John 1:11-13 “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, who are not born of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”

My faith that once seemed foundational, now seems radical, mystical, unpredictable and uncontainable to some of my fellow believers. As I look across what used to be the “spirit filled” landscape it appears we have settled for living lives in a measure of His presence but with no power. How dare a person who is oppressed or possessed come to our meetings or even worse into our lives. Would they meet someone with discernment, or would they be judged with natural eyes? Would they leave our lives, or our meetings changed or the same? What version of the gospel would they “experience”, His or another gospel? A bloodless, crossless gospel is a powerless gospel. Until this gospel has had its way in you and me, it can’t flow through us in power.

Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”

There is only one change you can believe in. It is your life exchanged for His. This “new creation” life is altogether different from our life. It requires both the baptism of the spirit and of fire. Only the fire of a personalized cross will consume the old you. The only faith worth having is one that has been tested and proven in “spirit school”.

Luke 4:14 “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside”

I promise if you pay the price, the power will come, and the news will spread that He is both present and powerful in your life and in your church. You are destined to be transformed in the wilderness. As you “learn to lean”, He increases, you decrease, that’s power, that’s healing, that’s deliverance, that’s love in action as He is experienced in your life of pure devotion and total dependence.

Song of Solomon 8:5 “Who is this coming up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved?”

….(this is an excerpt from a developing manuscript of a new book I am writing, I am hoping to release it in 2019)