Galatians 5:24 – “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.”

The self matters very little. What I desire, what I think I need, what I think I want to do does not matter. All that matters is God. This life that I live must be lived in absolute surrender to the will of God. Those that live for self will die to self. Those who live to promote their own agenda will die in abandonment and the grave. This longing for self is a false longing.

I will be honest with you, dear reader. There are times that I notice my self wanting to be served rather than to serve. There are times when I would rather sit at a table and have someone wrap a cloth around his or her arm and wait upon my every desire – to be treated with respect and dignity. This desire is false because it does not emanate from the heart of Christ. Christ came to serve and not to be served. He came to give his life and not to pick it up.

Even when I work hard and have success I still do not deserve to be served. Even if I have worked for 12 hours straight and feel weary and tired I do not deserve to come home and expect to be waited upon hand and foot. The heart of Christ within me must come home – pick up the towel – and wash the feet of those whom I love. In this dying to self and the desire to be served I will find my new life. Christ within me will glow and those that I love will be edified and built up rather than torn down.

When I expect something from those I love they will live in the pain of my expectation, but when I expect nothing and give, then those that I love will be free to love me in return, since there will be no expectation from me to unsettle them.

My prayer becomes: “Father in heaven, please free me from the desire to be served and radiate a servant’s heart within me. Help me to come to the place of pure desire – a place of serving you and those you bring my way. Holy Spirit, help me to die to the need to have others serve me. Help me to be a servant to the world.”

I believe if you will pray this prayer now a new anointing will come upon your life and you will be set free to serve the body of Christ in a brand new way. Try praying this prayer sincerely. It is my belief that you will be surprised by the joy it brings to your spirit.

Several years ago I was going through a trial as I looked at my life. I was longing for many things, so much so, that I could scarcely think of anything else but the things that I wanted. I wanted a wife. I wanted a family. I wanted a good job. I wanted a house. I wanted the ministry God had for me. I lived in this place of want for a long time.

One day I was reading Thomas Merton and something that he said popped out at me. He said that to live in want was to live outside of the will of God for your life. The truth of the statement hit me. I had been spending so much time concentrating on the things that I did not have, and not concentrating on the one thing that I did have and that was God. In that moment of revelation, I turned to the Shepherd and asked him to forgive me for my desires that were not from him.

I began a different approach with God. I began to worship him and ask him what he wanted for my life and as I came into agreement with his will for my life I began to feel more satisfied and contented.

The truth is when we are living in want we are living under a spirit that is not from God. The truth is that the Lord is my shepherd and he will take care of all my needs. I have no need because God is taking care of me.

Matthew 6:34 says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Prior to this verse in Matthew Jesus talks about how God cares for the birds and dresses the lilies. He describes how contented they are with the provision they have from the hand of the Father.

Oh little children, how much more does God care for us!

So cast off all your worry today. Turn to God and repent for all the wants in your life. Cast off that foul spirit of want. Be content in God alone and he will provide you with all your heart’s desire. Do not suffer needlessly but look to God as the source of all and worship him for who he is. He will provide you with what you need in his own good time.

2 Timothy 3: 14-17 (The Message Bible)
There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.

In one part of this book called “Forgiveness”, Gary Ingrid elaborates on the story of the unfaithful servant. This servant was forgiven a great debt by his King. He actually begged the King to forgive him of the debt and not to throw him into the debtor’s prison. The King showed compassion on the debtor and forgave him of his great debt, which was on such a scale that he would not have been able to pay the sum of it back in his lifetime.
Once his debt was forgiven the debtor went from the presence of the King and met a man that owed him $10,000 to $20,000. A small fraction of the millions upon millions that he owed the King. Instead of forgiving this man his debt he threw him in prison where he would be tortured until his debt was repaid.
The King heard of this great grievance and had this man brought back before him, he rebuked him and threw him into prison where he would remain with his family until his debt would be repaid, which would likely be never.

I had conviction in my heart as I read this story. I realize the great grace that God has on my life in that I am free from the great debt that I owe him because of what Jesus did on the cross. As I read this story again I realized that there are people that I have not been merciful with. In fact, some that owe me little I have placed great burdens upon hoping they will pay me what I think they owe me quickly.
I have not forgiven them as I ought to have forgiven them.
This story from scripture brought conviction to my spirit. I realize from this story that I have to surrender to God in more areas of my life. If I am to remain in God’s grace I must be gracious. If I want God’s mercy I must be merciful.

2 Timothy 3:14-17 tells us that God’s word is good for correcting us. The truth of this scripture comes to the forefront of my mind this morning as I think about how this story of the debtor helped me to see my own sinfulness. I am a man who has been forgiven a great debt – one that I could never repay and yet I am holding onto pity grievances against those I should be merciful too.
Maybe you are like me. Perhaps there are those you need to release this day into the care of almighty God. If so, then pray with me.

Dear Lord, forgive me of my debts as I forgive those who are indebted to me. I bless them and release them into your divine care.

A young man asked me about the timing of prophetic words. In essence he wanted to know if it was a lack of faith in him, which resulted in a prophetic word not coming to pass. I am not sure why this was an issue to him but he said that he had received a prophetic word from a prophet, but has yet not seen it come to pass, and it was suggested to him that it was because he lacked faith in the word.

To be honest with you, I am not sure if I understand the context of this question, but it got me to thinking about the timing of prophetic words. Just because a prophetic word has not yet come to pass, does not mean that it isn’t a prophetic word or that you have lacked faith to see it come to pass.

I am reminded of the story of Joseph in the bible, who had a dream as a young man. Some say that he could have been as young as 17 when he had this dream. In it he saw the moon and the sun, and 11 stars bow down before him. When he woke he realized that God was saying that his family would honor him as their leader one day. Instead of treasuring this word in his heart and waiting for it to come to pass, as Mary the mother of Jesus did regarding what was spoken over Christ, Joseph began to speak to his family about that dream.

This incited all kinds of sibling rivalry and resulted in Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery into Egypt. You guys know what happens next, Joseph excelled in Egypt in whatever he found his hand to do, but because of an incident with his bosses wife ended up in prison for no good reason. He spent many years in prison.

He was 30 years old before he interpreted the dream of Pharaoh. 13 years had past between the time he had the dream and the time he became second in command of all Egypt. And it was longer still before he saw the vision regarding his family come to pass. Joseph was likely in his late 30’s – 37 or 38 – before his brothers came to the land and bowed down before him to get food to sustain them through the famine. 20 years is a long time to wait, but the word came to pass.

Moses waited even longer. He had an understanding that he would deliver his people from the bondages of Egypt when he was in his late 30’s. By the age of 40 he killed an Egyptian who had oppressed one of his Hebrew brothers, but instead of leading his people in an uprising against Egypt and setting them free, he ran into the desert where he attended sheep for 40 years. It was at the end of this great long wait that God appeared to him in the burning bush telling him to go back to Egypt to set the Hebrews free. Now isn’t that a long time.

When I was 22 years old the Lord spoke a great prophetic word over my life. At the time I thought that the word would come to pass very quickly. I remember thinking that any day I would walk into this call that the Lord had for my life, but now I am 38 years old and I still haven’t seen the complete fulfillment of that vision.

There is a space between a vision and the time that it takes to come to pass. The Lord inspires you by granting you his vision, but then he has to build character in you in order that you may sustain that vision. Moses had to learn to tend sheep in the desert in order to lead his people through the same places. Joseph had to learn to administer resources in a household and in a prison before he could administer the resources of a nation. There was nothing that these men could have done to hurry God’s plan for their lives. They had to wait patiently for the Lord and in due course they accomplished God’s plan for their and so will you.

If you have a word and you think there is some step of faith that you need to take in order to make it come to pass – well – then perhaps that might be the case, but timing has as much to do with it as anything. God has to prepare you in the secret places in order for you to carry out his work for your life. He will humble you and work on your character in such a way that when the time comes to fulfill his word for your life, then you will do it in such a way that your character fits the task.

2 Samuel 6:20-23

²⁰ When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
²¹ David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. ²² I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” ²³ And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.

On Friday I had a wildly prophetic day.  My good friend Ryan visited me at my work which usually results in some wild things occurring in the spirit around us.

Yesterday I sensed that the Lord wanted me to hand Ryan one of my mantles – my mantle for government.  I saw this mantle actually like a sword.  I told him that God was going to bring him to one of the gates of our country and it was his job to ensure that righteousness arose in that place by the Holy Spirit working through him.

In the middle of a busy government food court Ryan gets down on his knees and says to me “I cannot accept this mantle without humbling myself.”  This food court had hundreds of people walking about and we were seated in the highest traffic location.

I felt that people were not looking at him as much as they were looking at me.  I was humbled by his act but I was ok with it.

All of sudden Ryan decides that he needs to humble himself further and he lies down in the middle of the food court, face down with his arms outstretched like Christ on the floor.

I was now wrecked inside.  I thought to myself this man has shown greater humility than I have ever shown in my life.  He didn’t just stay there a few seconds.  He was down there for more than a minute.  Twenty, thirty or forty people saw him do it.  They looked to me to see if he was alright.  I ensured them that he was.

Two guys sitting right next to me I knew from working with them.  These guys know me as the “Economist.”  There is much dignity in such a title and honor, but in this moment I sensed great fear as my dignity was being unraveled.

I could not do the same as Ryan and humble myself in such a way.  At least that is what I thought.

I had a meeting that afternoon.  I told a couple of my friends what had happened.  One of them is a wild Christ walker as well.  When she heard the story she wanted to go down and do the same.

I went down for a diet coke at 3pm.  I showed her the spot where the act had taken place.  She jumps down on the floor with traffic passing by and does a cross position on the floor.  I think my God everyone is gone crazy.

The truth was I was wrestling with the flesh.  In my heart I knew I had to humble myself in this way.  God was screaming it to me but he was saying something good would follow.

I was sitting and we were talking and then I knelt down on the floor to pray and then I sat back in the chair.  There was a TV monitor over our seat.  When I looked up I saw a phrase that began with “Don’t Fear.”  I knew it was a God word.  I didn’t know why God wanted me to do this but I sensed that he wanted me to.

I got down on my knees and then lay down on that floor thinking that at least the cafeteria was not as busy as lunch time, and besides I was lying with my face to the floor and no one would recognize me anyway.

When I got up and sat back in my chair my friend said to me “Do you know who saw you doing that?”  She told me that the head doctor for our department was watching as I humbled myself before the Lord.  It was the head doctor of our organization who sat in on one of my presentations and admired my work immensely, the same doctor who liked talking to me about my work.

I thought well at least he didn’t see my face so we then headed upstairs to go back to our office, but who should meet me and look me in the eyes but the head doctor of our organization.  What was interesting is that I could see in his eyes fear.

I got to my computer and turned it on.  I checked my facebook news feed and the first line that rolled through was by Kris Vallotton from Bethel in Redding, California.  He quoted Joseph Garlington as saying, “Sometimes you have to lose your dignity to get your deliverance!”  And then he follows it up with this “Ask the blind man who Jesus used spit to heal his eyes.”

The bottom line is sometimes God asks us to do crazy things in order to be set free.  He sets us free to give us more.  I don’t know exactly why God had me lose my dignity in front of my colleagues and directors, but I can assure you of this I felt an immediate freedom inside when I did it.  I felt alive in a way I never felt before.  I feel like the fear of man has left me in a new way.

He whom the Son sets free is free indeed.

By the way I am not telling you to do the same.  Rather listen to God and do as he asks even if what he says seems strange.

Galatians 6:8-10: Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

As a Prophet you get use to people coming to you to receive a word. While on my recent ministry trip to the United States, people were chasing me around with IPhones and lap top computers. They wanted me to not only prophesy over them, but also over their family members near and far, even via Skype.

In Kentucky, I prophesied over family members that were in England, Hawaii and other parts of the United States. I prophesied to over 200 and 250 people in five days on that trip in New York, Kentucky and Virginia.

As you minister to many people you begin to understand the longing in people’s hearts for an encounter with the Most High God. You begin to understand that God is the only one who can bring people hope. The more I do this the more I see this.

My deepest prayer is that while I pour out prophetic words over people they will also receive an impartation to carry the same anointing.

Let me suggest a reason why you might want to begin prophesying more. As you sow, you reap. This is scripture! I probably get more prophetic words than most. As I prophesy and teach others to prophesy I ask them to prophesy over me. I might get 10 to 15 prophetic words a week. As you sow the prophetic ministry you will reap from it as well.

The prophetic words I receive from others bring great comfort to my heart. Because when the word of God returns to you it is like life for your spirit, body and soul. Ecclesiastes 11:1, “Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.”

Continue to minister. Continue to pour out. For in due season you will reap a harvest.

A few nights ago I agreed to let the Lord use me in a new way. I actually volunteered for a new assignment. This was a two part vision over two nights.

The Lord showed me that because I responded to his call I would be rewarded. He showed me that I would have more fruitful ministry on earth and then he showed me the heavenly city and my house within her. I was in awe of his majesty and glory. I was amazed at his generosity to me.

There are many of you reading this now that have been wanting a touch from the Lord. And the good news is he is ready to touch you.  The better news is not only will he touch you, but he will touch you to touch others.  God is going to open up the fields of harvest for you.  You have been calling out and this is your hour.  I declare much will return to you as you minister much.

I pray that God will open your hearts to receive from him now and as you reach toward him with purity that you will experience the shores of heaven.