Sunset from the rooftop!

Sunsets are another reminder of God's faithfulness to me and the fulfillment of another great day and hope for tomorrow. 

What is hope?  It is an expensive attribute and one that can often take years to build, that is when we are talking about something rock solid and something that gives us absolute confidence, not wishy washy like “well, I hope so…”.  There is certainly the wishful thinking side of things, but then there is the biblical definition.

It is the confident expectation of what God has promised and its strength is in His faithfulness.

Hope’s strength is the strength of the person's desire and how they look forward with expectation to what God has in store.  We can so easily be swayed by our feelings and our perception of how things will turn out that can cloud our judgement and make us weak and volatile. 

Call it a singular focus, a heart locked in, a mind engaged that moves us closer to where God longs us to be.  He never wanted us to doubt His goodness.  He wants us to believe for breakthrough, a miracle . 

I love how The Passion translation unpacks Romans 15:13

Now may God, the inspiration and fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with his super-abundance until you radiate with hope!

If there was ever a verse to pray over yourself and others, this is it!  The verse crushes fear and it destroys doubt where we really lock into the promise of uncontainable joy, perfect peace, super abundance and radiating with hope.   I mean, really, this is the kind of person I want to be when people meet me.  I know I’m known pretty well by my laugh, but I also want others to know that my joy comes from a deeper place and I’m learning to rest more and more in what He is doing and less about what I’m striving to become.

What is the sentence of hope that you need right now?

In desperation I will be set up for a new revelation from the LORD

Out of the biggest mess, He can create the greatest miracle

God is preparing me for the miracle of empathy.

God shows us who we are by what He has brought us through.

We know enough about the LORD to get through this valley.

 

He makes me lie down in green pastures and sometimes to get us to green pastures, he needs me to stop!

Stop wasting today's strength on tomorrow's problems.

God is already in my tomorrow.

The word wait in the Bible is also translated into hope.  A classic verse that I committed to memory in my youth was Isaiah 40:28-31

Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
 He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
 Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Here is what I have been sensing the LORD speaking to me as I wait on Him…from my journal.

 

Jack, my son, be watchful and wait on me.  Step into my calling, be vigilant and walk in your authority.  Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Be strong in the LORD and in the power of my might.  Be a man who is full of grace and truth.  Trust in my way for you and be led by the Holy Spirit.

I also have been really blessed by those who also love to lead people to a restored soul and I want to give a shout out to Jonathan Puddle and his 30 Day Devotional that has just be released.  It is a book about practicing the presence of God and creating space to allow us to breathe in His life… just started but really excited about the journey He has me on.

 

 

 

 

He restores my soul

We have been slowly walking through Psalm 23 together with Addi and Rylan as I recently revisited a book that I read a while ago, "Travelling Light" by Max Lucado.  The book really challenges you on the subject of joy.  He asks, 'what is the one thing separating you from joy?  How do you fill in this blank: I will be happy when ___________________.   He goes on to ask the really hard question... what if your situation never changes, could you be happy?  If not, you are sleeping in the cold cell of discontent.  You are in prison and you need to know what you have in your Shepherd.  Can I really say, The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want?

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

There is an imperative here where the LORD wants to slow us down, to be more mindful, to not always been on the go, in a hurry or always feeling rushed.  Sharon and I have been listening to a podcast recently on this very subject of pushing back against the hurry and the rush.  It's called Fight Hurry, End Hustle by John Mark Comer and Jefferson Bethke.  We are starting to build a trellis for our lives.  A trellis is a list of formations that we will practice.  It is one that we hope will allow our lives to flourish and allow us to practice being more present with each other and others.  One obvious one that they share is that they don't have their phones present when people are visiting with them.  They determine a set time that they pick it up in the morning and a set time that they put it away for the evening.  There are certainly other formations that are included but our phones are definitely the most invasive 

He leads me beside still waters.

I have discovered that I enjoy riding my bike early on Sunday mornings the best.  I find that the roads are incredibly quiet and I never get tired of chasing a sunrise.  I love how the LORD paints the skies and with my worship music playing, it's an incredibly peaceful time for me.  Where are your still waters?

He restores my soul.  

The realization is that Jesus gives us Himself.  

I was working on changing the day running light in the Outlander and fighting with the encasement that it was closed in.  It felt like 30 minutes and then I finally breathed and said LORD even in these small things I need You to partner with me and literally it took me seconds after that to replace the light.  It was a small thing, but it was a huge reminder that He wants to be with me, present with me every moment of my day. I have often laughed and His timing especially when I've been working on a roof. We will have finished the job, packed up, start driving away and then it rains lol.  Don't worry, I do check my maps but I really can feel God with me when I'm working as well. As a matter of fact, can any of us take the weather network seriously??  I joke that they are the fake news network.  My son says it is just some guy looking out his window lol.

Better Together

 

It’s not too often that you get the opportunity to work together side by side with family, but at this season in my life, that is exactly what I get to do.  It’s nothing but positive vibes for Rylan, Jordan and me most days on the roof.  However, don’t ask them about me and the roof underlay.  It is not my friend lol.  When we are in rhythm we work so well together.  I don’t like to think that my sons work for me or do work for me but more that they work in partnership with me.

I believe it is the same way with Jesus.
 
 I don't do anything for Jesus, I do everything in partnership with Jesus.  I don’t work for Jesus, Jesus works through me…it’s humbling and amazing at the same time, but what is more powerful is when he works through us collectively as a group of followers of Jesus.
 
I love Ephesians 2:8-10 because it is the gospel and the outworking of the gospel all in one paragraph.
 
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
 
So cool…we are being prepared and God is already setting up our lives for action. The question is, “Am I paying attention to the very situation He is placing me in?”
 
One of the things that God has been revealing to me again is the unityI  have with other believers and how powerful that oneness is to break the power of darkness. 
 
In unity as well, we are powerful when we minister to others
 
We had an opportunity to host a Kickstart ministry day at our home and it really stretched me.  I love the boldness and the passion of the people that we met with that day.  There is a real hunger to be agents of change and to be the healing presence of God on the streets and in homes with the people that they meet.
 
We had the opportunity to take some of the team to visit people at the Manor and really spent time encouraging them and praying for those who were open to it.   As soon as we drove in the parking lot we met Barb who was emotionally distraught and right away we knew it was a divine appointment.  She was so overwhelmed by her circumstances and right there she received prayer and discovered real peace.  Shortly after Alice showed up and then Smitty was at the back of the Manor in the beer garden as we like to call it.  It was an eventful afternoon as he managed to lock himself out of the room and he definitely needed to lie down.  So, there I was with “sweet Dave” and another lady popping out the screen from his window so that I can squeeze myself into his room and get the door open…lol.  I recognize that Roger, the owner, has cameras everywhere and there I was breaking in to a room, oh my goodness.
 
While we were there we also met a new lady who hadn’t moved in to long ago. She was 24 hours sober after just going 3 months without a drink and figuratively beating herself up.  She was dealing with tremors and pain in her back and just felt compelled to drink again.  We took the opportunity to pray for her and the tremors stopped and she could feel heat going through her body as she was being prayed for.  She opened up to us about being separated from her son who doesn’t want anything to do with her and it was a powerful time to talk about faith and the love of Jesus with her. 
 
I have often gone on my own to the Manor to do visits, but this day was incredibly special and I again was reminded that we are so much better and stronger together when we serve in community.
 
Once we arrived back at our house to debrief with the others who gathered, Jeff shared the gospel and right there in our pool there was powerful baptisms, people being filled with the Holy Spirit and deliverance happening as well.  The whole experience stretched me and reminded me about the invisible battle that we do face against the enemy of our souls and the power in the name of Jesus!
 

 
Jesus is our peace, He is our bond of unity and in Him we move and live and have our being together!

 
We also had the opportunity to join Pastor Michael and Kingdom Life for an outdoor time of singing and prayer walk at Riverside Park.   Man, it was SO good to be with them because we all know singing indoors at church isn’t happening anytime soon.  I didn’t realize how much I have missed the power of singing together and worshipping God with other believers!  People were singing and sharing from their hearts.
 
It was another reminder that our reconciliation is not just towards God but towards each other and it we think that the temple of the Holy Spirit is just us individually then we have completely missed the understanding of us corporately as the temple of the Holy Spirit!

 
So, I just want to end by sharing some thoughts about how important community from a really powerful message that Steven Furtick shared on living in a lonely place.  He spoke of the desire of how we just want to be known.
 
He reflected on the state of a man who had leprosy in Mark 1:40 and had to cry out “unclean” when anyone went near him.  How demoralizing it is when you are just known by your issue, how long you have been known this way...unclean
So, he knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. 'If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,' he said.  Leprosy is clearly visible from the spots on your skin.
 
Today, the spots are on our soul, and we are living with shame.
 
One of the realization that you have leprosy is you have lost the ability to feel.  It’s the same way with the leprosy of the soul
 
Whatever we are going through, remember for the follower of Jesus,  He is our great high priest who is able to feel everything that we are going through.
 
In Mark 1:42 immediately the leprosy fell off...immediately our shame is able to fall off.
 
Whatever is keeping me at a distance LORD, break it. Leviticus 13:46
 
Jesus told the man to not tell anyone! He didn't want people just coming to him for a miracle...but the man did just that,  he told everyone.
 

Jesus did it anyway! He knew he would tell everyone.  When you know you’ve been healed, you just have to share it…it’s contagious!

The Hugmaster 2020!

I have been inspired recently by my new friends Jeff and Maria. They have been an incredible joy in our lives as we have gotten to know them over the past month. They will be getting married at the end of July and both of them have an incredible journey towards finding faith in Jesus. We took the opportunity to show love a few weeks ago in the Willow and Dawson area and it was so encouraging to see so many show up to give out flowers and let people how much we care in the midst of all this fear, anxiety and social distancing! I know so many who are struggling just to feel human and crave real connection. Jeff in particular wasn't afraid to take the opportunity to pray for people who were hurting and dealing with pain whether physical or emotional. We even borrowed a pretty hilarious "Hugmaster 2020" to give out hugs.

 

Jeff's enthusiasm was contagious and our time together on the street ended up moving to our backyard for the "after party" where we had a spontaneous time of prayer and worship with 10 people...ok, maybe, there was a few more but there was healthy space, but more importantly, healthy spirituality. One thing this whole pandemic has taught me has been that we were not meant to do life alone. Our personal relationship with the LORD wasn't meant to be just a personal thing. It is richer, fuller and more amazing when it is shared in community.

I know as churches begin to open up and do worship outdoors or in limited spaces indoors, it will be with a lot more appreciation for what a shared experience allows us to know and feel. I was recently listening to a podcast and was really challenged by it. The pastor was speaking on the woman in Mark 5 who was considered unclean and soiled by the religious crowd around her. Here's the story starting in verse 24

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

She had been conditioned by her issue to hide and not touch anything, but Jesus invited her to the center of His attention and affection. When you go through extreme disappointment, extreme private issues and extreme pain He doesn't want you coping on the fringes. He wants you transformed, made whole, reproducing and He wants your identity restored that your issue stole from you. Jesus called her, "Daughter."



I also realized that Jesus responds to intentionality not emergency. The bleeding church has been given an opportunity to point to Jesus. We've been called to host the presence of Jesus. Every time someone have an encounter with heaven it was initially met first with fear. We are not called to be younger or more relevant. Breakthrough begins with exposure to your private issue! Speak to your issue in the name of Jesus.

Sometimes you have to press through the crowd and the rejection so there's nothing between you and Jesus.

She thought she could be healed and hidden, but Jesus loved her too much so let her stay on the fringes. Jesus wanted to do more that heal, He wanted to make her whole and that's the truth about us as well, Jesus wants to make us whole!

She was conditioned by her issue to just stay in the shadows, however Jesus wanted her as the centre of his attention, his affection. It is painful because it requires exposure. She is now ready for real intimacy and restoration as she is completely transformed.

Your faith has made you well, go in peace.

So, as we look forward to more gatherings, more BBQ's and opportunities, I pray that it will be done with more transparency, let's get real with each other, be honest and open and discover the healing that Jesus wants to bring to all of us in community and make us whole! 

With love,

PastorJack9

feel free to reach out to me



twitter @pastorjack9

Just Call Me The Bread Man!

Since we have moved to Exhibition Street in Guelph, we have discovered the most amazing place to get bread, Polestar Hearth, a bakery just around the corner.  I have to admit that with all the social distancing requirements, waiting in line has taught me to appreciate it even more.  They make incredible sour dough bread and our favorite is Super Seed!  It is starting to become a Saturday morning ritual for us.  There is an incredible sense of satisfaction that you experience when you know you are eating good bread!

I am also discovering new things as I learn to be still in the presence of Jesus.  In John 6:28, He is described as the bread of life.  I know that as good as the bread that fills my belly, I desperately need to be in His presence to sustain me and that time for me is carved out in the morning before I start my day.

Jesus in John 6:28 was trying to teach His followers a “new normal”…the very thing we keep hearing today.  In that day He was getting them to go beyond just getting their daily needs met or rushing after another miracle.  He was offering them so much more and He wanted to completely fill the hunger of their soul.

What matters most in the Christian’s life is “who is Jesus to you?”… not what Jesus has done for you. 

Holly Furtick in a powerful message she gave on Mother’s Day shared about identifying the things that are first not bread in your life.   

·         Gossip is not good bread.  Proverbs 26;22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.

·        Good bread is not trying to find all my needs met in my spouse or my children or material things.

She also made a really good point that bread is meant for right now.  The Word that God gives you is a word for the season and more importantly for this moment.  Don’t let it grow stale

Jeremiah 15:16 When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.

His bread is normal, God is not limited to sermons and worship songs. Expect God to speak to you through every mundane moment.   Holly Furtick

Psalm 34:8  Taste and see that the LORD is good

His Bread sustains us, but it is also placed in front of us to declare It’s powerful and life changing promises too!

I also have recently I have been reminded once again about the power of praying Scriptural declarations over my family.  I take time to insert their names into some of the most profound prayers written in the Bible, for example, I will take my children’s names and insert them into the following prayers for example:

Ephesians 1:17   I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give Rylan the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that he may know him better. 18 I pray that Rylan’s eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that he may know the hope to which God has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.

I will take turns and then insert Jordan and Katelyn, Phil and Brynley and Addi as well.

I also pray verses like Galatians 2:20 and the prayer of Ephesians 3:14-21 and there are soooo many great ones packed in Philippians, Colossians as well.

As we take time to listen, to journal, to pray these powerful declarations, I believe the atmosphere changes in our hearts and in our homes. 

When everything starts to open us and the pull comes to go in every direction and chase after everything, remember to stay, to listen, to be grounded in His truth, His Word, His life-giving bread.  Then, go out there and let the new normal be revealed in you,  a new appetite, new desires…not willing to settle for the cheap stuff that never satisfies.

I close with a story about Addi.  She has just started a new job working for a landscaping company.  She has been very diligent about her health, especially her “gut health” after dealing with some parasites after being on cross cultural missions.  I watched in amazement as she meal prepped 5 identical healthy lunches on Sunday evening.  I asked her to give me her lunch break down and here it is!

Quinoa bowl with roasted carrots, beets, brussel sprouts, black beans, corn, grape tomatoes and arugula with hummus or greek yogurt as a dressing, some sort of vegetable like small bell peppers, carrots and hummus, unsalted nuts and some sort of fruit!! like cherries, watermelon, or peaches

Well, the other workers are noticing when they show up with their white bread sandwiches and go for fast food runs.  One guy in particular is noticing so much so they he is actually asking Addi now to prepare lunches for him!  I believe the same is true when we are sustained spiritually from Jesus’ presence.  I believe other’s will notice the contentment, the transcendent peace, the joy, the goodness that He fills our lives with and it will be contagious in a really good way!

Never Be The Same Again!

The new and improved www.jmnroofing.com

I have been so grateful for is to have Jordan, Addi and Rylan working with me during this time as an essential service.  However, what an incredible time of upheaval in our world it has been.  We have all had our lives turned upside down with this Covid19 outbreak, social distancing and lack of real meaningful connection with other people.  I’m sorry, but video calls just don’t cut it after a while.  I have heard stories of people just craving for human touch and longing for a simple hug in the midst of all this craziness. There have been people in groups of five walking downtown Guelph with signs protesting what is going on silently.  The sign they held up was, “We were meant to live together”.

 One question that has been asked is, “when are things going to be normal again?”  We are all doing our best to cope during this time and for some it has been extremely difficult just getting by and I feel for you.  As for myself, this time has been an opporunity to really dig in and become a better version of myself.  TBH… I really wasn’t excited about the person I was becoming.  In some ways, I felt like I was being lulled to sleep in my lifestyle.  My life was predictable; there was no surprise, no carpe diem to me.  I was living life on auto-pilot and then the crisis hit and we were all caught in the whirlwind. 

So, you say, how are you managing?  I don’t want to manage.  I’ve actually turned into a voracious reader with 4 books on the go and just completed 3 books.

Here are the books I read for other avid readers now lol.

Extraordinary by John Bevere; In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day by Mark Batterson; Unexpected by Christine Caine; Compelled by Heidi Baker; Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet by Sarah Hagerty; Hungry For More of Jesus by David Wilkerson and The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do.

I haven’t read this much since my days in Bible College…lol.  and learning a lot about myself, gone on more walks than ever before and committed to a daily workout routine!  It has all kept me grounded.  I have never run this long or this fast for that matter…I just did a 17.3km run on my way to doing my first half marathon. Running for me makes me come alive.  I laugh now because this virus has turned my sons Rylan and Jordan into competitive runners and Addi, I’ve never seen her workout so much!  BTW I quit facebook and Insta…at least until I feel like it’s worth going back there…too much time wasted scrolling. 

The most important thing that has been rediscovered for me is my walk with Jesus and listening to the Holy Spirit.  I really love journaling and hearing from the LORD, HE definitely still speaks today and is longing for us to listen.  Here is what I sensed the Holy Spirit telling me recently.

Jack, continue to rest in my presence and be satisfied with my unfailing love. Keep you face like a flint, ever seeking, ever knowing the path of life.  I then searched up “face like a flint” and discovered it in Isaiah 50:7  It means to stand strong in the face of adversity, regard these difficulties as worthwhile when you consider what they will lead you to.

As we come out of this hibernation of sorts with this virus lockdown slowly easing, the thing that God has really showed me is that I need to step out in faith in greater measure.  I’ve been reading through the Psalms and in 77 the psalmist Asaph reminds me to cry out to the LORD and He listens.  This is a time of repentance (a change of heart leading to a direct change in lifestyle), a time of reset to where God is leading.  I’m challenging in my reading that the greater risks that I take, the more that God can use me.  I also know that it needs to be a God-ordained risk.  I also am riveted and rocked by Jesus’ words when He says in Matthew 19:29 that everyone who has left houses, family, and children will receive a hundred times in this present age and eternal life.  I also know that when we finally arrive in His presence fully in heaven, it won’t be the sins of commission that we will regret, but the sins of omission. Our biggest regrets will be the missed opportunities!  For me, I know that it comes back to my life verse, Matthew 6:21, “wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be also”.  I know that to make a real difference my investments can’t be tied to the here and now.  It’s a huge wakeup call right now when our financial investments are getting flushed down the tubes to stay in that place of trust.  My investment needs to be in people, it’s all about others in the kingdom of God!

Steven Furtick in his latest message was sharing how we were not meant to go back to normal.  In fact, he said we should just remember that we have never been normal…that’s not the goal.  However, why do we want to go back to normal?  The reason is because it’s familiar.  Sometimes we even crave normal even when we know it’s killing us like the children of Israel longing to go back to Egypt in Exodus 14.  I love that he said, “Let’s have the funeral right now!  We are not going back to normal! God brought us all out of Egypt, but is Egypt (representing the world and its values) out of us?

So, what will your new normal be?

As much as I want to light a fire under us, I also want to remind us of the encouragement, hope and strength that God can provide us in the midst of this uncertainty.  I was reading Psalm 91 this morning.

We are called to rest and to abide in the safety of the presence of the LORD.  We are not to people overwhelmed with fear and anxiety.  As children of God, we are under his wings and sometimes in the darkness we don’t even realize how close we are because we are covered right under his wing!

“Realities are released through decrees.  Say what God is saying.  The power of life and death is in the tongue.”  Bill Johnson  We need to speak life over ourselves and our families during this time.

Sing this song over your family, it is so powerful!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp6aygmvzM4

and something to make you smile :)

When You Are Forced To Slow Down and Retreat!

It has definitely been an interesting week to say the least with the spread of Covid19.  I know it has forced many of us into a place where we have had opportunity to self-reflect.  Questions like the following may become more real to us than ever before:

Am I using my time wisely?

Am I taking anything for granted?

Am I employing a healthy perspective?

Am I living true to myself?

Am I waking up in the morning ready to take on the day?

Am I thinking negative thoughts before I fall asleep?

Am I putting enough effort into my relationships?

They are all really good questions to ask ourselves more now than ever before.  So, many of us can easily let our lives slip into auto-pilot and then something like this outbreak happens and we are forced to question everything that we have come to know.  Some have said that the warning signs for something like this happening have been there for years.  We have been more focused on climate-change to our demise at the expense of understanding the spread of viruses that are a more imminent threat to our world. 

I’ve been really encouraged by the ministry of Steven Furtick and Bill Johnson in particular and some of my insights that God is showing me in this time have come through their teaching.

It’s an easy prayer request just to ask God to get us out of this mess, but we must learn the lessons that He is teaching us in the midst of this pandemic.

Out of the biggest mess, He can create the greatest miracle. We are being prepared for the miracle of empathy.   God shows us who we are by what He has brought us through. Sometimes we are stuck because we haven't learned to stop!  He makes me lie down in green pastures.

Sometimes to get us to green pastures, he has to get us to stop!    Steven Furtick

Steven preached on Joshua 3 yesterday.

Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing.

He pointed to the fact that God had to first stop the nation and get them to camp. God is already in my tomorrow. Our faith often grows in unfamiliar places.  Jesus was sleeping through a storm, the disciples were stressing... In the same way, those who don’t put their trust in the LORD run around and worry and stress about everything; however God speaks to our anxious hearts, His children and He says stop to patterns of pessimism.  We will get through this!  He challenged by saying that God is preparing us for a miracle!  Let’s learn to really lean into that.  I have read others who are challenging us to fast and pray one day this week for our nation.  There have also been prophetic declarations that the LORD will bring a revival through all of this.  So, many have just come to a place of self-reliance and this virus has shown all of us just how vulnerable we all really are.  There have also been encouraging messages that the LORD will bring a symbolic end to this crisis at the time of Passover or Easter.  Let’s pray into that as well!  This is such an amazing opportunity for us to share the hope and trust that we have in Jesus that Francis Chan has reminded us.  This is not a time for believers to be spreading the contagious message of fear!  We need to pray for healing, there are great prayers to proclaim with confidence on the YouVersion App.

2 Three days later the Israelite officers went through the camp, 3 giving these instructions to the people: “When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them. 4 Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about half a mile behind them, keeping a clear distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don’t come any closer.”

Steven reflected on the fact that right now we are in the midst of all this social distancing; however look at this passage and you will see that God is talking about spiritual distancing with the Ark.  Testimony starts with test.  He's giving us the gift of distance.  He is teaching us that though we may feel He is distant, He is not.

He is using distance in our feelings to bring us closer in our faith.  He is calling us to spiritual depth. I don't want to just get through this either, I want to be an overcomer!  I want to be confident and say, It is well with my soul, like I did at my father’s funeral and mean it.

Sometimes we see God better in the distance. The ark was called the ark of testimony, the ark of the LORD, Yahweh, the ark of the covenant, the ark of His presence.  Remember the new covenant was not dependent on you, it's dependent on God, it was His Son, His sacrifice, His blood.  A mighty fortress is our God, He is my safe place.

5 Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.”6 In the morning Joshua said to the priests, “Lift up the Ark of the Covenant and lead the people across the river.” And so they started out and went ahead of the people.

Everything is found in His presence!  Tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things.  Let God be in your tomorrow, consecrate yourself today.

God promised me the grace for today and the hope for tomorrow

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:16,20

8 Give this command to the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: ‘When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop there.’”

Why did the priests stop in the middle of the Jordan River?

He doesn't want you just to get through this. He wants you to stop in the middle of it, discover Him, His presence, His peace, His life. The spirit of fear is trying to rob you.  You tell it to stop in Jesus' name. Go deeper in your walk with Him, He is more than enough! He declares miracles over your children, over your home, over your provision!  The Spirit of the LORD is here!   Steven Furtick

My prayer is that you find real encouragement through reading this and please pray the following Psalm over yourself as a declaration.  

Psalm 91

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High

    will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 This I declare about the Lord:

He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;

    he is my God, and I trust him.

3 For he will rescue you from every trap

    and protect you from deadly disease.

4 He will cover you with his feathers.

    He will shelter you with his wings.

    His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,

    nor the arrow that flies in the day.

6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,

    nor the disaster that strikes at midday.

7 Though a thousand fall at your side,

    though ten thousand are dying around you,

    these evils will not touch you.

8 Just open your eyes,

    and see how the wicked are punished.

9 If you make the Lord your refuge,

    if you make the Most High your shelter,

10 no evil will conquer you;

    no plague will come near your home.

11 For he will order his angels

    to protect you wherever you go.

12 They will hold you up with their hands

    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.

13 You will trample upon lions and cobras;

    you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.

    I will protect those who trust in my name.

15 When they call on me, I will answer;

    I will be with them in trouble.

    I will rescue and honor them.

16 I will reward them with a long life

    and give them my salvation.”

Bill Johnson asks, “How does God show up in a virus, a pandemic?  God shows up opposite to the surroundings.  This is the ignition point for a massive healing revival!” Download the anti-virus software, the power of the Holy Spirit!”

What if fear threw a party and no one showed up.  This virus is riding the wings of fear.

Abiding in the love of God is what keeps us immune!

The manifest presence of God on his people is the place of healing.

There is a wonderful element of safety and security found in this Psalm. 

Ok, that’s enough for today.  I’ll share more insights on Psalm 91 in a future blog.  Be blessed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp6aygmvzM4  This is such a powerful song to soak in right now!