Advent 2021: Slow Down and Breathe
Advent can be understood as the church in waiting for the coming of the Lord. Advent has been observed by the global Church as early as the late 300’s AD…
We must choose to slow down this Advent season and let our souls breathe and adore the Lord Jesus. We are standing amidst the rushing currents of the hurry of the Christmas season. All this hurry is the enemy of love. You can’t hastily adore something.
Finding Your Voice
For us to find our voice, we must first be found by the voice of the One who designed us. The voice of God apprehends the human heart and aligns us with who we are and whose we are. Everything is under subjection to God’s voice.
In the Garden of Eden, it is God’s voice that called Adam back to his identity. As God shouted, “where are you?!” He hadn’t lost Adam. Adam had lost truth and needed to recognize he was lost. It took the searching sound of God’s voice to recalibrate Adam to who he was created to be. The word used in Genesis to describe God’s voice calling out to Adam and Eve is the same word used for singing, thundering, and the sound of an instrument.
Destiny Destroyers: Refusing Jealousy
Jealousy stalls out our destiny because it causes us to despise what we have been graciously given by the Lord in light of what someone else has been given. When jealousy is operating in our lives, we don’t steward and express the unique gifts God has given us to serve the Body of Christ; instead, we compare and compete to be better than one another.
God intentionally promotes others around us in different seasons to train us to honor and celebrate others. When we see favor rest on others, it tests our hearts for jealousy, and when we respond with celebration, we are set free.
The Intercession of Songwriting
This is an appeal to songwriters to explore the depths of writing songs that not only express the human heart but infuse the earth with the substance of Heaven. Perhaps you’ve never thought of songwriting as being intercessory. But, our songs can be a catalyst for “on earth as it is in Heaven.”
We are trekking the valleys, deserts, dark places, and mountains of life on our way home to all things new. Along the journey, our songs are opening wells (connection with heaven) in the valley of weeping (our present earthly reality).
Passion Week 5: It Is Finished
At the foot of the cross, we meet the King who is the servant of all. On the cross, we see the Father, who was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. There Jesus, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without blemish to God.
All three Persons of the Trinity present on the Hill outside of Jerusalem that Friday, accomplishing the work that would redeem, reconcile, and recreate the cosmos. More happened in that six hours on Golgotha then we will be able to comprehend for billions of years.
Passion Week 4: Father, I Desire
An explosion happened in the heart of Jesus as it became a groan of intercession. The same desire that brought creation into existence was about to bring a new creation out of His own body. These last words in prayer, before His betrayal in the garden, reveal the motivation of His heart in everything that will transpire over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Jesus has done the unthinkable. He asked the Father to give the redeemed of the human race the highest pleasure possible, to behold the unparalleled splendor of God in the face of Jesus and to feel the same love that the Father has for His Son…
the Joseph Journey by r.a. martinez
“Over the past decade I have studied the life of Joseph and have come to believe it is profoundly prototypical of the path that God uses to form pioneers. My prayer is that this book will help you gain clarity and confidence about the journey you are on now, find strength in knowing that whatever season you are in, the Lord is preparing you for divine assignments.” - R.A. Martinez Joseph Journey