Experiences in New York

Over the past 12 years I have had to travel on occasion as part of my job.  In August 2012 I had to travel to New York to work at a large bank.  I always look forward to these trips, because I use them to seek the Lord and to share the gospel with others.  The way I see it, I could watch endless episodes of TV shows and sit in my room or go and pursue others with the good news.  Believe me its much more thrilling and living on the edge to share the good news!

Picture of me with Ironman in NYC...I got to pray with Ironman in the middle of Broadway.  Hey, did anybody know that Ironman's real name is Stephan!

I thought this would be a fun blogpost to share some of the experiences I had while in New York and pursuing others with the good news.

On the ride into the “Big Apple” I started talking with my cab driver.  He had an unusual accent so I asked him where he was from.  He told me Bangladesh.  I didn’t know exactly where that was so he told me his country shares a border with India.  Not knowing much about Bangladesh, I asked him was his country primarily Hindu and he said no, it is a muslim country.  I made small talk with him about what life was like in Bangladesh and asked him questions about his family.  As he was talking, I was asking God to please help me share the gospel with him.  

So I started talking to him about the difference between what Christians believe and what Muslims believe.  I told him about Jesus and how both Christians and Muslims believe Jesus came from God.  He had a lot to say about that subject, but it was good to get him talking and thinking.  As I talked to him, I felt my own inadequacy, but I called on God and trusted that the Holy Spirit would help me be a witness to this man.  I asked him if he had any assurance that when he died, he would be in heaven.  He told me no.  I then explained to him the big difference between Christianity and Muslims is the assurance of salvation.  This was a wonderful segway into telling him what Christ did on the cross.  I asked him if he wanted to be assured of where he would live for eternity.  And he said, “Yes, I do”.  Hallelujah, I led him in the sinners prayer and he was born into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.  All the while, we did this while driving through the streets of NYC...and no accidents!  Ha!  As I was getting out of the car he told me how happy he felt.  He was smiling and filled with joy!  He then said to me, “Don’t tell my other muslim cab drivers, they’ll kill me if they find out what I did.”  God will help him, I know!

One afternoon for lunch I asked the Lord to give me a divine appointment.  I wanted to meet with the Lord.  Whether this was an appointment to share Him with others or for God to just meet with me...it didn’t matter to me...I just wanted to be at an appointment with God.  So I prayed and asked Him to lead me. I started walking and after several blocks and passing several lunch spots I turned into a local sandwich shop. After getting the sandwich I sat down and to my amazement there was a guy singing and playing guitar in the shop. He was playing the secular song named Hallelujah! Lol! I knew I was in the right place then. I asked God to give me a word for the young man playing the guitar. And He did. So I told this young man what the Lord gave me and he just sat there in wonderment.  I told him about what brought him here to NYC and what God was about to do in his life.  I prophesied to him that God has called him to be a worship leader and that he would be going through a course of events very soon to change his life and bring him into the destiny God has called him to.  He wants me to correspond with him. Very cool!

One night I walked the streets around Broadway and prayed with a few people God led me to.  Nothing remarkable happened that I saw...but isn’t that the wrong way to think about this.  I think from heaven’s perspective its remarkable that anyone is sharing anything about God’s kingdom.  We never know what God will do with the seeds that we sow.  Sometimes we are in the process of sowing and sometimes we are in the process of reaping.  A farmer doesn’t always reap...he can’t.  If nothings been planted, nothing will grow.  So I look on these times as planting times.  I got to plant much more when I was there than I got to reap.  But that’s ok...the jobs in the Kingdom Farm all pay the same...Eternal Life and Joy Unspeakable and Fullness of Glory!!

One young woman I will always remember.  She was sitting on the sidewalk with a sign saying, “Hungry, Poor, Homeless, Need Help!”  So I stopped to talk with her.  I knelt down and shared as best I could of God’s love and what He’s done in my life.  She seemed distracted.  I think I must have been distracting others from helping her, so she was ready for me to leave...I don’t know; maybe she just wasn’t ready to her about the Kingdom.  She was 21...and looked very depressed.  I gave her some money and prayed for her.  What will happen with her?  I keep praying for her.

On my last night in New York, I prayed and was spending time with Jesus in my room.  And on this occasion, the Lord gave me a vision.  In it I saw Jesus standing on the sea and looking at me as I sat in a boat.  He didn’t say anything, but as I looked into His eyes I clearly could see a message in His eyes.  He said to me “Come walk on the water with me.”  Oh my, how that has affected my heart.  God is calling us out of our comfort zones!  He’s calling me out of my comfort zones.  But don’t be afraid, He will catch you.  Come walk on the water with Jesus.  His eyes won’t turn away from you...he’ll keep you...you might sink a little but he’ll not let you drown.

Confirmation of August 17, 2012 Post

On Sunday my family and I went to
All Nations Church in Fort Mill, SC. Pastor Chavda spoke briefly before having his wife come and speak. Pastor Chavda spoke of the privilege we have to live in this age as we will experience the greatest out pouring of God's spirit to ever occur on the earth. I was so thrilled because both he and his wife were emphasizing this point which was the subject of my August 17 posting. Go God! And get ready!!

Revelation - Part 1

The advance of truth in the church is correlated to revelation God brings to the church.  For example, Ignatius of Antioch (A.D. 35-108) once received a vision of angels singing in alternating chants.  He then took this and helped introduce antiphonal singing in the church - alternating choirs singing back and forth.  This type of singing is the foundational notion for what we call stereo music and surround sound.  Yet in the ancient Hebrew tradition, this type of singing was performed with psalms and other scriptural writings.  Ignatius helped restore this gift God gave to the church and man through revelation from God.  

Before Martin Luther, the church was stuck in doubt regarding the security of salvation.  There was tremendous darkness on knowing who was saved and going to heaven, and how one could attain this.  But from Luther and many others in his time the proclamation of the doctrine of grace and the sufficiency of Christ’s death on the cross came forth.  Now, the majority of protestant churches proclaim and live by this truth.  And all the time, these truths were evident in the scripture, but not understood...revelation was lacking.

It wasn’t until Paul came along that the gospel became actively proclaimed to the gentiles; yet it has always been God’s heart to do so...see Jonah, Solomon, Daniel and Moses for examples.

God wants to break through with more of His life in the church and in your life particularly.  God’s truth is advancing.

I’m witnessing in my life time the restoration of God’s power in the church.  God has always intended for His body (the church) to be His representatives on the face of the earth.  He has always intended that His body operate in love, joy, peace, etc. as well as other attributes of His spirit...healing, visions, miracles, prophecy, signs and wonders.  For whatever reasons, doubt and unbelief have kept a majority of the American church ignorant of God’s available life.  But that is changing; more and more the body of Christ is being restored to evident truths in the scripture.  There are several churches and individual ministers in America operating in power gifts.  It has become more common for each city in America to have a group of believers who operate in some degree of these power gifts.  That couldn’t be said 50 years ago, 100 years ago, 150 years ago, etc.  In fact this type of language or practicing of God’s power gifts a few hundred years ago would have incited riots and accusations of heresy.  Hey, that doesn’t sound too far off of what Jesus was accused of.

I believe what we are witnessing is the beginning of the resurgence of what God released 2,000 years ago on the day of Pentecost.  And yet, what was released then was just the “first fruits” of the full manifestation of what God intends.  Why do I say first fruits?  As a body, we have yet to enter into the fulness of what Jesus commanded when He commissioned his disciples to heal the sick, raise the dead, and make disciples of the nations.  There are several instances in the scripture as well as throughout the progression of the church where a truth was introduced and gave immediate blessing, and yet the fulness of that truth didn’t come out until many years later.  Christ is an awesome example of this.  The idea of innocent blood being shed for guilt to be removed was introduced by God in the garden of Eden.  Yet the fulness of what God intended was released much later when a babe was born in a manger and then later crucified in innocence for the remission of sins.  As mentioned earlier, God has always intended for the gospel to be preached to the gentiles however the fulness of this revelation didn’t occur until Paul came on the scene.  And in many ways, this ministering to the gentiles is still being expanded today. 

I feel bad for those who have been around ministers who have abused the “power gifts”.   But to encourage those who have been hurt, God has never abused anyone...He is perfect and right in all His ways.  There have been some major abuses and many minor ones...but in some ways this to me is a normal outcome of a church growing and stretching and learning.  Luther wasn’t perfect in his doctrine, but he began the process of entering deeper revelation.  We are in the process of birthing deeper life and if we’ll hang in there the harvest we reap will be more than can be imagined.

How can we participate in what God is doing?  By asking God to open our eyes...by hungering for more of Him...by reading again what God openly proclaims in His word...and by not being stubborn.  God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Pressing into the Promise

At the Voice of the Prophets (VOP) 2012 conference, there were several great speakers and many great messages.  I know that I received a blessing from each of them.  But the two messages that impacted me the most was from Larry Randolph and Graham Cooke.  Larry emphasized how God was moving in the “suddenly”; that this is a year to posture our hearts and lives for God’s next “suddenly”, and that God is about to move in unprecedented ways in the earth.  Graham Cooke’s message was that we need to lay hold of God’s promises and prophetic words that He has given us.  Graham emphasized that prophecy is not an event but rather a calling from God to enter into a divine process to become that which God has declared.  I believe these two words were divinely sent for my heart to lay hold of.

Larry’s message was so timely for my wife and I because of how God was “suddenly” moving us from Pittsburgh, PA to Charlotte, NC.  We moved to Charlotte at the end of April 2012.  In fact it was just two weeks before coming to the VOP conference that we had sold our home in PA and bought a home in NC.  God moved so quickly that I felt like I had to sprint just to keep up with Him.  This move was so not on my radar up until a month or so before we put the “fleece” out for God to confirm things for us.  My wife and I had labored in the ministry for the past 12 years in the Butler, PA area.  We had founded a home church during that time, then got connected with a new church plant.  We led youth ministry,  an outreach ministry, missions ministry, and had led a move in prophetic evangelism.  We had prayed for some time before hand and felt in our spirits that God was speaking change to us; but we had no idea what form that would take.  Then we received so many sudden changes and door openings and literal miracles in such a short amount of time.  It was no mistake that God was calling us to move to Charlotte, NC.  It was such a God thing.  

God has moved in our life to geographically posture us in the place where He will reveal move of His divine destiny for our lives.  I also am focusing on posturing my heart for God to speak to me.  SInce the conference I have been often pondering the messages I heard there and have been walking in a renewed focus on what God has been speaking to me.   

Graham’s message is a challenge to my heart to believe and pursue.  I’ve had a tendency in my life to seek after God but then believing that God was interested in blessing others but not so much myself or family.  The last several years in the Pittsburgh region were years of a lot of sowing but not much reaping.  I think this put me in a state of hearing God’s word and speaking it or showing it to others, but not believing it would come true in my life.  Graham emphasized that God’s promises and prophetic utterances are not as much an event as a divine invitation to enter into a process that will transform us into His image and become that which God has spoken.  I have received many prophetic words over the years, some which have been manifested in my life and many others that have yet to occur.  I have seen the first fruits of some of these prophetic words, but the fulness of them is not yet manifested.  

I especially was encouraged by the thought that when God declares to us that which currently is not, He is saying that we will survive the “transformation” process that is needed for us to inherit the fulness of the promise.  When God spoke to David he would be the next king of Israel, David had no idea what awaited him and what he would go through before sitting on the throne.  I suppose if David knew everything at the time, he might have hesitated and not embraced what God said.  Thank you Jesus, that you don’t show us everything!  I’m beginning to appreciate more God’s wisdom in hiding some things from us.

In Hebrews 11, we have a picture of ordinary people accomplishing extra-ordinary things because of one thing – faith in God. They were persuaded by God’s promises, God’s word. They didn’t quit although difficult circumstances were in their lives.  They kept pursuing the promise because they maintained the vision of what God had said before them.  We know in reading about their accounts in scripture that several of them had doubts, made mistakes, and battled discouragement. Yet at the end of the day, when the curtain was going down and their day had drawn to an end, they ultimately decided to believe. These in Hebrews 11 have run their course.  Their test is over.  But our race is yet to be completed.  In my heart I hear God saying that wherever I find myself “around the track” there is still opportunity to run hard and win. So…how about it?  What will be my legacy?  I hear God saying “Do hard things!  Believe what God has said about me!  Be extra-ordinary!  It’s only a matter of persuasion!”

After hearing Larry and Graham’s messages I went back and began reviewing the prophecies God had given me over the years.  Graham encouraged us to read them often and recite them before the Lord.  Enter into a divine conversation with God about them.  Whenever we receive a word from God, God is giving us an invitation to begin dialoging with Him about these words.  What is so amazing about God, is that when He speaks, the words evolve over time and take on new meaning.  We can hear a word from God that we received 10 years ago and at the time think that we know all that God wanted to communicate.  And then review it again and the word takes on a whole different dimension than what we previously understood.  

When God speaks, His words are full of life and a well that never runs dry.  It keeps giving life.  Very similar to this thought, the Lord gave me a dream a few weeks ago where the Lord said to me, “David don’t you know that there are 850 points of grace?”  As part of the dream I saw a diamond turning over showing the different facets of its cut and shining brilliance.  With each turn, something new and brilliant shined that had not been seen before.  I don’t think God was telling me there are 850 different angles of grace, but that I need to consider that there are many aspects of His grace that He wants to show me.  He is calling me to live in new dimensions of His grace than what I had previously considered.  God’s word is an unfolding abundance of blessing.  It makes absolutely perfect sense to stand on His promise and pursue them even if we happen to be going through a dry time or difficult period where we are tested.  Soon, He will reveal more and cause us to see where we have not seen before.

On June 2nd I woke to the Holy Spirit telling me, "You are exceedingly rich."  I have all the promises of God saying to me that they are “Yes! and Amen!” in Christ.  He has given all these promises so that I might be a partaker of His divine nature.  He is calling me into His God life...a realm that supersedes natural laws and earthly thinking.  He has told me “I am rich” because I’ve heard the wonderful report and I am pursuing Him.  How rich is the man who has God as his divine mentor?  Its the fathers good pleasure to give us His kingdom.  I want to see more of the manifestation of God’s kingdom through my life.  And I believe that I am just on the cusp of seeing God’s glory revealed so much more acutely in my life.

Psalms 145:10-13 says that “All he has made will give thanks to the LORD. Your loyal followers will praise you. They will proclaim the splendor of your kingdom; they will tell about your power, so that mankind might acknowledge your mighty acts, and the majestic splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.”  We get the privilege of speaking about God's glory and his power.  Guess what that means?  He's going to reveal His glory and power to all His loyal followers!  I'm pumped cause that means more divine encounters for us!  We get to prophesy and testify of the glory of the Lord.  He has made us for this!  This is our moment!  This is our time!  We shall shine in His brightness because He has declared it to be so!

Mediocrity vs Royalty

One of the key battles that every man and woman faces can be summed up in this thought...will I settle for mediocrity or will I press through to royalty?

We are tempted to settle for something less than God’s best for us...often to satisfy a temporary craving.  The craving will actually go away if we submit to God in the storm of temptation.  Yet the consequences of our choices in these moments of testing can be destiny changing and long lasting.  There are enormous consequences to the path we choose.

For Saul, it only seemed fitting to bring Agag, former King of the Amalekites, to his royal dining hall and make him grovel under his table.  Wasn’t this the accepted custom when one king defeats another?  Yet this decision cost King Saul the throne he had grown accustomed to (see I Samuel 15).  Shortly after Samuel delivered God’s message to Saul that the kingship would be taken from him, God directed Samuel to go and anoint Saul’s replacement as the next king of Israel.

You might consider this to be cruel on God’s part, but consider that God is not a man and does not behave rashly.  His patience is unsearchable and His wisdom unsurpassed.  This decision by God was a result of God knowing all that was in Saul’s heart and how he would not yield to God.  The Lord gave Saul an opportunity to reign, but Saul didn’t recognize the importance of following hard after God.

Here is an interesting thought.  What would God have done if Saul had truly repented?  Could there have been a turning of God’s intention?  Would Saul be forgiven and given another chance?  Jesus, who is a reflection of God’s own character, taught his disciples that we ought to forgive an offending brother 490 times in a day if necessary.  I think the answer is obvious...of course God would have forgiven Saul.  But Saul never turned to God with all his heart.  There were times when the spirit of the Lord came upon Saul to help him yield himself to God; but these times were short lived episodes and not a lasting way of living for Saul.

This story is a good illustration of what we face in our lives.  We have the call from God to reign with Him.  He has made us kings and priests unto Him.  The Lord has clothed us with the robes of righteousness and has granted us to be co-heirs with Christ in His kingdom.  Now we are in the middle of choosing whether this calling becomes our pursuit or if we will settle for satisfying temporary cravings.

Kris Vallotton in his book Supernatural Lifestyle states that if we are to walk as God’s royalty on the earth, it is incumbent upon us to:

• Pray Unceasingly
• Give Sacrificially
• Dream Unreasonably
• Serve Wholeheartedly
• Love Unashamedly
• Walk Innocently
• Believe Undoubtingly
• Live Powerfully

Notice that this list focuses on things we must do, it does not focus on what we should not do.  A person who is merely religious focuses on what shouldn’t be done; but a man who is walking in relationship with God is focused on pursuing the king with positive actions and intentions.  Saul was caught in the vortex of religious thought...he was worried that his life was being restricted and he was missing out.  He could only see what he wasn’t supposed to do.  His mindset was hopelessly consumed this way because he wasn’t interested in pursuing relationship with God.  Oh what a tragedy this type of thinking can be.

As Christians we are the most unique beings of God’s creation.  We were made out of clay and we have been infused with the Spirit of Christ.  We are vulnerable, yet possessing the eternal.  God is in us.  We are anointed to manifest His glory on this earth wherever we go.  We are mandated to preach the gospel to the entire earth.  And we have been equipped with the same Spirit which raised up Christ Jesus from the dead.  We have the same spirit that was with God when he created the heavens and the earth; the same spirit that moved upon the Red Sea and part it is the spirit that God has put in us to fulfill his mandate.

So, here are some questions for you to ponder.  Have you settled for something less than God’s royal calling?  God can forgive you if you turn with all your heart to Him.  Is there a place in your life where you know God is asking you to lay it down...but you have been hesitating because you can’t see what life would be like on the other side?  God can give you sight as you step out in faith.  Are you stuck in always thinking of what a Christian isn’t supposed to do?  I want to introduce you to the most creative and loving being in the universe.  He has much to discuss with you.

Christians should be the most creative and innovative beings on the face of the earth.  We are the only ones who have the spirit of the living God dwelling in us.  Yet in many ways the manifestation of the church in our day has been dull and lifeless.  It’s time to rise...it’s time to dream...it’s time to believe...it’s time to pursue.  

Come out of mediocrity and enter into royalty!

Yom Kippur - Friday October 7th

Friday, October 7th at sundown marks the beginning of Yom Kippur.  For those who haven't studied the Jewish calendar, this day marks the most important event of the year....the day when the high priest takes the blood of the sacrifice and goes into the Holy of Holies.  It was a day of determination and a passing of judgement on the nation....would God extend mercy or not.  During the week preceding this day, the Hebrew people would be careful to forgive all those who have wronged them over the past year.  They did this because they did not want anything to hinder their prayer for mercy and their prayer for blessing on their life and nation.

I have started a practice in my life to seek the Lord, especially more diligently during this time.  And I have been so blessed to hear from the Lord.  This blog is to encourage you to press into the Lord, especially during this time. 

Last year during Yom Kippur the Lord gave me a dream that was divided into three segments.  The first part of this dream I was in a large church auditorium.  The worship team had just taken the stage and began to sing.  The song was to the tune of "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" but the words were different.  The words were....Let me be your perfect servant, Holy Spirit smile on me...instead of...Joyful, joyful we adore thee God of glory Lord of love.  When the worship team started to sing, immediately I got up and began to worship the Lord.  But the congregation didn't stand.  They were uninterested and dull hearted.  I began asking in my heart what is wrong, why won't they stand.  I began trying to encourage others around me to stand, but only a few responded.  This discouraged my heart, but I kept trying to encourage others to stand.
The scene then changed in the dream, I  was no longer in the church.  In this scene I saw a golden statue of a woman that was nude.  I was looking from the side  The scene then changed again and the Lord's hand was on my heart.  I felt the Lord's favor and His reassurance that He was with me.  And that was the end of the dream.

Now the interpretation...much of the church is dull and not responding to the call of God to walk in holiness and purity.  Why you ask?  Because they have been joined to idols.  The golden statue symbolized idolatry.  This dullness of heart has frustrated those in the church who have responded to the call and are serving him with all they know how.  And God is saying to those whose heart is right, that He is with you, his hand of favor is on you, and He will stand with you in this season.  Don' be weary in well doing, because you shall reap if you faint not.

There is more to be said about the dream, but for now this is what I need to get out.  The Lord bless you as you pursue Him during this season.

David

The Pauper Mentality

I've been reading the bible for more than 25 years now.  However, I know in my own experience there are just some scriptures that haven't impacted me that much.  There are parts of the bible that I'll read, but I don't get a lot of insight into.  I don't think its because I don't want to understand, its just that the lights aren't turning on (or the elevator doors didn't open....please feel free to fill in your own funny saying here).  By the way, if you have a thought on any of these blogs, please don't hesitate to comment or send me an email.  I'd love to hear from you.  You can put in your comments to any of the blog posts at the bottom and the blog site I'm using will help us keep a running conversation on that topic.


So, here is a scripture that I've probably read over about six or seven dozen times but never seemed to impact me....that is until just recently.


Under three things the earth quakes, And under four, it cannot bear up: under a slave when he becomes king (Proverbs 30:21-22a NASB).  


I was reading a book called "The Supernatural Ways of Royalty" by Kris Vallotton and Bill Johnson; and in this book Kris began discussing what this verse means.  And then EUREKA!! God began opening up insight into what He's been doing in my life these past few months.


So why does the earth quake and cannot bear having a slave becoming a king?  This verse almost sounds un-American doesn't it?   Isn't that the whole touted idea that America is the place where nobodies can become somebodies?  I can just see Dan Rather running a story on CNN that extolls the wonders of how a low-down skid row homeless man getting the chance of a life-time and being elevated to being the CEO of Mega-Company USA.


To understand this verse, you have to understand the "mentality" of a slave.  A slave doesn't own anything, he doesn't have any rights, and he has no initiative because his time is not his own.  Consequently, a slave (or paupers) internal thoughts are that he is insignificant and a user rather than a person of resource.  When a person who has a slave mentality is elevated to a position of influence over others, they bring this mentality with them.


A king has tremendous influence over the destiny of the nation he rules.  I'm not talking about a figure-head king, but a king that has authority to enact laws, pass judgments, and direct resources.  A king's decree determines the future of how his kingdom will operate and who is elevated and who is not.  A king's initiatives have far reaching and long lasting effects on his kingdom.  The destiny of future generations of his kingdom is impacted by choices, decisions, and judgments made by him.  In light of this influence, how the king treats his subjects becomes absolutely life changing.


To give a good illustration of this, consider the biblical story of the prodigal son.  When the prodigal son returned to his father, the only thing he could express to his father was a request to have a position as a servant in the home he used to live in.  His father was running to him, had a robe and ring put on him, was hugging and kissing him, the fatted calf was cooking in the background...but all the while the prodigal couldn't get past the thinking of being unworthy to be his father's son.  Oh what a picture this is of the mentality of many in the church today.  God wants to love on us and pour out the goodness of His heart and we're struggling with the thoughts of unworthiness.  This struggle that the prodigal had and we have keeps us from receiving the over-whelming mercies and kindness that the Father has.  And it keeps us from moving into the role of a son...instead we stay in the mentality of a slave even though we are a son.


We are so focused on our past mistakes and who we were, that we can't see who we are. When we accepted Jesus as our savior, we passed from death to life; old things have passed away and all things have become new.  Our destiny has been changed, our heritage is now to be a partaker of the kingdom of heaven.  We have passed from being a slave into being a son or daughter.  There is a vast difference between being a slave and being a son or daughter.  Here's just a few differences:

• A slave takes orders; a son gives orders
• A slave is directed; a son is consulted
• A slave knows actions; a son knows the heart
• A slave knows the decree; a son knows the plan
• A slave has limited access; a son has access to everything
• A slave carries out directions; a son sets the course of action
• A slave sees the king; a son lives with the king
• A slave fears the king; a son loves the king
• A slave operates through obedience; a son operates out of relationship

Please feel free to add your own slave/son differences in the comments section.  I just quickly rattled off some that came to mind.  But as you can see in just these brief few we have a totally different perspective of the king and his kingdom depending on our state of mind.

When a slave is elevated to a position of influence over others, they will treat others as they see themselves.  They will treat others as insignificant and unable to think creatively.  A slave will quickly dismiss the importance of his influence over others not realizing that he is affecting the destiny of those he has been put in charge of.  This can be very tragic.  Very tragic.


Not only will a slave treat others as insignificant, but he will not recognize the value and importance of resources given to him.  And he will interpret events and the actions of others through the lens of poverty.  This mentality will affect the big things, the little things, and everything in between.  


I wish I didn't have experience understanding this pauper mentality, but unfortunately I do.  Here is a most recent example of how this type thinking affects us.  For the past few months I have been woken in the middle of the night, feeling God's presence in my bedroom.  For a while this was bothering me because I wasn't getting any particular message from God.  So why was I bothered....glad you asked.  I began thinking I must be dull or something is wrong with me that I couldn't hear what God was saying.  And then after several months, it finally dawned on me that maybe...just maybe God was showing me His presence because He wants to just be with me.  The pauper says, "something is wrong".  The son says, "Hey Papa, I love you".  


Do you think that just maybe sometimes God wants to just hang out with you?  Love on you without having to have an agenda?  The son says yes; the pauper says maybe (with a little fear of angering the king).


This mentality has to go for us to live in the glorious liberty that God intends for us to live in.  It is absolutely critical for us to be healed in this area of our lives.  This mentality will affect everything we do and how we treat the world around us.  God intends for us to shine the brightness of His glorious liberty to all of creation and particularly those held captive by Satanic deception.


Blessings to you!!