Happy Friday!
Prayer meeting was so beautiful last night at Destiny Family Center. Maybe we should start streaming those live!
Last night during that prayer meeting, I remembered a prophecy spoken over my life about 17 years ago:
“You will preach as you pray, and all who hear you preach will encounter God.”
I believe without reservation-that prophecy was an authentic message from God… and that He (God) was claiming my life for something special. I also believe: God claims all of us for something unique. That there are tremendous promises riding over our lives. That each of us should seek to understand our individual uniqueness! That we should give ourselves fully to special purposes of God for our lives.
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Make Me a Gateway-Between Heaven & Earth!
Way back in Genesis, when Jacob was running in fear from the furry of his brother Esau (whom Jacob had just betrayed). Jacob laid down to rest and he drifted off to sleep… and he dreamed! And in the dream Jacob saw a STAIRWAY reaching from HEAVEN to EARTH. And there were ANGELS on that stairway… and they were going UP and DOWN the ladder.
Genesis 28:13-15 At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions-to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15 What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”
“I will not leave until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you!”
Sometimes we all feel as if none of our dreams and promises will ever happen. Days turn into months, and months turn into years, and years become decades-until time chips away at the picture of our specificity!
In such times, remember this: He that began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it! And He will NOT leave you until he has finished giving you everything he promised you!
Back to Jacob’s dream!
Genesis 28:16-19 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” 17 But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!” 18 The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. 19 He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although the name of the nearby village was Luz.
“You will preach as you pray, and all who hear you preach will encounter God. In other words, ‘I will make you a GATEWAY-between heaven and earth!’”
When Jacob woke from that historical dream, he said, “This is the very GATEWAY to heaven!” He marked the spot where God dropped a stairway-and he called that place Bethel, which means: The House Of God!
Even though Jesus is referred to as the GATE and the ONLY way to heaven… I believe every follower of Jesus ought to become for his/her generation-a living GATEWAY between heaven and earth. We should live in unbroken communion with God… we should LIVE as we PRAY, so that all who hear us LIVE will encounter God!
So if God were speaking to all of you today JUST like he spoke to me 17 years ago, maybe he would say something like this…
“You will LIVE as you PRAY, and all who hear you LIVE will encounter God! In other words, ‘I will make each of you a GATEWAY-between heaven and earth!’”
The end
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I hope todays blog doesn’t spook any of you away. It’s a bit radical, that is for sure. Yet, a very necessary message for the modern Christian. Really, we can KNOW and EXPERIENCE God so much more than most of us do today. So, what do you say? Are you ready to pray?
Pray this: “Dear God, help me and lead me to create so much more room for you in my life… lead me to pray so much more than I do… make me a prayer driven person… so that I can live AS I PRAY… and that all who hear me LIVE will encounter YOU! Make ME a gateway-between heaven & earth!” Say it again, one or two more times… this time with deep passion, “Dear God, MAKE ME A GATEWAY-BETWEEN HEAVEN & EARTH!”
I pray you all a day of connecting with God! Dream big, live bold, and make a great big difference with your lives! Please leave your comments and have a super Friday!
"Sometimes we all feel as if none of our dreams and promises will ever happen. Days turn into months, and months turn into years, and years become decades-until time chips away at the picture of our specificity!"
That is just how I've been feeling lately. I have to remind myself that it's not in our time but in His, and sometimes that is very hard to accept.
"In such times, remember this: He that began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it! And He will NOT leave you until he has finished giving you everything he promised you!"
This is just what I needed to hear today! Joseph was given a Word earlier this year that I will be pregnant before the end of this year. I was getting a little frustrated two days ago because it looked like it was just not going to happen this month. But then God spoke through Joseph telling me not to fear that it will happen. Now, I'm starting to SPEAK all the Blessings and thanking the Lord for all that He has given us and those yet to come.
Thanks for the reassurance!
Wow Dawn… I'm gonna PRAY with you guys about that prophecy. You know prophecy is an announcement of the things God has planned for us… and just like any other promise from God, we have to STAND in faith until our circumstance equals or prophecy! I pray for a NEW SPIRIT of joy on you guys today… a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness!
Such an encouraging post! Thank you so much for sharing it. I've never had a prophecy spoken over me, but there was one time that a lady came to my church (sister-in-law to one of the deacons in my church) and she came up to me after the service saying she needed to speak with me. She told me that while she was listening to the sermon, she glanced at me and saw that I was wearing a golden crown, and running down my spine was a sword. The hand of the sword stretched across my shoulders, and in the handle was a green emerald. She wasn't sure what it all mean, but she felt that God wanted her to tell me this as a way of encouraging me. I've never had anything like that happen to me before or since. I still have no idea what it means. I've prayed that God would reveal the meaning to me, but as far as I know He has not. This all happened about five or six years ago.
Anyway, just thought I would share that.
Chuck, I hooked up with you on twitter today, and saw this link. I am glad I did because of the good word you have given. I pray for you that God would give you increase in giving words of encouragement. Many Saints are overcome with discouragement and have given up, or are tempted to give up. In these times I believe discouragement will be a factor in the great falling away. Too much emphasis on negative has turned many off. We are the carriers of good news, not just salvation, but God's promises for now! Blessings, Jeff
I am very glad I was able to catch back up on the blogs, as I was unable to get on the computer this weekend.
"I believe every follower of Jesus ought to become for his/her generation-a living GATEWAY between heaven and earth." This is so true. The other day I had been praying for an unsaved friend of mine, and felt as if I wanted to do more. God reminded me that my life is a open book and testimony to that friend. All I can do is pray, continue living life according to God's word and talking to her about my wonderful Jesus! I don't care wether this blog is radical or not, living for Christ makes you a living gateway between heaven and earth, and I pray no one is spooked or misses that!
Thanks Pastor! This is an encouraging message!