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A blog from Kris Vallotton Ministries
Originally posted here.
An excerpt from Kris Vallotton’s upcoming book, Heavy Rain.
“False humility is largely to blame for the Church’s Tall Poppy Syndrome. In my first book, The Supernatural Ways of Royalty, I investigated the serious misunderstanding I regularly encounter among Christians about what humility really is. At the risk of being redundant, I want to briefly review one biblical example that shows how true humility is entirely compatible with confidence, strength, and every other aspect of greatness.
The fourth chapter of Daniel records the testimony of King Nebuchadnezzar, who had a dream about a huge tree that covered the earth and became shade for the animals, birds, and creatures of the planet. In the midst of this amazing vision, the king heard a voice shout:
Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit; let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field; and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let a beast’s mind be given to him, and let seven periods of time pass over him. (Daniel 4:14-16)
The king was understandably freaked out by the dream and called in his top spiritual consultants to interpret it. Just as the magicians, conjurers, and diviners were communicating to the king that they couldn’t translate the dream, Daniel walked in the room. (I love this guy’s timing; he always seemed to be just a little bit late everywhere he went.) Nebuchadnezzar related the dream to Daniel, who immediately got the interpretation from God.
What Daniel did next may be a little off the subject of humility, but it is still worth commenting on. Before he explained the meaning of the dream, Daniel said to the king, ‘My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries!’ (Daniel 4:19). Daniel truly loved the kings he served in spite of the fact that they destroyed his country, probably killed his family, and took him captive to serve at their will. Nebuchadnezzar was so wicked that he probably would have made Adolph Hitler look like a common street thug. But there is a powerful lesson imbedded in this story. If we are ever going to be invited into the chambers of kings to mentor the nations, we better figure out how to love our enemies and help leaders we don’t agree with.
Now back to the story. Daniel told the king that the tree the angel chopped down in the dream actually represented him! Apparently, the king’s destructive behavior, arrogance, and pride had finally gotten him in hot water with God, and the Lord of Heaven was about to severely discipline him. Daniel went on to counsel Nebuchadnezzar to try to avoid this calamity by humbling himself. But the hardheaded king didn’t listen, and a year later his world came crashing in on him. Here is the account of his demise:
He was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’ Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws. (Daniel 4:29-33)
The insane King lived in exile for seven years. Finally that terrible season came to an end and God restored him. Evidently, Nebuchadnezzar kept a journal of his restoration because his thoughts and reflections became part of the book of Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar wrote:
At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride. (Daniel 4:36-37)
God removed the king because of his arrogance and self-absorbed lifestyle. But when the Almighty restored Nebuchadnezzar’s mind, the king said humbly that he had majesty, splendor, glory, sovereignty and surpassing greatness! The obvious point here is that humility isn’t feeling bad about yourself or thinking you are little, insignificant, or anything else demeaning. True humility is actually just remembering the source of your greatness. The truth of God’s grace humbles a man without degrading him and exalts a man without inflating him!
Recently, as I was reading the story of Lazarus in John 11, the Holy Spirit spoke to me that He is resurrecting dead dreams. And it began a journey of realizing what a major mass murderer of dreams offense and unforgiveness can be in the church!
Many of us can think that we have lost our passion for Jesus, but what has happened is that our passion and dreams get buried under some hurt, pain, and offense. I know in my own life, as the Lord has been walking me through a journey of restoration, I have found that the more I forgive and the more I release offense, the more my heart comes alive. I once heard someone say that the Christian life is 95% heart, 5% gifting. I believe that. God is passionate about our hearts!
You see, God not only wants to heal the pain in our hearts brought through hard circumstances, hurts and offenses, but He wants to completely restore us into sonship. A place of confidence of knowing who we are and who’s we are. The Father is restoring our identity, resurrecting our dreams passions. The Father’s idea of restoration is not restoring you to the way things were, the ‘good ole days’, but better than ever. He is taking us to place that is beyond were we have been, beyond what we could think or imagine. Don’t allow the enemy to keep your dreams, destiny, and heart buried under unforgiveness and offense.
Get passionate about walking in wholeness! Release it all! And I know as you do Jesus will open His mouth, and with a roar of power, passion,and authority, call you, your dreams and destiny out of the grave and into life!
Written by: Michael Peters
I believe God has a dream and a passion for His Family to be functioning and healthy. “Family” being the church or body of Christ.
Don’t get me wrong here, no no no, I am not pointing my finger or looking at the “specks” in anyone’s eyes. For I, myself, have experienced “logitis” (log-eye-tis) far too many times. And occasionally I 
become aware of “symptoms” that help me realize I have “logitis”. You know what I mean: blurred vision, bumping into things, I hurt people, I hurt myself.
Of course I am referring to Matt 7:1-5 in which Jesus addresses the issue of judging. He uses the analogy of one judging someone else by seeing a “speck” in their eye while not even noticing the “log” in your own eye. Sometimes I have to wonder if people have looked at me as if I look like a rhino; with a “log” sticking straight out! Or maybe I look at times like a hammer head shark, with the log perpendicular, inadvertently smashing things on my peripherals. Regardless, I know it’s not a pretty sight at times, and, frankly, I myself been in the path of a few of these rouge logs.
Back to what I believe to be God’s dream and passion [“back to me – I am on a white horse” ;)]. Simply, my perspective (my vision is okay today, no protruding logs) is that God’s family can be dysfunctional at times, and needs a lot of inner healing. Just the same as our earthly families… My personal family needs it, I need it, my wife needs it, etc. Inner healing referring to Father wounds, trauma, offense, unforgiveness, etc. There are some great ministries that can facilitate this – we use SOZO which is the Greek word for salvation, healing & deliverance. It must become a lifestyle to walk through inner healing and keep our selves “clean” for the rest of our lives. In other words, we continue to move forward with the Gospel – yet we cut way back on our “logitis”.
Just recently some of our staff graciously, lovingly and assertively encouraged me to go for a SOZO. I guess, like all of us, there were some “effects” that I wasn’t even aware of, stemming from my own “logitis.” Behaviors that weren’t in line with my heart, results of that log sticking out of my eye. The SOZO was amazing, and next time I won’t wait so long for this type of ministry.
[Written by: Brian Olynick]
also posted here.
I guess that kind of runs against the thinking of those who say, “I want it now!”
There was a book that I read a few years ago and, although most of what I recall is fuzzy, this I do remember: If you want to gauge the emotional maturity of someone, see if they can delay gratification.
Let me give you an idea of what I mean. Let’s say that I give my children (of which I have two) seven chocolates each and instruct them to only allow themselves one a day so that by weeks end, they’ll be enjoying the very last delicacy. My children are very different from each other and shall remain nameless, but one of them would do their level best to resist temptation, but, alas, would have consumed all seven chocolates before noon. While the other one would carefully meter out the one chocolate for the day and so would have something to look forward to each day.
It’s sort of like opening all your Christmas presents on Christmas Eve and then bemoan the fact that there were no surprises left for Christmas day.
And so for me there is much to be learned in “the waiting time.” Yes I would like things right away. And I know that my heavenly Father has good things in store for me. After all, scripture does say… Matthew 7:11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
But it often comes down to timing doesn’t it? And to be more specific, it’s about His timing. It always has been that and I have to confess, I don’t always understand it. I have to trust in the fact that His ways are higher than my ways.
And when I approach the Throne of Grace and ask, sometimes what appears to be a “No” in fact is a “John, not just yet”. He’s not denying me (if what I’ve requested is Father’s will). He’s giving me an opportunity to build my character and to be in that place of developing a right heart within me.
For there is much to be learned in the time of waiting. And so the lesson becomes one of knowing that He has heard, but also, what am I doing during my time of anticipation? How is my heart attitude during this time of what seems like delay? It is during that time of waiting for “His presence” that I make my heart ready for His gift. Why, so I can approach the throne yet again tomorrow with a right heart and cry out Abba Father. Thanks Papa.
John Lowe
Living a Life of Passion
By: Bill Johnson
One of the warriors of old made this statement: “The purpose of war is victory, and the purpose of victory is occupation.” In the Kingdom, we add one more step to the process: The purpose of occupation is expansion.
The Lord would not give the Promised Land to Israel all at once because they did not have the ability to occupy all of the territory. By only giving them the amount of land they could occupy, He positioned them for expansion. Expansion is vital to advancing the Kingdom of Heaven. The man who was given the one talent and buried it simply occupied and protected that accomplishment but suffered tremendously because he did not take what he had and position it for increase (Matthew 25:15-28).
It’s important that we view life with the perspective of expansion and forward motion. When we think this way, we are positioning ourselves for increase and promotion. It’s not healthy to simply find a place you want to stay in and occupy. The moment you have found a leveling-off place is the moment you begin backsliding.
When your passion begins to decline, you already start to die. You were born to burn. Elisha came to the king and said, “Please strike the ground with these arrows.” And he struck the ground three times. The prophet became furious at the king and said, “If only you had struck the ground five or six times you would have annihilated the enemy, but now you’re only going to have three temporary victories.” Because the king did not live out of passion, he couldn’t carry the anointing that God wanted to give him, and it cost the nation. When leaders don’t have passion, it costs everyone who follows.
Passion and the anointing run in parallel courses. A person with passion will take risks. Everything you want in the realm of the Kingdom is found through this veil of difficulty by stepping into the realm of inconvenience. You don’t get it by coasting on yesterday’s breakthrough. You were born for expansion.
[Written by: Bill Johnson]
Originally posted here:
www.bjm.org
It is s beautiful day here in the Lower Mainland, even though we had snow last week (what’s up with that?) Both days were beautiful, each in their own way.
On Sunday, in the prayer room, I saw that God was blowing His fresh breath on us. It felt like when you have a peppermint and you drink water. You can’t tell if it’s hot or cold but you do notice a difference from your regular breath. It felt to me like those that needed a cool drink of living water would receive exactly that. Yet the ones who needed and wanted a blast of fire, they would get that.
The next day, He confirmed this to me with the unexpected snowfall. It felt like a robe of righteousness had clothed the land, purifying and cleansing it for what He is going to do in it next.
Today, allow the Father to lift your head and whisper in your ear that there is nothing that you and Him can’t tackle together! Hope deferred runs away at the first sign of His glorious light. Think on the things that cause you to feel bitter, the anger that came from a disappointment and forgive others, forgive yourself and if necessary forgive God. Don’t let the enemy have another moment in your heart. Your heart is God’s land, His territory if you will. He is doing a spring cleaning so He can decorate it with His fresh breath.
So breath in His goodness and kindness. It is His kindness that leads us to repentance, and be ready for this next season, it’s going to rock and roll.
I love children! I’ve worked with kids for over 2 decades and find their characteristics, such as curiosity, adventure, simplicity, passion, playfulness, love & affection, to name only a few, to be so refreshing!
One characteristic that stands out to me is that children under the age of 6 laugh an average of 400 times a day! In contrast, we adults statistically laugh a mere 15 times a day! A shocking comparison! And it’s no surprise that I enjoy being in the presence of children, with these kinds of stats! :)
I am seeing something wonderful while working/hanging with the kids and it’s that they are so hungry for God and His world. Often time, we will lay out together on our mats and listen to “soaking” music. After 10 or 15 minutes we sit up and one by one each child begins to share what they have experienced. For some it’s pictures they saw, others describe a sense of well being, feeling so loved and refreshed. They then go on to draw or paint what they have just encountered and the pictures are really incredible. God is speaking and revealing Himself and His realm!
As God’s children, we’ve been given a powerful gift. With this power, we are able to see different realms and different kingdoms that cannot be seen with our natural eyes. This gift is called faith.
Faith is like having eyes in our heart, our spirit. With these eyes we can see the invisible world. God is always speaking, one way and yet another. His desire to speak with us even outweighs our desire to hear from Him. Can you imagine that!
So today, become like a child once again, and allow those eyes inside of your heart to be opened in a fresh way! You God is speaking to you! And all it takes to hear what He is saying is childlike faith; the simple belief that He is who He says He is! Enter in to His world today!
[Written by: Kristen Olynick]
Click here to listen to the EG Podcast of this message
Mark 5 tells the story of a woman who had suffered a terrible disease for 12 years. She was in tormenting pain; the bible say’s that she, ‘suffered much’, and had even gone bankrupt trying to find a cure through doctors. Just imagine her situation: 12 years of unbearable pain and not a penny to her name, this disease had devastated her life. She is the picture of desperation and brokenness.
“She had heard reports about Jesus.” I love this verse. She heard talk around of this Jesus who was healing, saving, delivering. Hope flamed in her heart. She said to herself, ‘If I touch even his garments I will be made well.” Can you believe this? Just hearing second hand stories, testimonies, of what Jesus was doing caused this amazing faith to rise up in her. It caused her to reach out and touch Jesus.
Did you know that just by talking about what Jesus is doing you can release amazing faith in people that will cause them to reach out and have a life changing encounter with Jesus?
At this point in the story, she came up behind Jesus, while there was a massive crowd surrounding him, and she touched his clothes. As she reached out and touched His clothes, Jesus felt power flow from him and she was immediately healed. No more pain, no more suffering, she had her life back. But get this, when she reached out and touched Jesus there was a massive crowd pressing into Him, hundreds where touching Him but only one hand really TOUCHED Him. It was the hand of desperation, the hand of expectation; it was the hand that recognized Jesus for who He really is.
I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be a part of the crowd that is following Jesus, carelessly bumping into Him but not receiving anything. I want to be like this woman, I want to recognize Jesus for who He really is, I want to touch His heart and see His power released to the hurting, broken and desperate. Jesus is calling you to take a fresh look at Him, and to see Him for who He really is and then reach to out and touch Him.
Your life and the lives of countless others will never be the same as you recognize Jesus.
[Written by: Mike Peters]
Recently, Kristen and I performed a wedding ceremony – also known as the sacred covenant of marriage. It was a beautiful time of celebration! And yet maybe you’re like us and may ask yourself, “What does covenant really mean anyway?” If your were to look up covenant [dictionary.com – of course :)], here is what you would find:
- an agreement, usually formal
- a solemn agreement
- to promise by covenant; pledge
Sounds pretty dry doesn’t it? In fact, it seems that there is an entire generation that is not seeking covenant; possibly because of a lack of understanding the joy & beauty in promising to love a man or a woman for the rest of their natural lives.
There are many beautiful passages of Scripture that we
believe provide great advice for those who are entering a marriage covenant.
The one that speaks deeply of covenant to us is when Jesus spoke in the book of John, “Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” One of the great missionaries of our day, Heidi Baker, has a famous quote: “laid down lovers of Jesus.”
A beautiful portrayal of covenant. A deep intimate relationship developed out of commitment, respect & honoring one another. Most of us will probably never be faced with the decision to take a “bullet” for other person, yet “laying down ones life” for another sounds really amazing; it sounds a lot like “covenant.”
Preferring, deferring, listening, yielding to one another is so necessary, yet can sound a little dry [dictionary.com – you know what we mean :)] Yet this ‘marriage covenant thing’ can be considered a great adventure when you look at it from a heavenly perspective. Looking for the “gold” in each other, the potential, the deep desires of the heart… yes you already know this, yet the depths of this adventure are endless, eternal, extremely deep. It is a covenant to help each other be all that you can be.
You could go to Africa to touch an “unreached people” group [in which many of you probably do :)]. Yet what about the unreached “potential” in the one you have covenanted with? Partnering ,or “covenanting,” with heaven adds an even greater dynamic to your relationship as you plunge into the depths to search out what God has “hidden” for you to find. Covenanting or agreeing to help each other be all that God has designed you to be means your marriage can be unstoppable – you will never stop growing in your love for each other.
No greater love than this, than when you lay down your life for one another.
[Written by: Brian Olynick]
What does that mean? I’m not really too sure as this is the only place that I’ve ever known. I can only imagine that somewhere “out there” is perhaps another realm that Father has created for His own good pleasure. A debatable conundrum to be sure.
But as I think on it, I get to experience other realms…right here, right now.
For me some of those realities could be translated to reflect the seasons that I’ve been allowed to experience. Some of those seasons could be further translated to “opportunities” that Father has allowed me to be a part of. Those opportunities for me have names, names like “being Spirit filled”. Other seasons might be called marriage, children, the Ambulance Service (or other employment/career experiences). One of my most exciting seasons right now is that of Eastgate. Wow!
It is through this last season (Realm), that “more” make sense, or becomes clear. What things you might ask? Well, I’m now in that season/reality that allows me to see the miraculous made real. I hear my Heavenly Father more clearly (not perfectly…just with greater clarity), I see the lame walk, the blind see, hope restored…and on it goes.
It’s almost as if Papa pulls back another veil and beckons me to come, to explore, to step just a little more into His world, His realm, that place of intimacy. This is so very exciting.
I can hardly wait to see what’s behind tomorrow’s veil, what revelation is waiting for me to co-labour with God. Hummmm.
[Written by: John Lowe]
also posted here.
ieastgate.wordpress.com 