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Stop Complaining and Arise

2/29/2016

In my own frustration with my purpose and the condition of the world, I began to pray. In my time of prayer, the Lord stopped me and said “stop complaining and arise”. Wow, I was completely convicted. God created each one of us with a solution on the inside for something. This is where we find our purpose. God spoke to me about my purpose many years ago, but while He has been transforming me and equipping me, I got caught up in what the world and even the church says purpose is supposed to look like.

So as I continued to pray about the world condition. My heart was broken thinking about how far America is from God. Then God spoke again……

Ecclesiastes 1:9
That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.

God isn’t shocked about what is going on in America. He has seen it all before. He is waiting for His people to rise up and take their positions. Noah overcame wickedness and violence by his obedience. Abraham was an intercessor against homosexuality. Joseph beat slander and false imprisonment simply by character and his gifts that made room for him. God raised up Moses as a deliver to free His people out of slavery. Nehemiah conquered destruction and abandonment by the hard work of building while fighting and politically restoring his city. Esther beat racism through strategic thinking, planning, and fearless execution of her strategy. Daniel brought down unfair laws through his trust in God and obedience of His Word. Jesus broke the power of religion and politics through the demonstration of the power of God all through His life, death, and resurrection.

Because Jesus lives and His kingdom is in us, we are called for a purpose. We have a solution to the world condition, but what are we doing? We need to stop complaining and start doing what God created us to do. If you are unsure of what that is, ask Him. He will be more than happy to answer if you seek him. Wisdom for your purpose is waiting.

James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him

We are called to demonstrate God’s power in the earth. That looks like something different for all of us. We need to be the answer. Your love can conquer hate. Your kindness can heal someone’s rejection. Your prayers can heal the sick. Your joy can deliver depression. Your obedience can shift the atmosphere. Your purpose can change the world! Let’s stop complaining and arise to be who God has called us to be!

Father we thank You for Your mercy. Forgive us for complaining instead of doing our part. We ask for Your wisdom to know what our purpose is. Show us how to make a difference. We want to be the solution. Teach us how to lean on You instead of our own understanding. We want to trust the plans that You have for our lives. We want to fulfill our purpose. Activate our gifts and train us how to use them. We want to be demonstrators of Your power on the earth. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!

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God's Wrapping Paper

2/22/2016

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Has someone ever surprised you with a gift and you rejected it because you didn’t like its packaging? Was it too small, too big, awkwardly shaped, or the wrong color paper? How can we judge a gift by its package? A coffee machine comes in a big box and the biggest diamond ring comes in the smallest of boxes. While I can appreciate both, the unsuspecting diamond ring box obviously holds more monetary value, but you can’t put a price on morning’s first cup of coffee (I love my coffee)! They both serve a purpose, but what really makes a gift special is who the person giving the gift is. If the man that you have desired to marry gives you the diamond ring then it holds eternal value. If the creep that’s been stalking you gives you the same gift then it holds no value.

Would you ever reject a gift from God? Most of us would “say no”, but religious people do it all the time. We miss what God is speaking and doing because of the package that is comes in. Many people think it should come in the same 12 inch, square box with perfectly taped wrapping paper. They want it to “feel” a certain way and “sound” a certain way. They even want it to serve a certain purpose even when God wants to shift it to another. God speaks to us all and can use whoever or whatever He wants to send us a message. Read Numbers 22-34 and you will see how God opened the mouth of a donkey to speak because His servant had his own agenda.

God speaks. He speaks through scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17). He speaks through people (Romans 12: 6-8). He speaks through the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). He speaks through difficulties (Psalm 119:67-68). He speaks through creation (Psalm 19:1-2). God speaks in different ways (Job 33:14). He spoke to Moses with fire (Exodus 3:2). He spoke to Samuel in an audible voice (1 Samuel 3). He spoke to Elijah in a still small voice (1 Kings 19:12). He speaks with a wind that sounds like cherub wings (Ezekiel 1:24). He sounds like many rushing waters and loud thunder (Revelation 14:2). He roars, He whispers, He dances, and He weeps. No matter how He comes, He is always good!

You might not look like what people are expecting (either did David). You might not sound what they have heard before. God is doing a new thing for you in this new season. He is breaking off religion. He is breaking off limits. If you get stuck in your flesh and go the way that satisfies your boxed in version of God, then you will miss what God is doing. It will feel good for the moment but the fruit won’t remain.

1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV)
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees;[a] for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart

God’s not looking for a show. He is looking for our hearts. His glory will do the rest. I want to receive my gift from God, not from the creep putting on a good show! When God is speaking then we should be listening. Let’s not overlook the “different” package. He wants to surprise us and keep us always leaning in with great anticipation and expectation of what He wants to do next!

Father we thank You that You still speak. Forgive us for rejecting your gifts because of our perception of what You should look, sound, and feel like. Take us out of our religion and in sync with Your Spirit. Help us discern what You are doing through Your people by their hearts and not by their appearance or delivery. We don’t want to go in our own direction. We want to move by the Holy Spirit that leads and guides us into all truth. We want to stay in Your presence and move when You move. Help us be a gift to others by using what You have placed on the inside of us. We want to receive everything that You have for us and give everything that we have to offer. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!

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Earthquakes, Rivers, Dreams, And Resurrection

2/15/2016

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Jesus wept……. Jesus wept……. I kept hearing this in the spirit last week. Why did Jesus weep? (John 11:1-40)

Jesus wept out of compassion for His friends that were mourning. He wept for their unbelief. He wept because they still didn’t understand resurrection power.

Jesus knew God’s plans for Lazarus. He knew that he was only “sleeping” and the power of God’s promise would call him forth. This resurrection was not just about Lazarus. It was about the people seeing that Jesus was sent to them with God’s power.

Before Jesus went to where Lazarus’ body laid, His disciples warned Him not to go. Lazarus rested in a place where they once tried to stone Jesus. The enemy always waits at the place where God’s power wants to meet us.

God spoke to my Spirit that He is weeping. He is weeping for our dreams that we have put behind the tomb. The enemy tried to kill us the first time. Our dreams became sick and we locked them in a tomb. We rolled the stone in front of it, and mourned what God placed inside of us. Our dreams aren’t dead, they have been sleep. God is sending those to confirm what He placed on the inside of us. The memories of what we once dreamed of accomplishing are flooding our thoughts. The resurrection power of God is calling them forth so that He may be glorified. The enemy will be waiting but cannot undo what God has established. Many will believe because of what God does through us. Some will plot to discredit us, but the plan of God will triumph. He has given us resurrection power if we only believe.

We were singing about resurrection in church and I saw the ground quake. There was a great opening in the middle of the sanctuary that went from the altar to the doors.

The earth quakes when resurrection takes place. The earth quaked at the time of Jesus’ death (Matthew 27:54) and it also quaked when the angel of the Lord rolled back the stone where He had risen (Matthew 28:2).

Then I saw water filling the opening in the ground. This was the River of God.

Psalm 65:9 (NKJV)
9 You visit the earth and water it,
You greatly enrich it;
The river of God is full of water;
You provide their grain,
For so You have prepared it.

God is shaking the earth and resurrecting our dreams. He is breaking off unbelief and enriching us to receive a harvest. The river of God is coming to fill the place of our resurrected dreams. The place that was broken from the quaking is filling up with provision. Whoever is thirsty, He will satisfy. I saw myself drinking from this river. With it came life, a filling of God’s fullness, and all that He is.

Psalm 46:4(NKJV)
4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.

God’s river will stream through us.

John 7:38 (NKJV)
38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Revelation 22:1-5 (NKJV)
The River of Life
22 And he showed me a pure[a] river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.

The river that flows from the throne room of God gives us access to the tree of life! This gives us power to produce fruit in every season, bring healing to the nations, and beak every curse. Gods light will shine, giving us revelation to penetrate the dark places and strategy to take dominion.

Just as Jesus told Lazarus to come. He speaks to us today and says come. He speaks to our dreams and says come. He wants us to drink of His river. He wants us to come thirsty and freely drink the water of life!

Revelation 22:17 (NKJV)
17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

Let’s stir up our faith today. Jesus is weeping. Let us go boldly to the place where we call our dreams to come forth in resurrection power. God is providing and His river is waiting. We only need to come. We cannot be moved by what is shaken off. We must leave behind the rubble and partake of the water. The tree of life is waiting. The Spirit and the bride say, Come!

Father, we thank You for resurrection power! Forgive us for making You weep with our discouragement and doubt. Forgive us for locking the dreams that You have given us into a tomb. We go to the place where the earth shakes and the enemy once pursued us knowing that You are there to provide the river of life and resurrection. Let Your light shine on every place of darkness. Give us strategy to build and advance Your kingdom. Help us leave behind the rubble and pursue what You have set before us. Let Your Glory be seen in everything that we do. We are thirsty for the water of life. Fill us and let Your river flow from our hearts. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!

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Stay In Sync

2/8/2016

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In the presence of God in worship on Sunday the Lord was ministering healing, deliverance, hope, and harvest. We were singing about the latter rain and waiting on God. As we were worshipping I began to ask God to sync me with His timing. I want to be in the right season. I asked the Lord what waiting on Him looks like. I saw a vision of a kinetic watch. The word kinetic means: caused by motion. These types of watches are precisely crafted and work by motion only. They have no battery or other power source. As you go about your day, the watch stays in sync with time as you move. It will keep time for periods of rest, but if it sits too long it will start losing time. They even have docking stations that rock the watch when you sleep so when you put it back on, it will still be accurate.

Many of us are “waiting” on God to do many things. Of course we want to wait for specific instructions that will lead us on a path to our purpose, but waiting doesn’t mean inactivity. Being still doesn’t mean being stuck. Stillness means having peace. Stillness means being quiet to hear God’s instructions. Faith without works is dead. We have to trust and yield to the Holy Spirit that will lead us and guide us into all truth. We have to move forward by faith in obedience to what the Spirit of God is saying. In order to stay in God’s timing, we can’t let the enemy trick us into thinking we can’t move forward because an obstacle stands before us.

Exodus 14:13-18 (NKJV)
13 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”
15 And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. 16 But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 17 And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

Moses encouraged the people to have peace. He needed them to quiet down, cast away their fear, and watch, so that they may see God’s full deliverance. Moses was prophetically speaking and God responded quickly to fulfill His deliverance. They had to move forward, but before they could move they needed instructions. God spoke to Moses and he acted in obedience and activated God’s miracle.

Do you think Moses stopped and said “this is crazy, a rod can’t part a sea”, or “I’m not going to do this because people are going to think that I have lost my mind”. Of course he would not have been able to do this in his own power, but with God nothing is impossible!
What is God telling you to do? Are you “waiting” on Him, but really stuck by fear? Now is the time to move forward into the impossible. God is telling us all to do something that has never been done that way before. Are we going to trust Him or are we going to let the opinions of man keep us from seeing the salvation of our Lord? We need to speak prophetically to the naysayers around us. As we act in obedience, even our enemies will know that Jesus is Lord!
We need to even submit our sleep to Him. As we sleep we can rest our time on the docking station of the Holy Spirit. God will give us dreams that will give us revelation and instructions. Our Holy Spirit moves even as we are sleep. God never sleep or slumbers (Psalms 121:4). His plan is for us to prosper and walk in the fullness of the cross. He wants us to move forward into His call for our lives.

Philippians 3:12-13 (NKJV)
Pressing Toward the Goal
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

Father, we thank You for Your grace that keeps us. Forgive us for being stuck in fear being masked by “waiting” on You. Show us how to move forward in faith and obedience to those things that seem impossible and “crazy”. Make us sensitive to the Holy Spirit to hear Your instructions. Give us dreams and visions that speak to our purpose and give us revelation. Teach us how to have peace while moving forward in faith. We want to be led by Your spirit. We want to be in sync with Your timing. We rebuke all fear and trust in Your deliverance. We know that all will know that Jesus is Lord by the miracles that You work in us and through us. This is our season of harvest. We receive the latter rain that brings in Your glory. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!

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Light Is Coming!

2/1/2016

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I, like many others, are waiting with great expectation for what God is about to do in this season. As I was praying and seeking God to know the time and season that I am in, I also asked him to show me where I am on the mountain of purpose that He has set me on. I’ve been climbing and moving forward by faith, but haven’t had clear vision to see what is before me. I’ve believed that my steps are ordered by the Lord and that I walk by faith and not by sight.

Psalm 84:10-12 (NKJV)
10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
Blessed is the man who trusts in You!

The Lord showed me that many have been in a season of darkness. As we have been faithfully climbing to reach the next level God has been our sun and shield. He is about to release His blessing because we have continued to trust in Him!

Psalm 74:16-17 (NKJV)
16 The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;
You have prepared the light and the sun.
17 You have set all the borders of the earth;
You have made summer and winter.

God has made the times and seasons with purpose and they belong to Him. Our job is to trust Him regardless of what we see (or don’t see) and continue to move forward by faith. We are to give Him praise in every season because when we love Him and are called according to His purpose then He works all things together for our good! He is doing things on our behalf that we aren’t yet aware of. In time, His glory will be revealed in our purpose. We must praise Him for His promise because it is sure and will be like a tree of life when it comes.

Psalm 113:2-4 (NKJV)
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore!
3 From the rising of the sun to its going down
The Lord’s name is to be praised.
4 The Lord is high above all nations,
His glory above the heavens.

The Lord showed me that the season of darkness is coming to an end. I saw the sun was hidden behind the mountain but is now about to rise above the peak. The season is changing and the sun is going to shine to illuminate our path. Because we have been moving forward in faith, we are closer to the top than we imagined. The rest of the hike will be easy because we will now have the vision to match our faith. The sun is breaking forth a new day and a new beginning. We must not look back but press forward to finish what God has began in us.

Ecclesiastes 7:10-12 (NKJV)
10 Do not say,
“Why were the former days better than these?”
For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.
11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
And profitable to those who see the sun.
12 For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense,
But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.

The wisdom that we have obtained in the dark season is going to unlock an inheritance of resources as we continue to move forward with the light of the sun. Our wisdom will give our purpose life and what once seemed impossible we will truly know is possible with God!

Today, I encourage you not to give up. You are closer than you think. Keep trusting God and expect Him to breakthrough as light in your situation. There is nothing that is too hard for Him and nothing that is greater than Him. Continue to gather wisdom because your wealth will stem from it. While others have been chasing money, God will turn your wisdom into wealth. Jesus is Lord and His named is to be praised!

Father, we thank You for Your faithfulness to take care of us in every season. Forgive us for growing weary and losing hope in Your promise. Today we set our hope in You and fully trust the plans that You have for our lives. Help us gain wisdom in every situation. We wait with great expectation for the shining of the sun to shed light on our new season. We give you glory and praise. We want our lives to magnify You in everything we do. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!

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HEAVEN'S GARDEN

Stop Complaining and Arise

God's Wrapping Paper

Earthquakes, Rivers, Dreams, And Resurrection

Stay In Sync

Light Is Coming!

Bonnie Kay Rimpson

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