Retreat & Advance

It is so amazing to me the way Yahweh honors the time you set aside for Him. The more time you set aside, and the less convenient it is, the more He honors it. He never leaves you hanging. I went on a retreat with my Point of Creation team last weekend -- the 6 of us rearranged our schedules and plans so we could dedicate a couple days to understanding the purpose Yahweh brought us together for. I knew we were going to get answers, but WOW, I didn't expect such powerful and tangible manifestations of His PRESENCE with us on that retreat. Duh. I should know better by now. He just longs to spend quality time with us.

During the weekend I kept thinking back to a few years ago, when I went on vacation with 4 female friends I'd known and loved since the first grade. We went to Martha's Vineyard and had no agenda other than to enjoy the beach and each other's company. Boy did we get more than we bargained for! Very shortly into the vacation, things began to turn sour, and by the end it was an all-out war. It was almost the end of our friendship, after all those years! And although I was led to forgive and make amends, I think we all still feel the effects of it on some level.

Fast forward to this retreat and a new group of females, where we have even more estrogen floating around, even more diverse backgrounds and therefore chances to be offended, annoyed, etc. Two of our team members are even pregnant! Yet it was nothing but love, laughter, and unity all weekend. We are closer than ever. I praise Yahweh for the training we've had over the past few years. We've learned to celebrate and appreciate our differences and always fight against the spirit of offense rather than one another.

Because of that groundwork that was laid, Yahweh was pleased to come and dwell among us, and He was free to talk to us about the destiny He has for us. Nothing was able to get in the way. And even as I'm writing this it's hitting me that that's how it should always be. Nothing should ever be allowed to get in the way of our quality time with Him, of our ability to hear from Him. It's so silly sometimes the things we get distracted by.

I was thinking about the word "retreat" right after the retreat, and at first thought maybe it was the wrong word to use. It can have connotations of fear and running away from something. But on the other hand it means to get away and get quiet with Yahweh, as Yahshua did very often during His time on earth. This was where His power came from. Getting away from the distractions of the world allows Yahweh to truly minister to you, and then He can promote or advance you to the next level. That's probably where the word came from, but I hadn't thought about it like that before.

So today I'm making a new commitment -- to retreat more often, into the Name of YHWH and His Word, where I can be strengthened to take more ground when I emerge. Woo hoo!

Everyone Needs to See This Video

Granted, it's about two hours long so you may not want to watch it online, but however you watch it will be well worth the effort. My view of this country and its leaders has completely changed in the last week, and my prayer life has a new sense of urgency.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1656880303867390173

7 Deadly... Wrath

Another word for wrath is anger. We have so many opportunities to get angry on a daily basis. So much is beyond our control, and although some of us are more control-freakish than others, we all like to have some sense of control over our daily lives and destinies. We like to think we've got it going on, that we're successful and happy. But then we constantly bump into people all day long who threaten that sense of well-being, or more accurately, remind us that very little of what happens to us is within our control. So we get angry.

Our father, Yahweh, completely understands this about us. And since He is the one who IS in control, He doesn't fault us so much for our anger, only for acting on that anger in the wrong way. He tells us it's ok to be angry, just don't let it cause you to sin. In James 1:19-20, it says let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of Elohim. He's telling us that He knows we're not going to understand everything, and that because of it we're going to get angry when we don't really have any reason to be. He just warns us not to be too confident in that anger... not to assume we know what's truly going on or act out in order to "rectify" things. He's got it under control. He'll rectify everything in its time.

So the next time you're tempted to unleash your wrath on someone, even if you're sure you're justified in what you feel, go back to Yahweh and ask Him what He thinks. Be swift to hear another perspective. Your steps are ordered, even when you're not so sure of where you're going or why. Just trust Yahweh and control your anger -- that's one of the things He allows us to control -- if we can't handle that, how do we expect Him to give us anything bigger to manage?

7 Deadly...Lust

We are 3-part beings made in the image and likeness of Yahweh. We are spirits, we have souls, and we live in our bodies. I can't tell you how many times I've heard this in my lifetime... yet I have to remind myself that there are people who aren't aware of it. And even for those who are, we need to be reminded that there's a constant battle going on between our flesh and our spirits; if we're not conscious of that, we will be ruled by our senses rather than our spirits.

The lusts of the flesh -- sex, food, approval, comfort, control, etc. -- are powerful, but our spirits are far more so. I often think of the man Jesus (Yahshua) met who was possessed by thousands of demons. When Yahshua asked him his name he replied, "Legion, because we are many." Yet this legion of demons was unable to kill the man simply because he willed not to die. Somewhere deep down inside he knew who he truly was and what he was capable of. The moment Yahshua cast the demons out of the man and gave them permission to enter a herd of pigs nearby, they ran the herd into the sea to their deaths... they couldn't do that to the man no matter how hard they tried.

We are supposed to develop our spirits to the point where they dominate our flesh. Given the potential of our spirits, this should not be a difficult task at all. But we are so easily deceived into thinking our bodies are who we are, or that our bodily desires are more powerful than our God-given ones. Lies. It's time for us to stop living so far below our potential -- we were made to glorify Yahweh in spirit, soul AND body. We are more than able. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

7 Deadly... Envy

Those who experience envy don't yet have the revelation of how infinitely loving Yahweh is. He owns everything in the universe; He's the most powerful being in the universe; He's also the most loving. All you have to do is make the effort to connect with Him, and all of His supply -- and more importantly, all of who He is -- becomes available to you.

The Hebrew letter vav symbolizes man and the word "and". The concept behind this letter is that all things are possible for man when he is in covenant with Yahweh. You can have your cake AND eat it too, so to speak. Your resources are no longer finite... this includes material resources as well as spiritual and emotional resources, like love, patience, generosity... you have more than enough of these things to extend them to everyone you come across every day of your life.

When you're meditating on this concept, there's no room for envy to come into your thought processes. Every situation becomes win-win, or at least has the potential to be. Someone just swooped in and stole your Dr. McDreamy from under your nose? Then a more perfect match must be coming along any day now! Your nasty neighbor has the house/car/job/life you've always dreamed about? It can still happen for you, too. And it will happen a lot faster if you have a grateful and magnanimous attitude.

Besides, when you start to really mature, you're not even concerned with the "stuff" -- all you're really striving for is oneness with the Father, because with Him you have everything you need, and you don't want anything without Him. He is that amazing. And He's accessible to us on the most intimate levels in this life. It's up to us to seek Him out and stop wasting time looking at everyone around us wondering when our ship will come in. It already has.

7 Deadly Sins: Sloth

Sloth can be translated as laziness, depression, joylessness, apathy, indifference, slowness, sadness, melancholy.... and being average. It is a sin of omission, or inaction, rather than comission, or action. In other words, saying/doing nothing when someone commits one of the other 6 deadly sins is just as harmful as committing it yourself.

I just attended a 3-day ProVision Network Leadership Summit for Christian businesspeople around the world. The things we learned were both exciting/invigorating and sobering. We learned about the gravest issues facing the entire globe in the coming years (water shortages & waterborne diseases, energy crises and environmental destruction from global warming, the increasing prison population, and more); we also learned about amazing opportunities that come along with these problems, and we explored the tremendous potential of the human spirit, especially when it comes into agreement and unity with a body of like-minded spirits. We now have a great responsibility to act on what we've learned. To be slow or slothful at a time like this will prove deadly not only for ourselves but for the masses as well.

We CAN make a difference. A major one. And because we can, we must.

7 Deadly Sins: Greed

Greed goes hand in hand with some of the issues I was talking about in my last post on gluttony. The reason why so many people are being deceived about their diet and health is because of the intense greed of a relatively small group of people. I won't rant too long on this one, but suffice it to say there is a big conspiracy among pharmaceutical companies, the American Medical Association, the FDA, and some others to keep people sick because it generates huge profits. Even many doctors are blind to it.

Greed is completely heartless. But what goes around comes around. If you crap on the little guy you better start carrying a large umbrella around, because one day... And when it happens, Yahweh will laugh. Sowing and reaping is a spiritual law that cannot be changed; we've been warned about it, and now it's pretty much out of Yahweh's hands. He is not mocked; He's the one who does the mocking, but only after He's given every opportunity to repent. There are no excuses.