“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through Him all things were made;
without Him nothing was made that has been made.
In Him was life, and that life was the LIGHT of men.
The light shines in darkness but the darkness has not understood it.
He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.
Yet, to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name,
He gave the right to become children of God.“
Children of God birthed not in the natural but supernatural.
Through the Name that is ABOVE every name.
Through the Name that causes every knee to bow and every tongue to confess.
The Name that breathes hope, life, freedom & peace into every situation.
The name that carries LOVE beyond our wildest dreams.
The name that looses every chain and sets the captives free.
The sweetest name I know…
JESUS.
YESHUA.
King of kings.
Lord of lords
Anointed One.
And the lover of my soul.
I am a child of God.
Anointed. Called. Chosen.
One with authority who is living the EVEN GREATER, just as Jesus proclaimed.
We are His body.
We are His bride.
For us He not only lived but died & rose again to give us LIFE- TRUE LIFE.
Full of love, hope, peace…JOY.
He is calling us deeper. Deeper into His heart…
Simply to BE with Him- unified as ONE with Him.
For a greater purpose. A greater destiny to fulfill.
“Not to us but to YOUR NAME be the glory” Jesus.
Your Name…
Power.
Breath.
Living water.
Come, flood this place- our lives, our homes, our cities, this nation- with ALL that You are.
Come LIGHT THE DARKNESS.
May your name be declared among the nations.
The LIVING WORD in our midst.
Come.
Peel Region belongs to YOU.
We long for You.
Let Your glory fall.
Come.
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It’s interesting…
I learned from a young age how to be independent, how to be self-sufficient. It was ingrained in me to always be “strong”, not to allow weakness to show. I was told many times by people that I was “too serious” and the truth is- I probably was! When you walk through traumatic experiences as a child you tend to go to the more serious end of the spectrum, at least I did.
What’s interesting to me is this- God’s kingdom is completely opposite to all that was instilled in me from a young age. This shocked my system when I went to college. I learned that it’s actually much better to depend on my loving Heavenly Father than to do it on my own. I learned that HE is all sufficient, not me, which really took the pressure off of my shoulders. Hello!
But it takes time to undo what’s been for years. To this day I struggle with allowing my weakness be exposed so that He is able to heal areas of my heart.
It’s been a week of weakness. A week when everything feels broken, raw, messy. I’ve felt like He’s brought me to the end of myself so that He can repair some of the broken places in my life, but it’s not easy.
He needs to bring us to the end of ourselves so that He can heal such places. If not we run around trying to fix ourselves, or pretending like everything’s ok when it’s not.
The truth of one’s heart is exposed in such moments- the good and the bad. Sure I’ve realized how far He’s brought me and how He’s transformed my heart up to this point, but I’ve also had a lot raw honesty moments. In these moments all I can say is, “HELP MY UNBELIEF”.
He’s reminded me of Paul’s raw moments in 2 Corinthians 12 when he says a thorn in his flesh was given to him- one that he begged the Lord to remove. What strikes me is Jesus’ response, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”{2 Cor.12:9}.
How quickly I disqualify myself when I have moments of weakness. Yet, He’s teaching me to rest in His love for me. He’s teaching me that HIS POWER is made perfect in such moments. He’s teaching me that it’s not about Jen and MY abilities, but HIS.
A song by Misty Edwards has stuck with me all week called, “I Knew What I Was Getting Into”.
The lyrics are:
I knew what I was getting into when called you.
I knew what I was getting into when I said your name, but I said it just the same.
I knew what I was getting into and I still want you.
I knew what I was getting into.
And I am not shocked by your weakness.
And I am not shocked even by your sin.
And I am not shocked by your brokenness.
I knew what I was getting into and I still want you.
I knew what I was getting into and I still like you.
I knew what I was getting into and I still chose you.
Cuz only I can see the end from the beginning.
And only I can see where this is going.
And only I can see the end from the beginning.
And I see in you the seeds of love.
And I see in you strength when all you see is your failure and all you feel is shame.
I can see deeper than that.
I know you better than that.
You’re only at the beginning.
You’ve only just begun and I know where you are going
And all you can see is the moment that you’re hurting.
And all you can see is the moment that you’re aching.
Just don’t give up.
And don’t give in.
If you don’t quit,
You win, you win.
Everything is in my hands.
It’s gonna be alright.
Everything is in my hands.
It’s gonna be alright.
It’s gonna be okay.
And you don’t have to pretend to be something or someone that you’re not.
Cuz I know you better than that, even better, even better than that.
Powerful truth.
His LOVE is enough.
His GRACE is enough.
He is my strength.
My Source.
He is EVERYTHING I need.
Incredible.
It’s about KINGDOM perspective. Seeing beyond the NOW into the future…and pulling the future into the NOW.
Perspective. His perspective. It’s a much better view than mine!
Mark 2:17
When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
It’s an Abraham season.
Transition time for many.
Moving on to new places. New and exciting territory. To places we’ve never been before.
Abraham was called to leave the familiar and go to the land God had called him to.
Did God give all the details? No.
He simply said “Go to the land that I will show you.”
It took faith, courage and surrender to GO, but he did.
He left all that he knew to go to places unknown.
Not only him, but also his family.
Our steps of obedience to GO are not just about us but about the Body of Christ, and about the GENERATIONS.
See, God was FAITHFUL to His promises with Abraham.
His family was blessed, he was completely provided for and God never fell through.
And because of Abraham’s faith, he was counted as righteous.
Obedience takes courage but faith allows such courage to become action.
Faith IS action.
Step by step, as we leave the familiar, I believe we will see God’s blessing and provision in ways we never have before.
But first we must TAKE A STEP.
God is expanding the tent pegs. Taking us from comfortable to uncomfortable.
It’s a season that we must fight the fear off our backs and choose FAITH instead of fear.
It’s a season of “YES” to the Lord and then waiting for His directions.
I believe He orders our steps- perfectly.
That kind of trust brings me great peace and great rest.
Knowing He works ALL things together for GOOD.
ALL THINGS.
Transition is never easy- moving from the old into the new.
It’s also never easy being those “left behind” in such transition seasons.
But, as those who walk in the spirit and not the flesh, we should always be transitioning from the old to the new- never stagnate.
Being uncomfortable is not a bad thing, being uncomfortable allows us to go to new places with Him.
It stirs our faith.
Stirs our hunger.
And forces us to depend on a Loving God who never leaves nor forsakes.
What does this all mean?
Live surrendered.
Be full of faith.
Be excited for the NEW and unafraid to GO when He says GO.
Will it be easy? Obedience never is.
Worth it? Yes.
May we be so uncomfortable in the familiar, that we are compelled to GO, that we are compelled by FAITH and not fear, so that we may live out the exciting adventure God has ordained for each of us.
Thank You Jesus that life is not meant to be boring.
BRING IT ON!
2 Kings 2:1-15
We are called to serve.
We are called to be Elijah’s.
We are called to train up the Elisha’s.
My life’s purpose is to see an empowered generation far exceed what my generation has ever dreamt possible.
It’s to invest everything I’ve got into a generation that’s hungry for MORE- Deeper love, stronger hope, greater purpose and most importantly God’s presence.
It’s to whet the appetite of a generation for the GREATER things {John 14:12} so that they’ll ask for a double portion, as Elisha did.
“Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.”
{2 Kings 2:9}
I long for a generation with such boldness.
The kind of boldness that asks for MORE, and not only asks for it but pursues it wholeheartedly.
When Elisha asked for a double portion, Elijah, his mentor, replies,
“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours- otherwise not.”
{2 Kings 2:10}
Elisha was bold.
Elijah wise.
Elijah knew this was a great thing to ask yet wanted Elisha to be aware that it was not going to be easy.
Often we see people on stage and envy their “call” or their lifestyle, yet we have NO idea what it took them to get to that place.
Sacrifice.
Courage.
Discipline.
Pain.
Surrender.
Obedience.
Yet we want what they’ve got.
Sometimes ignorance is bliss, but rarely.
If you wanna live the FIRE you’re gonna have to WALK through the fire.
The price is high but the reward beyond measure.
Elijah’s it’s time to call the Elisha’s forth. It’s time to invest everything we’ve got into them so that when the time comes for us to move on, they are equipped and ready to run.
Elisha’s- serve. Elisha’s, don’t leave the side of your Elijah or you could miss the “cloak” left behind. Your time has come. Do not be afraid to follow. And be ready to grab hold of the mantle {cloak} when it is passed on to you.
Ignite your FAITH with the PASSION He’s placed inside you and GET READY!
Was Elisha sad to see his mentor taken up to heaven? Yes. But he chose to trust God and move forward.
“Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him {Elijah} and struck the water. “Where now is the LORD, God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
The company of prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.”
{2 Kings 2:14-15}
Elijah’s pass it on.
Elisha’s grab it!
Activate your faith.
Hunger for the MORE.
Pursue the MORE.
And get ready because the GREATER is already being UNLEASHED!
This is a monologue that just kinda downloaded to me one morning as I spent time with the Lord.
I shared it at our SYTYGT {So You Think You Got Talent} Night a few weeks ago.
I Am Free
For many years, what seemed like an eternity really, I wandered around
in Darkness. It was like Darkness was attached to me, followed me
wherever I went. Darkness became my companion.
Somewhere along the way I encountered a spark of Light.
It helped a little bit but it still wasn’t enough to free me from this
deep Darkness.
Darkness was suffocating. Some days it even felt like I was drowning-
left abandoned at sea, left to die.
Sometimes death didn’t seem so bad because of the torment the Darkness
seemed to bring.
I remember being in a room filled with 100′s of people yet feeling the
deep ache of loneliness. Like nobody could see me.
The Darkness seemed to control me. It consumed me. And the truth is, I
let it. I knew nothing else.
Until one day.
Oh how I remember this day. I remember it well. The day TRUTH captured
my heart. The day TRUTH came in and dispelled Darkness.
Truth came in and gave me Hope.
Truth came & drowned me in LOVE. A Love I had never know before.
When Truth came in it was BLINDING.
I had lived in Darkness so long and was so accostomed to it that my eyes
went into SHOCK when Truth’s LIGHT broke through.
Yes, that is a day I will never forget. Truth has dispelled Darkness &
given me Hope. No longer do I live in fear.
Truth has shown me what life can be like full of JOY and LOVE.
No longer is Darkness my companion.
No! Truth, Hope & Love are and always will be.
I AM FREE.
This is something I wrote and sent off to several newspapers…
I am a proud Canadian. I take pride in knowing the rich foundations of my nation. Our founding fathers were men of integrity and character. They were men that stood for justice, men that stood for Truth.
I take pride in knowing my country stands with Israel. I take pride in a government that hears the voice of its people, and that is why I’m writing today.
I have a few things to say about our nations stance on our prostitution laws.
In a country that claims to be safe, in a country that claims to be free, we allow women, men and children to be exploited without any real repercussions for those doing the exploiting.
And now, as a nation, it’s being argued that the sex-trade needs more protection, more leeway? How will this benefit our nation? It won’t. It will only cause a landslide of issues to surface, or go deeper underground.
By striking down the anti-prostitution laws we allow for women, men and children to continue to be bound in slavery to the sex-trade in our nation. Such heinous crimes need to be stopped, not encouraged.
Unfortunately greed and unjust gain seem to be taking over our nations morality and values. When we begin to believe prostitution and the exploitation of women, men and children is “ok”, there is something seriously wrong.
Something has to be done and striking down the anti-prostitution law is not the answer.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Wilton
What is “greater”?
A place of being.
A place of rest.
A place of transformation.
Jesus said He came to give us life to the FULL.
A life of JOY, PEACE, & FREEDOM.
Pain free?
No.
Tragedy free?
No.
It’s a place of dependence on Him & His greatness, not my own.
A place of fulfilled desires, yet some waiting to be fulfilled.
A place of hope.
A place where the miraculous & supernatural are the “norm”.
A place of BIG dreams and even greater fulfillment.
A place of risk and adventure.
A greater existence means greater sacrifice.
One engulfed in a love that consumes your heart and overtakes your life.
That’s a taste of the “greater” but there’s so much MORE.
Often we live too small.
We live in these itsy-bitsy boxes that contain nothing besides self-sufficiency and fear.
I’m guilty of it.
We live as though we’re the ones who MAKE things happen. When really, it’s God who works all things together for GOOD.
Lately He’s been speaking to me about growth. He had me take a look at a seed and check out the growing process a seed goes through.
Every seed needs the proper growing conditions.
They need light, oxygen and water.
When a seed is planted it begins the process of germination.
Germination is basically the process of growth the seed endures.
What I read about germination blew me away.
I read that germination is the process of AWAKENING a seed from a DORMANT state.
Not only that, it’s going from a SMALL existence into GREATER.
A tiny seed bursts forth from the soil into its predestined state of being.
GREATER.
It goes from such a small, menial existence into a MUCH GREATER one in a matter of days.
But, the right growing conditions are key.
So it is in our lives.
I believe that we’ve lived our lives in such dormant states that at time we haven’t even recognized that we’re nearly dead on the inside.
I read that if a seed is laid dormant too long the embryo within that seed will die.
Intense.
I believe God is wanting to AWAKEN us to the GREATER existence He’s ordained for our lives.
What is lying dead on the inside of you that God wants to resurrect?
He alone can do it.
He alone makes things GROW.
Is it hope?
Is it peace?
Are there some dreams on the inside of you that you’ve let slip into the background, having lost hope they’d ever come into being?
I believe there is a great awakening happening on the inside of MANY of us.
The kind of awakening that shakes the very core of our being.
The kind that wakes us up to the HOPE of NEW LIFE.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want the seeds that God has planted within me to die. I want them to AWAKEN & BURST forth. I want them to bear the kind of FRUIT they were intended to bear in every season of life.
God has so clearly been saying to me “I’m taking you from your small existence into GREATER.”
That means bigger dreams.
Greater vision.
Incredible fulfillment of His promises.
How do we live in such a way?
By laying our lives at the feet of Jesus every day, surrendering to His plans and purposes.
It takes courage to live in such a way.
But when you KNOW Who He is, when you’ve encountered His DEEP, UNCONDITIONAL Love, you can’t help but want what He has for your life.
What are the right growing conditions for the seeds He’s planted in our lives?
TIME spent with Him…in His presence.
“I Am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives IN Me bears MUCH fruit. However, apart from Me you can do nothing.”
{Jesus in John 15:5. Emphasis mine}
There, in that place of ABIDING, the fruition of all that He has for our lives will come to pass.
*Jesus, help us to ABIDE in You, to be vitally united to You. Take us from our small existence into the GREATER You have for our lives. May we see the fruition of the promises You have us come to pass as You make the seeds within us GROW. Through it all, we will give YOU all the glory.
We absolutely LOVE You.
Amen.*
Who am I that You are mindful of me?
I am but dust, yet You choose me.
And, not only do you choose me, You CALL me by NAME.
You KNOW me.
Oh how I long to know You more.
Such Love overwhelms me.
A Love that goes beyond what I DO.
A Love that is unconditional and deeper than I can comprehend.
I’m undone by Your grace.
Though I fall, You pick me up and brush me off.
Why?
Because You love me.
Out of the OVERFLOW of Your love for me, my heart responds-
I adore You.
You are my passion.
You are my joy, my security.
My hope.
My strength.
You are my everything.
Victorious One,
Mighty Deliverer,
Above all else, You are the One my heart desires.
May my life bring You glory.
*Psalm 63:1-8*
O God, you are my God.
At dawn I search for you.
My soul thirsts for you.
My body longs for you
in a dry, parched land where there is no water.
So I look for you in the holy place
to see your power and your glory.
My lips will praise you
because your mercy is better than life itself.
So I will thank you as long as I live.
I will lift up my hands to pray in your name.
You satisfy my soul with the richest foods.
My mouth will sing your praise with joyful lips.
As I lie on my bed, I remember you.
Through the long hours of the night, I think about you.
You have been my help.
In the shadow of your wings, I sing joyfully.My soul clings to you.
Your right hand supports me.
“…For darkness is as light to You.”
Think about darkness.
When a candle is lit it expels the darkness. It may only be for a moment, but the area in which the candle is lit has been illuminated, revealed.
The dark places of our hearts are not incurable.
God is able to light a fierce fire in our hearts in order to not only expose the darkness but to also consume it.
He is a consuming fire.
And His Love is deep.
Pain, brokenness, sin, addictions, unforgiveness, ignorance…none is too dark for Him to restore.
No heart is beyond repair.
The places we run to. The places we try to hide from Him and those around us, He knows and yet, His love for us is unchanging.
Darkness cannot hide from light, though it may try.
“…even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” {Psalm 139:12}
Darkness does not scare God.
His light penetrates the darkness and brings freedom from captivity.
The dark places of our lives hold us captive but He draws us into His glorious light that we might live FREE.
Exposing the darkness in our hearts is only done through the Light of His Presence.
Nothing is too dark to be exposed.
Nothing is beyond restoration and healing.
Everything done in secret will one day be exposed.
Why fight the inevitable?
Why fight the GOOD He has in store?
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” {Romans 8:28}
Even in the darkest of valleys He is able to bring GOOD.
Beauty from ashes.
Sometimes He allows us to be broken in order that He may heal us properly.
If only we’d look to Him…see His love…and experience His healing hand.
But our rebellious nature often rules us and instead of inviting the Light in, we run from it, held captive by our own thoughts, addictions and failures.
Shame is dark but God IS Light.
I believe God is exposing the darkness within His Church.
He’s exposing it so that Light might reign instead of the heavy darkness.
He’s exposing it that His Bride would be pure and spotless, so that one day She would SEE Him.
“Blessed are the pure of heart, for will see God” {Matt.5:8}
So, may His light penetrate our hearts.
May His light reign in His Church that all darkness would be expelled.
And may the heaviness of secret, shame and rebellion be lifted.
*Father, expose the darkness of my heart. As ugly as it may seem, as gruesome as it may be, expose it. Expose it so that You may take its place. That You would be in control and have residency. For my heart is Yours and Yours alone.
Expose the darkness within Your Church. May She be a pure and spotless Bride.
Be exalted Most Holy One. Come and take Your place. *
