God inserting Himself in a name can be seen in the lives of Abram and Sarai. God changed Abram (Father is highly exalted) named to Abraham when he was 99 years old after reaffirming His promise to him in Genesis 17:5. Sarai’s name was changed to “Sarah”. The “ha or ah’ representing the breath of God being inserted in a name. Isaac meaning “laughter” was defined to remind Sarah that she had laughed when told of God’s promise because of her age. She was 89 at the time.
It's interesting that the Apostle Paul addresses the “five-fold” ministry in his letter to the very church of Ephesus. Their two objectives; heal and equip the body and connect them to Jesus to become a living expression of the His image to the world. Thus, connecting the church to its head, Jesus.
Jesus is before time from eternity past. He exists outside of time and space. The Apostle John gives further revelation of this truth in the beginning of his gospel writing this by inspiration by Holy Spirit, John 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
As I looked closer in His eyes I could see flames of fire and I could see pathways and blueprint strategies. In His eyes I could see wisdom. In His eyes I could see His ways. In His eyes I could see glimpses of what was to come in this Kingdom age.
Holy Spirit is in the process of transforming us into the image of Jesus to those that have yet to receive Him. As we are being transformed by His power, we should be giving off an aroma that draws the hurting and broken like the fragrance of a beautiful garden. The stench of religion repulses people, but His fragrance draws them like a bee being drawn to nectar.
I am calling you, My people, surrender ALL. I am calling you into the new things I am doing, but you MUST come in without your own agendas. You must come in without your own conditions. For I am the One who determines the manifestation and release of My Glory in the earth and the move of My Spirit, for it is not up to man to determine where and how I move.
In Genesis, Jacob decides to send a parade of gifts to Esau to win him over before they meet. But before his confrontation with Esau, Jacob sets up camp for the night. Without warning, an unnamed man starts to wrestle with him (32:24). Slowly it is revealed that this unnamed man wrestling with Jacob is actually God. Jacob is left with a dislocated hip and would walk with a limp for the rest of his life. It seems before any of us can truly walk in God’s purpose for our lives, we all wrestle with the Lord at some point to such a degree that we are never the same again. We walk with imps reminding us continually of both God’s grace and purposes in our lives.
This First Sunday will vary as Holy Spirit directs. It can possibly be either be a “family centered” opportunity to get together at a park, an outreach partnering with vested ministries or as in this case, a Zoom meeting in which we take a deep dive into the scriptures. We will also occasionally have a “special speaker” to share such as Don Potter, LA Marzulli, Dr Betsy Eads just to name a few,
The words ‘PUSH’ and ‘FOCUS’ surrounded me again strongly, and the story of Elijah crying out for rain began to resound strongly in my heart. I was led to 1 Kings 18:42 where Scripture says that Elijah bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees and sent his servant to check for rain — seven times — until finally on the seventh time, the cloud a size of a man’s hand began to rise up out of the sea.
What also struck me was this surrender was SO deep, it was so deep and costly. It was a sound of humility and love for Jesus that was so LOUD in the spirit. The Lord whispered to me, ‘Look where it is happening.’ When I looked closer the ‘knowing’ came to me what the Lord was trying to say. It was happening in the ‘hidden place.’ It was happening in a place before the Lord where it was an offering being given to Jesus that was not being heralded from the rooftops. It was happening in the most beautiful place of intimacy before the Lord. It was happening in such a deep place where it was truly their deepest desire to give Him everything out of burning adoration and LOVE for Him.
I had an encounter with the Lord and I heard the Lord speak quite strongly and He said “REMNANT, REMEMBER”. When He spoke those words in a moment I was flooded with revelation of the Lord’s heart for the remnant right now. He spoke strongly and in the tone and strength of His voice I knew clarity was being again, empowerment was being released again, deliverance was happening, healing was happening, activation and igniting was happening.
Jesus is the“Prince of Peace”! He promised us one thing while we walk out our earthly sojourn. He promised us that we would have tribulation, John 16:33 (ESV)
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Cheryl and I want to wish all of you a wonderful “Thanksgiving”! We have so much to b thankful for. We are thankful for family and friends such as the ones we have at Cornerstone! The last few years have been the most difficult years in our lives and ministry. However, God has been so faithful to us and the words of encouragement through all of you have kept us going. I truly believe that the best is yet to come.
Shaking can be disconcerting, especially when only a remnant remains. Don’t allow this shaking to discourage you but hold on to Jesus and one another as this shaking continues. Ministry that is built on giftings and anointings will not last. The only ministries that endure through this shaking will be based on love. Love for Jesus first, then love for one another. If you just love one another without loving Jesus first, your ministry and relationships will become incestuous as you try to draw from each other which you should only draw from the Lord. This is why much of the church is being sucked into the LGBT lie. We think God is only love. However, true love rests on His holiness and purity. Impure love lacks the fear of the Lord as its foundation. Love based upon the fear of the Lord is they only solution for purity in ministry. King Solomon said this in Proverbs 9:10 (ESV)
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”
There was a man in the Bible named Samson. Samson's mother was barren, but an angel appeared to her and told her that she was going to have a son. He said that she was not to drink any wine and that no razor should come upon her son's head because he was called to be a Nazarite, dedicated to God from the womb. A Nazarite was an Israelite who followed a rigorous regimen of purity and was consecrated and separated unto God. The angel also told her that her son was going to begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines.
In 1 Peter 5:5, we learn, “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” The same Greek word “hypotasso” used for the phrase “submit yourselves to your elders” is also used for the phrase “be submissive to one another.” This tells us that it doesn’t matter if we are an elder or a babe in Christ, we must be humble enough to submit to one another, which naturally flows out of love. We must avoid the sin of pride (when we lift ourselves above one another) by becoming and remaining submissive to one another as a younger or elder brother in the Lord. In Hebrews 10:19-25, the writer is speaking to the brethren, both the brothers and the sisters in Christ.
Rick Joyner (Joyner, The Path, 2012) states that he was shown that the leadership that will get the church to the destination God has for mankind, is modelled by geese. When studying gees flying, scientists have determined that the V-shaped formation that geese use when migrating serves two important purposes:
This attitude of a god to one-self has led to men’s will be done, instead of God’s will be done. That does not change the fact that these leaders and churches still believe in Jesus Christ, but unfortunately this wrong foundation leads to unfruitfulness in the things that is in God’s heart. Leadership within the Kingdom of God is different than in the world. In the Kingdom the aim to be a leader is a very shallow goal (Joyner, 2012). Being in God’s presence and being revealed as His son’s is the goal according to Romans 8 (The Holy Bible, 1987).
If God is not in what have been created, everything is in vain. It could be the biggest mega church in the globe, but God sees it as empty and insignificant if it is not part of His heart and will. God promises to watch over His people with an intent to build and to plant.
David's friendship with Jonathan didn't happen by chance. It happened because God set it up (Cachila, 2019). We know that God raised David to defeat Goliath. We know that David met Jonathan after this. And we also know that later on, Jonathan would be instrumental in keeping David safe from Saul's hands - thus ensuring that he'd live to be King. God's hand was in their friendship. They know that: they made a covenant before the Lord (1 Samuel 23:18).
