|City on a Hill - Writings for Refuge

I am finding out more and more that it is hard to talk about night and day prayer in a concise way! There is so much information in the Bible about it...it touches so many ideas. Primarily, it is about Jesus' end-time plan, but it is also about the strength of the Church, spiritual warfare for a region, restoration of cities, a catalyst for wholeheartedness for God… What a night and day worship center touches in a geographic area is as varied as the Psalms. Imagine all the different topics the Psalms speak to, and you'll start to get an idea of how big night and day prayer is in God's plans for this generation. I love the book of Psalms! For years, I would get the most out of David’s Psalms, because I can relate to David. I know a bit of his story. Recently I am gaining an entirely new appreciation for the other writers of the Psalms. As I research who they were, I am starting to piece together one of the most amazing pictures about night and day prayer and worship, and the...

Habakkuk 2: 13 Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the peoples labor to feed the fire, And nations weary themselves in vain? 14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. There is a division appearing across the globe. The contrast is more defined daily. There is a breeze of change blowing that gets stronger by the hour. Right now, if you are still, if you pay attention, you can hear it rustling through the trees...you can see occasional gusts move the limbs...a storm is coming. The division centers on a basic understanding of power. The question of the hour: wait on God for power, or take matters into our own hands? Unfortunately, a large part of the world has tired of waiting on God. You can only wait on an invisible God for so long if you don't love Him. Just ask Aaron’s companions in the desert. God rescued all of Israel by splitting the sea, He leads them with the pillar of fire. He calls Moses up the mountain...

I believe the most intense time in human history is right in front of us, the third transitional generation described in the Bible. Each transitional generation described in the Bible lives through an intense season. The response of that generation to the time they live in is really important to God. The generation of Moses was the first transitional generation, it was the generation of the covenant of the law. This generation was born into slavery and were dramatically rescued by God. The intense persecution of those living in agreement with God was out-matched by the power of God visibly demonstrated on the earth. Rivers turning into blood, hail and pestilence, the splitting of an ocean so God's beloved could safely cross, 40 years of food literally falling from heaven, supernatural rivers of provision in the desert...this was an extreme time. No generation before, or after, saw the demonstration of God's raw power on the earth like the generation of Moses. Their response, on...

Where is God calling me? How do I get there? When will I get there? These are the questions on my mind often. I think these are the questions before God's people since the great fall in the garden, when man no longer dwelt in the physical presence of God. How I respond to these questions will define my experience of God, and His experience of my faith. If God is my source and reward, nothing on earth can touch my expression of faith. If I try to make someone or something other than God my source, or let my reward be defined as something other than a deeper experience of God, then I will make a mess simply attempting to walk in the direction God has called me. This was Abraham's story in many ways. When God called Abram to pack up everything and move, he did: Genesis 12:1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name gre...

The Song of Solomon is the one book of the Bible I have avoided most of my life, but it is one of the greatest truths in the entire Bible. As I spend more and more time reading this short book, I find increased levels of depth of revelation of how Jesus sees me, and how my responses to Him move Him. There is a lot of flowery and “gender-centric” language in this book, but if I am willing to humble my heart and try to understand it, there is so much Jesus is willing to let me see. This knowledge of His view of what is possible in our relationship unlocks my heart to obey Him more. Today, I am gripped by this passage: The Shulamite (that is me) Song of Solomon 4:16 Awake, O north wind, And come, O south! Blow upon my garden, That its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden And eat its pleasant fruits. The Beloved (Jesus) 5:1 I have come to my garden, my sister, my spouse; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine ...

Jesus has an agenda and is executing a plan. It is vastly different than many expect. I don't say this from my observation of the world, or those near me, I say it because the Bible says it! The Bible says that many are complacent as His plan comes into view. For many years the stage has been set. Nations that will coalesce against Him have been brought into agreement nearly silently. The world economic conditions have ripened almost without any real fanfare. The wind, and the waves, and the rumbling earth have announced the arrival of that day like a gathering midsummer storm. We can hear the thunder, and the breeze is starting to pick up. The temperature is slowly dropping...it is that feeling just before the downpour and the crashing thunder and blinding lightning, when you realize a storm has just crept up on you and you better get inside quickly. The Bible says the storm IS coming, and it is a doozey. The Bible says despite the obvious conditions, and the plan written out thou...

I am spirit, soul (mind, will emotion), and body. I can feel my body most easily. I can see and touch my body. I know when it feels pain, or heat, or cold. To experience my soul requires a little more effort, but I know when my emotions are excited or calm. I know the feeling of success, and the feeling of defeat. I know what disappointment and satisfaction both feel like. My thoughts I can hear, and if I really settle my heart and sift my thoughts, I can, to some degree, discover what is motivating me. My spirit is much harder to relate to. I don't feel it much, and when I do, it is very vague. A deep sense of God's presence that makes me weep for no reason I can feel, or a deep sense of conviction I can't quite put my finger on. My spirit is my "inner-most" man. When I claimed Jesus death as my own, and put my trust in His leadership, the Holy Spirit came to live in my spirit: John 14: 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He m...

Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. God gave us imaginations for a reason! In order to fully obey this verse, you need an imagination fueled by the Word. I often ask God to show me glimpses of what my life will be like in 1,000 years, or a million years. A few times He has given me a picture in my mind of where I will live. This fuels my imagination, and makes me hungry for more of Him. Heaven is a VERY good place. The other day, He showed me something fascinating. I had a picture in my mind of sitting in the place He has shown me in heaven. Bright light was shining on me, like a warm summer morning when the rising sun feels so bright and warm. On those mornings, the light just makes me want to sing...I know those days are going to be good days. Well, this light...I only felt it for a few moments...but this light actually made me feel that summer sunny morning kind of joyful, but like x 1,000. I heard God remind me that there is no Sun in the New ...

God has always protected people in agreement with Him during a time of judgment. Noah's Ark, Lot being rescued from Sodom, the protection of the Israelites in Goshen while Egypt was hit with plague after plague. God even spared the entire evil city of Nineveh from judgment when Jonah reluctantly preached the message of judgment there. God is so reliable, Jonah didn't want to deliver the message because He knew God wanted to save Nineveh. God's mercy is great. He is literally dying to save anyone who will agree with what He is doing. The world is entering a time of unprecedented judgment. I hear many talking about the best days of this place, or that place, being ahead of us. I hear many saying "God is not done with this place." While I believe this is true, it is important to be sober-minded about God's written plans. God's glory is going to cover the whole earth as the water covers the sea. God is not done with any place, but the story of how that takes p...

No matter what the news says, this is what is taking place in the earth right now: Psalm 46: 8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has made desolations in the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire. 10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 47:1 Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! 2 For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. 3 He will subdue the peoples under us, And the nations under our feet. Psalm 48:10 According to Your name, O God, So is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness. God has a plan that He is faithfully executing right now, as the world watches and wonders what is happening. There is a plan written thousands of years before today. Actually, the Bible says the plan we are witnessing the lasts stro...

Psalm 72:3 The mountains will bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. There are many "mountains" and "hills" before us in this time of human history. Mountains of financial uncertainty, violence, war, terror, natural disaster, political corruption...these are all mountains that lay before us. Leading up to the mountains are the foothills, those obstacles closer to us in our life-journey to where God is taking us. The foothills are more near to us than the events on CNN...they are in our families, at work, at church, and in the neighborhood. Psalm 72 was written for all generations, but is most applicable to our generation...to today. Jesus gave us the signs that would tell us we were in the generation He was about to return to. Those signs are all happening right now. He said, when you see them happen together, at the same time, know that generation will not pass until He returns. We are that generation. Psalm 72 says the mountains "b...

There is so much I want to know about God. What He is thinking, what He looks like. What standing in His physical presence feels like. He has been talking to me about His plans for me, and how He has built me for the future He always envisioned for me. A perfect plan and purpose to satisfy my heart. He is SO about and "for" me. When I settle my heart and listen to Him, He is so kind, always reassuring me, always inviting me closer. As I have slowly watched my heart grow closer to Him, I have gotten to feel some of His presence in tangible ways. The vibrancy of my heart changes. Sometimes I can, in relatively small ways for such a powerful God, feel His near presence. Sometimes I "tingle" a little when He is emphasizing something to me, or sometimes I might just start crying when He says something surprising about how He feels about me. He is so focused on me. Even when I neglect to press in to Him, when I completely forget He is there for a little while, He is alway...

What I am contending for, where my eyes are looking, and what my strength is spent on, determines where I will go. If I am contending for success in business, that will define my interest and where I pour out my strength (time, money, talents). Is it family? Comfort? Style? Position? Recognition? We all contend for something. We all have a dream in our mind that is driven by the desires in our heart. The desires, the longings, were planted there by God. Whether you know Him or not, He is the author of your heart,and the desires placed there. There is only one way to satisfy all the desires in my heart: Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. The kingdom of God is vast and full of amazing treasure. It is literally full of satisfying and exciting things. Things like supernatural knowledge of God's plans, the ability to pray for people and see them actually recover, an ability to speak and have people learn in a...

I was born into a storm. I didn't know where it started, or where it would end, but my introduction to existence was a in the midst of a storm. Can you imagine being born into a hundred year snowstorm? Wind swirling, everything cold, and barren and white? If that is all you had known since the time of your birth, it would seem normal. Boots would be the only logical shoes, and shorts would make no sense. If you saw suntan lotion or a picnic basket, you would have no good context for what to do with them...they would seem silly and useless. The storm I was born into was birthed by the introduction of rebellion into a perfect world. God created everything,and it was "very good." God committed to love, which required a choice. For love, God put a choice for rebellion in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, a storm came upon the earth. God's desire to have a royal family equally committed to a voluntary relationship of love was rebelled against. God...

God fashioned my heart uniquely with a plan and a purpose in mind: Psalm 33:14 From the place of His dwelling He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth; 15 He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works. God's plan and purpose for me is perfect to fulfill the dreams placed in my heart when He formed me. God knows how to satisfy what He has built my heart for. The chambers of my heart are different from yours. What will satisfy me is different than what will truly satisfy you. Wanting what someone else has is actually desiring something "less-than" what I was made for. This is so hard to remember. My response to God is unique and special to Him, but His love for me is unique and special for me, too. No one can have a relationship quite like mine and His. No one can have a relationship with God quite like you can. It is tempting, as I watch God move, to fear missing where He is going. I don't want to miss out on what God has for me. It is temptin...

There is a move of God promised to come. It is a "pouring-out" of the Holy Spirit on all of God's servants. It is an opening wide of the gate of encounter with God: Joel 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward That 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. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. This pouring out of the Spirit will be church-wide. Every servant of God, everyone committed to Jesus' leadership...men, women, kids, young, old, rich, poor...all of the church will be touched with power. In the days before Jesus, only a select few operated in this sort of power: David, Daniel...

Jesus taught about rewards in heaven. There are numerous rewards in heaven based on our response to Jesus in our short start here on earth. Jesus likened the end of the age to a woman giving birth. If I link these two ideas together, I picture it like this: if my heart gets formed well here and now, in the womb, it will affect the quality of my existence (my health) forever. Forever is a really long time, so I should take seriously what Jesus intended by teaching so much about rewards, and how they were related to my response to Him now! The knowledge of this concept, and agreeing with Jesus about it will really affect me forever, just like my response to His invitation to salvation will affect me forever. One of the ribbons that runs through the idea of rewards is that proximity to Jesus is a huge part of the rewards. James and John's mom confirmed this for us. She asked Jesus to let her sons be closest to Him when He took up his throne, and we got to hear one of the most amazing ...