Embrace #1 – Culture of Prayer

Iris Godfrey

It has been a good day here at the Annual Elim Leadership Conference. I am ordained through Elim, so I enjoy coming here each spring to receive much from my Lord. The time and funds are always some of the best investment I make. This one appears to be excellent in every way.

I attended the Elim Fellowship Annual Business Meeting this afternoon and was blessed by the 30 minutes of worship before the business – then a timely meeting just a bit over an hour. It was worth the time.

Tonight the Elim Gospel Church (where we meet) was nicely filled – many came. That really blessed me. It will hold a few over 1,000 and even though it was not completely full, it was almost so.

Mark Batterson, author of The Circle of Prayer was our speaker for the evening. After a beautiful time in prayer he was introduced and began what was a most encouraging and delightful teaching on prayer. I will post below some of the highlights (for me) during that time. Read and enjoy.

It is possible that you are doing what The Lord has called you to do and have Him oppose you. If what you do your work in pride – then the Bible specifically states He opposes that. (The motive determines the nature of the fruit). Sometimes our plans must fail, so His can succeed. I am far more interested in personal growth rather than church growth.
Acts 10 The power of a single prayer: Faith is the willingness to look foolish. God honors bold prayers. You a one prayer away from a different life.
Cornelius prayed all the time and gave generously. In the development of my ministry at one point I realized I had failed because I had not created a culture of prayer at my assignment. We began a 40 day prayer challenge. 2 Chron. 7:14 was where we started – we circled that promise for 40 days and WOW! A small Baptist church decided to give us their property. We are not a Baptist church. We need to get on our knees so we can see what God see's regularly. He has a sovereign surprise up His Holy sleeve.
You cannot manufacture the miracle, but if you get on your knees, one day, God will show up. Cornelius's giving and prayer was a memorial offering that was honored by God. He was asked by God to step outside his reality, into a parallel universe, if you will. We usually want more information. Cornelius sent for that which was asked for. Many of us stop ministering out of imagination and minister out of memory.
There are ways to do church that we know nothing about. More about that tomorrow.
Spiritual contracts are far more binding than those we make in flesh. We locked in our coffee house building by prayer. Coffee houses are modern wells. Holy Spirit + caffeine = awesome. When the Spirit of God prompts, it is time to step out. We want God to do something new and different, while we do the same ole thing, the same ole way. “Surely not Lord.” You will loose that argument.
We want God to move first, because that takes no faith. We must make the first move – then He moves. Sometimes God shows up and sometimes He shows off. There will come moments when your reputation will be on the line – Peter does this.
Peter enter the house – this is the turning point in the church. In the moment Peter entered the house everything changed. The Gentile church is present because two people prayed.
You are one prayer away from a different life. Don't worry about meeting the right people, you meet with God. He takes care of the rest. Meet with Me in the morning, you will not have to worry about meeting with others later in the day.
ALAT = as long as it takes.

That is it in a nutshell. More tomorrow. Thanks for joining in this journey with me.



 

Inexpressible & Glorious Joy!

Iris Godfrey

You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9 HCSB

As I sit here in my office, working in advance with this blogging program so I can use it effectively, I am a bit stressed with the larger computer in front of me. I am converting a video vile into a useable format for YouTube. I just did all this just a week ago, but for some reason am having difficulty remembering all the steps. So when I read this passage in 1 Peter, I smiled with Jesus at myself.

How small my frustration seems in the light of the “inexpressible and glorious joy” that is mine with our Lord! Yet, we often (speaking personally) get caught up in the frustrations, or fears, or obvious unpleasant, hurtful or distressing circumstances and if we do not remember about His Lordship concerning all, then our joy will be non-present to us and we begin to believe the lie of the frustration (or whatever) instead of the reality.

The “reality” of my moment is — this is a joy. What an absolute wonder that I can take one video file (DVD) and convert it to another (mp4v) and make it all go where I want it to go. I will remember shortly how this Mac will do it and off we go. Then another Greek class can be put on the web. Such would have been completely out of my thinking a few years ago. Yet, here we are.

We have not seen our Beloved Jesus, face to face, as we see one another, yet here we are and we have chosen His love over all loves. We are receiving the purpose and goal of our faith – the beginning edges of what the total experience of our salvation will be — eternally. These “beginning edges” are more than sufficient to explode us into a realm of truth that is full of inexpressible and glorious joy!

How honored we are to host the King! He makes all things possible for us. Now, to count on that instead of my remembering and this project will be completed.

Enjoy Him with me!

Inexpressible & Glorious Joy!

Iris Godfrey

You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9 HCSB

As I sit here in my office, working in advance with this blogging program so I can use it effectively, I am a bit stressed with the larger computer in front of me. I am converting a video vile into a useable format for YouTube. I just did all this just a week ago, but for some reason am having difficulty remembering all the steps. So when I read this passage in 1 Peter, I smiled with Jesus at myself.

How small my frustration seems in the light of the “inexpressible and glorious joy” that is mine with our Lord! Yet, we often (speaking personally) get caught up in the frustrations, or fears, or obvious unpleasant, hurtful or distressing circumstances and if we do not remember about His Lordship concerning all, then our joy will be non-present to us and we begin to believe the lie of the frustration (or whatever) instead of the reality.

The “reality” of my moment is — this is a joy. What an absolute wonder that I can take one video file (DVD) and convert it to another (mp4v) and make it all go where I want it to go. I will remember shortly how this Mac will do it and off we go. Then another Greek class can be put on the web. Such would have been completely out of my thinking a few years ago. Yet, here we are.

We have not seen our Beloved Jesus, face to face, as we see one another, yet here we are and we have chosen His love over all loves. We are receiving the purpose and goal of our faith – the beginning edges of what the total experience of our salvation will be — eternally. These “beginning edges” are more than sufficient to explode us into a realm of truth that is full of inexpressible and glorious joy!

How honored we are to host the King! He makes all things possible for us. Now, to count on that instead of my remembering and this project will be completed.

Enjoy Him with me!

Trying Some Thing

Iris Godfrey

I am trying an app on my iPad so I can use it to write this blog. Next week I am, once again, at the Elim Leadership Conference in Lima, NY, and the speakers and training are always so outstanding, I want to be able to blog the summaries of some of the sessions. So, this little app shows great promise of being able to do that.

While I am trying this out, it has an audio feature, so let's try that also. “Well looks like it's going to work just fine so I'll give it a go and maybe even be able to talk to you little bit during the conference this is a neat app so let's see how it interfaces with my blog and I'll get back to you in a day or so, blessings to you.” WOW! I thought it would place an audio file in the blog. Instead it transcribed what I said perfectly. We will enjoy this.

OK Now let's see if I have it set correctly to publish. Here we go — .

Faith – More Precious Than Gold

Iris Godfrey

“You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith – more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6-8 HCSB

It is always important to look forward, especially when we are in the middle of difficult circumstances. If we get hemmed in with the fears of the present and are not able to shift our thinking to the “always more,” discouragement will be right around the corner for us. So Peter, being led by the understanding of the Spirit, begins to address their present unpleasantness.

We all would desire that evil and negative things would not happen in our lives. Yet, these are the very items that are used to help us become mature and tried saints in the Kingdom. The folk in the provinces that Peter was addressing were undergoing many trials. Life was tough and they needed to look ahead, and they also needed to know that what they were living through was going to be used to benefit them and the Kingdom.

Words are easy, but circumstances sometimes unravel us. There is no condemnation in the Kingdom – period! However, we can feel condemned when we know we want to crumble instead of believe the Lord in His gracious and merciful abundance in all things. So Peter, like a good shepherd, begins to encourage them.

He states that their faith, and ours, is more precious than gold. WOW! Just think about that for a moment or two. The faith that the Lord gave us when we first believed (Romans 12:3) is a substance (Hebrews 11:1) more precious to the Lord than gold. He has given to us everything for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). So since He has trusted us with it, must be that the Holy Spirit means to empower us in it – even as it is undergoing difficulty being refined in fire.

So as we learn to lean, once again, into His ability and not our own – His faith (given to us in our being) and not our own – we begin to realize there is more yet ahead, and nothing is lost in the long run.

Let’s be encouraged today and allow the Lord to be sufficient for us in all. Sometimes that is easy to do, sometimes we just do it because there is nothing else we can do. Regardless, we lean; He works. Awesome!

Always More!

Iris Godfrey

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy birthed us from above into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, being kept in the heavens into us who by the power of God are being guarded through faith, into a deliverance to be uncovered in the last time.”(personal translation)1 Peter 1:3-5

“…into a deliverance to be uncovered in the last time.” This last section of the greeting is relating all of the above benefits to what will happen at the very end of the age. The word I translated “deliverance” is what we normally translate “salvation.” The one word in the Greek has both meanings + several others. All the concepts rolled into one word. We often associate “salvation” as our initial experience in Christ and our on-going reality in Him. While that is so, the meaning here is looking toward the end of our time, as being a time when there is more revelation and still more revelation unfolding.

Salvation is complete and its results continue through out the ages, whatever they may be. Yet at the end, there is more to be “seen” about it all. Christ has completed the work, but not all of what He did is fully revealed at this point in time – there is more to be seen and understood. This statement is to encourage Peter’s readers, because the next few statements speak of their need for endurance at this point in time, but there is more to be revealed in Him.

“You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith – more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6-8 HCSB

I just want us to see that there is always more. We will work with the passage above on another day. Today be encouraged – there’s more – there’s always more!

The Reality of Immanuel

Iris Godfrey

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy birthed us from above into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, being kept in the heavens into us who by the power of God are being guarded through faith, into a deliverance to be uncovered in the last time.” (personal translation)1 Peter 1:3-5

This inheritance being kept in the heavens into us is being guarded, by the power of God, through faith…. What a magnificent promise! When we begin to see the lack of distance and separation (there is none) between those birthed from above and the substance that is above, we begin to open to the reality of Immanuel. The very prophetic word of the prophets has come to pass. His being in us is the reality of that promise. He abides in us and brings to us all the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is. Nothing is lacking in us as we live in this life through this inheritance of heaven placed in us – here.  

As we trust (have faith) in our unity in Him and our fellowship with Him, then this reality of oneness in Him begins to shape our thinking and our way of seeing our world. Many of our circumstances change as we view them from the “heaven” view. We all have been trained to be separate (in America we call it “individualism”) from all. Yet, our yearning for unity with others is simplified when we understand all that yearning is the reality of what is in our fellowship in Him. 

The word “fellowship” as used in the New Testament, means “a sharing, a co-participation.” We often boil it down in our minds to communion. Yet, even though our communion is a celebration of that, it is not its essence. Its essence is our daily lives, lived in Him, through Him, and by Him. 

All this is by and through faith – a substance that is based in belief and backed by confidence. So as we lean and trust, these matters begin to be real – not just promises of something to come. What we will experience later, does not diminish the reality of the sharing now. It is all of Him. Learning to share in Him is still a journey for us but it is the reality of Immanuel! 

Inheritance Into Us

Iris Godfrey

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy birthed us from above into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, being kept in the heavens into us who by the power of God are being guarded through faith, into a deliverance to be uncovered in the last time.” (personal translation)1 Peter 1:3-5

 

In addition to being birthed into a living hope, we are also birthed into an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, being kept in the heavens into us…. Again I have translated a small Greek word (“EIS” written in English) as its primary meaning “into.” Other words such as “for us” are more common in this passage. However, note how changing that to “into” keeps it anchored in us and not in the “heavens” somewhere out there. This inheritance is in us as we sit in the”heavenlies.” It is not something stored up for receiving when we get there at some future date. 

This inheritance is the result of our birth. We have been born into the family of God and nothing now separates us from our Lord. In the words of Francois du Toit, “Jesus Christ has eliminated ever definition of distance between us by abiding in us.” So very true. So we are in Him and we exist with Him. He lives in us and exists within us. The unity of this fellowship is complete. Both Ephesians and Colossians attest to that fact. 

So this inheritance that is ours, that is by the power of God guarded through or by faith, is into us – not in a storage vault somewhere. Jesus is our inheritance and we live in Him, so the reality of that inheritance is now. 

I think so many of us separate ourselves from Him so much that we see everything future. Hence we as a church (worldwide) have not seen the closeness of our fellowship. He longs to visit with us and share Himself in fullness. 

When a child of a wealthy person begins to live as an adult, they already share in some aspects of the wealth they will inherit. Their training, their education, their lives are marked with the social aspects of those who will inherit. 

So it is with us. Because of our Father, we have the best possible spiritual training and education – if we wish. All is in fellowship in Him. Paul said,”I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2:19-20 HCSB That was not a “wish” Paul had, but that was the way he lived his life here. 

So we too, are so deeply included in the fellowship of Jesus, that He lives and moves within us and we in Him. This inheritance, then that is guarded by faith, is in His presence and being within us. 

Lord, thank you for beginning to teach us how close to us you always are and that you always bring all into us now. It is almost too much to really conceive of in our minds, but Lord we are so willing to receive in spirit, in heart, in mind.

 

Birthed into Hope

Iris Godfrey

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy birthed us from above into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, being kept in the heavens into us who by the power of God are being guarded through faith, into a deliverance to be uncovered in the last time.” (personal translation)1 Peter 1:3-5

“… according to His great mercy He has birthed us into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” All of this greeting is linked organically together with each expression being dependent upon the next expression upon the next… you get the idea. They are all concepts of truth linked by their shared nature in Jesus Christ. To understand one is to open for the understanding of the other. Sometimes in teaching, in an effort to help reach for a fuller understanding of one, it can become an isolated thought instead of a piece of the whole. As we read and study, let’s reach for each without loosing sight of the whole. This we often call, “keeping things in their context.” It is one very important to understand. We can often misunderstand a portion of Scripture if that portion is not held in oneness with its surrounding portion. 

 

 In His great mercy – that which is out of Him, through Him, in Him, – He birthed us into a living hope. Our birth in Him (often called “born again” – best understood as “born from above) is into a living hope. First notice it is “into” not just “in.” There is a huge difference in the words. We are being born into something. Like being born into a family. In this family we are born into a living hope. Something living, eternal, never fading and the substance of this living thing is hope. Biblical hope is “confident expectation.” It is not a wish, as we might think in today’s usage. 

We are always expecting Him and all His promises to unfold goodness and righteousness before our eyes and in our hearts. Hope is a vital element in continuing to live for without it the human spirit will quickly grow discouraged and begin to die. Hope is living in Jesus and it is in mercy, precious mercy and love that this is given and given in abundance. 

We have been birthed into this marvelous expectation through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead. Once again, we are included in all He did. He did all not only for us but as us. This is a huge understanding that immediately enfolds us within.

Lord, thank you. We are so thankful to be included in You. As we enjoy today in You, may the emotional healing of belonging and inclusion in You begin to be our embraced placement in your heart with such living expectation of life.

   

Eternal – That’s Us

Iris Godfrey

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy birthed us from above into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, being kept in the heavens into us who by the power of God are being guarded through faith, into a deliverance to be uncovered in the last time.” (personal translation)1 Peter 1:3-5

Our English translations do pretty well with this passage, but I have chosen to translate it for this post so I can bring out some interesting things that might easily be missed.

The word used for “Blessed” is the normal one used for that word. In essence it means “to speak well of” and we get our word “eulogy” from it. Many translations use “praise” here instead,  and although that carries the idea, I think to understand that when I bless my Father, I am speaking well of Him in every way. Indeed it is praise, and then some. It is a verbal pronouncement of His goodness and love in every dimension. So Peter begins with what is burning in his heart by allowing the blessing of the Father be to the Father. Such things begin to fill us to overflowing in gratitude and love as we ponder who He is to us and for us.

The next phrase, “who in His great mercy,” is again another form of blessing. (Have you noticed that as you bless Him you feel it both directions? I bless Him, but that is in reference to how He has and is blessing me – so the circle of fellowship in the word is complete). This is the heart of the matter. This entire passage (which we will study for a bit of time) is really all about fellowship in Him, with Him and through Him. He is relational – everything here is about fellowship in Him. His great mercy, expressed through our Lord Jesus Christ is awesome. Mercy is an entire concept that we so often just read over.

Our Father’s great mercy is Jesus Christ – In Him He has given us everything Jesus Is. None of it based on us, except for the fact that He loves us. All of it is based on the love action of provision from our Father that we would have fellowship with Him. And not just fellowship, but a recognition that we originate in Him. We have been “born again,” or better put, “born from above.” The actual Greek word means “regenerated.” So now through Christ Jesus, we are sons and daughters of the Most High God through birth.

Think of the awesomeness of that – we come from Him. Ephesians 1:4 tells us that He chose us before the foundation of the world. He is now my beginning – and He has no such thing – so we have no such thing either. He has no end, neither do we. Being born from above means we are also as He is – eternal.

That is awesome to contemplate – especially when one is my age. However, age really has nothing to do with anything. This is not a “time” belonging (although a close examination of “time” in Revelation will reveal that it does not end – eternity is endless time), but an eternal belonging, fellowship, inclusion. WOW! Just preached myself happy!

More later.