|City on a Hill - Writings for Refuge

Sometimes, God will allow circumstances that offend the mind to expose the heart. This will often happen along the line of promises...I hear the Lord saying especially for those who have been given weighty promises. Sometimes the promise is given, yet all the circumstances seem to be flowing in the opposite way. This is the time that faith is chosen or abandoned. The real question is never "was the promise real?" the real question is "is the issuer of the promise reliable? Is the Father good...is the Father faithful, powerful, and loving?" The Father's character is constant. He is always good. He is always faithful. Always perfectly powerful. What is inconsistent is my trust in who He says He is. The offending of the mind is intended to solidify the belief of the heart. If I will simply stand on who issued the promise, rather than what the wind and the waves say, I will move from faith to faith, glory to glory, strength to strength. God hates double-mindedness, ...

There is false teaching going around regarding fasting and reaching for more of the kingdom of God on earth. The false teaching falls along the lines of "We are already the habitation of God...totally filled by Him...don't try to get into His presence by praise and worship, fasting and prayer repetition. He came into us and will never leave, nor forsake or fail us. Fasting is like a hunger strike to God that He doesn't require" This is simply unBiblical. This sort of teaching reflects that the teacher doesn't understand the three-fold process of renewal the Bible calls "justification" (getting saved), sanctification (getting set apart in obedience to His word over time), and Glorification (getting a new body at the resurrection). This is false teaching designed to steal from the process of sanctification, or the renewing of the heart. Philippians 2:12-13 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my...

People ask me all the time "what is the most practical thing I can do to get ready for the end times." Generally, people expect me to answer something like "store food or water", " have cash on hand" or something along those lines. I don't subscribe to that sort of thinking at all. If God specifically tells you to store something material, do that, but the Bible doesn't say anything like that. The single most practical thing a person can do to get ready for the end times is get filled with the Holy Spirit and then start learning to fellowship with Him. This is how you store oil. The Holy Spirit is the advocate, the power of God on earth, and the comforter. The Book of Revelation is describing the failure of every lesser advocate, power, and comfort man has been tempted to embrace. Every thing that pacifies man's lethargy towards the leadership of Jesus is being removed so we will connect with His leadership fully before His return! Haggai 2:6“F...

In the hour that is upon us, God will do more than in the book of Exodus...more than is in the book of Acts. For good and for judgment. Micah 7:13Yet the land shall be desolate Because of those who dwell in it, And for the fruit of their deeds. 14Shepherd Your people with Your staff, The flock of Your heritage, Who dwell solitarily in a woodland, In the midst of Carmel; Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, As in days of old. 15“As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders.” 16The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; They shall put their hand over their mouth; Their ears shall be deaf. Choosing the weakness of absolute loyalty to Jesus is the only way to truly be strong in this hour. All man-based strength will be judged... ...the strength of logic, the strength of wealth, the strength of assembly and protest, the strength of reputation and marketing, the strength of cunning, and the power of the sword....all these will be judged in this...

Prophecy is an invitation to live into a naturally unlikely reality. Faith sees past all the reasons something might not happen and stands on the reliability of the one who said it will. It doesn't take much faith to receive a prophetic promise, but it takes lot of faith to keep it when all the wind and waves war against it in our minds. Many prophetic promises are handed back to God by unbelief in times of testing. We stop living into prophetic promises in the micro-dec isions we make, even while still "waiting to see.". I never want to wait to see...waiting to see isn't faith, its actually doubt: John 20:29Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” We live in the last days. That means many great exploits will be performed by people that love Jesus: Daniel 11:31“And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away...

It's tempting to want to find the static definition of "saved"... But being saved isn't static. Being saved isn't a location, it is a trajectory. Jesus is the way...He is the direction to follow: Matthew 7:13“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14“Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Walking through the gate is the beginning of salvation. Accepting Jesus' payment for the cost of your sin and turning from your sin is what it means to walk through the gate. To walk through the gate is to commit to a new direction...setting your heart to become as much like Jesus as possible. Walking in the way is the actual forward motion obtained by beholding who Jesus is, and then being transformed into that same character: 2 Corinthians 3:18But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lor...