Walk Toward the Light

It doesn’t seem possible that our Aglow Worldwide Conference has come and gone.  After months of planning and preparation, expectation and excitement, we have returned home with weary bodies, but soaring spirits!  Every Aglow conference has its own uniqueness, but this particular gathering was filled with future, destiny, and purpose.  We left Houston changed and ready to walk in new mindsets and a greater anointing.

…the door to the last season has closed. Not IS closing, but has closed.

As I have had time to reflect following the conference, I sensed that the door to the last season has closed.  Not IS closing, but has closed.  There was a sealing of our future, our destined purpose, and our inheritance.

I also sense that there has been a ‘rebuilding of the foundation,’ both personally and corporately. New ways of thinking and seeing are overtaking old ways and old mindsets.  Something new is arising! We heard these words through Graham Cooke:  Aglow has passed her tests.  God trusts you.  He has heard your cries and now the days of laughter have come.

Graham spoke to our leaders from over 100 nations in a 2-day, pre-conference meeting and the primary focus of his messages was: Rising to be the fulfillment of your desire and expectation in your communities and nations!  Do you have dreams about doing something in your community?  The question is, are you prepared to become the answer?  You have a green light!  Partner with God for all the possibilities you see before you.  You are a sign and a wonder waiting to be seen, but you need to stand up to be seen.

Chuck Pierce said, This is one of the most significant meetings we’ve ever had in Aglow. God wrote the Word around a harvest calendar, not a Roman calendar.  We are being recycled back into a harvest anointing that we will see in every nation.  We need to develop a mind for the future, and the future is linked with expectations.

Aglow will be used this year to establish the House of the Lord from nation to nation.  You will be sought after, requested.  Every nation will learn this year how to use the home to establish the ‘House.’  The House of the Lord is forming in a way we have never seen the House before, Chuck declared.

Ray Hughes referred to the time of creation as, the manifestation of God’s desire as the earth was brought into being.  With the sound of the words Let there be came the visible realization of His purpose.  When God later instructed Moses to speak to Pharaoh saying, Let My people go…that they may worship Me, the purpose was so that the children of Israel would get their sound back.   Remember, Miriam worshiped with a new song. It was a shift from the sound of prisoners making bricks to the sound of a people who understood their song was tied to their destiny!

Johnny Enlow encouraged us to, Let God’s light and glory arise upon us and take that light into the spheres of influence in the earth.

Graham, speaking in the closing session, stated that, The real church is rising up!  We are here to be overwhelmed by God and we must live as the beloved of Christ.

Since conference, the words of Isaiah 58:12 have resonated in me: Those from among you, shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell in.  I believe the restoration of our foundation, both personally and corporately, has been taking place. We are now positioned to raise up the foundation of the next generation, and through them, future generations.  We are a Let there be  generation that has the power to shift society, shift the church, and shift the home for the purpose of establishing The House!

This is the time of our arising.  This is the time of purpose.  This is the time when our song has shifted to the sound of victory.  God is putting keys into our hands that we have forgotten about.  They are linked to promises He has spoken over us.  Don’t put what you have heard on a shelf.  Walk in your identity.  Now is the time of our arising!

While I am not one to talk much about myself, I am very excited to tell you about a new book I have written which will be released at our Worldwide Conference in Houston.

The book is entitled, The View From Above, Living Life From God’s Perspective. It contains some of the truths that have been so meaningful to me over the course of my journey as I have learned, and am still learning, to live from His perspective.  You will find nuggets of truth that will shift your belief system from an earthly viewpoint to a heavenly perspective.  When you see life from God’s point of view, you will walk in joy, peace, wisdom, and victory for every situation you face.

Every challenge we face contains a core dilemma that brings us to a decision point in our lives, to a critical place where the question that matters most is: What am I going to believe about the situation I am facing?

With a shift in perspective, our beliefs and points of view on every situation would radically change.  We would joyfully see each challenge as an opportunity to enter into a glorious process that will inevitably culminate in a personal upgrade and a way to discover anew God’s heart for us in the given situation.  He longs to share His delight in us.

However, this is not only an individual process, but a corporate process. Times have been changing.  The world is a far different place today than it was a few years ago.  That is true politically, governmentally, economically and culturally.  But a glorious truth is that in the midst of the changes we see, God has been forming a people for the time in which they live. It is a people so overtaken with His Majesty, so overtaken with awe at who He is and who He is for them that they are not overtaken by things taking place around them.  Their hearts are fixed, steadfast and totally focused on God, the only source of true authority in the earth.  For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.  Rom 13:1 Just think, God uses everything to glorify Himself. 

We are here to bring a radiant sense of who He is.  They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.  Ps 34:5 Let your heart become steadfast.  Let your eye become single.  Let your perspective always bring heaven into every situation and conversation.  Be radiant!

The View From Above is being debuted at the Aglow International Worldwide Conference, in Houston Texas, Sept 29-Oct 2, 2011. I hope to see you there.

For those living in the Northern Hemisphere June, July and August is the time of year when we look forward to living a more leisurely lifestyle in one form or another.  The warmth of the summer sun draws us out of our indoor living patterns into the mountains for hikes or camping, the beaches for long walks on the sand or fun in the surf, and a block of time to enjoy the longawaited vacation holiday.  During this allotted time away from our daily responsibilities and usual routine of activity we assume that we will really rest.

Have you ever tried to rest, but find it impossible due to inner turmoil, stress, and feelings of responsibility? Our minds stay engaged, mentally calculating the things that need to be accomplished when we get back from our time of rest?

The truth is that rest isn’t just about finding time for a leisurely, second cup of coffee in the morning,  or deciding to take an afternoon off, or even finding time for your anticipated vacation holiday.

Rest begins in your heart and flows out of your relationship with God.  It comes from a place of complete dependence upon Him and total confidence in who He is for you.  It is that inner life of the Spirit that anchors you in times of busyness, distress or pressure because you not only know who you are, but more importantly, you know who He is in you!  You can actually be at rest in every situation as you walk through your day.

Let me give you an example of someone who lived knowing who He was and who God was for Him:

Jesus had just returned from His encounter with the enemy in the wilderness and was beginning His Galilean ministry. He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood to read from the prophet Isaiah.  All eyes were fixed on Him and they marveled at the words which He spoke.   However, when He said to them, Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing, those in the synagogue were filled with wrath; so much so that they, Rose up and thrust Him out of the city and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.

Now, if that happened to any one of us, our first impulse would be to flee as quickly as possible, but not Jesus.  Luke 4 continues, then passing through the midst of them, He went His way, as though He didn’t have a care in the world!  Do you mean He didn’t run?  Do you mean to say that He calmly continued to walk right through the midst of this angry mob who was trying to kill him?  Now THAT is peace, and rest.

Jesus was never moved by external things because He lived by His inner life and the communion He had with His Father.  He knew who God would be for Him in the midst of every trial, every disturbance, every misunderstanding and occurrence of blindness on the part of people.  He was not affected by the emptiness of the people around Him.  He was there to bring light.

For those who could hear and see, His words were transforming.  And for those who rejected Him, He knew they did not have the power to take His life.  There was only one Source of power and He walked in communion with that Source every minute of every day.

Rest does not come from feeling strong and confident in ourselves, but in knowing how powerful the Lord is in our lives.

Rest means to be free from anxiety or disturbance…to remain confident…to live in a state of peace in mind and spirit.  If you have inner agitation, you will have no power to cope with the outer things that come to you.

In returning and rest you shall be saved; quietness and confidence shall be your strength.  Isaiah 30:15

Strength for your walk depends on your relationship and communion with the Lord.  Being inwardly quiet and calm, you are able to approach all outward things in the same way and same spirit.

Be at rest!

Isn’t it interesting how at times there is a particular area of thought that seems to predominate in your mind and heart?  In my last blog, I spoke about love and the great need the world has for it.  I even started with a song that speaks of everyone’s need for love, sweet love.

Please indulge me and allow me to continue with this line of thought, even beginning this blog with the lyrics from another song of the same era, made popular by the Beatles.  The title is, Can’t Buy Me Love.  The lyrics are simple and straightforward.

I’ll buy you a diamond ring my friend if it makes you feel alright.  I’ll get you anything my friend, if it makes you feel alright….cause I don’t care too much for money; money can’t buy me love.

It’s a silly song, with a catchy beat, but the reality of the message is not sosilly.  The reality is you can’t buy what you need most…..love.

Love is a gift.

You can’t earn love.

You can’t buy love.

It’s simply not for sale.

Love is a treasure.

For all too many, the journey to know real love has been a pathway strewn with hurts and disappointments, leaving wounds in the heart.  Yet, a profound truth is that all the agony, the sadness and the confusion of former days has now become the fertile ground for a greater capacity to love and trust.  You have moved beyond your woundedness to realize that your heart is indeed anchored in God’s love for you, and you can now be less dependent on the praise, the response, or even the blame of others.  You have grown to a place of greater ability to give love without expecting in return, realizing that in the giving of love you also have a return within your own heart.

The more you have opened your wounds up to be healed by His love, the more that the place of woundedness has been turned into a place of love and of understanding for others pain.  You have found the treasure of God’s love in your own process of healing.  The desire you have for God’s unconditional love is the fruit and evidence of having been touched by that love.   If you want to know how love is really supposed to be, you have to go to its source.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  I John 4:11

Give your love as a precious gift, a unique treasure and a healing balm to others.

Love warms the heart.  Love cushions life’s blows.  Love turns troubles into triumphs

Give love freely.

Rejoice in the ties of love He has placed in your life.

Ask God to continue to bring you to maturity and give you the capacity to love as never before.

For God is love! I John 4:8