Experience the Blessing Presence of an Open Heaven!

Keith Miller:

"Fresh Rain of His Presence for Harvest!"

"Oh God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness, the earth shook and the Heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God."—Psalm 68:7-8

The original Hebrew of the phrase in this passage "the Heavens also dropped rain" gives the sense of meaning that it literally rained down prophetic discourses. So when the presence of the Lord comes, He comes with fresh commissioning. And when He releases spiritual rain through His presence, He releases something of spiritual substance; even if it's just a thought, it carries power! His Word has creative ability to accomplish in you what He purposes to do through you.

That's why it's so important that we learn to be zealous and spontaneous in our obedience to the whispers of the Holy Spirit. We need the attitude that Mary had when she said, "Let it be unto me as You have said Lord!" (Luke 1:38)

And when His rain comes, it not only brings a confirmation of your inheritance, but it also brings refreshing!

"You, O God, send a plentiful rain, whereby You confirmed Your inheritance, when it was weary. Your congregation dwelt in it; You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor."—Psalm 68:9-10

We've all grown weary at times, and in discouragement we've said to ourselves, "That word is never going to happen. It's so far away." But when the Lord brings something fresh within you, it releases a new confidence.

When you're walking in this spiritual rain that comes from the presence of God, you are walking under an open Heaven. This simply means that you are walking in the presence of the King of kings, and there's no restriction between you and Him!

"In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him."—Ephesians 3:12

In the book of Revelation, John describes the Lord on the throne as having a countenance more brilliant than the noonday sun (Revelation 10:1, 1:14). Proverbs also describes His face in this way:

"In the light of the king's face is life, and his favor is like a cloud of the latter rain"—Proverbs 16:15

So if you walk under an open Heaven, guess what? The King's light will overshadow you! The light from His brilliant face releases His life, but it also releases His favor, which is "like a cloud of the latter rain." So His favor is described as this spiritual rain. Believe me—you want to walk in His favor!

Latter Rain

Let's look more into this topic of the latter rain that Proverbs 16 mentions. We see a lot more about the latter rain in Joel 2:23:

"Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you—the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month."

What does the latter rain release?

"The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, (full harvest) and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil."—Joel 2:24 (paraphrase mine)

The outpouring of harvest rain also brings restoration, "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locus has eaten" (verse 25). The seeds of His Word may lie dormant in you for years, but as the Lord begins to rain on those seeds, He causes the fruit to come forth from your life!

Harvest of Wheat, New Wine and Fresh Oil

"The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil"—Joel 2:24

So we see here that God's refreshing rains produce wheat, which symbolizes a harvest of souls, and also that it causes new wine and oil to flow. We know that new wine comes from grapes, and oil comes from olives, so the harvest rain also produces grapes and olives.

So God's spiritual rain not only brings a harvest of wheat, or souls, but it also gives us spiritual new wine and oil, too, and you really don't want to miss out on that! His new wine of the Spirit will make you so happy that you can hardly stand it! The oil represents the precious anointing of the Holy Spirit, the power of God.

Another key passage about God's harvest showers is found in Psalm 65:9-13:

"You will visit the earth and water it. You greatly enrich it. The river of God is full of water. You provide their grain, for so You have prepared it. You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows. You make it soft with showers; You bless its growth. You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance. They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side. And the pastures are clothed with flocks. The valleys also are covered with grain, and they shout for joy. They also sing."

Listen, harvest rain brings joy, singing, and celebration! Why? Because it releases new wine! Don't you want to be so saturated with His new wine that you can't help but speak of the loving-kindness of our God whenever you open your mouth? The new wine will do that to you!

God is about to POUR OUT His showers of golden rain from Heaven over your life! He's going to do a new thing in and through you!

"Behold the former things have come to pass. But new things I declare, and before they spring forth, I tell you of them."—Isaiah 42:9

God is offering to you rains that will bring the 100-fold harvest of His Word spoken over your life: words about the past, the present and the future for your family, your region, your ministry, and your nation! Just stretch forth your hands toward Heaven and tell Him, "Lord, I receive Your rain! Let it rain down on me! Let it pour. I want a downpour!"

Seek the Lord for the Harvest Rain

Take some time and seek Him for the full outpouring of His latter rain blessing. Don't let this opportunity pass you by! He wants to bring forth the fruit of His Word, and your heart is good soil for it. Get ready to go to a new level of walking more deeply with Him, Spirit to spirit, deep to deep, and let Him refresh you now with His rain, knowing that He who made and formed you will establish you in your destiny and calling!

May the brilliancy of the King's face shine upon you in a great way, and may you reflect His light—the light that releases the manifold wisdom of God through your life! We have been given unlimited access to the throne of our King. Let us go boldly before His throne right now, but let us also become awakened to the fullness of our blessing of living in a place of constant, continuous fellowship with Him who sits upon the throne.

May the remaining months of this year be a time of living even more powerfully under open Heavens, and may the cloud of His presence—His favor which brings true riches —release the latter rain upon you for a fresh time of harvest for you and your household!

Get ready! Be of good cheer! Celebrate! Your eyes shall see the glory of the Lord. Ask now for the latter rain. Ask now for the harvest! Ask now for the King to grant you favor to possess the Kingdom!

Put on a fresh anointing of the presence of the Lord! His latter rain brings forth the olive, which is the anointing oil of fresh power in the Holy Spirit!

The Lord is going to take your life and display His goodness, His grace, and His manifold wisdom through you. Ask the Lord to release a cloud of favor over you now—the favor that releases the latter rain!

Ask for the Kingdom!

It is His good pleasure to give to you the Kingdom, which is the favor to walk in the fullness of your inheritance. Perhaps you've been going through a narrow place; if so, I decree over your life that it is a time of release for you. As you go through the gates, you will make a powerful transition in the Spirit. As you say "Yes!" to Him, and even as you enter through the doors that He opens, it is preparation for the courses to be laid for the multitudes to follow. Your breakthrough of today will become the breakthrough for many in the future.

"Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you—the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil."—Joel 2:23-24

Be glad! Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice! Rejoice in the Lord your God. Release a great shout of praise right now! Rejoice in the Lord. Shout with shouts of joy! Shout with shouts of victory! Shout with shouts of exuberance! Celebrate in the light of the King's face! In the light of the King's face is life!

May the Lord release to you the latter rain to bring a harvest of souls, new wine, and fresh oil for the next half of this year—yes, for the next six months! New wine makes glad your heart! Oil makes your face shine! Bread strengthens your heart!

Let's Pray: Thank You Wonderful Jesus for the fresh rain of Your presence. Release it upon all who read this. Thank You that we may come with great boldness and confidence before You and behold You! We behold the light of the King's face—the light that releases life and a cloud of favor that releases the latter rain. Thank You Lord, for releasing the Harvest Rain. In Jesus' Mighty Name, Amen!

Keith Miller
Stand Firm World Ministries

Email: info@sfwm.org

Website: www.sfwm.org

By the Spirit!

JoAnn McFatter:

"Walking By the Spirit—It's Time to Break Out of the Limitations We Have Walked In"

It is our privilege and delight as the Body of Christ to pursue the mystery of the knowledge of our God. Most are in agreement that this is a time of acceleration where the things of the Spirit are concerned. As a God-driven hunger for Spirit and Truth increases in our hearts, we are finding ourselves hitting a wall again and again as we attempt to understand the things of the Spirit via the mind of man.

We seem to have a problem in this present age comprehending what it means to have the mind of Christ. We must seek God to find just what it means to live by the Spirit.

"For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart."—1 Corinthians 2:16

We've lost the fullness of what it means to be a new creature in Christ at our conversion—to the truth that Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, shed His Blood that we might be freed from the curse pronounced upon mankind when sin entered through the first Adam. If indeed Adam and Eve lived outside of the curse before they sinned, why then are we, though redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb who bore sin on our behalf, still living as though nothing happened to negate its hold on us?

In the Garden

I can't imagine the world which Adam and Eve lived in before all of this happened. God walked with Adam in the cool of the day, so His glory had to have filled the atmosphere. I've heard stories of people who have been in the kind of glory cloud that was so thick, you couldn't see the person next to you! It was described as breathing pure oxygen and was absolutely exhilarating.

I believe the "speed of light" was different in the garden before the fall, that would have made the atmosphere contain a different level of oxygen, etc. which would have sustained their bodies in a different way. Their minds would have been much more alert. Breathing a different level of oxygen increases everything in our bodies.

I imagine they had use of a much larger capacity of their brain. If the curse has been broken, shouldn't we, at the bare minimum, be living as they did in the garden before the fall? What I ponder these days is: why are we not living in that same environment? Just as God was with them in the garden, He is IN us at our conversion. It seems the atmosphere they were surrounded in would be the very atmosphere we should be carrying inside of us—the very glory of God! Christ IN us, the hope of glory!

"Christ purchased our freedom (redeeming us) from the curse (doom) of the law (and its condemnation) by (Himself) becoming a curse for us, for it is written (in the Scriptures) cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (is crucified)."—Galatians 3:13

"Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!"—2 Corinthians 5:17

Born Again By the Spirit

The old has passed and the fresh and new has come. We can now walk in His manifest glory right here and right now. When Moses was in the presence of God's glory, his face shined so that he had to wear a veil over it. Something happened to him as he beheld the measure of glory the Lord allowed to pass by Moses as he hid himself in the cleft of the rock. Should not that glory reside in us today? Should we not be "leaking light" as we become one with Him by our spirit communing with His Spirit?

As we become born again by the Spirit of God and we become one with Him, we come into alignment with who we were created to be—one who is made in the image of God. As we walk on this earth, we are to navigate by allowing our mind and body to follow our own spirit-man as we are led by His Spirit. I'm afraid we have no idea how to do that! We have so navigated for centuries by the mind of man, that even when we think we are being led by the Spirit, we are still following our linear, rational, left-brained, Greek/Western thought processes.

"Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and (even) the Spirit, he cannot (ever) enter the Kingdom of God. What is born of (from) the flesh is flesh (of the physical is physical); and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not (do not be surprised, astonished) at My telling you, 'You must all be born anew (from above).' The wind blows (breathes) where it wills; and though you hear its sound, yet you neither know where it comes from nor where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."—John 3:5-8

"If I have told you of things that happen right here on the earth and yet none of you believes Me, how can you believe (trust Me, adhere to Me, rely on Me) if I tell you of heavenly things? And yet no one has ever gone up to Heaven, but there is One Who has come down from Heaven - the Son of Man (Himself), Who is (dwells, has His home) in Heaven."—John 3:12-13

Notice that Jesus says about Himself that He is in Heaven. He's standing there on the earth, telling Nicodemus that He is in Heaven. We are seated with Him in heavenly places. He didn't say we would be seated, He said we ARE seated. That would mean present tense. The ability to be in two realms at the same time is something we need to grasp as we let our own way of thinking fall away and take on the mind of Christ. If it were not ours to have, He would not have put it in front of us the way He continually does in Scripture.

We have rationalized the life out of what Jesus really said until there is no Spirit left in it—just the mind of man in his small box of what is possible and acceptable by our limited thinking and understanding, not to mention our religious ways of processing His words.

I believe God is going to illuminate our minds as we give way to His Spirit communing with our spirit-man. It is a time in history when the sciences, the arts and spirituality are coming to a shift as He allows us to see the fullness of how He put this world together for us to live in—both in the physical realm as well as the eternal realm—AT THE SAME TIME! As we meditate on Him and His Word, He is going to help us to get our heads wrapped around the things of the Spirit.

He's going to help us step into and take on the mind of Christ. It would behoove us to ask Him to reveal just how He meant for us to live on this earth. Again I say: we need to ask Him just what was in His heart when He created man in the very beginning to commune with Him. It would be good for us to ask Him how to walk with Him truly as a new creature in Christ—one with His Spirit, with Christ in us, living through us, and with our spirit-man taking the lead.

It's time to break out of the limitations we have walked in for the past decades upon decades! The choice is ours as to just how deep we go into the mind of Christ.

"Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him?"—Isaiah 40:13

JoAnn McFatter
WhiteDove Ministries
Email: contact@joannmcfatter.com
Website: www.joannmcfatter.com

Consolation in Crisis!

Paul Keith Davis:

"Our Consolation During Times of Darkness"

Historically times of spiritual darkness in the world also mark a time of incredible opportunity to develop intimate relationship with the Lord as "friend." Those who embrace this opportunity will be known as "disciples" (instructed ones) and partakers of His divine nature. It is through His Holy character that divine power is granted to us that provides everything we need "pertaining to life and Godliness."

The Scripture points out we have received His precious and magnificent promises by which we become partakers of His divine nature having escaped the corruption of this world and its lusts:

"Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and Godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust."—2 Peter 1:3-4

A friend is known as a close companion or comrade; those having a reciprocal relationship or mutual exchange one with another. According to Exodus 33:11, the Lord spoke to Moses face-to-face as a friend speaks to a friend! The Lord's friends can also be trusted. We must come to a place of trustworthy stewardship of His revelation and His glory. The apostle Paul admonishes us in I Corinthians 4:1-2 to not only become carriers of the mysteries and power of God, but to also be trustworthy stewards.

The friends of the Bridegroom assist in the planning and arranging of the soon coming marriage. The Lord must be able to trust His friends with His power and this divine message that is going to be delivered to His people for this purpose. Those who are mature and virtuous will perceive this to be a season of visitation and camaraderie with the Lord. Even with storms raging all around us we can say, "all is well with my soul... as long as Jesus is my friend." These will not care anything about the famine, the pestilence and the storms as long as they have Jesus for their friend.

Restoration and Recovery

The friends of Christ will initiate a season of spiritual and natural restoration.

"Return to the stronghold, O prisoners who have the hope; this very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you. For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fill the bow with Ephraim. And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece; and I will make you like a warrior's sword." —Zechariah 9:12-13

Our enemy, whose desire is to steal, kill and destroy, has successfully plundered the inheritance of God's people throughout the centuries. Nevertheless, divine justice requires recompense. This includes not only our spiritual heritage but also natural resources rightfully belonging to God's people. This will be a major source of resolution for the Church during economic crisis.

Past relationships that the devil has destroyed will also begin to be reconciled. Relationships destroyed by rumors, gossip, and propaganda will supernaturally be mended by the Lord if we petition Heaven through prayer and supplication. This is something important to the Lord that we must contend for.

The restorer of the breach will recondition us by the Spirit of Truth and a new wall of protection will be constructed to surround the Bride of Christ. The Lord is the restorer of the breach and the repairer of the broken walls. He is the restorer of former streets and dwellings and the One who un-stops old wells. According to Isaiah 58:12:

"And those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will raise up the age old foundations; and you will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell."

The Lord's ultimate desire for His people is to restore and renew the breach between Heaven and earth and impart to them a spirit of valor and courage; then we will carry the battle to the enemy gates and plunder his camp by aiding and directing those who once failed to find their rightful place in the Body of Christ. We will begin to find those of our brethren living in fear and seclusion and rejuvenate them into a new walk with Christ.

Overcoming Fear

Many people are experiencing fear on multiple levels. Fear of failure imprisons countless Christians by inhibiting them from exercising their spiritual gifts and walking in obedience to the Holy Spirit. Others are overcome with feelings of dread concerning their marriage and/or the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of their children. Still others are struggling with insecurity concerning their financial well-being and future. All of these are legitimate concerns that we can and must transfer to the Lord for His care and oversight. 1 Peter 5:6-7 declares:

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you."

Several years ago I wrote an article with Bob Jones derived from an experience he had with the Lord showing our anointing to deal with the "spirit of fear." The revelation portrayed and typified our spiritual adversaries by "Goliath," and like David, the young champion of Israel, God's people were being anointed to deal with the relevant issues of our generation with hearts of valor.

Clearly, spiritual giants are once again raising their ugly heads in a desperate attempt to keep God's people from our promises. Even so, impartation of grace and favor will see us through with the emergence of some of the greatest champions the Church has ever seen.

In this experience Bob was shown that one of the "Goliaths" of the last day generation is the spirit of fear. 2 Timothy 1:7 promises:

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

Fear is defined as, an emotion characterized by alarm, anxiety and tension, often caused by an expectation of danger or pain; it is a dread birthed through anxiety and tension, whether real or imagined, producing timidity and fearfulness.

The "spirit of fear" is a form of bondage and spiritual slavery. It is a ruthless taskmaster attempting to steal the seeds of destiny and purposes being awakened within the hearts of God's people. The Lord knew us before the foundation of the world. Those who belong to Him were in Him before creation was fashioned. He foreknew all who would desperately search for Him and to those He deposited divine seeds of Kingdom design and destiny. Those seeds are now being awakened and activated within many and it is our adversaries determined desire to prohibit that from coming into full fruition. We are on the threshold of another "Great Awakening."

The Debilitating Fruit of Fear

In these revelations, we were shown that there are many debilitating spirits that feed off of fear that will circumvent our calling and destiny. Awareness of this plot is mandatory so that we can embrace God's provision to overcome.

The first revealed fruit of fear was insanity and mental instability. The desire of the adversary is to create such fear in the hearts of people that he would actually cause impairment in our thinking that opens the door to various forms of delusion, depression and anxiety.

Insanity is birthed from a root of fear. A lack of sound judgment provides options that we would ordinarily shun or not even consider, such as drugs and alcohol. This is just one expression of "spiritual insanity." There can be many including unhealthy relationships, financial irresponsibility or the excessive pursuit of entertainment or the squandering of precious time that we need to redeem for His Kingdom.

The second spirit accompanying the spirit of fear was fear of sickness and infirmity. It is the plan of our adversary to create such insecurity and anxiety involving reports of sickness and disease that we would not pursue our divine destiny and heavenly purpose with determination and faith. This could certainly be the case with the numerous outbreaks of the bird flu, swine flu and other epidemics. The Church will come to know more ardently that by His stripes we are healed and greater is He within us than he that is in the world.

The final adversary revealed in the experience birthed out of the spirit of fear was fear of financial failure. Clearly, our nation is experiencing notable financial difficulties. Economic analysts and experts have openly acknowledged that this downfall is further fueled by public fear and misconceptions.

That instability has also been facilitated by reports of corporate abuse and unscrupulous business leaders and poor political decisions. We believe it is still the Lord's intent to use our nation to help facilitate the birthing of divine purposes and stand in strong support of Israel. Clearly, there are issues of repentance and a return to righteousness that must be realized within the Church which will release times of refreshing from His Presence (see Acts 3:19).

The Enemy's Plans

Unresolved fear will give place to one or all three companions that travel with it. These spirits attempt to defile the righteous and hinder the Church from entering her place of anointing and fruitfulness.

The first step in overcoming the designs of the enemy is to bring them out darkness and obscurity into light. The enemy hates for his plans to be exposed. This was explicitly demonstrated in 2 Kings 6:11-12. By obtaining a clear comprehension of his schemes we are more amply able to fortify ourselves through the Word of Truth and appropriate it through prayer and proclamation.

When Israel heard Goliath they trembled and when they saw him they fled. This analogy is given to portray our adversaries plan and purpose. It is the grace of God to allow us to understand these things so that we can take our position through faith and prayer to overcome.

"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."—Romans 8:15-17

Champions in the Order of David

There will be a company of people who arise from the wilderness having conquered the "lion" and the "bear" with confidence in God's anointing and willingness to overcome His enemies. The future "Davids" will be both worshipers and warriors who have discovered the Lord's voice in the wilderness.

The spirit of fear functions as captain of satan's host. Like David, we are insufficient in our own strength to overtake this adversary. However, we do not come in our own name nor in our strength but in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom he has taunted (see 1 Samuel 17:45).

The Smooth Stone of Apostolic Authority

When we function in God's government through genuine apostolic authority, we will then destroy this antagonist and plunder the enemy's camp. David was able to bravely stand before "Goliath" because he knew his promise and to Whom he belonged.

Likewise, he recognized the seed of corruption and ungodliness from which Goliath came. The clear distinctions between the two are going to become apparent in the coming season. No longer will the line be blurred separating those who belong to the Lord Jesus and those who have yielded to ungodliness and corruption.

"To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go on BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS."—Luke 1:74-76

There is presently a challenge coming to the forefront to confront the intimidations and trepidations many are experiencing concerning their ministries, health, finances and families.

Although the brothers of David witnessed the anointing oil poured upon him by the prophet Samuel, yet they were the very ones who chastised David for his willingness to confront the champion of the enemy army. Nonetheless, that did not deter him from fulfilling his destiny and demonstrating the Lord's victory.

We cannot allow the chastisement from within our own camp to hinder us from this commission and purpose. The demonstration of the Lord's mantle as Warrior and Captain of the Heavenly Host will overcome "Goliath" and release the armies of God to plunder the camp of the enemy. Many of our brethren are held captive by the forces of the adversary. It is the Lords desire and intent to free them. Hebrews 12:28-29 declares:

"Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire."

Presently, we are being given a choice—Faith or Fear. Faith works through love but anger and disillusionment is the offspring of fear.

Paul Keith and Wanda Davis
WhiteDove Ministries
Email: inquiries@whitedoveministries.org
Website: www.whitedoveministries.org

Only Believe!

Paige Norfleet:

"And the Glory of God Will Rest Upon Them Because They Believe..."

Abraham wasn't found righteous until he believed...

It wasn't his adherence to the law or the Word, nor was it his daily prayer life or faithfulness that caused the grace of God to shine upon Abraham's life. It may have been prayer or faithfulness that got God's attention, but neither of these did anything in the way of making him worthy of a relationship with God, nor did they serve to fulfill any promise. Romans 4:3 says, "What does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.'"

It's Not Our Flaws that Disqualify Us, But Our Belief that Qualifies Us

Recently, God gave me a dream that helped me to better understand yet another function of His grace. In the dream, a rather well-known man of God came to my home. This man's ministry is very well known for the manifestation of signs, miracles and wonders. Miraculous healings are always present at his meetings, and God's presence guides him as he ministers by the Spirit of revelation and prophecy. All these things remain consistent throughout his ministry, yet in my dream I became painfully aware of the man and his shortcomings. He was plain, somewhat unkempt and lacked any social graces. In fact, I found him to be rather irritating as he followed me around my home questioning me about my life in an almost intrusive manner. The more I became aware of his flaws, the more I began to question God as to how He could use this very imperfect man to manifest His glory in the manner that I had witnessed for several years.

After some time as I was questioning God, the man purposed this question before me: "Do you see deceit in me?" Somehow I knew that the question came not from the man himself but from the Spirit of God, for this question held a familiarity for me: It was just the type of question that Christ had asked of those whom He discipled. The kind of question that made one search deep beyond the question itself.

I pondered the question for a long time, reviewing all the shortcomings that I had observed during the man's visit with me, and I was totally prepared to answer him with honesty no matter how painful it might be; but to my surprise, my answer was, "No ----- I do not see deceit in you." Of all the flaws that were so painfully apparent, there was in fact no deceit in him. He was sloppy, harsh and had many other things that, in my mind, would have surely disqualified his ministry from operating in such a place of manifested glory—but there was no deceit.

Deceit is defined as that which gives a false impression or presents a lie. This man certainly had made no attempt to hide who he was; on the contrary, he was being exactly who he was. He made no attempts to impress me with spiritual words, nor did he try to perform any mighty works to show me that he in fact was a great man of God. He was a man, and I saw him as a man. He was not yet perfected, nor was he completely polished yet, but there was something in him that was pleasing to God and allowed for God's grace to flow. He believed.

Becoming Partakers of Christ

When I awoke, the Lord drew me to Romans 4 where He speaks of His grace that is made available through those who will simply believe. Fear, doubt and unbelief go hand in hand with deception. When we allow any of these to enter into our thought process, we are believing and agreeing with the lies of the enemy of God, which is satan.

Believing is a big deal to God. The Lord speaks to Ahaz king of Judah through Isaiah the prophet in Isaiah 7, instructing this most ungodly king that he is not to fear those who were seeking to make war against the throne of David. God would honor the covenant He had made with Abraham to establish his Seed and to bring forth a remnant from the house of David. In fact, verse 9 states, "If you (Ahaz) will not believe, surely you shall not be established."

Fear can and does cause us to disobey God as we begin to interact and engage with the enemy in our thoughts. Our minds seem to lose the reality of the magnitude of who God is, and we slowly lose sight of what He has promised. No one who is in covenant with the God Most High has any place entertaining the lies of satan. We are warned in grace for our benefit in Ephesians 5:11, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them." What is this fellowship? Fellowship is to have communion, to share something in common or to partake and partner with.

When we allow doubt to enter into our thoughts, we begin to meditate on the lies of the enemy and begin to gradually partner with the lie. We are to be partakers only of that which is from our Father's Kingdom, and our communion is to be with Christ alone. For this reason Jesus says in John 6:53-56: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats of My flesh and drinks of My blood abides in Me, and I in Him."

This is a totally awesome concept that we must grasp deep within our spirit man in order to truly walk in the covenant blessings. Of course, we know as Believers in Jesus Christ that He abides in us, but it is vital that what He has spoken remains at the forefront of our thoughts so that we are continually aware of the covenant of the Cross. Partaking of Him is also receiving His word as truth. In receiving the truth we make room for Him to dwell in our lives, not just in the heart but throughout our entire man. Our thoughts now must also belong to Him.

How to Take Every Thought Captive to the Obedience of Christ

We cannot come to the knowledge of Christ as our Messiah unless we believe that which cannot be seen with the natural eye; likewise, we cannot live an abundant life in Christ unless we by choice throw off every lie of the enemy and believe what we cannot see with the natural eye. Any time we begin to entertain a lie that God has somehow forgotten or forsaken us, we are believing that He has abandoned the covenant, and deceit enters in.

Jesus identifies satan as a thief and a liar, because he steals the dreams and promises from the hearts of God's people by chipping away at our faith. Please know that satan cannot truly take what we do not relinquish to him. He can and does trespass upon the people of God, but we have been given the authority through the name of Jesus to silence the mouth of the enemy and take the lie captive. The problem we often struggle with arises when we do not use the weapons that God has given us in taking every thought captive that is contrary to the Word of God, which we know to be true because there is no darkness found in Him.

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."—2 Corinthians 10:4-5

The Glory of the Lord Living with Ordinary People

We must take a stand and refuse to believe the enemy about who we are and what the outcome of our lives will be. Did Jesus not say "I have come that you may have not only eternal life but life abundant"? Those who enter into the abundant life are not those who have been "specifically chosen" but those who simply trust God and believe.

Did the man in my dream display any spectacular qualities that would have made him worthy of the glory that I had seen manifested in his ministry? No, on the contrary he was an ordinary man with ordinary flaws and weaknesses. What allowed the glory of the Lord to rest upon his ministry was that he believed what God has spoken in Mark 16:17-18:

"And these signs shall follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover!"

That is living in the supernatural. That is manifesting the power of the Kingdom of Heaven, where the constraints and confinements of the natural world are pushed back and superseded by the Almighty King of Kings!!! This man of God, like any of us can, in all of his shortcomings had become as a little child as he read the Word, and decided that if God had spoken it then it must be true. And thus he began to operate in what God has promised. You see, he was in covenant with God and he believed what Jesus, who walked a life displaying the miraculous, had spoken in John 6: "If you have fellowship with Me, I will abide in you."

We Become Righteous When We Trust that He Loves Us as We Are

It isn't our disciplined lives that give us access to the promises of God and allow us to manifest the Kingdom; it is believing. It is refusing to be deceived by the enemy in believing that we aren't good enough in our present state and that we must keep striving in order to one day manifest the power of Jesus, or to become like those whom we have believed to be great men and women of faith. This is not to say that we should abandon our pursuit of holiness; we desire to be holy because our God is holy, but our righteousness comes as Abraham received it—through a gracious God who loved us enough to send His Son Jesus to atone for our sins. We become righteous when we trust that He loves us as we are and that He will never give up on His pursuit to transform us.

God in fact does use us to manifest His glory even as we grow. We do not have to wait until we obtain some specific level of "spirituality" before we see God move powerfully in our lives. We need to simply believe that He desires to use us and that He will.

This current movement of God is looking very different than what we may have previously imagined. This army of the Lord that takes the nations will consist of Believers who are very human but also very much like God. They will manifest the glory of their God through signs, miracles and wonders, which accompany the message of the Cross. And the glory of God will rest upon them because they believe.

Paige Norfleet
Revelation of Jesus Christ Ministries
Email: revjcministries@yahoo.com
Website: www.revelationofjesuschristministries.com

About Paige Norfleet: Paige resides in Oregon with her husband and three sons and is co-president of Revelation of Jesus Christ Ministries. She is a teacher with an apostolic anointing and teaches the Word with a revelatory gift that makes it more easily understood and applicable for people of all ages and levels of understanding. She has a heart to see people fulfill their destiny in Christ Jesus and for the Body to come together in unity, walking in power and authority.