Passover to Pentecost

The feast of Pentecost was originally celebrated as commemoration of the day Moses received the law from God on Mount Sinai. It was 50 days after the feast of Passover where the nation of Israel prepared to pull out of Egypt. Fast forward to the New Testament and we have the Passion Week of Jesus coinciding with the feast of Passover. Then, 50 days later, we have the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the 120 waiting in the upper room. 

The seasons of the Lord often mirror the Jewish calendar and feasts. On the anniversary of the day the law was given, the Holy Spirit comes as our guide into all truth. Jesus fulfilled the law, and the Holy Spirit comes to link us to Him, Spirit to spirit.

We are now in the season between Passover and Pentecost. It is especially notable that the year is 2012 because 2012 is chocked full of manifested prophetic destiny. We need to watch carefully for the invitations into the promises of God. May 27, 2012 is the anniversary of Pentecost. The season is prophetically pregnant and we shall see the prophetic is being birthed into the natural. We should be seeing the activity being stored up in heaven finally manifesting upon the earth in the areas in which we have sown faithfully.

God is on the move. He is moving forward. If we are current with Him we are also moving. We are entering new things, new phases of continuing things, and we will have to let go of the old things that are holding us from experiencing this new season. If we keep the old, we cannot embrace the new. If we do not let go, we cannot let God.  At this juncture, we shouldn’t have old things left tying us to last year. We must jettison them if it is in our power.

There are things that remain that the Lord must bring the change for He has positioned us so that only He can bring the deliverance. But there are other things that we know we can leave behind and it is time to do so. We cannot deliver ourselves; we have to let him do that part. But we can prepare for the deliverance by not holding on to anything, but Jesus. The Lord had the Hebrew people pack up and prepare only unleavened bread so that they could move out in an instant with nothing holding them back from obeying the call of the Lord to move forward.

Likewise we need to be ready in every way possible to accept the invitations and deliverance of the Lord. We know 2012 is the year for the beginning of something great. Don’t miss it by being out of season with the Lord. As long as you are current with Him, you will move with Him into the new season. Some have moved into it, some are moving into it portion by portion, and others will suddenly enter it having been fully prepared to move at once. Be ready and wait on the Lord, just as the 120 waited in the upper room from the time the Lord ascended until the Spirit descended so that we could live from ascension. 

The World Doesn't End?

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark the sacred times, an the days, and years, . .” Genesis 1:14

Doomsday predictions overturned? While I do not ascribe to astrological predictions, even those of ancient civilizations, I did take notice of the 2012 Mayan predictions. I did not do so because of them, but because I felt 2012 marked a significant new season for the world. I saw 2012 as the beginning of a new age and 2013 even more so. It seemed appropriate that a people group dedicated to times and seasons would also make note of a seasonal change, a change of one era to the next.

Most of the time historians do not recognize eras until after they have come and gone. Then terms are ascribed to them such as The Middle Ages, or The Enlightenment era. But with 2012, we have a preformed concept that the world has entered something altogether different, even though we have yet to have the benefit of history to validate the foresight.

Now, the latest news has it that archaeologists  have uncovered a previously hidden Mayan calendar that calculates dates as far out as 3500A.D. I had already felt that the Mayan prediction was for the world to take notice, and now to find new data after the world is already deeply engaged in this mystery is extremely timely. Now we see, from the Mayans' themselves, doomsday was not their prediction, but a something so new they gave clear demarcation of it.

It is too soon to know, but I wonder if there is anything on this newly discovered ancient calendar to indicate a difference between the calendar that ended at 2012 and this one that continues beyond. If they truly were specialist in times and season, I would not be surprised, and yet amazed, to find that there are distinctions between the calendars.

We are in a new age. Many things are changing. Many things are coming into what they have long been built into. Meaning, things that were built on a solid foundation will begin to excel like never before and the things that were built in corruption will begin to be obviously corrupted either by crumbling or by persisting in visible corruption. It won't be life as usual.  

More on 2012: 

Helium: 2012

Helium: Prophetic Insight Into 2012

Helium: America in 2012

Remnant Ministries Article: Moving Forward in 2012

Remnant Ministries Article: 2012

Chaordic

Creative people can look at something chaotic and find order. They can bring unity to diversity without suffocating the diversity. I’ve been watching the new hit series, Touch, with Keifer Sutherland. It is a fascinating show where Sutherland plays the part of an autistic child’s father. The child’s mother died in the towers on 9/11. The young boy never speaks audibly, but begins to communicate through numbers and patterns. His dad quickly discovers that by following the numbers he becomes interweaved into a story that links lives and events the world over to bring help to one or more people with painful problems. Sometimes the scope of the help that comes through the result of his following the numbers remains unbeknownst to Keifer’s character.

Keifer finds help from a doctor who also has this ability to see numerically. The doctor’s controversial research indicates that this boy is picking up on the mathematical order in the cosmos and communicating it to help end the pain of others.

I can’t help but be reminded of the prophetic when I see the boy notice a number and write it down and that number reappear as an address, phone number, apartment number, receipt number, or the number of a bus or taxi. It is exciting to watch seemingly unconnected people and events converge into a unified story.

In doing so, I contemplate the chaordic – the order in chaos. I become fascinated by the unity in diversity. Human nature attempts to unify by removing diversity, but the real artistic beauty of creation comes when order and chaos coalesce without sacrificing one to the other.

I tend to lean towards being neat and orderly at the expense of freedom and yet my way of thinking creates a tension pulling me towards greater and greater freedom. My first instinct is to keep messes from happening by preparing for all the variables in advance. But freedom, messes included, produces much more life than keeping messes at bay. 

I think religion often tries to ignore or protect against the contamination of messy life. Jesus did it so differently. He intentionally placed himself in the thick of the messiness of life. He hung out with the prostitutes and tax collectors. He spent time talking with a Samaritan woman. He was born in a stable, slept in a manger, rode a donkey, and hung out with smelly fishermen. He washed the feet of his disciples and touched lepers.

I was once listening to a couple who pastor overseas. They were amused by how American churches are so bent on keeping clean sanctuaries. They said where they pastor; everyone knows you don’t put carpets in the sanctuary. Here we are concerned about someone spilling coffee, but there people get real messy. When they get healed or delivered things happen that cause big messes. Between bodily functions and tumors falling off, there is no concern for the place getting messy. Sometimes I think we are too focused on keeping things neat and clean that we think clean hands makes a clean heart. Jesus warned against washing the outside of the cup to make the inside clean. It doesn’t work that way. Outward appearances of a saintly community fool no one. 

We often cannot get to the inside because we are focused on the outside. Religion keeps us looking at how good we look. It blinds us to how empty we are. Jesus cleans the inside of us and draws us out into freedom so that we can make messes and learn how to clean them up. Moreover a healthy Jesus culture doesn’t look cookie cutter, but has a beautiful diversity of each person being who he or she is to be in Christ rather than just like the next clone. Religion births clones, Jesus births people.  

Experiencing Heaven

Life lived by the Spirit is an incredible journey full of adventure and intrigue. When you exercise your spirit to connect to His Spirit to hear by spirit or see by spirit or know by spirit you open a whole new world of knowledge. This knowledge takes deep root in one’s soul and the spirit renews the mind to new understanding and paradigms of thinking that produce creative freedom. 

Often times we do not know we are bound until we are unbound. We don’t know we cannot see well until someone offers to clean the lenses of our glasses for us. I was once strolling through a mall with my sister when she saw the jewelry store chain from which her wedding ring was purchased.  She wanted to step inside to have it cleaned. The gentlemen offered to clean my ring as well. I gave it to him, not really thinking it needed it.  When he returned a few minutes later I could not believe the difference. It was stunning to look at how brilliantly it shined. I was taken aback at how dirty it must have truly been to now shine so noticeably. 

Before we first start experiencing the awakening of our spirit-person we do not know that our outlook is inhibited and limited. We think we see quiet clearly, in fact, even more clearly than those contaminated with overly spiritual minded thinking.  That is, until we step through the door and find a wonderful world of color and 3D experience we never knew was behind the door we carefully kept shut. 

Behind the door is a world that makes our natural world have a deeper purpose and meaning. It does not remove meaning, but enhances it.  It does not distort our sight, but removes the distortions. We truly step through the Wardrobe to find a world that looks a lot like our own, but this one has more substance and carries a brighter reality.  It also provides a contrast to show where our world does not line up with what is possible and true, but it also provides the way to bring the true about.

That Door Way to this world is Jesus. When we step into Him we step into a whole new world for this alternate reality of which I speak is found in Him for it is an extension of Jesus. Heaven is its name, or the Kingdom of God. However, heaven has been errantly taught to be a paradise only entered upon death when in reality it is a Kingdom entered first in life.  The reason some go to heaven when they die is because they were born again of heaven in Christ when they lived.  It isn’t the destination decided by God upon our death, but the home chosen while upon the earth. 

When we live by spirit we live from above, rather than from earth. Doing so causes a manifestation of our home upon the earth – every time we prophesy, heal the sick, raise the dead, set the captives free, or release the peace of the Lord.    

The Christian life is a life lived by the spirit in the Spirit and when we do that heaven is released to be tangibly experienced by those who live by their natural five senses so that we can help them find Jesus who will in turn awaken their spirits by His Spirit. 

Internal Hearing of God's Voice

Hearing is not only a matter of receiving physical sound waves that our brains interpret as meaningful communication. You can silently read, forming each word in your mind, as if audibly received and yet there is no sound.  Similarly when God speaks to us in our spirit it is a receiving of knowledge, wisdom, or understanding that is heard from within.  It is still a hearing that is happening, but one that circumvents our physical ears. 


To continue to read this article click here to go to Helium.com where the original article is posted. 

A Healing Miracle

The common cold was more like the consistent cold coming upon me every three months or so year after year. That is until New Years of 2006, when something unexpected came about. A few days prior to Christmas vacation the office I work in was partially flooded due to some plumbing problems overflowing from the floor above. Damp moldy air greeted my sensitive sinuses for two days before we closed up for Christmas. Consequently, another cold took root and I quickly loaded up on the over-the-counter remedies. The cold persisted as my husband and I drove out of state for a New Years conference. I had packed all my cold medicines and made sure to dose up every four hours. However, despite all my attempts to keep my cold under control it quickly flared into a nasty sinus infection and upper respiratory infection. I could barely sleep at night. A scant five minutes didn’t pass without my repetitive coughing which frequently triggered an asthmatic coughing episode. My husband was ready to leave the conference and take me home to a doctor. I protested as I did not want to cut our trip short, nor did I enjoy the thought of seeing a doctor.

My husband decided to seek out the help of one of the ministry leaders at the conference concerning my sickness and my repetitive cold problem. He explained that he was tired of seeing my struggle and wanted victory over this sickness. Several leaders gathered to pray for me. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but was willing to try anything that would keep me from going home to a doctor. Although we revealed no details of the circumstances leading up to this cold, one of the ministers spoke what was revealed to him prophetically. He told me that I had breathed in something poisonous to me, like a mold. Then they prayed for me and I felt such peace. I felt the presence of God rest upon me and my lungs began to tingle as the pressure of congestion lifted. This was not a euphoric feeling, but a substantial physical experience. My sinuses cleared and I breathed deeply without coughing. I was instantly, supernaturally healed by the power of God working through Christians who knew how to use the power they carried. I continued to feel the sweet peaceful presence of God for a while after the healing. What’s more, I did not get another cold for a record eleven months. Even after that, my colds have been at a normal level only having had two minor colds and one bout with the Flu since that healing two years ago. The consistent onset of colds that plagued me for years was broken that New Years Day by the miraculous power of God.

I experienced God in a tangible supernatural way that day. As an apologist, people often ask me how I can believe in an invisible God. I can give all kinds of evidence for the truth of Scripture and the reality of the Christian worldview, but while such things are very important, the experiences I have had that affirm to my soul that God loves me seals the deal. True faith grows in those moments—a faith not based on hoping really hard that God is real, but a faith that is truly the substance of things hoped for.