Lisa Great

Walking with God is an adventure of the likes you cannot describe to people who want to do life on their own, rather than with the Lord. He is so much fun to be around, always sharing His thoughts, His desires, what He is doing with those who are wanting to hear. He loves His people more than we know and He loves to talk to us, if only we loved to listen.

I am reading the book of Exodus right now and the timing of this book is profound to me in what the Lord is saying. The truths in this ancient story are relevant in our current reality. What we read on the surface carries so much more truth, if only we knew how to mine it.

Exodus 6:2-3 says, “God also said to Moses, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself fully known to them.”

Two names for God for two distinctly similar but different seasons in history. God Almighty or El Shaddai is who Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew. The God who makes promises. He promised Abraham land, Isaac descendants and Jacob national blessings. El Shaddai is the promise making God.

Hebrews 11:13 says, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.” El Shaddai the promise keeping God.

Now here is Moses and God says I am going to reveal myself to you as the LORD (YHWH – the finisher). What was promised to the patriarchs was experienced by the Israelites with Moses. They entered the promised land, they walked through the Red Sea, the saw the 10 plagues, they multiplied greatly with descendents, they experienced national blessing. All the works of YHWH, the LORD.

Friends, we are of the generation that knows YHWH – The LORD – The Finisher. We get to experiences His promises not just hear about them. He is fully known to us. Jesus said, “It is finished!” I pray you know the LORD, the one who finishes what He starts. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

We are made of unstoppable stock. Our bloodline is one of increase, multiplication, fruitfulness and it is unstoppable. This is not something you have to become, it is something you have to realize. If it were not true why would there be any attack on you?

If authority, power, greatness, increase was not inside of you, then what would the enemy need to harass you for? Why would anyone care what you are doing, if you were not doing something that was threatening them or the kingdom they represent?

We are of the seed of Abraham, which means we are of the bloodline of Israel. The Israelites were a people who increased, multiplied, became numerous, to the point where the enemy could not handle them so they had to oppress them.

Exodus 1 says, “The more [the Egyptians] oppressed them, the more they multiplied and expanded, so that [the Egyptians] were vexed and alarmed because of the Israelites.”

Israel was unstoppable and this vexed and alarmed the Egyptians. You know what? The more you increase the more the enemy is afraid of you, which is why he seeks to steal from you, kill you, destroy you, but you are made of an incorruptible, indestructible seed that cannot be killed or stopped. The spirit of replenishing is inside of you.

I wanted to remind you today, that you come from unstoppable stock. Your bloodline is one of increase, growth, and multiplication. The seed of Christ is in you, nothing can stop the One who is in you, for greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. Just a reminder of who you are and whose you are. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Repping the Name!!!

Raising a son, I have learned that I want him to represent our family name well. With an African father and an American mother, born in Malaysia, he is tri-cultural. Representing where he came from, who he came from and what we stand for is important to us as his mom and dad.

One of the things I have taught him is how to represent our name well in the way he treats people, serves ministries, displays his work ethic on the job and in how he treats girls. Our family values are manifested in who he is as our son. And I am proud of how he represents our family name.

Psalm 23 says, “The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.”

I used to read these verses as having to do with me, but this morning the Lord showed me, this is about His name. He does all He does for us, for His names sake. His name is very valuable to Him and He wants us His children to represent His name well.

Being in the family of God, being a member of the body of Christ is the highest honor we can be given. We have been given a new name, the name that is above every other name, we bear the name of Jesus Christ.

Two questions, one do you realize how valuable the name is that you have been given as a believer in Jesus Christ? Are you representing His name well? Is He proud of how you are representing the family name, by the way you carry yourself, the way you treat people, the way you serve, work and give?

It is time we start realizing who we are repping an make sure we are honorable representatives of the name we have been given. I believe representing His name is a stewardship we must steward well if we want to to do the works He did. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

The Christmas songs we sing are more scripture than most of us realize. O come let us adore Him; Joy to the World; Oh Holy Night; Silent Night; The First Noel; on and one the list goes.

The word of God is declared in song more than ever during this season. People in grocery stores, shopping malls and big box retailers are all declaring the word of God in song, whether they know it or not.

I love it all. The lights, the songs, the sweets, the gifts, the stories, the tables, the people, the events, the parties, the services and the serving. The whole nation joins in the celebration of the Word of God in a variety of ways.

Even the Grinch, the Scrooge and Bah Humbug speak of the gospel. For there is an enemy in every story, ours is an adversary who wants to steal joy, because they don’t want to enjoy it they don’t think other should either.

Psalm 22 says, “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!”

Christmas miracles are happening on 34th Street and on my street and your street. Relationships are being restored, reports of clean bills of health are being given, finances are being replenished, lives are being given to Jesus. Oh the power of the season we are in.

I pray you reflect on the people in your life not the ones missing from it; I pray you enjoy the gifts you give not the ones you didn’t get; I pray you take time to reflect on the goodness of God to you, so you can join the Psalmist and say, “He has done it!!!!” Merry Christmas friends, we are blessed. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Just because God is not instant, does not mean He is not consistent!

We have entered the first day of the new Hebrew month named Tevet. This month is linked with the tribe of Israel named Dan. The tribe of Dan is known as the tribe of the judges and its symbol is that of scales of justice.

While reading Proverbs 21 this morning verse 15 jumped off the page at me, “When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.” The past three days in my reading the word justice has been highlighted to me, so today I paused when I saw this verse.

Justice is tied to righteousness, for without justice we cannot be made righteous. Jesus died for our sins, His death was an act of justice that made us righteous.

If you are righteous, justice brings great rejoicing for you know the result is righteousness, order, joy, peace and safety. But if you are wicked and this justice is being employed on you, it can be a terrifying thought.

The phrase the wheels of justice move slowly is God’s mercy, not His ignorance or tolerance. Which is why the Lord spoke to me and said, “Just because I don’t act instantly, does not mean I do not act consistently.”

We want instant justice, instant results, instant healing, but God rarely acts instantly, but He always acts consistently. In this month of Tevet, tied to the tribe of Dan, which means God judges, we are going to see justice.

As justice is administered, some will rejoice, others are terrified, but the gift of justice is that it detours future evildoers and affirms those who have been harmed by those who have been treated unjustly. Justice is here and with God as judge, we can be assured it will be pinpoint accurate justice. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

One of the greatest enemies of the new is the old. Our old thought patters, our old behaviors, our old attitudes, our old ideas, our old memories. If we would shake off the old, we would see the new that is upon us.

Being dipped in an escapism, gloom and doom, things are going to get darker and darker theology has caused us to live defeated, discouraged, depressed and disappointed.

Thanks be to God, despite our misunderstanding His word; our neglecting His victory He won for us; our lack of gratitude for His telestai (it is finished); He never gives up on us and continues to remove the layers of man’s ways, to reveal who He truly is.

Everything is getting better, everything is becoming new! The old is gone and in God’s mind it is forgotten. Oh that we would have the mind of Christ, so we too could forget the past and step into this glorious now time reality.

Isaiah 65 says, “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create. I will take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.”

We have made verses like this for the sweet by and by, but they are for the here and now. How do I know, because Jesus said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It is happening now, not in the future. It is unfolding daily in the midst of us.

We need to forget the former things, not dwell on the past, see the Lord is doing a new thing, now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? (Isaiah 43) Don’t let what was get in the way of what is, for what is, is so amazing, you have to shut your eyes to miss what God is doing on earth right now. It is better than we even imagined. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

There is no community without humility.

Doing life with other people means you have to live a laid down life. This pertains to marriage (Ephesians 5:21 – submit yourselves to one another); to friendship (Proverbs 17:17 – a friend loves at all times); families, churches, companies, nations, cities, anywhere there is people the call is to humility if we want to have community.

People that want to remain standing while others are laying down their lives reveal they do not know how to live in community. John 15:12-14 says, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you.”

Jesus commands us to lay down our lives for one another. It is what love looks like. Wounded people struggle to lay down their life, because they are afraid of getting hurt again, so they remain standing while the call is to lay down our life.

If we want to look like Jesus, live in community like the disciples and do the works of the kingdom on earth as they are in heaven, we must live a laid down life. This is the only command Jesus gave us, love one another and love looks like a laid down life.

Jesus is our model of a laid down life. All He is commanding us to do is what He did. He called His betrayer friend, He died for the sins of the world, He fed people who only followed Him for food and He did miracles for people who others considered not deserving of them.

We were created for community, but to live in community it takes humility. To love and to be loved, we must lay down our lives for one another. It is in our laying down we will find ourselves rising up together as a community. Love always lifts up but it also lays down. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Do you ever read a verse and wonder, what does that exactly mean? If we approach the word of God with wonder, seeking to know more, not thinking we know so much, we will find treasures that are not on the surface.

In the game Super Mario Bros, there are pipes you stand on and if you push down, some of them drop you into an unseen world of coins in which you just jump and grab coin after coin after coin. Not everyone knew those coins were in those pipes, but if you had a spirit of adventure, you pushed down and sometimes you dropped down into a place of delight.

This is what reading the Bible is like. If you push into verses just a little bit, they yield coins, gold coins of truth that bring great delight. Seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened to you. Oh that we would be seekers, for in our seeking we are finding.

This morning I pushed on Proverbs 17:13 which says, “Evil will never leave the house of one who pays back evil for good.” I pushed on this verse by doing some rabbinical research to understand what exactly is this proverb teaching us. Oh friends, the push produced gold coins.

Evil in this verse is betrayal of covenant loyalty. It is moral treachery. It teaches that loyalty is optional, gratitude is weakness and trust is foolish. All of this was fascinating as I would not have thought of these things when I heard the word evil. But what blew me away is this verse is revealing a lack of gratitude for the good one has received.

Gratitude is a spiritual gatekeeper. Once it is violated, evil no longer meets resistance. Our gratitude is our gatekeeper that resists evil. Oh friends, may we never lose gratitude for where we live, who is in our lives, where we go to church, how much God has done for us. Gratitude is our gatekeeper that resists evil. Coins, gold coins! Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Sin has many affects and effects on our lives, but one of them we do not talk about much is that sin makes our lives small. Satan and sin are not only destroyers and deceivers, they are shrinkers of our lives. If the enemy can keep us small, he can control us, but when we take a deep breath of the spirit of God, expansion happens and our awakening begins.

The enemy wants to keep our eyes closed to truth, for when our eyes are opened we see a world of possibilities. The enemy wants to keep us small financially, for he knows our prosperity is more opportunity to be a blessing. The enemy wants to attack our body with sickness and disease, depression and trauma, loss and rejection for in doing so he keeps us little, unavailable and inoperable, knowing a healthy us will crush his head.

Friends, Psalm 18 says, “He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”

God wants to deliver us from anger, resentment, bitterness, shame, guilt, immorality, adultery, homosexuality, greed, covetousness, pride, selfishness, isolation, anxiety, fear, alcohol, gambling, pornography as well every other thief and robber seeking to steal, kill and destroy us.

The Lord wants to deliver us from sin, corporately in the church and individually/personally, because all sin does is keep us small. The Lord wants to bring us out into wide open spaces which are holy places. Places of abudance, prosperity, excess. It is in the abundance that love is realized, demonstrated and displayed. Love is big, spacious, extravagant. We have known small, but we are about to experience big. Will you come out? Www.apostolicresourceceter.org

One of the challenges parents face as it pertains to their children is listening. Children do not listen well or listen at all sometimes. Listening is a sign of maturity and children struggle to listen. They may hear what you say, but listening has more to do with hearing and obeying than just acknowledging something was said.

The children of God struggle with the same thing as natural children do. The children of God struggle to listen to God. They may sit in church and hear a sermon, they may watch a video, or hear a podcast, but to do what they heard is not something the children of God are known for.

People can be in church for decades and not change, because they are not listening with the intent of doing anything different. God is our Father, Jesus is our older brother and Savior, we are their children. The Holy Spirit is tasked to bring all things to our rememberance, so we can do what we have heard.

Mark 8:18 says, “Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?” Isaiah 55 says, “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live.”

Friends we must get past spending money on what is not bread. We give so much money to things that do not satisfy, to places that do not produce bread (the word of God in truth). We need to stop laboring just to feel like we are doing something. We must repent of not being listeners.

God has work for us to do; finances for us to enjoy and sow; but it all starts with listening or we are going to be shadow boxing and that is exhausting. The invitation from the Lord is to come to Him, listen, and then you will live. You will produce more than before with less labor because you chose to listen and do what the Lord says to do. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org