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