His Plan: A New Thing

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."-(Isaiah 43:18-19)

New seasons are a glorious indication of God's plans coming to pass. If we were perpetually trapped in one moment, no matter how wonderful it is, it would be a stumbling block for His plans. We would stagnate and become dwarfed versions of our authentic selves. Seasons are necessary in nature to bring about the cyclical changes in the earth and in the design of creation that the Lord intended for our natural flesh to encounter. I believe that there is within all seasons an incredible metaphor of the Father's blueprint for our spiritual growth and maturation. "Life is a collection of Seasons" is a quote that one of my mentors, Bob Harrison frequently teaches on. And so it is... And for each season there is a purpose and a divine timing. "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."-(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

There is a singular beauty and necessity found in each moment, each season of our lives. These moments and seasons are the very milestones, markers and substance of the JOURNEY itself. We each have a destiny that is specific to God's intended architectural purpose for our lives. If we are to fulfill ALL He has written for us to attain and complete, we must not stand still. At the appointed times, we, just as the seasons themselves, must move on. There is a currency to the Power and Plans of God that flows as a River- pressing on and churning the waters and surroundings, bringing NEW LIFE. It is up to us to be obedient when He directs us to hold our ground, or to go. As my bride and I reflect on the last 3 and a half years of our lives and the surreal frequency of the move of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we EMBRACE CHANGE.

Obedience is the key. Although our flesh or our mind will usually be challenged by active change, our spirits remain focused upon the promise of faith. We know the He is Faithful to those who are faithful to Him. “Without faith it is impossible to please God”-(Hebrews 11:6) I recognize the greatest act of faith to be immediate obedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience, nevertheless. But direct obedience of the direction of the Holy Spirit, the very direction of God the Father Himself, leads only to supernatural guidance and favor. In other words, when our faith level is such that we believe the promises of God in the powerful scriptures of the Gospel He ACTIVATES HIS POWER through us: "And Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, `Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him; Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses."-(Mark 11:22-25) He gives us the desires of our hearts, and when our wills are wrapped up into His, He literally PLACES HIS DESIRE INTO OUR HEARTS.

When the Holy Ghost prompts you to "GO" or to "MOVE"- we urge you- DO SO. Do not delay. If we truly believe Him at His WORD, then we would move at His prompting without question. If He is truly GOD, then we must. When we have covenant relationship with the Holy Spirit through the saving power of Jesus Christ, we will live a life consecrated to Him, DEDICATED to Him. And when we DEDICATE anything unto the Lord, He takes ownership of it. When He becomes LORD over our lives He is responsible for us. He is a loving and faithful GOD. We truly DO TRUST in HIM. When He urges us, we know to obey. "Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, "This is the way you should go," whether to the right or to the left."-(Isaiah 30:21) He will not only guide you, but He will also strengthen you as well. With true faith in the Lord's promises we gain access to receive the blessings of obedience. "I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built."-(Luke 6:46)

So, as we step out in Faith at the direction of the Holy Spirit, and go boldly out onto the waters, we reach out to HIM. And this very day, which represents the first day of our launching out officially, GOD MOVED. There has been no gap between His provision. This morning we received a MASSIVE blessing that will indubitably strengthen His plans for our life together with incredible, uncommon FAVOR. The Favor of the Lord has fallen upon His obedient servants, who are entirely grateful. We LOVE the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul. We worship Him with all of our spirit. He is a truly faithful Father who is our provider indeed.

Today, in your reading of this humbled man's awe of God's faithfulness to His obedient ones, we pray you find encouragement. Stay strong in the Lord, and the Power of His might. We encourage you to stand upon His Word. "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."-(Philippians 1:6) Stepping out of the boat is a daunting act in our minds and bodies, but when our SPIRIT MAN is under the direct cover of God through immediate obedience, NOTHING CAN STOP HIS PLAN. It may take some "taxing" to get you to your Bethlehem, but when you get there God is going to give you your promise. He WILL see it through. He is not making this up as He goes... He has a perfect plan. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."-(Jeremiah 29:11) Trust in the Lord.

My Walk Just Transformed Into Running...

Reflecting on Philippians 3:10 today, I sought to uncover a deeper understanding of God's purpose in my life. Wanting to "know Christ and the power of his resurrection" is wonderful, albeit incomplete. I must desire to know His PLAN and thereby my purpose. If I seek His Kingdom and righteousness it is inherent that my call will be revealed. That is our heart for the labor of the ministry; to KNOW HIS VOICE.
While praying and meditating on this, I heard the Holy Spirit ask: "Is My 'WHAT' greater than your 'HOW'?" It absolutely floored me. I have tried in so many instances of ministry to relay or execute His plans for my life with focus on the Vision or Plan of Attack. I relate a formula given me by an excellent teacher of "Personal Mastery"- Brian Klemmer who teaches "Intention + Mechanism = Results". It has been an invaluable part of our style, approach and fruit. The formula is scripturally sound and there is no doubt in my spirit that God wants us to be pragmatic and plan out our course of attack.
But that Word from the Holy Spirit shook me. As simply posed as it was, it arrested me and took all of my thoughts captive. In a moment, I saw every major decision, good and bad from my salvation on in an instance. Then it struck me what separates the fully effective decisions from those that struggled to survive, or lacked the anointing... The God-given revelation of "WHAT" always weighed more than the "HOW". And Mr. Klemmer teaches that as a primary to the aforementioned formula. Your INTENTION is the "WHAT". My "WHAT", our "WHAT" is His assignment for us. When the Lord speaks to us, we must move, we must actively pursue His command. Delayed obedience is still disobedience... When we were in the midst of a major move early in ministry, we received a Word relating directly to obediently following His direction. A man of God preached: "If God tells you to go to New York, Get on a plane and go to New York. If you can't fly, get in a car and drive... If you can't drive, get on a train... If you can't take a train, get on a bike... If you can't ride a bike there, Run!! If you can't run, walk... If you can't walk, crawl... If you can't crawl, FALL!!! FALL IN THE DIRECTION THAT THE LORD TOLD YOU TO GO!" What a powerful understanding of obeying His call with immediacy!
While it is obviously important to "write out the vision and make it plain" it is of primary, paramount importance to first OBEY the move of God. If you delay when He says "GO!" in an effort to order your own steps, how is the Holy Spirit able to be the one who orders the path? This takes GREAT FAITH. It takes taxed, tested, seasoned and mature faith to do this, but it also takes the faith of a child... Mysteriously paradoxical, I know... But Jesus meant it when He said "If you do not receive the Kingdom as a child, you shall never enter it." Obedient children do what their Father tells them IMMEDIATELY.
My faith in Him is what is often being tested before the super meets the natural, thus confounding all of my best laid plans... Dr. Oral Roberts once wisely compared faith to one "climbing out on a tree limb with a hand-saw, cutting the limb he is standing on from the tree and watching the rest of the tree fall down, while the limb remained in the air." It doesn't make natural sense... but HIS "WHAT" never has to... His ways are not ours, His thoughts are higher than ours.
Something to ponder as you obediently move upon His call and assigning. He'll give you all that you need to accomplish His will for your life and your assignment. I have always said that He gives us information on a "Need to Know" basis... Sometimes, all we need to know is obedience, then He'll give us the rest.

Hide Thyself By The Brook Cherith...

In 1 Kings 17:3-6 the Lord tells Elijah to "Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook."

Elijah, whose prophetic ministry is perhaps the most viceral and most memorable amongst the major prophets in the Old Testament, is sent by God to a craggy, dry desolate secret location in biblical Samaria immediately after he prophesied and said unto Ahab, "As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word."(1 Kings 17:1)
Miraculous... God sent the prophet to the wilderness where he was to be fed by ravens and have his thirst quenched of the brook. Several ingredients into this rich text strike me as miraculous; It was by the prophet's word that the drought began, it was by the word of the Lord that he was sent into protective exile, and it was by the power of God that in the midst of a terrible drought, Elijah remained quenched and fed by supernatural provision.

If you have been in the Word for any tenure of time, this is not revelation. I share this with you because of the immense personal revelation that the Lord has given within this chapter. Pastor Benny Hinn related Cherith to my wife and I as "the place of a cutting away", meaning that Cherith was a location of spiritual surgery and preparation for the prophet before going into the next season of his ministry to face the powers of Hell themselves.

God's purpose in putting you and I into "Cheriths" in the midst of our seasonally oriented lives is mysterious, but potent. I have been in Cherith many times so far in my walk. I have been in a place of asylum from the enemy, where God supernaturally feeds, provides and gives me rest all the while protecting and preparing me for the next season. I have personally found that these times have always involved a "cutting away" of some sort or another. The Lord uses these times to perform surgery on my core beliefs, my bad habits, my sin nature. Each time as the brook dries up, and the ravens stop coming I find that I/we are ready for the next push in the journey. After all, Elijah did not stay in Cherith. God had explicit and specific plans for him to fulfill. God led Elijah one step at a time, and on a "Need to Know" basis. He did not tell him to go to Cherith until he first delivered the message to Ahab. He did not tell him to go to Zarephath until the brook dried up at Cherith. God led Elijah by faith, one step at a time, and Elijah followed in faith.
While he was in Cherith, he was in the deepest place of communication with God. I like what John Trapp said of the prophet's exile: "Elijah could not be alone, so long as he had God and himself to converse with. A good man is never less alone, than when alone." And perhaps that is God's greater purpose for placing us in those "Cheriths" of our lives. Perhaps the most difficult seasons cannot be conquered without the Lord's excision of certain hinderances. I know that He speaks in a still, small voice to direct us. With all the noise and stimulae of the contemporary age, I imagine that God has a greater need for Cheriths in the life of His people; particularly when the enemy prowls about seeking whom he can devour at a frequency not seen since the likes of Sodom and Gomorah.

So, have you ever been in Cherith? If you have, or are, has it changed you? We would encourage you today to discern between God's call to "Hide thyself by the brook Cherith" and the enemy's accusation of "You will never get to the next season." And embrace the "brook" for the time appointed. It is our prayer that whatever season you are in, God uses each moment, whether Cherith or Zarephath, Gilgal or Jericho, to refine you and your walk.