May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. (Matt. 6:10 NLT)
This blog is about the closest thing I have to keeping a diary these days. Consequently, if you are reading these entries, you are going on a journey with me. Some of the thoughts I express in these pages are things I have been reflecting on for years. Sometimes though, the words you read are the result of me dangling my feet over the edge, dipping my toes in the water and exploring new depths with God. As a result, my thoughts may be unrefined and unprocessed. They may suggest more of a question mark than a period, inviting us to explore further. This will be one of those posts….
The last couple of weeks I have been thinking a lot about what it means to experience the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. This topic has been birthed in my mind from a combination of study, frustration and hunger for more. I don’t know why it took me so long to see it, but it finally occurred to me that so much of what I have been experiencing personally and within my family has been a direct attack from Satan. I could not figure out how I could pray and pray, see the beginnings of breakthrough and then have everything simultaneously fall apart. I resorted to the conclusion that maybe I don’t hear from God and maybe this is just how life works and what I should expect. This week I began reading a bit of the biography of John G. Lake. In his time, John G. Lake had an incredible healing ministry. He carried the power and anointing of God to such a great extent that he could tell, simply by the laying on of hands, what organ in a person’s body was affected with illness and then command it to be healed instantaneously. I knew this about John G. Lake, but I didn’t know his back story. I didn’t know how impacted he was by illness and death growing up. I didn’t know that out of 16 brothers and sisters, 8 had died in his early life and several other were impacted by serious ailments. I didn’t know that this was the breeding ground that produced such a passion and hunger in this man of God to see the enemy defeated and darkness eradicated. As I read his story, I discovered that like me, he had a moment where he finally realized that the sickness and death in his family was a launched attack of the enemy. From that place, he started to fight back.
I want to fight back. I realize now that every attack from the enemy is meant to silence my voice. It is meant for me to shrink and to cower down. It is meant to cause me to scale back my faith to match my experience, rather than contending for more. But more is always available.
In his book Hosting the Presence, Bill Johnson writes, “In heaven there are no thoughts void of God. He is the light, the life, and the heart of His world. Heaven is filled with perfect confidence and trust in God. On the other hand, this world is filled with mistrust and chaos. We will always release the reality of the world we are most aware of. Living aware of God is an essential part of the command to abide in Him.” I want to throw away every conclusion I’ve drawn about life that is based on my human experience. I want to re-educate myself about what is possible through the lens of faith. I want to live more aware of heaven than I do of Hell. When darkness pushes against me, I want to push back.
I used to feel that I wasn’t quite good enough to see God’s Kingdom released powerfully through my life. I used to think there was a certain measure of heaven available to people like myself and another measure available for the Bill Johnsons, Todd Whites, Heidi Bakers…you catch my drift. I realize now that it was never based on my merits. I believe God wanted me to catch a revelation of what He can and will do in my life simply because He loves me, simply because I’m His daughter, and simply because I’m hungry enough to ask Him for it.
I wrote months ago about the hope of heaven. It brought me great comfort to embrace the reality of heaven and to know what victory awaits us there. But every day, I am growing in hunger and anticipation to see heaven released here, in my life and in your life. I don’t want to stop contending until every situation in my life bears the marks of my maker’s healing, redemption and grace. As Bill Johnson has expressed in his writing, “We are not only those who are to pray for God’s Kingdom to come, we are the tools who are often used by God to release that reality into this one.”
I desire to know more of His likeness, His character and His nature and to see the fullness of His personality manifested in my life. I desire to keep pressing in deeper until I see His smile erupting over every facet of my life. I want to be the tool that God uses to release His presence and His atmosphere over individuals, homes, atmospheres and regions.
I believe the first step to seeing Heaven’s atmosphere touch down in our earthly lives is choosing to believe that more is always available. So let’s take the first step of this journey together. May the simple cry of “MORE” be the united prayer of our hearts and may we live every day in the awareness that we are the connecting points between heaven and earth.
I will give you the keys of heaven’s kingdom realm to forbid on earth that which is forbidden in heaven and to release on earth that which is released in heaven.” (Matt. 16:19 TPT)
