by Dr. Nancy Moelk "But in the depths of my heart I truly know That you have become my Shield; You take me and surround me with yourself." Psalm 3:3a from The Psalms, Poetry on Fire by Dr. Brian Simmons Listen here (4 min.) or read below. Audio Link There is a medicinal quality to hanging out with God. I can only compare it to having a shower on the inside where you just stand there and let the water hit you and wash away whatever seen or unseen things that have been making you dirty and stinky. Learning to be still with Him was such a struggle for me but now that I can do it most of the time (or rather calm myself to recognize His presence is already there), it is one of my most important times of the day and night. "Take the good gracious God just as he is, as plain as a common poultice, and lay him to your sick self, just as you are. Or if I may put it another way, lift up your sick self, just as you are, and let your desire reach out to touch the good, gracious God, just as he is, for to touch him is eternal health."[i] I want to share with you little exercise I learned in my journey to be with God in the inner place of stillness. This one came from the book The Cloud of Unknowing and the Book of Privy Counsel by some unknown person who was trying to help others to connect with the Lord Jesus. First, I must explain to you what this man meant by a "cloud of unknowing." He states that we can never be with God with our minds but can only relate to him by reaching up with our hearts and loving on Him. So, the "cloud of unknowing" has to do with letting go of trying to intellectually know God in that moment and instead seeking to love Him as He is with yourself, just as you are. To get there you ask God to help you have a cloud of forgetfulness between you and all your problems and life responsibilities. For a little time, you are asking for help to let go of the world and its offerings of both pain and fun to hang out with your Creator. Here is the exercise. Sit still in a quiet place and say, "Lord, let there be a cloud of forgetfulness below me. I want to forget everything and everyone for these moments except for You. And let there be a cloud of unknowing above me. I want to reach up with my heart and love on You." Wait on God here to come and assist you. Try this for five or ten minutes to start. You may have a low ability at first to sit still or to be with someone so intensely (or both). I had to run away quite often when I first felt God's presence. It was too much for my underdeveloped relational capacity. Or your mind, like a naughty puppy, may try to get your attention. Just tell your naughty puppy “Not now.”[1] As we persist in choosing to focus on the Kingdom of Heaven within, on Christ in us, our capacity to entangle with Him will continue to develop and expand into eternity. Our goal is union. Here is another possible way of you being with Him. Listen to the song “Endless Love” sung by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross. Imagine that God is singing that to you and you are singing it to Him. You are enmeshed with Him already in an “endless love.” May you awaken more and more into that reality! [1] I hear J.P. Abraham give a talk on meditation and he referred to the mind as a “naughty puppy.” I like that way of addressing our mind because it removes any self-condemnation at being distractable. Puppies need training, not scolding. [i] The Cloud of Unknowing and The Book of Privy Counsel by Anonymous p. 175 [Written around 1375] The Cloud of Unknowing and The Book of Privy Counsel by Anonymous p. 175 [Written around 1375] This work is available for free on sites such as this: Cloud of Unknowing - Christian Classics Ethereal Library* For another resource to help you feel His presence look into this helpful booklet: Share Immanuel, The Healing Lifetyle. http://www.lifemodel.org/product.php?type=book&rn=86 *My quoting of a saint or any other source does not represent an endorsement of the totality of their work but rather just a small gem of truth I came across in reading their books.]

By Dr. Nancy Moelk “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:11 Listen here or read below. Audio File Rushing and frantic thoughts whirl through our brains trying to catch some elusive solution to life. Our minds resemble the little hamster running on his wheel. Activity that wears you out but gets you nowhere. Ours is an age of information that bombards us continually. Many people live in their heads and are strangers to the deep places of the heart. Constant noisy distractions surround us and protect us from being alone with self. I mentor people regularly and help them to connect with their hearts as well as with God and others. In my own journey towards inner stillness, I used to sit alone in silence at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit near where I used to live. The priests display the communion elements on the altar at all times. I was trying to get out of my head and connect with my heart and meet God there. Here is the little exercise I used to help myself do that. I would put my hand on my upper abdomen and sit still in silence. I would focus on where my hand lay and say, "I just want to be with you, Lord Jesus, right now. I know you live in me, and I want to feel your presence and concentrate on it alone." Then I would wait on Him and try to ignore every thought running though my mind demanding my attention. Often, I would stay there an hour or two and once I stayed four hours. One day a funny drama came to me in a vision. I was in a little speedboat. Behind me in the boat were two other parts of me. Holding the rudder was my spirit man, and sitting behind me was my mind. My mind was rudely shouting directions and being overall very bossy. Suddenly my spirit grabbed my mind and threw her overboard into the water. My mind sputtered but continued to loudly complain, boss and direct. "What are you doing? You need me! You can't throw me out!". To which my spirit replied, "You are no longer in charge, and you will not be allowed a place in the boat until you calm down and behave!" I gradually made progress in finding that inner stillness which is, of course, the inner sanctuary inside of us where we meet with God. Another time I will share about some of the things that happen when we meet with Him. "Inner stillness is one of the characteristic signs of humility. It manifests itself in the absence of fear amid life's circumstances, in confidence in the divine providence which protects one from every evil: “A humble man is never rushed, hasty, or agitated, never has any hot or volatile thoughts, but at all times remains calm. Even if heaven were to fall and cleave to the earth, the humble man would not be dismayed. for the humble man is always at rest, because there is nothing which can agitate or shake his mind. Just as no one can frighten a mountain, so the mind of a humble man cannot be frightened.” *The Spiritual World of Issac the Syrian by Hilarion Alfeyev pp. 119-120. *My quoting of a saint or any other source does not represent an endorsement of the totality of their work but rather just a gem of truth I came across in reading their book. *My quoting of a saint or any other source does not represent an endorsement of the totality of their work but rather just a gem of truth I came across in reading their bo

Ten Sure Ways to Ruin Your Children by Dr. Nancy Moelk I have been helping people with parenting for over 30 years. Much of what I have to offer is from all the mistakes I made with my own four children. Here is what I consider the top ten ways to ruin your children. We should all know by now that we have made mistakes. Those of us who can’t admit it are to be pitied. So see if you can find a couple things on this list that you haven’t done and pat yourself on the back! 1. Insist on making everything about you and not them. 2. Try to control how they feel and what they think. 3. Be more concerned about your image as a mom than their development when they make mistakes. 4. Try to keep them from the consequences of their choices because it is too painful to watch. 5. Micromanage their lives, living through their successes and failures. 6. Never really be present to them in the moment. Instead, be lost in your own head or drama. 7. When they share how they feel, try to fix it instead of just listening. 8. Compare them to yourself or others. 9. Criticize more than you praise. Focus on the negative. 10. Make sure they can’t win no matter what they say or do. Correct, contradict and one-up everything. Forget about where they have to go to school, how much TV they watch, whether they have extra-curricular activities or the latest fashion. All those things you think matter don’t have much impact on them. Who you are and whether you have the ability to connect to them, respect them and love them as a person in their own right separate from you will go further to aid their emotional health and development than anything else. And saying you are sorry once in a while is helpful, too. The other vital element in any family system is for you to be willing to work on your junk. I mean the junk you carry from all your childhood conflicts. The junk of your resentment, bitterness, resignation and negativity. The junk of your injuries where you longed for love, and no one showed up. Engaging God to help you clean up the messy yard of your soul will do more for your kids than everything else combined. And you won’t have to teach it. This is something they will catch automatically by your being a role model.

Lesson 3: School of the Man Who Opposes Us: The Enemy or Ourselves, the World or God? by Richard Kinney Click here to listen to the teaching. How can opposition be an opportunity for us and how does it show if our boat of life has holes in it? It can provide a test to show where we are weak and needing repair. When we are being opposed, there are four possible sources of that opposition: ourselves, the enemy, God or the world. What are some reasons why the enemy is able to oppose us? What can our reactions to opposition show about our hearts? How can God use opposition to point out idols in our life and help overturn them? How does he use it to develop our character? These are some of the insights Richard Kinney discusses in this lesson.

How Can a Christian Maturely Express Anger? By Dr. Nancy Moelk Audio How do I handle angry feelings in life? Are they always a sin? Are they ever helpful or effective? What if I feel guilty or distressed when I express any anger? Or what if I “loose it” and go into rages that are destructive to myself and those around me? How about if I don’t seem to have any anger and can’t even identify any times when I express it? These are some of the questions we want to answer here. First, if we believe in God and that we are made in His image, we know He lives in us and we have access to His nature. So what kind of anger does God portray?[1] What kinds of things made God angry in the Old Testament? And Jesus in the New Testament. (This does not negate His mercy and forgiveness but, instead, accentuates forgiveness and resolution as a process and not a mental gym trick). Here is a short list: 1. When those who were supposed to love Him, betrayed Him and forgot Him. 2. When He offered Himself in relationship and was rejected. 3. When people pretended to be for Him but were only interested in using Him. 4. When religious people acted like the most important thing in life was image and performance while neglecting a real heart connection and truth in relationship. 5. When people pretended to be serving others but were in fact using them and manipulating them. Even though God does forgive those who want to be reconciled to Him, He still showed us a model of having a reaction to suffering loss and injury in relationship where He made Himself vulnerable. He hoped for connection and fellowship and instead was rejected and abused. Jesus suffered as part of being human and, at times, He was angry. We need to remember He was fully God and fully man and He is not asking us to no longer be human! Let’s go through some of the different scenarios of anger or lack of anger and try to move forward in a mature expression and resolution of it. It is a process to grow up and learning to mature in our expression of anger is just another skill we must practice and perfect. What if you don’t seem to have any anger? Well, since we can’t find any culture or humans on the planet who don’t recognize anger, then you will want to open yourself to the possibility that you are pushing your anger away and it is affecting you in hidden ways such as physical illness, bitterness, resentment, depression or even a negative world view. A very cold person who is rather withdrawn is, in truth, a very angry person! Over the years, I have seen some people healed of physical problems by simply allowing the anger that they carry in their body to have an emotional expression (that doesn’t do injury to themselves or others) and resolution instead of keeping it stored in their bodies. If this is our problem, we humble ourselves to be teachable and open to facing the truth of what is inside of us instead of pretending to be something we are not. Wearing a mask that disguises our true emotions may work around people but God knows what is going on deep inside of us—even if we don’t. God loves us and God loves truth. He sees the real things inside of us. He sees the beauty of us as His creation and beloved one and He focuses on all that is good. When He looks at anything unhealthy or harmful in us, it looks like what we find in baby diapers when the child needs a diaper change. I had four children and changed thousands of diapers—never once did I confuse the precious child with what was in the diaper! I have ministered to people at times who were so lacking in the establishment of themselves as a human being and the “rights” thereof, that they truly believed it was hopeless for them to express any of their feelings or preferences. The view of self they carried was as a supporting cast member in the life drama of someone else. This is out of God’s divine order and not pleasing to Him. He enjoys our humanity and our ability to make choices and express ourselves. He enjoyed watching Adam name the animals, He enjoyed David’s fiery heart full of passion (see the Psalms). He is not asking us to forfeit authenticity for some restrained pretense of what we see as a “holy life”. He wants you to be fully who you are and to come into union with who He fully is. You will be transformed, of course, but this results from your becoming totally honest with Him and allowing Him to touch every area of your soul. What if you feel your anger but then are ashamed of it and have guilt about any expression of it? Some of us were raised to believe that any expression of anger is sinful—that keeps us stuck with no way of getting rid of anger. Imagining how we “should” be doesn’t automatically create that scenario in us. Resolving anger is a process that begins with facing we are hurt or unhappy and therefore angry about it. If you were God, would you rather someone be honest with you about their unpleasant feelings or would you rather them be fake and phony around you, pretending everything is “OK”? I think the verse, “Peace, peace, where there is no peace” [2]would describe that. If this is our situation, then let’s try a practical solution. The goal is to resolve our anger. It looks like one part of us is angry, but another part is not comfortable with having anger. We are at war with ourselves—we have a divided mind and heart[3]. Each part must be willing to consider the perspective of the other side. Maybe we don’t think we have the right to object and be unhappy with others or our situation because we may lose love and approval. Or we are afraid our anger will cause everyone to abandon or reject us. These are frightening prospects and must be properly heard and addressed. Finding security in God’s love and seeing ourselves as loved by Him no matter how we behave can calm these fears.[4] On the other hand, any life losses create grief in us and resolving grief must always involve a facing of hurts which will lead us through a brief time of being angry before moving on to resolution and forgiveness. We need to allow the angry part of us to have its say[5] without judging or condemning ourselves for it. Once that part of us is heard, we can begin to grieve the loss and allow the provision of Christ which is already within you to flood that needy area.[6]. Allowing ourselves to be angry about a loss moves us towards resolution and forgiveness. Trying to just not be angry because that is not “holy” will simply keep us stuck longer and at an impasse with ourselves. Loving and accepting ourselves right where we are opens the door for change in our lives—that is why God decided to love us with no conditions. It makes us safe enough to consider trying another way. What if you are often angry and even destructive in your expression of it? People who are angry most of the time generally see the people and circumstances of their life as the source of their anger. They believe that if other people behaved differently or that if their life situation could just change, they would be happy and their anger would resolve itself. Raging about this and that, they beat on their environment and insist that everyone and everything owes them a debt and just won’t pay it. Because we aren’t in charge of everyone and everything, this can keep us stuck in anger forever. Studies have proven that simply raging and venting doesn’t resolve anger but makes us even angrier. Identifying the real source of our anger, which is often fear and wounding will bring us into a new level of truth about ourselves and our lives. From the vantage point of being honest about where our hearts are at and looking for a change in ourselves, we can do something about our unhappiness instead of waiting for a change in the outside environment to be the solution (which is probably not going to happen, anyway). For someone who can’t seem to control their anger, recognizing that the real problem is inside rather than the fault of others or life situations is a first step towards resolution. The first stage of grief is coming out of denial about a loss. Seeing past the present-day circumstances and identifying themes of hurts and losses will lead us to look at our history and how we may be repeating dramas.[7] What if you are depressed, anxious or have an extremely negative world view? This can be anger turned inward. One thing we do, if we feel we are not allowed to be angry, is to aim it at ourselves. I have worked with people who were very depressed or having anxiety attacks. One thing that was characteristic of most of them was that they never seemed to have bouts of simple, genuine anger at life events! Their reaction to losses was minimal as far as any overt expression was concerned. But on deeper inspection, they had hidden their anger from themselves and now the focus of all their attention was on their “condition” of depression or anxiety. Once we determined they were playing a little game of distraction with themselves to avoid admitting anger, they began to give themselves permission to be angry and gradually their depression and anxiety went away.[8] These scenarios are general, and each person’s resolution of anger and grieving process will look a bit different. Just like a child learning to walk, we must practice and master the skill of expressing our anger in a mature and effective way that leads to full resolution. Years ago, I read a book called How to Really Love Your Teenager by Dr. Ross Campbell. In it he had what was called an “anger ladder” which described ways of expressing anger from the very worst to the very best.[9] Ironically, the very bottom of the list, below shouting and breaking things, was being passive about anger. That is where you pretend you are not angry but take it out in covert ways. Lying about our anger makes sure that the “sun goes down on it” and that we can never get it resolved.[10] However, you respond to life losses and however you express or don’t express your anger, there is always room to grow and develop and be healthier. Instead of locking ourselves into a static picture of self with unrealistic expectations, we will do better to follow God’s lead. He takes people as they are, loves them in that place and then sets about teaching and guiding them into a full development of all that is good about them and a gradual adjustment to unhealthy perspectives and behaviors that block them from the very best they can be. God’s positive and practical approach to us, filled with compassion and patience, is a good role model for us in how we speak to ourselves and how we treat ourselves. Let’s be deliberate about our status as “little children” who get to make mistakes, not know everything, and need help from our parent on a regular basis”. From this attitude, we will find ourselves set up for success in receiving abundant help and kindness from our Father in Heaven. [1] For a fuller treatment of God’s anger as demonstrated in the grieving process, see Good Grief: Revised, Updated and Expanded by Nancy Moelk [2] See Jeremiah 6:14 and 8:11 as well as Ezekiel 13:10. [3] See James 1:7-8 concerning the problem of being double minded and how that leaves us unstable. [4] For an excellent exercise on receiving God’s love and approval for you, go to Love and Approval of God by Richard Kinney [5] This is part of “confession” and when done without injuring ourselves and others is part of the road to true “holiness”. [6] An exercise to appropriate the presence of Christ for each and every hurt can be found in the Gratitude and Stepping into Freedom from Pain post on our website. [7] For a fuller treatment of this, see the booklet Unshackled From Your Past in the Booklet section of our website. [8] See the booklet by Nancy Moelk Anxiety Booklet at firehouseministries.com. [9] Click here for a link to Anger Ladder Dr. Ross Campbell also wrote a book How to Really Love Your Angry Teen and How to Really Love Your Angry Child. [10] Ephesians 4:26.

After a very long time in Christian service with many ups and downs, we have finally been shown a much better understanding of how spiritual growth works. We know the foundation of all growth is based on our embracing the union that exists between us and Jesus Christ, since we are “in Him” and He is “in us.” We are called to develop in four areas in a somewhat balanced and equal way or we will be left in shallowness at best and become unstable at worst. If we learn to cooperate and grow intentionally in each area, He will be able to more quickly and completely release us into safe, powerful, intelligent and joyful service and growth. These four areas of growth are based on the four faces of God as demonstrated by the wonderful but mysterious creatures that surround His throne as recorded in Revelations 4. Each represent part of His nature and because we are made in His image, we have all the potential inside to be developed and come into maturity in each of these areas. · Area #1: The Man involves our ability to give and receive love. Our creativity, our love for the arts, our compassion and empathy. We must grow in the Man. This involves our emotional health and heart strength. And this will allow us to contain and use safely the power and authority of the Lion. · Area #2: The Lion involves our ability to govern and take charge. To become co-creators with God. To participate in the restoration of all things. We must grow in the courage and boldness of the Lion to convincingly communicate the things revealed to us through prophecy and heavenly visions that we find in the Eagle. The authority we obtain in the Lion, gives us power to be a credible witness and to have impact in every area of life. To rise into the courts of heaven and influence what happens on earth. · Area #3: The Eagle involves all things supernatural. In order to move forward in life as a representative of God and His agenda we must learn to hear from Him and be open to His direction and revelation through dreams and visions and direct encounter with Him. We are meant to do greater works than Jesus did! · Area #4: The Ox involves the ability to rest and prosper in submission to our God and to be willing to sacrifice. In order to be strong and steady enough to move forward irresistibly in what we are shown through the Eagle, we must develop the love and submission of the Ox and the incredible strength that comes with that. This School with God’s help, will help you become the joyful and powerful person that God has made you to be. Expect divine appointments and encounters as you study this school.

Listen here for an audio of Stepping Into the Presence of Christ for Emotional Healing

Audio file You have likely heard teachings about renewing the mind and setting your mind on the things above. Most of the teachings I have heard seem to focus on what NOT to think about, what not to expose yourself to, what not to pursue. Suggestions for what you SHOULD think about are focused on reading the Bible, praying often, going to church, reading Christian books, etc. Let’s look at ways of renewing your mind that combine your faith, your imagination, and your will. Faith starts with the end result God imagined you in his heart before the world ever was.[i] He was already seeing the end result of you being with Him in heaven. He is not limited by time. He calls us holy and blameless because he is seeing the end result of your union with Christ. The Bible is full of examples where things are declared long before they manifest into reality.[ii] Faith is evidence of something you are hoping for and a firm conviction or something not seen.[iii] The way we see these things that are not seen in the natural is by our imagination. We begin by imagining God’s presence and intervention in whatever circumstance, relationship, problem, possibility, etc. that we are in presently. That is our starting point. If we see ourselves as being weak in faith and hopeless, then we need to imagine our starting point as believing God loves us and wants to help us. We imagine the person of Christ dwelling right there in our situation and offering us his faith, his character, his resources. Your imagination is the eyes of your heart. The truth is our imagination is meant to play an important role in both the renewing of the mind and in our ability to set our minds on things that are in heaven (above).[iv] Imagination bridges the gap between what you know to be true and what you are actually experiencing. [v][iv] Imagination bridges the gap between what you know to be true and what you are actually experiencing.[v] “I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling”[vi] Our imagination can create a space to receive something new and wonderful. Our imagination is like a house waiting to be filled with furnishings. If it has been filled with nasty, negative things like worry, resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness, hopelessness, etc. then those things will have to be thrown out. The Holy Spirit is more than happy to help with that. He is your joyful interior decorator and handyman. He will engage your imagination to go back over each episode where you didn’t feel God’s presence and intervention and give you a different perspective. This time, you will see him providing you with hope and restoration in that part of your soul. Over time, you will begin to practice imagining and declaring positive things instead of negative. This is where you use your will. Here is an example of using the imagination to engage with the Jesus using the first few verses of Psalm 23: "The Lord is my shepherd. I will lack no good thing. He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul." Click here to listen. See also Seated in the Heavenly Places in Christ. We choose what to highlight and focus on in life The world’s way is to focus on the negative and highlight all that is wrong. This is opposite of God’s kingdom where we are encouraged to focus on what is right and worthy of praise.[vii] The reason we do that isn’t just to pretend. Our positive declarations and expectations are creating an atmosphere for God’s presence to come in and have his way. Persistent and consistent imagination nurtures and nourishes the seed [of God’s word] until it is birthed. [viii] [vii] The reason we do that isn’t just to pretend. Our positive declarations and expectations are creating an atmosphere for God’s presence to come in and have his way. Persistent and consistent imagination nurtures and nourishes the seed [of God’s word] until it is birthed. [viii] Pay attention to your thinking and your words. Are they constantly referring to God’s ability to be present and figure things out? Are they focused on how God sees a person or situation? Spending time with God and asking him to show you what is going on in the heavenly dimension will open your eyes to the deeper reality of each circumstance, of every person. This will take practice and the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth. We are not describing an instant fix. Go to the post of resources and choose one of the recommended books and study it. Use it to give your thinking some renewal as you apply the concepts presented in the book. No matter where you start, the Holy Spirit will honor your effort and guide you through a transformation adventure. Don’t sit and wait for God to step in and do something. Be proactive and put effort into doing things differently. Your subconscious mind can only recirculate what has already been placed in it. To renew our minds, we need a new infusion of perspective, truth, hope, pictures. Use the word of God to give you scenarios to feed your imagination with hopeful and faith filled expectations. A prayer to cleanse the imagination[ix] Thank you, Heavenly Father, for creating me in your image and giving me an imagination. I repent for any misuse of my imagination: for trying to escape reality, for negativity, for worrying, for bitterness and resentment. I forgive others who have defiled my imagination by negativity, abuse, or neglect. I bring my imagination under your supervision. I reject unbelief and skepticism. My regular mind can’t understand things of the spirit. I want my spirit to inform my mind. I renounce any ways I have cursed myself by making limiting and unbelieving statements about my life and possibilities. And I forgive anyone who has shut down my imagination, stole my dreams or clipped my spiritual wings. I receive the cleansing by the blood of Jesus Christ over my imagination. I submit myself and my imagination to you, my God. I am one with you and I now want to use my imagination with wisdom and intent to manifest your kingdom here and create an atmosphere where you are welcome. “The Lord gave us an imagination to be used to encounter him.”[x] Every child has a great capacity to see things with their imagination. Adults assume none of what they see is real. Unfortunately, the monster under the bed or in the closet might be a demon! I have spoken to many people who have seen angels as a child. When I was about 8 years old, I woke up in the middle of the night and there was an angel standing beside my bed praying for me. My husband, Gary, remembers crying in his room at 3 years old when Jesus walked into the room to comfort him. I don’t think these stories are unusual. God placed the innate quality of imagination which is so heightened in children as a link between this dimension and the heavenly dimension. When my grandchildren were younger I would have them close their eyes and imagine Jesus ministering to them. I would have them ask him to help them feel his presence and hear his voice. We can take a Scripture such as “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction”[xi]. We can use our imagination to engage with God. Picture a father who is loving and full of mercy. Mercy means he is compassionate instead of wanting to harm you. What is the look on his face as he gazes at you? Imagine his accepting smile as he welcomes you into his arms. Feel him with your imagination holding you and comforting you. You can see yourself as a small child sitting on his lap and resting your head on his chest.[xii] Or you may have a whole different set of pictures. You are not making up something that isn’t true. You are calling forth the reality of heaven into your earthly existence, are you not? The more we utilize our imaginations to connect to the reality of heaven, the stronger we will become in creating an atmosphere and being a portal where heaven can come to earth through us. Read Revelation 4 and imagine you are interacting with everybody in the throne room. One of the wonderful things about heaven is that everyone there carries God’s attitude about us. They love us and want to help us. They pray for us and long for us to come into our full potential. Just imagining that you have such an amazing family in heaven can lift your mood on the worst day. The imagination is a fantastic resource to us. It may need some cleansing and retraining but the basic facility is still powerful and capable of great good. The resources listed at the end of this article will give you more help in retraining your imagination. “What you see in your imagination will become your reality. What you see in your mind has the power to shape what you do. It shapes your actions. The more you see it in your mind, the greater the power that image has over you”[xiii] My common practice in prayer is to discern what is God’s will and then declare[xiv] that it be so. I then imagine that answer coming about. I use my imagination together with the faith God has given me to expect and welcome God’s intervention. Years ago, I needed to learn how to use Quick Books Pro for our ministry. I had no training in accounting at all. I began thanking God and imagining a person who would help me with it. I searched online for information. After a couple of months, I stumbled on a website about QBP for ministries. The man behind this website was more than willing to answer my questions and offered to set up my books and teach me how to use the program! When I asked him what he used to do, he said he was a retired CPA who specialized in helping ministries use Quick Books Pro! Our imaginations have great power to shape our reality. Scripture is full of encouragement to imagine good and not evil. Worry and negativity are destructive uses of the imagination. “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”[xv] We can use all of the amazing stories in the Bible as gateways to spiritual encounters. I have read the chapter on the transfiguration of Jesus and imagined I was there with Peter, James and John experiencing the light coming off of Jesus and Moses and Elijah. As I soak up that heavenly atmosphere, it rejuvenates me. Another example is the story in 1 Samuel 19. The anointing from Samuel and his group of prophets in Naioth at Ramah was so strong that it overcame King Saul as well as several soldiers sent to hunt David. I have imagined myself getting to hang out with Samuel and his group of prophets. I ask God to put some of their anointing on me for prophecy. Once we step out of this dimension, time is no longer a factor. Quantum physics affirms this. We will be so much better off allowing our childlike imagination to steer us into heavenly encounters rather than allowing our negative adult mind to anticipate worry and harm. We need to have childlike faith in the heavenly dimension. We must believe it exists and welcomes us. Jesus did say that unless we become like a little child, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.[xvi] Your childlike nature is buried somewhere inside yourself. Ask God to bring it forward and help you reconnect to that vital part of yourself. A prayer to activate your imagination “Heavenly Father, I want to encounter you. I want to see you with my imagination. Cleanse my imagination of any and all destructive patterns and memories. Rejuvenate my childlike character. Help me to be imaginative, trusting, open to intimacy and comfortable with being dependent on you. Give me many moments with you, Father… and with Jesus… and with the Holy Spirit. Teach me how to do this and lead me to the right resources. In Jesus name.” Resources to move you forward I want to refer you to some authors who give us some positive ways to use our imaginations in bringing every thought captive to Christ.[x] Steve Backlund encourages us to declare the reality we want to see in our lives rather than complain about our lives as if we had no ability to change them. “Declarations” is one of his books which I found particularly helpful. Wendy Backlund has a great book on the imagination called “Living from the Unseen Realm”. The other author is Micah Turnbo. This author not just sees into the heavenlies but visits there regularly. His book, “The Invitation: Encounters to Help You Enter Christ’s Inner Sanctum”, has an excellent chapter on the imagination (Chapter 6). The book is full of visualizations of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and their interactions with him. This book gives more accurate pictures of God’s feelings and intent towards us than anything else I have ever read. I have quoted in this article from Virginia Killingsworth’s “Miracles are Normal: Co-creating Through Oneness with Christ.” This is a wonderful book but will take some effort to apply in your life. I am reading it for the third time and still finding new ways to incorporate it into my spiritual practices. Have fun and remember the Holy Spirit wanting to dance with you all the way! PDF of article [i] See Ephesians 1. [ii] See Abraham’s story, Gideon’s story, David’s story, Jeremiahs prophecies about Jerusalem, prophecies about Jesus, etc. [iii] See Hebrews 11:1. [iv] Colossians 3:2. [v] Miracles are Normal: Co-creating Through Oneness with God by Virginia Killingsworth, pg. 119. [vi] Ephesians 1:18 TPT [vii] Philippians 4:8. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” [viii]Miracles are Normal: Co-creating Through Oneness with God by Virginia Killingsworth, pg. 144. [ix]This prayer is a paraphrase of one from this book. Miracles are Normal: Co-creating Through Oneness with God by Virginia Killingsworth, pg. 149-150. [x] Ibid. [xi] 2 Corinthians 1:3b-4a [xii] See the post Sitting in the Heavenly Realms with Christ. [xiii] From Week 4, Micah Turnbo’s School of Prophetic Ministry [xiv] See resources by Steve Backlund at end of article. [xv] Philippians 4:8, NIV. [xvi] See Matthew 18.

Click here for Audio Insights into Spiritual Warfare Do you know what spiritual warfare involves? I want to add to your perspective on spiritual warfare if you already have an opinion. Or this may inform you if you don’t’ know anything about it. I am going to walk you through, verse by verse, a passage of Scripture (Ephesians 6:10-18) that people use in spiritual warfare. Some say it daily as a protection prayer, others go through placing each element of the armor of God on their bodies. In addition, I know people who go after demons with praying in tongues and fierce language as their version of spiritual warfare. All of this can be effective if done from our spirit man and not our own soul’s power. Or maybe you don’t anything at all about spiritual warfare but would welcome some way of placing a barrier between you and the attacks of Satan. Hopefully this little article will give you some insights and reassurances you may not have had before. I have added links in the endnotes to help you find more information on many of the topics briefly referred to in this article. The entire passage from Ephesians is listed at the end of the article.[i] Being Strong in the Lord and His Mighty Power We can be strong in many things. We might be strong certain abilities, or strong in our finances or strong in our social group. We may focus on worries and fears and "what might happen next." But how can we be "strong in the Lord?" This one sentence involves a lifetime pursuit of God’s presence and God’s friendship.[ii] It has to do with a gradual alignment of your soul and your body with your spirit man, which carries the person of Christ. There are other articles on these topics throughout the website (see endnotes), for now we will concentrate on spiritual warfare.[iii] To be strong in the Lord and his mighty power takes a deep-down confidence in several beliefs. 1. God has a good opinion of us. In other words, he is more interested in what is right about us than what is wrong with us because the blood of Christ has addressed the bad stuff. Every time we reject a judgmental, condemning, or accusatory thought or word about ourselves or others, we defeat the enemy. You will cause him to shudder if you make positive statements about yourself and your life. 2. God is a loving Father who wants to protect and provide for us both physically and emotionally. Sitting in the heavenly places on God, the Father’s lap is the most accurate picture of reality we rest in.[iv] So, when we see areas of our lives where we are being deprived, and we respond with faith, the enemy is deprived of his ammunition against us. Before God can meet certain needs in us, he may need to change our character, so we are capable of receiving blessing. Think of the 10 spies who saw the promised land as a trap rather than an opportunity. (See Numbers 13:32)[v] 3. God wants to help us to grow in character and though he doesn’t cause evil, he always uses it to make us stronger and stronger in him. When we choose to believe that God can and will turn every situation to ultimately be a positive influence on us, it releases a wave of trouble for the enemy. He sticks to the same old story all the time, exactly what he did with Adam and Eve. “God is evil, not good. He wants to deprive you, not provide for you.” 4. God is powerful enough to do anything and he is looking for people who truly believe that with God, nothing is impossible. Can you believe there was a town Jesus passed through where even he couldn’t do many miracles because of the people’s unbelief?[vi] You have a choice every moment, every day, in every situation to choose hope instead of negativity. Choosing to hope (which is free, by the way) instead of negativity and gloom makes the enemy sick. You end up oppressing the oppressor. By now, I hope you are getting the picture that the greatest weapons of our warfare come out of our thoughts and our words. We have great authority to defeat the enemy by our view of God and the choices we make in response to life situations. You will find these themes repeated as we go through the rest of the Ephesians verses. Put on the Full Armor of God…Take your Stand Against the Devil’s Schemes It is a good idea at times to investigate where opposition to us originates. Is it really the devil? Or is it our own bad choices? Or is it the way of the world? And lastly, could God himself be opposing us in this matter? Richard Kinney has a great talk on the website addressing this very issue.[vii] Chasing devils is not effective when life’s mess as a result of our bad choices or someone else’s malfeasance. On the other hand, if deliverance from demons is needed, other help with be sabotaged. For Our Struggle is Not Against Flesh and Blood We all need to grieve and find comfort and restoration from God for life losses of every kind.[viii] God invites us to share our feelings with him. Ultimately, it is not the hard knocks that determine our happiness, but our reaction to whatever we experience. But overall, how often do we envision other people as being the cause of our struggle and unhappiness? We play the blame game and assume the role of being someone else’s victim. I am not saying there isn’t victimization and injury in this world at the hand of others, but our reaction to their actions determines how much we will be devoured by the enemy in the process. We can choose to declare in the midst of problems that God will make a way where there seems to be no way. This creates a wall of fire around our attitudes that burns the enemy. But Spiritual Forces of Evil in the Heavenly Places Remember, we are being strong in God’s mighty power not our own. Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth. Because of his authority, we can command demons to leave. More than that, we can release angels to do warfare.[ix] The angels have a certain amount of authority and are always ready to respond to any request which lines up with what God wants to do. Once we discern God’s will, we can join our authority in Christ with that of the angels for much more powerful prayers. Also, we will need to grow in discernment so we can determine when a demon is involved and not just a human or cultural element. We want to avoid either extreme: on the one hand, there is no such thing as demons, or on the other hand, seeing a demon in every corner. We can’t take on spiritual forces, but God can. We are seated in heaven with Christ.[x] Our constant focus is a positive one. If we are continually focusing on God’s attributes (his goodness, beauty, power, faithfulness, etc.) we are welcoming his presence and intervention in whatever else is going on. In the meantime, we are waiting for God to make every enemy our footstool.[xi] We can accept that the enemy uses people to do his bidding at times. He inspires them to cooperate with evil. When we are moved by the Holy Spirit, we do good works and have healthy attitudes. When people are influenced by Satan, it produces bad fruit instead of good. Satan loves to manipulate us as well and try to get us to play for his team. Deciding to be negative and hopeless plays for his team. He is scared off by someone who keeps committing themselves to God’s care even when other people are doing them harm, or they don’t yet see the solution. Put on the Full Armor of God so when the Day of Evil Comes You Will be Able to Stand Your Ground The idea I’m presenting to you through this article is that when you are living a lifestyle of believing and declaring good over yourself, your family, your life circumstances, your possibilities, etc., you are engaging in effective spiritual warfare. Pay attention to every negative thought and word you speak or think. That is an open invitation to the enemy to attack you. Closing those convenient loopholes for him is spiritual warfare par excellence. Stand Firm with the Belt of Truth Buckled around Your Waist Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would guide us into all truth.[xii] Ask God to make you a lover of truth, a speaker of truth. Ask him to show you the lies you have believed about him, yourself, your life, other people. Meditate on God’s word. Learn to hear God’s voice so the Holy Spirit can speak truth to you as you go through your day.[xiii] Truth will protect you from the lies of the enemy. The Breastplate of Righteousness Jesus Christ is our righteousness, and he lives in us. I have a little saying about this: “I am God’s house, and he lives in me.” What does that mean? Whether or not you recognize the supernatural character that dwells in you, it is still there. The process of becoming righteous is waking up to something you have already been given not you changing into something you never were. A breastplate covers your vital organs area. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is our guarantee of adoption into God’s family with all its privileges and powers. We will be discovering all the treasures of being in Christ beginning now and continuing into eternity. Feet Fitted with the Readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace Some people think this verse is just about sharing the gospel with others. I am not contradicting that, but I am adding another interpretation. Feet represent our understanding. It is where we “take a stand.” One of the greatest weapons against the enemy is peace. Our choice to rest in the Father’s arms[xiv] no matter what people are doing or saying, not matter what storm is raging about us, provides the higher ground in warfare. Satan has an uphill battle trying to get to us. He runs from someone who abides in the peace of Christ. The Shield of Faith Extinguishes the Flaming Arrows Everything we have detailed so far has to be guarded by a believing attitude. The enemy is constantly challenging our faith in God’s character and our faith in God’s commitment to us. He wants to ignite in us fear, worry, hopelessness, torment, etc. And guess what? We are incapable of mustering up our own faith. The faith we have is a gift from God and he constantly invites us to open up the gift and use it. So, if you feel that your “faith tank” is running on low, you need to go spend some time with the Father/Son/Holy Spirit and get a renewed vision of the gift of faith he has given you through your friendship with God. The end result of faith is REST. You can tell you are truly believing in God when you can relax and rest no matter what is going on. In fact, rest is the apex of spiritual development. Rest reflects a relaxation in who God is and in his capability to handle whatever is happening. If I am praying fervently, I want it to be flowing from my intimacy with God and at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I don’t want to pray out of fear though I may start off my prayer time like that. But once I calm myself by focusing on God’s presence and character, I can begin to once again flow with the Holy Spirits power. God meets us where we are at but then takes us to a higher place of faith as we trust in his love for us. The Helmet of Salvation A helmet protects your most important body part. Our connection to God, the fact he made us his child, is our greatest piece of armor in defense of the enemy’s attacks. Keep going back to God as a loving and attentive parent who wants to be with you. As you grow in embracing his vision of you, the enemy will find it more and more difficult to harass you. The Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God Learn the Bible and also learn to hear God’s voice. When the enemy starts proclaiming his lies whether in your own head or through something outside of you, pull out the word of God, whether it is truth you learned in the Bible, or the words God has spoken to you in the secret place. You can attack the enemy with truth. We also use the promises of God to declare the way things should be. Once we hear God’s voice and know his will in a matter, we begin to declare with confidence God’s will be done in earth as it is in heaven. And be specific. Pray in the Spirit Do you know how to pray in tongues? That is one way to pray in the spirit. Another is to allow the Holy Spirit to come on you and give you words to pray. Both are effective for bringing heaven to earth when led by the Holy Spirit. Remember, everything we do that creates effective warfare is done together with God. That is abiding. Another way to pray in the spirit is to sit with God in silence, loving on him with our hearts in an intimacy that goes beyond any words. If you have any long term relationships, hopefully you have reached that point where you and that other person connect deeply just being in each other’s presence, no words needed. I pray your hunger for God and all he is will grow and grow. Wherever you are in your adventure with him, he welcomes you to come and spend some time with him, to make him your focus. Sometimes I say to him, “I don’t want anything from you right now Jesus. I just want to be your friend and hang out together. Will you take a walk with me? Do you want to watch the football game with me? Or can you hold me as I fall asleep?” And other times I ask him to please share his heart with me. As you grow in friendship with him, your ways of connecting and relating to him will grow and be unique to you. Spiritual Warfare in some ways is finally coming to the reality that there is no separation between us and God: we are becoming one with Christ. [i] 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV) [ii] See the article on the webpage “Friendship with God.” [iii] See firehouseministries.com page called Pray. [iv] See “Sitting in the Heavenly Places in Christ” on the website. [v]And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. (NIV) [vi] Matthew 13:57-58 [vii] See “Who Opposes Us?” by Richard Kinney. [viii] See book by Dr. Nancy Moelk, “Good Grief: Revised, Updated and Expanded”. [ix] See the School of the Lion’s lesson on Deliverance for more information.: [x] See Colossians 3. [xi] See Psalm 110. [xii] John 16;3. [xiii] See the School of the Eagle for more information on hearing God’s voice. [xiv] See the Blog post “Seated in the Heavenly Places” for more information. Click here for PDF

Here is the Audio File of Chapter 10 of Good Grief Revised, Updated and Expanded Ending Up in the Divine Embrace By Dr. Nancy Moelk[1] Delayed grief will cause us to lose zest for life. It will slowly take your energy and leave you without the expectation that things can ever improve. If you observe small children, you see how game they are for life. Babies exude how much they want to live and live to the fullest. They broadcast “I’m here” and expect others to respond to that and delight in them. They are plucky and full of fight! Grief is the God-given tool for getting rid of hurt, making peace and finally forgiving. This results in plenty of room in our souls for more of God’s joie de vivre: peace, adventure, curiosity, hope, enjoyment and pleasure, accomplishment and the list goes on and on. My co-worker, Richard Kinney came upon these insights into resignation through his work with a client.[2] John was a strong believer and often traveled on mission trips with a renowned healer. They witnessed the blind seeing and lame people walking and many other miraculous healings on these trips. Richard had been mentoring John and asked him why he never asked this healer with whom he was very close, to pray for his chronic pain. It was very curious to Richard that requesting help from such an obvious source was not something John had automatically done. It was at that point that Richard began to recognize the role of resignation in the believer’s life. Resignation cons a person into the false assumption that “there is nothing to do to make things change.” Or, “my efforts will only result in failure, so why try?” Resignation, on the surface, looks like a seamless floor that we are so used to, we take it for granted. And beneath it lurk hopelessness and despair and other evils that scare us into leaving resignation in place. We reason that resignation is a better choice than feeling hopelessness and despair. And it would be except that we can get rid of both through Jesus Christ. Here is an idea for prayer: “Lord Jesus, I ask that you expose the top seamless surface of resignation in me and tear it up then pump and remove the lies underneath.” The floor is hard to see, and many say, “I don’t have resignation.” But upon further investigation they discover they have quite a lot. God is a God of answers and solutions. It was Jesus who said, “knock and the door will be opened and seek, and you will find.” He is heavily invested in helping us to be cleansed from every negative and destructive reaction. Just look at creation. There’s joy, even in the animal kingdom. You can watch puppies play, dolphins swim, birds sing. Birds like singing—they don’t have to sing. God could have made the world in grey-tone, not color. And why use more than one color? The extravagance and variety of creation broadcasts the “aliveness” that is the “way it should be.” Most of us are living well below our potential in terms of joy and energy and effectiveness. One of our main roles as counselors is to restore people to their natural levels of effectiveness, joy and success. And as God aids us to excavate this debris in the soul, we always want to fill it with the Father’s love, optimism, energy, and good health. Scattered hopes and dreams are often the reason resignation begins to lay its tiles in our souls. When resignation takes a hold of you, your deepest held belief causes things to which you’re resigned, to happen. Such as “People don’t like me”, “life is hard”, “people don't cooperate with me”, “I can’t make any friends”. It’s a different song and dance for each different person, but there are many commonalities. “Life’s a drudge”, or some version of “life’s a bummer then you die.” Some call this “self-fulfilling prophecy.” If we hold lies as truth, now without knowing it, we are praying against ourselves. And as our history becomes more and more filled with these negative life experiences in answer to our hidden prayers, we refer to our “history” as concrete evidence these lies are valid! Do you see how this vicious cycle can keep us stuck in a lackluster life at best and deep discouragement at worst? When we have not dealt with loss in a timely fashion our hearts can become hard. Some of the various by-products of delayed grief begin to fill our souls. Besides the obvious unforgiveness that accompanies unresolved hurts, there are four other “soul conditions” we want to talk about here. Our Lord wants to help us to make more room for connection with Him and He will help us to address each of these things that contribute to our hard and negatively full hearts. This list is not exhaustive but very helpful. 1.     Resentment 2.     Bitterness 3.     Resignation 4.     Hopelessness and Despair Resentment is a feeling of indignant displeasure or persistent ill will over something regarded as a wrong, insult, or injury.[3] Ever find yourself mulling over some situation or relationship where you got hurt and couldn’t resolve it? That is the feeling of resentment and as we get older, we can pile up more and more of it! When we reach a certain threshold of resentment and it increasingly becomes a lifestyle, that’s where we become full of bitterness. Bitterness is supported in our soul by a stance that God or whoever was supposed to help us, did not. Our worldview if we become bitter takes on an acrid quality of disappointment and negativity. Rather than hopeful expectation, we anticipate things will not go well for us. No wonder the Bible warns of someone who can defile many by a bitter root.[4] Resignation is where we say: My difficulty, my pain, my sorrow, whatever I am facing—there is no way I can beat it or get away from it, so I am just going to give up and become resigned to it as a way to lessen my own pain. As a child, it is true we can’t walk away from an abusing or annoying parent. Or as an adult we can’t walk away from a medical condition. Resignation is never really a good choice for us because we were created to be aggressive, to be warriors, to be proactive. As adults we can always move back against situations that are unfair even if they are larger than we can face openly. We can always pray against them, invoking God’s will and kingdom to enter every circumstance. But there is an even more compelling purpose to form this false floor of resignation. When we encounter life situations where we have no solution, this provokes in us feelings of hopelessness and despair. Negative emotion is one of the most painful feelings we can experience so we are very interested in avoiding it, if possible. When hopelessness and despair fills an area of our souls, we can cover it up with resignation and pretend it isn’t there. We choose to settle for the dull ache of resigning ourselves to whatever life serves us rather than facing the pit of hopelessness and despair beneath it. One of the signs that a person has hopelessness and despair is when they must go around things instead of straight at them. They take an overly non-confrontational approach to issues because they are afraid of confronting the hopelessness and despair. There is a time to be confrontational and a time to be a peace maker. If we act out of fear and not love, we will be a less effective in our lives. The fourplex of resignation, bitterness, resentment and hopelessness and despair provide seemingly convincing evidence that you can’t go any deeper in life’s pursuits. Deep happiness for you? Nah. A little bit of happiness for you? Yeah, maybe. A life with deep friendships? Nah. Just some casual connections if I get lucky. A lot of success for you? Nah. A little bit of success for you? Maybe. There is no safety for you in the floor of resignation. Everything beneath it (resentment, bitterness, and hopelessness/despair) are not your friends[5]. It slowly takes your energy and robs your life of joy and pleasure. My friend and co-worker, Richard Kinney, likes to go after the hopelessness and despair in a person first. He treats it like moray eels silently slithering through the person’s soul. One of their goals is to make it especially difficult to deal with the other negative qualities inhibiting the person. The task before us looks insurmountable. The negative threats of resentment, resignation, bitterness and hopelessness and despair have thwarted us. But we can start breaking them apart. Imagine that there is a 30-pound block of ice hindering my way and I have a hammer in my hand. Who is going to win? Me or the block of ice? I am going to win. Even if it takes me some time, I am going to pound on that block of ice until it is all little ice chips. That’s the situation we are in. Even though this may be a work that takes some time, we can win out against resignation and everything we thought it was protecting us from. With Jesus Christ we are more than conquerors who strengthens us, so we don’t have to give up Even people in prison or those who are being tortured don’t have to give up. There are small choices we can make both in prayer and outwardly that make a difference. Richard Wurmbrand was a Romanian Pastor who spent fourteen years in communist prisons suffering for his faith in Christ. When he wasn’t in solitary confinement, he endured physical torture and exposure to long periods of hunger and freezing temperatures. In prison, he was given one slice of bread per week for food. Every tenth week, he would “tithe” his food… giving the entire slice to a weaker prisoner as an act of obedience to God.[6] By that small choice he remained   unresigned to his fate even though he couldn’t break out of jail or kill his captors. So, resignation is this floor built on hidden concrete blocks inside your soul. It very difficult for you to swim and flow with the Spirit of God. Our goal is be increasingly lifted-up in a weightless state, able to receive the gentle nudges of the Holy Spirit moving us. If our hearts are heavy and hard, God has to use quite a bit more muscle to get us to turn and go in a different or new direction. Be suspicious if you always have an explanation as to why “things happen to me like this all the time.” You look at your track record and feel you can prove that people in churches don’t like you, or that when you start a new program someone’s going to disdain it. This is not at all like little children. Little kids expect to be successful. When they draw a picture and show you, they expect you to clap. They rejoice in whatever they can do and assume others will rejoice with them. They invite us to share their pleasure at accomplishing whatever they do simply because it is their life and they love it! We, too, can enjoy and appreciate our own personal best. Even if I’m not the best artist, I can have a good day. Most of us are in some way gifted and very lovely given an opportunity. And we give ourselves that opportunity by allowing God to help us remove any resentment, bitterness, resignation and hopelessness and despair that has weighed down our souls. I pray for you right now that the energy and love of God would begin to pull up out of you any and all this debris as you open your heart and expectations to Him. All that we are speaking of here is part of what it takes to deal with the effects of delayed grief. The idea that we need to settle for all this soft coal packed down in our souls repressing and suffocating our real potential is based on lies. “That’s just the way I feel, that always happens to me.” Whatever our story is, we have got to realize that the son or daughter of God has possibilities that we don’t often see expressed around us. If we seek God to show us whatever walls of unbelief have constrained us to live much smaller than we were meant to live, He will reveal to us the foundational lies that keep those walls in place. Here are just a few of those lies: I don’t belong. I will never really be loved. I am a disappointment to others, and they will eventually disappoint me. I should never have been born. The world is a hostile place. People are always out to hurt me. “The Lord wants to propel us into something that looks more like Jesus Christ being manifest on the earth. I think we could see more miracles, genuine joy and salvations based on people saying I want what that guy has. Whatever he has, I don’t know what that is, but I want that. I don’t think many Christians are witnesses like that, but I think they could be.”[7] Richard and I have helped many clients with resignation problems as described above and seen very good fruit. Ridding yourself of resignation and lies will make it easier for you to connect to the spirit man. The key to becoming fully alive is in our spirit man (gender non-specific) who is already inside of us. The grieving process God placed within us will guide us out of misery. Our spirit man can lead us into a vibrant and joyful life. Most Christians are unaware of their spirit man. But this powerful part of us can mentor and coach each area of our souls into communion and harmony with Jesus Christ. Our spirit man and how he can help us is the subject of our next chapter. [1] My thanks to Richard Kinney for permitting me to expand and illustrate his teaching on resignation. [2] Any name referring to a client in this book is changed to an alias. [3] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/resentment. [4] See Hebrews 12:15. [5] You may also find plenty of unforgiveness, hatred, jealousy, envy, malice, etc. [6] Quoted from Troy Gramling website: https://troygramling.com/giving-bread/ [7] From a conversation I recorded with Richard Kinney, my co-worker at Firehouse Ministries, Inc.

This exercise/prayer is a practical application of Revelation 3:20 Audio File read by Gary Moelk "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." In the Middle East in Jesus’ day and even until today when a person dines in the home of another, from that point on, either person can ask the other for anything, anything at all. After they eat or dine together in the home, they are considered linked together, like family. Jesus is offering to have this type of relationship with us where we can ask him for anything, and He can ask us for anything also. Do you want this type of relationship with Jesus? 1) Everyone has a door. It is the door to the heart. It is the door you open or close to let people in or keep people out. This is your door. No one can open or close your door except you. Not even Jesus can open or close your door. Only you can. Close your eyes and try to feel your door. Put your hand on this door when you can feel it. 2) Jesus is standing at your door and knocking and calling your name. Be very quiet and calm and listen with the ears of your heart and try to hear, or feel, Jesus knocking. Raise your hand when you can hear or feel him knocking. Don’t be in a hurry. He is there. Wait until you feel something. (If there is no response after a certain time, assure the person(s) that even if they can’t feel him he is there.) 3) Do you want to open the door or leave it closed? 4) Now open the door and raise your hand once the door is open. 5) What do you see or feel? 6) Now invite Jesus into the house and raise your hand once He has entered. 7) What do you want to say to him? Some possible responses might be: · Forgive me for …. · I am so glad you came, you are always welcome here · I love you, please come in 8) Now ask Jesus to sit down. If you have a table, have him sit together with you at the dinner table. Raise your hand when Jesus is seated. 9) What is your favorite dish is? Try to picture yourself eating this dish with Jesus, who is eating the same dish. It is actually Jesus who has prepared the dish for you. Raise your hand when you can see yourself dining at the table with Jesus. 10) Now that you have begun to eat, you can talk to Jesus. What do you want to tell him? Don’t ask for anything yet, just talk to him about what is on your mind and heart. Take your time. Jesus is NOT in a hurry. He wants to spend time with you. Raise your hand when you have finished talking with him about everything you had to say. 11) Now, talk to Jesus about what you want. Ask Him. You can ask Him for anything. Raise your hand when you have finished asking Him. 12) Now it is time to listen. Be very quiet and use the ears of your heart and listen to what he is saying to you. Raise your hand once you feel he has finished speaking with you. (If you, the facilitator, have heard something for person doing the exercise, offer now what you have heard.) Coaching Tips · Affirm the person in the love and acceptance of Jesus who came knocking and searching them out because he loves them. · If this is the first time this person has invited Jesus into their heart (you may need to ask if it is the 1st time) affirm the fact that God has heard all that they have said and that angels are now rejoicing in heaven because of what they have said and done today. · Let them know that this exercise is meant to be repeated often. Even if they have invited him in, they can continue to invite him in, it doesn’t mean that they didn’t do it right the first time. After all, this verse in Revelation was given to the church in particular. PDF of Exercise

Listen here to the audio of How to Control Your Atmosphere Spiritually by the Power of Christ