LOVE YOURSELF

“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”  Luke 7:41-47

A blog from Global Awakening

Experiencing an extravagant love for God and for others is birthed out of a sense of extreme gratitude for God’s grace and forgiveness. In a world saturated with self-care and self-love tools that will ultimately leave you still feeling empty, the key to truly loving yourself is not found within oneself but in the Person of Jesus Christ. Therefore, as a Christian, learning to love oneself is not about self-focus, but about Christ-focus. It starts with receiving forgiveness from God and allowing His love to transform your self-perception. When viewed through the lens of Jesus’ perfect love, you will actually begin to fall in love with who He created you to be! Continue reading “LOVE YOURSELF”

THE WORD WORKS

“For the word of God is living and powerful”
(Hebrews 4:12)

We are empowered to change ourselves from the inside out, not by trying harder.  The word of God indeed is powerful and can:
Make us free
Cause us to walk in righteousness and power
Create success and prosperity

Consider this verse:
“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’” (John 8:31-32). 

There is a progression revealed here:
Choose to abide in His word – think it, meditate in it, speak it, memorize it.
This abiding will lead to knowing the truth – having revelation, feeling it, being intimate in it.
This knowing of truth will make us free – It is revelatory truth working in us that brings freedom (first in our emotions and then in our experience).

extract from a blog by Steve Backlund

TENACIOUS HUNGER FOR GOD

A thought from Ps Randy Clark

I want to share with you a powerful story that impacted me when I first heard it. It is about tenacious hunger for God. 

In the early days of my time within the Vineyard, I remember an afternoon when John Wimber called for me to meet with him in his office. I remember walking in, only to see John leaning back in his chair with a giant smile on his face. I sat across from him, as he looked at me and said, “Randy, who is the most anointed person in all of the Vineyard when it comes to words of knowledge and healing?” I thought for a moment, and responded “Well John, besides yourself, it would be Blaine Cook.” John looked at me and said “Randy, let me tell you something about Blaine.”

He then began to recall to me a dream that the Lord had given him several years earlier. In summary, the dream was about a powerful outbreak of the Spirit that would sweep the Vineyard as a whole, as the church went to the streets and began ministering to the sick. John continued from there to tell me about inviting Blaine into his office and sharing the dream with him. I should also mention, at the time of this dream occurring, Blaine Cook was not someone with a reputation for being used in healing.

However, once John shared this dream, Blaine became ecstatic. Overwhelmed with a desire to see this move of God, he stood up from the desk, and began asking when they would start going out to minister to people in this way. “Whoah! Slow down! It’s not time for that just yet. The people aren’t quite ready,” John said to him. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do!” But Blaine disagreed. The attitude that Blaine held was one of tenacity. Even though he was not seeing a lot of healing yet, he began to ask John to pray for him, so that God would release an anointing for him to go and see people set free according to the dream. Continue reading “TENACIOUS HUNGER FOR GOD”