Category: Identity

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Encounters with God are intended for more than you!

Kris Vallotton poses the question …. “Did you know that your encounters with God were intended for more than just you?”

He goes on to say … within our Bethel community, when we talk about “God encounters” or “encountering the Holy Spirit,” it’s often to describe the transformative experiences believers have with the Lord. Yet, sometimes, we’ve limited these encounters to physical manifestations, overlooking the profound internal work He accomplishes within us.

For years, I grappled with whether I was genuinely encountering God or not. I observed others around me experiencing the Lord through what appeared to be powerful, physical encounters—falling down, being slain in the Spirit, and rolling over in uncontrollable laughter. However, my experiences with God didn’t manifest in this way. There were no physical sensations or overwhelming emotions. Yet, the truth is, I’ve encountered God ever since my salvation; He has met and ministered to me in ways that transcend physical manifestations of His grace. And I assure you, the same holds true for you!

If you’ve given your life to Jesus and been transformed by His grace, you are living under an open Heaven, crafted for the Presence of God. He is eager to encounter you! Moreover, a beautiful consequence of encountering God is becoming a conduit for others to meet Him as well.

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Overcoming a poverty mindset

Blog by Steve Backlund 05.02.2024

The “poverty mindset” (or poverty spirit) is rooted in the victim mindset and focuses on:
1. What we don’t have
2. Our apparent inability to be blessed
3. Other people as the source to meet our needs
4. The reasons we are at a disadvantage in life

I remember reading in the 1990’s Harold Eberle’s Developing a Prosperous Soul, I was surprised at how much of a poverty spirit was embedded in me. During that season, the Lord was taking me from a lack mentality to an abundance mentality. I realized that there was no way I could fulfill the Great Commission in Matthew 28 (of going into all the world) if I was lacking in energy, health, wisdom, finances, favor, protection, love, spiritual gifts, or power.

Psalm 23:1 says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack.” In John 10:10, Jesus says, “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come to give life and life abundantly.” These are strong verses to help convince us to embrace an abundance mindset, but today, I want to discuss this poverty mindset that plagues so many of God’s people.

In 2 Kings 4:1-7, there is a story of a widow who was in debt. The creditors were coming to take her sons to pay off the debt. The prophet Elisha asked the widow, “What do you have?” She said, “Nothing, but a little oil.” As she was in Elisha’s presence, her thinking started to change.

One of the purposes of prophetic ministry is to move us from a poverty mindset to an abundance mindset. It helps us take our eyes off what we think we don’t have to see what we actually do have. It happened to the widow. God supernaturally blessed what she had. It paid off the debt and she lived off of the rest. I believe it will happen to you too.

In order to move past the poverty spirit, it will be helpful to identify how it manifests in our lives. Continue reading “Overcoming a poverty mindset”

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Don’t Withdraw Your Heart

Blog by Steve Backlund

“I will not withdraw my heart from people who disappoint me or that I hear negative information about.” This is a powerful belief and declaration for those who want healthy relationships and increased influence. It does not mean we don’t have boundaries in our interactions with people, but the tendency to withdraw our hearts from people will not benefit us or others if we persist in it.

As we mature, we begin to understand our own tendencies. We are able to recognize and admit things like this:

  • I tend to dwell on unresolved relational situations in my life.
  • I tend to not feel worthy to be blessed or to be happy
  • I tend to fixate on what is not perfect yet.
  • I tend to judge others by their actions and justify myself by my motives.
  • I tend to be defensive if anyone questions my actions or attitudes.
  • I tend to avoid conflict.
  • I tend to feel overlooked and under-appreciated.

We can certainly add “I have the tendency to withdraw my heart from people who disappoint me or that I hear negative information about” to this list. We often do this unconsciously, and it is a habit that will not serve our life goals well.

Why Withdrawing Our Heart From People is a Problem
It is part of the elder brother mindset – The default of the elder-brother mindset is to first see what is wrong with a person or place. The default of the father-mindset is to first see what is right with a person or place. (See Luke 15:11-32.)
It will limit our influence – It is difficult to positively influence those we are offended at.
It contributes to dysfunctional relational environments – Unresolved heart issues concerning people in our key environments (home, work, church, etc.) will work against having healthy teams or healthy families.
It blinds us to really see people – As we fixate on what people are doing wrong, we will be unable to see who they really are. “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh” (2 Corinthians 5:16).
We give our power away and become the victim – When someone’s behavior controls our emotions, then we have given our power away to that person.
We become part of the problem and not the solution – We live in a society that is increasingly canceling people and disconnecting from people. There is a spirit of division that wants us to join in this corrupting behavior.

As we navigate our heart posture toward people in our lives, it is helpful to understand the pattern of most relationships.
Excitement –>
Disappointment  –>
Then the choice of disconnection or connection

How we process disappointment in people will be a key factor in how much positive influence we will have. I talk about this in my blog, “I Choose You Again”.

How to Overcome the Tendency of Withdrawing Our Hearts From People

  1. When tempted to be inwardly critical about someone, immediately pray for them – This investment in their lives will help you keep your love on for the person.
  2. Seek first to understand before you seek to be understood – Asking great questions will help you know the true facts and help you understand the heart of the person.
  3. Keep leaning into relationships – Connections with people can certainly be challenging, but 1 Corinthians 13 (the ‘love’ chapter) gives us powerful motivation to do relationships well.
  4. Learn simple ways to stay connected and to send the message, “You are important to me” – Some of these include thankfulness, remembering things, supporting them in dreams, etc.
  5. Develop skills to resolve conflict and to work with challenging people – Our book, Culture of Empowerment, is a good one for this. Danny Silk has many powerful resources for this as well.

Again, we recognize that there may be people in our lives who we need to keep at a distance because of abusive or reckless behavior, but even with those people, we can keep our heart in a place of seeing them as God sees them.

2024 is a year of relational healing. As we refuse to withdraw our hearts from people who disappoint us, we will truly become part of the solution for the healing of our families and nations.

 

 

 

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Faith Without Hope is Weird

A blog by Steve Backlund  14th November 2023

The statement “faith without hope is weird” captures an important truth for those who want to have a healthy faith. 

Hope is an overall optimistic attitude about the future based on the goodness and promises of God. I am not a proponent of simple positive thinking, but I do ascribe to biblical optimism. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” Hebrews 10:23. 


Faith is very specific while hope is more general. Faith says, “God is going to do this !” Hope says, “I don’t know what God is going to do but good things are coming.”  Continue reading “Faith Without Hope is Weird”