Turning Awareness Into Change

This has been something so freeing and inspiring to me in the few last years or so. So many times we think "if only this would change...or "if only that person in my life would change"...or "it's their fault I'm this way"...or "I wouldn't be going through this if they hadn't done that to me", then everything would make sense in our lives. We think "all the pieces would come together and life would be bliss if my circumstances changed." But in reality, that's not really how liberation works. God meant for you to have the inner capacity to obtain love through His divine nature implanted inside of you. I actually like to call CHANGE into something like this...AWARENESS. When you become aware that you have the same type of being like God, our Father, because we were designed in His image, then you will begin to understand how to adapt to your design. Nothing can effect us when we are choose to secure ourselves in His design.

Our minds and emotions are so powerful, but most often we are led into believing by what has been randomly or not so randomly implanted in them instead of the reflection of our Father. Only when we "eat from His tree of life" will we see the reflection in the mirror to discover who we are and BECOME the change in our lives we crave. Only then will "change" start to happen. Although He fashioned us for love and connection, that doesn't become our "life source" to identify us. Bitter roots cause us to use the "blame game" and "accusation" by either us projecting aggressively in anger or passively aggressive anger to deflect all our problems onto someone else or some other institution. When we can honestly learn to reflect inside our hearts and see where we are without blaming someone else, only then we will begin our path to authentic freedom.

Jealousy: The Identity Thief

Many times we fall into comparison with others because of a lack of identity. This insecurity can result in a crippling amount of instability. Sometimes we shrink back and follow what looks like the most powerful path, but other times we mount up with competition and striving, seeking furiously to prove we are significant. This can lead us into the pitfall of jealousy, which the bible says is 'as cruel as the grave' (Song of Solomon 8:6).

Another common word that can be used for jealousy is envy. The two go hand in hand. Let's take a look into a few more views the bible has on jealousy.

Solomon referred to one who toils and tries to achieve something because of envy as meaningless and chasing the wind (Ecclesiastes 4:4). Proverbs 27:4 'states that anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy.'  On further in the New Testament, James says this, 'You desire but do not have, so you kill.  You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.  You do not have because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your desires' (James 4:2-3).  In Galatians, jealousy is clearly revealed as a deed of the flesh, resulting in destruction.

A few years ago I was in prayer, seeking the Father about this ugly fruit of jealousy, seeing it in the surroundings I grew up around in my geographical region and the whole "church scene".  Suddenly, the Lord spoke this to my spirit, "All jealousy means is this. 'There's not enough room for me.'" It was like the light bulb went off where I could see an enormous amount of land, kind of the land in pioneer days that had not been occupied by homesteading yet.  I then saw masses amount of people gathered up, completely bottle-necked around the same location, trying to re-homestead that ground over and over. They hadn't even considered looking around for more, they were just locked in on the same thing. The result was at least a 90% waste. Although it was beneficial for that land to be occupied and stewarded by someone, it eventually became a burden for the small place because of all the people that needed sustenance at the same place and time. If they had only paid attention to fresh, uninhabited land that was all around them, the whole territory would have flourished. 

Many times we fall into the trap of thinking we are lacking or behind if we aren't adapting every trend the world OR the church world is doing. Trends in themselves are not bad. Sometimes they work good for a purpose in order to shape our culture for healthy advancement. But we can miss the opportunity to be a trend setter if we are always following what everyone else does. 

There's no need to strive in jealousy and competition in order to keep up with what everyone else is doing. God has a vast range of assignments that need to be done in His kingdom in the earth realm.  If we are all focused on the same 'piece of land', we won't be able to take the whole world, which has been His plan since the beginning.  

It takes courage to seek the Lord to find His purpose for you and to stick to it even though it may look different than what has been done before. 

When you spend time with Him, you are sowing into your heart; the seedbed of your life. As you begin to find His purpose inside of you, the view around you will begin to look bigger and the opportunities to work with Him will open up.  You will finally discover that the Father opens doors that no man can shut.  The way to start to think about yourself will change, and jealousy will be squeezed out like a smashed bug. 

Give Him a little focused time each day in His Word and His presence, and I promise you. You will see Him, hear Him and know Him! He wants to show you.  Ask Him to take you on a divine treasure hunt to discover the hidden jewels waiting to be revealed. It's YOU!  

Desiring to encourage you,

Pastor Julie Petersen

Parallels of the Victim Mindset and the Perverse Spirit

Titus 1:15 says, "To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled."

When we think of the word perverse our minds tend to naturally think of a sexual connotation. But in the scripture above, Paul is talking about the way people think. He referred to their minds being defiled by a wrong belief system. 

Before we dig into this revelation, let's define some terminology.

Mindset - A fixed mental attitude or disposition that predetermines a person's responses to and interpretations of situations. 

Perverse - Willfully determined or disposed to go counter to what is expected or desired; contrary, wayward or cantankerous.

This mindset causes the person to feel entitled to their rights because they are currently lacking or have been in some area of their life. 

They then either emotionally or physically push their desires forcefully on another person. The most extreme case is when someone rapes or murders another human. 

On most levels it happens through emotional projections of anger, self-pity, leverage, manipulation, and more. 

The desired result is control and domination in order to fulfill the person's assumed need or desire. When the desire is not filled by the recipient, the victim/wounded person then has a choice to either let it go or find a way to fulfill this perceived desire. This can start by allowing internal feelings of anger and revenge towards the recipient by projecting the thoughts of their feelings toward them. 

The recipient will then feel the pressure of guilt to fulfill this desire. This is like the venom of a snake that goes into its prey in order to start a paralysis process of fear and to weaken the recipient to bring them into submission to the pursuer. When the recipient refuses the pursuer, the drive to get the desire fulfilled activates to a higher level which can result in forcefulness and dominance. 

The twisted paradigm is rooted in the person believing they have the right to have their missing desire fulfilled because it has been non-existent in their life. Their belief is that their suffering gives them rights above non-sufferers.

1 Peter 4:15 - But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or any sort of criminal, or as a mischief-maker (a meddler) in affairs of others [infringing on their rights].

Matthew 17:17 - And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me."

Trees and Snakes

In April I hosted a women's conference at LFMC. As I was in prayer the evening before the meetings began, the Holy Spirit gave me a vision of the conclusion of our first service. He instructed me to have the ladies envision themselves walking through the Garden of Eden, viewing the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil. He then told me to have them picture the serpent approaching them with temptation about the trees and refusing him. This was such a powerful prophetic act of visualizing ourselves overcoming the serpent. By faith, we took back what was stolen from us at the curse. Below is an incredible testimony from one of the ladies who attended the conference. It is very powerful! 

My Vision In The Woods

It was awesome to have you take us through the vision about the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil that Thurs. evening at the women’s conference. As part of my prophetic room encouragement, they stated that God is already putting things and answering prayers before they even happen, and that is exactly what I have felt has been happening for me, and was definitely confirmed the night of our vision in the trees.

I had been mushroom hunting that afternoon after I mowed the lawn, so I had actually been in the timbers walking along for about an hour and a half looking for morels.  While I was in the timbers on my place, I walked by the huge tree that seemed to draw me to it.  I stopped, feeling a presence of energy so much, that I just had to stand and look up at this beauty.  Many trees lined the timbers I had walked through, but this one just seemed to catch my attention more than any others, and it wasn’t that it was more beautiful or spotless then the rest.

I remember back in the years of high school, I would love going on nature walks.

There is just something special about walking in the woods.  You can really get released from stress and things of the world, so that has always been my passion.

This was no different, except that I have walked this particular part of ground for many years now.  Even though there were things within those woods which drew my attention, this seemed to be a very heavy and thick energy which caused me to stop and take it all in. 

I continued on my walk to find a burned tree lying on its side, and where the roots had been, was a huge pile of dirt, with two holes inside of it.  It also caught my attention.  We had burned off my field for CRP purposes, in early March, but most of the brush didn’t catch on fire like we had hoped.  However, this tree was far enough in, that I was surprised to see that it had burned enough to make it fall as it did.  

I went on with my walk into an opening, which then leads into another set of timbers.  As I walked up to the passage, I was quickly taken back by a rustling in the grass.  I looked down to see that there was a snake slithering away from me and this snake was pretty thick in size.  Of course, my heart jumped for a bit, but I laughed and text my husband these words “Snake!  Thinking about being done mushroom hunting but I will muster on as a woman who fears nothing except her Lord!”

So, let’s now go to that evening when you had us close our eyes and think about a set of woods to stand in.  I thought to myself, “this will be easy, because I just came from the woods”!  As you began to ask us to look to our left to see a typical tree, I was thinking to myself, I will pick the tree that caught my attention in the woods that afternoon.  You described that tree as the tree of life.  I could relate to that, because I was drawn to the one in the woods, even though it really had nothing huge to jump out at me except its size and the energy I felt from it as I walked by it that afternoon.

Then, you had us envision that we looked to our right to find a very shiny tree.  A tree that glistened with branches, shade, beauty, and all the things in life one would be attracted to.

So when I tried envisioning that particular tree, all that came to my mind was the shiny burned tree lying on the ground.  It drew my attention, but didn’t fulfill me like the tree which had energy coming from it did.  

I was at this point getting very excited, because it was like I had already prepared myself for this exercise you were giving us, and it had more meaning to it than just trying to picture things on my own, without having already gone through the woods that afternoon.  I couldn’t get enough of your exercise, and wanted so much more.  Then it happened.  You put the nail on the head by telling us to look straight ahead.  There was a serpent.  When you said the word serpent, I put my hands up over my face, as if this was a real vision that God had planned to give me before you bringing the emotion to it that evening.  I was on fire excited and overwhelmed at the same time.

I think it’s important to mention now that if I was standing in that set of woods that I was in that afternoon, I could in fact look to my left to see the tree of life, which was the tree that brought my attention to it, and brought energy and the need to stop and look up at it.  If I had been standing in the same spot to look to the left for the tree of life, I would have been able to easily look to my right to see the burned tree lying on the ground as well.  How did you know to say look to your left for the tree of life, and look to your right for the tree of knowledge of good and evil?  And most importantly, if I had stood still and seen the tree of life to my left and tree of knowledge of good and evil to my right, straight in front of me would have been the snake that I saw that afternoon, as you also mentioned to look straight ahead in her vision exercise.

If you had explained the trees to be opposite of what you described to us as far as what was left and what was right, I would have had the snake behind me in order to stand in the woods and make those trees appear as youdescribed.  But you described it exactly how it played out that afternoon in the woods. This was so amazingly good to be able to do that exercise, and to realize after my prophetic encouragement, that God is truly working out and answering things ahead of my asking!

As I have been walking in the spiritual warfare battle for several months, God has revealed things to me that have been very profound.  I knew it was a battle even though I questioned God at some of the hardest times.  I know what the battle is about, and I continue to fight the good fight of faith. However, I know that God has also given me permission through my hearing his small, still, voice, and thru hearing my prophetic encouragement on that Friday, that I can begin to let go and have the Lord go to battle for me.  It feels right and I believe it’s what the Lord is attempting to reveal to me.  I see that Thurs night’s exercise of the woods had a similar picture but a different interpretation in some ways to me.  I automatically leaned towards the tree of life, because the tree of knowledge of good and evil has always been thought of as a sinful and painful area to be around.  As I look back on that burned tree, it represented my past sins, and that there was nor is no life left in that tree.  It’s dead to me.  It’s of no use to me, and that is why a normal typical tree caught more of my attention that afternoon.

The interpretation of the snake slithering fast away from me that afternoon was the fact that I am in a deep battle with

satan right now, and he is vastly losing this battle and fleeing from my area.  My texting my husband was just me 

showing the strength that my Heavenly Father gave to me a long time ago, and the years of knowing who I am in Christ, that a little serpent cannot and will not come to steal, kill, and destroy my family or me.

Thanks for your ministry, and for allowing me the pleasure of being able to enjoy an evening of being in the presence of God.  I absolutely agree with Jen Johnson’s video song, and claim it as my very own which I now listen to as much as I can, because it brings so much presence into where ever I am.  “In Over My Head”………..  I want to know him more!!

The Daniel Anointing by Tinsley Rutledge

The Daniel Anointing: It’s Time for the Kings of Earth to be Advised

Last fall, I started an adventure I would have never prescribed for myself. I moved out of my comfortable hometown and moved down the road to Joplin for college. In the grand scheme of living, my move was a minor address change, but to this young, unprepared girl, it was horrifying. I spent my first two weeks lying in bed listening to podcast sermons through my headphones, struggling through a time of confusion and disillusionment because I wasn’t sure where God was in my new season. He told me at the end of my high school career to go to school, he pointed me directly to this university, put me in this dorm, and somehow, He expected me to thrive in this situation. I couldn’t see why. I fought being a victim to a world I was called to impact, but I just didn’t have the full vision of why I was there. I had to let God interrupt my pity-party long enough to give me a new perspective on my life.

Kris Vallotton is a prophetic speaker out of Bethel Church in Redding California that I appreciate and regularly listen to. During this rough season, I was listening to a handful of his sermon podcasts on replay. One specifically had to do with Daniel. The more and more I listened to it, the more God highlighted Daniel as a mascot for the season I was in. Several of the following points I will make stem from are very similar to his sermon notes. 

For those of you unfamiliar with Daniel’s story, here’s the basics: Babylon took Jerusalem over and in the process claimed some of the smart, well-educated youngsters to learn and work as wise men for King Nebuchadnezzar (but everyone called him Chad). So Daniel and three of his buds (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah or Rack, Shack, and Benny for us VeggieTale Kids) were placed into this group. They skip the big feasts that King Nebuchadnezzar provides and focus on becoming the best scholars they can possibly be. One of the most impressive things about Daniel and his friends (you know, besides the Surviving-a-Night-in-the-Lion’s-Den and the Not-Burning-in-the-Oven stories) is that they remembered where they came from. Babylon had a different form of religion that renamed Daniel to Belteshazzar, but he didn’t take that name on as his identity. The wisdom that he picked up from his days of studying and reading were supplementary to his relationship with God. When King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that he needed interpreted, Daniel ran towards God to solve the puzzle. When he woke up from sleeping the night the dream interpretation is due, Daniel had a spectacular encounter. 

As I sat in my lonely dorm room, God highlighted a passage of scripture to me in Daniel 2: 19-24 (NIV):

“During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said:

 ‘Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;

   wisdom and power are his.

He changes times and seasons;

    he deposes kings and raises up others.

He gives wisdom to the wise

    and knowledge to the discerning.

He reveals deep and hidden things;

    he knows what lies in darkness,

    and light dwells with him.

 I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:

    You have given me wisdom and power,

you have made known to me what we asked of you,

    you have made known to us the dream of the king.’” 

Daniel handled the King during the day, studied all he could, and worked to figure a solution to the problem during the day time, but when he got back to his room, Daniel cried out to God to supply a greater answer. When Daniel woke up with the dream interpretation, his first reaction was to praise God for “making known the dream of the king”. I read how David presented himself rightly and just before the King and his staff, but ran home to confide in his brothers and realized that God has a similar vision for me. As I re-read and journaled, God told me “You are made to advise Kings during the day, and worship me in the night”. I don’t think God physically meant, “Now during the day, don’t worry about me, just do your own thing and then come see me at night”. What God told me was this: play the part the world wants from you during the day, still remembering who you are. During the quiet time, the times that others don’t notice, come lay the problems of the kings before God and let him solve them. At the time, I was surrounded by heart-broken, misidentified, college freshmen girls looking for their place in the world. I worked on finding a way to advise them, which, for them was to simply be their friend, during the times they needed it, and take those new relationships and questions to God so that the next time I was around them, God would have an answer for them through me. It’s detailed evangelism in its simplest form.

Daniel didn’t let the rules of King Nebuchadnezzar’s game keep him from influencing the entire Babylonian empire. Daniel didn’t let some false identity or misconception of him stop his mission. He didn’t back down from impossible challenges from ridiculous, insensitive people: he rose to the opportunity placed before him. 

It’s been a year and some months since God first started speaking to me about how to live like Daniel did; and since that dark season, God has continually highlighted the Daniel anointing around me, whether it be in my life personally, or in other people that I pray for and do life with. It’s become a testimony in my own life; the girl who wanted no long-term commitments to her university has been given a voice in the school. I applied and was accepted into the Honors Program, labeling me as one of my school’s “elite” students; giving me privileges and advantages that other students don’t get. I am also now placed in classes with the more intelligent and commonly preferred professors (can someone shout FAVOR?). I “coincidentally” found a job in the Foundation office, just down the hall from the President’s suite and I was invited to join a team of students that represents the university at Presidential events. Within a year, I have been welcomed into the presence of spiritual kings and been asked for an opinion, just like Daniel. 

And my story isn’t the only one to write. God is strategically placing his people into this world so that when the kings of our world have questions, the Daniels will supply answers. God is placing radically different students on college campuses that are quietly praying in the darkness, awaiting their summons to the throne room. We have government officials sitting as flies-on-the-wall in what seems like “mediocre” jobs, just itching for a moment to speak the truth into our country’s foundation. We have actors, directors, musicians, and creators bustling around in celebrity circles interceding for their friends and co-workers to find a new hope while developing kingdom-minded projects. I believe God has a mighty story in the works, placing Daniels in unconventional “churchy” places in order to shatter a new reality into being. 

So today, if you’re sitting at your office desk, lounging in your dorm room, or out conquering the business domain, be inspired: the kings around you are hungry and searching for answers no one else can answer. God has a specific script written out for your destiny and He has anointed you to do it. It’s time for the Daniels to come out from their time of cave-hiding and advise their kings.

FOCUS: Meditations for #NoFearYear2015

In recent weeks the Father has been speaking to me consistently about how to FOCUS.  For years I have repetitively prayed about my eyes, the eyes of my family, the eyes of my flock, and the eyes of the ones I am praying for that do not know Him yet.  If our eyes are the windows to our souls, they are an entry point of what shapes our belief systems and mindsets.  I've been meditating specifically on not focusing on anything that causes me to fear.  The antidote is to focus on ONLY what the Word says.  I have been choosing to FIRST look to the Father & the Word before I react.  It has taken some discipline, but I am getting more used to it and thoroughly enjoying the results of this new level of freedom.  This may not happen overnight.  It's the consistency of agreeing to a plan you set into place in order to bring the change. Eventually you will see the hard things in your life turn around for the good if you keep your eyes FOCUSED on the Father.  His thoughts and ways are higher.  He has DIVINE strategies for you to overcome.  We just have to get into FOCUS to see, hear and know them. Here is a FOCUS scripture today to steer our minds into the TRUTH which sets us free.


Psalm 121 
I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.

Julie

No Longer An Orphan

So many in our society today have the characteristics of an orphan whether they were physically orphaned or not. It's quickly becoming the minority of people now that have a healthy and stable home life.  More and more individuals are broken from divorce, abandonment, molestation, bullying, rage, and the list goes on and on. Because of this dysfunction, rejection is burrowing deep inside our souls, causing the majority of us to live to survive instead of living with purpose.  We hear rogue voices in our heads that tell us we are worthless, that it would be better if we were never born.  Our hearts start to close doors to protect ourselves at a very young age from the pain and lack of affection because we're being raised by broken people.

So how do you recognize when rejection is in your core?

Carrying a root of rejection will cause you to be like the double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.  Like the waves of the sea, you are tossed about as a little tugboat with no navigation. You will constantly be trying to counteract what other people think. At any moment, your mind and emotions can be flooded with suspicion and paranoia which then leads to all kinds of fear, anxiousness, depression, bitterness, resentment and ultimately anger.  When rejection is present there are nagging voices trying to get you to examine the faces and body language of everyone around you.  The words of frivolous conversations never leave your mind for fear of how even certain tones and innuendos were displayed.  

The only one who can truly love us and make us whole is God, our Father.  We were made in His image, not in the image of man.  Seeking the love from another human being or any other source will never fill that space where rejection searches to find a home in us.  Attempting to "buck up" and "be strong" on our own will never last.  This vacancy inside of us can only be filled with the love of God to satisfy us.  He designed us that way.

Romans 8:14-16 says this, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.  So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves.  Instead, you received God's Spirit when He adopted you as His own children.  Now we call Him, "Abba, Father."  For His Spirit joins with out spirit to affirm that we are God's children."

Let the Lord heal you today from the inside out by surrendering fully to Him without reserve.  He will never leave you nor forsake you.  He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.  What is there to fear from what man can do to you?  Even if they kill your body, they cannot kill your soul.  If God is for you, who can be against you? 

The love of the Father is waiting and longing to heal you forever. As the scripture in Romans 8 states above, it starts by asking Jesus to be led by His Spirit and truly surrendering to Him as a child.  His Spirit will join with your spirit to intertwine His DNA with yours.  You will begin to think as He thinks and not what rejection tells you to think.  When you allow His love to come in, you will never be alone again.  God's supernatural love never fails.

Julie