Off and Running...

Hey there,

Well, we have officially started our weekly study. God has assembled a mighty powerful band of believers to gather in my living room on Monday mornings and talk of the things of God - as well as storm heaven! We are going through "The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind" by Bill Johnson. This book is so rich and powerful and potentially life-changing, that I can tell you that we didn't get too far today?! I have a feeling that this study is open ended for a reason - because we can not know what all the Lord has planned for us - but we DO know that we are willing to take our time, and we're expecting to experience Heaven on earth!

We are still at the beginning of chapter one... I can tell you that while much of the teaching so far has been things that the Lord has revealed to me and taught me Himself over the past few years - it has stirred up in me a faith and anticipation that has been dormant for a season! In the past couple of years, God has given me a measure of faith to believe for miracles... for signs and wonders! I have prayed for the dead... I believe I even experienced a Resurrection choice (and who can blame him for choosing Heaven!?). Much of what this book will teach us is simply this - 'normal Christianity' is doing the things that Jesus did. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons... this was daily ministry for the LORD... He said that we would do the same works that Jesus did (- oh yeah - and greater works than these!) This is how Bill says it in the book:
"God has not kept His desires secret: He wants the reality of heaven to invade this rebel-torn world, to transform it, to bring it under His headship. What is free to operate in heaven - joy, peace, wisdom, health, wholeness, and all the other good promises we read about in the Bible - should be free to operate here on this planet, in your home, your church, your business, and your school. What is not free to operate there - sickness, disease, spiritual bondage, and sin - should not be free to operate here, period. That, in a nutshell, is our assignment as believers on earth, and that is what my church and certainly many others in the Body of Christ are working towards with more focus and energy than ever before... We are not just to be people who BELIEVE the right things about God, but people who PUT THE WILL OF GOD ON DISPLAY, expressing it and causing others to realize, "Oh, so THAT'S what God is like." Healing and deliverance and restoration do much more than solve the immediate problem; they give people a concrete demonstration of who God is."

On another somewhat related note... I am also reading "The Supernatural Ways of Royalty" by Kris Vallotton. Amazing!!! I am loving these guys! (Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton co-pastor Bethel church in Redding, CA!) Anyway - this is just one thing he says in this book that causes me to stop and re-read it... digest it... and believe for it! He said, "The Son of Man appeared for this purpose - to destroy the works of the devil. We are His battle-scarred hands extended to a wounded and dying people. We have been anointed and equipped to destroy giants and extend the borders of the Kingdom, causing Heaven to collide with earth!"

Is that not what our hearts' desire is? To have Heaven collide with earth... to really SEE Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!?

Rise Up! Expect Him to move...
Watch and See!
~Karrilee~