Old Wine Skins vs Tupperware

In my last post, I wrote about a lightning strike that hit our ranch. I thought that was the end of that story until I met a man named Josh Brewer.

One night, Josh felt like he heard the Lord tell him to go outside and look up at the sky. He looked up and saw lightning strike the foothills, at the top of 168. This would have been my town of Auberry, from his perspective in the valley. He then saw it hit one spot after another until it made a complete circle around Fresno. Every place the lightning hit, a fire began. The fires grew until they all touched each other and completed the circle around Fresno. He said he felt like the Lord was showing him how He would move on Fresno's behalf.

How interesting that God brought the following verse to mind, for me as I popped in a C.D. and drove to work, the day after lightning had actually hit our property:

Job 27:15 says, "Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes the lightning flash?"

I love how God messes with our mindsets!!! Just when I think I have Him all figured out, He throws me a curve ball just to see if I'll reach out and catch it. I grew up in a culture that explained God as a "just" god, willing to destroy entire cities for the sake of justice. I later learned to view God as a "loving Daddy" who I couldn't imagine intentionally punishing someone to get them to love Him. Currently, He is expanding my heart to see that He is super creative in His ways of getting our attention. He sent lightning to show me that I am part of a very important plan. I had to stand in Josh's shoes to see what a special gift this is. Josh's position gave me a different perspective of my situation.

God is pouring out new wine and we keep trying to put it into our old wine skins, our old ways of thinking. It's not as simple as just getting a new wine skin to hold these downloaded revelations. Our version of new wine skins tend to look just like the old ones. What if they look completely different? What if they look like Tupperware? Would we recognize and accept them as being what God needs us to have to process what He's telling us in this era?  Can we step out of our past comfort zone to embrace something new and creative (just like Him)?  These are the things we're going after. This is the thing that keeps us alive and alert. This is what we were created for.

How about you? What makes you alive? I truly want to know, because I think we were created to benefit from each other. You have something I need and visa-versa. We each fit together with each other. Imagine the possibilities of that concept. Imagine a life of connection.

When Trouble Comes In Clumps

The Friday before last was filled with tremendous weirdness. While at work, I got word that there had been a fatal car vs motorcycle accident on the main road home. Hours later, when I got in my car to head home, I remembered the warning and was watching for skid marks in the road, indicating where the wreck had taken place. A few miles into my journey, I noticed a Cal Trans worker on the side of the road. He was making unfamiliar hand signals and caught my attention. As I slowed down to take a closer look, I saw that it was my husband. I pulled off the road and walked back to where he was.

These are the places in my life where I begin to ask questions. I have constant conversations with God about odd situations that constantly appear in my life. I rarely ever ask the question "Why?"  Usually I ask things like this.., "Did you intentionally suggest to Jeff and I to wear fluorescent shirts today because you knew we'd be involved in something like this?" I'm always wondering what God is up to and excited to see the part I get to play in His adventures.

So there stood Jeff and I with our fluorescent shirts, slowing traffic down on the blind curve so the oncoming traffic wouldn't hit the cars slowing down for the detour ahead. We stayed until the mess was well controlled. Then we learned that there was more trouble ahead. A lightning storm had begun to brew and two fires broke out near the crews cleaning up the accident. It was strange to drive past sheriffs, highway patrol, fire trucks, coroners, etc... all at the same spot.  We thought the days events were over.  

When we arrived home, we saw two fires burning on our mountain. We didn't know it then, but lightning had apparently hit something that knocked out our well pump and phone lines, which in turn, blew out our computer and modem. As Jeff investigated that situation, he heard kittens crying all over our yard. Their mom must have been taken by one of the local predators. This is how things happen in our life.  Not in ones or twos, but in clumps. These are the places that churn up more questions in my mind. Questions like, "What should I be seeing or hearing in this situation?  What do I need to learn while I'm here?"

Job 27:15 says, "Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes the lightning flash?" This verse brought even more questions to mind.., "Did you direct this lightning or do you just put a system in place and it kind of runs on its own?" I don't think we need to be afraid to ask God questions. He made us for relationship and loves anything that brings us close to Him... even our questions. 

This is a good place to state that I don't build a theology on events that happen in my life. If I did, then I'd be tempted to look at God as a big mean, unfair being.  Instead, I try to learn from these events knowing that God is love and made me because He wanted someone to love. I try to view my circumstances from His truth rather than create a theology based on my current wound.

So, here I am today. Waiting for temporary water to be delivered and the phone repair man to come assess our situation. God promised that He already knows my needs (Matt 6:8) and that He is ready to perform His own word (Jeremiah 1:12). I'm not worried. I'm just wondering what new revelations He will show me in this process. Whatever they are, they will be for my good and not my destruction (Jeremiah 19:11)!

T & J's

When my husband and I went to a School of Supernatural Ministry, We were required to move in "faith". The best way to do that was to "risk" by stepping out in what we learned. One thing we learned was that Jesus modeled Kingdom when he walked this Earth. He limited himself to moving only in that which a man could do so that we would be able to pattern after Him (John 14:12 "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."). Now that He lives in me, there's no limit to that adventure.

Yesterday we went to lunch and were able to move in, what our school referred to as "T & J's" (Tam and Jeff's... a name the school fondly called what we have fun with when we're in restaurants and Jesus wants to love on the people around us). Here's what our February 27 T & J looked like...

Our waitress came to our table and my husband looked right into her eyes and gave her a "word of knowledge". The simplest explanation for a word of knowledge is this: Learning to speak something Holy Spirit says to you, about the person standing in front of you, that only God would know. Remember,  We went to school to learn how to move in these things. We had to learn how to recognize God's voice and be able to discern it from all the other voices that want to speak to us too (including our own). This tool is a great door opener for Jesus to show how much He loves someone. Jeff moves in this particular gift easily, so off he went. The word Jeff gave her was, "You love Jesus, don't you?"

I have to say, I probably would have been a little less forward, but that girl was completely shocked and then said, "Yes! Thank you so much for saying that." This opened an entire dialog between us and we were thrilled to see her entire countenance brighten.

After she left the table, I asked Jeff why he was so direct, instead of gently getting around to the point. He said he was learning to be more direct and risk even more.

Next, I received a prophetic word for this young lady. A prophetic word, something we also learned in school, is simply a word that encourages someone and allows them to move into their destiny. It isn't something I think up, it's something Holy Spirit sees... a key... that the person in front of me needs to unlock a door.  When our waitress came back, I explained to her that I spend a lot of time praying over children in the hospital. Since they don't talk, I ask Holy Spirit what to pray over them. These aren't pleading words, these are words of declaration because I know they are from His heart... His will.  I told her I had one of those kinds of words for her and I asked if she'd like to hear it.  She was leery, but because of Jeff's word of knowledge, her walls were coming down and she was ready to trust me.

I only spoke what I felt Holy Spirit was speaking to my heart. I told her that she was created to be relational, so much so that she would know which doors to walk through based on whether or not it would take her to a place where she could move in that ability.  It was a key that would unlock just the right door for her in the future.  She began to cry.

This is the part that is always so amazing. God loves to touch that one place in a person that no one but Him knows.  This young lady was adopted. She just learned that her biological mother was in hospice and she had never met her. Her adopted mother was urging her to meet her before it was too late. The girl was confused and scared. She didn't know what to do. Isn't it just like Papa God to bring two complete strangers into her life just to hand her a key?  "Go through the doors that allow for you to be relational."  She got it!  She had her answer. I didn't give it to her, Papa God did. She asked for direction and He was faithful and lovingly gave it to her in a way she would remember forever. That, my friends, is moving in the supernatural. That is bringing God's Kingdom to Earth. That is allowing Jesus, in me, to do what He did when He was here. This is where Christianity becomes fun!!!