Prophetic Word for 2012:

A Fresh Ray of Hope

By: Alan Smith

Lam 3:21-26: Yet there is one ray of hope: his compassion never ends. It is only the Lord's mercies that have kept us from complete destruction.  Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day.  My soul claims the Lord as my inheritance; therefore I will hope in him.  The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him, to those who seek for him.  It is good both to hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (TLB)

Have you ever felt your life was not reaching its potential?  You know, the feeling that you are running behind the schedule of destiny?  Or perhaps your life is missing your goals and dreams?  You start the morning without a “ray of hope” for the day or the week, or perhaps even for the rest of your life.  I believe most of us experience these emotions and struggles from time to time.  Just as hope is prophetic to our future, so is hopelessness.  Hopelessness is the prophetic voice of the hidden part of the soul.  What is the hidden part of the soul, you might ask?  It is the place where we hide our fears.  We keep this place so hidden we are not even aware that it exists.  We hide all kinds of thoughts here; mainly the thoughts we tell no one.  The thoughts we think are not acceptable to those around us.  The thoughts we believe, if told, would surely come to pass and devour us.  This hidden room in our soul has a door that is always closed, and is never opened.

Come away with me for a moment.  Let’s imagine a room in your house.  This room is hard to see and is almost hidden at the top of the attic stairs.  This room has always seemed a little scary, so you have refused to open the door to take a look.  Days pass and you don’t open the door.  Suddenly, you hear all kinds of creatures moving in the darkness of this hidden room.  A week passes before you venture by this room again.  The door is still closed.  You hear more sounds and now you can even hear a faint voice in the background.  Your imagination begins to give form to this voice; this creature.  It is very scary as you do not know what this creature looks like.  You think you can see this creature in your mind.  It appears to have ten heads and ten eyes.  The scales on its body shine as the reflection of the moon pours into the night window.  Its tail is dangerous and appears to be pointed like a spear.  Surely it could pierce your heart and bring sudden death.  This hidden creature, if exposed, would surely be the end of you.

Now, isn’t it amazing how we can take the imagination that God has given to each of us to speak prophetically into a wonderful future; and then use it to destroy our God given destiny?  This hidden room becomes a breeding ground of the unseen.  When we store our fears and possible failures in this hidden room, they grow into false realities.  We then start to live in these false realities; and even though they are false, they take on the appearance of being true.  They might as well be true, because we live in them just the same.  These false realities produce a painful hopelessness that destroys our very existence.

So how can we escape this place of hopelessness?  The first thing we must do is open the door of the hidden room in our souls.  We must be truthful and honest with ourselves and with God.  There are no creatures in this land of the hidden soul; only our fears.  Fear is the hidden creature.  It is a false reality, and it is not even real.  Let’s open the door to this hidden room and let the light shine in and expose all of the false realities that have been living there.  Then, let’s see what God has to say about this.

First of all, Lam 3:21says: Yet there is one ray of hope.  This is all it takes to make it today; just one ray of hope, a ray of hope from heaven.  There is one ray for each day, and we must live one day at a time.  Tomorrow is not here so we must trust the Lord for today.  Do not look for a ray of hope for tomorrow, because tomorrow has not yet come.  Tomorrow’s ray of hope will be asked for tomorrow.  You can trust that God will give you this ray of hope for tomorrow because his compassion never ends.  His love for us is unbelievable and endless.  Your fears are only trying to destroy you while it is the Lord's mercies that have kept us from complete destruction.  Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day.  Our ray of hope comes fresh each day as we call upon the Lord.  Why—because of his loving-kindness.  This part of the inheritance we have in Christ must be claimed.

Let’s take another look at the scriptures.  Lam 3:24: My soul claims the Lord as my inheritance; therefore I will hope in him.  The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him, to those who seek for him.  It is good both to hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.  Let’s make a choice this day to wait upon the Lord and continually seek Him.  Our hope is not in the hidden room of our souls, but in the Lord who willingly sends us a “ray of hope” for each day. Fear will be offered to us in great abundance during the next 12 months.  But we must not allow our souls to agree with this fear and hopelessness. This is the year to experience freedom from fear, hopelessness, and destruction. The Lord is the One who holds this day and He is the One who issues each of us a “ray of hope”. Let’s embrace His voice and receive His Word as His “ray of hope” warms our hearts with truth and freedom.

May God bless you in 2012.

Alan

 A Thankful Heart:

The Lifestyle of a People That Can See the Invisible God

By: Alan Smith

Psalm 100: Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!  Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.  Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; W e are His people and the sheep of His pasture.  Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

Hmmm: to be a person that is really thankful; thankful for all things.  Is it possible for us to be transformed into this heavenly creature?  Does the condition of our hearts determine what we see?  Does the condition of our hearts help to focus our spiritual eyes?  How can we see this invisible God we love?  I mean, how can we really see Him?  But then we have to ask, is He really invisible or do we just need eyes that can see Him?  Let’s take a spiritual journey and explore a little of the invisible world.

Things we see can be a language.  The things we see around us do not come out of nowhere.  They were created according to something in the invisible realm.  What if we look at a “key” verse that unlocks this unseen world?

n  Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him. (KJV)

So we can see that the scripture above has given us a road map into the unseen world.  The Bible is teaching us that there are two worlds: one is visible and the other is invisible.  Both worlds were created by Him.  The created world, which is the visible, gives us the capacity to understand the unseen world, which is the invisible.  The created world is a reflection of the unseen world.  The unseen world has two speeds in which it moves.  It moves faster than the naked eye and it moves slower than the naked eye.  Let me give you an example.  Can we see a tree or a child grow?  I think not, but we can see a miracle of life.  It is just moving at a pace that is slower than we can see with the naked eye.

On the other hand, there are also things that move faster than we can see.  This means there is part of this creation that we just cannot see with the naked eye.  This part of creations makes up the unseen world.  God gives us revelations in which we can understand and see the unseen world.  One of these revelations is that of the “thankful heart”.  If God is in an unseen world, perhaps we need the capacity to go where He is.  It is becoming very evident that we cannot enter into this world with our own understanding.  The scriptures reveal to us a truth.  We see in Psalm 100 above that we are to Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.  If we are truly going to enter into this unseen world and into His presence, we first must do this with “thanksgiving”: thanksgiving unto Him.  Are we truly thankful to God?  I often find myself not very thankful at all.  On the contrary, I find myself very unthankful most of the time.  Why, we might ask ourselves?  Could it be that what we focus on determines what we see?  If what we see in the invisible world is determined by the condition of our hearts; then an “unthankful heart” sees that which is dark and depressing.  It is always seeing what is going wrong on the planet.  A “thankful heart”, however, can see dark as well as light, but chooses to focus on the light and the good.  It sees what could be on the planet if our hearts were truly thankful for the opportunity that God has given us.  I pray that we will consider our ways and become a thankful people unto our worthy God for all He has and is doing for us.  

Blessings,

Alan

Forward and Upward:

A Parable of Destiny

By:  Alan Smith

Dan 5:23: But you have not praised the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!

Have you ever felt that your “destiny” would never be fulfilled?  Could you consider that “destiny” is the road traveled unto your heavenly destination?  I have written a short parable on this subject.  In the parable there is an angel whose name is “Destiny”.  “Destiny” is full of life, given to him by his Creator; but his gift of life needed a little direction.  Come with me as we fly away into the heavens and meet the one called “Destiny”.

“A Parable of Destiny”

As the angel, “Destiny”, gazed through the heavens at what God had made for all of His creation; he also reflected on the past regarding his earthly and spiritual relationships, and how important it was to make corrections through life’s journey.  As a young angel in training, there were times he did not listen to his instructors and thus, he would end up at the wrong place at the wrong time.  As a result, confusion and sorrow filled his life; and his inability to end up at the proper destinations brought much sadness and many unanswered questions.  But “Destiny” was learning…learning to be a messenger: one who would chart a course in the next direction.  It wasn’t that he didn’t always have the correct coordinates; sometimes he did.  Unfortunately, he constantly ignored these new instructions!

All of the instructors in his life loved him greatly.  They had spent long hours with him, but he just could not seem to grasp this lesson.  The Heavenly Father also loved “Destiny”.  He was one of His favorite angels.  He was so full of life and mischief.  It was because of this eternal love of the Father that He sent his Son to personally help “Destiny” in his training.  The Son declared to “Destiny” that He had been sent to show him the way.  “The way?” said Destiny.  “Yes,” said the Son.  “I will send you a friend and he will help you.  Always remember that a true friend is the most longed-for relationship in the heavens and on the earth.  This friend will give you an electronic book to hold in your hand which will show you the way to go.”  “When will He come?”  Destiny asked.  The Son replied, “When I leave, He will come.  You will not be able to see Him, but He will be with you.  This I promise.”

As the Son left, a little book suddenly appeared in Destiny’s hand.  Looking like no other book he had ever seen, it had a monitor, numbers, and the alphabet within its covers.  It fit perfectly in the palm of his hand.  He punched buttons and different things appeared on the monitor screen.  Excitement so overtook Destiny over the gift, that he sang, ran, and danced across the heavens.  Never before had he been so confident that he could complete the tasks that were given to him.  As he came to a stop, he noticed the name of the book…G-GPS, God’s Global Positioning System.  Instantly, he heard a voice, but saw no one.  The Voice, who was the true friend spoken of earlier, and who is also called the Comforter, called out, “Destiny?”  Trembling, Destiny replied, “Yes, what do you want?”  “I am here to comfort you and to show you how to use the G-GPS,” said the Voice.  Winds surrounded Destiny, blowing into him peace and comfort.  The Voice then responded, “This book is to show you how to move forward.  It will also show you where you have been, where you are, and where you are going.  Listen as I give you these very important instructions.  First, I will give you the latitude and then the longitude.  These are the coordinates that you will need to put into the book.  These coordinates will tell you where you are now.”  Destiny asked, “What do you mean by the latitude and longitude?”  The Voice responded, “The latitude is to the natural what vertical is to the spiritual.  Longitude is to the natural what horizontal is to the spiritual.  Vertical is your relationship to the Father and horizontal is your relationship to your brothers.  I will tell you about your vertical and horizontal positions as you go.  The key to your going is that you do not overlook or skip any set of coordinates.  If you do, I will not give you another coordinate.  You have to complete the requirements of the previous settings to go to the next settings.  These settings will guide you, even around danger in your goings.  So, therefore, you must listen to My voice and be obedient to every vertical and horizontal setting as you walk in a straight line with no variance.  When you reach where I want you to be, I will then give you another setting.  Your movement will be forward and upward.”  Destiny then asked, “What is the key to this understanding?”  Wisely, the Comforter replied, “When you reach each setting on the G-GPS, repent.  The act of repentance turns you to proceed in a new direction and allows you to receive new vertical and horizontal settings.  Repentance will turn you to the way I want you to go and establish your path to the next settings.  Forward and upward: the ways of the Spirit.”  Destiny then asked, “Where am I going?  Where will this G-GPS take me?”  The Comforter breathed the words, “To your Heavenly destination.”

Could repentance be more than being sorry for something?  Could repentance be the very coarse correction needed to send us to our next destination?  Just a thought for another day.

Blessings,

Alan

 A Gift Giver

By: Alan Smith

• Luke 2:8-12: Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.  Then the angel said to them,"Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."  (NKJV)

It was at this time that God wanted to give His greatest Gift to mankind.  This Gift would be a living example of the Spirit of God in human form, and God would be giving all that He had in and through this Gift.  It is God’s nature to give all of the time, and when He gives, a supernatural element is released.  He has given us life, opportunities, food, jobs, the air we breathe, and as noted in the scripture above, even the Gift of a Savior.  Just think, every day that is experienced is a day which has been created and given as a gift by the Father.  Would you like to give to others as the Father gives to each of us?  Would you like to know the secret of the Spirit of giving?  Let’s look at the life of Jesus to gain more spiritual understanding of this giving.

Jesus, God’s greatest Gift to the world, has given more to mankind than anyone who has ever been born.  He has given us the instructions for how we begin this secret journey of gift giving.  First of all, He knew He had to go to the source of all things if He was going to be a Gift Giver.  Jesus knew that within Himself He had nothing to give, but when He cooperated and worked with the Father all of a sudden every thing the Father owned became “substance” which He could give away.  His “faith” in the Father made Him whole in every thing He did.  What a perception Jesus had in being our example of a Gift Giver!  Jesus had “faith” that the Father would show Him what He should give each and every day, and His faith became “substance”.

Jesus was also a thinker.  He didn’t walk around in a lifeless form.  On the contrary, He was always praying; which being interpreted means, He was talking to God.  Jesus knew the Father wanted to create and give something new and fresh each day so therefore, Jesus would talk and then think with the Father every day.  If we want to be a Gift Giver, we must talk to the Father and then we must think in a certain and a different way.  We must understand that how we do things is a direct result of the way we think.  If we want to do things in life in a “certain way”, then we must learn to think in a “way” that will be in harmony with the “certain way” we want life to be.  Jesus wanted to give so He would “think” in a way which was conducive to giving.

Jesus also wanted to set “free” the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven and He knew that only the “truth” could accomplish this heavenly task.  So we see we must “think” in a certain way in order to be in harmony with the “truth”.  To think and live life in “truth” for the future requires much more of us than allowing our present surroundings to tell us how to think and live.  We must “think” and live in “truth” regardless of our surroundings.  This type of “thinking” is creative in nature.  So how will we be able to give out of what we now have?  Jesus did not think according to His surroundings; no, not at all.  Our surroundings are only the truth of the past and not the truth of the future.  Our surroundings are proof of past “thinking”.  This type of past thinking is very easy and requires no effort, and it will not bring new and fresh things to give away.  If we are going to be Gift Givers and give out of the treasures of Heaven, we must start thinking and living for the future and not thinking and living out of the past.  We must start doing as Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing.”  Remember that God is creating a new day every day and He wants us to create it with Him.  To do this we must have a creative type of thinking and not a competitive type of thinking.  It is very hard to maintain this type of creative thinking, especially when our surroundings contradict the “truth” and our “thinking”.  But this is where “faith” comes in.

• Heb 11:1: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (NIV)

Every action in the world which is seen will produce an image in the mind that will start a conflict of “past” versus “future”.  Only the “truth” sustained by “faith” will change the future.  When we walk in this, we will flee from all fear and doubt and walk with the Father into a new day of created abundance from the Kingdom of God.  It is from the abundance of this Kingdom that we can give gifts to God and man.  God sent His Son to this earth as an eternal gift to mankind.  God is the Creator of all things, but this is a minor gift.  His major gift is that of giving: giving freely; giving when there is no appreciation; giving when He is not recognized; giving not expecting anything in return; giving because He first loved us.  God gives because He sees into the future.  He knows that giving freely is pure spirit and pure spirit will last forever.  It transcends time and space and will last for eternity.  The life of Jesus was given freely and God expects nothing in return from us.  All we need to do is receive this wonderful gift from our Father.

Receive this One called Jesus today and receive the true gift of Christmas.  When we have done this, we may live and walk through life asking the Father each and every day what we can give.  Giving is not just one day a year, but instead, the lifestyle of heaven.  Let’s build a fire within our souls today and allow our hearts to be warmed with the Spirit of Christmas.  Let’s give what the Father says He wants us to give.  Let’s not give out of necessity, but out of hearing our heavenly Father say to us: “Help that mother with food for her children this week.  Or, give that homeless man a hug and tell him that Jesus loves him just the same”.  Giving comes from a heart that is in harmony with the Kingdom of Heaven.  Let’s give out of the riches of the Heavenly Kingdom those gifts which have eternal value.

• 1 Corinthians 13:13:  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  (NIV)

Merry Christmas,

Alan

“Love Must Exceed Your Message”

By: Alan Smith

Esther 5:6-7: During the wine course the king said to Esther, "Now tell me what you really want, and I will give it to you, even if it is half of the kingdom!"  Esther replied, "My request, my deepest wish, is that if Your Majesty loves me and wants to grant my request, that you come again with Haman tomorrow to the banquet I shall prepare for you. And tomorrow I will explain what this is all about."

Do you remember the story in the Bible about Esther?  This is such an incredible story about how “love” exceeded the message.  King Ahasuerus’ love for Esther exceeded the message of Esther, and Esther’s love for her people exceeded the message of Haman.  You may wonder how this applies to your life.  Well, have you ever had a word or a message for someone?  You know, a message that you just knew the person needed: a message that would change his/her life?  Even though your zeal and determination were real, the message which you delivered only caused the opposite of what was intended?  Could it be that the message lacked the element of love that it needed to be received?  In the story of King Ahasuerus and Esther, love was the factor which saved the lives of many.  So let’s explore further, which came first: the love or the message?

It is very obvious in the story of Esther that love was the driving force that preceded the message.  But what if the message had come first; would it then have been received?  Probably not.  True love for someone is like a bank account from which a message must make a withdrawal.  In this story a beautiful woman, named Esther, was a Jew who found herself in the king’s court as his wife and his queen.  Esther found favor in the heart of the king.  Her beauty and humility won his attention and his heart.  However, a man in the king’s court, named Haman, was very prideful and wanted attention and power for himself.  It truly was a very sad thing for a man to allow his life’s passions to be so selfishly motivated, but so it was with Haman.  He was willing to kill, steal, and destroy so his selfish desires could be satisfied.

Esther’s stepfather, named Mordecai, was hated by Haman because Mordecai would not bow down to him.  For this reason Haman persuaded the king to let him kill all of the Jews in the kingdom.  Queen Esther was of Jewish decent, but no one in the king’s court knew this except Mordecai.  Esther loved her people very much, and she could not bear the sentence that Haman had decreed upon them.  She knew she must petition the king on behalf of the Jewish people.  Let’s read what happened.

Esther 5:1-2: Three days later Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court just beyond the royal hall of the palace, where the king was sitting upon his royal throne. And when he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her, holding out the golden scepter to her. So Esther approached and touched its tip.

Esther is a type of us, the church.  We, like Esther, are to enter into the inner court of the King, Jesus, and make a request.  We have been clothed with royal robes that have been provided for us by the King Himself.  Esther did nothing in her preparation to meet the king, other than receive what the king had already provided for her.  She then boldly entered into the inner court and spoke as follows:

Esther 5:4: "If it please Your Majesty, I want you and Haman to come to a banquet I have prepared for you today."

In this scripture we see that Esther was always considerate of the king and assumed nothing.  Her request was that of love first and then the message.  There was such a great love in the heart of the king for Esther.  His love far exceeded any message she could give him.  He knew that no matter what the request was he would give all that he had for her.  It is the same with Jesus.  Jesus loves you and me so much that He has given all that He has for us.  He has given His life and His kingdom too.  Now, let’s read what the king said to Esther.

Esther 5:6: During the wine course the king said to Esther, "Now tell me what you really want, and I will give it to you, even if it is half of the kingdom!"

The king’s love for Esther was unbelievable and so is God’s love for you and me.  God’s love exceeded His own message.  God’s message required for man to live a perfect life.  After the fall of man in the garden, the perfect life was an impossible dream.  God’s love for His creation far exceeded His own message of perfection.  Because God’s love exceeded His own message, He sent His Son to live the perfect life for us.  When we receive His love, the message that He required is fulfilled.  There is nothing that you have done or nothing more that you can do to be received by the King.  Just accept His invitation of love to come unto Him.  He has already completed perfection through His Son.  Just receive His love this day.  He really does care about you.

The Kite
By: Alan Smith

  
Life with no direction: have you ever been there?  You know, just blowing in the wind.  Just letting the cares of life take you where they may.  You don’t really care where you have been or where you are going. You are just floating along life’s journey with seemingly no purpose or direction.  Are you giving up?  Do you not care?  Well, I care and God cares.  You also need to care.  I have written a little parable that will perhaps help us with this “just blowing in the wind” mentality.  Open your mind and your heart.

“Parable of the Kite with no Tail”

It is springtime.  The flowers are blooming, the trees are budding, and the grass is green.  All of the colors of spring are very bright.  Everything is growing and coming to life.  The excitement of new life fills the air, as we smell the fragrance of a new day dawning.  Old things are passed away and all of creation is coming into newness.  The wind is blowing and it reminds me of flying a kite.  Why don’t we stop and read about the “children” as they learned to fly their kite.

Isaiah 40:31: But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (NIV)

The "children" were in the meadow flying a kite.  It was obvious that they were on a great adventure; but they were not having very good success with their kite.  The kite would go up in the air fast, and then go side to side as if to say, "I will go where I please."  The kite did not have any particular direction in which to go.  It just knew that it wanted to go somewhere without anyone controlling it.  Only the resistance of the string would hold the kite down.  The kite was so fighting the resistance that it would go around and around until it would crash to the ground.  The children would launch the kite again, only to repeat the same events of the day.

Suddenly, there appeared an old man: a grandfather of the children.  He sat with them and taught them about the laws of the wind and told them that their lives were like a kite.  He told them how the wind was created for their good; how his Father enjoyed blowing onto the ground with his breath, making it possible for things of the earth to soar.  He told them that God created them to fly and soar in life just as the kite.  He shared with them that it took three things for the kite to soar.  The first thing was wind, the second thing was a tail for their kite, and the third thing was resistance.

The grandfather first addressed the wind.  He said to them, “The wind represents the Holy Spirit of God.  When He blows into your life, you have the power to soar.  Without the wind the kite cannot leave the ground.  Its power must come from another, for the kite has none of its own.  The wind of the Spirit is always in unity with the Words of God.”

Next, the grandfather addressed the tail of the kite.  He told the children that their kite did not have a tail, and they asked him why it needed a tail.  He shared with them that the kite needed direction for its journey.  He told them that without a tail the kite could not go very high and that it would crash to the ground every time.  He said that the tail felt like a weight to the kite, but in fact, the tail gave the kite direction.  He said that the tail of the kite would not let the kite go astray when it was attached to the kite.  He then told them that the tail was "the Word" for them that day.  He said that it was very important for them to hear "the Word"; for it was “the Word" that would give them direction to fly higher in this new season and not crash to the ground.

As he shared, he looked to the ground and saw the tail of the kite lying there.  The grandfather asked them why the tail was there.  The "children" said that the tail kept getting tangled in the string and they thought that it could fly better without it.  It appeared to be in the way.  The grandfather took an old Bible out of his pocket.  He tore the pages out of it and tied them to the kite’s tail.  The old man taught them that the kite represented their lives.  He told them that life was a great adventure through which everyone would fly.  They would want to fly high and fast so they could see everything.  They would want to go where they wanted to, anytime they wanted to.  However, without the Word of God to give them direction, they would only fall to the ground.

The last understanding the grandfather addressed with the “children” was resistance.  When they resist the Devil, which is a negative force, then the wind, the Spirit of God, which is a positive force, would blow against them.  He told them that without resistance the kite would not have a "negative" from which to trust unto a "positive".  When the kite agreed with the resistance and used it for its good, it would take a negative resistance and "transform" it into the power that would cause the kite to go higher.  He then told the children what his heavenly Father had told him.

Romans 8:28: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (KJV)
After sharing with them, the grandfather told them it was time to go home and they could come again another day.

When the Word of God is attached to our lives, it is then that we have direction.  This will cause us to soar higher and higher in life.  When we soar higher we can begin to see things as God sees them.

What truly supports the fabric of a kite?  It is the cross that is behind it.  Open the fabric of your heart today because the cross of Christ is supporting you.  The fabric cannot support itself.  Let the wind of the Spirit of God blow against you.  Take the Word of God and let it give you direction for this new season.  When resistance comes, remember that it is necessary for you to go to higher places than you have ever been before.  Do not despise the resistance as it can be used for your good.  It’s your choice.  Choose this day to believe God.  He will take you on a journey that is unbelievable!

Blessings,

Alan

“The Unbelievable”

By: Alan Smith

Zech. 8:6: The Lord says, "This seems unbelievable to you-a remnant, small, discouraged as you are-but it is no great thing for me. (TLB)

Do I dare to believe the “unbelievable”?  Even though I get discouraged so easily, the Lord says that the “unbelievable is no great thing for Him”.  Consider this: an “unbelievable” is a “believable” waiting to be born.  How could the Wright brothers have invented the airplane without first having the courage, and then the faith, to believe the “unbelievable”?  How could scientists send a man to the moon or even have a vision for the Space Shuttle?  Things which are created begin as something that is first “unbelievable”.  Perhaps the “unbelievable” is the birthing of a vision.  Could the “unbelievable” be prophetic unto our futures?  How can we have courage to bring the “unbelievable” into our reality so it can be believed and enjoyed by all?

First, let’s look at the definition of the word “unbelievable”.  Webster’s Dictionary says this: Unbelievable: Too improbable for belief.  Webster’s is saying that the “unbelievable” probably will never happen.  I sure am glad God does not believe Webster’s “unbelievable” definition of this word.  But what does God believe about this?  Let’s receive the key that unlocks the “unbelievable” door.

Heb. 11:1-3: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.… By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

We see that faith is a characteristic of God.  It is the combination of “faith” and the “words of God” which cause things that are not, to become things that are.  So how do we know that we truly have faith in God?  We have faith in those whom we trust, and we trust in those whom we love.  Let’s ask ourselves these questions.  Do we really love God?  You know, are we thinking about Him all the time?  When we truly love someone, we cannot get that person out of our thoughts.  We may try, but they just automatically pop up in the windows of our mind.  We long to be with them and spend every moment with them; we long to share our heart and our very life with them.  Well, so it is when we love God.  He just invades our every moment; and we long to be with Him and spend time with Him and share our heart and life with Him.  When we trust Him, His love bends the fibers of what is not, into what is.  He is waiting for someone to trust Him, so He can create a new future for the ones who do love Him.  He is just waiting for someone that has an “unbelievable” so He can create something new this day.  He is waiting to do this for you.  Just ask Him.  He loves you so much.

Be encouraged this day and believe for the unbelievable.  It is His smile upon those who trust Him that creates a new day for the “unbelievable” to become history unto our tomorrows.  Remember this, The Lord says, "This seems unbelievable to you-a remnant, small, discouraged as you are-but it is no great thing for me.  God says your unbelievable is no big deal for Him.  Let’s trust Him this day.

Blessings,

Alan

“Star Search”

by Alan Smith 

Dan. 12:3: Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. (NIV)

Have you ever been to a country music or rock concert?  It feels like electricity is in the air.  Everyone is excited and full of life.  You look on stage and see the performers, in all their glory, leading the crowd in an uproar of praise.  You think to yourself, if I could only meet those performers, I bet they would really like me and give me their nod of approval.  Perhaps if they liked me, then I would have a reason to even like myself.  Have you ever wanted the approval of others?  Most of us have wanted the approval of others and we still do.  When we do not get this approval, it causes us to experience rejection.

But what causes us to think this way?  It grieves me when the children of God are looking for approval from a man or a woman, when we already have it from our heavenly Father.  His grace and His mercy await us.  I have observed that there is more rejection experienced than is given.  What do I mean by this, you might ask?  When we look for acceptance in all the wrong places it sets us up for “rejection”.  The spirit of rejection is always waiting for us in the cul-de-sacs of life.  When we go down the wrong roads of life for acceptance, there will always be dead ends.  We find ourselves turning around in life, once again, looking for another road to lead us to this oasis that brings security, peace, and love.

Let me tell you what the word of God says about you and me.  It says if we will only be wise, we will shine like the brightness of the heavens.  Have you asked Jesus to come into your life?  If so, this is a wise move on your part.  Jesus tells us we have this light within us and we are to let it shine.  He says: Matt. 5:15-16: Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men.  Jesus encourages us to let the light that is now in us shine before all men.  How can you hide light from darkness?  You can’t.  Light will always expel darkness.  The verse in Daniel gives us the understanding that when this light truly shines from us, it will lead many into the righteousness of God.  He then goes on to say that these wise ones will shine like the stars for ever and ever.  Why would we want to meet the performing “stars” of rock and country music when we ourselves are called “stars from heaven”?  I beg of you children of God, receive your stardom from the one who truly knows a “Star”.  You never need to look for another.  

Blessings,

Alan

Visit Kingdom Prophetic Society at: http://www.kingdompropheticsociety.org/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Don’t Open your Heart to Strangers

By: Alan Smith

Proverbs 12:25: Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad. (NKJV)

Have you ever had an arrow shot into your heart?  I’m not talking about a physical arrow, but one that hits the very heart of your soul.  If you think about it, I’m sure you have.  Sometimes we open our hearts to the wrong spirits.  These spirits take on the appearance of friends that are kind, loving, and very understanding; but for some reason they always leave us feeling sad and unfulfilled.  In truth they are our enemies sent from the dark side, shooting an arrow into our hearts.  How can we identify one of these arrows?  Well, let’s look at the one called ANXIETY.

Anxiety is stealth in its activity and it is a deadly killer to our souls: it just keeps on hurting.  Once the anxiety is in us, our human soul becomes acclimated to its presence and we begin to call it a friend.  Now, before we go any further, let’s take a minute to look at the Hebrew word for anxiety.  It is OT: (daw-aw'); a primitive root; to dart, i.e. fly rapidly; (deh-aw-gaw'); from OT: anxiety: fear, heaviness, sorrow (KJV).  As we look into this meaning, we see that this arrow of anxiety “flies rapidly” into our hearts.  I know I have felt this one before, have you?  First the arrow must enter our hearts.  It enters through openings called “doors” of the heart.  A door can let things in or it can let things out.  Some things that come into our hearts we need; but some things we do not need.  Anxiety is the name of the arrow and it has been dipped into poisons called heaviness and sorrow.  Slowly, these two deadly poisons destroy our spiritual nervous system.  We become weary and heavy laden, and then we begin to walk in our own strength and knowledge and wisdom.  Before we know it, our trust is not in God, and the heaviness and sorrow increase.  It is important that we understand here that this anxiety, dipped in heaviness and sorrow, is usually induced by fear—fear we cannot see.  So, from the Hebrew meaning above, who is fear?

Fear is the one that knocks at the door.  Let me show you the dialogue that occurs when he tries to enter into our hearts.  Fear says, “Knock, Knock.”  “Who’s there?” I ask.  “The spirit of Fear,” he replies.  “May I come in?”  “You certainly may not,” I reply with a good religious yell!  “I am a Christian and I do not let spirits like you into my heart.”  “I have a gift to deliver to you,” he says.  “Just open your door a little and I will hand it over to you.  I promise you will not even see me.”  If he promises I will not even see him, he must be honest.  I have heard this voice before, so it must be fine.  I finally reply, “Okay, come in.”  As I slowly open the door of my heart, a package appears and lands in a dark corner that has been prepared to receive it.  It is a vacant place in my heart in which no one else resides.  I walk over and pick it up.  I cannot believe how heavy this package is.  Suddenly, there is a black substance that starts oozing from the package.  It has a horrendous odor and it makes a stain that I cannot remove.  I begin to work diligently to scrub and clean the stain, but nothing seems to remove the smell or the stain of sorrow that I am now experiencing.  Sadness overcomes me for fear this smell and stain will always be with me.  I feel so hopeless and alone; anxiously trying to determine what to do.  How did this happen; how could I have let this spirit enter into my heart?  I need help, so I begin to cry out aloud to God.  “God, if you are real and if you are out there, please help me.  I feel so dirty and so forsaken.  Please help me!”  He replies, “I have always been here.  It is my greatest joy to help you.  The very fact that I created you is proof that I love you already.”  Now I begin to sense a little hope.  God is hearing my cry, and perhaps He can help me get rid of the smell and the stain.  I turn to Him and ask, “What must I do to get out of this trap?”  “Only trust”, He replies.  “But trust what?” I ask with tears flowing down my face.  Then, with the kindest words I have ever heard, He says, “Just trust Me; trust that I can change this smell into a fragrance that smells like roses, and that I can clean the stain whiter than snow.  Just trust me to finish this work that I have begun in you.  Just let me in when I knock.  Just receive my gift of Grace, dear child.”  ”Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)  Let’s not open the doors of our hearts to strangers, but only to the ones that truly love us.

Just a thought for today!

Alan

Garments of Christ

By: Alan Smith

Col. 3:12-14: Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (NIV)

The garments of Jesus Christ: what a thought for today! How will I know I have put on these heavenly garments.  I will know if I am wearing His garments because of their weightless nature.  When the garments feel heavy, then I know I am wearing my own and not His.  In fact, as I consider this, it becomes so amazing to me how Jesus and I just do not think alike.  You know, turn the other cheek and stuff such as that: an action which comes from the attributes of the clothing listed in the scripture above.  An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth come more naturally to me.  So how does Jesus come up with this type of thinking, which ultimately creates His garments?

Could it be that He has the best seat in this stadium of life, which allows Him to have a vantage point over us?  He gets to see the big picture because His seat is far above the earth into the room of heaven.  I sure would like to have a pass into this room so I could sit in the VIP section.  Well, actually, I do have a pass to enter into this room; but I’m not sure that I have been using this pass as Christ intended for me to use it.  This pass He has given me is one of the benefits of receiving Him into my life.  Paul said it as follows:  Eph. 2:6-7: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”  Is this cool or what?  But wait a minute!  If this is where I am to be seated, why is my view of life so messed up and full of problems?  Perhaps I need to leave so I can go.  You know, if I do not like the view from here, I need to go to where the view is better.  I need to leave my way of thinking and start thinking like Jesus, so I can enter into the VIP room of the Spirit.  Come with me as I take a journey into this room.

As I approach the room I see a sign on the wall, which says, “DRESS CODE REQUIRED”.  I really do want to enter in; so—I will “just do it”.  The dress code begins like this: “clothe yourselves with compassion”.  Boy, am I in trouble now!  I know, if possible, I will need to exchange my old clothes at the door, because I am not clothed in compassion.  I ask the kind man at the door, “Will you please exchange my selfishness for your compassion?”  He replies, “Sure, I would be glad to.”  I then think to myself that this is a really great deal: old clothes for new ones.

The next item on the dress code is “kindness”.  So I ask again, “Will you exchange my hatefulness for your kindness?”  With a little smile he turns and looks at me and says, “I would love to make this trade.”  I find myself in unbelief once again, as I am sure in my mind that this man is going to lose everything he has.

I move on to my next item of clothing, which has a bad smell, so I ask the kind man, “What do you have in exchange for my pride?  And, remember, it is very valuable to me.”  The man replies, “I will give you humility in exchange for your pride.”  It seems to me that he is getting the better deal here, but I then think to myself, “What the heck?  I can get more of this pride anytime.”

The man then looks at me and says, “I think you need a new pair of underwear.”  My reply is one of shock: “Underwear!  What do you mean: underwear?”  He responds with a smile and says, “You know, the part of your clothing that no one else can see until you show your behind.”  I then slowly ask, “Is anyone looking?”  And he says, “No one but me.  Here, take this new underwear of the spirit called gentleness and patience and wear it very close to you.”

His eyes catch mine and he says, “Now then; you need one more piece of clothing to enter into this room.”  “But,” I remark, “I have nothing left to exchange!”  He laughs and says, “You need nothing to exchange.  It is a free gift.  It will cover all of your new clothing: just ask and you will receive.”  I question him again: “What is this covering called?”  Here is his reply.  “It is called my love, and it will cover all things.  It will keep you very warm, so wear it at all times.  It will keep your new clothing from getting soiled.  Enter into this room and see as I see.”  When I ask his name, he replies, “Just call me JC, your friend.”

Just a Thought for Today!

Alan

To Soar like Eagles

Part #3

By: Alan Smith

Isaiah 40:31: “But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (NIV)

“Eagles, start your engines.  All aboard for flight number Isaiah 40:31,” I heard the still small voice say.  Could this be the day that you “soar on wings like eagles”?  I believe this can be true for you and for me.  Let’s look a little deeper into this flight manual of the spirit.  When I take an airplane flight, I have to go to the ticket counter to check-in myself and my baggage.  The goal is for my baggage to get to my destination with me.  The attendant takes my baggage and weighs it to make sure it has not exceeded the weight limit.  Why a weight limit, you might ask?  Well, the airplane cannot make lift-off if it has excessive weight.  So how does this apply to the spiritual world?  Good question!  This verse not only identifies for us, but also calculates for us, what is too heavy for spiritual flight.  Isaiah has identified the excess weight as “growing weary” and “not being faint”.

Let’s study this excess weight further.  We’ll take a look at the Hebrew word “weary” in the Strong’s concordance to capture the meaning of this first excess weight Isaiah identified.  yaw-gah'; a primitive root; properly, to gasp; hence, to be exhausted, to tire, to toil: KJV - faint, (make to) labour, (be) weary.  I don’t know about you, but this sounds like my Christian life!  Are your labors for the Lord leaving you feeling exhausted and tired?  Then this probably means you are carrying the excess weight of “weary”.  Now, let’s look again in the Strong’s concordance at the second baggage that Isaiah identified as “to faint”.  yaw-af'; a primitive root; to tire (as if from wearisome flight).  Can you believe this one?  To “faint” means that you are still tired from the previous flight.

Please consider what I am about to say.  To board and lift-off on this new flight of the spirit means you must leave this old baggage of the previous flight behind.  On this flight of the spirit, no baggage is needed.  You do not need to take your clothes because the garments you will be wearing are the garments of another.  They are white as snow, washed in grace, and their weight is an unbelievable weight of “zero”.  How can I receive this weightless garment?  You must first ask, and then you will receive.  I am sure that many of you have already trusted in the Lord and have asked Him to come into your life.  If so, I have only one question to ask you.  Have you put on the garment that He gave you when you first trusted in Him, or have you put on the garment of religion?  You might wonder how you know if you have or not.  You can know because His garment is very light and is not a burden.  You must trust His garments and not your own.  Our garments have weight; His do not.  When you put on Jesus Christ and His garments, you can soar on wings like eagles.  When you soar you can feel joy, peace, contentment, and sometimes, just plain happy.  This should give us reason to smile a lot. 

May God bless you today.

Alan

To Soar like Eagles

Part #2

By: Alan Smith

Isaiah 40:31: “But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (NIV)

Okay, do you still want to fly?  Well, if so, then let’s look at flight number Isaiah 40:31, once again, and continue to prepare for take off.  In our preparations from last time, we learned about the spiritual fuel that we need in our spiritual tanks.  How our “hope” is to be in the Lord, and in return, the Lord will fill us with “faith”.  The writer of the book of Hebrews unlocks more of the mystery of this supernatural substance called faith.  Hebrews 11:1: “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  This is unbelievable!  Something that I cannot see has “substance”.  So “faith” is some kind of spiritual substance, which must be preceded by “hope” before it will materialize.  The writer of Hebrews goes on to say that the only “evidence” which I can use is the “evidence” that cannot be seen.  This indicates that the “evidence” we see, life’s circumstances, is off limits and cannot be used.  If we use this kind of “seen evidence”, it will only pollute the spiritual fuel that is necessary to get this eagle off the ground.  Do not let your spiritual fuel be polluted with this slime.  We need unpolluted, undiluted, unpooted spiritual fuel from heaven.  Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away in my descriptive words.  But regardless, we need to understand that the evidence of life’s circumstances does not equal a spiritual truth in our lives.  This evidence of life’s circumstances is not the prophetic voice that should speak into our future.  Do not bring glory to these “past” events of sorrow and doubt.  We should only let Christ write our future.  Remember, we decide who writes our future: Christ or crises.  Where are we to appropriate our hope?  We are to appropriate our hope in the One who can give us the spiritual fuel of “faith” to take us from where we are to where we are going.  We need to take this spiritual flight: a flight that will take us into the very presence of God.  To a destination that only God of heaven could chart for each and every one of us.  Remember, He wants us to make it more than we want to.  If God is for us, I believe we will make it.  Let’s put our hope in Him today!

Now, let’s take a look at the next part of this verse.  It says: “They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”  If we are going to soar like eagles, we must start running down this spiritual runway.  The runway must be fairly long because Isaiah exhorts us to not grow weary while running.  If we continue to hope in the Lord, this verse indicates that the Lord will renew our strength.  Our strength comes from above, not from within.  Our hope is within. This hope will be sent on a spiritual journey on the wings of prayer to the One, who in return, will send us strength.  I encourage you this day to take your eyes off of life’s circumstances and place your hope, more than ever, in Christ.  You can trust Him.  He will renew your strength to run down the runway of life and make it over the trees to climb into the heavens and live in the very presence of God.

Blessings to you this wonderful day,

Alan

To Soar like Eagles

By: Alan Smith

Isaiah 40:31: But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (NIV)

I always wanted to be able to fly.  Have you ever felt this way?  Did you ever have a dream where you could fly over the countryside?  You know, like Peter Pan.  It looks like this will never happen in my natural life; or could it?  What about the life of the spirit?  Isaiah says there will be a people that will “soar on wings like eagles”.  Let’s take a flying lesson from the scriptures on flight number Isaiah 40:31.  Okay, prepare for take off.

Now, how are we to get this “eagle” off the ground?  The first thing this scripture tells us is we must have the strength to fly.  So how do I get this strength; this spiritual jet fuel?  Well, I believe this verse is telling us, we get it from the Lord.  The Lord is my spiritual and emotional fueling station.  I have included the word emotion, because in order for this eagle to fly, I must get into the correct e-motion to get off the runway.

The second thing we must do is check our fuel tank readings.  As we look over the gauges, we find the fuel gauge.  This gauge has a name, and it is called “hope”.  Over the gauge it says these words “FILL ONLY WITH HIGH QUALITY FAITH”.  I have always wondered how much faith I have in my tank; haven’t you?  I can’t tell you how much faith I have.  I don’t know if I have a little or a lot; but I can tell you how much hope I have.  So hope is the way I can read how much faith I have to get this eagle off the ground.  A little hope equals a little faith, which equals a little spiritual fuel.  Therefore, a lot of hope equals a lot of faith, which equals a lot of spiritual fuel.  Now I have more understanding of why life’s circumstances are trying to rob me of my hope.  My spiritual enemy knows that if he can keep my spiritual fuel tank empty, I will not even attempt “take off”.

Life’s circumstances are like tall trees at the end of the runway.  It is amazing how we look at the tall trees and say, “I know I cannot make it over them; I cannot make lift off.  I know the trees, life’s circumstances, are just too tall.  I will never get enough momentum to clear them.”  This unbelief is a lack of hope.  Unbelief is a hole in our spiritual tanks in which “faith” will leak out upon the ground.  Our hope is not to be appropriated in the tall trees or in ourselves or in the evidence of life’s circumstances.  Our hope is to be in the Lord.  As we appropriate this “hope” in the Lord it is supernaturally and instantaneously changed into “faith”.  Hope is what I send to the Lord and Faith is what He sends back into my spiritual tank.  Faith is a gift; a gift from God.  Eph 2:8-10: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. (NIV)  God sends us this spiritual fuel because He wants to.  It is by his grace, as you can see in this scripture.  We do not deserve it; He just wants us to make it.  He wants us to make it off the runway and soar with the eagles and get a perspective, which we can only get from high places.

Well, this is enough for today.  Perhaps there will be more on how we can fly like the eagles in the next “Thought of the Day”.

Blessings,

Alan

The Platform

By: Alan Smith

Can we really live a life that is full of joy and excitement, with great anticipation of events that are right around the corner?  Life is not to be endured, but enjoyed.  The Bible is full of truths that are unbelievable to me; and I am still trying to persuade myself to trust the Bible more each day.  Truths of the spiritual world are, at times, opposite of my own selfish thinking.  You know, like you go under to go over, or you go down to go up.  Our nature is to look after #1: me.  Naturally, we are into self-preservation.  We are trying to save ourselves in every avenue of life.  Here is what Jesus says in Matt 10:39: “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”  Jesus really wants us to get it.

Not only does He want us to get it, but He also holds the keys for us to get it.  His life is the key that unlocks the doors into the spiritual world.  Would you be interested in using one of the keys that Jesus holds?  Come with me and let’s unlock one: serving others.  And remember, Jesus is trying to teach us something here.  Matt 20:28: “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  This is the opposite of selfishness.  To be selfish is to serve ourselves, not others.  Could this be a key that truly unlocks some spiritual door?  What if we tried this?  You know, what if we try not to have the need to be served, but instead, we have the desire to serve!  I have written a short parable about serving others, entitled “The Parable of the Platform”.  Please come with me on this journey!

The Parable of the Platform

      Behold, an old prophet, who was also a great master builder, went out to build a platform.  His skills and vision, honed sharp by time and experience, were beyond that of most common men.  As he began building this platform for the great festival, children began to descend on the grassy knoll at the town-square to observe his work.

      The children gazed in amazement as the old prophet whistled while he worked.  As he toiled, the sweat would fall from his brow.  Yet, he whistled.  As he cut the main beam, he whistled.  In the midst of his labor, he would back up and take a look at his work.  As he looked, he whistled.

      Finally the children walked up to him and said, “Why are you so happy when you are working?”

      The old carpenter looked at the children and said, “I am happy, for I am building a platform for another to speak upon.  Happiness is when you are preparing a secure and safe place on which others will stand and speak.”

      The children sat looking into the face of the old carpenter as he told them about the ways of Wisdom.  The children asked him, “How can we meet this one called Wisdom?”

      The old prophet replied, “My Father sends me Revelation; and when I ask, he gives me Understanding.  My Father then told me that when Revelation and Understanding come together, they will begat Wisdom.  Wisdom is the fruit from which others can eat and grow and gain strength.  It is the way of the Spirit.”  The old prophet then took his handkerchief and wiped his forehead.

      The children asked him, “Why will you not speak from the platform that you are building?  Why do you sweat for another?”

      He turned again to the children and said, “Pride is the only one that builds his own platform from which to speak.  Pride is also arrogant and is not a good builder.  He only sees the crowd, and does not calculate the load.  Pride builds a platform that is impressive, but will not hold much weight.  Pride also builds with no bracing.  When a storm comes the platform will fall.  “Pride,” he said, “builds his platform quickly; therefore, it is shaky and unstable in all of its ways.”  The old prophet then returned to his work.

      The children watched him closely as he took his time to do a work of excellence.  After a few hours, the old prophet came over to the children and sat down to rest for a while.  The children asked him, “Why do you work so slowly and look at every detail?”

      The old carpenter looked at them with the spirit of Wisdom and said, “Wisdom will do for others what he will not do for himself.  When Wisdom builds the platform, he builds it safely and securely for others to stand upon.  Pride lives for himself; but Wisdom lives for others.”  He then stood up and whistled as he gazed at the structure that was emerging from the grassy knoll.

      The children then asked him, “Are you not being prideful as you look at what you have performed?”

      The old carpenter replied, “No, just honored that my Father called me to be a carpenter in His kingdom.”  As night was drawing near, he said to the children, “Return tomorrow as it will be another day in which we can build a platform for another.”

      My prayer for us is that we will find great joy and peace in walking in the wisdom of serving others.

May God bless you,

Alan

Something that Surpasses Knowledge

By: Alan Smith

Eph 3:17-19

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (NIV)

I thought that knowledge surpassed all things.  You know, like a car on the interstate: the faster I go, the more people I am ahead of.  So if this is true of a car, wouldn’t the same statement apply to spiritual things?  The more knowledge of God I acquire, the more spiritual I am.  Therefore, I can either feel great about myself or I can feel bad about myself, depending on the level of knowledge that I possess.  Sometimes I think if I was smarter or if I had all of this knowledge, then I could run in this fast lane of life.

We grow up in a system that teaches us that we are what we know.  You know, in school, you may have been either an A student or a C student.  This type of grading system leads us to believe that the higher grade we have, the more knowledge we have; thus, the more worth we have to others.  We then evaluate ourselves on how much we know and not on how much we love, as noted in the scripture above.  I am not against knowledge by any means.  I love to learn; however, the measuring of knowledge for the worth of people is so inadequate and untrue.  There is something that surpasses knowledge and it is the love of Christ.  I call this the greater knowledge of the spiritual world.  Would you like to get this kind of love knowledge?  It is the key that opens the heavens.  Evidently, this is foundational to our faith.

Paul also states in the scripture above that God’s love needs to take root.  Since I am a farmer the words “take root” really go for my heart.  Seed is a gift to the ground.  There is nothing the ground can do to make the seed appear.  The ground can only make itself ready to receive the seed.  Matthew 13 calls this good ground.  I can plant seed but I cannot make it grow.  All of this is the same with the love of God.  If we will just receive this truth that God really does love us just as we are, this “seed” of love will take root in our hearts, the “ground”.  It will then sprout and grow.  As the “Son” shines on the ground, the ground will begin to warm.  The seed will start to open up the ground as it is trying to stretch itself toward the heavens.  What a picture of our hearts?  The only thing we can do to receive this spiritual seed is to believe that God really wants to put His love in our hearts.  When we ask Jesus into our hearts, the love of God is gently placed inside of us.  Sometimes the ground does not give way to the seed, and therefore, the seed will lay dormant, waiting on the rain to soften it.  If we will soften our hearts to this truth, then it will sprout and begin to take root.  Ezek. 36:26: I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (NIV)

What I am trying to say with this thought is let’s try to allow the love of God to grow in us more than all of our learning.  Let us make God’s love our “major” in life and knowledge our “minor”.  My prayer for us this day is the same as the request of the Apostle Paul: “and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Blessings,

Alan

Just Do It

By: Alan Smith

Nike thought they originated the phrase “Do It”; but the Bible beat them to it.

1 Chron. 28:20: "And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD."

King David knew what it meant to “do it” when he was “strong” and had “good courage” that came from heaven.  David was advising his son on how to accomplish this God-given task.  The task was overwhelming, but it was deep within Solomon’s heart.  Evidently, Solomon was a little discouraged, as well as under a little fear.  He had to be reminded, through an encouraging word from his father, that the Lord God would be with him, and that the Lord God would not fail or forsake him.  This is incredible!  What good news to hear how our heavenly Father treats those that are called “His people”!

I have heard it said over and over, ”We just need to wait on God”.  Don’t leave me here—let me explain further.  I know there are times when we need to wait on God.  But come on, there is so much that He has already told us to do, and did we “do it”?  No, we didn’t always do it; but it is to these types of promptings that we need to respond and “just do it”.  What keeps us from “just doing it”?  Could it be mere procrastination?  Or, could it be a fear of rejection?  It could be either one of these.  But, it could also be that God is speaking to us and we just need a little more “courage” to follow Him.  I want to “encourage” each one of you to step out there and “just do it”!  And, speaking of courage, did you know that encouragement and discouragement usually come from another person?  Discouragement is not a spirit, but a lack of courage.  Discouragement is the act of stealing courage from someone else.  We get a false courage for ourselves when we steal it from someone else by discouraging them.  God forgive us when we have stolen courage from each other, and help us to encourage one another more.

Now, let’s look at the Bible for some “just do it” times.

• Moses wanted someone else to "do it".

Ex 4:13: But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."

• The Levites "shall do it".

Num 1:51: Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it.

• Caleb said "certainly do it".

Num 13:30: Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."

• Joseph said, "I cannot do it" but "God will do it".

Gen 41:32: The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.

• The Lord will “do it”.

Ezek 17:24: “I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.'"

• Jesus says believe in me because I “do it”.

John 10:38-39: But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles: that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."

• Jesus said, He will “do it”.

John 14:14: You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

• Paul tells us what happens when we “do it”.

1 Cor. 9:25-26: But we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

• Paul tells us why we should “do it”.

1 Cor. 10:31-32: Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

• Paul exhorts us to finish “doing it”.

2 Cor. 8:11: Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it.

• Paul tells us in whose name to “do it”.

Col 3:17: And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord.

Well, what do you think?  I told you that the Bible came up with it first.  My prayer for us today is that we will join this group of “just do it people”.  Let’s “do it” until we have “finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD."

May God bless the “just do it’s”!

Alan

Perception: Two Realities

By: Alan Smith

• John 18:36: Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." (NIV)

Two realities; which one have you chosen to live in: this World or the Kingdom of God?  Both of them are real, but one is greater than the other.  To live in one means to be competitive and controlling; to live in the other means to be creative and at peace.  To live in one means to hear many voices; to live in the other means to hear only One voice.  To live in one is to live in fear and confusion; to live in the other is to have courage and resolve.  To live in one is to think prehistorically; to live in the other allows old thinking to be dissolved.

You might be wondering, “How can I live in this reality of the Kingdom of God?”  Well, your “commitment” will determine where you live.  Commitment is the beginning of the growing cycle of a new reality; so once the choice of your commitment has been made, the creative forces go to work to bring forth the reality that has been chosen.  The Kingdom of God or the kingdom of this world: it is a choice of “your will”.  When building a house, you first have a thought within you of this house.  When you “commit” to this thought by an act of your will, creation begins.  When creating things of this world, you have two acts of creation.  First, a thought is formed in your mind.  Second, commitment to the thought is made and physical creation begins.  When creating things of the Kingdom of God, you have three acts of creation.  First, there is a thought in the spirit of man, with a witness from the Spirit of God.  Second, the thought is transferred into the mind, which originated in the spirit.  The third and final act is the commitment to the thought.  In both cases commitment is the key factor in growing new realities.

If your choice is living in the Kingdom of God, there are ways of the Spirit that are learned and lived as a lifestyle.  A lifestyle change has to be made to experience this new reality of “another place”.  After a true commitment has been made, you will notice that the forces of the Kingdom of God begin to work behind the scenes on your behalf.  They are subtle to the natural eye, but obvious to the spiritual eye.  You will learn to use your single eye of the spirit to walk in this new Kingdom.  This single eye is one that is not divided or distracted.  Its spiritual vision is 20/10 and its color is royal blue for revelation.  It is capable of seeing beneath the layers of the natural, into a world not seen by most.  This is the eye of the Kingdom of God; it sees what the Father is doing behind the scenes.  This eye is found in your spirit; but the light for seeing comes through your soul and then through your mind.  This is why it is very important to have a healthy soul.  For through it the light is changed from spirit to natural.  You can now understand why your soul is being changed from “glory” to “glory”.  With each changed “glory” comes more light into the soul; coming to the earth for new creations, beginning first in you.

We must also keep in mind that the things of the spiritual world tend to progress in reverse of the natural world.  For example, you must go down to go up.  You must yield to go forward.  Things of the natural world are just a reflection of the spiritual world, causing an inverted image, which is the opposite of the image that is being reflected.

Your next step in going forward in Kingdom living is to have a mind that is open to new information and instruction.  You must have a mind that is being renewed with fresh new perceptions for your journey of life.  A mind that is closed is a mind that cannot receive new perceptions to which it can be committed.  You must be willing before God will send new perceptions.  You must have a predetermined willingness to do what you will receive.  Usually, a person wants to see something before they will receive and believe.  Again, this is a reversal of natural progression, but this will set the kingdom in motion on your behalf.  A mind that is open is a mind which will progress in creative activity of the Kingdom of heaven upon the earth.  A mind that is open is like a funnel which captures all that is around it, directing all that it captures into the vessel in which it is attached.  All that is being captured by an open mind recreates the perceptions of the mind.  These new perceptions are not hard to commit to for they bring such life.  A person who is committed to fresh Kingdom perceptions is a person who is walking forward into the Kingdom and power of God.  Let’s read of a personal account of an open mind which was committed.

• Matt. 9:20-22: Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.  She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."  Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment. (NIV)

My prayer is for you to have an open mind unto the Spirit of God and have a predetermined willingness to “touch Him” as He shows Himself to you.  May your open mind, your commitment, and your faith take you to a place where you have never been.  Just trust Him and hang on.  Your life is about to change.

Blessings,

Alan