Divine Setups

We don't always talk about one of God's more unique characteristics, I believe, is Jehovah sneaky.  How is God sneaky?  One thing that makes my skin crawl is when people say...God allows...so...  I despise this deeply because often the picture that is painted is a God that really under the surface desires that I and others go through pain so we will get something.  Try telling this to a person who has suffered horrible and even unspeakable abuse, in effort to defend God's reputation and explain very difficult things there will be an explanation of ....God allowed...so He could teach you.....  Often times I believe the holes in our theology come out at the most inopportune times.  I believe strongly in the Sovereignty of God and I even believe that God does set us up but I believe this times when our deep inner world is exposed is not to teach us something but for us to ultimately encounter Him at a new level.  While I don't believe for a moment that a completely loving, kind, and good God causes anything that is evil to happen to us, He does know it's coming and works for our good to bring about transformation in us (Romans 8:28-29).  I don't understand why the Christian culture confuses the enemies role with God's role.  John 10:10 is clear:  "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."  Jesus makes it abundantly clear that where we see killing, stealing, and destroying we can know that the ultimate source is the enemy.  Jesus said He came to bring life and life abundantly, yet so often we subtly make God behind things like cancer, job loss, past abuse by the give away phrase "God allowed...so...that you would..."  I think it is important to address what I see as an error in our thinking about God before I move on to explaining Divine Setups.  I am keenly aware of these Divine Setups because I feel I am in the middle of one in my own life.  I was led by Father to start a ministry (Destined for Sonship Ministries) in September of 2012 focused on the Father's Love and taking people who experience life as Spiritual Orphans into the reality of being sons and daughters of God.  As I was led to set this ministry up, in my mind God began to affirm that I was created to share the message of Father's Love.  I knew I had some revelation of the Father's love, I had received a lot of healing ministry, read tons of books on the Father's Love, and even went out to "The Power of Father's Love School" with Shiloh Place.  Yet deep under the surface in my own heart there was still places of deep loneliness, lies of hopelessness, lack of comfort from deep grief (from my earthly father's suicide), and still lots of fear.  I believe unlike some that to be in ministry does not mean to have all of your stuff together and be healed of all your wounds, God has worked through me to bring healing to others in the midst of my own emotional pain, depression, and insecurities.  I am a wounded healer.  I even thought if I went to Toronto, a place known for the outpouring of Father's love, that this would take care of some of these deep places and give me a revelation of Father's love then I would be on my way to minister to more people.  Little did I understand the Divine Setup, Father has called me to share His love this has been affirmed by prophetic voices as well as people in leadership along with Him speaking to me but it was not going to happen the way I envisioned.  It became clear this last summer that my heart had been deeply broken after my father's death and then the years I spent in relative isolation (much of it the choice of an orphan heart).  Before I went to Toronto a prophetic voice told me, God wants me undone and that my expector is broken (hopeless lies implanted in my heart), He wants me in front of people in the open not hidden away, and  finally that He was transforming me into being the message (Father's Love).  At Toronto I received two separate words one that God was "enlarging my heart" and the second that He was "unlocking my heart".  As God has begun to work to unlock my heart (locked up for protection), He has shone light on how shattered I am inside.  Here I am thinking it's time to share more of Father's Love with others and yet Father has set me up to heal my heart and give me what I truly want for myself, to know His love at an experiential level.  Father want the ministry built on a revelation of His love and He is not satisfied with me having an intellectual knowledge of His love.  Love requires connection and experience, without it love is an intellectual concept rather than a relationship to be experienced.  I have some understanding that this revelation will be costly personally but at the same time there is not a price that is too great to truly encounter the living God.  Could it be in Father's infinite and sovereign love, He knows exactly what it will take to fulfill the deepest desires and longings of your heart.  I believe in the Father's pursuit of us, He wants to bring you into your own Divine Setup, so you can encounter His powerfully life-giving love for yourself.  Since God is love, this must fit with His nature yet also surpasses our limited experience and understanding of love.  I believe the Body of Christ will be getting a greater revelation of the Father's love that pursues the children He loves so greatly.  Our pursuit of Him is important (and Biblical) but I believe we have under emphasized His pursuit of us and this revelation will be key in the coming days.  Remember that Jesus is not coming back as a Lamb but a Lion, He is returning with fire in His eyes, a sword in His mouth, and a passion to be united to His people (being one as John 17 describes).  Will you say "yes" to a Divine Setup.

Setup for His Love,
Bret

True Boundaries vs. Self-Protection

Because I am wired for deep relationships, I have often been irritated by popular psychology always talking in terms of boundaries because this talk was devoid of discussion about God or love.  I wrongly interpreted boundaries as a way that you could protect yourself and since I had already spent much of my life protecting myself, only leading to isolation and pain I was not interested.  Most believe that boundaries are about what you keep out and certainly this is true but boundaries are also about what you protect.  In Psalm 91 in beautiful poetic language David lays out our "secret place" with the Lord and His protection, the fortress and refuge is a place of communing with God.  This protection is place boundaries around us and our intimate relationship with God, so this relationship can grow in safety, depth, and intimacy.  There is a lot of talk of the destructiveness of strongholds or lies we believe but not nearly enough talk about building good fortresses of thought that are a refuge for relationship with God and others to grow.  I believe we live in a society with very blurry or little boundaries, my TV often begins to blair on in ads about "erectile dysfunction" as I quickly grab for the mute button so my kids don't ask endless questions about something they don't need to know about now.  With the explosion in wireless technology with our endless addiction to smartphones, tablets, and iPods boundaries are invisibly being violated and much tougher to maintain (as my smartphone rings with a client at 6pm - dinnertime).  If we do have not chosen to agree with the invisible (but very real) boundaries around my most important relationships, I will quickly feel obligated to answer the phone.  True boundaries are not about creating invisible lines around relationships or our own person but acknowledging and agreeing with the ones that God says are already there.  My son frustrated with his sister telling him not to hit the dog, decides he needs to "suggest" the best time for her to take her shower, boundaries were just violated and then there are hurt feelings and the slamming of a door.  My son is responsible for his choice to hit the dog and is the only one that can clean up his mess, and apologize to our unsuspecting Golden Retriever.  His offense to his sister telling him what to not do, a boundary violation, leads him to violate her boundaries and tell her when she ought to take a shower.  The cycle of violating one another boundaries because of hurt and offense can continue if no one takes responsibility for their own choices and it's hard to tell what are your own choices if you don't acknowledge boundaries.  I believe part of why boundaries are so unclear is because our lack of acknowledgement and worship of who God is and thus we are unclear about the truth about who we are.  Unclear identity and unclear boundaries go together, we seem to have a co-dependent society.  I had scheduled a meeting with my mentor, we were to have lunch first and then he would meet to minister to me.  His wife was the one who was his scheduler and to communicate with him, yet he called me a full hour before we were to have lunch wandering where I was, I in turn felt bad that he was sitting in a restaurant by himself.  He clearly said to me that it was not my fault since he misunderstood his wife, I felt bad because I believed a lie that I was responsible for him sitting in the restaurant yet none of my decisions led to this situation.  We can believe we have good boundaries until a situation arises that exposes our feelings and what we truly believe.  Since I grew up in a family with very unclear boundaries and a blurry sense of identity, I have still carried much of this belief system and way of living into adult life.  Boundaries are based on truth in relationships and without truth in relationships there cannot be trust, intimacy, and freedom.  Since all of us have had an orphan heart, it makes perfect sense that we have created orphan structures when it comes to relationships and thus our structures for relationships are actually destructive rather than protecting freedom and promoting intimacy.  In Genesis 3 the serpent's deception includes, “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  And ever since that day all of us have been trying to be like God, being the center of all life and having everything revolve around us.  The desire to be like (in our own strength) can lead us to be driven to strive for achievement, show others that we are in control, and even cover our weaknesses.  Orphan hearts seek to fill the void where God once was with their own efforts to meet their needs and be in control, thus true boundaries get violated and then the consequences are suffered.  I pray that we would agree with God about true boundaries in our relationships that would place invisible (but very real boundaries) around our most valuable relationships so they can thrive and grow.  In Christ I believe we are not only to experience our union with Him but also the fruit of this union being healthy relationships that are blessed.

In Freedom,
Bret

Freedom from Judging Others

Here is the link to a message by Richard Rohr:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8o6_IqKdy8

It seems in our world today we can easily get caught up in judging one another or judging ourselves by comparing ourselves to someone we admire.  One author and speaker, Richard Rohr, refers to this type of thinking/perceiving as dualistic thinking.  The basic idea is that we are constantly looking through the lens of this is bad and this is good, then we build our case why a certain thing or label is good.  It also means that we feel tremendous shame if we have the quality that we perceive as bad.  I am not saying that good and evil don't exist, just that we are addicted to our own filter that perceives good and evil.  I did say "addicted", an addict is one that is in bondage to a substance or lifestyle.  So many of us are addicted to judging good and evil, we live out this filter by sizing things up according to these "rose-colored" lenses.  I am not saying that by finding freedom from judging, we cease to be spiritually discerning.  In 1 Corinthians 2:14-15 God's Word says, "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.  But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one."  Appraising refers to assessing some thing's value but notice this comes through the Holy Spirit and not us simply judging which comes out of the natural man (soulish man).  I would also say that judging comes out of orphan thinking, because spiritual orphans always have to try to meet their own needs apart from God.  Jesus challenges those listening (especially Pharisees) by saying, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.  For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you."  (Matthew 7:1-2)  Jesus is speaking to a group, the Pharisees, who who life had become dualistic thinking by judging people based on religious standards.  Jesus was not simply challenging their world but turning it upside down, if they entered into what Jesus was offering would lose their whole foundation of living.  The "law of judging" is not just dualistic thinking but a whole way of living that enacts a law where you will then be measured by the standard that you have measured to others.  I don't believe this refers to God judging us because this is not the context, I believe that our own minds will judge us by the standard we have measured out to others.  I don't believe that dualistic thinking is all bad but simply a step in our growth toward walking and living in love, which is in communion and union with Christ.  This is also referred to in the circles I run in as Performance Based thinking, where I am measuring mine and others performance on some standard.  Those who perform get the rewards (valued by others, accolades, esteem, etc..) and those who don't are punished (rejected, looked down upon, or dishonored).  The problem with this approach to life is that it goes against "the law of love" and devalues some people subtly adding to their past rejections, hurts, and estrangement.  Jesus modeled a life of loving and honoring people, seeking people who would humble themselves, be transparent, and acknowledge their need for a Savior.  Those who had elevated themselves (Pharisees, Sadducees, and Political elite) Jesus made a point to challenge their pride and dualistic thinking.  Yet even those who had position, like the Roman Centurion, who approached Jesus humbly received what they were looking for.  This dualistic, judgemental form of thinking has created many denominations because we agree over right doctrine and divide over differences.  Where is love and honor in this process, it is pushed aside as a way of living and judgement is what is on center stage.  I believe this understanding can explain almost every church that divides.  I believe Jesus is inviting us into a better way, to live out of the freedom He lived out of by walking in love and experiencing our oneness with Him.

Free from Judging,
Bret

The Kindness of God to Heal

I was struck by kindness of God as I listened to a message from Graham Cooke on "Identity & Inheritance" and especially as I was realizing how Father has subtly put pressure on my identity to heal broken parts in my heart.  The Bible says, it is the kindness of God that leads to repentance (Romans 2:4).  Well that doesn't sound like the in-your-face version of God that is some times represented, such as the old fashion turn or burn.  I am not saying that people understanding the reality of Hell is a bad thing but I don't believe that is how Father God is desiring to woo them into this eternal relationship of love and freedom.  The message of Jesus as He was on the earth is one of grace and truth, offering mercy and grace to those who are in need and laid low.  It is truly amazing to believe the reality that God is always kind, in Exodus 34 when Moses asks to have God show him His glory He declares of Himself, "Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin;"  I have a hard time believing in the depth of the kindness of God because I have never met a person who was always kind.  A God who can be kind to sinners, selfish people, people full of contradictions, people who are mired in darkness, and people who are tormented and tortured.  Yet Jesus is unrelentingly loving and kind, even when Judas betrays Him and sells Him out, when He is beaten, when Peter denies Him, when all the disciples abandoned Him, and finally when He is crucified.  Jesus intense love and kindness are displayed in the midst of the darkest sin humanity can dish out, the light shines best in the darkness.  I am struck by the kindness of the Lord as He exposes another layer of deception that I have walked in but I do not experience condemnation from Him.  In 1 John 3 the Holy Spirit is talking through John about how our own hearts can condemn us but God is greater than our hearts.  I do experience condemnation at times but I am realizing it is not from the Lord but from deception in my heart.  Since it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance (change of mind), we don't see who God is through condemnation.  Jesus took all the condemnation that came from sin, by Him becoming sin and taking the condemnation that we legally deserved.  God is the kindest person there is, His kindness pursues us (Psalm 23:6) as David proclaims in the well known Psalm of the Lord as our shepherd.  I pray that we would have a greater revelation of the kindness of God, this will bring repentance and repentance brings renewing of the mind which leads to transformation.  As we are transformed we look more and more like Jesus.

In His Kindness,
Bret

Love Heals Broken Hearts & Relationships

Father has further affirmed the reality of my shattered heart by an example, I dropped my cell phone which happened to hit a rock.  When I picked it up off the ground, the obvious had happened.  The screen had shattered at the very place the rock hit, sending cracks throughout the screen like a spider web.  As I picked up the phone, I sensed the Holy Spirit giving me a physical picture of the reality of my heart condition.  Some believe that denial, minimizing, and hiding are actually better ways to deal with the brokenness inside.  I have found those do not bring healing, life, or freedom.  Since God is light and to have fellowship with Him means to walk in the light.  It was hiding that was Adam and Eve's first reaction after fear arose after the Fall and separation from God.  The unconditional love of our wonderful Savior invites us to reveal the broken places, places of bondage, and where we are addicted so that He can bring us into wholeness.  I once heard Bill Johnson talk about how Solomon was in a place of intimacy when He asked for wisdom, true wisdom comes out of romance.  Moses cried out to God, "show me your ways, that I may know You", wisdom comes from knowing His ways but leads us to know Him (this is our chief goal in life).  Wisdom comes from a connection and relationship with God, in other words wisdom is the reasoning that comes from love.  Father has not only been teaching me about healing broken hearts but also about living in loving relationships.  The reality of the love of God is how broken hearts get healed but also how broken relationships are restored.  I believe it is time for the Body of Christ to not just talk about God's love but to actually become the hands and feet of Jesus as we love one another and the world.  It is very noble to desire to love those who are around us in our lives but yet another to step into the reality of having our love on 24/7 in our actions, attitudes, and our view of them.  The latter requires the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, us laying down our soul-life (mind, will, and emotions), and a good dose of humility as we own our messes and seek to clean them up.  As children we learned to clean up the messes of spilt milk, dirty rooms, and legos spread all over the place but did we learn the more important skill of cleaning up our relational messes (walking in love).  Since we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God, this means that even though we are new creations we still sin and these sins bring damage to our relationships.  It is the love of God in our spirits that compels us to right wrongs in relationships, to reach out when there has been distance in relationship, and to reach out to those hurting around us with the compassion of God.  Since 1 John 4 boldly declares that "God is love", when we align our hearts with His and walk in love we are walking displaying His very nature.  In essence I believe that Father God is restoring what is to be at the very heart of every believer as their motivation in life, it is the love of God.  My co-worker and friend, Simon Obert, did an amazing job compelling us to love the world by reaching out but not because of duty, guilty, fear of rejection by the church, or a notch on our belt but to be moved by God's very heart for people.  I believe it is the tangible Presence of God in His love that that world is crying out for, the love of God that heals shattered hearts, that heals damaged relationships, that restores broken families, and even heals nations.  The Holy Spirit has continued to impress on my heart 1 Corinthians 13 which says "Love never ends", this move of God's love on the earth will not end.  Could it be that the love of God is that powerful, that accessible, and that enduring.  I was given a prophetic word by a church member who said that God's love is not filling up storehouses in heaven (which is what I had envisioned) but His love is unlimited and continually filling Heaven as it emanates from His very being.  I believe the more each of us as believer's align our hearts (deciding to love no matter what), the more the very nature of God will be manifest in us and through us.  It is the receiving of God's love through Christ which brings life to our souls and then we becoming increasing conduits of His love to others.  I believe my experiencing a broken heart is an invitation to encounter the love of the Father at a whole new level.  It is not God who brought about broken hearts but He is the One who restores and takes the broken pieces putting them back together to make us whole.

Father's Love never ends,
Bret

Jesus Binds Up the Brokenhearted

The Father's love is so great that He came through His Son, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)  Many people mistranslate this as that He came to seek and save lost people but the verse says "...that which was lost." but I believe that through Christ Father had a much bigger plan to bring the reality of His Kingdom which is established in Heaven into being on the earth.  This absolutely includes people being saved who were lost but includes saving the family, cities, nations, and the world.  Father has been revealing to me recently His heart to save the brokenhearted in a very personal way.  It was said in an article by Janet Treadway that, "There can be many reasons why we are left with a broken heart:  the death of a loved one, divorce, loss of a job, loss of status, loss of health, betrayal by a friend, loss of a child, and yes loss of your childhood."  In Isaiah 61:1 it is listed as one of the conditions that the anointing came to restore, "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;"  I have understood that Father has a heart for those who are broken hearted, I have seen people over the years who had been shattered by childhood abuse, loss, or extreme neglect in childhood (when they were developing their identity).  This became more of a reality and began to open up as a revelation because the Father gently unveiled my own broken heart.  I would say that for many years I have experienced an emotional and internal heart bleeding without an understanding of what was really happening inside.  If you have no clear view of the true problem it is impossible to treat.  I had received a prophetic word that God was "unlocking" my heart and another that said God was "enlarging my heart".  Another prophetic word said that God wanted me to be undone in His Presence.  I knew that I had emotional pain, like a tank inside that instead of being filled with love and joy was filled with pain.  It is fairly universal that all people fear the unknown at some level, it was fear that kept me from seeing what was truly going in my heart.  In the same article from Janet Treadway she says,  "Sometimes our heart is so broken that we can't even express the words and nothing seems to take the pain away."  I can attest to the last one especially, I had received lots of ministry, counsel, encouragement, and yet still was left with a pain tank in my heart nearly full.  Jack Frost once said that in order for love to flow in, the pain must flow out.  I can attest to this, that while I desperately wanted to experience Father's love I kept seeming to run into the pain and the fear that hid it away.  In Psalms 147:3 David attests to God's healing power, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."  Could it be true that there are many people who are walking around living in the reality of being broken hearted, without hope of being whole, and not even clearly understanding how deeply they have been wounded.    I was struck by Jesus affirmation of the Great Commandment in Matthew 22:37, "And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND."  When you are heart broken you cannot love the Lord with all your heart because your heart is shattered into pieces and the pieces of a broken heart must be reconciled (bind up) through encounters with Jesus.  The anointing of the Holy Spirit on Jesus as the Son was the power for Jesus to bring healing through binding up broken hearts.  So as sons and daughters of God through Christ, we have the same anointing and thus are empowered by the Holy Spirit to bind up those who have broken hearts.  Yet broken hearts are often hidden away due to the fear of being hurt again, they close up to protect themselves.  Amazing that Father knew that my heart needed to be unlocked to be healed and bound up.  There are more ministries and approaches today than ever in history before, I believe that Father is truly empowering and raising up His Body to do the work of Jesus by binding up the broken hearted.  In the Kingdom of God everything is seed, which when planted grows up into a big tree that bears good fruit.  As people on an individual level are experiencing Jesus binding up their broken hearts through ministers yielded to the leading and direction of the Holy Spirit, I wander if this is the seed for the heart of the Body of Christ to be healed.  Recently one of my co-workers was reading the book "Why We Eat Our Own?" which was an atheist comment to the author of why he did not want to become a Christian.  I believe this is the world testifying what we in the Body may not be able to see, the very heart of the Body of Christ has been broken.  As I have learned denial of a broken heart does not heal it and neither does protecting it by closing down.  Could it be that those in the Body of Christ who are brokenhearted have not be able to heal because the wider of culture of Christianity still eats our own and doesn't have the Father's value for the least among us (a Kingdom value Jesus often spoke of).  I know that in my life I haven't been able to function and flourish to my full potential "in Christ" I believe because of a broken heart.  We were created to love the Lord your God with all our heart, this is not simply a command but our very design for coming to full life.  Jesus said He came to bring life and life abundantly, could it be that this command is one of the keys to the abundant life.  Not only did Jesus affirm this commandment, He lived it out and fully loved the Father with His whole heart even unto death.  I believe the healing of broken hearts is much more important than the Body of Christ has seen it and has far greater implications in seeing the reality of the Kingdom of God manifest here on the earth they we have known.  Proverbs 4:23 points to the truth of how God sees the heart and it's importance in our life, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life."

With a heart being restored,
Bret

Created for His Glory!

We had recently had an "Open Heavens" Conference with Jeff Collins who has ministers all over the world.  The Presence of God was very strong in these meetings as we worshipped the Lord in His Holiness, glory, and goodness.  Jeff made a statement that stuck with me, "we were created for His glory."  The Bible says in Romans 3:23, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"  This Scripture is pointing out that the glory of God was the original target and that because of sin we have fallen short.  There are several places in the New Testament where the glory is reiterated as the target, the New Covenant in Christ is where you see further fulfillment of this original target.  In Colossians 1:27 we are told, "to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."  Also in 2 Corinthians 3:18 we are told we are being transformed into the same image as the glory of the Lord, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit."  When church people say the word "glory", you picture a waxing eloquently pastor talking about the "The Gloryyyyyy".  I have always wandered, what is the glory?  Then I finally heard a well-known pastor say, "The glory of God is the manifest Presence of Jesus Christ."  This would make sense since the Scripture in Colossians says, "Christ in you the hope of glory."  The glory of God is unique because you don't experience and see everyday on the earth the manifest Presence of Christ to such an extent that it is described as glory.  In the Old Testament when God's glory was revealed in Solomon's Temple all the priests were flat.  In other words there was such a weightiness of His Presence that people were laid flat in worship.  The Scripture in 2 Corinthians 3 indicates that since we are being transformed from glory to glory that there actually higher and higher realms of His glory that we can experience.  In my journey with the Lord I have prayed some dangerous prayers, what is a dangerous prayer you say.  I believe dangerous prayers are the prayers that align with the perfect will of God in heaven but also are tremendously costly personally.  One of these prayers was the prayer of Moses, "Show me Your glory."  I believe my agreement with the Holy Spirit's direction, God's perfect will in Heaven, and praying a very ancient prayer have initiated a costly process of God's Spirit stripping away everything that is not His glory in my life.  From 2 Corinthians 3:18 we see that it is the veils that we put up, our choices of self-protection, self-provision, or self created identities that get in the way of seeing His manifest glory.  In the Body of Christ there are varying degrees of faith, Jesus through gospels encountered varying degrees of faith and never condemned anyone for any level of faith.  It is clear that God works through faith, so when I prayed the prayer "show me Your glory" with any faith I believe that God's Spirit, heavenly angels, and even God working through the circumstances began a process to see this come about.  It was told to Moses that if He was to see the glory of God it would kill him, Moses was under the Old Covenant and could not be completely transformed into a New Creation like we can under the New Covenant "in Christ".  It makes sense that for God to fully show Moses His manifest Presence face to face was for Moses to die because it would be too overwhelming for him.  Now under the New Covenant when God reveals His glory, everything that is not of Him dies.  In Isaiah 6 when Isaiah has encounter (open vision) with the Lord seated on His throne, Isaiah is so undone that he immediately realizes he is a man of unclean lips (sinful).  So sin can't stand in the glory of God's manifest Presence.  It was sin that caused us to fall short of the glory.  After the Conference with Jeff Collins, I was in a Bird's of Prey Demonstration where several different types of falcon where displayed.  In this Demonstration a Peregrine Falcon showed it's flight skills and it's accuracy in attacking prey.  The Peregrine falcon is a bird of prey that attacks smaller birds for prey through a dive that is the fastest in all of Creation, it can dive at a speed of up to 242 mph at a range of up to 3,000 feet from it's prey.  The Peregrine has such stunning speed and accuracy as it dives towards it's unaware prey.  The Lord spoke to me and said that He was giving me eyes like a falcon.  The falcon has to be completely focused on it's prey and tune out all other distractions.  At one point in the demonstration the falcon was supposed to attack a leather bird on the ground but it got distracted, looked for the glove it usually landed on and when it could not find that got distracted by a dog at the other end of the greenhouse.  The eyesight of a falcon is 8x better than a human being.  I had been praying the verse in Ephesians 1:18, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,"  I believe the Lord by saying He was giving me eyes like a falcon, He was enlightening the eyes of my heart to see His glory.  We were created to see His glory (His manifest Presence) and as we do we are transformed into that same image, you become like what you look at.

Pursuing His Glory,
Bret

Father's Sovereignty

It is amazing that in life, that there seems to be situations, circumstances, or people that seem to surprise us in a way that we don't know how to handle it.  Yet it is truly revolutionary to consider that the Father in Heaven is never shocked or surprised by the happenings on earth.  Through Graham Cooke, who is a prophetic voice, I began to receive an impartation of the sovereignty of Father God.  You can watch one of his YouTube videos at:  http://youtu.be/fYNVH-cR9lQ  (Graham Cooke) (30 minutes).  As people come to counsel with me, they are often overwhelmed by a situation in their life or in their immediate relationships.  Yet is the Father in Heaven overwhelmed or surprised by the situation they find themselves in, no.  He is still the God of the Universe, His rule and authority in the Universe are not challenged by my circumstances.  This may seem like a very simple revelation but I find that when people come to realize this in the midst of their difficult circumstances it begins the process of repentance and turning them back to God and the source of peace.  The foundation of orphan thinking and living is built on processing the world and life apart from a vital relationship with the God who created us.  Much of the Hebraic thinking, living, and even language was centered around not only the reality of God's existence but having Him be at the center of all life.  I am struck by the passage in Ephesians 1:17 which says, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him."  This phrase "the Father of glory" reminds us of the Father's incredible majesty, grandeur, and goodness.  When Adam and Eve exchanged the truth of God for "the Lie" of Satan, putting themselves in the center of their entire view of life, they lost the reality of the glory of God.  To think of life apart from a loving and good God should be scary because this is thinking that is in line with the "the Lie".  The more aware we are of God's Presence and His goodness the more life begins to come into Divine order from the disorder and chaos caused by sin's entrance into the earth.  Divine alignment is not God attempting to take our freedom and control us, He gave us this freedom in the first place by putting the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil next to each other at the center of the Garden of Eden.  So it makes sense that as I lose the awareness of God's Presence, fear enters in and then loss of divine order.  This is talked about in James 3:14-18 which says, "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.  This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy."  There is a huge contrast between these two types of wisdom, one that begins with jealousy and selfish ambition and the other that begins with the acknowledgement of the Presence of God.  We don't have all of life figured out but it's amazing what happens as I recenter my life on the Presence of God, how then solutions and insight come.  Our awareness of Father's Presence in the midst of life difficulties, our own personal pain, or relational problems is the beginning of finding freedom.  Then we can be led into aligning with His Word which brings Divine order and peace.  Try practicing the simple truth of saying to yourself, "God is not surprised by this (what I am going through) and it's not like He doesn't know what to do, He may have created the Universe but this problem is so big."  I say this tongue in cheek, because God has already come up with a solution for everything you and I face, He is constantly pointing to His solution through the Holy Spirit.  His solution is Jesus Christ and everything He accomplished through His finished work.  When we behold Jesus all our problems, struggles, and issues seem to change perspective.

Father is sovereign,
Bret

Orphans Saved as Sons into a Family

In America we are a very individualistic nation who think in terms of individual achievement, performance, and ability.  This is where orphan thinking not only has taken root, it has thrived and grown into strongholds in the mind where we predominately think of ourselves independent of any relational connections.  This focus on the individual breeds competition, rivalry, jealousy, strife, anger, pride, and criticalness.  There are wonderful truths that come out of individual responsibility and freedom, yet all the way through Scripture the context is relational connections and ultimately family.  We see that even from the very beginning we were created in God's image, in His image was that of God in the form of Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).  Could it be that in our individualistic society that we have projected onto this God of family, our idea of the rugged lone ranger when we were created for relationship.  God said that "It is not good for the man to be alone...", this truth is profound when we think through the implications.  God created us from a place of love and family, He created us to be in a place of His love and family, and we were created to carry out the mission of spreading His blessing over the entire earth (rule and reign) in the context of family.  When Satan, the first orphan, seeks to undermine God and His plan he does that by not only attacking Adam but by attacking and undermining the family structure through coming to Eve.  If Satan could bring deception, curse, and eventually death to the family, then he could perpetrate his purpose to kill, steal, and destroy into the future.  In other words the enemy used the same relational structure that God created to carry on life to future generations to bring the sin, the curse, and death.  There are many, including myself, who when you mention family the first thing that comes up is "pain", loss, and emptiness.  Yet the sacred relationship of family is who God created to represent Him and reflect Him on the earth.  If God wanted a man to reflect Him and represent Him, then there would not be an Eve and there would not be children.  Eve and children were all a part of the original design to fulfill the mandate of Genesis 1:28, "God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  There must be children to be fruitful, to multiply, and fill earth; this was not a mandate given to one person (Adam) but to a family of people.  Mankind's Fall (Adam & Eve) tears a black hole right in the center of Creation, with the entrance of "The Lie" and sin it begins the process of death through the curse.  Notice where the curse rips at, it rips at the very core of the family and the blessing that empowers their God-given mandate.  In Genesis 3 the curse comes through the blessing (which comes from God) cut off through the Fall and sin, first on being fruitful (work), then on the marital relationship (multiplication), and child rearing (fill the earth).  The curse is the pronouncement of the death of the family and ultimately mankind.  See that, the redemption comes through family, specifically in Genesis 3:15 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."  Satan has brought a huge defeat through "The Lie", dividing the family (separating Adam & Eve) and leading them to sin and choose separation from God who is the source of life.  God will bring about a new family of people through the seed of a woman (Mary), birthing a people born of the Spirit who will be "in Christ".  See without a seed (a child) for the future there is no hope for the human race.  In our society children are often last on the list of importance and value, yet they are the hope of the future.  God's plan through one man, Christ, would reverse all the damage of the former transgression and restore the blessing back to the family that would come through Christ (Romans 5).  This is why Jesus is referred to as the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29, Colossians 1:15 & 1:18), through one man's life laid down a new family of people would be birthed that carry the very DNA of heaven and will be the sowers of the blessing spreading the Presence of God over the entire earth.

A son in the Family of God,
Bret

P.S.   I know this is an old video, yet it communicates something of family!

The Danger of Unbelief

When I was visiting Bethel Church in Redding, California, I sensed the Lord show me, "You don't know how much unbelief you have until you are in an atmosphere of faith and expectation."  I thought that unbelief was simply the lack of faith, yet the Bible seems to take it much more seriously.  As sons and daughters of God we live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God and the Word says it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6).  As I have cried out to the Father to experience His rest and studied Hebrews 3 & 4 I was struck that the Israelites disobedience wasn't the source of their failure to enter into the Promise Land and rest, it was their unbelief.  Hebrews 3:12 says, "Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God."  According to the well-known preacher Charles Spurgeon unbelief is a hidden sin, "Unbelief hath more phases than the moon, and more colors than the chameleon. Common people say of the devil, that he is seen sometimes in one shape, and sometimes in another. I am sure this is true of Satan's first-born child—unbelief, for its forms are legion. At one time I see unbelief dressed out as an angel of light. It calls itself humility, and it saith, "I would not be presumptuous; I dare not think that God would pardon me; I am too great a sinner." We call that humility, and thank God that our friend is in so good a condition. I do not thank God for any such delusion. It is the devil dressed as an angel of light; it is unbelief after all."  In a culture that borders on lawlessness and has lost it's moral compass, we often dare to name anything as a sin unless it is completely vile and detestable to most people.  Unfortunately, as the light of Christ has been suppressed by the schemes of the enemy in America the darkness has crept in to the point where people don't even know what the light is and call sin "normal".  While I am the last person that wants to focus on sin and trying to manipulate people's sinful behavior, I believe we have been deceived by not seeing sin for the death that it is.  I have heard some prophetic voices saying that this great awakening will not be as gentle as in the past, I believe one dimension of this move of God that is coming is holiness.  God is holy, set apart from all that is evil, as we are to be set apart for Him.  I believe our Father is absolutely desiring us to be set apart and holy, He purchased this for us through Christ but there is still the process of bringing us into alignment with His Word.  Unbelief is not simply the lack of faith but the refusal to enter into belief and faith.  My mentor shared with me the story of the father who brought his son afflicted by a spirit, who Jesus challenged when he said "But if you can do anything..." that all things are possible to him who believes.  Then the father cries out, "I do believe; help my unbelief.”  (Mark 9:17-27)  The father not only made a confession of his belief/faith but then also realized his sin in not believing.  It was the Presence of Christ Incarnate that exposed the man's sin of unbelief, so he could receive deliverance for his son.  Amazing that Jesus being the incarnation of grace does not condemn the man for his sin of unbelief, yet this sin was in the way of the man receiving the deliverance he was crying out for with his son.  I wander what the enemy has stolen from you through unbelief.  Unbelief was formed when Satan cast doubt on God's Word and character in the Garden of Eden, Eve took the bait and unbelief gave birth to full blown sin and rebellion against God.  There is absolutely forgiveness for all believers that get entangled in unbelief, yet it is the one sin that can eternally separate an unbeliever from eternal life.  We are called "believers", let's step up to our destiny to walk in faith.  Jesus took our unbelief on the cross and gave us His very faith (see Galatians 2:20 KJ).  In the New Covenant where faith is how receive all that Jesus has done for us versus our trying to perform works to somehow be in God's good graces, faith is foundational.  I believe many believers are not experiencing the destiny God has stored up for them because they are allowing unbelief in their heart and life.  Let's rise up in who we are, so we will see our inheritance.

A son and believer,
Bret

Unity to Oneness

I was struck when I was reading an email talking about prayer for revival in our state.  I have believed that unity will be a mark of this revival in Colorado, especially since their has been so much "stake claiming" since the days of the Gold Rush.  In these days men would do anything to claim their stake and defend what they believed would bring them gold and riches.  This same attitude has prevailed in many churches where there is a need to protect their flock, their church, and build it up rather than see the Kingdom of God brought to all churches in Colorado and many lost brought into the Kingdom.  This is what I read in the email:  "In John 17, the Lord cried out to the Father asking that we be ONE as He and the Father are ONE.   Unity speaks to being on the same page in a horizontal relationship with one another that tends to focus on a common goal, project or objective. The challenge is that unity is easily broken based on man's issues of pride, offense or being self-serving.  Greater than the concept of unity, Oneness is all about being in a vertical relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit.  If we are truly submitted to the Lord and are one with Him, it is much easier to be ONE in the Spirit with other believers who are also one with Him....God's unconditional love will reign in our hearts making the bond of spiritual oneness difficult to break  regardless of man's issues (the three-stranded cord).  This spiritual oneness can attract the Presence of God to a home, a school, a church or a whole community and lead to sustained transforming revival."  The Holy Spirit had taught me a lesson back a few years ago about unity that transformed the way I saw ministry and the Body.  I was meeting with an entire family that included the parents, three adult children and there spouses.  This is not typical of my ministry, so I was crying out to the Lord for help and direction.  I felt the Holy Spirit dropped into my spirit, Ephesians 4:2-3 says, "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."  It was the Holy Spirit changing my lens from thinking about this family one way to another, "what am I going to do to help them heal as a family" to "there is already unity in the family because of what Jesus did on the cross, you just need to help remove the stuff that gets in the way."  I realized that I no longer had to try to bring unity, peace, and harmony in the family because through the finished work of Jesus Christ it already had been purchased, since each of the family members were "born-again".  So I had a high view of unity, since this encounter with the Holy Spirit that taught me to look at relationships in a whole new way.  Yet I sensed that Father wanted to take it to a whole new level by showing me that what He is truly after is Oneness.  The unity that I had seen in the family came from the unity of the Spirit which is similar to Oneness, yet Oneness is what Jesus prayed for in John 17.  In John 17:21 says, "that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me."  The Father's plan through Jesus Christ was to bring all the people who were so separated, disconnected, and lived as orphans into One family "in Christ".  Jesus is praying this prayer before He is about ready to go to the cross, it is said that you say your most significant words before your death.  Did God fulfill the prayer that Jesus prayed that we would be One as He and the Heavenly Father were One?  The answer is yes, through His death on the cross.  And yet, I am one who wants to know- How did Jesus make us One not only with the Father but with one another?  I will be exploring what He reveals in answer to the question.  Knowing the sacrifice the Father made to make us one is unveiling another dimension of His love for us.

One in Him,
Bret

Healing an Orphan Heart through child-like trust

Father has had me meditating on child-like trust and faith, I recently preached on it at our church.  The orphan heart is rooted in a belief system that at it's core is that I am alone and can trust no one but myself.  So the need to be child-like in trust to receive Father's love smacks head-on to the orphan heart and invites us to throw ourselves unreservedly into the loving arms of our Father.  It is like a little boy or little girl who jumps carefree into the waiting arms of their daddy without a question that they will be caught.  Yet we live in an orphan planet that questions trusting anyone else unless I figure out it is too my benefit, in this world to blindly trust is to get hurt.  As I was sick yesterday, napping, and trying to recover I decided to watch "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and I forgot how wonderful it is to get lost in such magnificent tales of adventure, magic, and royalty.  I loved in the story as they step into the world of Narnia, instantly they are reminded of their true identity as noble, honorable, and good kings and queens.  It is only when we see ourselves in a heavenly setting that we will truly remember our true identity and purpose.  Being mired in an orphan world with constant lying, cheating, manipulating, stealing, backbiting, and selfish ambition we are deluded to believe we are not noble in character and identity.  You and as children of the Father of glory are amazing and brilliant people, who are often not recognized by the darkness around us and at times not see by our own family, friends, and even ourselves.  Could it be that you are far more brilliant, honorable, and good than is commonly seen?  It is only when we allow the Holy Spirit to take the Word of God and our child-like imagination that the truth is opened up to us.  Since you have been born-again and are a New Creation, filled with the Light of Christ you are truly from another world.  It is this wonderful and innocent child-like imagination that opens up the realm of the unseen, to reveal mysteries and wanders.  I believe Jesus lived as a child to His Father in constant child-like dependence but also in wander of the absolute goodness of His Father.  I will even submit to you that this Father He knew so well, I believe also brought Him surprises at times.  Children loved to be surprised by wonderful new things and adventures, Jesus lived with this type of innocence and wander.  Jesus invitation to the disciples in Matthew 18:1-4 to become child-like was not to try it out just a little and return to orphan like living but to get lost like a child in the Father's world.  Father has not only seated us in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6) and given us an inheritance (Romans 8:17) but invited us to partake of heavenly resources (Philippians 4:19).  This is world of child-like imagination, adventure, and new realms that we must have simple trust to see opened up to us.  As I went into our pre-service prayer, one of our intercessors said that an unusual thing happened that morning, that there was two large warrior angels who had come in.  My orphan thinking started to go off about, yeah right large angels, can you really see them, ......  All this unbelief and orphan ways, til in a child-like way I could delight in a Father that knew my need for protection and deployed two large angels to watch over me and the message I would deliver.  When I let myself enter His world, I saw that the message I was about to deliver was significant and that people's lives would be greatly changed and transformed.  See in Father's world we are someone and in His world supernatural and even mysterious things can happen because His world (heaven) operates by different laws.

A little boy with a BIG DAD,
Bret

P.S. You can check out my sermon at www.bridgeway.us under sermons.  Enjoy.

Rebuilding Ruins

I was recently watching NOVA about the World Trade Center being destroyed but more importantly rebuilt into a new building, museum, and memorial.  I sensed the Holy Spirit highlighting to me the parallels between restoring this icon of the New York skyline and rebuilding the temple of God which is the Body of Christ.  I had never reflected on this before, that the Body of Christ is called His temple being built up on the chief cornerstone being Christ with apostles and prophets (Ephesians 3 & 4).  We individually are also called the Temple of the Holy Spirit and Jesus said that He was the temple that they could destroy and God would rebuild in 3 days.  As NOVA described needing to move 1.8 million tons of debris from Ground Zero to get down to the bedrock, I see how the Holy Spirit needs to remove tons of orphan thinking, living, and strongholds that have become devastation in our lives.  There are lies we have believed, vows we have made, judgements we have made against those who have hurt us, sin we have committed in response to the hurt that has being visited on us, and broken hearts from those who have sinned against us.  Like the World Trade Center this is massive undertaking to restore the Body of Christ to her intended glory.  Of course, the architects of the new One World Trade Center wanted to build a safer, more secure, and more stable building then the original World Trade Center.  The World Trade Center was the only steel structure skyscraper to ever implode on itself because of fire.  The Lord often gives us prophetic symbols in the natural world to point to what He is doing in the unseen Spirit realm.  I believe the World Trade Center is one of those type of symbols, if we are willing to see what He sees.  In Isaiah 61 the anointing that is on the coming Messiah is described, "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD"  (Isaiah 61:1-2).  Jesus stops mid-sentence when He is quoting this Scripture in the Synagogue(Luke 4:17-21) because the second part of this Scripture refers to the time period of His second coming.  Jesus Christ is about bringing Good News from God about the redemption and restoration of people who are in need of a Savior.  The second half of this Scripture is, "And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.  Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastations; And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations." (Isaiah 61:2-4).  Resurrected a temple of God made up of people who have yielded their lives to total surrender and dependence on the One who created them and now is recreating them "in Christ" is a much more amazing feat than the millions of tons of steel, concrete, and glass it is taking to rebuild One World Trade Center.  Like the account of Nehemiah rebuilding the desolation of the walls of Jerusalem, this is a tremendous undertaking with much risk, lots of resources, energy, and time committed.  Yet since God took such care to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem which is a city, can you imagine what He is willing to do raise up His Bride and His Body.

Former desolation being rebuilt,
Bret

Closing the Door to Orphanhood

The Holy Spirit highlighted the ministry of John the Baptist and his main message, which was "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3:2)  The Holy Spirit revealed to me that John the Baptist whole ministry was to prepare the way for Jesus, so if we want to encounter Jesus we must repent.  Those who did not repent from their way of thinking and living were not able to recognize who Jesus really was as the Messiah and ushering in the Kingdom of God.  The Holy Spirit was also highlighting when Jesus corrected the disciples thinking about who would be greatest in the Kingdom of God by sitting a child on His lap and convert to a child they would not enter the Kingdom of God.  The word convert is similar to repent, converting and becoming childlike meant being trusting, lowly, loving, and forgiving (according to Matthew 18:3 Amplified version).  The disciples at this point were acting out of an orphan heart and orphan thinking when Jesus calls them to repentance to becoming childlike (sons and daughters) to enter the Kingdom of God.  Recently, the Holy Spirit challenged me to close the door on living as an orphan.  I asked Him when this door got opened and how to close it.  He showed me that at age 5 when I did not feel protected by my mother that I began the journey of being alone in the world.  We have a tendency to follow the first orphan (satan) and the first parents on the planet (Adam & Eve), declaring our independence and being alone (the Fall).  The truth is we were never designed to live in independence from the God who created us, we were meant to live in continual fellowship with Him.  The Holy Spirit then showed that after age 5 the door to orphanhood was completely opened when I believed the lie at age 6 that I alone in my grief and pain.  This was the age when my father committed suicide, it was not the event that caused so much damage but what I believe and chose based on the lies.  Later at age 7, I remember being alone in my room and believing the lie that I would never have a father.  The door to being an orphan was standing wide open, inviting me to live a life of loneliness, fear, and survival.  Going through this door meant that as I played sports, went to class in school, or walked home that I was walking the lonely road as an orphan in the darkness only accompanied by the great weight loneliness with it's dark and foreboding talons that dig deep into the heart.  I believe this is the old man that died on the cross (the lie-believing orphan), according to Romans 6 and the new man that came out of being united to Christ was a son who lives in continual awareness of God's Presence.  Jesus as the firstborn Son lived in a continual awareness of His Father's Presence, only doing and saying what the Father said and did.  This was a relationship of childlike dependence, Jesus is our model for sonship and the one who has made a way for us to be sons and daugthers of God.  I finally was ready to shut the door to orphanhood, fatherlessness, and loneliness as the Holy Spirit had identified the key lies and times when I believed them.  I needed Jesus help to shut this heavy wooden door with huge bolts holding it together, it was much to heavy for a small child to shut but with Jesus's help I was able to shut it.  Then with Jesus helping me we nailed the door shut, then we nailed boards across it so that it will never be opened again.  It takes declaration in the Kingdom to see things shifted.  The Door to being an Orphan, Alone, and fatherless is now closed never to be opened again!!!!!!  I am not alone and will never be alone, I will live life continually in His Presence!  Declaration aligns me with the truth of what has been purchased for me through the death, burial, resurrection, and acension of Jesus Christ.  The invitation is for you to close the door to being an orphan and start living in your true identity as a son or daughter.  You were made to carry the Presence of God (the Holy Spirit) and live in continual awareness of your Father who loves you.  I like this version of the Father's Love Letter because the reality of the truth of Father's love is sinking in deeper to my soul.

In Father's Love,
Bret

P.S.  Listen to messages on Orphan to Son by Peter Young at www.bridgeway.us.

Why is Hunger important?

I was recently out at Bethel Church in Redding, California which you can find out more about at www.ibethel.org.  As we attended a Friday night service there was a man who spoke in front of the church saying that he recently was with a team of people to do an outreach in a foreign country and they had seen 500 miracles with many conversions.  Most of us as believers have seen very few miracles, maybe a small number of people healed, and some times an even smaller number who get saved.  Yet the response of this man was to cry out for more.  Now that's hunger!  It was once said about the Senior Leader of Bethel, Bill Johnson, by someone who knew him that he was the hungriest man he knew.  Through Bethel Church there has been a revival outpouring that is not only impacting the city of Redding, the some 9,000 students who come to the school of ministry, but touched many nations on the earth as many of the staff travel the globe.  There was another man two rows back from us who was talking to someone next to him who was from Australia who had driven through the night from Michigan just to be at Bethel for the weekend.  Hunger.  Hunger will cause us to take risks that we normally would not take.  Hunger for healing pushed the woman with the issue of blood to push through the crowds, risk public humiliation, face possible disappointment, be denied by Jesus, and finally to lose all of healing yet her desperation pushed her forward.  I believe we need to walk with faith but I more and more convinced that hunger is a key to see God work in a greater way.  Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  (Matthew 5:3)  This Beatitudes was the very foundation for the others, Jesus responded to hunger.  Too many of us are content to read about miracles, healings, transformed lives, or people saved rather than see this manifest in our own lives.  If your not hungry but content with the life you currently are experiencing you are being deceived by the Enemy because Jesus purchased for you abundant life, which is the same quality of life He had and called Zoe life or God kind of life.  Oftentimes we are not hungry because we have worked very hard to satisfy all our needs and insulate ourselves from those who are needy because they upset our nice little life.  If you are connected to people who are hungry and needy, love for them will produce a hunger in you for more of God for them.  Religion is a "form of godliness but devoid of power", in other words we teach, preach, and talk about transformed lives through Jesus but don't actually see this happen (for us or for others around us).  Admitting the depth of our need for love, freedom, God's power, and God's resources puts us in a humbling position but also opens us to receive grace.  I have to admit sometimes I get weary of being so hungry and desperate for more of the Lord but this is because there have been lies that I have believed that He won't meet my need.  The Holy Spirit and the Word of God must be our guide for truth, we cannot live by our feelings, opinions, or our own thoughts.  Bottom line the logos (written word) and the rhema (the spoken or revealed word) must be our source for truth.  The gap between what I am currently experiencing and the truth of the promise in Scripture is where hunger enters in, the hunger or desperation to see the Promise manifest in my life or others is where the faith plays a role.  There were times throughout the gospels that Jesus was unable to do very many healings or miracles because of a lack of faith in the city where He was ministering.  We like to think it is through my knowledge that my faith is built, thus we are the most knowledgeable American church in history yet there is very often not the fruit that the Bible points should be there.  Could it be that we lack hunger, satisfied on a diet of religion, materialism, our satisfaction with a Christianity that doesn't deliver what God promised, meeting our own needs, and pride we don't see the kind of fruit God desires to see poured out through His people.  Let's face it desperation and hunger is not socially acceptable, in our orphan culture we must have it together or it least fake it hide that we don't.  I think if there was more honesty about the depth of need that is churning in most of our souls, then we would see God respond.  God moves through faith, which is clearly what Scripture says but so often in the gospels you see faith and hunger (or real need) tied together.  It was the Roman Centurionion, dignified and a man of power, who out of his desperation to see his servant healed seeks out Jesus and through his faith sees what he longs for.  There is so much more that God has for His people, yet I believe He is waiting for us to be dissatisfied with what we have, so we can exchange it for the abundance that He has for us.

Desperate for more,
Bret

P.S. Our Senior Pastor has been doing a series on the Orphan Spirit and Sonship.  Visit www.bridgeway.us and listen under "Sermons".

Pillars of Sonship

The Lord began to speak to me about the question I had been asking, "What are the pillar revelations for sonship?"  I sensed the Lord pointing to Father's Unconditional Love, having faith and humility like a child (believing in the impossible), the importance of the heart and opening your heart, bringing things in your inner world into the light and walking in the light, allowing Father to touch the areas of inner core pain in your life, a lifestyle of intimacy and worship, and being a natural son to your father and mother living in honor towards them.  I am sure there is more but I believe these are pillars in experiencing Father's love and walking in our identity as sons and daughters.  I have blogged about many of these revelations and will continue to unpack what I believe the Lord is speaking in these areas, I believe it is time for the Body of Christ to rise up in her true identity throwing off the deceptions planted in the past, the failures they have experienced, and the timidity brought about through fear that the world and the Enemy continue to perpetuate.  There are dimensions of who God is as Father that are very unique to this dimension of the Trinity.  A father nurtures his children and grows them up very differently than mothers, a good father oversees the big picture of a son or daughters development into the fullness of their destiny.  Good discipline that is strong in building up a child is key in a father's approach, in Hebrews 12:5-13 gives us insight into how God the Father disciplines His children.  I find that many in the Body of Christ who are struggling can only see the problem, difficulty, or barrier in front of them but have not received the revelation of how Father is working this in their life for their building up and growth.  I believe the reason this occurs is because we have fallen short of intimacy with the Father, father's mature and raise up their children.  Isn't it time we know the Father and what the Father is doing in our lives so we can come into greater fullness and growth.  We again see the sovereignty and the building up of His people through Romans 8:28-30, I believe many of our prayers to change our circumstances are premature because the Father has not completed the work that this thing is part of and thus we have not been conformed into image of His Son.  I  have found that Father is much interested in my growth, freedom, and influence then He is in my convenience.  We live in a culture that glorifies convenience as a supreme value to the point that we idolize ourselves, our comfort, and our feelings.  Father is much more interested in my worshipping Him as Jesus says in John 4:23 & 24.  I recently heard a speaker, James Jordan, who has traveled the world sharing and impart the Father's love since 1976 and he said we are just beginning this revelation of the Father's love.  Since all of creation groans, we are groaning inwardly, and the Holy Spirit is groaning for the revealing of the sons of God we need a revelation of the Father's love for this to happen on the earth (see Romans 8:19-27).  The emphasis on the heart as the seat of the deepest affections and the place where the rivers of the Spirit will flow out of, makes how we handle our heart of supreme importance (see John 7:38, Proverbs 4:23, Mark 12:33, Ezekiel 36:26 and many others).  In culture in our world the heart is pulled, manipulated, enticed, and neglected but not watched over and guarded.  Even our culture in the Body of Christ can tend toward a religious spirit which values head knowledge and intellect over the heart, yet Jesus said that we are to love God with all our heart first.  I believe the Body of Christ is to have people who's hearts are aflame with a deep love for God that spills out into every dimension of their life and being.  I believe it's time for us to exchange things like unforgiveness, unbelief, and sinful choices that have hardened our hearts and receive what Jesus has in giving us a new heart of forgiveness, faith, and righteousness.

In Father's Love,
Bret

CHECK THIS OUT:  Our pastor (Peter Young) gave an awesome sermon on Sunday about "Adoption" and here is the link:  http://www.bridgeway.us/media.php?pageID=5