The Lonely Journey

In 1985, I made a daring confession to God. “Dear Lord, forgive me even before I speak! I am so very frustrated! But if this is all there is, if this is what you sent Jesus to do, I am afraid You have wasted Your time.” What I saw back then is not much different than what I see today. I was crushed, broken at the lack of genuine, Christ-centered passion. I was shocked at how so many had accepted the current state of ‘church’ as what Jesus actually came to set up. I had run a business for over 30 years. For me, it was insane to think that Jesus, who said He would build His own church, was actually content with what passed for the church He is building. There was so little care for the poor, the downtrodden, the sick, the lonely. Ever among the so-called enlightened ones, the Charismatics, the Pentecostals, there such a void in their hearts when it came to those among whom Jesus Himself, lived, loved and made the ultimate sacrifice for.

“Dear Lord Jesus, there has to be more than this! There has to me more than speaking in tongues, prophecy, casting out devils, etc, etc, etc! Dear Jesus, I am so weary of this. I am so hungry, so unfulfilled.” Although I was quite afraid of confessing this to God, I knew I had to tell someone. If I would tell almost anyone on earth, I would have gotten the typical religious retort, “Search your life! You are in sin somewhere!”

Now I knew I was a sinner saved by grace. I knew that not everything was “under His feet.” But my heart yearned for the reality that scriptures described that many had experienced in the past. So yes, I searched my life and I was free of unconfessed sin. So I had to conclude, after too much soul searching, that there was something else at work here. I continued my prayer, “Dearest Father, If I am be rebellious, I do not see it. Please help me. If I am impatient, please show me. I don’t sense it. All I sense is a profound desire, passion to know You more deeply than I know you now.” Then I thought I heard Him say, “I, too, have a profound passion for you to know me better.”

I was stunned, shocked, yet, truly ecstatic but cautious, unsure. I wanted to rebuke the devil for lying to me. I wanted to set out a fleece to determine if God had truly spoken to me. But then I knew, somehow, it was God talking. A peace, joy and anticipation just overwhelmed me. I knew in my spirit that it was time to begin living in the relationship I said I so desperately wanted.

So, no fleeces, no devil rebuking. I would respond to what I was certain I was hearing deep within my heart, in spite of what others had told me. I was stepping out on a journey for which, at least for me, there was no trail, no markers, only the light of His presence to lead me.

I soon discovered that this journey was very much mine alone. There would be few who would understand, even fewer who would extend the grace I needed for the days ahead of me. But as the old saying goes, there were two sets of footsteps on the ground as I walked. He would be with me to guide, teach, embolden, protect and love. Now I understood like I never did before. “Who is this coming out of the wilderness, leaning on the arm of her Beloved?” It was me.

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You Are (Much) More Than You Have Become

Mufasa spoke deeply into the heart of the would-be king. “You are more than you have become.” Simba didn’t know what to make of the words that thundered from heaven. He would try to ignore them. He would try to go on as though he never heard that powerful pronouncement. Simba, try as he would, never escaped his destiny.

Those haunting words from a kids’ movie have also echoed throughout a whole generation of young people labeled Generation X, who desperately looked for meaning in a world that would have discarded them.

“Remember who you are!” Mufasa spoke from the heavens as God speaks to humanity every day. But just is it is for us, it would be a long and trying journey of discovery for little Simba who found it almost impossible to shake off the damning  indictment of Scar, who insisted that Simba was a murderer and would have to be banished forever.  Thank God for the prophet Rafiki who rose above the forces of control, condemnation and arrogance to declare the truth! Ha! “I know who you, are” he said to Simba.”You are Mufasa’s son!” So the Holy Speaks into your heart today, “I know who you are! You are son of the Most High! I know!!” Ok, I get it. Those who declare such positive, destiny-setting words are often considered baboons, just like Rafiki. But for those who will dare speak those words and for those who darelisten to them, receive them, the heavens open and the earth responds in kind. The land is redeemed, beginning with yours.

Rafiki would would ultimately live to see Simba take his rightful place as king, thus becoming much more than he ever dreamed was in him. SO shall we who hear the Voice of the Spirit within.

I wonder how many believers struggle with the same sense of failure, condemnation and aimlessness due to the careless, often arrogant words of those who see themselves as greater, better than them. I wonder how many folk live (and die) far below their destiny because there was no Rafiki in their lives to tell them any differently? Yet eternity is pregnant with the unfulfilled destiny of untold numbers of people who were convinced that their lives were less than they had hoped. God help the “Scars” who have stolen destiny from the lives of so many simply for their own advantage.

I can sense the stirring of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of many, many folk who are living under the curse of another man’s ruthless comments. I can sense the pain, the frustration of those who had hoped they were more, felt they were more, deep inside, know they are more than they have become. But there is good news. In fact, there is incredibly good news. God does not regard the words of man as man pronounces judgment on those around him. God regards the words of his own heart; words that encourage, heal, restore hope and destiny. God’s words come with strength, His Spirit comes with the sweetness of His compassion and the assurance of His eternal purpose. What God says, is what really IS. The Holy Spirit is stirring, moving, welling up in the hearts of men, women and children in an unprecedented Divine determination to brings many sons into the perfection of Jesus Christ Himself. For in Him, we live, move and have our being. Anything less should be tossed away as rutlessly as they were pronounced over you. Otherwise, they will most certainly destroy your future, you hope, your destiny.

I was unfortunate enough to be in the ‘kool-aid’ crowd a million years ago where the conversation went something like this:

“Thank God for the Body of Christ! Thank God for those who fill the pews, loyally pay their weekly dues, do the work that make us look so good! Thank God for the ones who we can count on to fill our altars, go down when we touch them and believe anything we say. Thank God for their calling to serve us, our ministry, our lifestyle. Thank God they all have good jobs, take care of their families so they never make us look bad> Thank God they are there every time the doors are open. They make us look good, really good.”

I bet you have never heard a pastor, leader, apostle, evangelist or prophet preach that from the pulpit. I bet you never will…unless and until you drink the kool-aid. I quickly found the antidote for such sickness. It is called repentance.

No, man cannot control what God is doing. Man can only destroy those whom God would use. And God will use all who come to Him, ignoring the rantings of those with plans and kingdoms of their own.

But you? You were bought with the price of the Blood of the Son of God. You were ransomed for a day such as this, a time such as now. Yes, the wind of His presence is blowing. The Living Water within you is rising and there is no stopping the determined heart of our Father, Who will have a people, Who subdue the earth with His glory and Who has called mankind to be gathered to God Himself. The will disclose who has been broken and who has not. The times ahead will reveal those in whom the kingdom of God has been built and in whom it has only been an intellectual study. The disciple with gather the religious will run. The glory of God is revealed from it’s source…His dwelling place, His home, the Holiest Place in all the universe…..your heart.

“But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years…” Mal. 3:2-4.

So THIS Is The Kingdom Of God?

‘From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ‘ (Mat 4:12-17 NASB)

Jesus began to speak about something He was intending to come to earth (our earth…us), not about a place He was expecting us to go. The gospel of ‘heaven-bound-only’ religion is an invention of the western church system intended to keep folks attending, giving and working, slightly off balance but not really affecting the world personally every day. Heaven would certainly be a by-product of the kingdom but the main intention of the King is His kingdom within us. In short, He wants His kingly rule to come to earth in us and then through us.

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, Jesus taught them nothing about going to heaven but taught them the basics about establishing His kingdom on earth. He taught then to pray thusly, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.

So we have discovered Kingdom words today, but it has not changed our western church system way of life. Words do not not change the world unless lived by someone who believes those words strongly enough to act upon them. The real excitement is in realizing that God is NOT interested in us acting like Him, He wants to actually live through us. This changes everything. We are not to live religiously, we are to allow Him to live through us. There are many who think that not living religiously means we can be as crass, as grungy as we want. I just saw a guy on my FB page that posted a picture of Jesus smoking a joint and giving someone the finger. That is not what ‘freedom from religion’ means. Freedom from religion means I am free to be myself, resting in Him, not trying prove anything to anyone. It means waiting for His Life to flow moment by moment and allowing the fruit of His presence to ‘infect’ us first and than all those around is. We are not anti-Christ, we are anti-religion. The gospel of the Kingdom is inherently opposed to the man-made church system that honors neither God nor man but is a self-serving entity whose intention is its own viability. The Church Jesus is building is in lock step with His Kingdom and gladly releases her people to the destiny God has prepared for them.

“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Col.1:13

We no longer dwell the domain, the control of Darkness, we are literally transferred into Him and He in us. He is the master of my fate. He is the Captain of my soul.

This is the lifestyle of those who truly call Jesus their Lord, their King, their master, their, their Captain. This is the evidence that Jesus is living freely through us, without struggle, without sweat, without fear:

“Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond- servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, … informed us of your love in the Spirit. For this reason also, since the day we heard of your love for us, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.” Col. 1:7-12.
Amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus…through me.

Three’s: Where is the Most Holy Place? And Why Does It matter?

If you are like many desperately hungry believers. You are searching for that apparently illusive Most Holy Place where union with God is a lifestyle and His manifest Presence an ever-present reality. I will give you the good news first, then after you pick yourself off the floor, I will give you some details to help you understand.

The Most Holy Place is within you. It is your heart.

Now, here are the essential details of to experience He who has taken up residence in the this, the Holiest Place of all-you.

Your body is the Outer Court. It is a place of daily sacrifice and denial in a futile to try to please God. The continuous sacrifices and washings never take away the consciousness of sin, never takes away the condemnation that always hovers in the back of your mind. You live in doubt, uncertainty and fear, no matter how hard you try.

Your mind, your soul, is the Holy Place. This is where you try to reason with God, giving Him your feelings and attitudes, doctrines and theology as to why things are already the way they should be. This ruse has only one goal. It says, “I need not change.” The Holy Place is where we usually want God, but we want our way as well. It is confusing, exhausting, haunting and restless.

Your heart is the Most Holy Place. It is where the presence of God has taken up permanent residence. I know, I know, ‘permanent residence’ is a mouthful to swallow. Humanity cannot comprehend this kind of endless, unmerited, unconditional love. Therefore he creates what I call ‘doctrines of the Wilderness.” These are the doctrines the conveniently put all things we don’t understand, don’t want or don’t have a way to explain, into the future, into heaven or into the ‘millennium bucket’, which is another storage locker for things we can’t explain and do not experience.

But the truth is powerful, exhilarating and provocative. The Living God actually, in reality, lives in the likes of you and I. He does not live there vicariously, He does not live there as we learn to recon it. I do not have to beg for it, fast for it, claim it, worship for it or shout for it. It does not take a dream to experience it, does not need to be imparted or prophesied into you. He did it all by Himself when He died and rose again. He bought you. Then, He moved in–lock, stock and barrel. He lives in us, changes us, as we change the world. It is a process of discovery, enlightenment and glory.

WHERE IS THIS EXPERIENCE?

Now, if all this be true, then most of what we have been taught needs to be tossed, for most of it keeps us far short of the glory He said was ours, right now. But that is for another day. For now, the overriding question is more likely to be, “If all this be true, why don’t I experience it?” Good question, but there is an easy answer. Your life experience depends upon where you live. “If you live the flesh (Outer Court), you must die. But if by the Spirit (Most Holy Place), you are putting to death the things of the flesh (Outer Court), you will live (The Most Holy Place).” (see Gal. 5:16-19)

Our life experience is determined by where we choose to rest our thoughts, our soul life (Holy Place). Just as drilling a well gives access us access to the river that is underground, so fixing our soul life on Him, trusting the River of His Life that runs through us, will cause us to live this amazing resurrection Life of God.

Living in the Life of God grants divine health, not merely divine healing. It grants a lifestyle of co-labor with God rather than an occasional supernatural provision. This Life gives the constant assurance of His nearness, the experience of the constant manifest presence, the joy of the Lord, the Brokenness that allows Him to flow to all around us. His Life assures us personally with the conscious awareness of His tender love, acceptance and mercy toward us. This is the unfolding of the New Covenant and it is, without doubt, why He came, what He wants and most certainly, what He will do in and through a people who will allow Him this uncanny access to their heart, making it the dwelling place of Almighty God, the holiest place in all of creation, the Most Holy Place.

Whosoever will, come.

The Mystery of “Three”

Where do you want to live? Where do you want to park your soul?

Truth is dimensional. We, ourselves, choose where we want to live. That choice makes all the difference in the world. Yet, most do not realize that their moment by moment decisions are what keeps them confused, uncertain, insecure and afraid, no matter how good they are at putting up a front.

A person who makes a decision to live under the ocean will have a completely different perspective on staying alive than one who lives on land. Someone who settles on a different planet will need to know and understand where they live so they can prepare themselves for the challenges of living in such a unique environment. But not to worry, folks who venture beyond the normal are usually well prepared for anything that threatens them.

This example is similar to deciding where we want to ‘live’. Where do we want to park our soul-life? The answer will determine the course of the flow of God’s life within, the depths of our spiritual reality, our destiny and the relationship we will enjoy with our Living Lord.

So, where do you want to live?

The body?

We can live in the natural realm, (the fleshy reality of our humanity), where all we know, all we can comprehend is what we are fed by our five natural senses. In fact, the five senses keep us in touch with this world. Without them, we have no connection with the realm in which our body calls home. But living in the five senses alone keeps us completely oblivious to everything spiritual, the dimension in which our spirit lives. As Bert ‘Mystic Bless’ says, “Those who dance are thought mad by those who do not hear the music.”

But things are so much easier here in terms of conflict since being locked to time and space keeps us from more compelling forces of spirit which also vie for our attention and response. ‘Earth dwellers’ live life far below what God would have for them, even though destiny awaits them in Spirit.

The Soul?

The soul is that spiritual ‘no man’s land’ that the Children of Israel experienced for forty years. In this dimension, the five senses collide with God’s presence. Man is determined to be the captain of his destiny. So he is left to his own cognitive abilities to determine what he will do in any given situation.

Man must decide how he will live with both his own will and the will of God. In the soulish dimension, man cannot make the commitment to go on with God no matter what happens. But, as we saw with ancient Israel, the struggle is real. Man lives a soulish nightmare that is a constant battle as he confesses God’s will but craves his own destructive ways, explaining the goodness of those fleshy desires in ways would give even God a headache, should He be able to have one. In this dimension, man makes little growth in friendship with God, abiding peace and genuine maturity into the mysteries we were meant to understand, embrace and experience. This dimension constantly rewrites what has been said and done for thousands of years but touts it as new simply because they have found new words to say old, very old things. If man is fortunate, he will discover that this is very destructive realm indeed. Anytime man tries to use reason to figure what God is up to, he sentences himself, as ancient Israel did, to another tour of the wilderness, far from God’s destiny for them and far from the relationship we are destined to enjoy with Him. As long as man battle God, demanding our own ways, his own traditions; as long he resists instruction, correction, discipline, he falls short of God’s wondrous plan for him.

The Spirit?

This is the dimension of ‘all God’. It is NOT the dimension of human perfection, it the dimension of human surrender. For here, in His presence, the heart yearns to obey whilst the soul craves its fleshy passions. The heart lives in genuine repentance, the soul lives in human denial. The heart’s overshadowing passion is union with God. The soul’s overshadowing passion is its hidden wanton lusts and desires. Surrender to God keeps your soul focused on the prize but the seedy side of our humanity is always waiting for opportunity. This struggle IS the struggle against the fleshy, earthy part of us, what Paul calls our ‘tent’. Though we live in the flesh, we do not live according to the flesh, that is yielding to its demands at every turn.

Living in the Spirit truly is the fellowship of His suffering with the power of His Resurrection. One cannot exist without the other. They are companions that fire the love of God within and give single-eyed determination to live wholly and purely in Christ. The greater the “yes”, the more the persecution. But this does not fit the modern narrative of the ‘new’ Christianity that expects instant results to their ideas of God’s will and desires. In the realm of ‘all-God’ there is no whining, no second guessing, no bargaining with God. There is no clamoring for attention, no begging. “God is all in all and in you all.” Like Israel of who, when they entered the Promised Land, they still struggled, but their hearts were fixed. They were not going back. They failed but they continued their sojourn with God.

The understanding of “three’s” throughout the scripture is the understanding our journey into the heart of God and our inevitable union with Him. This is more than our desire. It is more than our goal. It is His desire and it is our destiny.

If Only I Could Sing!!!

If only I could sing, I would sing a song to tell of His wonders yet unseen, yet undiscovered.

If only I were an artist, I would paint a mural of all He is to me, right now, toward all of us, in all of us.

If only I were were a movie maker, I would make a movie showing the world His all-consuming love; His never-ending embrace.

If only I could fly, I would write His love all over the sky.

If only I spoke a hundred languages, I would use them all to shout His glorious praise.

If only I were any more than I am, I would use it all to bring the heart of our Father to the heart of the hurting, the seeking, the needy.

Alas! I am only me and oh the limitations I feel in this mortality!

Then my God, my King, my Lord, my Friend, my Captain spoke to me, as He always does when I grow anxious. “You are all those things and so very much more.

You are a song! Your life echoes with the Joy of the Lord throughout heaven and earth.

You are a movie that gives hope to so many during their most difficult times.

You are a mural that resounds with the story of My love in you and through you!

And you fly! Oh! You fly! You soar with the eagles spreading your wings of faith over the Wind of My Spirit as I take your words, your heart to the four corners of the world.

So do not be saddened, sorrowful, hopeless. The River is churning deep within you!”

So stand ready all you who call upon the Name of the Lord in Righteousness. Stand alert and move in the will of Almighty God, for only eternity will reveal what your life has done whilst you walked among mere mortal man. Do not hesitate to walk on! Do not hesitate to love, heal, gather, give.

Do not wait for the attention of man. You do not need a camera fixed on you to do the will of God. You don’t need someone chronicling your exploits and words. You do not need anyone watching, cheering or casting accolades in your direction. You have all you need. You have Him. And He says, “Now.”

New beginnings…coming soon…again. Don Nori, Sr, publisher

When I started DI a million years ago, there were many, many that the church system did not recognize because they were not the pretty, the famous, the ‘gifted’. Recently, I realized that it is the same today. Nothing has changed.  God used the dregs throughout history. He is still using us. It is as if they we are the only ones will to risk everything. It seems as though they understand that they have nothing to lose; there is nothing in this world that can compare to His Life within them. Whilst so many compare the advantages and disadvantages of following the narrow way and then make the decision to stay in the comfort zone, there are those who will simply obey. They count the cost and find that His way is the only way to fulfillment in this life and the next. No, it is not easy. It is not the way of the crowds, but it is fulfilling, exhilarating, joyful and packed with destiny.

To that end, I found that I must do this. I must, once again, begin a gathering of those whom the ‘church’ world has rejected, rebuked, dismissed as loners, lunatics and lackeys. But God sees them so much differently. He sees them for who they really are, who you are. He sees how He made you. He remembers what he put into your heart, my son, and He will not relent. There are untold numbers out there just like you. They churn within with the birth pains of the emerging Christ from the depths of your heart. Be watching for RAW GOD, a new prophetic portal coming soon and published by yours truly.

I don’t have all the answers, for sure, but I know what He is doing in me and through me and I cannot stop it. I cannot reverse it. I cannot be redirected by well-meaning folk to take another path. If I am wrong, I alone will pay for it. But if I am right, His plan will flow through the likes of this old man and countless around the world who simply will not give up, turn back, stop trusting. I am certain that Christ Jesus is and will do whatever is necessary to awaken people to His appearing. He is on schedule with His plan. Some say He is beginning to move. But I say He is always moving, some are just now discerning His movements and plans. Some are just now recognizing the His activity in the earth and now realize that they can be a part of it, a big part.

If you are reading this and your heart burns, the Holy Spirit within you is urging you, calling you, gathering you to His activity for a time such as this. My goal here is not to preach to you, but to stir you to good works, hope, anticipation and destiny. This is your day, my dear friends. Listen, discern, respond. The world is waiting for you.

My dear son, I do not know what this will mean specifically mean for you. I know that He has apprehended you. Beyond that, you must hear Him for your self. I recommend that you abandon yourself to Him, as you would fall into the water from a diving board. Relinquish your fears, uncertainties and your doubts and fall into His arms. Only He knows what will come of such surrender. But it will give you the greatest peace, fulfillment, purpose, joy and love you have every known.

RAW GOD…I cannot do this myself. I need the help, the guidance, the input, the revelation, the expertise of folk just as passionate, just as committed. Please pray with me concerning this emerging portal.  Let’s do this…together.