No Shrines This Time

A year and a half ago, I stood on the grounds of where part of the second great awakening occurred – the home of the Cane Ridge Revival, which is less than an hour from Ashbury, where the current outpouring of God’s spirit is just starting.

While walking the grounds at Cane Ridge that day, I felt like I was in two places at once. Standing by an old worn, wooden fence, I could almost see the fiery preacher standing on the mound in the middle of the cow pasture. In the center of the grounds stood an antique, 1800’s camp-meeting building which was now enshrined in a more modern structure. This revival had begun when different denominations had gathered together to pray in unity. Amazingly, the Holy Spirit fell and the flow that came from it affected the world.

More on the Cane Ridge Revival – https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-45/revival-at-cane-ridge.html

As I’ve listened to the reports of the Ashbury revival getting underway, what has stood out to me is that no one man is leading it. It is being led by Jesus. It is primarily the younger generation, multi-cultural, multi-denomination all in unity making room for the presence of the Lord in ongoing worship for ten days now. It is spreading fast like a wildfire, an outpouring like Niagara Falls (see Kathie Walter’s post about that on Facebook).

The following interview talks a little more about it and why it is significant.

Recently, when I’ve been on college campuses, in my Spirit, there has been this overwhelming anticipation of God showing up. I also just wrote about this next move coming through the younger generation here – https://blossomingheartsstudio.wordpress.com/2023/02/01/designed-with-purpose

The Lord has been saying for some time now through many voices that God’s spirit will be poured out in many places, some you would not expect, in homes, in businesses, in churches, on college campuses. It reminds me of our own journey of finding the Holy Spirit in multiple different places. From Episcopal to Methodist to Baptist to Charismatic to everything in between God’s spirit is on the move. For more of our own journey, read here. https://wholeheartedwomen.org/2019/04/27/unexpected-journey/

Back to the day we visited Cane Ridge, as I came around the corner of the building which housed the original camp-meeting structure, the Holy Spirit boomed in my spirit, “This next move of My Spirit will not become a shrine! No man will be able to put their hand on it. No man will be able to claim it and make it about them or their kingdom. I am done with man’s shrines!” No lie, as I careened around that last corner of the building and sauntered up to the locked, wooden doors, I squinted to read the words on the plaque in front of the building. There, imprinted in pewter, were the words “The Cane Ridge Shrine”. I gasped.

This next move will not have man’s hands on it. It will not be about a man or a man’s kingdom. It will be about Jesus. It will be about Jesus’s Kingdom. And it will sweep our nation and the world, beginning with our youth, like the most huge waterfall gushing rapidly.

We are entering the age of the Waterbearer (the Holy Spirit) being poured out without measure, and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah roaring. The enemy can not stop that.

This, my friends, I believe, is the beginning of what we have been waiting for, longing to see our whole lives. Don’t try to control it, put a dam on it, or manipulate it in anyway. Just jump on in it!

With much love and anticipation

My Birthday Blog – The Gift of Today

As I sit here to write this, I don’t fully grasp the hope I feel in my heart, an odd peace, an unshakable faith. This year has already held a few emergency runs to the ER with friends and extended family. Already held a few hands during some very challenging events. I’ve found myself grappling with some evil schemes on levels I didn’t want to believe were possible.

It’s only Feb. 1st. And it’s my birthday.

I’ve already been stretched beyond what I’ve felt capable of.

And yet, I’ve not felt forgotten or alone or helpless. I’ve felt held. Even now, I see Jesus smiling at me in my mind’s eye speaking hope that everything is going to be just fine. He doesn’t see things the way we do, does He?

In my processing of the past 53 years of being on this planet, I’ve asked many “whys” of the Lord. I’ve heard people tell me that that question is not a good question to ask the Almighty, and yet, I’ve never felt the Lord upset with me for doing so. And there have been times He has answered that. Most of the answers revolve around shifting my perspective to seeing things through His eyes, which is much different than mine.

I remember one such moment, when I asked Him about some current events that seemed so very overwhelming, and I saw Him walk up to me with the globe in His hand like a ball, with a cheesy smile on His face. He just communicated to me that He was in control. I was not. And that was OK. I could trust Him. He’s got this.

That’s difficult to see though when your one of best friends has just found her daughter unresponsive, and you are standing in an ER room holding tightly to her hand. It can be difficult to see when you are tenderly cupping the other hand of your spiritual papa who has been told he is now on hospice, while you pray for every moment of his life to be fulfilled. Or when you kiss your mama’s forehead and tell her I’ll see you soon, as she meets Jesus. Or when you are swimming in a sea of anger, because once again Jesus asks you to let Him into a new level of pain in your heart.

And yet, faith keeps rising – faith (trust) in a loving, compassionate, good God who keeps changing my perspective.

You know I once thought I’d never make it to 40 years old, and truly I’ve been almost taken out multiple times in these 50 some years. I’ve walked through some extremely hot fires, and traversed waters that I thought would surely wash me away, and yet, God’s unfailing love and goodness keep chasing me down. Ps. 23

I got up early this morning to go to breakfast with my family and a friend, just as the sun rose. You all know I love a beautiful sun rise. Jesus spoke to me a few months ago, that as one day is ending the next has already begun. What hope there is in that! A new day, a new horizon, a new hope has already begun even as the day is fading.

Recently, during a different hospital visit, someone I love who faced major surgery said “People tell me that I need to stop smoking. That it will kill me some day.” I wondered where the conversation was going. “But I say, every day is a gift, and I might as well live it up how I want too.”

Sadness pricked my heart, and I kindly responded, “You know, every day is a gift. But I rather live each day to bless and help someone else.” That statement is not to say how great I am. I am not all that. Yet, I just don’t want to live this life to make myself feel good, for my pleasure, and benefit. I mean I like all those things. But I want something more. I want my life to have a positive effect on this world around me. I want to shine light in the darkness.

I want to be there to hold my friend’s hand and stand in rock-solid faith with her as she faces the impossible, because we love the God of the I aM Possible. I want to be there to speak life to my friend who just got the death sentence and see that through the eyes of eternity. I want to spend time crying with the survivor who went through hell on earth, like I did, and then show who Jesus really is. I want to love my own kids well, and show them that life is worth living, and fighting for, and there is a bigger picture than just me, trying to gain things for myself. I want to love my husband every day, showing him value for who he is in my life.

You know, I have a feeling that there are going to be many more challenges to traverse in the coming seasons, and yet, I see and feel this faith and hope growing in a good, good God who loves us unconditionally, who is not surprised by what happens, but instead, He holds the playbook, and I can trust Him.

I can lean back into His great love, and just BE, because I know He’s got this! And that is my birthday wish for you too. Lean back into His great love for you, and live each day as a gift to be used to bring some light to this dark, dark world. Love you all so much friends!

Designed with Purpose

The first section of this blog is the second part of the word I felt the Lord gave me at the beginning of December. (There are several parts to it, which I believe the Lord will have me release at different times.)

The words are as I heard them in quotation marks, because I want to honor God’s voice as I perceive it, and don’t want to add my own interpretation to it. Following that though, I do feel prompted to flesh it out a little. Obviously, I am human, and I may be off, and this is not the canonized scripture, but I believe it carries the heart of the scripture. I also look for outside confirmation of words, and it was immediately confirmed. This is as I heard it.

“You are truly at the brink of the greatest outpouring this world has ever seen of. My glory.  My Holy Spirit is being poured out with out measure in this last time.  There will a great wave, a great influx of soul.  Like the waves of the oceans, they will be swept into the kingdom.”

“This generation, this generation that has had identity theft coming against them, this generation though they have been turned over to the enemy for a season, this generation will be the ones to rise up and throw that Jezebel lying spirit off the balcony.  Eunuchs did it in my Word, and again those who have lost their sexual identity, these very ones will run to the Lamb of God, be forgiven of their trespasses and rebellion, they shall know their true identity in Christ, and they will cast off the Jezebel that has sought to steal their identity to cut off their generations.  That pride flag will be torn down, and a spirit of humility will sweep this nation.”

This generation has certainly had identity theft committed against them, and many, many have bought it hook, line, and sinker. I truly believe as this generation of young people have the blinders pulled off their eyes, and they begin to see that they were deceived by agendas that have sought to steal, kill, and destroy them – not just their sense of self (of their individual identity), but also to cut off their generations (families from being formed and babies from being born) – that they will rise up and throw off that lying spirit as the Eunuchs did to Jezebel in 2 King’s 9:33.

What do I mean by identity theft?

In 2022, a suspension bridge in India that had been designed and built during the British rule many decades before collapsed with 100’s of people plummeting into the river below killing over a 100 of them. The bridge had been structurally sound when built, but in recent times fallen into disrepair. Engineers had shut down the structure to repair the damage, but they did so in a hurry, and with no regard to things like weight limits. After a short few months, the bridge was reopened right before a festival. As hundreds crowded the bridge, the cables began to give way under the weight crashing into the water below.

Much like this bridge, God has an original design that works, and it has worked and will work for eternity. His original design is family – a man and a woman in covenant procreating children. Over time, mankind has damaged that structure, creating pain and hurt from broken covenants, abusive behavior, etc.. This has caused the need for repair. Instead of going back to the original design and restoring the bridge to what the original intent was, we have tried to in our own rebellion against God, or even with the belief that God no longer exits, made the bridge the way we wanted or to different standards, even changing the look of the bridge entirely, and as a result it doesn’t hold weight. It will eventually collapse, because the structure is not sound.

What does Jezebel have to do with it? I really don’t like throwing around the Jezebel spirit word, but Jezebel. as the person in the scriptures, was a cruel, manipulative, controlling ruler. The spirit of this age many times has those controlling and manipulative attributes. In scripture, Jezebel even intimidated the prophet Elijah who had called fire down from heaven, causing him to run, questioning his call and identity. That spirit always cause identity theft. Isn’t that the same thing happening today? People questioning their identity, their calling, floundering around not knowing who they are, why they are here, and what they are to do with their lives.

Some would look at God – the great three in one – and say well, where is the design of family in God? Yet the Trinity is actually the perfect picture of what family is supposed to look like. This may rock your thoughts a bit, but study this out for yourself. God is family. He didn’t procreate the Son. He was always already present in the Godhead, but consider this. God is three in one – God, the Father; God, the Son (Jesus); and God, the Holy Spirit (mother). Now, wait a minute. God is not female? Right?

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew pronoun for the Holy Spirit is in a feminine form, meaning the Jewish culture attribute the female qualities to the Holy Spirit. Some qualities listed about the Holy Spirit are comforter, helper, friend, wind, the dove, peace-giver, the one who hovers, gives life, and creates. Sounds like a mother to me? In Genesis, the word says that God created man and woman in His image, which is a male and female image. The Trinity represents the purest form of the perfect family structure.

I understand that some may read this and say that I’m not educated or that I’m judging people. The fact is I have several people who I love dearly who have lived alternative lifestyles. I have seen the short and long-term fruit of those who have accepted the changes in original design. In fact, I recently asked an honest question to a precious friend who had been in an alternative lifestyle for decades. My question was in all these years, have you known anyone in your circles that have had good, long lasting fruit, meaning long term peace, love, joy, happiness from it? She thought and thought. Her answer was “No. Everyone I know is still searching to fill that hole in their heart. Everyone I know is dealing with depression, suicide, drugs, alcohol, etc., and are searching for peace.”

To the opposite, I also have seen that as people have received the true love and truth about who God has created them to be as a daughter of God, that their sexual identity automatically begins to changed intended for it to be. The way they think and feel begins to change, and their lives begin to bear good, long lasting fruit, like joy, peace, love. Depression, anxiety, suicide fall away, as they live in who God created them to be. Sexual identity is almost a by-product, as they grasp their calling as a son or daughter of the living God.

I too have gone through some of those changes, because having been raised in a extremely sexually abusive environment, being female for many years did not felt safe to me. So I believed that it was safer to carry extra weight, and to dress down. This is super common among abuse survivors. Yet, as I realize more and more who God has created me to be and that I’m safe being a female, I feel more comfortable in my own skin. I desire to wear make-up and look pretty.

I don’t come from a stand point here of pointing my finger. My heart is full of compassion for the people standing on the broken bridge. In fact, a person who identified as A-sexual recently asked me why did I think I had authority to speak into this topic. My answer was pretty simple. I do understand many of the thought processes that lead to those beliefs, and I have compassion on those who don’t understand who God has created them to be, because I’m still growing in that myself. I know how strong lies,and hurts can be driven into a heart. But I know the healer of the broken heart, and I’ve seen how He can change lives around, and give people a whole new identity in Him.

I firmly believe that God created us – all of us with design – a design that was actually made after His image. Gen. 5:2, Mark 10:6 Obviously, mankind has screw that up through many things – drugs, genetic manipulation, rebellion against the original design, etc.. And sometimes, there is not a pat, easy answer to the screw ups. Mankind has sought to reinvent the bridge. It has since the beginning. Pride resulting in rebellious fists against the creator has led to many falling to their death off a broken bridge that can’t hold weight.

Yet, this is why Jesus came. He came to make a way for us to be back in a family. A real family. A way to be back in fellowship and relationship with the perfect Father, Mother, and Big Brother. And when we find our place in that family, He will show us who He has really created us to be.

I believe in this generation those blinders will come off, and this generation will be able to see truth, and they will throw off the lies and the agenda that has sought to destroy them and their generations. That will happen as they come to know the real Jesus, who loves them and cares for them like no other, and who has made the way for them to be apart of His family.

Part of this great move of God I believe will come from just this – thousands and thousands realizing their true identity in Jesus, throwing off their pride flag, and humbling themselves before God, receiving true love, so perfect that it casts out the fear and manipulation and the lies. I’ve seen it with a few. Many more are going to follow. God will raise them up, just as He did those Eunuchs, and they will overthrow the very system that has held them captive.

 

Embrace the Baby

Playfully, a new friend of mine changed her voice as she mimicked the tones of the shepherds, the wise men, Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, and even the sheep as she individually held the pieces of our antique manger sitting on our coffee table. We belly laughed as she retold the story through cracked, chipped characters tip tapping the glass top through the hay straw.

Joseph and Mary stood staring at the holy infant keeping their distance with their hands crossed over their chest in a stiff, lifeless stance as Baby Jesus lay still in the most holy, untouchable way safely tucked a few feet away.

“Oh, Look at the Son of God laying there. He is so holy,” said Joseph in her deep, husky man’s voice.

“Yes, Joseph. Isn’t Jesus so perfect?! Don’t touch Him,” Mary sighed in my friend’s best squeaky high voice, “Just look at Him.”

The shepherds and sheep stood at a distance. “Such a wondrous sight. The savior of the world. The angels just told us about it. But we will stand over here so as not to disturb Him.”

The sheep said, “Bahh!” in return. We laughed again.

As the giggles died down, I turned to face my friend and said, “But isn’t this how most people really treat Jesus, and the whole Christmas story? Isn’t this how most religious institutions have portrayed the Messiah? Someone to be seen from a distance – holy, perfect, untouchable. Seen, but not touched.”

She sighed, “Yes, babies are meant to be cuddled, embraced, held close to your heart. They melt the hard things inside us when we do.”

And it’s the same with Jesus. He wants you to hold Him close to your heart, to let Him into the deep places inside of you, to allow His love to melt the hard.

Yet, to do so, we must embrace Him. We must open our hearts to receive His love, trusting Him that His love will be safe.

We can stay at a distance admiring His holiness, and perfectness, making Him untouchable. He won’t force us to come close, but if we refuse to, we will never truly know Him, never truly know His love.

Love is not sterile. It’s not distant. It is so intimate, so close, so vulnerable – kind of like holding a newborn in your arms – close to your breast, against your heart. So, close you hear each others heartbeat. This is the way Jesus is meant to be embraced. One with you. One with Him.

And His love will heal you. It will embrace you back. It will soothe, and melt your heart, giving you a new heart. His love will accept you, and show you who He has created you to be all along, from the beginning of time. His love will set you free.

Will you draw close to Jesus this Christmas?

Take a step closer to the risen Savior. He is not in the manger any more. He is alive. He came to give His life for you, because He loves you.

Love compels us to pick up the baby in the manger, to embrace the baby close to your heart and let Him melt all the hard places away.

He loves you so very much!

Merry Christmas!

A New Hope Rising

Recently, I was at a funeral – my mom’s funeral.  As the lid of the casket closed, two of our former pastors solemnly walked through the doors to greet my sister, who they had come for.  I meandered across the room shaking hands, and receiving thoughtful glances as I made my way to greet my old friends.  Unknown bridges had been burned in the past, but we had not been the ones to light the fires to them.  Once torched, we had sought several times to rebuild, to reconcile, but to no avail.  

It had been almost a decade since we last met.  As I approached them yet again with a welcoming hug and a greeting of genuine, “It so good to see you,” it felt like I had just hugged an icicle – hard, cold, unresponsive.  Not a word was returned. 

Later, I wrestled with all my ball of knotted up gut responses in the presence of a trusted friend.  With many tears, I talked to Jesus and encountered His presence.

I sought reconciliation still with these pastors.  “Jesus, maybe if I just write one more letter.  Maybe if I just trying explain one more time where our hearts were, why we left when did, etc., etc.?”

There are only a handful of times that I have seen Jesus truly angry, like turn over the tables in the temple angry.  Honestly, in scripture, the only time I read about Him that angry is when He encountered the religious leaders of His day.  He never seemed to be mad at the prostitutes, or the sick, or the demon-possessed, or the dishonest tax collectors, or even the Roman dictators.  But with the religious leaders He commonly said some scathing comments about them.  “White-washed tombs filled with dead men’s bone” would probably qualify as some of those type of comments.  

So, I found myself begging for reconciliation with these former pastors to Jesus, who seemed really, really angry.  The answer I got was well, not what I expected, but it went way broader than these pastors really fast.  In fact, this message is not really about these individuals at all, but they seemed to be representing church leadership in general.

He has repeated this message over the course of the past month and a half, different ways, but over and over again to me.  Even this morning, the directive has been to write this down, and share it.  There is no desire on my part to throw these particular people under the bus.  The reason I mention them at all is for context. For whatever reason, His answer to me was a firm “No,” to seeking further reconciliation.  It was more like “It’s time for me to intervene.”  

Please understand.  I’m not saying any of this as a judgment statement against all churches.  In fact, in this engagement with the Lord, I kept feeling like I needed to ask forgiveness because I got them in trouble, which was silly.  I hadn’t done anything to cause them pain, though evidently they had thought so.  I also quickly realized Jesus’s words were not just directed towards them, but the American Church in general.  Also, my family and I do meet in the corporate environment with other believers, and it is wonderful.  The following is not meant to be a blanket judgment across the American Church from me.  I have a healthy respect for the scripture that says, “Don’t judge, lest you be judged.”  I know I miss the mark all the time, so this is just a reiterating of what I have heard that He has been saying this past month, and feel now is the time to share it.  

In my mind’s eye, I saw the tip of an huge iceberg floating in the sea, and then the finger of God came and tapped the tip, flipping the entire iceberg upside down, so that huge, immense bottom was now above water and was visible for the world to see.  Then, I heard these words.

“Those who have represented my church, who have represented me, in their pride, in their arrogance, who have offered fake fire, and a puny god, who made my kingdom their kingdom, who have made their name great instead of my name, their day of judgment has come.  Only the tip of the iceberg has been shown, but I am tipping the iceberg upside down, and the world will see the giant iceberg underneath.  It must be done, or the American’s destiny will not be fulfilled.” 

“The shaking in the four walls has only begun.” 

“Exposure.  Exposure.  Exposure.”

“You have called for the judgment on the broken in this nation, you have turned your eyes away from the needy, the bleeding.  In fact, you have been disgusted by the little, hurt lambs, while instead you have fed the wolves.” 

“Enough is enough.  The tables are turning.  The tables are turning.  I will cleanse my house of this witchcraft, of this wickedness.”  

“They have misrepresented my heart.  They have caused the little ones to stumble .  The children cried for a rope to pull them out of the pits, and instead they have offered them a noose.  They have brought judgment on themselves.”  

“Don’t look to the four walls anymore.  Don’t try to be like the old structure at all.  Yes, there is some good still there. Yes. I am still using organized churches, but a shift is coming and is already here.” 

“Millions have been driven out of buildings, out of the man’s kingdom structures, and into their homes.  I am and will pour my spirit out in the homes, businesses, in the street. The enemy won’t contain my spirit behind four walls anymore.”  

“On the contrary, my ecklessia will return to her roots,  house to house, home to home, family to family, heart to heart.  I will build my true ecklessia.  Not with bricks, but with living stones, with me only as their chief corner stone.”

Yesterday, I sat in a movie theatre with tears streaming down my cheeks.  In front of me on the big screen was a church that had been partly destroyed by the Civil War.  The bell tower had been damaged with the bell itself now covered in ashes laying on the floor in the center of the shell shocked nave.  “Mama always said that the bell of the church is the voice of the church which rings out hope, but look the church has lost her voice,” said the character in the movie as he looked at the structure.  (Paraphrased)

The stark scene reflected the feelings in my heart.  “The church has lost her voice,” I repeated in my head.  And yet as the movie continued, the scenes changed to later showing the same fallen bell, covered in ashes and snow.  As the wind blew across it the words “ New Hope” appeared.  

There is no power in a church building unless the Holy Spirit resides there.  The traditional church were my mom’s funeral had been held was as empty and cold as my former friend’s hug had been.  

How many lost souls have found only condemnation, a list of do’s and don’t’s, a bar too high to jump, a noose to hang themselves on; instead of a rope to be pulled out the dark pit they have fallen into, and a gospel that is empty of good news.  

Our Hope has been, is now, and will always be found in Christ alone.  “He did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save it.”  

In this season of civil war, A New Hope is and will rise out of the ashes of the destruction of former institutions we called church.  It will be the true Bride of Christ, the true Church, the true Body of Christ arising with the real Jesus as our leader, our lover, our Bridegroom King.  He’s not done with the American Church, but He must clean house, and rebuild His true church to restore Her voice.  Only He can do this.  It may not look like we think it will, but He can and will have His Bride, His Church.  

God truly loves you.  He relentlessly is chasing after the rejected ones, the ones who have been judged, ridiculed, and left on the road side to die.  He came to seek and save those that are lost.  

A great harvest is coming, but they will come because they have met the real, true Jesus who loves them with a love, so pure, so strong, so compelling.  Our New Hope is found in the true Jesus alone.  

Ironically, when I was a child, my mom used to sing this little song about a bell ringing. “If I had a bell, I’d ring it in the morning. I’d ring it in the evening all over this land. I’d ring out justice. I’d ring out freedom. I’d ring out a love between my brothers and my sisters all over this land.” (paraphrased)

Let the bells ring out Hope again!

The movie referenced is “I Heard the Bell” by Sight and Sound Theatre 2022, and the song is “If I Had a Hammer” lyrics © T.R.O. Inc., Tratore/ Songwriters: Lee Hays / Pete Seeger.

Why “The Bride Arising”?

“This is Where You Fight From”

Often times, we become so familiar with a concept, topic, or environment that we miss the importance of it. Being the Bride of Christ is one of those concepts.

When the vision that I just wrote about in my new book, “The Bride Arising: A Vision of a Bridal Journey” occurred six years ago, I had been raised in the church my whole life. I knew about the concept of the Bride of Christ. I knew it be about the passage in Revelation 21:2, where it talks about the new Jerusalem coming down. I also knew and had heard sermons preached about Ephesians 5, where husbands are commanded to love their wives, like Christ does the church as His Bride. That it is a mystery. There is actually a lot of passages about the Bride of Christ coming and us being ready for the wedding!

When you have an experience though that is back up by the scriptures, especially one like this vision was, it takes that information and engraves it on your heart in new ways.

I hope that you will take time to go back and watch the interview I had with my special guests, because they asked some fantastic questions. I included it at the end.

One question was what has been one thing that has made a lasting impact, brought lasting fruit in my life because of this experience? Encounters with a living God should bring about lasting fruit. It should change you. As I contemplated that question, I realized that not only had this experience been one of the most profound and vivid encounters with Jesus, but also one that has had a most lasting impact.

This vision with Jesus really was the beginning of me experiencing Him in this intimate love, this holy, pure passion like I’d never experienced before. Through out this experience, Jesus kept looking at me and telling me that

“This is where you fight from. This is where you live now.”

It didn’t make as much sense then as it does now. Through the years since this experience with Him, living from that holy place of intimacy with Jesus, from under the canopy of His love, with His armor firmly fitted over my wedding attire (my new identity in Christ), it has become my life, my sustaining daily bread. When I’ve lost sight of this holy place of intimacy with Him in His heart of love for me, is when I’ve spiraled downward into confusion, darkness, and despair.

Knowing our identity in Jesus Christ as our Bridegroom, both individually and corporately, and then living from it, is how we can live an overcoming life in this crazy, dark world. This is why I wrote the book and why I feel it’s so important. It’s not just about me having this grand experience. It’s about each of us encountering the Living God of love, and dwelling there with Him, living our lives from that place of intimacy in His heart.

In the book, I give you space to have your own experience with Him. I pray others will also share as they are ready what that experience was like for them.

Consider this scripture:

“Look! It is the king’s marriage carriage— the love seat surrounded by sixty champions, the mightiest of Israel’s host, are like pillars of protection. They stand ready with swords to defend the king and his fiancée from every terror of the night. The king made this mercy seat for himself out of the finest wood that will not decay. Pillars of smoke, like silver mist—a canopy of golden glory dwells above it. The place where they sit together is sprinkled with crimson. Love and mercy cover this carriage, blanketing his tabernacle throne. The king himself has made it for those who will become his bride.” Song of Songs 7-10 TPT

Can you see it? Everyone who becomes His Bride (Which is both male and female – Refer to Chris’ encounter in the the chapter entitled “The Struggle for Men” pg. 60), have the position to sit on the mercy seat, which is covered in crimson (the blood of Jesus) under the canopy the canopy of His love (His chuppa – the wedding canopy). His banner over us is love. This is where we sit seated with Jesus Christ, surrounded by His mighty angel, warriors. It’s our place of intimacy, rest, warfare, protection. It is the marriage seat.

My friends, this is why this message is so important for us today. As we get closer and closer to the changing of the next age of the Kingdom, the full revealing of the Sons of God in the earth, to the wedding celebration of the Lamb, we must live from this place.

This book is for you to help you to begin to encounter Jesus, and all of the Trinity for yourself.

It is also timely. The Lord kept pressing me to have the book completed before the week of Sukkot, which is the Feast of Booths/ Feast of Tabernacles. It’s the feast the Jews celebrate the crossing of the desert to the promised land, where they lived in temporary dwelling, and so to celebrate would for ten days live outside in tents at this time every year. I was invited to be apart of a Sukkot celebration for the first time, and had been asked to teach a healing art class there. I felt led to do one on the bridal journey. What I had no idea of though is that in the Hebrew mindset, the journey of Sukkot is the bridal journey!

The journey through the wilderness for the Hebrews was a bridal journey with God, where they came to Mt. Sinai to cut a marital covenant with Him. He became their covering in the desert, their protector, their provider, their lover. Obviously, they were not fully able to embrace this covenant, and eventually turned their backs on their Husband, God. (I think this would make a great follow up blog.) In short, Jesus came to cut a new marriage covenant with us. When we receive Him, we say yes, to Him as our covering, our protector, our provider, our lover, our Husband.

So, in telling me to have the book completed by this celebration, the Lord confirmed strongly His will in having this book out at just the perfect time. How fun God is!

Even if you decide not to read the book, I hope you gained more perspective on what it means to become the Bride of Christ, and how vital it is to live from that place of intimacy in His heart!

It’s time for the Bride to Arise.

“The Bride Arising: A Vision of a Bridal Journey” is now available on Amazon.com as a paperback and Kindle version.

You Tube Version of “The Bride Arising” Launch Event with Special Guests: Wendy Cohen, Adena Hodges, and Lisa Meister

New Book Release: The Bride Arising: A Vision of a Bridal Journey

I’m so excited to announce that my next book, “The Bride Arising: A Vision of a Bridal Journey” is now released on Amazon.com. The Kindle version is already available, and it will be FREE from Tuesday, Nov. 16 through Friday, November 18th on Kindle. The paperback version is also available now, and will be on sale through the end of the month!

This book was birthed from a personal experience I had with Jesus Christ as the Bridegroom preparing His Bride. Along with the vision, we deep dive into what it means to be the Bride of Christ both corporately and individually. We also discuss each step in the preparation process, and have a time of personal encounter with you discovering what this means for you. Come join in the bridal journey as you make yourself ready for the greatest wedding celebration of all time!

I hope you will take advantage of this opportunity for a FREE and/or discounted book, and please share with others. Reviews on Amazon.com are also super helpful in getting the book out and are much appreciated!

To order or download your free book, just click below or visit Amazon.com.

Click Here

The Day I Danced Out Of Church

Something was wrong.  I knew it, but couldn’t put my fingers on it.  

Sure.  There were things in the natural that I saw that weren’t sitting right.  But this was something deep below the surface – something not visible – like slimy things hidden in dark places.  

As soon as anyone asked questions, tried to turn the light on, their flashlight was tossed out – X-ed out – including ours.  

Yet, the problem seemed even deeper than one place, one building, one enterprise.  It gnawed at me.  The Holy Spirit had been stirring things up in us for months.  

“When Heidi comes, you will know for sure…” the Holy Spirit whispered inside.  

Heidi Baker is someone I respect highly, and she was coming to our neck of the woods.  After an infamous talk entitled “Don’t Eat Your Family,” (a rebuke regarding Christian cannibalism – verbally tearing your family apart), she pointed towards the back doors and said, “It’s time for you to dance right out of here.”  

I turned to my husband in shocked surprise.  “I think she’s talking to us.”  It was a few weeks later, but…

Then, came the moment.

The moment I thought I’d dread.  The moment I walked out of those doors – out of the same place I had said my vows with my husband, raised my babies, walked through for the last twenty-six years of my life.  It was surreal.

Yet, the oddest thing happened.   

I caught the glance of a friend from across the auditorium, threw my arms around her neck, and instead of tears of sorrow, joy bubbles began to pop up inside me, making me laugh like a little girl.  

It was almost embarrassing, except I didn’t care.  Like I’ve heard about in the natural (because I’ve never actually been drunk) when you are drunk, you don’t care what others think.  

In fact, I could not stop laughing, not even when the well-meaning elder glumly offered his last words to me.  Heaven must have been rolling, because I could not contain myself.  

Kindly, I patted his arm, and managed to say, “It’s OK,” snicker, snicker.  “We are gonna be just fine.”  His shocked look said it all.

I held onto the pew as more laughter bellowed out.  I kind of slid across the back wall, holding myself up with my hands, and with a slight skip in my step pushed open the doors, as I met my family in the foyer.  

Does that count for dancing out?

So, why am I telling you this?  

And no, I’m not going into a church bashing session, so you can let out a deep breath now.  

It’s more about something that has been changing and is changing in me.

It’s far greater than me though.  It is a change, a shift that I believe will eventually effect us all in some way or another.

I learned a long time ago, that anyone, and I mean anyone, especially me, can go stupid.  And yes, in my opinion there was a bit of that stupidity that happened in that season at that church.  Quite honestly, since I had been in a leadership position, serving on the prayer team as a leader, I had briefly become apart of it all.  

Yet, the problems that church went through aren’t isolated issues, because of one rogue leader.

It’s a problem I’ve heard about countless times and has shut down every move of God.

I first began to see things differently when I went to hear a woman I had never heard of speak in a hotel room – well, not much bigger than one.  She was unlike anyone I had ever met before, and she carried a presence of God that demanded attention or her peels of laughter did.  It was both, actually.  

By the second meeting I went to, I was up on the front row, because I was trying to prove to myself that what I was sensing from this woman was real.  As I sat there, it was as if someone stood behind me, took off the top of my head, and poured new information in.  

The speaker wasn’t even talking about the church and church structure directly anyway.  She was just retelling lots of amazing stories of God moving in miraculous ways, but her point was that He wanted to move in everyone’s lives this way.  

Now, I “knew” that, but I guess I’d not really “seen” that, and what I had been experiencing in our church situation had become more of a pyramid structure of performance.  

All of a sudden, in front of me, instead of pyramids, either right side up or upside down, I saw a level playing field.  Yes, each person had an important position to play and everyone used their gifts in unity for the winning score for the team, but there was only one coach, and it wasn’t the charismatic leader in the front.  It was Jesus.  He was calling the plays.

This rocked my world, so much so that without even saying a word about any of it, I was kindly dismissed from the leadership role I had held.  I don’t think it was coincidental, but probably providential.

God wasn’t done though shifting my mindsets.  And still isn’t for that matter.

Shortly after this, we were on vacation.  On my morning stroll with, I was having a little talk with Jesus, and I was telling Him all about our troubles.  I began to ask Him what the structure of the church was supposed to look like, what was His intentions.  All I could see was the mess men through the ages had made of it.  

It was like God would begin to move and pour out His Spirit, and bam, someone would grab the glory and move of God and try to make it their own.  That is a very simplified way of looking at things, but basically that what seems to happen over and over and over again.  

Kathie Walters says as soon as someone says God is moving HERE, in US, like WE have anything to do with, it’s done.  God will move somewhere else, because He refuses to have men’s hands on it.  He knows what men will do with it.  Make it their own.  

So, I digress.  

I was having a hard time seeing things through a positive frame at that time of kicking sand.  So, again, I was asking, “What’s it supposed to look like?”

As I shuffled my feet near the ocean’s edge, I had a matrix moment.  I didn’t see numbers break through scrolling in front of my face, but as I asked the Lord what His idea of what His church should look like, I began to see something very different in my mind’s eye.  

At first, I saw what looked like bubbles or circles.  Then, as it clarified more it was like cells, lots of them, interlocking, exchanging energy, living, breathing, growing.  Honestly, I was stunned.  What did this mean?  

I pondered the cell image, and as I began to ask questions, the Lord began to speak about it.  

It wasn’t about a certain church building or land that the Lord wanted to pour His Spirit on.

It wasn’t about a man’s kingdom or enterprise at all.  It was about His body, His Bride.  

All the cells were comprised of families of people, believers from all over the world, functioning together as one body, in unity, answering to the head, Jesus.  It was and is an ever moving, growing, expanding, beautiful body of Jesus.  

What we had become involved in was seemingly a one man show, an enterprise as it was put to us.  

The move of God had morphed into a man building his kingdom, because he claimed the move of God as his.  He took off the gloves of humility that the Lord had instructed him to keep on, and touch the Holy, held onto the glory, and made it his own.  

What the leadership had wanted was a charismatic leader who would take their God-given dream to make it a reality.  Though I believe their original intent was good, in my opinion, it cost a lot of people a lot of pain, as building any man-made kingdom usually does.  

Some structure is good.  Throwing off all restraint is not.  That leads to chaotic anarchy.  This is not some rebellious attitude that all forms of leadership are bad and should be over-thrown.  That’s fascism.  

Yes, even family needs structure.  There are relational lines and some rules laid down by the law of love that we abide by, and as we mature and grow, we should all be flourishing in a culture of honor, in mutual submission, not lording over each other.

The parents want their children to out grow them, to excel and succeed in life.  It is an ever growing, living, thriving unit.  

When one hurts, we all hurt.  When one celebrates, we all celebrate.  When one falls, we all go down to help the one who is hurting.  

There are boundaries and consequences in family –  in learning to grow up.  In fact, if we lovingly held people to some consequences and did not look the other way, we might have a healthier family unit, and abuse would not thrive.   

This is what it was meant to be, what it was meant to look like  – a lot like love. A lot like washing feet.  A lot like lifting one another’s burdens.  It’s what Jesus said would make us irresistible to the world – the way we love each other.  

After I danced out, the Lord took us on a six or so month journey of going to almost every denomination and some non-denominations.  

You know what we experienced?  

His Spirit alive and moving in them all.  All of them had a piece, a beautiful color to weave into the master design.  All of them…. 

So, whether you go to St. Such and Such or Bedside Assembly as we used to call it in college, or whether you have believers in your home or meet at a coffee shop, the Holy Spirit desires to be poured out through all of us, for all of us to be the living, breathing, growing thriving body of Christ.  

It’s not about the four walls, the great programs, the charismatic apostle, the amazing sermon, or the women’s luncheons.  Those can be good things, as long as it doesn’t become a self-gratifying social club, and those things aren’t stealing your focus from Jesus, your time from true intimacy with Him and others?  

These days, I still find myself seeing the Kingdom from a much broader, life giving view.  

We fellowship on a regular basis with other believers, because it’s important.  Isolation is not a healthy course in the long run.  We need each other.  We need accountability.  I know I do.  

You are a king under King Jesus.  You are priest under His Priesthood.  There is no Junior Holy Spirit.  We all get to play on the same field together.  

Until we come together as one body, as one Bride, I don’t really think we can accomplish the full mission that we are here to do.  

Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus and let Him pour His Spirit out on all of us, not just the church leadership.  When we are looking to them instead of Christ, it is a lot of expectation and pressure to put on them anyway.

Who knows?  Maybe you’ll find yourself dancing out of some pyramid one day to healthy family cell outside of traditional structure or maybe you’ll find your family cells within more of a structured environment?  

The point is we are all the body, the Bride of Christ.  He is our head, and we answer to Him.  

We walk in love, honor, and mutual submission with all our brothers and sisters, honoring and developing the gifts in each one we meet.  That’s family, and a Kingdom Family is what we are called to be.

The Healing Flow of Creativity

I was the kind of child who was always looking for a way to escape my reality – looking for the ancient door to the wardrobe so that I could step into Narnia, where enchanting trees spirits, lively dwarfs, and talking animals made my painful realities all fade away.  

Somehow in the process of growing older, of coloring between the lines and living by the rules, especially the religious ones, the creative fantasies disappeared like a mist vaporizing.  Trauma, worries, concerns, cares of this world, even our logical thinking can bring the creative flow to a halt.  

But not so “In the beginning…” 

Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created…” And a few verses later, mankind was made in His image.  We were created in the image of our creator who created all things.  The first instructions He gives His new creation is “Go procreate.  Go cultivate.  Go name the animals.  Go take care of all of this new creation.  Go be fruitful and multiple.”

This is what co-creating with God means to me – to allow His creative power to flow through us to bring His image upon the earth.

In a state of worshipful mediation, I heard the words, “You don’t live by the rules anymore.”  

When we are young, we have lots of rules to teach us, protect us, and to help us learn.  Yet, as we grow older, maturing into adults many of those rules aren’t needed anymore.  God says that He will write His law of love on our hearts, and that this is the new place to live from.  

It was the temptation to eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that brought death in the first place.  Mankind stepped away from the Tree of Life, and partook of the Tree of Knowledge: the tree of living by the rules, the regulations, of the law that kills, the knowledge of right and wrong.

Children are born with the ability to create and tend to be very creative.  We are made in the image of God.  He is the master creator.  I believe everyone has some God-given ability in them to create whether it is gardening, painting, cooking, working with computer, fixing a car.  It’s in us.  

Yes.  As children, we need rules and boundaries to help us to mature and to grow up healthy.  “Don’t touch the hot stove.” is a rule that can keep our fingers from experiencing the painful burn of heat.  We need to learn right from wrong, and that there is truth and laws that govern our world.   

As we grow up though, maturing into into adults, we come to a place in that maturation process where we should step into a new place of being governed by the law of love written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  When we learn to live from the law of love, there is the return of the freedom flow of living from the Tree of Life.  

However, children also learn at a young age, many times by a well meaning adult or maybe a not so well meaning, that thinking or coloring outside of the box or the lines is wrong, squelching creativity.  We learn to live and operate from places of fear of punishment.  We learn to live in boxes – in those self- or other- imposed boundary lines that are controlling us through intimidation.

Trauma, stress, anxiety, depression, fear, anger, unresolved issues in our heart cloud, suppress, and even destroy our ability to create.  

To create beautiful things, there must be some framework of trust in us.  Trust is built through loving, safe relationships.  In intimate, trusting relationships creativity flourishes, because the fear of failure evaporates.

I still remember the day I was teaching an art class to sex trafficking survivors.  One lady began to cry as we were finishing up a painting.  I thought somehow I had triggered her, but instead she began to tell a piece of her story.   As a child, she loved to paint and draw, but her abuser threw her art supplies away, and forbid her to be creative.  Through her tears, she said this was the first time since then that she had created something beautiful.  This unlocked something in her.

That’s what allowing creativity to flow happens in us.  It unlocks things.  It unlocks places in our hearts, beauty, our dreams, ambitions.  It also can unlock areas of pain, which we then can give to God in the process and let Him heal.  

Life is not about following rules of do’s and don’t or coloring in the lines.  It is about a free flow of stepping into the river of life, and co-creating with God.  The only boundaries of the river are His love.  

It might look messy.  It hopefully will look and feel child-like.  But most of all, my prayer is you feel encouraged and connected with the Master creator, learning to allow His creative power to flow through you bringing healing and wholeness to your heart, mind, and Spirit.

As I was spending time with the Lord today, I felt God whisper this is my ear for you.

Child,

I am the master creator.  I created everything with my breath, formed the mountain, hung the stars, spun out the solar systems with my words.  Be and it was.  Every living thing, every living creature was formed in my magnificent heart, hand crafted by me.

Mankind being my most glorious of all creation, after my own likeness, you are made in my image.  You are made to be creative, to create and bring to life the wonders I placed inside of you.  

The enemy wants nothing more than to destroy the creative process in you, to squelch the beauty within waiting to burst forth.  

Trauma, fear, anger, stress – all these things put you in a shut down, self protect mode which keeps you from engaging and living out of me, living out of the freedom of the creative life giving flow.  Like blocks damming a river, preventing the flow of life.

Your enemy comes swiftly at children to shut down their creativity to steal their God-given ability to connect with heaven, with good, with me through their imagination.  But I want to restore your child-like faith.  I want to clean your holy imagination screen, to fill your mind-eye with light, so you can see again.

In the creative River, there is a flow of ideas, light, life, freedom.  There is no right or wrong here.  There are no rules.  The only boundary is love.  Every creative drop flows out of love, out of life, joy, peace – from living in the tree of life.  

Don’t be afraid of making a mistake, of getting it wrong, of seeing something wrong or bad.  If you do, just bring that back to me, let me heal where ever it is that is causing you pain.  I’m not going to condemn you.  I simply love you.  I know where you are in pain, what needs my touch.  I am healing you.  

These are healing waters of creativity that are yours to step into.  So, jump on in. I’ll meet you in the middle of the waters to jump and play and to wash all the pain, sorrow, and lies away.  

I love you, little one.  You are sensing me.  Dance in the river of creative love.  Music, arts, books, all forms of creativity flow from here…

Engage.  Encounter me.

Love,

Papa

Check out the new monthly encounter art classes where we learn and grow in this creative flow together!