Drought and Rain

Last night was a great night for our youth ministry. I stepped away from the stage last night to observe and worship with my students and God did a great and wonderful thing. God began to impress upon me that there were students who needed healing in their bodies and in their minds. We but our service agenda on hold and prayed for the sick and those that came to youth just because it was the thing to do. God showed up in our worship. He moved in the altar and the gifts of healing were in operation. As I looked across the room, I saw students with arms raised crying out to God with a hunger that we sometimes see only in youth convention and camp services. Then God brought a song to my mind about raining down his presence.

Many of us have prayed "God rain down in this place. Rain down Lord Jesus" or something like that. Youth ministries and individuals alike are experiencing a drought of epic proportion in their spiritual life. As I though about the presence of God raining down, I started thinking about how rain happens. Not to get to scientific on you, but when water is heated up and evaporates and then goes into the atmosphere and forms clouds and then cooling and heating happen in the air eventually the weight gets to be to great and rain falls. There it is right there. Did you see it? It is the link. Let me put it into common language.

We are the instruments of heating and evaporating and sending the vapor to the sky. The spirit inside us is hungry to experience the presence of the creator and our passion (fire/heat) heats the water (Jesus inside of us) and as we speak praise the words turn to vapor aka fragrance to the Lord. The praises form clouds and then the progression of our spirit and worship sends more vapor. Here is the tough part. Many times we just stop after a little bit of praise or just go through the motions of singing songs instead of actively worshipping. Our praises cool and the clouds dissipate and we say wow that was good worship.

What happens then when we continue to offer up praise? What happens when the heavens are full of the clouds of praise. There then comes a tipping point where the condensation happens and the drops of the presence of God fall. As they fall we cannot stop praising. The continual praise causes the clouds to burst and the rain of the presence of God to fall and drench those who are there. It is in the downpour where we become overcome by the presence and our minds are stayed on God and then healings occur and oppression is broken.

To experience the rain of God bigger than we could ever imagine, we must continually lift up the vapor of our praise until the break through happens. What ever you dealing with right now praise God in it. Even if you cannot see a way out, lift up the fragrant praise to the Lord. He will rain down the peace and joy that you are seeking. It is time that the drought in our spirit be flooded with the presence of God. Keep praising Him in good times and bad times. He is the alpha and omega and in Him all things that we are going through He will use for our good.

Be blessed

The Big Con

Several Sundays ago I taught on one of the Assemblies of God's fundamental truths. The topic was sanctification. As we began the talk, I was very surprised that not many if any students really understood what it actually was. The topic kind of took a rabbit trail. We ended up talking about what the biggest battle was for young men and women as it pertained to sanctification. This is what they came up with. "The biggest battle for guys is lust." "The biggest battle for women is the want to be loved." As we talked about these agreed upon statements, several of the students came to an epiphany. These two things are related. I allowed them to talk this out.

We began to talk about how Satan uses the eyes in men and the mind in women to play them against each other, when in the context of a marriage the yearning after your spouse and the affirmation of love are good, outside of that they lead to ungodliness. Think about this. When you get involved in a relationship outside of the confines of marriage, physical attraction can often lead to mental manipulation. Guys tell girls what they want to hear. Girls dress provocatively to get a guy. They use the natural visual wiring to hook the guys. The guys use the words "i love you" to basically melt the mind of the young lady.

This game of cat and mouse aka flirting leads to emotional investment and that investment leads to a girls mind being clouded. The boy's mind is consumed with lust and yearn for physical gratification. At first it starts out with small touch and then goes further until basically the boundaries are quieted. The want to be loved will drive a young lady to the arms of an abuser who tells her he loves her and then tells her she deserves the mistreatment. The lustful desires will lead a young man to the point of manipulation of a young lady just to get what he wants.

Sadly the breakdown of these areas are done so inconspicuously that often times the involved persons don't even realize they are compromising. When the realization happens the person is full of remorse and guilt. The vicious cycle continues until the people involved break the cycle. Dating in general leads to emotional investment. Before a couple should even consider dating they need to be ready to be married. They date for that specific reason. Casual dating leads to minute pieces of the heart being flaked away and morality getting attacked.

I know this may sound very strange to some of you reading, but think of the difference this would make in relationships and marriages specifically. When you kiss your spouse and you know her past, do you compare or wonder how you stacked up to the other guy. In intimate moments that should be sacred between you and your spouse do you find your mind wondering if this moment had ever happened with someone else. Prayerfully not, but in many cases this questioning leads to a very dysfunctional intimate area. In many cases it leads to mistrust and doubt. Satan attacks very stealthily. He chips away at morality until he can blur or etch it to make it obscure.

Sanctification is ongoing and it is what God asks us to do. Change the very way we think. We will see families and marriages renewed if we just practice this one area more than just expecting it to work itself out alone. Our relationships can be bigger than our imagination. Will we let them?

The Chance Of A LIfetime

I have had a quote by Lenard Ravenhill floating in my mind today. "Opportunities of a lifetime are seized within the lifetime of the opportunity." As I reflect on this simple quote I begin thinking of different opportunities that have made themselves available to me. Did I do anything to make them happen? Why would these things that are so great happen to me? How many opportunities have I missed out on because I was to afraid to take the chance in the lifetime of it?

Every person has opportunities that come and go. They are birthed and die just as we do. Unfortunately many of our greatest opportunities die due to lack of courage. What leads to opportunities? Often time it is simple obedience to do what God wants us to. Obedience to God and his commands opens so many of our doors for us. Some swing open wide and fast like a garden gat and others are slow and smooth like a vault containing treasures. In either case, the doors can open, but we cannot access them unless we walk through them. Discouragement from human and even demonic forces will freeze us in our tracks. The fear of our past failures is constantly being brought to our memories by the enemy and often times well intentioned friends. We cannot life in the past. If we do, we miss the lifetime of the opportunity.

Look at your life right now. What opportunities are presenting themselves to you? Are you ready to take the chance and seize the opportunity? If you are, I pray that you square your shoulders and take the step. What you will find is that the first few steps are difficult. They are that way to test your faith and add to your resolve. You will then find life bigger than you can imagine. God is only governed by human limitations when we place limitations on Him. Seize the opportunity and see what God will do. There is new fresh anointing right around the blind corner called faith. Will you take the chance and step out. Don't let this opportunity end.