Glory Carriers

The Lord spoke Glory Carriers to my spirit last night and today I was reminded of a sermon I heard from Bryan Cutshall about 3 years ago and he did a great job of bringing this image to life for me. So picture this with me.

God is light. His glory is the very essence of who he is and heaven is a city made of Gold. The purest of Gold without any impurities is transparent. So this city must look like glass where the light of God is illuminating from the throne like the colors of a rainbow.  A light so bright in this city that it bounces off the edges of the crystal clear buildings and fills the atmosphere with the most beautiful colors you could possibly see. Imagine with me for a minute as God calls for Lucifer, the anointed cherub, radiating with beauty, robed in his garment of praise to come forth. He's the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.  The arc angel, wearing his covering made up of every precious stone and gold.   His sole purpose was to be a light bearer to reflect the glory of God in this city.  I can see him spinning around the throne of God draped in this cloak of beauty and the Glory of God radiating off of him while the most beautiful instrumental sounds one could possibly imagine comes forth out of his being as all of heaven worshipped God.

There was one problem though.  Lucifer was not being acknowledged for all of his talent.  No one knew who that glory carrier was. When Lucifer was in his covering, when praise was coming forth from his being he became invisible.  He couldn't be seen under his garment of praise at all. The only thing that was seen was the Glory of God. Lucifer wanted recognition and he wanted to be exalted high above God for all he had done, for all his beauty and "talent".  He was filled with violence from within and sinned.(Ezekiel 28)

STOP and think about that for a minute......When a true Glory Carrier carries light and praise they become invisible. To carry this kind of praise your talent is no longer important to you, being acknowledged as the one who prayed for that healing and it happened, sang that song, or cast out that devil isn't important. What you've done is not important any longer, the only thing important is carrying praise and the glory of God to those around you.

This is my prayer. I'm praying to be a glory carrier and I'm praying that my Pastors will be carriers of His glory as well. Pray with me.

Lord I just pray for glory carriers to arise in Jesus Name.  I pray our Pastors will carry your glory, splendor, power, beauty and light with them everywhere. Not caring if they ever get acknowledged but knowing that carrying your glory to this world is the most important thing. Let them be men of praise, true worshippers of you.  I pray they awake every morning, submit themselves to you as a living sacrifice, put on a garment of praise and stay hidden behind you so that you may get all the glory in Jesus Name.

Redeeming Love

All day yesterday as I was reading "Redeeming Love" I kept thinking, this book is really good but there has to be a deeper message in it than what I'm seeing with my eyes and this girl is driving me crazy with her running away. I've got to dig deeper spiritually in this book.  This book has been recommended to me by so many people already, there has to more to it than what I'm seeing.  Then it hit me, the verse that penetrated my very being several weeks ago, came to life once again "You didn't choose me.  I chose you......"(John 15:16). 

I'm not going to spoil the book for those of you who haven't read it and I'm still not quite finished with it myself but in the depths of this book I have found this very important message that has resonated in my soul.  The most intriguing revelation of all, the pursuit and love that our Heavenly Father has for us.  I knew Jesus loved me. Hello, I was taught that as a child but the pursuit part is the part that I never quite grasped.

It wasn't just an ordinary pursuit that we would have when we pursue something.  Our kind of pursuit is limited.  First, we give it all we have, we're determined. We put our entire heart into it but if things don't appear to be going as we thought they would or should, we eventually give up. We use whatever stupid excuse we can come up with but honestly we're just simply tired of putting that much energy into something that is showing us no return. However, the pursuit that was revealed to me in this book was not like our kind of pursuit at all.  This was a PERSISTENT pursuit.  A kind of pursuit that has unconditional love and forgiveness wrapped up in it.  When I was thinking about this, I pictured Jesus talking to our Father, and saying "hey dad, you see that one right there, the one in that adulterous relationship, that just divorced her husband and is drowning herself in alcohol and men.  I want her, what do you say?  I see God looking at Jesus and saying, go get her son, you've been praying for her".  Just like that Jesus pursued me nonstop until I stopped, looked up and allowed him to pull me out of the pit...WOW...That my friend IS redeeming love....A love beyond my comprehension, a love with no boundaries and no limits.  A love that brings tears to my eyes when I think that He chose and pursued me with great love!
 

Confidence in God

Ever since last night I have been thinking about all the prayers that have been prayed for my Dad’s salvation. My mom has been praying for him almost 40 years. I can't count the number of times I've shared the Gospel with him and he has completely rejected it. I came to Church last night believing God for a Miracle. Believing that my dad was going to finally get it and he would be saved so when I looked up and saw that my dad had skipped out during invitation I felt like my heart had fallen out of my chest.

Several people tried to encourage me by telling me he was there and had heard the word but all I could think of was he has heard the word for 38 years now and nothing had changed, what makes this time any different? Literally I could feel all hope in my Dad ever accepting Jesus as his Lord and Savior fading quickly. How quickly the enemy rushed in to attack as soon as my focus shifted from God to me.

I’m sending this to you today not to say that I have this all together in a matter of hours because I completely do not but I believe that through this God is trying to teach me something that in turn we all need to begin praying for. As we face these last days where we place our confidence will be a key factor in overcoming the things that are to come.

God wants us to be Confident in Him and in the truth that all things (not some but ALL things) are possible through him. Our focus will determine our behavior. He wants us to stop talking about how big our giants are and start telling our giants how big our God is.

Numbers 13:30(NLT) But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”

When the Israelites first approached the borders of Canaan, Moses sent scouts into the Promised Land to assess the situation. Ten of the scouts came back with reports that focused on the giants in the land, men so big and powerful the scouts feared they could not be defeated. Two of the scouts focused on God and his promise that he would give the Israelites the land.

So let's add praying for "Confidence in God" to our prayer list. Don't forget to pray this over our Pastor and Bev as well.

Heavenly Father,
I love you and praise you. Thank you God for always understanding where I am even when I don't understand myself. Lord, I spend so much time grumbling and complaining about all the messed up stuff going on in and around me that I lose sight of who I place my confidence in. Father forgive me for being self centered. I ask you Father, to help me to keep a God Confidence in and through all things I face and endure. Thank you for your love, your mercy and your grace. In Jesus Name, I pray Amen.

Read
Psalm 27

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word
16. Overcome Fear with Faith
17. Shift in the Atmosphere/Preparation
18. Give double honor
19. Radical Transformations
20. Confidence in God

Radical Transformation

I am saddened that we have lost someone very dear and close to us but at the same time, I find hope and peace in a God who has a plan for our lives far better than we can ever imagine. A God that loves us enough that he sometimes allows our hearts to be broken for a bigger purpose.

I was recently reminded of a word that God gave Bev for the young people and I heard Christian mention it at both Memorial Services…“Transformation”. The word transformed comes from a Greek word (Metamorphoo) which means "to change into another form, to transform, to transfigure". The same word we use to explain the process of changing from a caterpillar to a butterfly. It's also used to describe Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. As Christ was transfigured on the mountain, His "face" shone like the sun and the lives of Peter, James and John were changed (Matt 17:1-2). Transformation comes by and through beholding the Glory of the Lord. There must be a beholding, a deliberate setting of our attention upon the Lord Jesus Christ (Col 3:2). Just as it was the glory of the Lord that caused Moses' face to shine, so it is "the glory of the Lord" that transforms us into his likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18). As a Christian our goal should be to become more Christ like every day (Rom 12:1-2).

Tuesday morning on my way to work, I was listening to Jeremiah Yocom and I felt this tug on my heart and I heard a whisper in my spirit saying….Amy, now it’s time, pray for transformation. That's all I heard, no big revelation or this elaborate conversation between God and I. Just a still small voice, but with that I felt an urgency to pray for people who have been or will be affected in some way, form or fashion by Casey's story.

Already we have probably seen hundreds of people calling out to God through the passing of Casey. What we view as a tragedy in our eyes, God's sees as his perfect plan. God called home a child of His that was willing to sacrifice his very own life for the sake of others coming to know the Lord.

Let’s pray for radical transformations to take place.

Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for giving us the opportunity to be part of your bigger plan and giving us the privilege of knowing Casey Quinn. We thank you for putting an example of someone who had sacrificial love right in front of us. Jesus, we pray that your glory will be reflected in our life so those around us will be influenced, transformed, and transferred to a new position of spiritual wholeness. Father, we pray for radical transformations in the lives of every single person the Holy Spirit is drawing to you through the life and death of Casey Quinn. God, we pray that you will give each one of these people a kingdom connection, a supernatural connection, Father. Someone they can connect with that will disciple them, someone who has been radically transformed by beholding your Glory. We give you praise for what you're doing and what you're going to do, In Jesus Name, Amen

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word
16. Overcome Fear with Faith
17. Shift in the Atmosphere/Preparation
18. Give double honor
19. Radical Transformations

Give Double Honor

As you all know, Pastor Appreciation Day is right around the corner.  The Bible says give honor where honor is due and to the elders that serve well give double honor especially if they labor in the Word. I want to always honor my Pastor and his wife but not just once a year, every day of the year. they need our encouragement, they need to feel valued, respected and honored by us as a body of believers standing behind them in ministry. I believe there are several things that we can do to honor them.

1. Love them unconditionally. I have heard 1 Corinthians 13 several times in the past couple of days and each time I hear it mentioned, I go back and read it one more time. I fall so short of truly loving as God has commanded me to love but I strive to love in this magnitude daily. Pray to love like Jesus. That he will love through us so that God's complete love can be poured out of us. If we would choose to love unconditionally daily, the light of Jesus would shine so brightly through us that His love could not be contained. Our lives would be a reflection or a magnet so to speak for Jesus to a lost and hurting world. Love is kind, it is not jealous or envious, it is not self seeking, it keeps no record of wrong, it is not easily angered, it endures all things. Love is Patient.

2. Pray for them always. I think that God will bless a church that prays for their Pastor. A praying church will manifest the power of the living God in a mighty way. Paul repeatedly asked the churches to pray for him and his ministry. The enemy knows his time is coming to an end so the battle is only going to become more intense as we approach these last days. All the more reason we need to be prepared for what's ahead. Interceding for our Pastor and his wife is spiritual warfare and it's our job to bare their burdens and cover them in prayer.

3. Provide for their physical needs. A church that does not supply for their pastor's needs violates the Scripture. God says give the pastor "double honor" (adequate support and respect). We should be supporting our Pastor and any needs that he may have physically. Look for opportunities to bless them above what you're already doing.

4. Be a Faithful and Loyal supporter. They need to know that we believe in them and that we're always there for them. We should serve them as unto the Lord. Let them know that we value what they value. Be faithful in your attendance to church. We should never find ourselves gossiping or speaking negatively about our Pastor or his wife. Every expectation of perfection that you have for them needs to be broken and brought under the blood of Jesus. We need to realize that they are no more perfect than we are. Recognize that they are not able to please each one of us according to what we want or may even need from them at all times, their primary focus is to please the Lord. Let's demolish every unrealistic expectation that we have for them and instead set out to encourage, edify and build them up. Support them and their ministry so the Lord may be glorified in all things.

Related Scripture's
1 Timothy 5:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; Hebrews 13:7, 17; Hebrews 13:18-19; Eph. 6:18-19; 2 Thess. 3:1-2

Let's pray that God will open our eyes on how we can give our Pastor and Beverly double honor not only this week but every day of the year.

Father we thank you for giving us a Pastor who loves us and has our best interest at heart. We ask God that you open our eyes to ways that we can give our Pastor and his wife double honor every day. Holy Spirit keep them on the forefront of our minds so that we can pray for them always. Jesus teach us to love unconditionally. Father, we release and demolish every unrealistic expectation that we have of them in the name of Jesus. We ask that you open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing on them that cannot be contained. In Jesus Name we Pray, Amen

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word
16. Overcome Fear with Faith
17. Shift in the Atmosphere/Preparation
18. Give double honor

Shift in the Atmosphere/Preparation

This morning as I was praying God pricked my heart when I started praying for tonight's prayer meeting. All the sudden I saw the importance in praying for a shift in the atmosphere, asking God to commission angels to take charge over us, in coming to the house of the Lord prepared spiritually.

Several weeks ago the Lord really began speaking to me about stepping out of my comfort zone in prayer and I found myself needing to make a decision. I could either remain where I was or I could take a step of faith and let God move. I decided it was time to take that step and I went to a friend and asked her to pray with me at our next prayer meeting because I was really struggling with praying with confidence in a public setting. From that day forward, I began covering this prayer time in prayer, I prayed for a Spirit of Boldness, I prayed for the Holy Spirit to saturate the entire building, I prayed for a shift in the atmosphere and an angelic protection over our meeting place. I came to Church that Thursday night expecting something to happen and knowing that the Presence of the Lord would be upon us.

Since then I can't wait for Thursday night to come, because I know that if we come with our hearts prepared, if we come expecting, if we come worshiping then God will be in our midst. Beverly talked about this at our Ladies Retreat and God brought it back to me again today. We need to be praying for God to prepare our hearts and our place of worship. I truly believe that we have to stop expecting to have Church as usual. Our Pastor should never have to worry about fitting a message in on our time frame. If the Holy Spirit moves and we sing more songs than expected, he should not have to stress over having enough time to give US a message that God has put on his heart. We need to throw our watches out the door when we come into the house of the Lord and expect the unexpected.

I think the biggest thing is preparation. In order for the atmosphere to shift we can't have any spiritual hindrances, so that means anything that you're bringing to church with you has got to be cast off. 1 Peter 5:7 says, Cast your cares on him, for he cares for you. We have to stop holding on to all our junk, let go and let God. Our God is not a common ordinary God. We need to come prepared, expecting and with the right attitude. Acts 3:5 "and he, gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them".

2 Chronicles 5:13-14
13 The trumpeters and singers performed together in unison to praise and give thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices and praised the Lord with these words: “He is good! His faithful love endures forever!” At that moment a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. 14 The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of God.

2 Chronicles 7:1
When Solomon finished praying, fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple.

I read once that the word for "presence" in Hebrew is also translated as "face" in the Old Testament. So to have a bigger impact the above scripture could also read: the glorious "face" of the LORD filled the Temple.

The Lord responds to our Faith. Solomon sought God and longed for his presence. He prepared himself and the people. He prepared the atmosphere with worship and praise to God. (2 Chron 5:11-14), they sacrificed so many animals that they couldn't be counted (2 Chron 5:6). He was prepared to be in the presence of the Almighty God.

A spiritual atmosphere is one where the presence of God is there, the Holy Spirit is moving, transformations takes place, and the Heavens are opened.

So this week let's pray over the very atmosphere, let's pray that our hearts are prepared, let's come to church expecting the extraordinary, expecting the Holy Spirit to have liberty and for transformations to take place.

Heavenly Father, we come before you asking for forgiveness for seeking ordinary when you're an extraordinary God. Lord, we cast every burden and care on you because you care for us. We come before you with humble, repentant hearts, seeking your face God, seeking a closer more intimate walk with you. We ask Father that you shift our atmosphere, that you establish a supernatural environment where your presence is welcome. That you saturate us with your Glory. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen



Related Scriptures

2 Chron 5:11-14

2 Chron 5:6

1 Peter 5:7
Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word
16. Overcome Fear with Faith
17. Shift in the Atmosphere/Preparation

Overcoming Fear with Faith

For some time now God has been speaking to me about Fear. For those of you who know me well, you know that this is not an area that I enjoy talking about because it's actually an area that I struggle with alot. I have allowed fear to control many areas of my life that need to be operated by faith. However, God is saying this is not just something I am dealing with; this is something the body as a whole is struggling with. Fear is undoubtedly an attack of the enemy. Fear is meant to destroy our faith. It comes in many shapes and sizes but the overall outcome is to kill, steal and destroy. Fear is bondage. If we allow Fear to rule in our lives eventually fear will paralyze us to the point that we are no longer effective as a servant of God. We as a body have to learn how to recognize, defend and have victory over fear in order to be free from this bondage. Fear is the opposite of Faith, Romans 14:23 tells us that whatever is not from faith is sin. God's word also tells us that we should walk by faith not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). God does not give us a Spirit of Fear (2 Timothy 1:17). I believe that the enemy plants doubt in our mind that makes us doubt God's promises are for us today and after that seed of doubt is planted, fear begins to take root.

Quick story of how the enemy tried to stop me from being used by God by bringing doubt and fear in my life just this week. The other morning the Lord woke me up to pray for my brother in law urgently and I felt like God had a word for him. Immediately doubt entered my mind. Doubt that it was a word from the Lord and then fear struck me. What if he is offended or what if it causes problems with him and my sister and so I began praying Father your sheep know your voice and hear your voice, let me discern your voice above all others right now and after much prayer I went forth with the word God gave me via text message to my brother in law. Later that morning my mother informed me that he has a company phone and it does not allow him to receive text messages. So, once again doubt came forth. However, yesterday the Holy Spirit led a client of my sister's to speak a word to my brother in law, about an hour later my text message broke the barriers the phone company had in place and came through confirming the word he had just heard from my sister's client. I had to learn a valuable lesson in this to trust God's voice and not give place to the enemy in my mind. God's timing is always perfect.

We have to learn how to overcome fear and I think the first step is to recognize fear for what it is and to choose faith over fear. We need to understand God's protection and promises are for us today. To remain free from fear, we need to speak the word of God out loud (Isa 55:11), draw nigh to the Father (James 4:8), think about what you’re thinking about (2 Corinthians 10:5) and live according to his commandments (1 John 5:3). Whatever the devil is trying to convince you not to do is likely the one thing you need to aggressively pursue.

Please pray that you will easily recognize fear for what it is and walk by faith. Pray against fear this week in your life and of course pray against the same for our Pastor and Beverly. Remember that our leadership needs us to cover them in prayer in every area we are focusing on.

Scriptures References
Psalm 118:6
Isa 43:1-2
Isa 44:8
1 Corinthians 2:5
1 John 5:3
2 Corinthians 10:5
Isa 55:11


Payer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word
16. Overcome Fear with Faith