Fulfilling Your Destiny as a Son or Daughter of God

By Thomas Denegre

The kings who ruined Israel after King David (1 Kings 12-18) not only failed because of their disobedience, but more importantly they failed to understand their identity in God; also called an orphan spirit.  Sadly, this pattern repeats itself with many of us in the church today.

God is calling many of us to move from being orphans, those who must prove their self-worth and feeling of being unloved and rejected through works, to being true sons of God

Jesus once said,"I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you." (John 14:18)

As St. Paul wrote, "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." (Romans 8:14-17)

God is calling many of us to move from being orphans to being true sons of God. Just as David entered his secret place of the Most-High (Psalm 91:1) to know God intimately, God too brought me into his secret place to know Him deeply and affectionately.  So, can you. It’s available to all believers filled with the Holy Spirit.  God has given us the ability to envision things not seen in the natural. While in prayer the Holy Spirit guides us into a restful (secret) place with Jesus, and looking eye-to-eye with Him, he tells you;

“(Insert your own name) you are a delight to my eyes.  Just as a I saw Mathew in pain from guilt and shame in his den of tax thievery, out of my compassion and mercy I called him to me. His heart received and accepted my love. Dropping everything he followed me. That is why I left the ninety-nine to save the one.  I want you to do the same; follow me.  

I love you 100% all the time.  Your performance means nothing to me.  It is you that I am in love with. I want to spend time with you. I want you to know you are not an orphan, but my son, with all the rights and privileges to inherit everything I have.  You now have everything I have, so stop trying to get something you already have.  You are called to be my son and know you have everything you need to do my will.  

Know that my perfect love casts out at all fear. Therefore, live in my love and my blessings. Stop comparing yourself to other people, because I only made one of you. Isn’t that marvelous! You are brilliant, beautiful, loving, kind, gentle, compassionate and merciful.  You are successfully growing into the person I destined you to become as written in Psalm 139:16. My love will guide you into all things. I am so delighted in you!”

As St. Paul wrote, “In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:5)

In this way, God lets his children know they are loved, wanted, and accepted as they are.  By having an intimate relationship with Jesus, we become his adopted children with full inheritance (Romans 8:14-17).  As a son of God our priorities change whereby, we seek first; (1) To be – identified and accepted as a son of God.  Knowing you are a spiritual being, not a spiritual doing, (2) You have the resources from God to carry out the mission.  So, stop trying to get stuff you already have, and (3) To do his works from authentic love by which you will naturally do His will just as a dog wags its tail.

Here are some guidelines to transform you from an orphan into a powerful son or daughter of God. 

• Find a quiet (secret) place that is comfortable but not sleepy.  “Be still and know he is God.”
• Enter the secret place with thanksgiving and praise towards God.
• As you rest with the Holy Spirit, envision your secret place and see yourself with Jesus.  
• Allow the Holy Spirit to bring in bible stories and scripture.  Let His Word saturate your heart.
• Learn to be in alignment with God’s loving will
• See his face, hear his voice, feel his love, experience his presence, live in his pleasure.
• Learn to think what God thinks
• Feel what God feels
• Hear what God says
• Then repeat back to yourself what God thinks, feels, says, and sees.
• By having these seeds planted in your heart, you’ll be rooted in His love.  By being in life union with Jesus, you’ll find that His love will give you the compassion and vision to see and act as God does.  
• Like every good habit to develop, this should be a loving and joyful practice done regularly. 

 By resting within the intimacy of God, what you behold, you become.  What you become you release. You received love, therefore release love. By being God’s love (John 15), His wisdom and revelation will give you the knowledge to influence the world around you.

The Extraordinary Gift of God’s Favor

By Thomas Denegre

Mirror, mirror on the wall who’s the fairest of them all? 

Alas, fairy tales always have a good lesson for us to learn in life.  Don’t they? This week’s reading in Genesis takes us through the favor of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We see how God’s favor bestowed enormous wealth to his faithful but flawed servants, so God could build his nation to carry the bloodline to our messiah; Jesus Our Lord.

Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7, Genesis 22:1-12, Genesis 22:13-18, Genesis 25:19-34, Genesis 28:10-22, 

Genesis 30:25-36, Genesis 30:37-43

Understanding the true nature of God’s favor in our lives can transport our spiritual lives to the deepest ends of the water where we can find rest in the abundant life of Christ; even during our darkest days.  But beware of the mirror on the wall because it will lie to you causing you to crash onto the rocks.

I’ve heard that God’s favor is called His ‘demonstrated delight.’ While in the Old Testament God’s favor was bestowed to selected people, we in the new covenant are privileged to live in God’s favor when we believe in Jesus as our Lord and repent from our sinful ways.  Favor is like God’s grace of undeserved kindness and forgiveness, and then goes the extra mile to reach down in the muck of our black sins over-and-over again to save us from ourselves. The intent is for us to discover that all of God’s favor has been given to us the moment we believe. 

A friend once told me of his visit to a family in Lebanon.  Late in the afternoon the four-year-old son heard his father’s car come into the driveway. Excited to hear his father arriving home, the little boy jumped onto the sofa to look out the window joyfully exclaiming, “Abba! Abba! Abba!”

As the father walked into the home, the little boy ran to his father jumping into his strong arms. The father kissed the boy’s face and said, “I love you more than my eyes! I love you more than my eyes!” Again, the father smothered him with more kisses and said again and again, “I love you more than my eyes!  I love you more than my eyes!” In return, the son kissed his father back with delight. 

Favor is receiving the full force of God’s love with kisses to our face who says to us, “I love you more than my life! I love you more than my life!” 

• Favor is the good shepherd leaving the ninety-nine to save the one.
• Favor is rescuing the extortionist named Mathew to become his follower.
• Favor is saving the adulteress from being stoned to death to become a saint.
• Favor is liberating the murderer named Paul who became the greatest Apostle of them all
• Favor is the loving father who forgives his prodigal son and says everything he has belongs to him. 

But beware of the mirror on the wall for it can deceive and destroy you.  It destroyed King Saul, Judas, the Pharisees, and the brother of the prodigal son. Most people are on a path from pride to humility, from self-centeredness to selflessness, from self-hatred to self-acceptance, from holding grudges to forgiveness.  They gaze into the mirror to see pride, fear, apathy, guilt, shame, or disgrace and then they project a god into their own image who is despising, condemning, punitive, vengeful, or indifferent.  Blind to their own ways they cannot see past themselves, or the mirror, to see our true God.  Sadly, they treat themselves and others in the same fashion.  God has become a reflection of their flawed nature.

As mature Christians we have looked past the man in the mirror to see Abba kissing our face saying, “I love you more than my life! I love you more than my life!” By receiving the full force of God’s favor, even in the midst of our sins, all we can do is desire to kiss him back with the full force of our love and our kisses. Even when I’m doing sinful things, my God loves me in return with kisses.  By receiving his favor, I only want to love him more. In this truth, God’s favor calls us to love Him, to love ourselves, and to love our enemies. 

By living in life union with Jesus (John 15:7), we know his living streams of love pour through us, so we can pour that love and favor onto others.  As mature Christians, we must tolerate the weakness of those in the family of faith, so we can shatter through a person’s mirror to display the full force of God’s kisses. The abounding favor of God has been given to us all to discover and to share; revelation by revelation.

The Apostle Paul teaches us in Colossians Chapter 3 the way to breach through the mirror, so other believers can experience and taste the favor of God with his kisses.

12 You are always and dearly loved by God! So, robe yourself with virtues of God, since you have been divinely chosen to be holy. Be merciful as you endeavor to understand others, and be compassionate, showing kindness toward all. Be gentle and humble, unoffendable in your patience with others. 13 Tolerate the weaknesses of those in the family of faith, forgiving one another in the same way you have been graciously forgiven by Jesus Christ. If you find fault with someone, release this same gift of forgiveness to them. Col. 3:12-13 (TPT)

Yes, You Too Can See God

by Thomas Denegre

Today’s scripture reference Mathew 5:1-8, 29

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”  Matt. 5:8

Buzz Aldrin, the astronaut who went to the moon, taught me a lesson on how to see God.  When the Apollo crew blasted off into space, they just didn’t set the course once to reach the moon.  There were three moving objects; the spaceship, the earth, and the moon.  Consequentially, the Apollo craft was constantly correcting its course to arrive at its destination.  In the same way, I had to constantly correct my course, or my ideas about God to understand and to see Him. So, can you?

The Prodigal Son by Oleg Korolev

God wants nothing more than to love us and give us the best of things. My biggest error was trying to love God out of my own effort. Even worse was being performance driven and being righteous out of my own effort. (Isaiah 64:6); talk about failure, disappointment, misery, and anger.    In short, I thought religion was what we did for God, when in fact, religion is about what God will do for us.

Jesus was knocking on my door (Rev. 3:20) and all I had to do was let him in my heart.  Similar to the father of the prodigal son, Jesus has this amazing capacity to love us.  He cares more about me than the sins or awful things I did in my life. He already knows my human nature, so it’s myself that needs to move pass this mind set. Unlike the enemy of this world who comes to shame, condemn, steal, kill, or destroy me, Jesus came to set me free from my own emotional wounds, grudges, mental torment, anger, obsessions, low self-esteem, despair, worldly thinking, and physical lusts. Through his mercy, compassion, tender care, and wisdom, Jesus becomes the most generous person to give us a life filled with joy and peace. 

Like two dancing partners, Jesus wants to give me an abundant life when I agree to dance with Him.  In this dance, Jesus pours out his love to me and I receive it. By dying to myself, or trading in my ego and pride for humility and being teachable, I come to know the breath, the length, the height, and the depth of his tremendous love. (Eph. 3:17-19)  By living in life union with Jesus, (John 15:7) his compassion becomes my compassion, his mercy becomes my mercy, and his wisdom becomes my wisdom.

Just as humans teach dogs to be human-like, God teaches humans to be godlike (Gen. 1:26, Psalm 82:6). A sinner, the ungodly one, (Psalm 1:1-5) who tries to see God will die.  (Exodus 33:20). But, as believers, (a saint -  1 Peter 1:15-16)  we are holy, set apart, and newly created can see God. Just as Adam and the angels were created by God, so too are believers, when we become born again.(2 Cor. 5:17)  This allows us to see God.  Just as man teaches the dog to sit and lay down to become human-like, God teaches us through His Word to transform our minds and heart, (Rom 12:1-2) so he can raise us up to His level of thought, nature, and heart.

In Graham Cooke’s teaching, Prophecy Destroys Oppression, he tells the story of a man rescued from doom. God brought Graham’s attention to a man in the audience. A man in his early thirties came up. He was pale, distraught, and lifeless with a blank look on his face.  On his arms were scars from cut marks.  Words of knowledge poured into Graham.  Internally, he saw a man filled with despair, suicide, no self-esteem, and clinically depressed. He was almost destroyed, and all the counseling was fruitless.

Jesus filled Graham with a vision that he shared with the man.  “I see a young boy, around six years old, and it’s your birthday.  For weeks your dad was building a custom kite for you as kite flying is a popular in your town. After the cake was eaten your dad came out with the kite and you thought it was brilliant. You were so excited that you took the kite and dashed off to the front door.  In this excitement you tripped and crushed the kite beyond repair.  For some unknown reason, your father became enraged, slapped you in the face, and never spoke to you again.  Since that time, you have been oppressed with shame, guilt, torment, self-destruction, and no one has been able to help you.” The man wept and cried in agony for the story was true and the wounds were still open.

Jesus filled Graham with compassion, and it became Graham’s compassion.  “I am here to tell you,” spoke Graham, “that Jesus has set you free from this misery.  Oils of joy and gladness are being poured onto your head to refresh and set you free.  You are dearly loved, for you are his beloved one.  As I speak, all your prison doors of guilt, shame, self-destruction have been obliterated.  Jesus has his arms around you and in your ear, he is whispering how important and valuable you are to his kingdom. He bids you to live and grow for he has faith in you.  You are his son and there is a great purpose for you in his kingdom.  He has given you a new heart filled with joy, mercy, courage, and wisdom.”

Visibly the man became alive again has he opened his heart to receive Jesus; the truth set him free. It’s the mission of Jesus to set him free so he may have an abundant life. Later, the man was able to make a great recovery through his therapy sessions.

As we live in life union with Jesus and allow his Words to live powerfully in our heart and mind, (John 15:7) we come to see the person of Jesus; not the concept of him. He has brought us up to his level of thinking and caring, so we can see and taste his godly nature. Just as Buzz Aldrin constantly corrected his course to reach the moon, we too must be open to the directions of God.   By living in the vine with Jesus, we will see God when we allow him to work through us.  When we speak life into people, encourage one another, nourish one another, and bring the truth to set people free, then you will see God in others and in yourself. 

Overcoming the Storms of Life

By Thomas Denegre 8/21/2019

Are you ready to overcome the storms of life so you can continue to stand and prosper? 

In today’s readings of Mathew 7:21-28, Jesus explains he is our rock foundation in the storms of our lives and like the greatest sports teams and armies in the world, the right preparation, attitude, and belief will make you withstand the onslaught and prosper.

Jesus instructions are based on the counter intuitive. You must die to live. The first will be last and last will be first.  Jesus states, it’s not enough to have intellectual knowledge of whom he is, otherwise he will spit you out.  Second, tribulations and storms are guaranteed to come into your life, so Jesus, like any other loving parent, wants to give you a rock-solid foundation to survive and flourish.

Let me tell you about two brothers named Mark and Bennie who are close in age. As teenagers they were two peas in a pod being mischievous, aggressive, funny, smart, and troublesome.  The father loved both his sons and tried to steer them away from harm.  Mark went into the army and learned to channel his energy constructively while Bennie got into sales, drugs, and fast living. 

As time progressed Mark became a believer in Jesus Christ.  He opened his heart to the Lord and became teachable to His ways.  Mark got married, had several children, and became a newspaper journalist. Life was not always easy for Mark as the internet crushed his career forcing him into unemployment five years out of ten. But, by being dependent on the Lord he always had money, good health, and a devoted family.  Knowing and behaving as a son of God, great favor was blessed upon him.

Meanwhile, Bennie was less fortunate. Being opinionated, stubborn, and rebellious, Bennie refused to be taught the character virtues for a successful life. When the storms of life came upon Bennie it crushed him.  He went into bankruptcy twice while his health deteriorated to the point of death.  Sadly, he had no family to console nor nurse him.  The outcome of his choices led him to disaster.

Jesus once said, “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come to bring life, and bring it abundantly.” John 10:10

I learned a lot from Mark.  He told me the greatest thing he ever did was open his heart to Jesus, so he could be loved.  By knowing how much God loved him, Mark lived in life union with Jesus.  He made sure the word of God was always in his mind and in his heart.  God’s Word breathe life into him, and he found himself naturally doing the things God wanted him to do.  Mark explained it was not an overnight transformation, but a gradual change over many years. His favorite verse was, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” John 15:7 

Mark explained that being dependent on Jesus allowed him to live out his God given virtues.

Mark pointed out the difference between living a life union with Jesus versus an intellectual knowledge of Jesus.  A life union with Jesus developed tremendous virtues and character traits within him, while the intellectual Christian rationalized his decisions by claiming his conscious overruled God’s Word.  Hence, the reason Christian intellectuals support abortion and sexual immorality, thereby unconsciously becoming the rebels against God; which is the reason Jesus did not know them and spitted them out.

Jesus is naturally the rock foundation for Christians to stand their life on.  The Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians Chapter 3, the framework to develop and apply our holy character.  By memorizing the verses, Mark said that every day some event would occur, and a verse came to mind for him to use.  By having God’s Word living powerfully within his mind and heart Mark developed the virtues of Obedience, Love, Mercy, Understanding, Compassion, Kindness, Patience, Forgiveness, and Repentance. 

Mark’s most used verse was, “Tolerate the weaknesses of those in the family of faith, forgiving one another in the same way you have been graciously forgiven by Jesus Christ.” Col. 3:13 (TPT)

It turned out fellow Christians could be the most difficult people to deal with.  Most Christians were on a path from pride to humility, from self-centeredness to selflessness, from self-hatred to self-acceptance, from holding grudges to forgiveness.  Beneath the façade of many Christians was a lot of toxicity that God was slowly healing out, but in the meantime had to be confronted.  Mark admitted he was a difficult and sometimes toxic Christian too.  But God gave him the grace to see people like the father of the prodigal son, whereby the person was far more important than the behaviors they exhibit.  Jesus was able to teach and encourage Mark to apply the virtues as a healing tool for himself and for others.

Mark learned people didn’t care what you know, they wanted to know you care. By living with Jesus, compassion and service to others will help heal the wounds that the storms of life inflicted.

We know the storms of life will always rise again in our lives.  I too learned that a life union with Jesus while having his Words alive in my heart provides the best rock foundation to survive and prosper through storms.  Below are Mark’s favorite scripture verses, or holy virtues, on building a rock solid foundation in your life.

You are always and dearly loved by God!

So, robe yourself with virtues of God, since you have been divinely chosen to be holy.

Be merciful as you endeavor to understand others, and be compassionate, showing kindness toward all.

Be gentle and humble, unoffendable in your patience with others.

Tolerate the weaknesses of those in the family of faith, forgiving one another in the same way you have been graciously forgiven by Jesus Christ.

If you find fault with someone, release this same gift of forgiveness to them.

For love is supreme and must flow through each of these virtues.

Love becomes the mark of true maturity.

Let your heart be always guided by the peace of the Anointed One, who called you to peace as part of his one body.

And always be thankful.

Colossians 3:12-15 (TPT)

Making Prayer Powerful and Effective in Your Life

By Thomas Denegre

Do you want your prayer life to be powerful and effective? Don’t you want your prayers to be so simple like Jesus’, that with one-word God will answer it? Here’s how to stand tall like an oak tree with the power of Holy Spirit flowing through you.

Today’s reading comes from Mathew 7:8-11 where Jesus states;

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Mathew 7: 8-11

Jesus is instructing us how to use expectant prayer in our lives.  Much like a dance it requires both
partners to work together in harmony for top performance. Having been a leader in the Kairos Prison Ministry for two decades and serving on prayer and healing teams, here are a few insights on effective prayer.

It first starts with the right belief foundation or framework.  Jesus calls us to live in life union with him and to have his words live powerfully within us to obtain our desires (John 15:7), and “to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33). Jesus and his words must live top in our mind, so it comes first in our lives.  It is critical that you first identify yourself as a son of God, so all thoughts are centered on Him.  You should consider yourself first a disciple of Christ who happens to be perform an occupation, versus working in an occupation who happens to think of God occasionally. 

By having our heart joined in love with Jesus, we can trust his word and promises to always be true and effective.  We are called to have 100% faith in his word which requires us to taste and eat his words. For it is written,

·         “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35

·         “The word of the Lord abides forever.” 1 Peter 1:25

·         “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:8

As children of God we will receive the full faith, love, trust, and security when we open our hearts to receive his love. Humility is the open pathway of channeling God through us and onto others.  Pride, self-centeredness, intellectualism, and solipsism (the view that the self is all that can be known to exist.) is our enemy.  Our downfall comes when we depend on our performance and bank account, versus the power of God. Therefore, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Ps. 111:10); "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Prov. 1:7). Wisdom and knowledge, not intellectualism, allows you to be open, teachable, and productive to the Lord.

Feelings are another dangerous roadblock to effective prayer. Jesus stated we are to believe and have faith in God; not emotions.  A famous story tells of the Roman centurion who went to Jesus to heal his servant whom was in a distant place.  The Centurion knew, and not felt, that based on Jesus’s authority and power alone, Jesus could command the servant to be healed.  “When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” Mathew 8:5 

Just as a policeman knows, and not feels, he has authority to perform his work, we too, must know and act in the same way.  As a son of God, we have received the full blessings and authority (Ephesians 1:3) to act on the behalf of God.  For example, in Mark Chapter 11, a corrupted fig tree fooled Jesus, so Jesus cursed it and killed it. A day later the disciples saw the tree was dead.  Jesus responded by stating;

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mark 11:22-26

Jesus calls us to have faith in God to fulfill our prayer.  It’s important for us to know the five blockers of our faith.  If you pressed your fist into your other hand, you’ll have resistance.  On the resisting hand are the five fingers of resistance called fear, unbelief, doubt, unforgiveness, and unrepentance.  The other hand represents your faith.  If you remove the five fingers of resistance, then you’ll remove all resistance to your faith allowing pure faith to pass through uninterrupted. Hence the reason Jesus stated; “…Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Mathew 17:20

It is pure faith that allows the Holy Spirit to channel his power unhindered, that can move the mountains of bad thoughts, mental strongholds, diseases, illnesses, injuries, and demonic influence in people’s lives.  Pure faith consists of a humble heart living in life union with Jesus who is teachable to the Lord; has full confidence and trust in the Lord and His word; is filled with courage and wisdom, and is dependent on the Holy Spirit to flow through him and onto others.   Pure faith ensures the heart is not poisoned with unforgiveness nor loaded down with unrepentant sins.   Lastly, we will always trust God to deliver what is needed and not necessarily what is wanted. By his word, power, and grace, we know our generous Father seeks to give us the best so we may enjoy an abundant life in His Kingdom. (John 10:10)