I declare that the unemployment rate in the demonic realm is about to skyrocket in the city of Detroit as more and more people become delivered and set free in Christ Jesus!

There were several testimonies of healing tonight.   I was short of breath when I came to church tonight and felt the heaviness of my body trying to fight a bad cold.  My chest was tight with congestion.   During service, Holy Spirit came over me and I had the energy to dance and flag nonstop for at least 30 minutes.  I had no trouble breathing and endless energy!   Meanwhile, my daughter realized that she was able to dance and later run with the other kids without any sign of the sports asthma she has struggled with.  My other daughter had an annoying itch in her shirt and pulled out a five dollar bill!   That was just my family!   There were several other testimonies – one woman came in with pain in her shoulders and neck and left with NO PAIN!  Another woman was filled with joy and was nearly speechless about the goodness of God she was feeling!  Another woman received a revelation of her need for God and how nothing else in this world can satisfy.  

People were radically touched and changed by the Presence of God tonight.    It was amazing watching Him move across the sanctuary and seeing His glory on their faces.    Dancing and rejoicing filled the sanctuary and people spent themselves physically in worship before the Lord.   I’m not just talking about some of the people present.  I am talking about every person present joining in, worshipping, surrendering, crying out and getting filled.  

In the spirit I saw demons falling off of people’s lives and their lives being saved from death and suicide!  

On my way home, I began to sense an incredible breakthrough of colossal size in the area of finances.   

God wants to pour out His Spirit on all flesh as He has said.   He has been speaking through His prophets, declaring it and calling us to get ready.   He is looking for people who are willing to make their lives as a landing strip for His Glory.   He is moving.  He is preparing His people.   Come and see for yourself.   Come and be challenge, delivered, changed and set on fire to burn forever for Christ.   Move from a place in your life where you hope your living well for God to a place where your life screams freedom, righteousness, peace and joy.    We’re going for it!  Will you?

Find out more info at:   detroitrevivalchurch.com

You will also want to join us at New Hope Assembly in Taylor, MI for the Bay of the Holy Spirit Revival coming June 16th and 17th.    Check it out at:    newhopeag.com

Here is my DAY NINE post (also included on my Proverbs 31 Forty Day Challenge Page).

Spent the day filling up a ginormous pool in our backyard.  It’s still not full yet!   Anyway, I was tired from being out in the 95 degree weather all day and didn’t write my post.  So it’s the morning of Day Ten as I write Day Nine.

My focus is on Phil 4:4-5.  Specifically, rejoicing in the Lord and being gentle for the Lord is near.   There are specific issues the Lord is highlighting in me that He wants to deal with.  Things that have consistently caused me to lose my peace.    I still have some control issues.  It all works together with the fear of failure thing as well as striving and trying to do things in my own strength.  I also realized that I still struggle coming to the Lord when I  know I’ve blown it.  Again, trying to do things in my own strength, control and not being able to fail, all working together to steal my peace.  

In Phil. 4:2-3, Paul urges two women to agree with one another in the Lord and even urges others to help them.  Then he tells them all to rejoice in the Lord always and even repeats it!  Then, let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  

Recently, the Lord spoke to my heart concerning rejoicing or celebrating others, specifically, family members.   I can see Paul urging the ladies to find agreement in the Lord and rejoice together.  Rather than focusing on the insignificant differences they are having and letting it form a negative perspective toward one another, focus on the things that can be celebrated and rejoice over one another!

The Lord is doing this in me with my children.  It has been a long year of homeschooling and I feel drained and exhausted, especially as I deal with some nagging issues and bad habits in my children; issues and habits that have formed because of guilt or lack of discipline.  As the Lord reveals boundaries that I must set in order to deal with these habits and behaviors, He is also revealing treasures in my children.  These treasures are eternal and mighty for the Lord’s purposes in their lives and in this world for such a time as this.  They are reason for rejoicing in the Lord for He is raising up a generation that will shine His Light in this world and usher in His Kingdom like never before. 

Yesterday, as I was dealing with a specific behavior in one of my children, with more firmness and volume than necessary, the Lord revealed more treasure in my child and brought clarity.  I was able to chill out just a little, then speak that truth to her.  I saw a battle of the wills become a teachable moment.  I saw a child frustrated and angry, soften and begin to receive understanding.   It’s no longer about this bad behavior, but about who she is in the Lord and how she can begin walking in that truth.

I struggle with letting my gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.”    The issues of control and fear of failure drive me to a place of being an angry drill sergeant.   I try to change this little person in my own strength instead of trusting God with her heart.   But this is a season of surrender.   As I surrender, even in the tiniest amount, the Lord meets me with a revelation.   The more He shows me, the more I surrender. 

Only God can bring order into our hearts and lives in such a way that will cause us to live in peace, not just on the surface, but in the depths of our being.  This is how we become carriers of peace.

Last night we had a blast in the mighty Presence of God.  During the worship service, Holy Spirit led me to the altar to flag during one song.  As I flagged I sensed the release of joy, victory and freedom.   Prophetic words of hope and encouragement were then released over people.  Not long after, we were led to do a fire tunnel.   People were touched, wrecked and filled as they made their way through the tunnel. 

God’s Presence, bursting with joy and freedom, filled that place and it was like a party!

Every week, the services are becoming more and more intense in the power of God.  He is wrecking us, filling us and preparing our hearts for what He desires to do.

Perhaps you are wondering, what is the purpose of that?  How does that bring salvation to a city?  People getting sloshed in the Spirit so that they can hardly walk out of the building!  What is that all about!?!

Take a look at the city of Detroit.  Have you seen it lately?  Have you driven through it?  What do you see? 

Do you see joy?  Do you see life?  Do you see purpose and hope?  Do you see justice and righteousness? 

God is doing a work in His body.  He is breaking down religious barriers that has given the world a false picture of His beautiful bride.  To the world, she may look more like a prune faced schoolmarm rather than a radiant bride who sweeps Him off His feet.   If that’s what they think the bride looks like, than how must they picture the  groom?!!!    Or the world may see the church as a community of people where they can gather safely, feel good about themselves and go on with their lives without interruption or challenge.   That shallow representation does not reflect the depth of the Word of God, the work of the cross, or the relationship God desires to have with His people.

If we, as Christians, are not fully convinced of the joy and freedom available to us in Christ, how are we going to carry it to others?  If we are so afraid of being undignified and find ourselves threatened and offended by the manifestations of Holy Ghost joy, as King David’s wife was, we may find ourselves barren as she did. 

Make no mistake, reverence is not absent.  There are many times we find ourselves on our faces in the fear of the Lord.  There are times a holy hush falls and we are awed by His Greatness.   Intimacy with the Lord is foundational in our relationship with Christ.  Repentance and Holiness are a must.   It is not about having a great time in the Presence of God and then leaving to live however you want.   We must live a life that declares “I will be holy as He is holy!”   Hidden sins are often rooted out and laid down at the altar.  Deliverance comes.  The Lord is purifying His Bride. 

Detroit needs a breakthrough of colossal magnitude, as do many cities.   God is looking for a people who will go beyond themselves and receive all He has, however He desires to deliver it.   We must break before Him that He may expand our hearts and spirits.  He wants to fill us to the fullest so He can reach the city through us.   No “box mix” Christianity is going to win this city.   It’s going to take people who are  available, unoffendable, walking in holiness, burning with the passion and fire of an intimate relationship with Jesus, and have no dignity or reputation to defend - conduits through whom Holy Spirit can freely flow.  

Will you be one?  Will you look beyond all that you have been used to and see the “more” that God has for you.  He loves you so much and wants to blow your mind with His dreams and desires for you.  Will you let Him?  Will you abandon all that you know?  Will you abandon yourself to Him and trust Him completely?

Don’t miss this opportunity.  Ask God to make you a burning one.  Cry out for Him to consume you with His Holy Fire.  Become His and His alone.

Today, we enjoyed our first day in theLab internship.  Wow!  What an awesome first day!  We started by praying in the Spirit, then got on our faces before the Lord.  He started dealing with some things in a few of us and cries of repentance rose up.  Then we were blessed to be prophesied over by an amazing woman of God.  It was incredible to see God crack open some hearts and allow hidden dreams to spill out as He declared over them, “I see your dreams.  I put them there, and it’s time to call them forth.”

I am so grateful and humbled to be part of such an amazing opportunity.   I am anticipating challenge, stretching and growth on a personal level but also on a corporate level.  I have never felt such a strong unity among a group of believers as I have with theLab staff and team.   Some of these people I met for the first time today.  But, already, they have a special place in my heart.  I will be pulling for them in prayer that they will receive everything God has for them in this internship and that they will breakthrough, not just one level, but several! 

And of course, the purpose of this internship is so much more than just growth in our relationship with the Lord.  It is to become burning carriers of the Presence of God so we can carry encounter wherever we go.  

I am tired of seeing darkness and despair hanging on people everywhere I go.  There is heaviness and hopelessness on the majority of people, even many Christians.  Enough of that.  It is time to break through the darkness with the Light of Christ and bring deliverance and salvation to the multitudes. 

I can’t wait to see what God is going to do here in Detroit.  But, even more, I can’t wait to be part of it!  Maybe you would like to join us!

revivallab.com

Proverbs 31:27 says, “She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.”  

 I have chosen this verse because the Lord has been speaking to me about letting Him bring some order to my lifestyle.  I have a “fly by the seat of my pants” type way of going through my everyday.  It has proven to bring a lot of chaos and frustration and breeds procrastination and laziness.  This is not conducive to the purposes and plans of God in my life or even the life of my family.   They, too, are learning some bad habits. 

So, I am on Day Four and have been recording my progress on another page of my blog.  You can check it out if you’d like.  http://free4life.wordpress.com/40-day-challenge-prov-31/

Being on the 40 Day Challenge has really caused me to be very intentional about what I am doing with my day.  It has also caused me to take a closer look at my motives.  Only four days in, and it is already quite obvious that there are some things I need to die to so I will be able to walk in the peace and victory that Christ has made available to me. 

One thing I have realized is that I don’t really know the true meaning of order – God’s definition.  I’m not sure what it looks like.  I have my own idea but when I try to apply what I think order is, control and frustration rise up in me. 

This challenge brings the opportunity for a greater measure of surrender and exchange – my ways for His ways.  I am believing for and expecting fresh revelation that will break off mindsets and habits that have become obstacles.    But, even more,  I am also expecting a greater revelation of who God is and His perfect love for me. 

Perhaps the Lord will lead you on a 40 Day Challenge of your own that will bring you to higher heights in your walk with Him.   I encourage you to check out Amy’s blog and  40 Day Giving Challenge.     http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2F40daygivingchallenge.com%2F&h=99f00   Let me know if you start you 40 Day Challenge!  I’d love to follow your story!

As He sits and looks your way, there’s an invitation to come to Him.  Like a child, you run to Him fearlessly and nestle in close.  A purr begins to rumble from somewhere deep – the sound becomes like a tangible peace enveloping, then consuming to the core of your being.  

The warmth coming from Him is like that coming from a Holy Fire that changes you from the inside out the longer you linger.   Like the peace, His love is tangible and you cannot only sit and receive.  You are drawn to stroke His fur and kiss His face, even though your mind wrestles with the wondering of how this could be acceptable.

Sometimes the Lion shows up and He is standing.  The authority that is so apparent in His gaze, is intensified in His stance.  In fact, the quivering of His muscles release vibrations of authority that command the atmosphere. Who can stand against Him? 

Yet for those who spend time with Him as He sits,  the tangible peace merges with a righteous fire and becomes like a burning confidence compelling you to advance  in faith and destiny.   

Should He shake His mane, the earth trembles.  Should His belly rumble with a cloaked roar, terror strikes the heart of every foe.  Should He open His mouth and roar with might, Holy fear strikes like an arrow and drops  everyone to their knees. 

As He shakes His mane, things are set into order.  Messengers are sent out and assignments released. 

As He roars into the earth,  darkness breaks loose and Truth hits its mark.  Strongholds are broken; prisoners are set free.

He will pounce and send ripples through the land.  Dominion will be taken by the sons of God and He will establish His government.   Sickness and disease lose their grip and the Blood of the Lamb has the final word. 

He is the Mighty Lion of Judah and we are invited to sit with Him and to walk with Him.  

He is giving us a roar to release in the earth.

. . . all coming to Detroit within the next 6 months.   God is rocking Detroit.  There is no doubt that He is preparing a great move, outpouring, revival – whatever it will be called - that will have the potential to change Detroit, the state of Michigan, the entire United States, the world. 

There is a momentum that has begun and is building and must continue to build.   

Are you a contender?  Will you join us in contending for revival in Detroit?    

There should be such a momentum going in the spirit that when The Call comes to Detroit on 11-11-11, there will be no stopping it on 11-12-11 or anytime after.  

God desires to transform our lives to the point of transforming our culture – a culture that is filled with the Kingdom of heaven.   We are yielding ourselves to the passion of God and aligning ourselves with all that He has purposed for such a time as this.   

This is not something we wait for, it is something we prepare for.  It’s not an event, it’s a lifestyle.

Will you join in the contending for His Kingdom to come?   Will you become one who will avail yourself to be a carrier of revival fire, burning with passion to see a dying city rise in the resurrection power of Christ?

So you think you’re not an intercessor?

I did not always consider myself an intercessor, far less a contender.  In fact, I didn’t even like to pray for most of my Christian walk.  But God began to remove the tentacles of religion from my life and transformed me into a passion filled, intimate intercessor willing to go to the depths to cry out the cry of God’s heart.  

How did I get here?  By joining with other passionate, radical seekers of God who want nothing more than to see His Kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven.  

It has been the most challenging yet exciting time of my life as I run with fellow contenders and with the Lord.     

Are you burning?  Or are you stuck and would like to be burning and growing and become a shifter of the atmosphere? 

Join us!  We are looking for 1000 intercessors to pray for revival in Detroit! 

Check out the following link:

  http://revivallab.com/about/

God is moving in Michigan, there is no doubt.  He is moving in this nation!  What a joy to continue seeing connections being made within the church, crossing denominational lines.  In fact, during one of the prayers, I saw thin, transparent walls around churches.  I understood this to represent the thinning and weakening of walls that have kept the body of Christ from coming together in unity.    A love for one another in the body of Christ is rising up among many believers.  God’s people are tired of judging and being judged by one another.  We are finally laying down our insecurities and embracing God’s heart for His people.  This is how we will reach the world!   The world will come to know Christ when they see that the church looks like Christ!  It is happening!  I am seeing it more and more and it is BEAUTIFUL!!!!

I am so thankful for leaders that God has appointed to be catalysts of change in the church and in the government.   What an awesome day we live in! 

If things have seemed dark and dreadful from your perspective, let me encourage you to look up!  Look to the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace upon whose shoulders the government rests.  Now is not the time to fret and worry, or worse yet, whine and complain, or moan and groan!  Now is the time to WAKE UP!  ARISE!   Contend and intercede!  Worship and declare!  Align yourself with God and let Him download into your heart and spirit the reality of what He is doing in this land!  Don’t be a passive observer!  You were not born for that!!!  You were born for such a time as this and YES!  your participation will make a difference! 

RISE UP! RISE UP!  RISE UP!  Sons and Daughters of the Most High God!  It is time to TAKE BACK THE LAND  in the MIGHTY NAME OF JESUS CHRIST!!!!

I don’t know what it is about trees, but I’d swear I can hear their voices as they declare the glory of God to all creation.    They have made it through the winter and now it is time for them to awaken and shout!   Not only that, it seemed like these trees were cheering on the rest of creation to wake up, wake up, wake up!  

These trees are set along the backdrop of a city greatly in need of awakening and restoration.    I see a determination to thrive abundantly in the midst of  desolation.   

It’s time to become like those trees.    The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in me.   Just last Sunday, I kept hearing the word “breakout”.  Even at the end of the service, the pastor declared a breakout – breaking out of things that are hindrances and indeed a breaking out of the Spirit.    Holy Spirit is in us and He wants to break out.  Like the buds and leaves lying dormant in the trees through the long winter, spring comes and that life presses through the bark and bursts forth to proclaim the glory of God.   It’s time to get our flesh out of the way and allow the Holy Spirit to break out of us so the life of Christ can burst forth. 

I want to be like those trees on the side of the highway, cheering on all of creation, all of my fellow believers in Christ.  I want to call forth the life in others that has been lying dormant.  I want to cry out to this sleeping city to WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!  No matter how desolate the land is, I know there is life waiting to burst forth by the power of God.   Much has been sown and it is time for the harvest. 

Are we not called to be oaks of righteousness?  Let’s stand tall in the Light of God’s Glory so He can cause the Life within us to burst forth!

Here are some thoughts to myself during this day of testing:

 Be careful of what you desire.  It is easy to desire and depend on affirmation and encouraging words but then what are you standing on?  Better to stand on the immoveable truth of who you are in Christ.  That will never change.  God remembers the day He first thought of you and how He would create you.   He hasn’t forgotten the delight of knitting you together in your mother’s womb.    He knows you, He loves you and His opinion of you will never change.  Press through.  Pray in the Spirit.  Don’t give in to the lies. Just keep moving forward.  Read the Word.  Worship.

He is my refuge.  He is my strength.  It doesn’t matter what others think – it doesn’t even matter what I think (meaning – this may affect my behavior which does matter, but how I think about myself does not change how God thinks of me).  I am who He made me to be and I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  My peace comes from just resting in that knowledge that no matter how much the battle rages in my mind, I am still His and His alone.   He’s got this.  He’s got me.  His opinion of me isn’t changing and He will never leave me.  He always loves me, believes in me, cheers me on, holds me accountable, instructs, and guides.  He won!  I can’t lose. 

I can feel my roots going deeper.  They have to, what else can I depend on except Christ and who He is for me and who I am in Him.   So is this like identity training?  By the time this testing is over, I should be pretty convinced, right?  I actually feel something dying – some kind of needless care that I have held onto is dying.  That’s good.  I can set my mind on the joy set before me.  

  Onward.