Honor Is Easy

Written by Jarred Rushing

(5 minutes)

After Sunday's service Pastor Tim and I were talking and a phrase came out in our conversation that has really stuck with me. This was the phrase: "Honor is easy." Honor is absolutely a foreign subject for American Christianity, but it's not foreign to us. The principle of honor is woven into the fabric of our everyday life. Today, I want to give you my most elementary understanding of honor. This is how I think about it. 

When I think about intimacy and honor, I think about gardening. We use some of this language at The Wilderness Place. We've even sung songs that draw the parallel between a garden and our own hearts. "I am my Beloved's and He is mine, so come into Your garden and take delight in me, take delight in me." When you read the Song of Songs, Solomon frequently uses the language of a garden to describe our inner world and what the Bridegroom is doing in us. 

"Awake, O north wind!
Awake O south wind!
Breathe on my garden with your Spirit-Wind.
Stir up the sweet spice of your life within me.
Spare nothing as you make me your fruitful garden.
Hold nothing back until I release your fragrance.
Come walk with me as you walked with Adam in your paradise garden.
Come taste the fruits of your life in me."
(Song of Songs 4:16)

Gardening requires intimacy.

Intimacy happens when we are completely open -"into-me-see." When I am open to the idea of planting a garden and the ground is open to being cultivated, we have seen a picture of intimacy. Intimacy requires two things being completely open to one another. Intimacy requires vulnerability, honesty, trust, and it almost always involves risk, or should I say...faith. If any one of the two parties is withholding a part of themselves, you don't have the fullest measure of intimacy. Intimacy in marriage requires two open hearts. Intimacy with Abba requires two open hearts. Intimacy in gardening requires two open hearts - my heart being open to engage with the ground, and the ground being open to engaging with me. And just like marriage and our relationship with Abba, intimacy always carries the potential for a seed to be planted in the right soil and begin to grow. 

So where does honor fit in?

This is the moment you should begin to see honor as something that is easy to understand, because this next statement should strike a chord in all of our hearts, especially those of us who have tried to do any type of gardening in the past. 

Everyone wants to plant a garden (intimacy), few people want to commit to seeing that garden actually grow (honor).

Do you see it now? Do you see the connection between intimacy and honor?

I've heard people say the same thing about marriage. 
"Anyone can get married (intimacy), few people can stay married (honor).” 

I've heard people use this same language about men.
”Any man can be a father (intimacy), but it takes someone special to be a dad (honor).”

This is why Abba is building intimacy and honor in the wilderness. Because if our intimate encounters with Him are not followed by honor, we will forfeit all the fruit that could have been produced by the encounter. Nazareth was supposed to experience so much more than a few sick people being healed, but they couldn't honor the seed that was planted in their own town.

You see...honor keeps watering the seed that intimacy planted.
Say it with me, "Honor KEEPS WATERING." 

This was a hard pill for me to swallow, but I recently discovered that there's a reason why all my plants keep dying. It's because I fail to honor them the way they deserve to be honored. 

One thing is for sure: if we want to continue to reap the blessings of any relationship in our life, we must honor it. 

This is why intimacy and honor must travel together. Honor should always be riding the heels of our intimate encounters with Abba. 

I'll draw one last parallel because I really want us to see what's at stake.

I want you to stop for a moment and think about the institutions that exist in our world today that thrive off of giving people an intimate encounter without any sense of responsibility, commitment or follow-through on the back end. I can think of two right off the bat, and they both start with the letter "p" and end with the letter "n."

So maybe we can define spiritual prostitution as our being intimate with a God we never intend to honor.

It's sad, but that's how religion taught us to relate to our First Love. Stimulation, without procreation. As long as we walked away from that church service feeling good, everything was okay. But we weren’t okay. We were empty. We had nothing growing on the inside of us.

Abba is luring people into the wilderness so they can be transformed into real lovers. In the wilderness we're becoming the Bride of Christ who is marked by both intimacy AND honor. We see this picture in Hosea 2:14-23, and we're told that after Yahweh marries this Bride in the wilderness, He sends her out into the world and the world sees her and responds with this exclamation, "God plants!"

And just like that, we're back to gardening.

As you walk with Abba today, let His love nourish your heart and encourage you in the ways you can begin to honor every intimate encounter you have with Him and His body.

Letting His love wash over us is the key.

Honor is easy for those who are forever falling in love.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Worship: "Where I Belong" by Upperroom

Honor: Give Online to The Wilderness Place

Share With Us: We would love to hear how you're encountering Abba in your daily walks. Don't hesitate to share what you're hearing, seeing, or sensing in His presence. Email us here!

Getting Honor In Your Mouth

Written by Jarred Rushing

(4 minutes)

You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.  (Matthew 12:34)

"For what has been stored up in your hearts will be heard in the overflow of your words!" The Passion Translation

In a heated discussion with the Pharisees, Jesus releases this truth about the words we speak - that they flow from our heart. 

Yesterday, as Pastor Tim was closing the service I was listening to the Holy Spirit speak to me about the message of honor that we had just heard. This time He posed an interesting question to me that He was inviting me to search out. This was the question: "Jarred, is honor really in your heart if it's not in your mouth?" 

Is honor really in your heart if it's not in your mouth?

The question was interesting because up until that point I would have considered myself an honorable person. I can look back over my life and point at specific moments of honoring the Lord, honoring spiritual authority, honoring my family, etc., with my time, talents and treasures. But I've never really lumped in "words" with that list...until now. 

You see, Abba has given us things that we can spend in life, however we want to. When these things come to us it's our choice as to how we use them. We can spend them on ourselves or on others, for gain or for loss, with wisdom or foolishly. It's really up to us.

He's given us time. This is our calendar, our schedule. All the hours in our day. 

He's given us talents. These are our unique giftings and abilities. Sometimes these turn into careers, but other times they remain hobbies. It's things that we are exceptionally good at. I would also put our unique, spiritual gifts into this category. 

He's given us treasures. These are our resources, our assets. It's our finances, our investments, our property and our belongings. 

And we're going to start including at the top of this list, our words. Our words are a gift that Abba has given us and we've learned our whole life that there is power in our words. Our declarations carry authority and influence. And we can't stop there because Jesus has told us that if something is truly established in our heart, the overflow of that truth will begin to pour out of our mouth. 

As we are seeking to be a people of honor, we need to see that Abba has given us a handful of things that are actually tools we can use to honor Him and the people that He's planted in our life: our time, our talents, our treasure....and our tongue (I figured we should stick with the t's).

After the service yesterday, I really felt that Abba was calling us to focus on a specific area of honor this week. We need to get honor in our mouth.

Honor needs to become our shared language. 
Honor needs to become our native tongue. 

We will know that honor is being established in our hearts when it is flowing from our mouths.

Listen for whispers from Abba today as He leads you to honor people He’s planted in your life. 

As we start this new week, full of new opportunities to walk with Abba, let's make these declarations and get honor in our mouth:

I am a vessel of honor. 

I honor Abba and all that He's planted in my life with my time, talents, treasure and my tongue. 

Honor is being established in my heart and honor is overflowing from my mouth.

Honoring Abba with my words is effortless for me. 

Honoring my spouse and my children with my words is effortless for me

Honoring spiritual authority with my words is effortless for me. 

Honoring my Kingdom family with my words is effortless for me. 

Honoring my boss, my co-workers, my clients and/or my employees is effortless for me. 

Abba is using my honor to bring Heaven to Earth in every conversation. 

As I walk with Abba, He teaches me how to honor.  

Honor starts in the heart. 
And overflows through the mouth. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Worship: "Tend" by Upperroom

Honor: Give Online to The Wilderness Place

Share With Us: We would love to hear how you're encountering Abba in your daily walks. Don't hesitate to share what you're hearing, seeing, or sensing in His presence. Email us here!

Extravagant Honor

Written by Jarred Rushing

(4 minutes)

Six days before the Passover began, Jesus went back to Bethany, the town where he raised Lazarus from the dead. They had prepared a supper for Jesus. Martha served, and Lazarus and Mary were among those at the table. Mary picked up an alabaster jar filled with nearly a liter of extremely rare and costly perfume--the purest extract of nard, and she anointed Jesus' feet. Then she wiped them dry with her long hair. And the fragrance of the costly oil filled the house. But Judas the locksmith, Simon's son, the betrayer, spoke up and said, "What a waste! We could have sold this perfume for a fortune and given the money to the poor!" (In fact, Judas had no heart for the poor. He only said this because he way a thief and in charge of the money case. He would steal money whenever he wanted from the funds given to support Jesus' ministry.)  John 12:1-6

Extravagant honor will always expose where dishonor is hiding in the room.

Mary of Bethany was famous for how she honored Jesus. Anytime He was in the room, she was pulling up the closest seat and leaning in to every word He was speaking. She would abandon worthless tasks and mediocre conversations if it meant being close to the heart of Yeshua. Remember the time she was sitting at the feet of Jesus, lingering in His presence, and Martha, her sister, became enraged. Mary's honor has a strange way of exposing where dishonor is hiding in the room. And again in the scripture above we see Mary leveling up her honor, going beyond just spending time in Jesus' presence, as she begins to pour out her precious, costly resources on his feet and gently wipes them with her own hair. It doesn't take Judas long before he declares what dishonor always says when it sees extravagant honor flowing in someone else's direction: "What a waste!"

Dishonor always acts casually towards what honor sees as costly. 

You need to know this as you pursue a heart of honor, because your extravagant expressions of honor will likely expose where dishonor is hiding in the room. As soon as you start to pour out your precious resources, dishonor will get offended and question your choices. Dishonor never understands why someone would spend their time, talents and treasure on someone or something other then themselves. There is a reason for that. Dishonor is always hiding in the heart that is pursuing personal destiny. Always.

When you begin to honor what Abba has anointed, there is a chance that friends, family, and co-workers will not understand. And that's okay.

There is something else you need to know.

Whenever dishonor starts to question you and mock you over your extravagant displays of affection, don't defend yourself. You just keep your eyes on the One who is most valuable. Consider Mary's life for a moment. In both scenarios where Mary is honoring the presence of Jesus, when she was sitting by His side as Martha groaned and as she poured oil on His feet as Judas mocked, notice that Mary doesn't have to give an answer to any of her accusers. In both scenarios, Jesus speaks to them on her behalf. I'm not even sure that she lifted her head in their direction because she was so enamored by the presence of Yahweh in her midst. No matter what noise dishonor is making, honor always keeps its eyes on what is most valuable.  Let Jesus quiet the voice of dishonor on your behalf.

One more thing worth mentioning before we wrap up: never quiet the first-love fire inside of you because there are wet blankets in the room. I'm only bringing this up because I've seen it happen in my own life. There have been moments where I have let the dishonor in someone else keep me from pouring out the full measure of honor I knew someone or something was worthy of. In a moment where I should have protected the heart of the one deserving of honor, I protected my own heart instead. If you want to know how Peter felt after denying Christ three times, just give this a try. I'm so thankful that Abba's perfect love redeemed and restored my heart of honor.

Take this question with you as you walk with Abba:
Abba, where can I pour out my extravagant honor today?

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Worship: "Wouldn't It Be Like You" by Bryan & Katie Torwalt

Honor: Give Online to The Wilderness Place

Share With Us: We would love to hear how you're encountering Abba in your daily walks. Don't hesitate to share what you're hearing, seeing, or sensing in His presence. Email us here!

Life Flows Through Honor

Written by Jarred Rushing

(7 minutes)

Some time later the woman’s son became sick. He grew worse and worse, and finally he died. Then she said to Elijah, “O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?” But Elijah replied, “Give me your son.” And he took the child’s body from her arms, carried him up the stairs to the room where he was staying, and laid the body on his bed. Then Elijah cried out to the Lord , “O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?” And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the Lord , “O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.” The Lord heard Elijah’s prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he revived! Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. “Look!” he said. “Your son is alive!” Then the woman told Elijah, “Now I know for sure that you are a man of God, and that the Lord truly speaks through you.” (1 Kings 17:17-24)

After Jesus finished giving revelation to the people on the hillside, he went on to Capernaum. A Roman military captain there had a beloved servant whom he valued highly, and who was sick to the point of death. When the captain heard that Jesus was in the city, he sent some respected Jewish elders to plead with him to come and heal his dying servant. So they came to Jesus and told him, “The Roman captain is a wonderful man. If anyone deserves a visit from you, it is him. Won’t you please come to his home and heal his servant? For he loves the Jewish people, and he even built our meeting hall for us.” Jesus started off with them, but on his way there, friends of the captain stopped him and delivered this message: “Master, don’t bother to come to me in person, for I am not good enough for you to enter my home. I’m not worthy enough to even come out to meet one like you. But if you would just speak the word of healing from right where you are, I know that my servant will be healed. I am an ordinary man. Yet I understand the power of authority, and I see that authority operating through you. I have soldiers under me who obey everything I command. I also have authorities over me whom I likewise obey. So Master, just speak the word and healing will flow.” Jesus marveled at this. He turned around and said to the crowd who had followed him, “Listen, everyone! Never have I found among the people of God a man like this who believes so strongly in me.” Jesus then spoke the healing word from a distance. When the man’s friends returned to the home, they found the servant completely healed and doing fine. (Luke 7:1-10) 

Honor isn't just the Kingdom-currency that unlocks provision in our own lifetime, honor ultimately creates an atmosphere where the next generation can be revived and resurrected. 

We have to see everything in the light of generational legacy, not personal destiny. Our honor is less about ourselves, and more about the path it creates for the next generation. 

Life flows through honor.

In the story of the widow, we see a pathway of honor that creates an atmosphere for her son to be resurrected. It started with her honoring Elijah with what she thought was the last of her resources. And in the above scripture we can see Elijah taking the young boy upstairs (in the widow's house) to the room where he, Elijah, was staying. So the widow didn't stop with a bread cake. Honor is always leveling up. Honor started with a bread cake, but then honor took the next step and made room for spiritual authority to be a perpetual part of her house. And when an even greater need arose in the widow's life, honor had already prepared a place where the prophet could go and revive her dead son. Life flows through honor. 

We can see the same pathway of honor in the life of the Roman military captain. We see a glimpse of this honor as we read about his unusual relationship to his sick servant. The Passion Translation tells us that the Roman captain had a "beloved servant whom he valued highly." The literal translation of that phrase is "a servant to whom he was honorable." This is not the kind of behavior that we traditionally see in Roman militants. This man was honoring his servant long before he comes on the scene with Jesus. We can also see his pathway of honor in his relationship with the Jewish community. We don't just have a Roman militant honoring a servant which is strange, we also have Jews honoring a ROMAN CAPTAIN which is even stranger. But it's because this Roman captain had been honoring the Jewish community long before this point. The Jews are pleading with Jesus to help a ROMAN because "he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue." This story is steeped with honor, built upon honor, built upon honor. And when a great need arose in the Roman captain's life, honor had already paved the way for Jesus to send a healing word to heal a young servant. Life flows through honor. 

Let me ask you a raw, revealing question that I personally feel as I read these stories: if today's miracle was going to be based on yesterday's honor, how would I fare? Do I have a history of honor that could foster an atmosphere where the next generation could be healed and revived? 

Honor is what opened the door for Elijah to raise that widow woman's son from the dead. Honor is what paved the way for that Roman captain's beloved servant to be healed solely on a word from Yeshua's mouth.

We have to move past personal destiny in order to get to this place of honor. Can we consistently honor when it's not benefiting our personal advancement? Can we honor in moments that we know won't deliver an immediate return? Can we honor without any guarantee that it will benefit us at all, if it means that it might benefit the next generation in their most desperate time of need?

Honor isn't just the Kingdom-currency that unlocks provision in our own lifetime, honor ultimately creates an atmosphere where the next generation can be revived and resurrected. 

As you take a walk with Abba today, let His love convince you of what honor can do in your life. Let His love wash away the residue of personal destiny. Let His love establish a heart of honor in you that will be used to usher His life-giving presence into dead sons and daughters. That's really all He needs... a vessel of honor that He can flow through.

Declare this today:
If life flows through honor, then life flows through me, because I am a vessel of honor.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Worship: "You Restore Everything" by Rick Pino & Abbie Gamboa

Honor: Give Online to The Wilderness Place

Share With Us: We would love to hear how you're encountering Abba in your daily walks. Don't hesitate to share what you're hearing, seeing, or sensing in His presence. Email us here!

The Currency of the Kingdom

Written by Jarred Rushing

(7 minutes)

Then the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and remain there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you." So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, "Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink." So she went to get it, and he called to her and said, "Please get me a piece of bread in your hand." But she said, "As Yahweh your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die." Then Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that Yahweh sends rain on the face of the earth.'" So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. (1 Kings 17:8-15)

Honor is the currency of the Kingdom. 

In our culture we grow up learning that in order to ensure that there's more resources for us in the future we'll have to protect and hold on to whatever comes into our life today. Don't give valuable stuff away. Stuff you don't want? Clothes you don't wear? Money you don't need? That's fair game. You can donate that stuff until your heart's content, but whatever you do...don't give away bread that you and your household need to survive. It's safe to say that our culture's motto is "take care of yourself, first."

But I have some news for you that you may or may not like to hear: the culture of the Kingdom is the exact opposite. 

Honor is the currency of the Kingdom.
Honor is the gateway to more.

And the definition of honor is this: placing high respect, great esteem, and the most significant value on something outside of yourself. The very nature of honor is to admire something else more than you admire yourself. Honor is what we express when we find something of great value outside of our own existence. Honor is what we felt when we first fell in love with our spouse. We were completely enamored. Up until that point we thought that we were the most important people on the planet, but then we fell in love (intimacy) and honor began to flow. Honor is the currency of the Kingdom, because the Kingdom isn't transactional - it's relational. It's the same in marriage - if you desire more from your spouse the answer is not giving them more money (that's prostitution). The answer is giving more honor. There is nothing that reignites a marriage like increased honor. And so it goes in the Kingdom.

Here is another way I've heard this explained: The Principle of Honor states that "accurately acknowledging who people are will position us to give them what they deserve and to receive the gift of who they are in our lives." 

So, are you concerned about running out and not having enough? Are you concerned about resources drying up? Is there an area that you've been hoping and praying for increase and abundance? The answer is honor.

The world says, "If you give it away, you won't have anything left for you." The Kingdom says, "If you want more, don't hold on to what you have."

If honor is the currency of the Kingdom of God, then dishonor is the quickest way to go bankrupt. 

When Jesus arrived in his hometown of Nazareth, he began teaching the people in the synagogue. Everyone was dazed, overwhelmed with astonishment over the depth of revelation they were hearing. They said to one another, "Where did this man get such great wisdom and miraculous powers? Isn't he just the craftsman's son? Isn't his mother named Mary, and his four brothers Jacob, Joseph, Simon, and Judah? And don't his sisters all live here in Nazareth? From where then did he get all this revelation and power?" And the people became offended and began to turn against him. Jesus said, "There's only one place a prophet isn't honored--his own hometown!" And their unbelief kept him from doing many mighty miracles in Nazareth. (Matthew 13:54-58)

Dishonor kept Jesus from doing many mighty miracles in Nazareth. Dishonor KEPT JESUS from doing many mighty miracles in Nazareth. If honor is the currency of the Kingdom, then dishonor is the quickest way to go bankrupt. 

Remember, Abba redefines everything out here in the wilderness. These daily walks with Abba are so important because we need Him to come and teach us how it's meant to be. The wilderness journey, I'm discovering, is about the willingness to relearn. We've spent many years perfecting our craft when it comes to dishonor and putting ourselves first. I'm an only-child, so I got what most would consider a world-class education in this field. So what we need today is for Abba to come take a walk with us and teach us about honor. 

Here's what I know just by meditating on the two stories above: the quickest way to run out of what I have is to dishonor the presence of Yahweh in the spiritual authority that Yahweh Himself has sent to my city to ensure that my flour never runs out and that my oil never goes empty. To dishonor the one Yahweh sends is to forfeit all miracles, provision, and revelation that Yahweh is actually trying to bring into my life. All because I could not honor. 

How we treat spiritual authority has everything to do with how we treat Abba. According to John the Beloved, to not love people is to not love God. According to Elijah and Jesus above, to dishonor spiritual authority is to dishonor God. We see the fruit of honor in the life of the widow. We see the fruit of dishonor in Nazareth.

Tomorrow, we'll see something even more profound: that life flows through honor. 

Some questions to pull into your walk with Abba today:
Abba, can you show me what honor looks like?
Abba, teach me how to honor the people that You have brought into my life?
Abba, teach me how to honor the spiritual authority that You have brought into my life?
Abba, would you establish me and my family as a household of honor in the earth?

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Worship: "The Story I'll Tell" by Maverick City Music 

Honor:  Give Online to The Wilderness Place

Share With Us: We would love to hear how you're encountering Abba in your daily walks. Don't hesitate to share what you're hearing, seeing, or sensing in His presence. Email us here!

The Truth About Spiritual Authority

Written by Jarred Rushing

(6 minutes)

How we respond to spiritual authority has everything to do with how we respond to Abba. 

In my opinion, the above statement is the main reason God asks us to come under authority. Because it will be a witness to us. A witness of what? If we're actually willing and able to come under His authority.

Let's take these scriptures to heart:

Beloved children, our love can't be an abstract theory we only talk about, but a way of life demonstrated through our loving deeds. (1 John 3:18)

Anyone can say, "I love God," yet have hatred toward another believer. This makes him a phony, because if you don't love a brother or sister, whom you can see, how can you truly love God, whom you can't see? For he has given us this command: whoever loves God must also demonstrate love to others. (1 John 4:20-21)

John the Beloved steps in and reminds us that just because we say something doesn't mean it's a reality in our life. We all have tons of abstract theories we only talk about, but Abba is after His truth becoming our way of life, demonstrated in our love towards others, even those in authority over us. 

All of our relationships serve as witnesses to our relationship with Abba. They are mirror reflections of our heart posture with Him. 

So if this is actually true, then what does it mean when we resist and refuse to come under any spiritual authority in our lives? What does it say about our heart posture towards Abba when we can't submit or yield to spiritual authority? How we respond to spiritual authority (that we can see) has everything to do with how we respond to Abba (who we can't see).

We have God's truth concerning the matter.

But I know that facts sometimes override and can even take the place of truth in our hearts. I know that so many of us are letting the hurts, traumatic experiences, childhood wounds, and abusive leaders in our past shape our opinions and ideas concerning authority. To be abused literally means to be "abnormally used." We've all been burned, misused, mishandled, and let down by leaders in our life. We've seen the news stories, the documentaries, and we've heard the first-hand accounts of friends and family who have had horrific encounters with manipulative, un-loving authority figures.  And unfortunately, these encounters have shaped our theology over the years more than Abba's truth. 

So now we've grown calloused and hard. Like Jezebel, we've made internal vows to never be controlled, deceived, or led astray ever again. We've decided that the best way to protect ourselves from leaders is to never have one over us. We get triggered anytime we hear one of the following words:  spiritual authority, leadership, submitting, obedience, and surrender. Run for the hills. Resist. Resist. Resist. We can't get hurt again.

I warned you that these walks with Abba had the potential to pull down some significant strongholds in our heart. These wilderness walks with Abba are going to redefine what we've come to believe about authority. Abba is coming after everything that hinders love. 

Do you know what our resistance to spiritual authority is actually holding us back from? Being fathered by God and the spiritual authority He's planted in our life. 

We all internally crave the safety, security and freedom that comes from being fathered. When Abba peels back the hard, calloused layers of our heart and frees the innocent, inner child in us, we're going to discover that that child desperately wants to come underneath the spiritual authority of a father. That child isn't scared of submitting to God-given authority. That child believes that it's actually dangerous to be anywhere else. 

Some of us lack confidence.
Some of us don't feel safe to go play in the world. 
Some of us don't feel like we're maturing like we should be.
Some of us don't know who we are and what we're called to do.

Do you know the root of all of these things? They all stem from not being under spiritual authority. They all stem from not being fathered the way Abba intended for us to be fathered. 

I don't know about you, but I think the worse thing that could happen is for us to walk around quietly convincing ourselves that we're submitted to spiritual authority when, deep down in our heart, we're actually not.

The most painful thing for a father to witness is a son or daughter believing a lie. One of the deepest emotions I have felt as a father was seeing my daughter believe something about herself that wasn't true. If I had to give that emotion a name, I would probably call it "wrath." It was my absolute determination to utterly remove and destroy the lie that she was believing. I have no doubts about this. If we are harboring lies in our heart concerning something as close to Abba's heart as fatherhood and spiritual authority, then you best believe He is coming after that lie with everything in Him. 

The question is: will you let Him? 

Will you allow Abba's perfect love to cast out all fear?

Will you let Abba redefine what it means to submit to spiritual authority?

Will you open up your heart and let Abba heal all the hurt that came from being abnormally used by leaders in your past?

Will you let Abba restore the innocent, tender, inner child that craves the presence and covering of a father?

There is a grace available today to inherit a "better" way. As you walk with Abba today and feel the stirring in your heart to surrender to His truth, make these declarations:

Abba, I let go of the lie that I can't trust or submit to any authority figure because they will just hurt me and cause me pain. I let go of the lie that I need to protect myself by never being connected to spiritual authority ever again. And I let go of the lie that I do not need spiritual fathers in my life to grow and mature in Your perfect love.

Abba, I embrace Your truth today that I can trust the spiritual authority that YOU have planted in my life. I embrace the truth that the innocent, inner child in me craves the presence of a father. I embrace the truth that being submitted to spiritual authority will unlock a confidence, a freedom, and an authority inside of me that will allow me to step into the fullness of all I am called to be. 

The enemy does not go to war where there are no spoils. If there is any area of our life where we feel tension or what some may call spiritual warfare, like we are simultaneously being pulled in two different directions, like we are being fought over by two opposing forces, then we can almost always know that it is an area of extreme importance. I feel this tension when it comes to addressing spiritual authority. That must mean there is something Yahweh wants for us that they enemy is trying to keep from us. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Worship: "Reckless Love" by Cory Asbury

Honor:  Give Online to The Wilderness Place

Share With Us: We would love to hear how you're encountering Abba in your daily walks. Don't hesitate to share what you're hearing, seeing, or sensing in His presence. Email us here!

Religion’s Perfect Family

Written by Jarred Rushing

(4 minutes)

Ahab son of Omri began to rule over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria twenty-two years. But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the Lord ’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him. And as though it were not enough to follow the sinful example of Jeroboam, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and he began to bow down in worship of Baal. First Ahab built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria. Then he set up an Asherah pole. He did more to provoke the anger of the Lord , the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him. (1 Kings 16:29-33)

On Sunday, Pastor Tim introduced us to religion's perfect family, Ahab and Jezebel, and to Yahweh's prophet, Elijah, who pioneers and lays a foundation that Christ can build upon.

Elijah represents something that Ahab and Jezebel hate and resist with everything in them. Most people who are under the influence of the spirit of religion hate and resist it - true, spiritual authority... spiritual fathers. 

Ahab and Jezebel's names give us a hint as to the spirit within them. 

Ahab means "father's brother." So we're basically talking about Uncle Ahab being in charge, not a real father. My uncle may look like my father, but just because he's similar doesn't mean he's the real thing.  

Jezebel means "without cohabitation," or more specifically, "without a husband." That's interesting because Jezebel was married...but not in her heart. Jezebel takes an inner vow to never be controlled or co-labor with a man ever again. If we could get a glimpse into Jezebel's past, we would probably find some sort of trauma or abuse brought on by a father, or the lack thereof. One thing is for sure and Pastor Tim echoed this in Sunday's message: you don't have a Jezebel without having an Ahab. They travel together.

Another thing that gives us insight into religion's perfect family is the false gods that they bring into the home. 

Jezebel brings the false god, Baal, into the marriage. Baal is all about being in control, having power, and being the owner of all. Ahab brings the false god, Asherah, into the marriage. Asherah stands for "staying ahead" and "being happy." Both of these false gods direct our focus to what we can produce for ourselves (personal destiny). The worship of Baal and Asherah required two things: sexual immorality and child sacrifice. 

This tells us everything we need to know to paint an accurate picture. 

Religion's perfect family consists of a weak-minded, look-alike father whose primary goal is being happy and staying a couple steps ahead, and a controlling, independent-at-all-costs woman who seeks control through manipulation and emotional outbursts. And the gods they worship permit sexual immorality and the sacrifice of children on their altars. 

I don't know about you, but the above statement seemed to define our current culture quite well. Wouldn't you say?

And the one thing that ended up being completely repulsive to this family was spiritual authority.

Spiritual authority offended them.
It got on their last nerve.
It aggravated all their senses. 

And they spent a lot of energy and effort resisting what spiritual authority was trying to establish in the earth: hearts of fathers being turned to the children, and the hearts of children being turned to the fathers.

This week, we're going to take some walks with Abba and invite Him into this conversation. I'll be honest up front: this one has the potential to pull down some significant strongholds in our heart. How we respond to spiritual authority has everything to do with how we respond to Abba. Some of us may find out through Abba's grace-filled walk that we're connected to spiritual authority externally but, like Jezebel, we're "without husband" or without spiritual authority in our own heart. 

This could be some of the most important conversations with Yahweh that we have. 

Why would I say that? Because how the widow responded to Elijah had major implications in her life. Pushing spiritual authority and true fathers out of our life could be us signing the death certificate of the next generation. 

Abba, we want the real thing, so "spare nothing as you make me your fruitful garden" and "hold nothing back until I release your fragrance."

You can go back and listen to Sunday's message here.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Worship: "Real Thing" by Maverick City Music 

Honor: Give Online to The Wilderness Place

Share With Us: We would love to hear how you're encountering Abba in your daily walks. Don't hesitate to share what you're hearing, seeing, or sensing in His presence. Email us here!

Longpath Thinking

Written by Jarred Rushing

(5 minutes)

Generational legacy demands an answer to this question:
Are you willing to plant something that you'll never get to harvest?

Pastor Tim shared something in our Men's Gathering this week that will be an important part of our Kingdom Family going forward. It's called longpath thinking. Longpath thinking is the new wineskin mindset we inherit as generational legacy becomes established in our hearts. 

• Longpath thinking is a mind that makes every decision based off of the impact it will have on future generations. 

• Longpath thinking is a life that pours itself into things it will never actually be able to enjoy. 

• Longpath thinking is a heart that's devoted to a generation it will never see. 

Like generational legacy, the longpath is not a top-selling book in the culture of American Christianity even though it is of immense value to the heart of Yahweh. The longpath is only enjoyed by people who have inherited a Kingdom-way of seeing.

Remember Yahweh's promise to Abraham?

"Indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have listened to My voice." (Genesis 22:17-19)

Can you imagine receiving a promise from Abba of this magnitude?

Every single day after Abraham heard this word he would see sand on the ground and stars in the sky and they would be a constant witness to him of what was coming. Abraham had this promise in mind every day, in every decision he made.

Fast-forward to Abraham's deathbed. 
The weight of this word from Yahweh is sitting on Abraham's heart and all of Abraham's seed is sitting on his bed.
Do you know what he sees as he looks around?
Not "sand on the seashore" or "stars of the heavens."
He sees TWO sons, Isaac and Ishmael, and a handful of grandchildren.
It wasn't exactly the fulfillment of Yahweh's promise.

Was Abraham devastated and drowning in hopelessness and despair?
Well, if personal destiny was driving his life, then I imagine so. He would have felt like a complete failure.

But if he was a man convinced of generational legacy and longpath thinking, then he was probably quite happy with the progress of Yahweh's plan. Because it was never about being a firsthand witness to the fruit of Abba's word. It was always about setting the stage, establishing the foundation, and staking off the land that future generations would build upon. 

We actually know that Abraham was a man of generational legacy. 

Listen to the language in Hebrews 11:9-10 as it describes Abraham's perspective:

"He [Abraham] lived by faith as an immigrant in his promised land as though it belonged to someone else. He journeyed through the land living in tents with Isaac and Jacob who were persuaded that they were also co-heirs of the same promise. His eyes of faith were set on the city with unshakable foundations, whose architect and builder is God himself."

There's only one thing that allows a man like Abraham to live as an immigrant in his own promised land... longpath thinking. 

And I love that the writer uses the word "persuaded" when it comes to Isaac and Jacob. They had to be convinced that the promise was theirs, too. Why? Because there was absolutely no evidence that it would be accomplished or even realized in their lifetime!

Are we willing to plant something that we'll never get to harvest?

Are we willing to pour our lives into a generation that will only know us by the legacy that we leave?

Can we dream for the next generation and give our lives to pouring the foundation for that dream?

Generational legacy. 

Longpath thinking. 

Eyes of faith that can see what Abba is building for the next generation.

Let me wrap this up with a real life example that I remember to this day. 

It was a normal day in the office and we got a call from a bank saying that this woman invested some money in an interest-bearing account a very long time ago and the account had matured and was ready to be paid out, and she left it to the church. She had died many years before but at some point in her life she decided to dream for a generation that was coming. And at just the right time, we got a phone call saying there were thousands of dollars ready to be transferred to the church's account. 

When that happened my first thought was, "Who does that?"

My second thought was, "Wow. I want to be a person who does that."

Abba, show us the longpath. 

We set aside the short-term goals that can be achieved in a lifetime and we pick up the longpath thinking that can dream for generations to come.

Abba, give us eyes of faith and the grace to live as immigrants in our own promised land, because we know that it really belongs to someone else. 

Abba, it's an honor to lay down personal destiny so we can inherit your heart for the ones who are coming. We will pioneer the way in the wilderness. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Worship: "The Blessing" by Kari Jobe & Cody Carnes 

Honor: Give Online to The Wilderness Place

Share With Us: We would love to hear how you're encountering Abba in your daily walks. Don't hesitate to share what you're hearing, seeing, or sensing in His presence. Email us here!

The Heart of the Matter

Written by Jarred Rushing

(4 minutes)

"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, and the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous." (Proverbs 13:22)

Generational legacy is the way of the Kingdom. 

In the wilderness, Abba begins to redefine everything. The wilderness has a way of stripping us of our own opinions, ideas and traditions. Anything that is not rooted in Abba's heart will be exposed in the wilderness. As we yield and become surrendered to the King, He begins to reshape us - even the desires of our heart. The appetite we once had for our own personal destiny becomes bitter, and something else becomes sweet...generational legacy. 

"Abba, how do I know when my heart has truly shifted?"

I found myself asking this question yesterday, and this was Abba's response: 
"You'll know your heart has shifted when your treasure has shifted."

In other words, Abba said, "Follow the money." Follow the resources. Follow your time, your energy, and your efforts. 

"For your heart will always pursue what you value as your treasure." (Matthew 6:21)

The first witness of a changed heart is the redirection of our treasure. 
Because our heart and our wealth always travel together.

Let's go ahead and be honest with ourselves: just because we use the term "generational legacy" and say we believe it, doesn't mean our heart has changed. Religion taught us to hear good messages in church, say to ourselves, "Yeah, I believe that," and walk away thinking we were in line with the heart of God. All the while our bank accounts and calendars are standing in the back of the room shaking their heads in disbelief. I can just imagine my checking account jumping out of the chair and yelling, "Pastor, if Jarred believes in generational legacy then his identity has been stolen because the only things I'm seeing in this account are Amazon orders and restaurant bills." And now we're all quietly giving thanks that our bank accounts and calendars can't talk. 

You're right, they can't talk.
But they are speaking.

As we're taking our walks with Abba this week, we have to let His love transform our hearts. Because until the heart changes, nothing really changes. The consuming fire of His love will transform and reshape every desire we have as we sit under the downpour of His perfect love. We're after whole hearts. We're after our minds being renewed. We're after the mind of Christ and we actually ALREADY possess it (1 Corinthians 2:16). The "renewing" is really about us letting go of our own ideas so we can lay hold of what we already have in Christ. 

There's an old quote that I've never forgotten because it carries so much truth.
"We give up things we love for things we love even more."

Here's what that means: as long as personal destiny is behind the wheel, we'll never end up at the destination of generational legacy. 

We have loved personal destiny and pursued it for a very long time. And the only way to let go of it is to fall more deeply in love with something else. 

This is why we say intimacy with Abba changes everything.

As more of our heart is open to Him and more of our gaze is captivated by His loving eyes we will begin to inherit more of His heart.

His desires will become our desires. They will be one in the same. 

As we walk with Abba today, let's go after an even deeper measure of intimacy.
Abba, I'll show you my heart, and you show me yours. 

Let's turn Song of Songs 4:16 into a prayer:

"Awake, O north wind!
Awake, O south wind!
Breathe on my garden with your Spirit-Wind.
Stir up the sweet spice of your life within me.
Spare nothing as you make me your fruitful garden.
Hold nothing back until I release your fragrance.
Come walk with me as you walked with Adam in your paradise garden.
Come taste the fruits of your life in me."

And let's partner with the truth in our thought-life:

I have the mind of Christ. 

My intimacy and union with Abba is reshaping the desires of my heart.

I want what He wants. I love what He loves.

As my heart changes within me, I will allow my treasure, my wealth, my attention and even my schedule to be transformed as well. 

I effortlessly prioritize the things that are on Yahweh's heart. 

My wealth will impact generations coming after me. They will know that I cared because the impact of my intimacy will be felt long after I am gone. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Worship: "Abide" by Kingdom Culture Worship

Honor: https://thewildernessplace.churchcenter.com/giving/to/offerings

Share With Us: We would love to hear how you're encountering Abba in your daily walks. Don't hesitate to share what you're hearing, seeing, or sensing in His presence. Email us here!

When They Heard The Children Shouting

Written by Jarred Rushing

(6 minutes)

"But when the chief priests and religious scholars heard the children shouting and saw all the wonderful miracles of healing, they were furious." (Matthew 21:15)

Part of the journey of becoming mature, beloved sons and daughters of Yahweh is becoming more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and where the wind of the Spirit is blowing. And with that heightened sensitivity, you also inherit a sensitivity to those spirits that are in opposition to the wind of the Spirit.

Remember, we have Jesus in the boat with His disciples giving a warning about the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. He wants His disciples to be on guard against the spirit that both the Pharisees and Herod are operating in. We learned earlier that the political spirit (leaven of Herod) and the religious spirit (leaven of the Pharisees) are both ANTI-Christ. When the political spirit and the religious spirit get together, they plot the murder of the Son of God. They were constantly working against the Spirit of God that was dwelling inside the Beloved Son of God. And they continue to do that to this day when it comes to the Spirit of God working in you, a Beloved Son and Daughter. 

One of the ways that you can spot the spirit of religion is by paying attention to how they treat the next generation. Religion will always highlight personal destiny and downplay, or completely disregard, generational legacy. 

Consider this: The heart of religion seeks to extinguish all signs of abundant life (you know, the thing Jesus came to give us).

It wants to eradicate any hint or glimmer of freedom and wholeness. Why? Because if people experience freedom and wholeness, they will no longer need the message of religion.

Religion touts the lie that we are incomplete, missing something, and that we are far away from God. Well, that message DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE to people who have been set free, been made totally whole, and who know that Abba is never, not for one moment, leaving their side (and it's even better than that, because He has actually made us His permanent dwelling place). Religion needs fearful people to stay in business. And when Holy Spirit moves in, He's not giving people a spirit of fear. And that is very frustrating for the spirit of religion.

But let's not stop there. Let's ask another question.

Why would children, generational legacy, be a sore spot for the spirit of religion?

Well, if you hated even the glimmer of freedom and wholeness, you would most definitely be disgusted with children because they, by nature, right out of the womb, believe that they are the most free and whole people on the planet. If you are curious as to the truth of that statement I would love to introduce you to my children. They came out of the womb thinking they could do whatever they wanted to do whenever they wanted to do it. Money is no object. Time is a non-issue. The sky is the limit. Confused little faces looking up at you thinking, "What do you mean, 'I can't??'" They don't know the language of limits. They have to be taught otherwise. If the game is freedom and wholeness and vibrant life, our kids are winning every single time. And the spirit of religion can't stand it.

No wonder they came along and tried to convince us that our children were totally depraved, ravenous little sinners. That way we would never look at them and learn anything from them...like how to be free.

So "when the chief priests and religious scholars heard the children shouting and saw all of the wonderful miracles of healing, they were furious." Dr. Simmons, author of The Passion Translation, gives us even more insight into this verse in the footnotes. He shares that in the Aramaic language "they were furious" would be better translated, "it seemed evil to them." 

The joyous shouts of children and the miraculous healing of sick, lame people...seem evil to the religious spirit. Why? Because free, whole, fully alive people have no need for the system of religion. If children are happy in the presence of Jesus and everyone is being healed, religion is no longer in control. 

What does this mean for us as we are walking with Abba in the wilderness?

Why is it important for us to hear Jesus' warning about the spirit of religion and the political spirit?

It is not so we can become professional Pharisee hunters. 

Abba is not calling us to become the political spirit police.

Remember, what we behold we become. Spend your time beholding Pharisees, and you become a Pharisee.

No, this is important because we have to guard our own hearts and the hearts of the next generation. It's so we can protect the freedom that Jesus purchased for us with His life. In Galatians 5:1, the Apostle Paul says, "Let me be clear, the Anointed One has set us free--not partially, but completely and wonderfully free! We must always cherish this truth and stubbornly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past." 

It's also important because Abba wants our wholeness to transform the world around us. When the world sees us walking around with whole hearts, it's going to give them permission to enter into that same measure of freedom. I read a great quote this past week that said, "The task of a liberated person is not to scold the world and preach to it, but to delight it back to its senses." As we walk with Abba in the wilderness we're going to find ourselves being transformed into children who are captivated by the presence of Jesus, dancing in circles around Him, and pouring out praises with every breath. And if Jesus is lifted up, He will draw the hearts of people to Himself. Abba will use our delight to invite others into the wilderness walk with Him.

Let's make these declarations today as we walk with Abba:

• I carry the presence of God and beloved identity everywhere I go, and I see miraculous healings break out all around me. 

• Generations will be attracted to the radiant light of Yahweh's presence that pierces darkness and releases joy.

• That radiant light shines out from me, even causing my shadow to be a source of healing to those that come near me. 

• Why would I be afraid of darkness when I am light?

• The religious spirit will be enraged, but that will not stop me from lifting up the Christ so even more people can be set free. 

• I protect the heart of the next generation from the spirit of religion by staying tender and intimate with Yahweh. 

Now go and enjoy your walk with Abba!

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Worship:  "Make Room" by Kim Walker-Smith

Honor:  Give to The Wilderness Place Online

Share With Us: We would love to hear how you're encountering Abba in your daily walks. Don't hesitate to share what you're hearing, seeing, or sensing in His presence. Email us here!

Personal Destiny vs. Generational Legacy

Written by Jarred Rushing

(5 minutes)

"Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse." (Malachi 4:5-6)

In the wilderness, Abba begins to redefine everything. One of the biggest shifts that He makes in our hearts is taking the value we've always placed on personal destiny and putting that value on what actually captivates His heart, generational legacy. It's taking the focus off of building a life for ourselves and putting it instead on building a life for generations to come. 

You can see how important generational legacy is to Yahweh in the last verses of the Old Testament. In Malachi 4:5-6, we're told that the spirit of Elijah will come and what that spirit of Elijah will do is prepare the landscape, or the environment, for the revealing of Yeshua the Christ. This forerunner will actually tear down all the religious construction that's been built and turn our hearts toward what Yahweh is really interested in: fathers with hearts for children, and children with hearts for fathers. 

Religion thrives on the message of personal destiny. It thrives on telling you that you COULD be great one day, and here's everything you need to do to get there. This message is based on the lie that you don't have what you need to be who you are. So, in turn, the message of personal destiny inspires you to turn inward, to always be looking at yourself and your own progress (or shortcomings). It's continually pressing you to figure out your own purpose and protect your own well-being. And here's the deadly catch, if you're always looking at yourself and you're only ever concerned about your own purpose, you will miss what Abba is already doing all around you and you'll miss the people that He wants you to be connected to. Here is a question you can bring into your intimacy with Abba concerning Malachi 4:5-6: "Abba, if the hearts of the fathers were not on the children, and the hearts of children were not on the fathers...where were their hearts turned to instead?"

Religion's lie is that you will find your purpose and personal destiny by paying more attention to yourself.

The truth that Yahweh is revealing is that you will be all that He's called you to be and do all that He's called you to do when you get your eyes off of yourself and onto Him, the Father, and onto the Kingdom family that He's planted you in.

This is generational legacy. It doesn't sell nearly as many books as personal destiny does, but it does attract the heart of Yahweh and it does reveal the real Jesus to the world. Generational legacy may mean that your life is simply seed in the ground that lays a firm foundation for the next generation to build upon. This is the same heart that Jesus had as He turned away from the big crowds and constantly invested Himself in a small number of people. 

It is still the heart of Yahweh to see fathers turn their hearts to the children, and to see children turn their hearts to the fathers. 

This is Abba's perfect plan for the Kingdom family that He's building. His heart fully turned to His sons and daughters. And beloved sons and daughters with hearts turned fully to Him. 

In the wilderness, Abba begins to redefine everything. What used to be important to us (personal destiny) isn't important anymore. It is replaced with something far more valuable (generational legacy).

Some questions you can pull into your walk with Abba today:
Abba, what areas of my heart are still focused on my own personal destiny?
Where am I still investing too much time, attention or resources into building for myself and not for the next generation?
Abba, what parts of my life need to be reordered around what's really important to your heart?

Declarations:

Abba, I let go of the lie that finding fulfillment and purpose only comes by paying more attention to myself. 

I let go of the lie of religion: that I don't have what I need and that I'm not good enough.

I embrace the truth that everything I need to be who You've called me to be, I ALREADY have inside of me.

And because I already have what I need, I am free to focus on You and the people You have put in my life.

My heart reflects what is important to Yahweh.

I invest time, attention and resources into generational legacy, the ever-expanding Kingdom family that Abba is building.

Walking away from personal destiny is effortless for me, because my heart has found something far more valuable than my own life.

Abba, I will be seed in the ground, planted by Living Water, so the next generation can find rest in my shade and freedom in my branches. 

-

Worship: "No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus" by Steffany Gretzinger

Honor: Give online to The Wilderness Place

Share With Us:  We would love to hear how you're encountering Abba in your daily walks. Don't hesitate to share what you're hearing, seeing, or sensing in His presence. Email us here!

What’s the problem…really?

Written by Jarred Rushing

(5 minutes)

Now, the disciples had forgotten to take bread with them, except for one loaf of flatbread. And as they were sailing across the lake, Jesus repeatedly warned them, "Be on your guard against the yeast inside of the Pharisees and the yeast inside of Herod!" (Mark 8:14-15)

As you are lured into the wilderness and intimacy with Abba really begins to be at the center of everything that you do, you begin to inherit a Kingdom perspective, a Kingdom-way of seeing. What you used to see as problems in the past, you don't necessarily see the same way anymore. And what you used to think was important may not seem as important as it once was. This is what happens in the wilderness. Abba begins to redefine everything. 

What does that mean?

Well, let me use my own story as an example. Before Abba lured me into the wilderness, I thought that Satan was a major problem. I would see most of the issues in my life as personal attacks of the enemy. Everything that was offensive or challenging to my way of being was really spiritual warfare, a battle, that needed fighting against. And I believed that Satan's main weapon was immoral people that behaved and believed differently than me. So the "real problem" was always that other political party, or that president that I didn't vote for, or that company that was creating movies with un-Christian ideas, or that extremist group with their pervasive, hidden "agenda," or that family member that lived a very different life than mine.

But shortly after entering the wilderness Abba began to redefine what the problem actually was. The problem was always religion. The thing that was really keeping me from encountering the unconditional love and presence of Abba was religion. Satan is still a problem, but he's been defeated and disarmed and the only thing he has ever really owned was an accusing, lying tongue and the biggest lie that he's been telling since the beginning of time is that we are not enough and we need to do something to get closer to God, and that is the message of religion. In the Garden of Eden, it wasn't a left-wing or right-wing politician, a Disney movie, or a flat tire that took Adam and Eve out. It was the lie of religion: if you do _________________, then you'll be like God. 

Jesus is repeating himself over and over in the boat with his disciples, telling them what they need to watch out for and be on guard against. The political spirit that would make us believe that we could change the world by being more powerful and in charge, and the spirit of religion that would make us believe that we aren't good enough but we could do something to earn God's love. These are the two things that Jesus felt the need to repeatedly warn his followers about. And that makes total sense, because it was the marriage of that political spirit and that spirit of religion that sent Jesus to the cross. They were both... anti-Christ. And they are both wanting to kill Christ in you.

So, what's the biggest threat to my relationship with Abba and my kid's relationship with Abba?
The lie of religion. The first lie that was ever whispered into humanity's ear: You're not good enough, but if you try harder then maybe you can get closer to God.

How do we deal with the lie of religion?
That's easy. There's only one way to deal with a lie. You let it go. You stop agreeing with it. You stop circulating it. You capture it and put it out of the camp. And then you fully embrace the truth.

Become fascinated with what Abba really thinks about you.

The first lie doesn't define me. The first truth defines me. And the first thing that was ever true about me is that I was deeply loved by Yahweh, and I still am. Before the foundation of the world, Yahweh set His heart on me and called me His beloved child. He took great delight in me before I even existed, before I ever did anything to be worthy of such love. And Abba loves with an unconditional love, which means His love doesn't wait for me to do something right and it does not recoil when I do something wrong. It really is the most perfect love. The stream of His love is always flowing in full force.

As you take a walk with Abba today, let Him tell you the truth about who you are and then repeat those words to yourself over and over throughout the day, like it's the greatest news you've ever heard. Because it is.

Worship: "Preference" by Rachel Morley

Honor: Give online to The Wilderness Place

Share With Us: We would love to hear how you're encountering Abba in your daily walks. Don't hesitate to share what you're hearing, seeing, or sensing in His presence. Email us here!