STRONG DIVINE WEAPONS: Hope

A life without hope is a life filled with despair.  Hopelessness is the fruit of what I like to call Dark Faith.  Believe it or not, we all have faith.  We all believe in something.  When we choose to put our faith in chance or circumstances rather than in God, it tends to get dark very quickly.  When we put our trust in our own abilities that have proven to be insufficient, our future always looks grim to us.  This Dark Faith produces a hopelessness that leaves us in despair.  Despair begins to whittle away at our resolve and then we become quitters instead of overcomers.  When we begin to quit, we become failure oriented and we can even begin to forget what it was like to succeed.  In a very small amount of time, this puts us in a pattern of thought that completely locks us out of any positive outcomes or scenarios. 

A Computer virus can work in much the same way.  Computer programs are designed to respond to certain inputs and produce specific results based on those inputs.  For example, if I put in a, the program spits out b.  Some viruses are designed to come in a corrupt programs so that they either don't give any output or give an undesired one.  So if i put in a, I get back x or nothing at all.  Dark Faith (Consistently trusting in incapable sources) is basically the code for this type of spiritual virus.  It messes up the programming code so much that we don't even know how to have faith anymore. 

So here is how the "Faith Program"is supposed to work in us. 

God promises something > We hear that promise > The product is hope.

The "Dark Faith Virus" works like this.

Problem occurs >  We turn to lesser things > The product is despair.

When hope is present, we are told that we are not to be disappointed.  (Romans 5)
 

So when we take hope, we overcome and when we despair, we are constantly disappointed.  What is the huge difference between Hope and Despair.  Both take faith.  One is dark and the other is not.  Dark Faith is based on the promise of the powerless.  Real Faith that produces Hope is based on the promise of the All-Powerful One.  Need hope?  Stop listening to the wishful romances of the weak and begin to hear the Word of God. 

Bless You Evansville,

David

Dreams: God's Carrier Pigeons - Part 2

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Last time I posted that I would share a little more about dreams and visions and "other" ways God might communicate with His children. I intend to do that here, but first let me state that the
Litmus test or filter through which we must receive every word is Scripture. The written word of God is the sole source for doctrine and confirmation for
anything we receive spiritually. If it is God, it will not contradict Scripture. It may conflict with our understanding of it at times, but it will never go against it.

That being said, God spoke to people throughout Scripture through all of the above mentioned formats. Acts 2 clearly states that we are to expect this. I wrote about dreams in particular in my last post and while this has not been the primary manner in which God speaks to me, it seems to be happening more frequently. The key is to realize that He will come as He chooses and we are simply to receive Him at all times and all ways.

What are these ways? Dreams, visions, imaginations, impressions, whispers, alerts and more, but I will stick to these for now.

Visions are more like a dream than anything else; only you are awake. I have only had one really clear vision experience. I was at a conference at a rather prominent church here in town and I was walking to use the bathroom. As I left the conference room, I saw a dog at the end of the hallway. I recognized it as a coy-dog (part coyote and part sheep dog) and while it had a collar and leash, I could see that the leash was not held by anyone. The leash actually lay wrapped around the corner, but I instinctively knew it was not tethered. I also knew that I was seeing something that was not really there, but was a spiritual reality. I had no understanding of what it meant though. I then went to wash my hands and saw the image flash in my mind (a divine imagination of sorts, or a really strong and vivid impression that was meant to get my attention. Later that night, I dreamt of these same coy-dogs tending to children in my living room alongside these beasts that seemed like small dinosaurs. All very strange. Again, even writing this now, I am receiving new insight from the Lord about the interpretation of this message. I am a youth pastor (a shepherd of youth) and one of the dangers in shepherding people is that you can fall to temptation and actually begin to feed off of them rather that feeding them. The coyote nature comes out and the sheep are there to build you up instead of to build them up. I still have no idea what the dinosaurs mean. Good sheepdogs don't even really need a leash, but this dog had one. However the coyote nature had overpowered the shepherd nature and the dog was roaming free and without discipline or guidance. Not good for anyone ministering the gospel.

Imaginations come when I am in prayer and simply priming my spirit to be receiving from the Lord. I then see pictures or have words or phrases dropped into my mind that begin to form a prophetic word for Someone or about a particular situation.

Prophetic impressions are just what they seem; vague notions with varying degrees of intensity that God is saying a certain thing. I tend to get more impressions about situations I am close to emotionally. Partly because my vision is hindered by that emotional connection and partly because I am not always the one to get involved apart from prayer.

Whispers are those "way back in the quietness of your mind" thoughts that are very clear and to the point. I often hear God whispering my name, "David." over and over again to get me to stop and rest in Him about a certain situation.

Alerts are like whispers, but much more blunt, loud and less subtle. I once was driving down the highway and saw a hawk on top of a billboard. I then saw a turtledove on the opposite end of the same billboard. I noticed it and thought to myself, "that dove is in dangerous company". Instantly, the Holy Spirit dropped the following phrase into my mind; "pay attention to that sign". I was thinking He meant the billboard but I had not even noticed what it said. But He said,"No, the sign.". I then new He was referring to the hawk and the dove. I have prayed about this and I believe He was telling me that part of what He is doing here in the Church is shaping in us the dual nature of the hawk and the dove; the lion and the lamb; the warrior and the servant. That when we begin to see these two natures come closer together in the Bride, it will be a sign of something greater yet to come.

Embrace these examples as just that. There are few hard and fast rules to the ways in which God speaks other than the fact that He is speaking. He wants you to hear Him and He will speak to you in the way you hear Him best most if the time. Enjoy life with this living God.

In HIM, David Warren