Israel Houghton - Your Presence Is Heaven To Me

Oh what Presence...

free men.

"Early on, I made the mistake of wanting spiritual feelings to endure and remain romantic. Like a new couple expecting to always feel in love, I operated my faith thinking God and I were going to walk around smelling flowers. When this didn't happen, I became confused.

What was more frustrating than the loss of exhilaration was the return of my struggles with sin. I had become a Christian, so why did I still struggle with lust, greed, and envy? Why did I want to get drunk at parties or cheat on tests?"

---excerpted Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller

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If only people knew how free they actually are--that struggles with sin will seem of less and less of a conflict as they learn more and more about what Jesus has already accomplished for them. God sent His Son to die for us in spite of our sinful nature. What love!

The finished work is greater.  :)

bucks for bunks.

wow it's been many months since i last posted! : )

but anyway: USD 38 for someone to be able to sleep in a bed. It'd mean a lot to the person on the street... and to Pastor Matthew too. : )


Bucks for Bunks from The Dream Center on Vimeo.

chilling.

"Sometimes I will enter into God's presence and I won't say a word. I used to think I had to talk all the time when I was with God. Now, it's more like a flesh-and-blood relationship. Some days I'm chatty and full of things to tell Him; other days I say nothing the whole time. Sometimes my conversation with God is energetic and animated; other times I'll just sit and meditate. It reminds me of times with my dad. Without question, we love each other. Sometimes we'll drive someplace and the two of us will talk nonstop; other days we might drive an hour without saying anything. Either way I'm still comforted because I'm in his presence."

- The Cause Within You, Matthew Barnett

shared vision.

"You can be good friends and have lots of fun with someone without accomplishing anything of value; but when you are yoked up with one or more people who share your vision, you'll produce great things together, even if you never become best buddies."

-The Cause Within You, Matthew Barnett

 

cause.

These days, I can't help but think about LA. So much had been caught.

we're part of something, greater.

reasoning.

^{Isa 1:18}
 “ Come now, and let us reason together,”
      Says the LORD,

      “ Though your sins are like scarlet,
      They shall be as white as snow;
      Though they are red like crimson,
      They shall be as wool. 

 --------

When I fall, you reason with me, with outstretched, nail-pierced hands.

What manner of reasoning is this?

yet i know that it is knowing You that sets me free.

key.

"I'll do whatever it takes / to turn this around / i know what's at stake / i know that i've let you down"

"really? how can it be that You let me down? You never will"

"from now on, you hold on to the key to your heart. you decide who you want to let in"

..........


"this key, it belongs to You"

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reflections.

 Rom 8:19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

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The time spent in Vietnam on the most recent Genrev mission trip was precious time spent in His presence—we ran a bible camp for children who lived in Vietnamese tribes from the mountains near Ho Chi Minh city, alongside a Grace Seminar conducted by Pastor Keith, with their parents. Free from the distractions of work and the internet, it was easy to sense God’s presence tangibly. As we went about executing the plans we made for the children and letting God flow through us, I felt God speaking to me, even as He was speaking through me.

One of the things that God spoke to me about through this mission trip was on how we all truly are on equal standing with each other—regardless of the level of education we have received, the language we speak, the value of the clothes we wear, or even differences in age.

What I remember most vividly was how the little children received their nametag cards from me with both their hands, as I passed them out. I was instantly touched by that seemingly small gesture—who was I to them that they showed such honour to? Right there and then, I saw them as fellow King-Priests in Christ, just like myself. Covered by the blood of Christ, we truly are on equal standing, with equal access to the Holy of Holies—with the free choice to give God control over our lives; with the free choice to co-labour with God for His purposes to be accomplished in the establishing of the Kingdom.

I began to see how powerful it is for one to recognize the royal priesthood bestowed upon us through Christ, which is to be used for Him. As Paul states in 2 Cor 6:1 “We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain,” we are invited to participate in His master plan of salvation for all. Knowing that you are a king and a priest, means knowing that you have the access to the unending riches of His power to heal, to deliver, and to plant incorruptible seed into the lives of others. On the last night of the mission trip, the team spoke into the lives of all the children, and anointed them with oil, planting seeds of destiny into their hearts. If we truly are the royal priesthood, then the words of life spoken over them will stand—and in turn, a new generation of royal priesthood will rise in Vietnam, all of them willing participants in God’s plan.

In time to come, when the harvest becomes visible for all to see, I believe that the land of Vietnam will be invaded by the blessings of God Himself, with Vietnam’s  very own beacons of light rising up to take the land that God has portioned for them. The sons of God in Vietnam whom creation is waiting in eager expectation for, will be revealed.

speak.

lifechanging.

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more on vietnam later.

: )

take over

Isa 41
¹⁰ Fear not, for I am with you;
      Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
      I will strengthen you,
      Yes, I will help you,
      I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
       ¹¹ “ Behold, all those who were incensed against you
      Shall be ashamed and disgraced;
      They shall be as nothing,
      And those who strive with you shall perish.
       ¹² You shall seek them and not find them—
      Those who contended with you.
      Those who war against you
      Shall be as nothing,
      As a nonexistent thing.
       ¹³ For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand,
      Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’

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and we're finally here. on the brink of vietnam--mission trip.

this is our portion, my portion, that indeed my enemies shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing.
let us give God our strength, the strength of our right hands, for He is saying He will hold it. And He will increase it. : )

***
We're standing still in a moment of eternity
Where worlds collide and I feel the breath of heaven over me

: )

***

Jesus.

in this is love, not that we loved Him but He loved us.

Penning this down before I forget to.

He always meets you where you're at. He longs to identify with you. For when He identifies Himself with you, you have deliverance.

***
Exodus 3
² And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. ³ Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”
⁴ So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
⁵ Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”

the Father came down to where His people are, in a burning bush--a bush burning with fire but not consumed, just like how His people were suffering in a burning furnace, under the whip of the Egyptians--suffering and burning but not consumed. He longs to identify with His people.
***
 In the wilderness journey, where His people were living in tents, likewise God the Father so longed to be identified with His people that He came down to tabernacle with them, and to dwell in a tabernacle (tent) as well. Oh, how He longs to be identified with His people.
***
Joshua 5
¹³ And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”
¹⁴ So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.”
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”
¹⁵ Then the Commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

the Father came down to where His people are, as warriors about to take over the Promised Land. He came as Commander, with sword drawn. He longs to identify with His people.
***
When His people dwelled in houses made of concrete, He came down to dwell in a Temple, to stay close to His people. He longs to be identified with His people.
***
But that wasn't enough. That wasn't close enough for Him. He wanted to be even closer!

He so longed to be identified with His people that He gave His only Son as a propitiation for our sins so that He could be identified with our spirit-man, and dwell in US. So that nothing, NOTHING stands between Him and us. So that He is able to identify Himself, with the very cores of our being.

***
Mind-blowing?

big < 3 : )

John 3:16 in the Amplified:

¹⁶For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (^[a]unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

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God has a heart bigger than all of our hearts put together. A forgiveness and trust in His creation to an extent that He's able to use people who've not got it altogether, to magnify His largeness of heart. A heart that finds ways and means to give, give and give. To uplift spirits, to heal hearts, to empower dreams.

What with the recent boy scandals revolving around the Church, insensitive comments by pastors, Mike G's cancer hoax couple years ago--God is not taken by surprise : ) Using broken man to bring about revival in itself is 'scandalous' to the world. But His heart is for the world.

It is the scandal of God's amazing grace.

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http://www.jesusculture.com/articles/prophetic-word-for-2010

: )

room.

Gen 26
19 Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and said, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Esek [Dispute] because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah [Opposition]. 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth [Room], saying, "Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land."

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He will give me room, whichever way I turn--staying in restful increase.

you are MORE.

'Cause this is not about what you've done,
But what's been done for you.
This is not about where you've been,
But where your brokenness brings you to

This is not about what you build,
But what He built to forgive you,
And what He built to make you know.

casting cares.

^{1 Peter 5:7} 
"casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."


*
go away, ghosts. 


missing the Dreamcenter. : )
*

Coffey Anderson - All Ye (Remix)

keeping it simple.

"In a recent radio interview I was sternly asked by the host, who did not consider himself a Christian, to defend Christianity. I told him that I couldn't do it, and moreover, that I didn't want to defend the term. He asked me if I was a Christian, and I told him yes. "Then why don't you want to defend Christianity?" he asked, confused. I told him I no longer knew what the term meant. Of the hundreds of thousands of people listening to his show that day, some of them had terrible experiences with Christianity; they may have been yelled at by a teacher in a Christian school, abused by a minister, or browbeaten by a Christian parent. To them, the term Christianity meant something that no Christian I know would defend. By fortifying the term, I am only making them more and more angry. I won't do it. Stop ten people on the street and ask them what they think of when they hear the word Christianity, and they will give you then different answers. How can I defend a term that means ten different things to ten different people? I told the radio show host that I would rather talk about Jesus and how I came to believe that Jesus exists and that he likes me. The host looked back at me with tears in his eyes. When we were done, he asked me if we could go get lunch together. He told me how much he didn't like Christianity but how he had always wanted to believe Jesus was the Son of God."

                  -excerpted Blue like Jazz, Donald Miller

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Perhaps that's what we're called to do.

To talk about a Jesus that not only loves you but who actually likes you. Who actually likes to spend time with you. Who wants to hug and kiss you every moment of every living day.

Even though you're so unlovable.

*
Jesus didn't invent the term Christianity. We did. He came to say, I love you. : )

*
Imperfect people pointing people to a perfect lover.

Planetshakers - God Is Able

more of You.

***
Take me deeper than I've been before,
Take me further God I long for more
Take me higher that I've been before,  

Jesus I want more,
Jesus I need more
***
Luke 16:10a He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much.

you're faithful.

every day.

***
Your love is the rock that I cling to.
Your name is the tower that I run into.
Your strength is what lives my head when it's bowed low.
Your song is the light that shines through my window.

And like the sun after all of the rain is gone,
The morning without any cloud comes.
With a picture of Your love.
And when I think of the stars so high over me,
The moon in the darkness lets everyone see
A picture of Your love.

After the rain has fallen,
          ...the sweetest name remains on my soul.
After the rain has fallen, after the clouds all roll away,
              ...the sweetest name remains on my soul.

 Cause You're faithful, You're always the same.
Your faithful, know You never change.
Your faithful, You're always good. always good.

Though I walk through the valley of shadow of death,
I have no doubt, You've already gone ahead.
My fire by night, You're my cloud by day.
Though ten thousand fall to my right and my left,
under the shadow of the Most High, I find rest.
My fire by night, You're my cloud by day.

a courageous generation.

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1 Samuel 14
¹² Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something.”
Jonathan said to his armorbearer, “Come up after me, for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” ¹³ And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armorbearer after him; and they fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armorbearer killed them.
.
.
.
²¹ Moreover the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before that time, who went up with them into the camp from the surrounding country, they also joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. ²² Likewise all the men of Israel who had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, they also followed hard after them in the battle. ²³ So the LORD saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted to Beth Aven.


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time to arise, and shine. : )

words.

seems like the word for this season is ... about watching the words you speak.
Life and death is in the power of the tongue indeed. : ) Speak forth life, then.