To really get close to God, I have to bathe more often...

Just recently, I did some introspection in an attempt to understand why
things aren’t moving fast enough for me in the spirit realm. Like He has for
many of you, God has blessed me with His mighty PRESENCE and with tangible
manifestations that are beyond description. To add to that, throughout most of
the daylight hours He is all over me...and on occasion Father even speaks
out my name audibly during the night in the times between consciousness and
sleep (I call it the “twilight zone”) That’s another story for another time.
But I’m tellin’ ya, He will do the same and even more for you! He is no
respecter of persons.
I’ve never been one to wait around for something to happen, and that can
be both an asset and a liability. Like so many of you who are reading this,
I have been called to aggressively reach the lost, as well as to pass on
revelation to those who already know the Lord. Through it all, my success in
ministry is in direct correlation to how much of HIM can get through me to
bless those around me. I’m doing my best to self-destruct, but it’s going
slowly.
I don’t want to do the best I can do. I want to do the best that He can
do through me. I know that GRACE supplies, LOVE gives, and FAITH takes
(Joseph Prince). But too often my problem is receiving and manifesting what has
already been granted to me by the finished work at the Cross. I sense that
getting quicker results has to do with my relationship with God (my abba
father...my Daddy).
So one day I simply asked Him: “Father, what’s up? Much of what you
have promised me has been manifested...but so much has not, especially the
heavy-duty stuff. Am I doing something wrong? Please grow me up quickly, as
there is so much to do in this world before the “end of time” shows up. You
know me better than I know me, Father. So whatever You say, I will do. I know
that I need to get much closer to You, and to my big brother Jesus, and to my
closest friend, the Holy Spirit.” Well, I waited for a quick answer.
I’m always careful not to appear to be whining, complaining or murmuring
when I approach God. The Israelites were always doing that kind of stuff
and it almost always ate their lunch. No way I’m going to do that. Get real. I
know better. Let me just declare two things concerning this: (1) My mamma
didn’t raise no Hispanic dummy; (2) I was born at night, but it wasn’t last
night.
Listen, I know it’s okay to ask questions of Him and to seek divine
direction. I’m His son, I was created in His image, and I have His DNA. If I
can’t talk openly and frankly to Him (with reverence), who can I talk to? And
besides all that, He loves me (and all of you) beyond comprehension. He
never leaves us nor forsakes us and He’s always there to help.
When I asked Him the above question, He did not answer me immediately.
He rarely does. But a couple of days later I heard His still small voice just
as plainly as I hear everything else: “Son...just rest...and bathe yourself
with my presence.”
As I always do when I hear from Him unexpectedly, I grabbed a pencil and
pad and I recorded what I had just heard:
...just rest...and bathe
yourself in my presence.
I didn’t get it. The last thing I wanted to do at that point in my
desperation was to take a bath. But so many times in my interaction with deity,
what seems so simple turns out to be so incredibly profound.
For a couple of days, I tried to get a handle on what Father was trying
to tell me. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Since I already do my best to
stay in His presence, why would He say this to me?
I was talking about this to Linda and in a flash it came to me: I had
written it down wrong. What Father actually said was:
...just rest...and bathe
yourself with my presence.
(not in my presence)
That may seem trivial to most, but actually it’s huge! (the most
startling revelations from God that I receive are the ones that I‘m not smart
enough to conjure up by myself).
What He was telling me was this: Robert, you can stand next to a
beautiful bathtub full of sweet-smelling bubble-bath and you are in it’s presence.
But if you don’t get into the water and bathe yourself with it, you cannot
become clean and refreshed and reap the wonderful benefits. Wow!
So it is with so many of us. This is where most of us miss it. Sensing
God’s PRESENCE is a truly marvelous thing, especially in a corporate praise
and worship atmosphere. But to avail ourselves of God’s fullness, we must
step into that PRESENCE and become one with God. Let’s reach up and receive
His limitless love (He loved us first)...and then just love Him right back
without reservation. Simply surrender. Embrace all that God has already granted
to you according to the finished work at the Cross. Dive into His rivers of
living water and soak yourself with His proximity! Then, what is His
becomes yours.
• This is how Jesus multiplied the 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread: He held
the boy’s lunch in His hands as He reached up and became one with His Father.
Then Heaven’s power fell and super-sized the meal and it became the biggest
fish-fry ever held in the Middle East. Thanks Holy Spirit!
• This is also how the woman with the issue of blood was cleansed. She
reached out and touched Jesus and became one with Him. Healing power had no
choice but to flow from Heaven, into Jesus and into her to burn away her afflic
tion.
• This is also how Jesus stopped the wind and the waves from sinking the
disciples’ boat. He awoke, reached up and became one with His Father, and then
the power flowed down from Heaven to command change in the natural world,
and the wind and the waves became still.
• This is also how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. He reached out and
became one with His Father and He commanded: “Lazarus, come forth!”
Afterwards, he said, “Thank you Father for hearing me. You always hear me.” In
order for Jesus to thank His Father for hearing Him, He must have reached out to
God for the power to manifest the raising of the dead (again, through the
Holy Spirit).
Jesus was God, but He did God’s work as a man. That should tell us
something. Everything He did was an example for us to see and understand. It was
a big-time show and tell. Even Jesus said, “Without my Father’s power, I
myself can do nothing.” As He is, so are we in this world today (1 John 4:17)
The Bible is emphatic about saying, ...get close to Me and I will get
close to you (James 4:8). This is the realm where not only does the impossible
become possible, it becomes a piece of cake. In HIM (not just next to
him)) we will find all the answers. In addition, He will burn away from us all
that is not of Him in order to be able to commune with us more effectively.
Bathing with His PRESENCE is also how His promises, provisions, and
gifts are released to us through the wavelength of inner peace (Philippians
4). We must also remember that PRESENCE is not necessarily SANCTION of what we
are doing (but very often it is). His powerful PRESENCE also reminds us
that He will never leave us nor forsake us...and that He will see us through
everything the world and the Evil One will surely throw at us. Hey, if God is
for us, who can be against us? We got it “whupped.”
In the final analysis, what Father was trying to get across to me is to
simply jump off the bank of the stream and into His rivers of living water!
There I can merge with the flow of the current of God, as His heavenly
momentum renews, refreshes, rejuvenates, and repairs me inside and out (Isaiah
40:31).
But there’s more. And this is the key: By design, from my innermost
parts, that same living water will flow outward through me as I speak His Word
into the realm of the natural, in order to bless those around me. A vessel
with purified water constantly flowing through it never becomes stagnant.
“If God can get His blessings through you, He can get His gifts and
provisions to you.”
We’ve got this thing all turned around. What I’m trying to learn to do
is to set aside quality time every day to spend in the presence of the
world, but only after I devote the vast majority of my primary time in the
presence of my Creator. Also, I would much rather commute to the Earth from
Heaven every day, instead of the other way around.
You know you have bathed yourself with
His presence when:
1) It’s no longer a chore to keep your hands raised high after praising for
an extended period of time (your arms are supernaturally strengthened);
2) You started out to pray for a while and then you look at the clock and
it’s 2 or 3 hours later than that (time is irrelevant in the spirit realm);
3. The things of the world become trivial and of little value (compared to
the gift of the Heavenly realm);
4. You feel like a king and a priest, and that you are an owner of the
Kingdom of God (because you truly are);
5. You quickly forgive those who have hurt you and it’s no big deal (the
Love of God transcends everything);
6. You feel connected to everlasting life and even the stupid Devil can’t
talk you out of it (Jesus gave you authority over the totality of Satan’s
kingdom);
7. You get a taste of the depth of God’s love as the waves of His Glory
overwhelm your spirit and then your flesh (who would want to be anywhere else?);
8) You become seriously addicted to the “tingle of life” all over
you...and you’re not the least bit interested in going into rehab (if it ain’t
broke, don’t fix it);
9) You are through praying, but you’d rather stay up there and not come
back down until sometime on Saturday (how do you keep a kid on the farm after
he’s seen the Magic Kingdom in Orlando?);
10) You come back down to the world and the Devil says, “Now I’m gonna
really git you!”...but you kick him in the rear and send him to a corner to do “
time out” (Jesus did it to him and He’s given you the authority to do it,
too).
There’s lots more...but once again, I’m out of space. Suffice it to
say that in order to understand and to benefit from the deep things of God, we
must have an ever expanding deeper relationship with Him. What better way
to do that than to become one with Father God as we bathe regularly with His
PRESENCE...and obey Him.
Almighty God has a fantastic plan for everyone of our lives. But hey,
there’s only one restriction: we must have a super-tight relationship with our
Creator...where He is first and everything else is last.

“Extraordinary things happen to extraordinary people who have an
extraordinary destiny.”
C. S. Lewis
Chronicles of Narnia

Once Upon A Time In New York...

The date was July 4, 2015 and the right time had finally arrived. I (Lisa
Bradley) was packed and ready to head for Houston’s Intercontinental
Airport to catch a flight to New York City. I was headed to a huge 5-day Christian
conference at Madison Square Garden. It was aptly named:

“The Mega Ministers’ Conference On How to Achieve Success And Ultimate
Prominence In Christian Ministry.”

On the speaker’s agenda were 36 of America’s most highly revered and
visible preachers and evangelists who were doing the Christian circuit. For
five days, these guys would give the conference attendees many clues and
guidelines on how to get motivated and get to the top and prosper in
ministry quickly, according to their own experiences.

It would be the largest conference gathering in the history of the
country and promised to be slick, smooth, and highly professional. Tickets
to get into Madison Square Garden were outrageous, but were all sold out three
days after they went on sale throughout the nation.

I couldn’t shake it. Something about this whole thing in New York
smelled terribly wrong. Where was “trusting God” and following His
precepts in all of this? SELF seemed to have overshadowed the Holy Spirit and become
the order of the day.

But I was going anyhow. I was enthused for a little while and I needed a
break. Besides, by attending this conference, I would get to see some of my
old friends again in The Big Apple.

Although I was a Christian, my commitment was not deep and my walk was
lukewarm and lethargic. For twelve years I had suffered through a time of
severe depression that had a death grip on me. I was treated by numerous
psychologists and medical doctors, but to no avail. All my money was gone
on physicians and I was none the better for it. I could see no way out of my
dilemma and I was desperate. Not only was my life not going anywhere, but
it was going in the tank.

The night before I was to fly to New York, I twisted and turned until I
fell asleep. That’s when I had a strange dream that gave me hope and turned
my inner lights on. While I slept, I kept seeing the face of a strong but
gentle man who smiled at me as if to reassure me that all was going to be
well with me very soon. I was surprised and overwhelmed, and it gave me a
beautiful peace and rest that I had not experienced for a such a long time.

Just being in the presence of that man’s countenance lifted me to a
higher level than I had never felt before. He was beautiful and I didn’t
want to wake up at all. I would never forget Him.

Although I was asleep, something deep inside of me had been awakened. I
sensed that something was going to happen in the next few days that would
shake my world beyond even my wildest imaginations. But I didn’t really
understand any of this. I was clueless and tired.

The following morning my depression returned as I finished packing and
loading most of my Christian trinkets that I had collected over the years.
I mean, that’s what you do when you go to a meeting like this. Everybody
shows off their Christian apparel, Christian jewelry, and hundred dollar leather
Bibles...among other things. It was a care-free grand ol’ time away from
home.

When the Yellow Cab showed up outside my house, we took off for the
airport. On the way I was trying to put a handle on what I had dreamed the
night before. Inside of me, I knew something awesome was up. It made me feel
uneasy.

During the flight, I did a little introspection before taking a nap.
Even though I was a nominal Christian and attended church ever so often,
even I could sense that something quite awful was happening to much of
Christianity in America. It was simply no longer what it first was in this
country.

Too much of the body of Christ had become watered down, weak, ineffective,
irrelevant and politically correct. It looked a whole lot like the world.

I dozed off and in just a couple of hours, we landed at Kennedy Airport
in New York City. I found my way to my hotel and met with my old friends,
but we went to bed early because we knew that the next day would be a long
and tiring experience. I had not shared with anyone about my dream and I tried
my best to hide the mounting exhilaration within me. My spirit was bursting
inside me, but I didn’t quite know what to make of it.


When we arrived at the main entrance to “The Garden,” we were surprised
to see hundreds of large busses parked where you normally see cars parked.
I’d never seen so many busses in one place in all my life. Nobody was in
them and their motors were running as if ready to go at a moment’s notice.
This was strange. What happened to all the cars? The devil was whispering
in my ear and was trying to tell me that the “Rapture” had happened and I had
been left behind.

We then walked inside the building and received the second shock of the
day. We had expected to see the hallways full of product displays and
tables belonging to the visiting preachers and evangelists. You know, books, CD’s,
tapes, t-Shirts, etc. That’s what you always see at this kind of meeting.

But what we saw instead were at least a hundred large wire-mesh bins that
you could see through...and they were all filled with new “tennis shoes” of
all sizes and shapes tied together in pairs. There were multiple thousands
of pairs of NIKE’s in the bins.

For a minute, we thought perhaps we had gone to the wrong building,
where they were having a track meet of some sort. But we were big-time
wrong.

Since we arrived late, we knew that most of the 25,000 ticket holders
were probably already in the auditorium and seated. So we went on in, found
our seats and joined he crowd. Everyone was quiet and seemed to be in
shock.

They just stared and watched and waited.

The huge stage area was bare. No beautiful curtains, no huge back-drops,
no band stands, no special lighting, no TV cameras...no nothing. Not even a
huge photomural of some famous evangelist. The only thing left standing was
a microphone on a stand squarely in the middle and facing the crowd. We
could see the front rows where all the scheduled speakers and other
“celebrities” were seated. They were just as surprised as the rest of us.

What in heaven’s name was going on here?

After about half an hour, a tall and graceful man appeared on stage and
picked up the microphone to speak. He hesitated as He looked toward heaven,
as if to get direction. He was wearing the garb of Middle East style and
walked on sandals. The silence in this place was excruciatingly loud.

“I want to thank all of you for coming here today.” His voice was
pleasant but undeniably authoritative. And He seemingly did not need a
spotlight, as His presence brought its own illumination.

As I focused in on Him I realized from a distance that I had seen this
person before. But I was not close enough to see His face.

“My name is ‘Aye Ahmm’ and I am Jewish and I was born outside of
Jerusalem.”He paused for a minute and then continued.

“I have spoken to the Promoter of this gathering, and we are going to do
something very different today than what you came here to see.”

Again, there was a pause and a long silence. Someone sitting in front of
me blurted out, “Who in the world is this guy? Where did he come from?”

“Aye Ahmm” continued. “All the plans have been finalized and we will
begin to fulfill our Great Commission to New York almost immediately.
Today, the 25,000 followers of Christ gathered in this arena will spread out in
orderly fashion throughout the city. You will visit and minister mostly to
all those in the most blighted areas of town: Brooklyn, Queens, and Bedford
Stuyvesant. There will indeed be teaching and preaching of the Gospel these
next few days, but it will not happen inside these walls.”

The silence was finally broken as the crowd began to think out loud:

“Who are you? And what in the world are you talking about?” The rumbling
had begun, especially on the front rows full of “dignitaries.”

The man from the Holy Land paused but then said:
“I am ‘Aye Ahmm.’ I commission you and empower you to go out into the
world and heal the sick, cast out demons, feed the poor, and raise the
dead. God is with you...and my peace I leave with you, a peace that this world does
not even begin to understand.”

Having said this, the Middle Eastern man from Jerusalem exited the stage
and disappeared. But what He left behind was a highly volatile, charged
atmosphere brimming over with power. Many there were overcome and fell
backward to the floor.

Very quickly, John Vander, the original Promoter of this conference,
took to the microphone and began to give instructions.

“Please listen carefully. The Preachers and Evangelists on the front
rows will each be assigned a large contingent of people from our audience.
As you and your assigned group leave the building, you will be directed to
your pre-selected busses in the parking lot. From there, you will have guides
who will drive the busses and take you to your pre-assigned destination.”

Only a handful on the first or second rows moved, but the remainder
began to show hostility. This was not at all what they had come to do. They
were used to preaching for an hour, picking up their 5-figure “love offering”
and then heading back in the limousine to the 5-star hotel. Shortly after
that, they would board their aircraft and move on to the next gig.

John Vander continued: “Please understand that before all of you leave
the building, each one must take your shoes off and put on the “tennis
shoes” that have been provided for you, as they will be much more
comfortable when walking the streets. As you take off your own shoes, please leave them
on the floor against the walls. Your shoes will be donated to the needy in New

York, along with your Christian jewelry and your Bibles.”

Now most of the crowd was becoming vociferous and indignant, in an
attempt to silence the conviction that was growing within them. After
all, they had come to this place to praise loudly, clap a lot, dance, sing and
elevate their emotions (in addition to getting CD’s, tapes, and jewelry at
discount prices...and maybe getting an autograph or two).

They had come to hear the great preachers and teachers, not to minister
to the lost people in the slums. Their compassion for the poor in spirit
was genuine, but their feet were not heading in the right direction.

Again, John Vander spoke into the mike: “To those of you ministry
leaders who have arrived in private jet aircraft, we are asking you to
allow us to use your airplanes and pilots to distribute the books, CD’s, tapes,
t-shirts and clothing that you brought here to sell, but that you will now
readily donate to the destitute folks throughout America. Please make the necessary
arrangements with our loading personnel before you leave for the streets of
New York with your assigned group. God bless you richly as our New York
conference staff assists you in everything you may need in order to make
this all possible.”

There was a lot of milling around in the arena for about an hour...but
then most of the brothers and sisters began to leave. Very few were willing
to remove their shoes and enter the throne of grace. Only a handful of the
Preachers and Evangelists volunteered their jets and their time.

As I stood in the hallway and began to take my shoes off, I noticed Him
way in the distance. He was heading in my direction with many followers
wanting to justtouch “Aye Ahmm.” They understood what was happening and had a great

enthusiasm for what the body of Christ had been called to do this day. And
they all had their “tennis shoes” on.

The closer He came to me, the more excited I became. And then I
recognized Him as the man whose face I had seen in my dream. My body was
turning to jelly and I had a hard time standing up.

He walked right by me in the crowd and did not notice me. He was
inundated with all the people that wanted to speak with Him. But I knew
that if I could just touch His sandal, I would be healed of this gruesome depression

that was killing me slowly. I would be made whole.

I fought my way through the crowd in order to get to Him, but just as I
reached out to touch His sandal, I slipped and fell. In desperation, I
closed my eyes and blindly extended my right arm and felt the leather of
His sandal. Power rushed through me and I knew right then that I was healed and
restored.

He stopped abruptly and looked down at me with a tear falling from His
eye: “Daughter, your faith has made you whole. Go in peace...”
He walked away and no one saw Him again.

On my flight back to Houston, I received a revelation while I was dozing
in my seat next to the window: The tear in the eye of “Aye Ahmm” (I AM)
was not for me. It was for the tragedy of apostasy that had befallen
Christ’s Church in America during these last days...

Editor’s note: This story is fiction. It has not happened. But in five
years, it could very well happen if the Church of Jesus Christ does not
wake up and embrace the Holy Spirit’s direction to do a massive clean-up within our
own ranks. God’s not going to do it for us...
Note #2: There’s nothing wrong with “conferences” and selling books, CD’s
or anything else. And if a ministry aircraft facilitates the spreading of
the Gospel, then so be it. But it’s the motivation behind all of this that
will soon get the attention of Heaven.

“I know all the things that

you do, that you are neither

hot nor cold. I wish that you

were either one or the other!

But since you are like lukewarm

water, neither hot nor cold, I

will spit you out of my mouth!"

Revelation 3:15-16 NLT

"My Best Friend Wants to be Your Best Friend..."

The Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. They
are separated by function, but always work in unison to bring things to
fruition in the Church today. All three are of equal importance and deserve equal
attention. All three are God.
We know a lot about God, and we know a lot about Jesus, but I am more
and more amazed at how much I don’t know about the Holy Spirit. But I’m
learning more and more about my best Friend as the days go by (even Mexicans can
learn quickly when properly motivated). C’mon, lighten up. I’m kidding.
The first thing I have grasped is that God the Holy Spirit is very eager
to make you His best friend too, so that He may be able to fulfill His
assignment and assist you with your “calling” on Earth. He is famished for the
affection and attention of God’s children.
I can tell you personally that He wants to carry your picture in His
wallet. I gave Him one of my pictures but He sent it back and requested a more
recent photo...one that actually looks like me. Don’t laugh, you do it, too.
Mostly unknowingly, we have treated the Holy Spirit like a stepchild
because we have not been taught otherwise.
The Church of Jesus Christ today is for the most part ignorant and
unaware of the Holy Spirit’s function and importance. Other than the usual lip
service and generalizations about the third member of the Trinity, I have
found that few really understand who the Holy Spirit truly is and that a
superficial relationship with Him will hinder us from receiving from God. (“My
people perish for lack of knowledge” -- Hosea 4:6)
But Jesus made no bones about it. He taught His disciples explicitly
that they should and would know the Holy Spirit who lived with them, and would
soon live in them.

I will talk about some of this in just a minute. First let me get a
couple of other things straight by addressing a couple of misconceptions
concerning other common Christian beliefs. It’s just stuff that bugs me and I
have to unload. I hope that’s okay.
Myth #1--“God is an old man who has whiskers, a long beard, and gray hair
because He’s been around for a long time.”
That’s hogwash. It takes time to grow long hair and whiskers and more
time for them to become gray or white. The problem with this assertion is that
in Heaven there is no time. God is the great “I AM”, not “I was” or
“I’m going to be.”
My heavenly Father is forever young, and we shall be also when this
“earth suit” that we currently live in becomes resurrected. But for now, I’ll
take any kind of hair I can get, even if it’s pink or green (that means that
I’ll be sure to get invited to appear on TBN).
I know. I know. All of this is trivial, but thanks for stickin’ with me
until I can get to the “meaty” stuff.
Myth #2--“In the last days (today), God will once again pour out His Holy
Spirit upon all flesh like He did at Pentecost, and sons and daughters will
prophesy, see visions, dream dreams, etc.”
Wrong. In Acts 2:17 in the KJV, it says, “And it shall come to pass in
the last days, saith God, I will pour out OF my Spirit upon all flesh, and
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy..(etc).”
Peter was quoting the Prophet Joel, but added OF because the Holy Spirit
had just fallen upon mankind and lived within them...and lives within us
today. This is crucial to understand. God will not do Pentecost all over
again, but will activate the kingdom of God which is in the Holy Spirit who now
resides in us.
According to author Gary Carroll, “The last days will supply a great
outpouring from the kingdom of God within the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). This
great outpouring of riches will be most prominent in those who know the Holy
Spirit personally. Those who do not know Him will be entering this time
with no experience of learning and understanding His ways.”
In short, we already have the Holy Spirit within us...but does the Holy
Spirit have us?

God is a God of Order
“My heavenly Father is a God of order, and everything He does is orderly
according to fixed laws of operation.” (John W. Lawrence)
I have always pursued the methodology of the Kingdom because I know that
God works by principles, axioms and processes (this also applies in the
natural world on this planet). It is not the hodge-podge approach to God that
too much of the body of Christ operates in today. Plus, the kingdom of God
also functions by protocol (form and procedure).
Listen, Jesus knew how the system of the kingdom of God operates, and
that’s why He was always successful during His three-and-a-half year ministry
on Earth. Please forgive my pedestrian language, but Christ knew which
buttons to push to get the kingdom of God to go into operation. That’s what I
want because Jesus plainly stated that we would all do the things that He
did...and even greater things through the Holy Spirit. (John 14:12).

“I will ask the Father, and
He will give you another
Comforter (Counselor,
Helper, Intercessor,
Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), that He may
remain with you forever. ”
John 14:16-17
“But the Comforter, which
is the Holy Spirit whom
the Father will send in my
name...He shall teach you
all things, and bring all
things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said to Him.
John 12:25-27

Who is the Holy Spirit?
The reason I know so little about the Holy Spirit is that no one ever
taught me extensively about Him. And that’s because few really know and
understand Him.
I can tell you that as I begin to know Him in depth, He is a spirit who
is extremely powerful but very gentle and kind. Although He does not have a
physical body, He is a Person with deep feelings towards us (see page 23).
He is not a wisp of air and He is not a “Ghost” (the KJV of the Bible has
mistranslated His name). In fact, all the other translations of the Bible
that I know of, correctly refer to the third Person of the Trinity as the
“Holy Spirit.” Even the highly revered Young’s Literal Translation. Uh
Oh,,,............
I always catch a lot of flack when I step on sacred cows, but let me just
say two things concerning this. First of all, “ghost” carries with it a
connotation of spiritual darkness like “poltergeist” or Harry Potter. But
most importantly, I can’t imagine witnessing to some guy named Fred and saying
something like this: “Fred, I want to introduce you to my very best Friend
who led me to Jesus Christ. He wants to meet you too...and He’s a ghost.” I
suspect that dear old Fred would be lifting his eyebrows as he ran down the
street.
Secondly, God is a spirit, too. Why don’t we call Him a “ghost?”
God the Holy Spirit will never leave me nor forsake me. He’s always
there when I need Him. We walk together, we talk together, we laugh together
and we pray together.
The most powerful praying that I’ve ever been a part of is when I “pray
in the Spirit.” He prays through me when I know not how to pray
effectively. The Holy Spirit prays perfect prayers that make things happen! And He’s
readily available because He already lives on this planet...in me.
We have all suffered under the misconception that when we pray, we look
up and expect answers to flow down from Heaven. Fact of the matter is, the
answers will flow out of us from the Kingdom of God that is already inside of
us. But that’s another subject for another time.
The precious Holy Spirit is a “paraclete”...one called along side us
to help. He knows everything about everything, and He is eager to share that
with us so that He can lead us and guide us and show us things to come.
He is a very potent and resourceful friend to have. He was there since
the very beginning with God the Father, and Jesus the Son. He is the original
“Doer of the Word.”
His primary responsibility seems to be that He will teach us everything
He knows about Jesus, and holds our hand as we conform more and more to the
image of Christ when we behold Him.
As part of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is the one who gets things done.
Under the direction of God, He built the Universe, He built the Earth, He
brought the plagues to Egypt, He parted the Red Sea, He knocked down the
walls of Jerico, He stopped TIME so that Joshua could defeat Israel’s enemies
before dark, He healed diseases and raised the dead, He calmed the
storms...and He also helped Linda to find a lost pair of shoes.
I really like this last one because it gets down to how the Holy Spirit
wants to help us and be totally involved in our lives, even with the little
mickey-mouse stuff. (“Mickey Mouse” in the Spanish language is pronounced
“Miguelito Raton”...for those of you who want to amaze and impress your
Chicano friends and acquaintances.)
The Early Church Knew
The Holy Spirit Well
I believe that the early Church was extremely successful and impactful
because the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was still fresh on the Church of Jesus
Christ. Satan freaked out bigtime as he saw the Spirit of God convert 3,000
people in one day...and then many more soon after. At that rate, the devil’s
kingdom would be eradicated sooner than later. It was panic time!
So Satan had to devise a plan 2,000 years ago where time and “religion”
would begin to play down the importance of the Holy Spirit...and it worked!
Today, too often the Holy Spirit has mostly been relegated to secondary
mention and is of minimal significance in the believer’s life. This was one of
Satan’s most heinous and successful plots in the history of the fallen
world. But that’s about to change!
There are volumes more of what I intended to say about my indescribably
powerful but incredibly beautiful best Friend. We’ll pick it up here next
time...

“God The Holy Spirit.”- The Person

I have so much to say, but so little time and space in which to do it.
First of all, I must say that my life has been turned upside down in the
past few weeks concerning “God The Holy Spirit.” I’ve been instructed to
just drop everything I’m doing and get to know the third Person of the
Trinity intimately and mucho pronto.
Linda can attest to the fact that I’ve now done countless Word
searches...and have gotten my hands on book after book on the subject of The Holy
Spirit.
It is absolutely amazing (and inexcusable) that I know so little about
this beautiful Person. That’s right, the Holy Spirit is a Person, not a wisp
of spiritual air and not a ghost (the KJV of the Bible has mistranslated
“Spirit” into “Ghost”). I’ve researched the NKJV, NIV, AMP, NLT, and other
Bible versions and they correctly use “Holy Spirit.”
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me just say that seemingly,
everybody and his brother (or sister) today is teaching or preaching in depth on
the Holy Spirit, and it’s about time! That’s a move of God if I ever saw
one. But I will deal with this shortly.

Listen, we can and should learn as much as we can about how the kingdom
of God works, but without a vibrant and effective one-on-one relationship
with our Creator, we will not be able to receive what He wants to give to us.
My goal is to do all the things that Jesus did (and even greater things),
but it “ain’t gonna happen” until my Father can trust me with the awesome,
potent power that it takes to manifest signs, wonders and miracles. He will
not release great supernatural power to shallow people....any more than an
earthly father would give his 10-year-old a loaded shotgun for his birthday.
He’s waiting on us to grow up.
The only way God can overcome this issue is to have complete and
immediate contact with His offspring consistently, so that He may direct our steps
and keep us out of trouble. This is the only way. There is no “Plan B.”
I’m learning more and more about how to quickly enter the throneroom of
Grace and receive from God when my spiritual sponge (the deepest part of me)
has become dry. At that point, I am with “I AM” and I become one with God
in order to soak up more rivers of living water and replenish the sweet
moisture of His presence (“spiritual osmosis”). In short, “I gotta fill up the
tank.”
Jesus had to do the same thing after every long and exhausting day of
His ministry to the world. Sometimes when I stay away from Father for too
long, my “sponge” begins to dry up, become brittle, and even smells bad. If I
don’t keep it wet and overflowing and powerful, I won’t make it through the
day..
I love what Matthew 28-30 says in the Message version:
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away
with me and recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk
with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of
grace...”
When praying, I’ve learned to go with the flow of the unforced rhythms
of Grace, and I experience the sweet momentum of bountiful love and
unmerited favor. It’s a place where I relinquish control of myself and allow the
Holy Spirit to lead me and guide me (I go to auto-pilot). As I leave the earth
and into God’s realm, I find myself without care and surrounded by the
finished work of the Cross, and it’s all mine to receive. It’s a beautiful
thing and it’s a totally free gift.
I don’t labor, toil, strive or struggle to achieve the presence of God
and the benefits of kingdom life. It’s all about the gift of righteousness
and the abundance of Grace. This has got to be what Heaven is like...how Adam
and Eve lived before they blew it. No wonder that 100% of those who are
allowed a quick trip to heaven and back...don’t ever want to come back! (it’s
a no-brainer)
The Law is all about men. Grace is all about God. (Joseph Prince) I am
learning to fight from a position of victory, instead of fighting and trying
to get victory! It’s all done because I’ve already won. I’m ready to pick
up His cross and follow Him...but it’s a Cross of power, deliverance and
success. Jesus’ yoke is easy, and His burden is light!
My ultimate destiny (and yours, too) is far greater than my current
condition.

Who is the Holy Spirit?
“The American Church is lacking in one necessary element for changing
the world--knowing the Person of God that is already living here. The subject
of personally meeting the Holy Spirit is generally never taught in
church...so that tradition makes it almost impossible for many church members to
desire a relationship with the Holy Spirit...And this is how God is usually
comprehended, of living only in Heaven...Many of the teachers do not know the
Holy Spirit personally, so the subject is hardly addressed...He is often
overlooked, omitted, and forgotten...Jesus paid the ultimate price for every
believer to live with God here...The fact that God the Holy Spirit lives here
with us and is willing to step into our realm should be a primary focus for
the Church.” (Gary Carroll)
Unknowingly, many of us have treated the Holy Spirit as a stepchild.
Myself, I just didn’t know any better. “My people are destroyed for lack of
knowledge (Hosea 4:6).” A superficial relationship with the Holy Spirit will
hinder us from receiving from God.
The fact of the matter is that Jesus taught the disciples explicitly
that they would know the Holy Spirit who lived with them, and would soon also
live in them.
Listen, in the last couple or three weeks I have placed virtually
everything else on “hold” in order to focus on the Holy Spirit: who He is, what
He does, and why I’ve waited so long to get to know Him and walk with Him.
Marching orders for this new direction in my life did not come from me.
Let me just say that there’s no way I’m going to address this subject
adequately in just the little space that I have left in this writing (no way,
Jose). But I’ll do my best to hit the high points...and then deal with it
as I learn more.
Please understand that like most of my brothers and sisters in Christ,
my comprehension of the Holy Spirit and His purposes to this point has been
superficial at best (nobody ever really taught me extensively on this
subject). So I speak partly from direct revelation, but also revelation that has
been imparted to others, who I am reading about now.
It is also crucial that you understand that Father will give revelation
and direction to anyone who is starving for more of Him. God is no respecter
of persons!
First things first. The Holy Spirit is a Person, like God the Father and
God the Son...and He is equal in importance (He’s God!). The Godhead is
separated by function, but always works in unison. The Holy Spirit is the
original “doer” of the Word. He is the one in the Trinity that gets the job
done!
This has been such a revelation to me and is so critical to my
understanding! Up to now, how could I expect increased manifestation of God’s
promises and blessings...when I am so unfamiliar with the function of the Holy
Spirit who possesses the assignment and the power to produce manifestation into
this natural world of time?
In the very short period of time that I’ve had to truly behold the Holy
Spirit, I have seen tremendous results. He’s been all over me almost all the
time. Even right now, the weight and heat of His presence is overwhelming,
and I am now asking God the Holy Spirit to leap right off this page and into
those who read this. Do you feel it yet?
Revelation is always intended to be shared with the body of Christ, and
not "copyrighted". How do you copyright illumination and a flash of
understanding?
Knowing this Person is like meeting a new friend who not only owns the
world, but also created the UNIVERSE as well. And His power is in us!
The Holy Spirit is a Person (John 16:13) who has no physical body but
does have all the other attributes:
He is the power of the Trinity (Romans 8:11); He has an intellect (1
Corinthians 2:10); He has emotions (Romans 15:30); He has a will (1 Corinthians
12:4); He can speak (Galatians 4:6); He can be insulted (Hebrews 10:29); He
can be blasphemed (Matthew 12:31); He can be quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19;
He can be resisted (Acts 7:51); He is omnipresent (Psalms 139:7); He is
omniscient (Isaiah 40:13); He is omnipotent (Ephesians 1:18); He is eternal
(Hebrews 9:14); He is GOD...
I’m learning a lot from others, but the Holy Spirit has become my
primary instructor. One of the first things He did was to point out Joel 2:28-29
to me: “...I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see
visions...”
Lord knows this scripture has been over-used and applied to so many
things so often, that it has almost become redundant and suspect. But I believe
that this scripture applies to the end times only, because it also refers to
accompanying signs and wonders in the heavens and the earth...pillars of
smoke, fire, the sun turning into darkness, and the moon into blood...all part
of Revelation 6, 8, and 9.
I firmly believe that where it says “I will pour out My Spirit,” that
it means “I will give you a new and dramatic understanding of who the Holy
Spirit really is in this time of great need of spiritual truth.”
The time for manifestation of Joel 2 is now, as we begin to enter the
front end of the end times. Thank you Holy Spirit!
I believe that the early Church was extremely successful and impactful
because the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was still fresh on the Church of Jesus
Christ. Satan freaked out bigtime as he saw the Spirit of God convert 3,000
people in one day...and then many more soon after. At that rate, the devil’s
kingdom would be eradicated sooner than later. It was panic time!
So Satan had to devise a plan 2,000 years ago where time and “religion”
would begin to play down the importance of the Holy Spirit...and it worked!
Today, too often the Holy Spirit has mostly been relegated to lip service
and is of minimal significance in the believer’s life. This was one of
Satan’s most heinous and successful plots in the history of the fallen world. But
that’s about to change!
The Holy Spirit has been there all the time, but as I get to know more
and more about Him I perceive that He is gentle, kind, understanding and
unobtrusive...and wants to be asked into our lives. He is the perfect friend
who walks along beside me to help (a “paraclete”). But He also wields a big
stick against those who would hinder the work of God. Evil is no match.
He will never leave me nor forsake me...He will teach me the deep things
of Jesus...He will show me things to come. And He lives inside of me.
I’ll never know how I made it this far without intimacy with Him. But
hey, it’s a new day!

(I began this editorial with a totally different theme than what I ended up
with. About a third of the way through, Father decided to change my
direction and talk about “what’s coming”. I opted to leave it on paper just as it
happened...because that in itself speaks volumes about yielding to He who
created you. I have no problem being upstaged by the Holy Spirit...”)

I’m learning so much so quickly about the functioning of the kingdom of
God, that sometimes it blows me away. On occasion, I just have to put on the
brakes and try to put things into perspective. I marvel at the state of my
former and remaining ignorance of Godly principles. But I “gotta move on.”
Among other things, I have learned that Grace (God’s unmerited favor) is
not the exception to the rule but the entirety of the gospel, which is
about the finished work of Jesus on the Cross. “Faith is our positive response
to what God has already provided by Grace (Chris Barhorst).”
We attain the righteousness of God through the blood of Jesus
Christ...not by our “works.” I see so much exhaustion in the body of Christ.
Believers today are attempting to win God’s favor (and thus His blessings) by
breaking their backs doing “good things” in the flesh. But Jesus took care of
all that at Calvary. He wants us to “enter His rest” and walk in peace
instead. If we take care of the inside, He will take care of the outside (Matthew
6:33). Peace is the highway by which Grace will flow into my life.
Although I am very much alive, I will “rest in peace.”
The person who receives and understands uncompromised Grace will not be
dominated by sin (Romans 6:14), and will be directed and empowered by Christ
to carry out the necessary “good works.” Please understand, “rest is not
inactivity...it is directed activity (Joseph Prince).”
You cannot mix “works” and “Grace.” It is unacceptable to God
(Galatians 5:4). You cannot mix new wine (New Testament), with an old wineskin (Old
Testament). The result is that the new wine will expand and burst the old a
nd brittle wineskin...and they both fall to the ground, yielding no benefit
to us whatsoever. Yet I hear preacher after preacher mixing the two
covenants with reckless abandon (it stinketh, bigtime). Small wonder that the
majority of our open and sincere prayers are not answered. We disqualify ourselves
before we even begin.
Our thirst for God’s presence in our lives is a magnet for His
manifestation. Myself, I can no longer be away from Father’s presence for any
extended period of time. I get homesick for Heaven in a hurry. I’ll talk about
this shortly, but first I have to blow off some steam. I hope that’s okay.

Thank God for Christian television, radio and print media. Through
these, I have been exposed to great and relevant teaching from honest, competent,
and truly spirit-filled people. That’s the good news. But the bad news is
that I am learning more and more about some of these folks and what is going
on behind the scenes in the body of Christ...and it makes me want to boldly
regurgitate (throw up, spit up...even barf).
I’m reading a new book by J. Lee Grady, former editor of Charisma
Magazine. I’ve always admired this man because he’s gutsy and will not mince
words when necessary. In one instance he describes a printed document put out
by a very prominent preacher and evangelist...which describes this guy’s
requirements if he is to come and preach at your church or event. It goes like
like this: (1) A five figure “honorarium”; (2) A 10,000 gasoline deposit
for a private plane; (3) A hairstylist for the speaker; (4) A suite of rooms
in a 5-star hotel; (5) A luxury car from the airport to a hotel; (6) An
abundance of room-temperature Perrier water.
This kind of stuff is more prevalent than we think, and the Apostle Paul
is probably turning in his grave.
In another instance, J.Lee Grady also exposes a mega-church preacher who
married a very prominent female prophetess (the cost for the wedding
exceeded a million dollars). Soon afterwards, this high-flyin’ pastor beat up his
new wife in a parking lot and it was widely exposed in the media.
Afterwards, when he showed up at his church to preach, he was greeted by his
congregation with a standing ovation! I don’t get it...
All you have to do these days is turn on the tube and before too long,
some man or woman is “scamming” you out of your money and promising you the
moon in return.
What has happened to the body of Christ in America?

A WORD FROM GOD
In the Old Testament, God used prophets to reach humanity. In the New
Testament, God still uses prophets, but only because so few will join Him in
the open Throne Room in order to receive revelation one-on-one. But all that
is about to change (it’s about time!).
Linda and I attend a dynamic weekly Bible study led by Ken and Peg
Matheny in Houston’s Memorial area. It’s called a “Connection Group” and this
thing is dynamite. We all gather there for one reason: to explore the
supernatural depths of the Gospel and to move up to a higher spiritual dimension
ASAP so that we may more efficiently reach out to others with consistent
success. The last time I checked, the Holy Spirit has a perfect attendance
record at this weekly meeting...and then some.
At this last gathering, a bold prophecy was given by a young man that
in essence declared the following (paraphrased): “Today’s mostly superficial
and self - serving Christianity and its skin-deep commitment to the things
of God, will soon burn away and disappear in the face of the onslaught of
evil that is rampant in America and throughout world. But a “spiritual re
volution” is already in the making on the earth....not just another
‘revival,’ but an unstoppable awakening of those who know the Creator intimately and
are being prepared to receive His power and His direction in order to
overpower darkness.”
I left out a lot, but I know this prophecy is accurate because much of
what was contained in it I have already seen in the Spirit. Traditional
religion and a casual lukewarm attitude toward the things of God are going to
melt under the astounding momentum of this final attempt by Heaven to reap a
harvest of souls, prior to the manifestation of the book of Revelation on the
Earth.

(At this point in this editorial, the Holy Spirit abruptly instructed me to
speak about specific things to soon come.)
There will come a time shortly, when God’s awesome glory and presence
will descend upon the earth and it will be seen and experienced not only by
the Bride of Christ (that’s us), but also by the world at large, who are
lost. This is all by divine design and will be a preamble to the end of days.
But let me just say that only God knows when this specific time will be (not
even Jesus knows). But the Bible says that we will recognize the season (I
believe it is now).
Linda and I have been allowed to glimpse much of this scenario ahead of
time. In addition, we will also be intimately involved with one of a handful
of ultra-powerful latter day Gospel outreaches that will shake this planet
to its core in unison...immediately prior to the Lord’s coming. The
methodology and results will be supernatural and hundreds of millions of souls will
be harvested quickly.
Linda and I began receiving Father’s revelation on this a little less
than five years ago and the explicit details have been filtering down ever
since. But we have not yet been allowed to talk at length about it. Why?
Because if I shared too many of the extraordinary specifics, few would believe it,
and some would gladly give me a generous “love offering” in order to help
pay for a shrink. It’s marvelous stuff.
However, I will say this: because music is by far the universal language
on the Earth, Linda and myself’s assignment in this final time period will
be heavy involvement with a group of musicians and their music that is quite
literally “out of this world.” The calibre of their writing and their
music and their passion will rival that of King David, son of Jesse, because
this sacred group will have known David well.
This group has already been granted a name, they will function under the
biblical number “7”, and have been given a special mission beyond anything
that has ever happened on this planet. They will be a holy vehicle through
which Heaven will begin its invasion of the Earth.
At every scheduled musical event (concert) by this explosive group,
God’s awesome presence will descend, embedded within a billowing golden cloud
that will gently settle over the multitudes who are present. It will carry an
irresistible, overwhelming expression of God’s love designed to touch
hearts, because He does not desire that anyone perish (2 Peter 3:9).
Extraordinary signs, wonders and miracles will be the rule, and not the exception, as
God reaches out in manifest fashion to those who do not know Him in the final
days. LOVE will be the order of the day and the supernatural will become
commonplace but certainly not common.
However, decision time will also be at hand, and the consequences could
be eternal for those who choose to opt out of this ultimate altar call. This
will happen swiftly at countless venues throughout the world and the fruit
will be overwhelming. It will usher in the death knell for ho-hum
Christianity.
Lately, I feel particularly elated because Father has allowed me to see
this golden cloud more and more frequently. It is in constant motion and
brimming over with benevolent energy. This happens only as I have stepped out
of time to be in His presence in the realm of “I am”...where there is no
time, no distractions, and no hurry to finish. I’ve discerned a sense of real
urgency in the Spirit realm that I have heretofore not noticed.
I had no intention of getting into any of this. I started to write on
another subject, but the Holy Spirit had other plans. God will work swiftly
through anyone who is willing to be used. He is no respecter of persons.
His eyes are searching to and fro over the Earth, looking for those
whose hearts are perfect toward Him (2 Chronicles 16:9)
Linda will be quick to tell you that what I hear from God is what I hear
from God. No way I’m going to add my supposition to His revelation. I will
not guess and I will not extrapolate. If my spiritual ears are open and I det
ect that my flesh is trying hard to add its “2-cents worth” to a word from
God, I simply shut down immediately. Many “prophets” that embellish what
they hear will eventually not be able to differentiate between the truth and
a fairy tale.
I just write down what I’m told to write down.
Because the Holy Spirit is nudging me to reveal more, I will express
another portion of what I keep seeing in my spirit. I believe that Father is
opening the floodgates of revelation in order to prepare His army for what is
coming.
Not long ago, we were driving through Columbus, Texas from Austin, when
suddenly my spirit within me began “jumping up and down” and doing
somersaults as I was praising God. It really felt good, but I didn’t understand it.
I was clueless. After that, seemingly every time we drove through Columbus,
the same thing would happen again and I would begin to see visions of
multitudes of people in wide open fields, being ministered to with “out of this
world” music and testimony from this very special group that God will have
raised and commissioned. Since then, I have actually seen and recognized
those open fields with my natural eyes.
Then one day, out of the blue, I received this from deep inside me:
COLUMBUS DISCOVERED
AMERICA
but very soon
AMERICA WILL DISCOVER
COLUMBUS (Tx)
Linda and I know what destiny has in store for this area and the I-10
Corridor extending into West Houston, but I can say no more because there are
others involved that He has got to prepare. What I will say is this: What
will happen in those beautiful, open, green fields will make the legendary
“Woodstock Music Festival” of 1969 in New York look like a small church
picnic. But it will be on a totally higher level. There will be lights from the
sky and angels singing backup vocals. The world will come to this place
continuously, and the flow of the kingdom of God will not end until the appointed
time.
I have also “seen” this group ministering to the gathered millions all
over the nation and also the world, including: Washington, D.C., Nashville,
San Francisco, Tokyo, Russia, China, and in Rome at the Vatican, by special
invitation from the Pope. This will spark a bonafide “spiritual
revolution” within the Catholic Church that will be unprecedented.
Perhaps the time is finally here when what has been hidden will now be
revealed in the brightest of light. I have much more to relate, but I am out
of space and out of permission.
P.S. If you are one of those post-trib folks that believe all Christians
will go through God’s 7-year Tribulation period, my heart goes out to you
because the Word of God says differently (some things are true whether you
believe them or not).
I’ll tell you what: I will sleep in your empty mansion on weekends...but
I’ll leave the light on for you for at least seven years...

I gotta git’ off this planet

I gotta git’ off this planet...(Adventures With My Father--part 4)

Everything on this earth seems to be going haywire. What is “bad” is good; what is up is down; what is wrong is right; and what is a lie is often portrayed as truth. This world is nuts.
In this country, our political and judicial systems have been hijacked and our beautiful nation is being dismantled piece by piece as we watch...and
while the populous is engrossed in sports “playoffs” of some kind, electronic gadgetry, and asinine reality shows. America is waking up, but much too slowly. Corruption is rampant, bold, and brash...and America’s CONSTITUTION is being trashed. Only Jesus can help us now.
But in America, Christianity has almost become innocuous and irrelevant. According to George Barna Research, about 45% of professing Christians do not accept the deity of Christ nor the reality of the Devil. The traditional denominations are losing members faster than their pastor can change into
his faded blue-jeans for the Sunday morning service.
On the other hand, too many of the “faith” churches are teaching irresponsible doctrine while selling $100 prayer shawls, assorted religious trinkets, and guarantying multi-fold returns on “love offerings.” Some of these guys on the tube are out-and-out “flim-flammers” who are fleecing the Flock and going to the bank.
But not to worry. Jesus Christ today is rebuilding His remnant Church th an ultra high degree of urgency. The true born-again body of Christ is reviving and resurging quickly as we get excited and are growing up spiritually. We are learning to enter and operate effectively in the kingdom of God.
We are discovering keys to the kingdom that are freely available to us in order to become conformed to the image of Christ and to do the things that He did on the earth (John 14:12).
We should be on a fast track to mastering the kingdom of God so that we can merge with it and cooperate with it, in order to produce consistent and tangible results.
One of these keys that Father is teaching me ever so quickly is how to get closer to Him, enter His presence, and ultimately to enter His “rest.” When I am resting in Him, He will be working in my behalf, going before me and preparing the way. But when I am “working” in order to make things happen, He stops and rests and allows me the exercise of my own free will. Father will not share His glory when it comes to blessing his kids. “Sharing His glory” doesn’t just mean that someone takes credit for what God does. It also means that sometimes we inadvertently try to “help Him out” lessing equation. That will not fly.
Either we’re going to do it, or He’s going to do it...and neither the twain shall meet (Galatians 3).
Everything that God is aching to give us has already been paid for at the Cross. All we have to do is enter the rhythm of abundant Grace and receive what is already ours. C’mon, guys. When are we going to grab hold of this?

Stepping Out of Time When I say, “I gotta git’ off this planet,” I am not implying that I’ve had enough of the world. I’m saying that I must learn more about how to exit the realm of time in order to enter the sacred realm of “I Am”...where Father is, and where there is no time. A “New York minute” lasts forever in Heaven. Time is an earth thing, and God established time on the fourth day of creation. But when “Man” fell, time began to work against us.
“Miracles are in a higher realm, without the influence of time, while our circumstances are the product of time.” (Dr. Renny McClean) When I step out of time and make the jump to light speed in order to enter His presence, Father is always there waiting for me as I (in spirit)
enter boldly into the throne room of GRACE (Hebrews 4:16). It is here where Dad
and I can revel together One-in-one as I receive His love, His blessings, and His direction for my life.
I always sense that He’s elated to see me, as is Jesus at His right hand. And I quickly understand that nothing can enter in with me that is not of Him. Ain’t gonna happen.
The peace in this timeless place cannot be described and understood, except by those of you who have also been there (in the spirit). Nothing else matters in His majestic presence.
Shortly before ascending to Heaven and back to His Father’s side, Jesus exclaimed to us, “My peace I leave with you...” What He was saying was that His departure would usher into the earth the ability of man to enter the realm of “I Am” at will, under the New Covenant of GRACE.
I have to be very careful at this point that I don’t begin to sound
goofy or difficult to comprehend. But please understand that Father has asked me to relay this information correctly and I’m giving it my best shot.
Stepping in and out of time is not a new phenomenum. Jesus did it often. When He raised the loaves and the fish toward Heaven for God to bless, Jesus stepped out of time and entered the realm of “I Am”...and His Father touched the food and fed the 5,000. He will do the same for you. As you enter His presence He will touch you and expand and multiply everything about you...so you can feed the multitudes with the Gospel. Often, when Jesus left the crowds and His disciples to be alone and to of time to be face-to-face with His Father. He didn’t lose sleep; He gained supernatural strength and power to keep on
going in the direction of the Cross. He needed God’s assurance and direction (it’s the same for us).
In His presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11), but also in His
presence is an increased perception of His wisdom.
Spending more time with God is good. But spending more “out of time” with God is infinitely better.
Not only Jesus, but many of the major players in the Scripture stepped in and out of time as they escaped the momentum of this world.
Moses did it at Mt. Sinai when he received the 10 Commandments. This was type and a shadow of what we would do under the New Covenant (when I received the revelation of this last night, it blew me away and my flesh is still tingling). Right now my heart is pumping double time.
Moses set the example for us way back when. In order to hear distinctly from God, he had to step out of time and enter the realm of the Creator on high (at the top of a mountain). He stayed as long as it took to absorb what God had to give him, so that in turn he would bring it down and give it to the people.
Is that a lesson for us, or what! Father ripped the curtain to the Holy of Holies as an open invitation for us to commune directly with Him. By the way, the official website for Father/God in Heaven is as follows: www.PleaseComeAndSeeMe.jes
The Apostle Paul also stepped out of time to be with “I Am” regularly, receiving multiple revelations in preparation for penning most of the New Testament. The Disciple John did it on the Isle of Patmos when he “left the planet” to receive the book of Revelation. It goes on and on.
Even Enoch stepped out of time regularly to hook up with His heavenly Father. The last time he left the planet, he had a one-way ticket. Such a deal...A Graphic Illustration
As I learn more and more about being up-close and personal with my Creator, He writes things in my spirit that He wants me to pass on to whomever will listen. Sometimes He just “says it” so rapidly that I have to reach for a pencil and pad or a napkin or something, so that I can write it down (no way I’m going to allow myself to forget any of this). I’ll say it again. Father will also work through you...or anyone else that is famished for more of Him. Our hunger for God is a magnet for His manifestation. Although God is Hispanic, He is absolutely no “respecter of
persons” and He’s always looking for someone to bless. The Bible very clearly talks about His Chi-kan-o glory.
I was praying the other night when Father began to write in my spirit concerning “The train of time.” It was not audible. He was attempting to show me why so many people miss His voice so often and miss out on so much He wants to give. I am reluctant to quote Father at length ((I’m no prophet), so I will just paraphrase His message:
“My earthly children have not learned to seek My face apart from the ravenous rhythm of the world. And although they may pray regularly, the communication between us is sparse, incomplete, and oftentimes unfruitful. It is hit and miss.
“It is like a person who is praying and reaching out to Me...but he is on a rapid train that is speeding by My Throne. He has his window open, He is sincere, and willing to find Me. But by the end of his lengthy prayer, the train has moved on and he is unable to hear my response. I say goodbye to him and my heart is broken. “In my realm, I am not subject to time. ‘I Am.’ If one seeks to commune with me, he must escape from the bondage of the train of time, step into my presence, and become one with Me. I created man for no less than this. And there are no shortcuts...” Adam Had It Right at First
Before he fell, Adam’s first priority was always his fellowship with God. The vast majority of his time belonged to his Creator, and then he would devote an hour or two a day to tending the garden of Eden when he could squeeze it in (he also had to keep his wife in line because the woman had a thing about apples).
But when Adam fell, everything went topsy-turvy and got all turned around. He then had to devote most of his time to survival, and spending a minimal amount of time with God. That’s where we still are today, even though Jesus took care of all that at the Cross.
In 1 John 3:8 it clearly says that “The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen and dissolve) the works the devil has done.” But we still haven’t gotten hold of that. We’re still
putting the world first and God second. I believe that most of my brothers and sisters spend very little time in the realm of “I Am”...at a tremendous loss.
Consider This The Bible speaks clearly about how we can “renew our youth” on this earth (Isaiah 40:31). Have you ever wondered how? I believe that when we step out of time our physical growth process stops, while time keeps going on. And
the longer we stay in the realm of “I Am”...the older time gets, and the younger we become.
Think about it. Moses spent boo-koo’s of time in God’s presence, and at 120 he was strong and his eyesight was perfect. So it was with Joshua (110 years old), Caleb (at eighty he was still a successful warrior)...plus many
others. The more time these guys spent with God in the timeless realm of His presence, the longer their lives were extended.
I also believe that when the Word says, “Be still and know that I am

Headline:

If you have tender toes, you had better cover them with something because I’m about to step on some toes.
In my continuing quest to be able to do the things that Jesus did (scripture) on a consistent basis, I have concluded that I really must become more and more like Him (“As Jesus is, so are we in this world.” 1 John 4:17).
In 2 Corinthians it says that beholding Jesus and His finished work at the Cross brings about much inner transformation, which then produces good works that are motivated by love.

The more I identify with Jesus and conform to His image, the more love and power can flow through me to others because I begin to comprehend that I am the righteousness of God through Christ.

I am no longer satisfied with “hit and miss” Christianity. I’ve got to have a whole lot more. For the most part, I believe the problem is the basic misunderstanding of the revelation of uncompromised GRACE by the body of Christ. There are “keys” to the Kingdom and I believe that I have found another one.

Let me just interject here that I love my brothers and sisters in the Lord, especially those who have a passionate hunger for more of Kingdom living. Whatever Father is doing inside of me, He will do the same for you and more. Right now. Trust me, I’m just a hungry Chicano on a quest...and nothing else.

What was Jesus really like in the four Gospels? He tells us very plainly:
• “I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me...I
• always do what pleases Him (John 8).”
• “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes absolutely nothing (John 6).”.
• “...you know me and you know where I come from. But I’m not here on my own (John 7).”
• “I am the true grapevine, but my Father is the Gardener (John 15)”.
• It goes on and on throughout the Gospels. What He is trying to convey to us is that He came to Earth in order that God could flow powerfully through
Him as a man to bring God’s will to the Earth. That’s why we were given dominion on this planet. It’s such a simple concept, but it has escaped most of us.

Jesus never had an agenda of His own. He was a perfect conduit (a pipeline, a vessel) through which His Holy Father could easily flow because Christ was sinless. As Jesus received from above and then decreed it and declared it to manifest in the world, it always came to pass. The pathway from the Father through His Son and then to humanity was unhindered and without flaw because the Son of God was righteous. It was a win-win situation and the world was dramatically changed in a 3 1/2 year period.

So should it be today with every born-again person in this world. But it isn’t. And our success rate in the Kingdom is nowhere near what it was designed to be. Too many of us are “self-occupied” and not “Christ occupied.” We are still attempting to function under the Law, which demands “works” in order to earn righteousness. But in the new covenant, God imparts righteousness to man through the finished work of Jesus at the Cross. We no longer have anything on our own to bring to the table. Jesus took care of all of that..
The Word says that because of the abundance of Grace...and the gift of righteousness (which makes us as perfect as Jesus in God’s sight)...we have nothing to give and everything to receive from God through faith and trust
Our assignment is to pass it on to others by allowing Father to flow through us easily, powerfully and unencumbered.

Let me bring it down from concept to reality. Father is teaching me that I must learn to extract my self out of all Kingdom endeavors. I was praying the other night (like I had always done) for healing to manifest in several people who were sick. I was asking Father to flow through me bountifully with healing power so that I could declare it done in Jesus’ name and have it come to pass in the natural realm. But for the first time ever, God allowed me to see myself as I sounded so very “religious,” excessively pious, self motivated...and loud. I was the spittin’ image of Elmer Gantry.

But the Holy Spirit stopped me abruptly and essentially said: “Robert, quit trying to help Father by attempting to conjure up power of your own. You have none. Stop raising your voice and amplifying your words, and stop the emotional preaching and theatrics. Just be still and know that He is God!
There is no need to be eloquent and long-winded, and no need to be so demonstrative in order to get something to happen. Rest in Him and allow His love and power to rush through you and into those for whom you pray. Robert, you can add nothing to it and you are not being asked to.” Now that’s a revelation! Let me quickly point out that it’s okay to get excited and jump around and praise loudly in response to what God is doing.

It immediately brought to my mind Galatians 3, which flatly states that if we try to mix our “works” with God’s GRACE, we will “fall from grace” and we gain none of its benefits. That is a very prevalent practice today and a dangerous and unfruitful position to be in. Small wonder that so many of our petitions seem to go unanswered. We disqualify ourselves so quickly and “We are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” But thank God that under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit, the body of Christ is learning quickly and beginning to reap great results.

Pulling my self out of God’s spiritual equations is not easy for me to do...but I now know, in retrospect, that it works. Let me give you an example, which the Holy Spirit brought to my remembrance just recently to make a point.It was several years past on a Sunday morning and I was at the altar of my church praying for the sick, which I often did. But this particular Sunday I was dealing with my own personal family issues and was not in a “good mood.” But I ministered anyway.

A lady whom I did not know approached me and asked for prayer concerning sickness and disease in her body, and also emotional problems. Because of my state of mind, I did not go through my usual religious preamble prior to offering prayer in this precious lady’s behalf: I didn’t pump myself up, I didn’t make any loud declarations, I didn’t make any gyrations and I didn’t use any eloquent religious verbiage. I am a king and a priest with authority and I don’t need to do that stuff. So I did my duty and simply said, “Father, in the name of Jesus, flow through me and into this lady in need, and bring forth power for her healing.” It was a simple prayer from the heart,
and it was totally devoid of “me.”

To my amazement, the minute I laid hands on her she absolutely melted under the voltage of God that was flowing and she passed out and fell to the floor. Trust me, this was very real. This was definitely not a “courtesy drop” and I did not “push her over” or encourage her to fall backward. Fortunately, a strong usher broke her fall and caught her as she collapsed.

This woman was truly gone somewhere in the Spirit...and she did not wake up until well after the church service was over. Even then, she got up slowly and could barely walk back to her seat. That is the most powerful burst of power that has flowed through me to another person that I have ever experienced. But I had no clue at the time as to what had happened or why it came about.But now I understand and this is the bottom line: because of my “mood” and my wish to do my duty and go on home, I had inadvertently extracted my self out of this particular move of God, and He was able to release much power through me to her. I had taken myself out of the way. Because my prayer was simple, selfless, and from the heart and to the point...things started poppin’ and the momentum of the Kingdom kicked in. That’s the way this baby is supposed to function all the time. God is always willin’...it’s us that do the killin’.

Someone once said, “I have searched diligently for the enemy and I have found him. And the enemy is me.”
Listen, the early Church knew and understood this concept well. John The Baptist stated, “He (Jesus) must increase, and I must decrease.” Also, the Apostles understood it well. When Peter and John approached the invalid at the gate called “Beautiful,” the cripple quickly asked for silver or gold.Peter’s famous reply was, “I have no silver or gold, but what I do have I give unto you. Rise up and walk!”

Most people mistakenly believe that Peter was full of power and might of his own through some special anointing. Not so. What Peter was full of was the ability to allow God to flow through him unabated and without the obstructions of doubt, fear, and the condemnation propagated by the “Accuser of the Brethren.” These guys lived and walked with Jesus. They understood more than we give them credit for. They knew very well that one of the key strategies of “The Accuser” (the Evil One) is to indeed accuse the brothers and the sisters in the Lord of not being righteous enough to receive God’s
best. But Jesus’ blood took care of all that when the righteousness of God was imparted to us through His work at the Cross.

Please forgive my pedestrian verbiage...but I just want everyone to know that the Devil sucketh, bigtime.

When Peter walked among the people, even his shadow had healing properties attached. This was simply an overflow of God’s healing power gushing through the Apostle’s system to the extent that Peter allowed the Father to flow through him.

This lesson has impacted me greatly and I am learning as quickly as I can to enter God’s rest and cooperate with His Kingdom. Someone recently said, “Rest is not inactivity, but directed activity. It is not rest from but rest in work. Jesus performed most of His recorded miracles on the Sabbath day. Could it be...could it just be... that God was finally able to get through to people when they were resting?”

I am learning to operate in “restful increase”, not stressful increase. I am now fully convinced that the battle is the Lord’s, not mine. .

The more I am used by my heavenly Father to reach out to others, the more refreshed and rejuvenated I feel. I live for this stuff. And Father will always do for me what I am praying and believing that He will do for others.

I’ll take as much of that as I can get.

Adventures With My FATHER...(part 2)

Adventures With My FATHER...(part 2) Every day seems like a brand new adventure to me. I’m learning more and more about the kingdom of God, the abundance of grace, and the awesome gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17). It is God’s good pleasure to give us thekingdom (Luke 6:12), and we have total access to it because we are believers who are absolutely famished for more of Him. I’ll tell you what, every new day I get more attached to my Father, my big brother Jesus, and my very best friend, the Holy Spirit. Boy, am I hooked! Because I’ve been born-again into this “heavenly family,” of LOVE, I can’t help but receive the peace and the joy and pass it on to my earthly familyand to my brothers and sisters in the Lord...as well as the world. It’s become a lifestyle for me. Everything else that I have to deal with on this planet seems trivial and of lesser importance. If I’m at a theater watching a good movie, I’ll find myself stopping in the middle of the action to just quietly praise Lord. Or if I’m watching a football game on the tube, I will stop often and gently pray in the Spirit. I can’t help it (and don’t want to). A “two minute warning” to me simply means that I’ve gone too long without thanking Jesus for everything He’s ever done for me. We were not created for lesser things than a close communion with our Creator. He is more and more becoming the predominant focus of my life. And sobe it. Even as I am writing this, a beautiful wave of His presence is fallingover me and my eyes water as He confirms that He is speaking through me to others. That is my gift, and I feel honored and privileged. His touch quickens my total being and gives me the strength to get through the rest of the day. Understand this, please: this is not about me. No way. He will do the same for you if you will allow Him to. Right now. I love my Dad. I love my big Brother. And I love the Holy Spirit. I will never leave them nor forsake them. “Nunca.” In His presence, bad things become good, anger becomes love, resentment becomes forgiveness, fear becomes boldness, anxiety becomes patience, pain becomes healing, and the unattractive becomes beautiful. And that’s just for starters. Like so many others, I’m looking forward to Jesus’ “second coming” andgoing on home. But in actuality, He’s already done that when He returned in spirit with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Listen, I know Jesus is here because He lives inside of me. I am learning that we serve a God of order. Everything He does is according to fixed statutes of operation, both in the physical realm...and also in the spiritual realm. When we cooperate with the principles of the kingdom of God that is within us, power flows and things begin to happen. I believe we are at a point in time where “hit and miss” Christianity is no longer going to cut it. “God’s universe is ONE, and the laws in the spiritual realm are equally as fixed and functional as in the physical realm (John W. Lawrence).” The farmer knows what makes things grow and manifest on the earth in the physical realm...and the astronauts knew that the laws of physics and their proper application allowed them to walk on the moon. “In just the same way, man needs both to know the spiritual principles of God, and to govern hislife according to them if he would prosper and advance spiritually. If the farmer knew no more about the principles of farming than the average Christian does about producing a spiritual harvest, he would never make it through the winter.” The Bible calls these principles the “keys of the kingdom.” But that’s not all. Jesus said in Matthew 16:19: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven.” We must seek deeply and crack the veneer of our earthly understanding. When we freely receive the finished work of the Cross through faith and trust, the righteousness of God and the abundance of Grace will begin to give us the revelation that we need in order to do the things that Jesus did consistently. Now, if I may, I would like to share another testimony withregard to “Adventures with my Father...” The Mission Field atM.D. Anderson Hospital About two years ago, I received a phone call from my brother who pastors a church in Bay City (about a hundred miles down the road from Houston). After the salutation, he asked if I could put Linda on the phone with me...that he had to give us some startling news. It seems that after a whole bunch of tests, his physician discovered a very aggressive case of prostate cancer in his body. From what I was able to initially understand, on the scale of 1 to 8...this was about an 8. It was very serious and the doctor quickly recommended immediate surgery at M.D. Anderson Cancer Hospital in Houston. Linda and I talked with my brother extensively on the phone, and then he asked us to pray for him. So we did. The cancer was very aggressive and could quickly spread, but we decided that we would be even more aggressive and persevering in our declaration for his total healing. What a lot of folks don’t understand is that as Christians who have faith and receive the finished work of Jesus at the Cross, we are not battling to get something, we are battling to keep that which has already been granted to us. My brother was healed of this killer cancer 2,000 years ago at Calvary (Isaiah 53:4; Matthew 8:17). He agreed with Linda and I that his healing was a done deal and we werein high anticipation of an upcoming great report. He and his wife then made the decision to proceed with the surgery. M.D. Anderson Hospital is probably the foremost facility in the world with regard to cancer treatment. Only the very best surgeons on the planet operate there and the technology is state of the art. I have been there on several occasions to pray for the afflicted, especially those who have beendeclared terminal. The first thing I have to say is that just trying to find a place to park in this humongous hospital can bring about serious symptoms of heart failure, severe depression, and notable loss of mental stability and joy. I’m one of those guys that is always in a hurry to get something done, so that I can get in yet another hurry to get something else done. But I have learned to eradicate stress from my agenda, so it’s okay. Jesus is my peace and comfort. Linda and I finally made it into the hospital, only to be faced with this giant MAZE of corridors, elevators, and dead-ends (like the ones that research scientists use to experiment on white mice). I felt like an estranged brown mouse who never finished high school as I stumbled through the hallway in a daze. Incidentally, extensive and highly credible studies have been made that determined that brown mice were smarter than the whiteones.............C’mon, lighten up. I’m just kidding. The bottom line to this is that if a patient can finally navigate to his assigned room in this hospital, he has completed the first successful step to his road of recovery. It was early in the morning on a Monday when we arrived and my brother was about to go into surgery. I was high as a kite because I sensed that something marvelous was about to happen in this place. I was not only “prayed up,” but I was “paid up” because of the price Jesus paid for our healing onthe Cross. No need to beg and plead for what has already been granted to us at Calvary. As Linda and my sister-in-law and I sat in the huge waiting room full of people, the surgeon that would operate on my brother approached us and gave us the rundown on what he planned to do (he was wearing the green “scrubs”and had a surgical mask hanging from his neck). He had a guarded look on his face and was very careful about what he said to us. But it was obvious that my brother’s chances of surviving (in the natural) were not very good. My brother had already undergone a quintuple (5) heart bypass operation fairly recently and his heart was not in a strong condition to withstand a 7-hoursurgical procedure. In addition to that he was up in years and had other complications. It was not a pleasant atmosphere. As the doctor turned to leave I asked him to stop for a minute. “Sir, would you join us in prayer that this operation would be a total success?” No way I was going to let him enter the operating room without God’s anointing on him. He was surprised but he was willing. So we grabbed each other’s hands (and both of his hands), squeezed them hard and decreed that not only would supernatural strength guard my brother’s longevity, but that his complete recovery would be a marvel to behold.. As we prayed, there was no fear, pleading, or egging...and I sensed that the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit would be transferred from us into this precious man’s hands and spirit. As he excused himself and left, I could see a smile on his face and a spring in his step. Just imagine the scene that I just described to you. Here were four ofus openly holding hands in a circle, and one of us was a highly renowned, world-recognized surgeon in his green “scrubs.”. We were proclaiming Jesus healing power boldly and loudly in middle of a huge and crowded waiting room in one of the most prestigious hospitals in the world. That’s what I call a powerful witness! People around us watched and listened and were touched. We thanked God for His powerful presence and Linda and I went home. Only my Father could have orchestrated such a wonderful thing. The operation was a huge success. The infected prostate gland was removed, there were no complications...and my brother’s heart never skipped a beat! But it was not over. Later that evening while in Intensive Care, my brother began bleeding internally and had to undergo immediate emergency surgery yet again. From what I understand, at that point the attending physicians just about “hung ‘em up” and the prognosis was bleak. No way that he could do another 7 hours under anesthesia and the stress of another operation. In essence, my sister-in-law was told to prepare her “final good-bye’s.” But Jesus had other plans. Everything went well, his heart never skippeda beat...and the cancer disappeared. He’s still preaching the Gospel and loving his life...and loving his God. Is Father good...or what... "He, God Himself has said, “I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless, nor forsake you nor let you down, or relax my hold on you-- assuredly not!” Hebrews 13:5