Memory Stones

Everything that is visible was created from an invisible realty.

Information without experience keeps you at immaturity.

Life is hard, but never boring.

Those who don't learn the mistakes of history will miss the victories in the future. Reference points in the past line up to your future. So if you want to align your future, you gotta redeem your past. How you see your desert determines how you'll see your promised land. Your destiny is determined by how you see your past. One of the enemy's tactics is to distract you from your glorious past.

You go where you look.

Once you have a breakthrough, it breaks through for all of us. It belongs to all of us. Once the portal is open, it's open. You are not a victim, but a victor. Reclaim the past and redeem your personal history.

Trials and failures in your past impact you more than your successes. Therefore there's more opportunities for growth in your failures than successes. When you are in a vulnerable state you are more hungry. When these things happen, ask for what you were meant to learn. You can be bitter or better, it's your choice. Sometimes He is teaching you humility when embarrassing situations happen. There is always an opportunity for learning, you are never a failure. Change your reference point so you can head in the right direction.

You need to learn how to handle opposition in your past or else you can't handle the present. There is something around the corner that He wants you to see. Learn from the past so you can act appropriately in the present so you can return to your home in the future. Take every thought captive and make it obedient.  Don't intermingle your thoughts. Too many options may not be good. The secret is to be clear because you have no other option. When you are focused you have no other option except to trust in Him. When you are distracted by other options, that's when you lose.

You don't want more information, you want the right information. Don't be like a lake that's so wide but so shallow. When you think too much you miss the opportunity for intuition to come out and to hear His voice.

There is just one way, don't get it twisted. What's popular isn't always right. We are not here to tolerate, but to love. We need to make a decision every day, who will you choose to follow?

Seeing is Believing

Renew your mind - not your feelings. Your feelings don't tell your mind what to do, your mind commands your feelings. Tell your flesh to shut up, it's time for your sprit to rise.

Hopelessness is never a situation, it's a relational aspect. If you're on the road to hopelessness there's something about Him that you don't believe. He is always with you, you might not see Him but His presence is always there. When situations overwhelm you then you have a functional relationship with Him because He is not functioning as you think He should. You become judgemental of His character and you lose hope quicker.

It's never over, if you think it's over you're leaving the movie in the middle of the movie. You're leaving before the story is over. Don't assume that it's going to happen a certain way. It's never over, it's over when you're dead.

He's not here to fix you. You're a new creation, you don't need fixing. You just need to see who you are. He doesn't patch you up so you can function. He is not looking for a functional relationship either. When you're in a functional relationship you can't handle mystery, everything needs to be efficient. We always want the obvious. But if you can't accept the fact that He's mysterious then you can't believe in Him.

Once you focus on one thing and block other things from coming in, your mind only focuses on that one thing and other conclusions cannot enter. You could be right at this moment but wrong in the future. He is not concerned about the "why" or "how," He is concerned about the "who" and "what." "Why" and "how" are future-oriented questions.

He hides things from us because we are not ready. There are some things we can only figure out if we come closer, if we become more intimate with Him. When He's silent in your life He wants you to stick around and listen. Confusion is a normal part of life, but it can't change your confession. You can be confused but still confess right. His will and wisdom are always available to you. The promises are in Him; the will is in Him; the wisdom is in Him. Are you in Him? Is He in you? The promise He gave you is not in the situation you're in, it's not in the land or place. He has the responsibility to take you to your destiny and your responsibility is just to believe. The best over is the left over.

He is not rational, He is relational. If you are rational you can't be creative.

How you get to the top of the mountain is how you'll be at the top of the mountain. Know His heart and what you want will be what He wants. He wants you to tell Him what you want. You can go until He tells you to stop. Stop thinking. Stop rationalizing. Just go.

All the things you've put off, all the dreams you shoved into the back of your drawer, all the goals you gave up on because you lost motivation - this is the year to do it. A week has already gone by since the new year and I know this year is just going to fly past. I'm going to pass this year with flying colours. There's just something different about this new year. I'm not going to start things and not finish. I'm not going to make goals and not commit to them. I'm going to stay focused and continue believing even if it means I'll have to struggle. 

2012

This is the season of leadership, of overturning and of new governments. If you get an opportunity to lead, take it! Take the word into your heart, align yourself and you will slip slide into promotions. He is waiting for you. It's not, "when is He going to do something?" It's "when are you going do something?"

This is the season of responsibility. Be the light in the darkness. Don't just overthrow, occupy. Don't just complain, occupy. If you're not willing to occupy then don't complain. If you overthrow it, you own it so you better rule it. Don't just protest, take responsibility.

If you want revival you better be ready to get down and dirty. This is going to be a year of agony in your heart. Agony is the window to your anointing. When you agonize it gives you a glimpse of His heart. It is time for hope. Have hope for all the things you've been agonizing about. In the time when you shouldn't have hope, have hope. He's been working, you don't see it, but He's been working in your life. The enemy will distract you so you don't hope and you'll miss out but He wants partnership. Don't fall into this trap.

This is the time to sleep during the chaos and rest in His presence. This is the time to rest more than ever because you will need an upgrade in your relationship with Him since you will have an upgrade in responsibility.

Pressure is good, it causes us to go deeper into His presence. The government is on His shoulders, not ours. Just obey, when you disobey you are carrying your own burden. The only person who can give you peace is the wonderful counselor. If you don't upgrade your relationship or rest, you'll pop yourself out of your destiny. If you are exhausted physically or spiritually you will quit or you will downscale. This is not a time to shrink back.

There will be opposition. You will face disappointment. This is good because it reveals the true sources of your trust - that you were trusting in someone or something. You can never be disappointed if you trust in Him. Disappointment is an opportunity for humbling, for you to move higher.

What you are overwhelmed by will determine the source of your path. Be overwhelmed by what He has in store for you. Do you just want to watch? Or do you want to be in it? Choose to participate and have assembly in your life. You have to listen to His counsel. Do not negate the word of the cross in your life. Seek wisdom above all earthly treasures. He is ready to drop on you and download the strategies of heaven onto you. The people who are looking for wisdom will catch it.

You were born to lead, to influence; not to follow. This is not a democracy but a theocracy. Give to the season what belongs to the season. Don't fall into the greatest temptation of independence, the temptation to come out of alignment. The season where the greatest temptation to come out of alignment is the season of success. The greater the success, the greater the desire for independence.

We need to be a separate nation, set apart. We need to be an example. Don't be gray. Be the light and people will come to your light.  He wants you to govern yourself. Influence not by force, but by freedom.

I'm excited for 2012. I'm ready to pick up my forgotten, neglected passions and focus on responsibility. I'm excited to see what has been planned ahead of me. This is just the beginning.

Cost of Revelation

There is no randomness, no coincidences in the presence. You don't have to have full understanding to align. You don't need all the answers. You have to be willing to be confused in order to have clarity. In His presence the cloud is thick, the cloud is dark. You won't see clearly, you just need to follow. You need to make a confession before there's clarity. You don't need clarity before making a confession. Revelation isn't the solution, it's an invitation. We are not looking for the solution, we are looking for the One who has the solution.  He only wants to give you a part, not the whole picture because He wants partnership. He doesn't want to give you everything because you'll run off and forget about Him.

The one with the greatest faith is the one who can carry the word even in confusion. We have a responsibility for revelation. If you wanna go, you gotta first leave. You can't go and stay at the same time. If you are longing for the olden days you are not going forward. You need to fully leave to fully go. If efficiency is your top value you can't go.

I know that I'm one who loves efficiency. I constantly need to remind myself that things do not always happen in my time. It's His plan, not mine.

Active waiting. Be excited to go in His presence every day. The one with the greatest faith is the one who can still wake up every day and believe even when they don't see anything. There will be opposition. Waiting is faith; waiting is fighting. It's not that you're going to make it happen, it's that you're holding onto Him.

You can begin wrong but end right. He is bigger than all your mistakes. The only way for you to fail is to make a mistake bigger than Him. He uses our mistakes as opportunities to save so don't be overwhelmed by your wrongdoings. Just hold onto Him. It's not about doing great things. At the end of the day your greatest prize is to have a relationship with Him, to see Him.

Seriously, aren't you happy that He is bigger than EVERYTHING? I'm so thankful that He is bigger than all of my mistakes. I am forgiven. I don't need to wallow in my sorrows. There is nothing I can do that will undo what He did for me. This amazes me.

Agents of Transformation

Having passion is not enough. Having the willingness to suffer is not enough. You need to be trained before you are ready to be an agent of transformation.

Start off by laying down your pride. Don't care about saving face or protecting your reputation. We will be challenged in this area over and over again. I know there have been times where I didn't want to admit I was wrong because I cared too much about my pride. This does nothing but destruct and everything could have been mended quickly if I just stepped down from my prideful pedestal.  Check yourself. You don't need to be doing things for the favour of people, so don't be afraid of being embarrassed. When you realize that things aren't about you and that you can't doing anything on your own, your faith will rise to a new level. He doesn't need us, but we need Him.

Training of our character. Many of us live double lives but we should just be ourselves all the time. Breakthrough your shame. Don't wear a mask. If we don't change our character, our actions or our attitude then people may not believe the words we say.

I think I've gotten better at bringing my personal life and spiritual life together but there could still be improvement. Sometimes I'm still hesitant to share my faith with people I don't know very well. Other times I don't want to share my personal life with people who share my faith. I'm afraid they will judge me. I don't want to explain things. But I need to remind myself that their judgement doesn't matter. I don't need to explain and I don't need to have everyone on my side. It's tiring having to put up a front with different groups of people. I'm human. It's okay to mess up so I shouldn't need to hide anything. Problems can't be fixed if they're never put out on the table. There should only be one side of me out in the open all the time, the real side. I'm the only one who can be the best me that I can be.

Sometimes we all need a little reconciliation to build up our relationships. When we reconcile with one another, there is unity and comfort. At times, all it takes is some explaining to fix hurt feelings or disagreements. Know each other's hearts.

Don't fear the lonely place. Don't fear hiddenness. Love this place because this is where you are being shaped with the utmost care. You are never forgotten. You are not walking alone. Don't give up. Once you are ready, you will not only be put forth to shine but you will be slingshotted. You must rely on Him 100%. Stop using your will to do things. Focus not on your own agenda, but His agenda.

I don't always enjoy being in the background. There are times where I want to stand out. But I need to be willing to let Him do the work. I need to step back and let Him perform the surgery, do the operation. I just need to be patient. It's going to be difficult at times; it's going to be dark; it's going to be lonely, but I won't give up. Apart from Him, I can't do anything.