I’ve been meditating on a song the last couple of weeks called “How He Loves”. You see around this time last year I was walking on the clouds having recently been to Lakeland, FL where the Lord just blew my heart wide open.

One of the things He did while I was there was touch me in a place very deep inside of my soul, a place that had been locked up for a very long time. I literally burned for HOURS after this encounter, and although at the time I couldn’t tell you why it was happening, I can now.

I fell in love with Him in the deepest most profoundest way I ever have, and it RADICALLY CHANGED ME!

But I had to do something first before that could happen, I had to lay ME down. All my pre-conceived ideas, all my hurts, all my anger, all my JUNK!

SO what is the purpose of all of this? I’ve learned in the last year that my first priority is Him. I don’t ever want to lose that first love. My 2nd priority? That it spills over onto every person I come in contact with!

The first verse of the song paints a beautiful picture of what this love is like: He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree, Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy. When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory, And I realize just how beautiful You are, And how great Your affections are for me. And oh, how He loves us so, Oh how He loves us, How He loves us so!

WOW! Can you imagine such love? Have you ever experienced such love? Can you imagine what that kind of love can do to a broken and hurting and dying world?

The 2nd verse also paints a beautiful picture of this love: We are His portion and He is our prize, Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes, If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking. So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss, And my heart turns violently inside of my chest, I don’t have time to maintain these regrets, When I think about, the way… He loves us!

This love is available TO ALL of us! No matter where you are or where you’ve been this love is YOURS! It is the very nature and heart of our Daddy!

If you would like to watch an amazing performance of this song click on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoC1ec-lYps Before you do though, I want to encourage you to open your heart and allow the Lord to just love on you! Also have some tissue handy!

 Have an AMAZING, LOVE FILLED week!

For months now I’ve been hearing that there’s a difference between prophesying and the actual office of a prophet.  And while I know that there’s a place in the 5 fold ministry of prophet I hesitate to call it an actual “office” per se.

From my perspective here we have 2 groups of people Group 1 is those who underestimate the prophets role and prophecy all together and Group 2 seems to, in reaction to Group 1 overestimate it.

Understand that this is something that I personally have been struggling with in trying to have a balanced view on what the word actually teaches on this subject.  But I digress.

Obviously the difference between OT prophets and NT prophets is in their function.  Ot prophets dealt with the nation of Israel, NT prophets are called to the body for the body to equip the saints.  But on many occasion in the NT they refer back to something an OT prophet says.  That’s just a basic thing, but not why I’m here.

What I have discovered today in my studying has totally rearranged my thinking of gift of prophecy vs prophet.  While I appreciate others attempts at distinguishing the 2, I think they only get part of it.

I am going to give you a partial definition of what a NT prophet is:

A) Of prophets that appeared in the apostolic age *among christians*

1) They are *associated with apostles*

2. They discern and do what is best for the christian cause foretelling certain future events (Acts 11:27)

3. In religious assemblies of christians they were moved by the Holy Spirit to speak having power to instruct, comfort, encourage, rebuke, convict and stimulate the hearers

No here’s the definition of “Prophesying”:

1) To prophesy, TO BE A PROPHET, to speak forth divine impartations, to predict.

a) to prophesy

b) with the idea of foretelling the future events especially pertaining to the kingdom of God

c) to utter forth, to declare a thing which can only be known by divine revelation.

d) to break forth under sudden impulse in lofty discourse or praise of the divine counsels 1) under prompting to teach, refute, reprove, admonish, comfort others

e) TO ACT as a PROPHET, DISCHARGE THE PROPHETIC OFFICE.

Now based on that last part of the definition I cannot agree wholeheartedly that there’s a difference between the office of a prophet and the gift of prophecy.  A prophet prophesies. I’m not sure where we get the idea that just because you prophesy doesn’t make you a prophet.

Romans 12:4 uses the word office and the definition of that word is as follows: 1) a doing, a mode of acting, a deal, a transaction

2) a thing to be done, a business.

What does all this mean?  I’m not sure yet.  I’m still waiting on the Lord for that.  My goal in this is to get the right picture of this because prophets do play a pivotal role in the body and there’s 2 reactions to prophets: 1st is they are dismissed as nut jobs OR they are embraced as THE BIG DEAL.

God knows we’ve had plenty of people bring shame to the title prophet by referring to themselves as prophet so and so and then going and making a complete idiot of themselves.  I believe God wants to change that.  God wants to re-establish the role of the prophets in the body. And while we have some VERY NOTABLE people out there who function as such, they are more at a national level.  I’m talking about the local body more than anything.

PLEASE before you just take whoevers word about something, FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF what the word says!

You know I could be wrong about this too.  I just know that we need to have balance.  And really maybe it’s more about the ATTITUDE behind both groups that I’m having an issue with.

Anyone please feel free to voice your thoughts on this.  There’s alot of people I respect and trust, and I want to hear what you have to say!

“In Christ Alone”
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand

I had a few people ask me what the bookmark in your gift bags was about.  Since we ended up not having time to address it, I decided to do so with this devotional today!

 

Since the “Tabernacle”  was the theme we wanted to put something priestly in there, and so we came up with the priests “Ephod”  as it talked about in Exodus 28:11-21.  Each stone is representative of the 12 tribes of Israel.  The same stones are mentioned later on in the New Testament as the stones in the wall of the New Jerusalem!

 

 

In 1 Peter 2:5 says, “And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are God’s holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ.”

 

WOW!  Know what this tells me?  What we witnessed and were a part of this weekend, is just the beginning!!! We are going to see God do some mighty mighty things in the days ahead you guys!  And He’s chosen us and anointed us for such a time as this!  We get to be a part of Heaven colliding with earth!!!  What a beautiful collision it will be!

 

Ready To Rock Nations?  I am!

 

After much deliberation on what to blog about, I’ve decided to share with you some stuff that I’ve been chewing on!

I’ve been listening to Kathie Walters the last 2 days, and she has rocked my world!  I’ve listened to the same teaching twice, she’s so good!  She is Welsh and I could listen to her talk all day.  I’m lovin that accent!

She has given me a whole new perspective on the religious spirit that is so permeated our culture!  She calls it a “Qualifying Spirit”  I’d say it’s a spirit of unworthiness.  But here’s how she defines it:

“Anything that you have to strive for that only God can do, is a religious spirit.  If you see others with a prophetic gift or a seer gift and think that you could never have it, that is a religious spirit”

In order to fully function in the gifts the Lord has placed in you, and the calling in which to use these gifts, the spirit of religion has to be addressed.

I never really thought of myself as having issues with a religious spirit.  But you know here’s what’s gnawing on me.  I still have fear of man to a certain degree.  The Lord keeps shinging the light on that area for about the last few months.

We went to Arizona for Christmas, and spent some time with my husband’s mom and went to church with her.  She attends a small town Calvary Chapel.  Not necessarily super conservative aka Presbyterian, Baptist, etc.  But it’s not necessarily charismatic either.

That morning in the service during the worship, the Lord just started downloading all this stuff to me about the church, the pastor, and the worship leader.  About how they were going to be a catalyst for revival in that town, how in their personal times with the Lord, that His presence was going to be really heavy on them.  And that the Lord was going to take the worship leader to a place of worship he’s never been to before.

Pretty awesome stuff for sure!  However, scary for me to deliver to people I didn’t even know, and whether or not they were even going to receive it!  I had an opportunity here, was I going to let the fear of man get in the way, or was I going to let the Lord speak through me?  With much fear and trembling, I chose the latter.

I figure the Lord is going to keep giving me these opportunities to step out, and as I step out, He’s going to step in and I’m going to get free!  I want to be free!  I want to say what my Father is saying, and be His vessel, to bring hope to a lost and dying world!

John 1:14- And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld the glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.

 

Did you know that when you surrendered your life to Christ an unlimited resource of power was given to you?  Know what that resource is?  It’s the “Word”

 

I want us to look at the first part of the verse where it says “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” The Greek word for “Word” is “Logos” and there is a special definition for logos just for this very verse and it states this: “denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God”

 

Secondly I’d like to give you the definition of the word “Dwelt”  it means to abide (or live) in a tabernacle or temple.  How many of you know that we are temples??? 

 

Thirdly I’d like to look at the word “among” it means: IN, BY, WITH”

 

So we are a temple, and what lives in us Jesus Christ who is the wisdom and power and is in union with God!  This is our spiritual DNA!!!  This is our inheritance!!!  Can you imagine what a church that recognizes this and WALKS in that knowledge would do to our world???

 

I think the latter part of the verse shows us what we would see it says “we beheld the GLORY, the glory of the ONLY begotten of the Father FULL of GRACE and TRUTH!

 

The word Glory here is “Doxa” and one of the definitions of this word states: magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace.  How many of you know that this is what the world needs to see??? 

 

The bible says that “The earth will be filled with the KNOWLEDGE of the GLORY of the Lord like the waters cover the sea” Who’s job is it to make His glory known?  It’s ours!!

 

I encourage you all to begin to walk in the knowledge of who you are in Christ!  Not only will it radically transform you, but it will transform NATIONS!

 

Longing to see His Glory cover the earth,

 

Heather

1. I hate having my belly button touched.
2. I still miss Spain. Everyday. I pray that I can go back someday.
3. I don’t want to get another job.
4. I am thrilled that I don’t have a uterus anymore!
5. I would love to sit and have coffee with Todd Bentley, Ryan Wyatt, Bill Johnson, Beni Johnson, Jim Goll, and Kris Vallotton, and Keith Miller.
6. I crack up at people who think I’m crazy. I am, and I am perfectly ok with it
7. I don’t care if you think I”m obnoxious. I will never shut up about what Jesus did for me in Lakeland Florida in May of 2008. Everything else that the Lord has done in my life since then has been a a crazy rollercoaster ride and I LOVE IT and I LOVE HIM!
8. Everytime I look in the mirror I am shocked. I don’t feel as fat as I look.
9. I also really don’t care of people get annoyed with the fact that I act like a 17 year old, I like to have fun and I feel young. Age ain’t nothin but a number.
10. I am ALWAYS in the mood for God’s consuming fire and His glory to rain down, I love to watch how it transforms others and me!
11. Being drunk in the spirit is 10,000 times better than being drunk in the natural, and the effects of it last longer
12. I do like an occasional glass of wine
13. I”m a fruffy drinker, I do not do shots.
14. Whenever I look at Peter and Alicia I still see them as these almost 2 and 3 years olds. They were cute as buttons, and were always the light of my life. I am so proud of the 2 of them.
15. Sarai is HYSTERICAL. We like to talk about “back in the day” whenever we’re together.
16. I am ridiculously loyal. If you are in my circle and someone hurts you, you can bet I will be inflicting damage.
17. It’s probably good that I don’t own a gun.
18. Yes my family is tight, I know you think it’s abnormal. But when you’ve gone through the things we have in 20+ years of ministry you’ll understand.
19. My kids never cease to entertain me. Truly MY KIDS say the darndest things.
20. I really was a virgin when I got married, so was Jon. You can pick your jaw up off the floor now.
21. I have a thing for movies that involve the “Irish Sense Of Humour” PS I Love You cracked me up, so did this little known movie “The Matchmaker” Someday I am going to go to Ireland, sit in a pub and have a bit of “brilliant crack” if you don’t know what that is watch “The Matchmaker”
22. I think God has something HUGE for Jon and I. And I think it involves the people mentioned in #5
23. Family Guy is my guilty pleasure. Stewie is hysterical.
24. Make no mistake 2009 is my year and I am going to lose weight. A crap ton of weight.
25. I say crap. Alot. It’s better than the alternative.

The night Jill Austin died (if you don’t know who she is, go to www.masterpotter.com, and view her amazing ministry) I was not happy at all.  Losing her and Michal Ann Goll in the span of 6 months was more than I could bear, and I asked the Lord “why?” We need these women, or so my puny little mind thought at the time.

At that very moment the Lord said to me “Ask me for their mantle” needless to say I was blown away and did so.

In the days that have followed the Lord has been faithful to confirm his word.  Last week as I was watching Jill Austin’s funeral, Lou Engle stated that when Jill Austin died a mantle for a double anointing of the prophetic fell and we were to ask for it!

Last night I was watching a service at a church here in Denver called Power Invasion, where a woman named Shara Pradhan was scheduled to speak (she is with Iris ministries)  and the pastor was sharing that Shara was with Jill Austin when she died, and the Lord had told her that a mantle had fallen to a generation!

So today I decided to study up on the word mantle and went to 2 Kings 2:13 “He (Elisha) took up the mantle of Elijah that had FALLEN from him and went back and stood by the Jordan.

The word mantle here means “Glory, cloak, splendour, magnificence, cloak made of fine material or fur, a prophet’s garment”

The word fall here means to “Assign by lot, apportion by lot, To throw or prostrate oneself, throw oneself upon.”

Here is my declaration:  I am throwing myself onto this mantle, to help raise up an army of women that will take their place in the kingdom, and they will do great exploits for God!

How am I going to do this?  I am going to begin by really getting to know “Holy Spirit” as Jill Austin would call him, this is going beyond dependence on Him (it is important don’t get me wrong) but this is being intimately acquainted with him, going where he goes, listening to his voice.  This is the key to walking in this mantle that has fallen on a generation.

Lord, let it begin with me, I am willing…….

While I can’t share all of them, I can share some!

Since the loss of Michal Ann Goll and Jill Austin have weighed heavily on me this last little while, I feel it is important to address what the Lord told me, as it has ALOT to do with my dreams and vision for the future!

On Friday night when I got word that we had lost Jill, I was up until 4 in the morning talking to the Lord and I asked Him ” Lord we are in such amazing, crucial times, we need these women, why are you taking them?” His response to me was, “Ask me for their mantle!” and I was like Whoaaaaaa, and I obeyed. The Lord then showed me the army of women He was going to raise to carry that mantle in this word!

SO goal #1 Carry on in their stead, do what they would have done and Unleash Heaven on a world so lost in hell!

#2 GET MY PASSPORT RENEWED- lame I know, but I’m putting here, you heard it first, I AM GOING TO AFRICA, I don’t know when, I don’t know with who, but guarantee it’s going to happen!

#3 I’d like to go to some conferences this year. Currently I have my sights set on a prophetic school that Randy Clark is putting on in Castle Rock in October. BUT I WOULD LOVE LOVE LOVE to go to Keith Miller’s Sevenfold Spirit school at the end of this month short of a miracle, that won’t happen. Here’s the list of speakers I’d like to see this year:
a) James Goll (love him)
b) Keith Miller
c) Kris Vallotton
d) Bill Johnson
e) )Ryan Wyatt

Goal #4 Keep writing. I slacked on the holidays, but I’m getting my rear in gear. I have stuff from the Lord that is just burning in me, and I need to let it out haha!

Goal #5 I need to get back into teaching some, it’s my 1st mantle so to speak, and I haven’t done much with it as of late..

Goal #6 I want to be in a worship service with people from around the country, even from around the world, lifting Jesus high! With either Heather Clark leading or Dave Fitzgerald, or BOTH, Dave one night Heather the next, that would be AMAZING…..

My ULTIMATE GOAL however is to just stay in love with my Jesus (like it’s hard) He’s done so much for me, and I want others to experience the same thing!

There you have it my friends! 2009 the Lord already told me, is the year of “Not by might, not by power, but by His spirit” Get ready, and like Roy fields says, let’s be the generation who TIPS THE BOAT OVER!!