WHAT ABOUT THE ONE?
I think we each have an innate desire to make a difference in the world. There's a longing in our hearts to make our mark, do something significant, have it be on a large scale, and make a name for ourselves.
It used to be a hope that we'd be remembered for something "great" after we'd left this earth, but now, we want to be known far and wide through social media in the now.
It's no different in the ministry world. The perspective is simply shifted to having a platform that will enable us to reach more people for Jesus. Sometimes that's great; other times, it's still all about self-promotion. I'm not here to judge and won't. I'm simply acknowledging it.
The thing is . . . I'm no different. I want to make a huge difference in the world around me, too. What God has recently been speaking so powerfully to me about is the importance of seeing and reaching the ONE. Yes, multitudes are great. Jesus Himself drew them to Him and spoke to them. Yet, He noticed and stopped for the ONE - the blind man, the Samaritan Woman, the paralyzed man, the woman with the issue of blood, the Centurion . . . In reaching the ONE, He transformed generations - and nations.I've been a lot more focused on the one because that's what God has been prompting me to do. The added bonus? I've found tremendous freedom in letting go of trying to create something larger myself and instead, leaving that up to God and His plans in partnering with me.
What's been amazing to witness is the transformation happening in the lives of the "ONE" and how that's being worked out in families. Families means generations and generations shape culture. Reaching the ONE makes history.
I'm asking God to make me more aware of the ONE in front of me. I can get so task-oriented that I miss people more often than I want to admit. I'm thankful each time He opens my eyes.
Need a conversation or prayer together? Please reach out. I'll stop to make time for you. You're ONE who matters!
Our Mission: Love Others Well & Empower Them to Do the Same
APRIL PROPHETIC WORD: LET GO!
The month of April is an incredibly significant month in several ways, and I feel the weightiness on this month hugely. This month will set the course of the next year, which I’m sensing both prophetically and through some reading, which I’ll explain.This year, Passover and Easter fall within just days of one another. It’s hard to miss the significance of that timing or the correlated meaning of sacrifice, life, deliverance, and redemption found in these two celebrations.
This is also the Hebrew month of Nissan, which is the first month of the year according to the Jewish calendar. In the book, “A Time to Advance” by Chuck Pierce, he shares the significance of Nissan. Among other things, Nissan is associated with the tribe of Judah and is a month characterized by repentance, redemption, and miracles. It’s especially important to watch the words you speak during this month because your words will set the course for your future. It’s also a time to ask God for His strategies for aligning with His purposes and plans.
Just a reminder . . . His plans are never just about you. You have a role to play in establishing heaven on earth, so keep in mind the global influence and impact you have – your words are far more powerful than you realize! You literally set the course of your life through the words you speak (James 3:2-5) and your life, and how you live it, affects countless others.
April is a time to advance, a time to fearlessly run toward the giants we’re facing, remembering the ways God has defeated our enemies in the past and how He’ll do it again with even greater, more far-reaching impact. David first killed the lion and the bear, which affected his personal life, but when he took down Goliath, it impacted his nation and others as the news spread of the enemy’s defeat. This is a month to fearlessly run toward any Goliaths standing before you and be a giant slayer! Your aim will be sure, and your stone will hit its mark! You have more influence in the world than you realize . . .
The Lord has been strongly talking to me not just about setting a guard over the words we speak, but He’s been highlighting the importance of making decrees and declarations that will literally create our future and mark our history, both individually and globally. He spoke the world into existence. We’re made of His DNA and Jesus told us, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” (John 14:12) If God creates using His words, we do the same with ours. What are our words forming, building, constructing?
The key for this month?
LET GO.
There are things we’re holding onto that are preventing us from advancing, slaying, creating, and aligning. Something I keep hearing over and over in my spirit and in conversations with Brian is that we aren’t our pasts; we’re our future – who we’re becoming. Steve Backlund shares a couple of related declarations, “I am not who my past says I am; I am who God says I am” and “I get my identity from my future, not my past.” (@IgnitingHope)
God has declared about us that “old things have passed away” and “all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). If we can’t let go of things from the past – traumas, wounds, mistakes, past relationships, poor decisions made, and so many other things, we can’t freely, confidently, and fearlessly move forward into all the Lord has for us in our coming days. We embrace excuses that justify our lack of forward movement and reason away why things stay the same and . . . we stay stuck where we’ve been.I get it – I know how valid it can be to lay blame on things in our past. But . . . if we can’t let go of those things, we can’t advance and that’s exactly what the enemy would like for our lives. Don’t give him the satisfaction! Give God the things you’ve been holding onto. He can be trusted with them and with any needed solutions or healing you’ve been longing for and trying to work out yourself.
I’ve been clearly hearing the Lord releasing and declaring hope to the world. It’s desperately in need of it! We’re called to be hope carriers, hope-bringers, and hope catalysts. Through the words you speak, birth hope in the hearts of all you meet and align your actions with your hope. That alone is going to shift so much in, around, and through you!
So, this month, LET GO of the things holding you back - past, or present. If you need to ask His forgiveness for anything, it’s the perfect time to do that, especially as we celebrate Jesus’ redemption of us all through His death and resurrection. Take steps forward into your future and embrace the hope God is putting before you. Take aim at the giants you’ve been facing who have tried to intimidate you and make you afraid. Remember - like David, God has already given Goliath into your hands, and you already have the victory (I Sam. 17:47)! Align your words with these truths and believe God for miracles for yourself and others. You’re a miracle worker because Jesus lives in you – walk as one!You’re going to be in awe of the shift that happens this month as you LET GO . . . and advance!
Living for Him,
Andrea & Brian
Our Mission: Love Others Well & Empower Them to Do the Same
HIS MIRACLES
“. . . For Your miracles have made us who we are.” Psalm 68:28bSince reading this verse this morning, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.
How many of us, including me, have defined ourselves by the things we’ve faced or overcome?
I’m a “survivor” – of childhood sexual abuse, of a bitter divorce between my parents, of a mentally unstable and alcoholic, biological mother, of abandonment, of a relationship with an abusive, alcoholic ex-fiancé. I could continue the list. I’m sure you have your own.
You can’t live life in a broken world and not experience trauma.
Long ago, I stopped viewing myself as a victim . . . but I fully and proudly declared myself to be a “survivor.” It seemed to be a badge of honor giving a nod to my ability to overcome by the grace of God.
That survivor trophy in some ways became a sacred part of my identity that couldn’t be touched. I proudly gave testimony of who I’d become through Jesus, despite the traumas I’ve faced and overcome.
Brian has tried to help me see beyond that definition of myself but was only met with an angry response in return. In my mind, he had no ground to stand on to speak to me about this topic. He’s never had to endure what I have and doesn’t know what it means to survive. Never mind the fact that he’s nearly died more times than we’ve kept track of, and he hasn’t let that define him . . .
This verse created a massive shift within me this morning. I’m not the sum of what I’ve survived. I’m a product of His miracles in my life. The amazing thing? The list of His miracles I’ve experienced is FAR longer than the traumas I’ve faced.
God’s miracles have made you who you are, my friend. Let that truth reshape your thinking, your beliefs, and your identity.
You’re a walking sum of miracles!
Living for Him,
Andrea & Brian
Our Mission: Love Others Well & Empower Them to Do the Same
FEELING PARALYZED?
God has been speaking to me over and over recently through the story of the paralyzed man at the Pool of Bethesda. Reading the account in The Passion Translation has helped me to see and hear things I’d never noticed before.
You can find the story in John 5: 1-16. You’ll read how Jesus traveled to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish feasts and while there, He went to an area in the city near the Sheep Gate, which is where the sacrificial animals were brought into the temple. The note on this verse makes an observation that “the sick gathered there like bruised, wounded sheep, needing healing” (note, vs.2). I was struck by the recognition that hundreds were lying under the covered porches . . . “all of them waiting for their healing” (vs. 3). The Lord pierced my heart when I read that because I sensed His longing for ALL to be well – then and now. So many are still waiting on God for healing – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually . . .
The man at the pool had been waiting for 38 years. Time after time, he had tried to scramble into the pool when the angel stirred the waters, hoping to be the first in and be healed, yet he was unable to get healed from the source he had relied on for so long.
When Jesus saw him, His first question to the man was, “Do you truly long to be well?” (v. 6b) That may seem like an odd question to ask, but this man had created an identity as “the paralyzed man” and to be able to walk again meant letting go of who he was known as and who he identified himself as being. Life and his approach to it would look very different and feel unfamiliar if he were able to walk again. That was likely a little scary. Did he prefer to remain as he was, or was he willing to let go of how he saw himself? The man never answered Jesus’ direct question. Instead, he made excuses and blamed others for getting there first, “stealing” the healing he was longing for himself, yet he didn’t recognize the Healer who stood before him. How often do we do that ourselves? We blame others when we don’t get what we feel should be ours, we make excuses why we can’t obtain it, and we may even miss the solution being right before us.
Interestingly, in turn, Jesus didn’t respond to what the man said, neither did He pray for him to be healed. Jesus simply said, “Stand up! Pick up your sleeping mat and you will walk!” (v.8) The man had to act in obedience and do what he hadn’t been able to do in 38 years.
In picking up his mat, he also had to break the Jewish Sabbath law that he had lived by all his life and choose to literally step into the new covenant Jesus was making available to him. The law he lived under couldn’t heal, but Jesus was the fulfillment of the law (Matt. 5:17) and healing was found in Him.
The man never questioned Jesus’ command to him. He acted immediately and when he took that step – I think more out of obedience than faith, he was healed, no longer paralyzed but taking steps forward into his destiny. The man didn’t even know Jesus’ name, let alone that He was the Messiah. Yet, he experienced the fullness of Jesus in that encounter – His love, miraculous healing, and also His passionate pursuit of the man’s total freedom in every way, as we’ll soon see.
The crazy thing? The Jewish leaders didn’t rejoice over the miracle of this man’s healing but focused instead on the man breaking the Sabbath law. They were so steeped in religion, they couldn’t rejoice over the freedom that had been gained through relationship. Unfortunately, we still see that in churches and Christian circles today. When Jesus doesn’t fit within religious confines, many find it offensive.As the story continues, Jesus found the man a second time. In this encounter, Jesus affirmed the man’s healing, then told him to “Walk away from your sin so that nothing worse will happen to you” (v.14) Jesus’ words to the man left me confused. What sin had the man committed?
As I spent time in God’s presence asking Him about it, I asked if the man’s sin had been not living life and engaging with his destiny and calling even though paralyzed? Maybe it was that he hadn’t “walked” forward, despite his physical limitations, but instead wasted his life in self-pity? Maybe Jesus was telling him to act and take steps forward in his life because if he didn’t, he would remain “paralyzed” and would end up in an even worse state of hopelessness that would steal life from him in even greater measure. If the man continued to believe he was useless, powerless, too many years had been wasted, and he was too old to make a difference now, he would remain just as paralyzed as he had been when he couldn’t walk and that would be a sin. How often do we do and think similarly?
I believe Jesus was telling the man that he still had life to live and purpose to embrace. He was to walk forward, leave the past behind, and not allow what he had known previously in his life to keep him paralyzed from moving into all that still lay ahead of him. If he wasn’t willing to do that, he would continue sinning by remaining paralyzed by his past mindset and perspective of his life.
The story doesn’t record how the man discovered Jesus’ identity, but he went back to the Jewish leaders and told them who had healed him. It ignited the Jewish leaders’ persecution of Jesus – all because of what Jesus did on the Sabbath and how it broke their religious laws (v. 16).
So many of us remain in a paralyzed state each day. We allow mindsets, beliefs we have about ourselves and perceived limitations, as well as any number of accepted obstacles to prevent us from taking steps forward into our destinies and callings. We don’t engage in the things God is telling us to do because we don’t believe we’re able, worthy, or young or old enough to accomplish the dreams God has placed in our hearts. We’re afraid we’ll stumble and fall, so we stay put, never venturing to stand up, pick up our mats, and walk.
I believe many have been paralyzed for a long time – even decades. God is able to make you walk. He’s inviting you to stand up and take the first step into all He has waiting for you. Your future doesn’t have to look like your past or your present.
Will you stand up? Will you let go of the identity you’ve embraced as your own and be willing to walk forward in the truth of who you’ve been created to be? Will you allow God to redeem “wasted” time and make something beautiful out of your testimony?
If your answer is yes, paralysis ends now.
If we can pray for you on your healing journey, please reach out to us!
Living for Him,
Andrea & Brian
Our Mission: Love Others Well & Empower Them to Do the Same
The word God spoke to my heart for this month is “encounter” and I couldn’t be more excited! I believe this is going to be a month of incredible, supernatural encounters with the presence and person of God, the Father, and Jesus, the Redeemer, Savior, and Healer. We’re going to see heaven collide with earth in the most beautiful of ways. Some encounters will be a result of us pressing into His presence, while at other times, these encounters will be a passionate pursuit of our hearts – simply because He longs to be with us.
When I shared this with a friend the other day, I off-handedly stated, “People are desperate for an encounter with God, not four walls.”
What did I mean by that? When you read about the times Jesus “encountered” people, it was almost always within everyday life. Yes, people came to hear him teach but very rarely was it within the four walls of the temple. More often, it was in open spaces. The most radical encounters with His transforming love and presence were on the road, near the shore, at a well, on a hillside or mountaintop, by a tree, in front of a tomb, and on a cross, just to name a few places. Jesus showed us some of the greatest face to face moments with Him mainly happened in the most unexpected times and places. I believe that’s how we’re going to encounter Him this month.
I’m not speaking against experiencing Jesus within the four walls of the church. I simply think we box Him in to those four walls and relegate Him to certain days and times of the week when what He longs for is to be with us every moment of every day, living life with us, sharing His innermost thoughts as he connects His heart with ours in the smallest and biggest of ways.
In the Gospels, we see a mix in Jesus’ life of people pursuing an encounter with Him, as well as times when Jesus sought individuals out to encounter them - even though they knew nothing about Him beforehand. I believe we’re going to see an increase in major encounters with Jesus this month – both ones that we pursue having with Him and ones where He pursues and encounters us unexpectedly.
There are ways we can position ourselves and create an atmosphere for encountering Him. Worship is one of the easiest. God can’t help but draw near at the sound of our worship. The thing is that it doesn’t take a band leading us. It’s not even necessary to have music. Worship can be found in our words, in our actions, in our yes to Him, and in our surrender. We can encounter Him as we read His word, pray, journal, or sit quietly focused on Him.
Expect encounters with Him this month in both big and small ways. As you encounter Him, allow yourself to be fully present in the moment and engage Him in conversation. That’s what the people in the Bible did – the woman at the well, the man at the Pool of Bethesda, the centurion, Martha, the disciples, Nicodemus . . . There are so many honest conversations recorded in the Word. Why would it need to be any different with us?
I believe we’re going to see a powerful move of healing encounters this month, as well. If you need that kind of encounter with Him, be persistent to press through to Him, just as the woman with the issue of blood did and was healed simply by touching His garment.
Like the man Jesus encountered at the Pool of Bethesda, He may tell you to “Stand up. Pick up your sleeping mat and you will walk!” (John 5:8) Make steps to move forward and the things you’ve felt paralyzed in will no longer hold you prisoner, paralyzed in the place you’ve been in – even for years and decades. Stand up! Move forward! Don’t remain where you’ve been!
Look for powerful encounters with Jesus this month. Expect them. Position yourself to experience Him in profound ways. And don’t be surprised when He shows up unexpectedly in the most unusual and normal places in your everyday life.
I bless you in your encounters with Him this month, my friend! Please reach out if you'd like us to pray for you!
Living for Him,
Andrea & Brian
Our Mission: Love Others Well & Empower Them to Do the Same
