Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news, and messages by Steve Martin.
After crisscrossing our third different checkpoint along the U.S./Canadian border in under two hours, the immigration officer asked me, "Are you guys lost?" I smiled sweetly and assured him that was certainly not the case. "Oh no, sir. We're definitely not lost! We just don't know where we are in relationship to where we want to be."
So we continued along our "scenic route" and eventually found ourselves where we did want to be. But the not knowing what we were doing or where we were going added to the fun of the experience! I was with my brother Josh, and a friend or two were along for the ride as well. We just laughed and were having a great time! We were having an adventure.
2 Are Better Than One (Eccl. 4:9)
But as much as I love having adventures, if I'd been in the exact same situation all by myself, it wouldn't have been nearly as fun.
Driving around in the dark at night not knowing where I was going all alone? Not so cool! But as it was, with friends and family, it was a blast.
I've traveled by plane, train and automobile. By camel, parachute, rickshaw and bicycle built for two. If there's a mode of transportation, I've probably tried it. If there's an inhabited continent, I've definitely visited it. I love exploring new places and my favorite thing is going where I've never been.
The thing is though, I always go with someone.
Whether it's a girlfriend, a group of friends, my brother or my husband—it's always much better than going it alone. Situations like I just described, that all by myself could be stressful or frustrating or scary, are all at once enjoyable and happy memories-in-the-making.
It just all depends on who I'm with.
A Dream of High School
A while back, I'd been considering how I could explain the spirit realm as a fun, safe place that's wide open for great adventures. It's not foreign or scary, it's home! In that setting, I had a dream.
In the dream, I went to high school. I didn't know my way around, had no idea what to do. But as soon as I arrived, I found four old girlfriends that I'd known from a church I used to attend who quickly befriended me again. They were so excited to see me! They chatted with me and when the bell rang, they all took it upon themselves to help me get the right textbooks and escort me to the right classroom. They took me under their wing and made sure I was OK and that made all the difference so I wasn't freaking out. It was great!
What's It to You?
Now, here's an important thing for you to know. And this is why when we teach on dream interpretation we really encourage you not to use a dream symbol dictionary, because dream symbols are simply not one-size-fits-all. Let me explain.
For most of you reading this, I imagine the idea of high school brings back memories. Whether fond memories or bad memories, it's a place you remember being, right?
Well that's not the case for me. Having been homeschooled my whole life, I've actually spent more time studying Mandarin at a university in Northeast China than I've ever spent in any high school in the U.S.
Point being, whatever high school may represent to you, I guarantee it doesn't represent that to me. High school to me is a very foreign place. It's a place I've never been, I'm totally unfamiliar with, and really only know what to do there based on what I've seen in movies or on TV. It's just not part of my world.
So when I dreamed of this, I immediately knew it was an answer to my heart's question about how to present the spirit realm as a thoroughly friendly, though understandably "foreign" place. I understand that people may not have a lot of experience hanging out there, just like I don't have a lot of experience hanging out in high school.
The other reason it's the perfect picture of the spirit realm is because it's a "school of the spirit." High school is like an above school. We're supposed to set our minds on things above. And above is up. It's not down low; it's high. So it's high school.
Our Heavenly Friends
Even if we feel the supernatural realm an unfamiliar place that we're not sure what to do in, don't worry—we have friends there! The girlfriends I met there were from a church called Resurrection Life Fellowship, and for this dream, the emphasis was definitely on the Fellowship. The friendship. It was their relationship with me that made all the difference. That transformed the potentially stressful environment into something that felt altogether navigable and safe.
For me, those friends represented my angels (I told you they took me under their wing!). They escort me and help me figure out what's going on in the spirit. Even though it might be new and unfamiliar to me, they know their way around. So I just stick with them and it's all good.
Same with you. Maybe you're not totally there yet with your angelic friends, but I'm sure you're tight with God. You're close friends with Jesus. You work with Holy Spirit all the time. You know these Guys! They're your family and you can trust them.
The spirit is their hometown and they're more than happy to show you around! It's their pleasure to help you get the lay of the land, to make sure you get a good feel for the place. They are spirits and they very much want to share their home, the spirit realm, with you.
Kid Stuff?
And I don't know if sometimes we think we're supposed to be grown up sons and daughters of God so maybe we should be able to figure this out on our own, if we're really mature.
While it's important to be mature in Christ, here's the thing about that. My parents live in Florida and I live in New York. When I go visit them, even though I'm a mature adult, they're still not going to just hand me a map at the airport and say, "OK, you're on your own! Dinner's at 6 p.m., so try to find your way to our house by then. Good luck!"
Of course that's not how it works. Regardless of a person's age or maturity level, when you go visit someone in their neck of the woods, they take you around. They show you some hospitality. They don't just abandon you to your own devices.
Our European Friends
Leo and I visited Estonia a few years back and my father has an awesome friend there with an incredibly effective drug and alcohol rehabilitation ministry, Village of Hope.
Bishop Mart Vahi proudly tells people he's taught Communion with God more than anyone else in the world besides my dad!
When we went to Tallinn, Mart and his fabulous wife, Alta, met up with us there. They took us all around so we could catch a glimpse of the best views of the city. They shared their delicious food with us. They told us amazing stories of what God's been up to in their part of the world. And they introduced us to some of their lovely friends who lived there as well.
So even though it was a totally foreign place to us, we didn't speak the language, we couldn't read the street signs, we felt totally safe. Literally zero stress, because they were taking care of us. They were graciously sharing their lives and their world with us. They were hosting us beautifully in every sense of the word.
The Consummate Host
And so it is with God. He is the consummate Host. He invites us into His world when He says, "Live in the spirit. Worship in spirit. Walk in the spirit. I am Spirit, this is My home, come join Me here! You are spirit, you are created in My image. This is your home too!"
And we go there, and it's awesome. It's not scary. It's not stressful, because He's right there. He's taking us around. He's showing off the glory of His kingdom. He's sharing His life and His world with us. This pleases Him greatly! He is most happy to do this.
We can trust Him to have the gift of hospitality and believe that He'll take good care of us when we visit. There's no safer place to be than the presence of Jesus. And He is nowhere more fully expressed and perfectly known than in His realm, the spirit.
Living Into heaven
It's not so much where we're going, as who we're going with.
So we're good to go. We have nothing to worry about. Living in the spirit is what we want to do. This is where we want to be. We go there often. We spend lots of time. We're transformed into His image. And then we bring His presence and the very atmosphere of heaven back with us when we come.
Indeed, that is how it can be on earth as it is in heaven.
Helen Calder: "Prophetic Insight: He is Coming to You as Fire!"
The Elijah List July 1, 2018
From the desk of Steve Shultz:
We've posted several words lately about the "fire of God" coming to do many things.
Here is another awesome word from Helen Calder of Australia, about the fire of God coming. His fire accomplishes much as Helen shares:
As we respond, He purges, He fills, He replenishes. The fire that cleanses the impurities now causes the vessel—you—to glow with a heavenly brightness. The same fire that removes what has bound you, now burns in you. It is a fire of His holiness. What once hurt and defiled you, has been removed. And in its place, you contain the fire of His bright, glorious presence. You know the touch of the Master.
Now that's a great word we all need to hear...and it can very well be a part of His preparation for us in the days ahead.
Be encouraged as His fire comes to make you into a mighty vessel! (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)
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"Prophetic Insight: He is Coming to You as Fire!"
Helen Calder, Melbourne, Australia
Have you ever prayed, "Lord, show Me Your glory?" Or have you asked for more of God's fire?
There are times when God comes softly, and there are times He comes as Fire. And I believe now is one of those times, for many of us who have been hungering for Him, this is a time when He says:
"Beloved, this is what you asked for, when you earnestly desired Me and craved My glory and brightness. You called for My fire."
And you see Jesus as you have never seen Him before. The Apostle John was stunned, as he encountered Him like this:
"The hair on His head was white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace...His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance." (Rev. 1:14, 16, NIV)
What Does Love Look Like?
Because God loves you and because He values you as a priceless treasure—more than gold, silver or precious jewels—there are times when He will draw near to you with His fire. God's fire speaks of His presence and His glory...His love, His holiness. Fire speaks of Who He is. "Our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29). (Photo via Pixabay)
The Prophet Malachi wrote: "But who will be able to endure it when He comes? Who will be able to stand and face Him when He appears? For He will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord." (Mal. 3:2-3, NLT)
To love God is to honor and welcome Him as the One Who is many things to us. He is Saviour, Healer, Shepherd, King, Prince of Peace, and He is also Consuming Fire. In this moment of revelation, we have a choice. Will we give Him the desire of His heart, or draw back? Will we yield to the temptation to keep something from His holiness?
Because His fire scorches that which is unholy. The fire of His holiness consumes sin and self-will, but offers in its place, wealth beyond imagining as you have intimacy with the Beloved! Oh, how He wants you!
"Place me like a seal over Your heart, like a seal on Your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame." (Song of Songs 8:6 NIV)
The Invitation
There is a choice...one Jesus will not make on our behalf. It is a decision only we can make.
"In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves...will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work." (2 Tim. 2:20-21, NIV)
For "those who cleanse themselves" this is an opportunity to make an offering of your all to Him—to present yourself to His fire, which yields unlimited possibilities.
It is time for consecration:
• To dedicate your heart, mind, body and whole life to Him. • To allow the Holy Spirit to put His finger on whatever aspect of your life and your will He pleases and to bring adjustment. • Gently, and yet relentlessly, your Father reveals the work that needs to be done. • It is His offer of supreme grace.
In that place of raw honesty, where nothing hides, you yield the soul attitudes that have dampened your joy and the pain and that history to Him. In His love, He pulls you into His fire and His purging flame burns up what is not of Him. Mercy prevails, removing all shame. You discover a greater intimacy with Him than you have known before. (Photo via Pixabay)
The Fire Burns in You
Jesus speaks to His lukewarm Church, echoing the Words of the Prophet Malachi, "For He will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap." (see Mal. 3:2-3). He will say, "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see" (Revelation 3:18, NIV).
As we respond, He purges, He fills, He replenishes. The fire that cleanses the impurities now causes the vessel—you—to glow with a heavenly brightness. The same fire that removes what has bound you, now burns in you. It is a fire of His holiness. What once hurt and defiled you, has been removed. And in its place, you contain the fire of His bright, glorious presence. You know the touch of the Master.
My Prayer: Father, I know Your call is going out. And I ask for those whose hearts resonate, who say 'Yes!' to You—who have asked for You to come with fire and who have perhaps, up until now, not known what they have asked for. And they are catching a glimpse. Come, by Your Spirit and make them brave. (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)
Helen Calder is a prophetic minister and writer, and founder of Enliven Ministries, a part of the David McCracken Ministries family. Helen has a unique gift of equipping in the areas of hearing God's voice, prophetic ministry and prayer. She is known for Enliven Blog, an online prophetic training and mentoring resource that reaches thousands of people globally.
Yehuda (Judah) is Yaakov’s (Jacob's) fourth son. When the land is divided amongst the tribes of Israel, Yehuda receives the vast territory south of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), extending from the Dead Sea in the east to the Mediterranean in the west. For centuries, this area has been known as the region of Yehuda, or Judea. Though many people seek to sever the bond between the Jewish people and Judea, the biblical heartland of the Jewish People, through His prophet Yoel (Joel), God promises that Yehuda will exist forever.
The city council of Ocala, Florida, has decided to fight back after a federal judge ruled that the city and its police chief violated the Constitution by promoting and holding a prayer vigil.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan ruled in May that Police Chief Greg Graham and city leaders broke the Establishment Clause by organizing, promoting and holding a 2014 prayer vigil after a drive-by shooting injured several children.
"The government cannot initiate, organize, sponsor or conduct a community prayer vigil," Judge Corrigan wrote in his order. "That is what happened here."
The American Humanist Association represented several local residents who were allegedly triggered and suffered microaggressions as a result of the vigil.
The lawsuit claimed the police chief was "reckless and callously indifferent" because of his involvement in the planning and promotion of the event.
The chief and the city were ordered to pay $3 in damages plus attorney fees, Ocala.com reported.
The city council filed a motion to vacate the judgement.
Mayor Kent Guinn told Fox News that about 600 people showed up to pray "for the children that got shot in the drive by shooting."
Renowned evangelist Franklin Graham said prayer is a basic human right and public employees should be able to petition the Almighty.
"George Washington prayed, Abraham Lincoln prayed, and other presidents have called on God publicly in times of war or crisis," the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse tweeted.
"Atheists have the right not to believe and not to call on God," he said. "People of faith have the right to pray, and it should not be taken away."
But AHA legal director David Niose said prayer rallies should be run by churches, not police departments.
"Police departments shouldn't be endorsing religion, yet that's exactly what the Ocala Police Department did here by sponsoring and promoting a prayer vigil," he said in a statement.
It really takes a perverted kind of reprobate to sue a police department for participating in a prayer vigil.
Because God loves you and because He values you as a priceless treasure—more than gold, silver or precious jewels—there are times when He will draw near to you with His fire. God's fire speaks of His presence and His glory...His love, His holiness. Fire speaks of Who He is. 
In that place of raw honesty, where nothing hides, you yield the soul attitudes that have dampened your joy and the pain and that history to Him. In His love, He pulls you into His fire and His purging flame burns up what is not of Him. Mercy prevails, removing all shame. You discover a greater intimacy with Him than you have known before. (Photo via Pixabay)
