When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He said to pray that earth would look like heaven - that what’s happening there would happen here! One of the things that is directly impacted by that prayer is our worship. The issue is, many times the church is impacted more by earth’s culture than by heaven’s glory. We’ve cared more about being relevant than reverent. God wants to reset our hearts to heaven’s standard of worship where it’s all about giving honor to the King!

This week I’m sharing a guest post from my good friend Taylor Jensen. He’s always full of fresh revelation and amazing testimonies of what God has done in and through his life. I was blown away at what God did as Taylor walked out the love of Jesus to a North Korean guard. If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to demonstrate love to a supposed enemy, or just how God’s love looks in a practical and impactful way - this blog is for you.

Do you remember those times when you’re learning a new board game with friends? Someone tries to teach everyone how to play and after a few minutes you kind of get it (but not really) and then you all end up saying, “Let’s just play and you’ll get it as you go.” This is how it is with healing ministry...and in fact, all ministry. There’s only so much you can get from books and writings. You’re just gonna have to start doing it and you’ll get it as you go.

If supernatural healing really is God’s will (as it is), then why is healing ministry not a normal part of every church? Bringing it even closer to home, is it a normal part of your walk as a believer? God wants to raise up an army of healers, who walk in confidence of God’s healing power and release it as they go through life. This is our inheritance as followers of Jesus!

All throughout Scripture and all throughout history God has released healing in various ways. From the prayer of faith to an anointed handkerchief to a text message - there’s no limit to how God can release healing. All things are possible to those who believe! In part 2 of this series on healing, I want to talk about some of the various ways God releases healing.

Healing was an essential part of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Everywhere He went He released the healing touch of God. Not just emotional, medical, or inner healing - although that’s great and something God does - I’m talking about healing miracles that remove the pains, sickness, and diseases in people’s physical bodies. If you’re in need of healing or want to step into healing ministry, the first thing you need to know is that it is God’s will to heal.

In the world we live in, there are all kinds of voices that try to tell you what you should think and what you should do. But you weren’t made to be tossed here and there like a tumbleweed blowing in the wind of everyone’s opinions! You were meant to stand upon the truth of God and influence others for the sake of Jesus. You are called to be a thermostat, not a thermometer.

It’s important to identify who is telling your story. Whoever holds the narrative in your life holds your perception of reality. And out of that - your functionality, and ultimately your destiny. Many times, mainstream media and news outlets have an agenda - showing you only what they want you to see because they know that what you see determines what you perceive as reality. In other words, they want to tell your story! So the question then becomes, what voice is telling your story?

Stress and anxiety are overrated. And sometimes it feels like peace is undervalued. Or maybe just taken for granted…? Or maybe it’s just that we haven’t deeply experienced the peace of God so we just don’t know how powerful it is. Jesus believed that peace was important enough for us to have that He gave His life for it. And just being real...it’s a way better option than anxiety or stress.

We’ve all faced challenges in the unexpected year of 2020. But the good news is that faith works in every type of circumstance. Faith isn’t dependent on what’s happening around us because it’s rooted in our unshakeable God who is seated far above it all. As we come to a close of this crazy year where fear has tried to dominate the airwaves, let’s take some time to invest in our faith.

We’ve all had times where our passion needed re-fueling. Apathy is defined as the absence or suppression of passion. Trials - when improperly responded to - work to steal our passion and leave us apathetic towards God and towards life. You may have just let busyness distract you and apathy is now knocking at your door. Or...maybe you’re just not “feeling it” ...lol. The good news is that it doesn’t have to stay that way. Regardless of how you feel, there’s a way to fuel your passion every single day.

I’ve heard it said many times that we need to get back to the Book of Acts and the impact of the early church with signs, wonders, and miracles. As I’ve been reading through Acts in recent days, it stood out to me how much action was documented - hence, the name - Book of Acts, or the Acts of the Apostles. I believe the amount of power the disciples walked in was directly connected to the amount of action they took for the gospel. After all, you only need as much power as you’re going to use.

We’ve been good at championing heaven coming to earth, and rightly so. But one thing we haven’t talked about nearly as much is the returning of Jesus Christ, our home in heaven, and living with an eternal perspective. I’m a big believer that hope for the future brings strength for today. I don’t understand end times, nor do I want to argue about it - but one thing I know, Jesus is coming back and it should massively impact the way I live my life now.

It’s obvious there’s a war over our praise - especially if you live in California. We know our war is ultimately not with flesh and blood, it’s with the enemy of our souls. He knows the power that’s within our praise to God! God has given us a powerful supernatural weapon of praise. Let’s be careful to not invert our praise into complaining and use the sword the wrong way. It’s not a time to be silent, it’s a time to raise your voice - in praise to God!

We all know what it’s like to face the battlefield of the mind. Whether it’s fear, anxiety, bitterness, guilt, shame, or other draining types of thoughts - we’re familiar with the battle that takes place in our minds. Especially in 2020 - we’ve got way too many reasons to be stressed out! But God has plenty of reasons for us to be full of peace and has keys for us to win the battlefield of the mind. We can live above the craziness going on in the world today!

I wrote my book “Carriers of the Ark” with millennials in mind (even though it applies to all ages). I am one! Yet, millennials have been labeled as entitled and lazy. I’m not saying that’s 100% correct, but we do have a chance to prove those stereotypes wrong. This generation is obviously looking for purpose and is passionate about living for a cause. With all the shaking in the world today, we need an entire generation to rise up and carry the life-giving Presence of God!

While I’m sure everyone is sick of (no pun intended) the effects of the coronavirus on society and are ready for it to end, the quarantine has actually allowed for some unintended innovation and upgrades to happen for the church. To be clear, I don’t believe that God caused the coronavirus, but I do believe that He works all things together for our good. As Americans, should we fight for our rights? Sure. But we also need to capitalize on this unique time in history. God is doing a new thing!

As you’re well aware, fear and anxiety have tried to grip the world in these last couple of months. Some have lost loved ones, some have lost jobs, and others have just dealt with adjusting to a new way of living. Regardless of where we find ourselves, we’ve all had reasons to battle fear - but fear does not have to grip your life! There is a way to live above fear, and even though you may feel it, you don’t have to give into it.

Watching the news, hearing reports of deaths, and being in a quarantine situation has affected all of us. It’s at these times where we have to pull on the greater reality of heaven - the place where our eternal citizenship lies. As the old saying goes, “We are in the world but not of the world.” The kingdom of heaven never wavers, is always stable and is rooting for us. How, then, do we stay connected to that greater reality in a world that is shaking all around us?

Blessing in Ancient Hebrew meant: anointed to win, empowered to overcome and impossible to curse! Especially in this time when people are freaking out over sickness, the news is perpetuating fear, public gatherings are being asked to shut down, and more...we need to walk in the blessing of the Lord!