And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mark 4:37-39
How to Heal Negation
To heal our fissure of negation, He said to "look up" and see His face as the "God of Hope."
When we take rejection into our hearts, the precious promises that God has given us in the past for our present and future feel out of reach and their intrinsic power to infuse us with living hope is neutralized. This is negation and it tries to short-circuit our ability to receive, agree with, and confess His hopeful promises over our lives. In such a state, we desperately need to connect with the hope embedded in His promise to always do us good and apply His loving-kindness, faithfulness, and power to our life "in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13). (Photo via Pixabay)
During this part of the encounter, the Lord had me revisit the accounts of Zechariah and Mary in the first part of Luke's Gospel to illustrate this point.
And Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." Luke 1:18-20
Zechariah did not receive the promise from God into his heart with a childlike innocence and wonder, and the result was that he was unable to openly and freely confess the hopeful promise of God to others. His voice of agreement with God was silenced for a season. In contrast, Mary, when Gabriel similarly visited her, marveled at God and took the promise into her heart that she would be a special vessel that would give birth to the Hope of the world.
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin? The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 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."
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May your word to me be fulfilled." Then the angel left her. Luke 1:34-38
Without any false humility, shame, or negation, Mary arose, saw the "God of Hope," and was immediately able to freely agree with, sing, prophesy, confess, and testify of the great things that God was doing in and through her (see Luke 1:46-55).
How to Heal "Self-Strength"
To heal our fissure of self-strength, He said to "look up" and see His face as the "God of All of Life."
Once negation is in operation, we are severely tempted to try to handle life on our own...since God's promises are not apparently "working" for us. Sometimes self-strength can even cleverly disguise itself as the virtues of perseverance, being "principled," and obedience. However, the Lord wants us to honor and confidently confess Him as the One who has gone out into life ahead of us and who beckons us out to discover Him in every aspect of life. We default into self-strength when we doubt that He is always and truly with us and when we are not trusting Him to work everything together for our good. He promises to be with us and relate intimately with us to everything we face in every hour of every day.
In this encounter, the Lord took me back to a painful crisis in my past when I was 15 years old. I was hired by a manager of a pool in the inner city of Kansas City to be a lifeguard because I had shown myself to be a strong and excellent swimmer. However, I was not properly certified. Yet, because they desperately needed the help, I was brought on.
One day, a little boy drowned in the extremely crowded pool and died in my arms after I pulled his body up from the bottom of the pool. It became a big news item in the Kansas City Star, and a drawn out lawsuit ensued for three years. This added greatly to my sadness and feelings of guilt. In reaction, I vowed that "no one would ever die on my watch" again. (Photo via Pixabay)
The Lord showed me how my fissure of self-strength formed and was activated by this event and how a fear-based, performance orientation took root in my life. I was doubtful...and therefore hindered...to see how the Lord was with me as "the God of All of Life," in both good times and bad. He later revealed to me in a powerful visitation that He had always been very close by me throughout my entire life, even in the middle of that tragic situation...though I had not perceived His nearness at the time.
Still, I have struggled to not constantly "stay on duty," and it has been difficult to "get off the lifeguard stand" and allow the new operating system of "the rest of Christ" to lead me, as His child, into every situation of life where He has gone ahead of me, to prepare the way.
Along with others, the Lord gave me these passages during this visitation to illustrate this lesson and to help me "look up" to see His face.
My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore. Psalm 131:1-3
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. Hebrews 4:9-11
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka (weeping), they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.Psalm 84:5-7
...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:20b
How to Heal Resignation
To heal our fissure of resignation, He said to "look up" and see His face as the "God of our Heart's Desires."
Because our own strength and zeal are never sufficient to drive and steer us into the grand purposes that our Father has for us, we will "hit the wall" sooner or later and give up our efforts. Resignation happens both overtly and subtly – sometimes very quickly, and sometimes over time. Essentially, it occurs when we let go of, lose confidence in, and stop trusting Him for the anticipation and fulfillment of a promise of some future good that God has truly given to us to hold and cherish. (Photo via Pixabay)
We doubt that He is the kind of Father that wants to "satisfy the desire of every living thing" (Psalm 145:16) and the one who will "give us the desires of our hearts" if we "delight ourselves in the Lord" (Psalm 37:4). We jump to the paralyzing wrong conclusion that He hasn't "purified our hearts through faith" (Acts 15:9) in Jesus Christ, and therefore our deepest desires must be sinful and selfish. Certainly, we can come up with inferior desires that are not from the Lord, but He is with us to sort these matters out and establish and confirm the pure and true desires that He has placed within us for His honor, our good, and the good of many others.
This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I've revealed to you. Ask in My name, according to My will, and He'll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks! John 16:23-24 The Message
In this encounter, the Lord reminded me of how Moses had to overcome resignation from his divine calling as a mighty hope reformer and the promised deliverer of the people of God (see Acts 7:25-29). After fleeing for his life from Egypt, he lived a peaceful life in Midian for 40 years until the Lord visited him and re-commissioned him to his original calling to respond to and satisfy the groanings within the hearts of His enslaved children in Egypt. He is the God of the Heart's Desires of His people, and for all humanity as well.
Then the Lord said to him, "Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt." Acts 7:33-34
"...and I will shake all nations, and the Desire of All Nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory," saith the LORD of hosts. Haggai 2:7
This revelation has provided new angles on what it means to "face our problems"! (It has also provided new angels in the process!) The Lord has shown me, on a number of occasions, in dramatic ways, that our fissures might become fractures if we do not allow Him to bring these healings. We will still be able to recover from the fractures, but we will advance more swiftly and easily into the hope reformation if we process the fissures of our hearts before Him as a priority.
May the Lord our God take us by the hand and lead us into new and better pathways and supply us with new, advanced spiritual tools so that we can experience acceleration into this hope reformation journey that will lead to a much deeper knowledge of God and the manifestation of His excellent glories in every sphere of human life under Him.
Bob Hartley, scribed by Michael Sullivant
Deeper Waters Ministry
Deeper Waters Ministry
Bob Hartley is the founder of Hartley Institute/Deeper Waters Ministry in Kansas City, Missouri. Bob served as a pastor at Metro Christian Fellowship with Mike Bickle before entering the marketplace in 1983, with a vision to see the marketplace redeemed and cities established that value and love the person of Jesus. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Hartley Group, a "Hope Center" for the marketplace, consisting of Hartley's Executive Cleaning, Swift Chemicals & Supply, Prize Properties, and H&H Management in Kansas City, Missouri.
Bob is a frequent speaker to youth, churches, businesses, and national leaders throughout America and the world. His quest has been to bring the Kingdom of God into every arena of life and give spiritual tools and equipping to those seeking to know and love God in the midst of their everyday lives. Currently, Bob resides in Kansas City with his wife and four children.
With Michael Sullivant
Radius Group
Radius Group
Michael Sullivant resides in the Kansas City area, has been married to Terri since 1977, and is a father of five adult children. Their lives have been marked and shaped by a naturally-supernatural relationship with God as unashamed followers of Jesus Christ. Terri and Michael have been involved in active ministry since their days at Miami University in Ohio. They have given themselves to planting communities of faith in several U.S. states, pastoring, teaching, writing, coaching, building leaders, and traveling to offer ministry in many nations.
Michael is the author of Prophetic Etiquette, Your Kingdom Come, and a devotional commentary called, The Romance of Romans: God's Big God-Story (2011). Michael and Terri are co-founders of Radius – an equipping ministry that reaches out to many people.
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