The Walk is a daily writing to inspire you in your own personal intimacy with Abba.

Listen, my radiant one—if you ever lose sight of me, just follow in my footsteps where I lead my lovers. (Song of Songs 1:8)

The Wilderness Place 5/13/24 The Wilderness Place 5/13/24

The Lens of His Love

(4 minutes)

Now, the "Lord" I'm referring to is the Holy Spirit, and wherever he is Lord, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17)

We've been on a journey for the past couple of weeks. It all started with Isaiah 61. We've talked about having our hearts healed in the presence of Abba, trading our ashes for His beauty. We talked about hopelessness and we heard about Abba's heart for us to be Mighty Oaks of Righteousness, planted in the earth to restore ruins from long ago. We talked about Abba's heart to see His Kingdom come and His will be done on the earth, right here, right now. We talked about metanoia, the changing of our minds, the changing of our point of view.

Let's stop for a moment and go back. Let's read Isaiah 61 again and hear Abba's heart for us:

The mighty Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is wrapped around me because Yahweh has anointed me, as a messenger to preach good news to the poor. He sent me to heal the wounds of the brokenhearted, to tell captives, "You are free," and to tell prisoners, "Be free from your darkness." I am sent to announce a new season (eon) of Yahweh's grace and a time of God's recompense on his enemies, to comfort all who are in sorrow, to strengthen those crushed by despair who mourn in Zion -- to give them a beautiful bouquet in the place of ashes, the oil of bliss instead of tears, and the mantle of joyous praise instead of the spirit of heaviness.

Because of this, they (you, me, us) will be known as Mighty Oaks of Righteousness, planted by Yahweh as a living display of his glory. They will restore ruins from long ago and rebuild what was long devastated. They will renew ruined cities and desolations of past generations. (Isaiah 61:1-4)

We experienced something very important in our gathering this past Sunday. Abba had us climb up in His lap during our time of worship. He wanted us to feel and know just how loved we are by Him. And that's important. Like Pastor Tim said at the start of his message, "I am so grateful for what God did this morning in worship because we need the lens of His love to understand some of the things we're going to talk about today." We need the lens of His love to understand the things He's pulling us into this week. We need the lens of His love.

Before we move on to anything else this week, let's go back to that place of being wrapped up in His love. Let's climb into His lap today and be seated there, and let's receive from Him in that place and in that posture. Let's ask for the lens of His love today so we can understand everything He's going to talk to us about this week.

Beloved One, climb up in Abba’s lap, lean back in His arms, listen to His heart beating for you, and rest in His embrace. This is the best posture to be in when receiving from Abba.

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Worship: "I Love Your Presence" 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!

The Wilderness Place 5/10/24 The Wilderness Place 5/10/24

Streaked, Speckled, and Spotted

(8 minutes)

The next story we're going to look at is going to show us that we become what we behold. If we keep our current point of view, it will keep producing the same thing in our lives over and over again. Whatever kingdom we're feeding from and being intimate with will determine what is being produced in our lives.

We're going to look at the life of Jacob. He's been working for his uncle, Laban, for years and he has already married Leah and Rachel, and has had plenty of children. Once Joseph, the favorite, was born, Jacob could finally make the decision to change his perspective and go back to his own country.

But Laban was a master manipulator and didn't want to lose Jacob, because he knew that so much of his success was tied to him. So Jacob struck up a deal. Jacob would stay and tend to Laban's flocks but he would start building his own wealth while he was there so he could support his family when they chose to leave. Here's where we pick up in the story:

“What wages do you want?” Laban asked again.

Jacob replied, “Don’t give me anything. Just do this one thing, and I’ll continue to tend and watch over your flocks. Let me inspect your flocks today and remove all the sheep and goats that are speckled or spotted, along with all the black sheep. Give these to me as my wages. In the future, when you check on the animals you have given me as my wages, you’ll see that I have been honest. If you find in my flock any goats without speckles or spots, or any sheep that are not black, you will know that I have stolen them from you.”

“All right,” Laban replied. “It will be as you say.” But that very day Laban went out and removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted or had white patches, and all the black sheep. He placed them in the care of his own sons, who took them a three-days’ journey from where Jacob was. Meanwhile, Jacob stayed and cared for the rest of Laban’s flock.

Then Jacob took some fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off strips of bark, making white streaks on them. Then he placed these peeled branches in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, for that was where they mated. And when they mated in front of the white-streaked branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted. Jacob separated those lambs from Laban’s flock. And at mating time he turned the flock to face Laban’s animals that were streaked or black. This is how he built his own flock instead of increasing Laban’s.

Whenever the stronger females were ready to mate, Jacob would place the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of them. Then they would mate in front of the branches. But he didn’t do this with the weaker ones, so the weaker lambs belonged to Laban, and the stronger ones were Jacob’s. As a result, Jacob became very wealthy, with large flocks of sheep and goats, female and male servants, and many camels and donkeys. (Genesis 30:31-43 NLT)

The first thing we need to notice is how Jacob responded to Laban. He had just been mistreated, stolen from, and manipulated. And he didn't waste one single moment staring at that. He didn't waste one moment on Laban and how he had just been treated. He stepped right into the Kingdom solution that Yahweh had for this situation. That's incredible!

"Stop staring at what you don't have, and start asking Abba for solutions to the world's problems, primarily yours. But we spend so much time focusing on what's not happening, what we don't have, and what we're not getting that's due us." (Pastor Tim)

What Kingdom solutions are we missing out on because we are focusing on the wrong things?

"Until we change our point of view to match the Kingdom of God we will stay mired in the thinking of this world. We've got to come out of agreement with what the world says is possible, and start staring at what is possible." (Pastor Tim)

Jacob knew this Kingdom principle: we become what we behold. Whatever we focus on we will become. Jacob knew that this principle would work in his life, and he also knew it would work in the lives of the livestock that he shepherding. He knew that the only way to get streaked, speckled, and spotted sheep and goats was to have them focus on something that was streaked, speckled, and spotted. And that's exactly what he did.

When we focus on the wrong things and entertain this world's point of view, we relinquish the Kingdom authority and Kingdom solutions that Abba has given us.

We will always produce what we become intimate with. We will produce whatever point of view we become intimate with. So, what is your life producing? This will always tell us what we're being intimate with.

As you walk with Abba today, let Him put His finger on the areas of your life that need to start staring more at Him and His Kingdom. Come out of agreement with the world's point of view, and start feeding on Abba's perspective. Abba has Kingdom solutions for every area of our lives, but they can't be given to us as long as we're holding out our hands, while our hearts and minds are staring in a different direction.

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Worship: "We Make Space" by Melissa Helser

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 Wilderness Place 5/9/24 The Wilderness Place 5/9/24

Beloved Identity Comes First

(8 minutes)

We're going to look at the life of Jacob. He's been working for his uncle, Laban, for years and he has already married Leah and Rachel, and has had plenty of children. But we're given a significant statement in verse 25 about what happened before Jacob was inspired to leave his current situation, or change his point of view.

And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country. (Genesis 30:25 NKJV)

"Why are we getting this information? Why are we getting the moment that someone is born as a reference point for something that is fixing to happen? Well, who's Joseph? Joseph is Jacob's favorite. God is trying to tell you that before you change your point of view you need to start with, 'You are His favorite.' Joseph is Jacob's favorite. And this changing of the point of view is not going to take place until the favorite steps into being the favorite. That means there's some point of views you cannot receive until you realize how loved you are by Him. I can talk all the live long day about changing your point of view, but you will not receive it if you don't realize you are His favorite. You're not just a worthless sinner that He just tossed Jesus over so He could even look at you. Do you understand the scripture when it says that God so loved you that He sent Jesus? It does not say that He so tolerated you, and sent Jesus so He could then love you. But that's how the church teaches it. We've got to change that up. You think you're loved because Jesus showed up....you're loved because He was sent. You were loved before He was sent. He was sent because you are loved!" (Pastor Tim)

These words are priceless.

We will never be able to receive a Kingdom point of view until we step into believing that we are actually Abba's favorite. No change can happen until we start believing the truth about who we are, that we are beloved sons and daughters, and always have been.

We inherited such a horrible picture of who the Father is. American Christianity told us that God tolerated us, but when Jesus died, then He started loving us, but only if we stayed wrapped up in Jesus. Heaven help us if Jesus tripped or stepped to the side and we were exposed in the presence of God because that would be the end of us, because He only really likes Jesus and simply tolerates us. American Christianity relegated us to some kind of third wheel that got to tag along because of Jesus. You remember, don't you? You loved Jesus, but you were always unsure of how the Father felt. There was a constant cloud of disapproval. But our point of view was all wrong!

Abba has always loved us, from the very beginning. There was never a moment that we were not beloved sons and daughters. Jesus didn't come to make the Father love us. Jesus came because the Father loves us.

You are Abba's favorite!

And when you start being convinced of that truth, you will be ready to receive a Kingdom point of view. Why is it so important that we believe that we are loved before we receive Abba's perspective and point of view?

Here's a story that may help:

"In a small town there lived a couple, Anna and John. Anna, who had always struggled with shame and condemnation, was given a beautiful mirror by John on their wedding day. However, the mirror was dropped and suffered a small crack. Every time she looked into it, she focused only on the crack, which distorted her reflection.
John would always tell Anna how beautiful and perfect she was, but looking into her cracked mirror, Anna could never see what John saw; she only saw flaws and imperfections. Confused and saddened, John one day replaced the cracked mirror with a new, flawless one without telling her.
The next morning, Anna looked into the new mirror and for the first time, saw what John had always seen - a beautiful, perfect bride. She realized that the fault was never with her appearance but with the cracked mirror she was using to define herself."

Why is beloved identity so important?

Because if you continue to view yourself through a lens marred by shame and condemnation, you will never be able to see the truth about yourself or believe it when Abba tries to tell you. If you heal the mirror, you begin to see more clearly.

Believing you're beloved is what sets you free to see things from Abba's point of view. If you're not convinced that you're His favorite, you'll never really believe anything that He has to say.

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Worship: "I Am Your Beloved" by Jonathan David & Melissa Helser

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 Wilderness Place 5/8/24 The Wilderness Place 5/8/24

Embracing Abba’s Point of View

(5 minutes)

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2 NKJV)

Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God's will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes. (Romans 12:2 TPT)

"When you become intimate with a thought, a point of view, that is not God, you lose your ability to see altogether. Then you start talking about how great God is, but how worthless you are. You can't be worthless and God be great. But that's false humility. Kingdom humility is you confessing what God says about you and you are amazing. You are not worthless." (Pastor Tim)

When we become intimate with, and start feeding on a thought or point of view that is not from Abba, we lose our ability to see. As long as we're entertaining delusional thinking, we will not be able to see the difference between what is of Yahweh and what is not. Not only will we not be able to see Him correctly, we won't be able to see ourselves correctly.

This all started in the Garden of Eden. The enemy came and planted a seed in Eve that she wasn't good enough. That she didn't measure up. That she was lacking something. That she was broken. The enemy convinced her that she was nothing like God. Eve and her husband were made in the very image and likeness of Yahweh, but because Eve believed (partnered with, was convinced of, and became intimate with) a lie about herself, her life and behavior followed suit. Because whatever a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

We can no longer partner and be in agreement with things that Abba doesn't think about us.

What are you believing about yourself that isn't in agreement with Abba's point of view? What are you believing about other people that isn't in agreement with Abba's point of view? What are you believing about certain situations and circumstances that isn't in agreement with Abba's perspective?

Metanoia is an invitation to a new way of seeing. It's an invitation into seeing everything with Abba's eyes and Abba's heart. And this starts with seeing Him and ourselves rightly. When we make intimacy with Abba a priority, His goodness will lead us into His point of view. As we get intentional about taking the walk with Abba and stepping into these daily, intimate encounters with Him, our perspective will be changed and our mind will be renewed.

Beloved One, you were made in the image and likeness of Yahweh. You are not worthless. You are amazing.

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Worship: "I Lose My Ability" by Jonathan David & Melissa Helser

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 Wilderness Place 5/7/24 The Wilderness Place 5/7/24

American Christianity vs. God’s Point of View

(8 minutes)

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2 NKJV)

"You can have a point of view that's in opposition to God's point of view. You can have a point of view, called Christianity, that is not God's point of view." (Pastor Tim)

Did you know that "Christian" wasn't even the name that believers went by in the 1st century? We were originally called Followers of The Way. And one day we were being made fun of by the onlookers and they called us "little Christs" or "Christians." But this was never supposed to be our identity. Like Pastor Tim mentioned on Sunday, there's nothing little about your life and there's nothing little about Christ. We were never supposed to be relegated to a "little version" of who He is, we are destined to become the exact same image or version of who He is. Names matter. What you call yourself matters.

While we're on names, let's spend a moment on Jesus. His real name is Yeshua. So where did we get Jesus? That's a great question. "Jesus" is the English form of the Greek name Iēsous, which is itself a translation of the Hebrew name Yeshua. So "Jesus" is a translation of a translation of the real name, Yeshua. If we were translating Yeshua into English today, a more literal translation would actually be Joshua. Yeshua means "Yahweh is salvation."

Names matter.

This is why we don't call ourselves Christians, but Lovers of Jesus.

This is why we don't call The Wilderness Place a church, but a Kingdom Family.

This is why we don't refer to Yahweh as God or Master, because we know Him as Abba.

As Pastor Tim mentioned, we may say Jesus for the benefit of others, but His name is Yeshua.

"I am done with playing with American Christianity, because it causes nothing but death and destruction. There's nothing more dangerous on this planet than American Christianity. Nothing, not even the enemy. The enemy has no authority." (Pastor Tim)

Why does it matter so much? Is it really that serious?

Let me answer with a parable:

"In the heart of Paris, there was a little-known art gallery that housed an original painting by the great impressionist, Claude Monet. This painting was mesmerizing, a landscape of Giverny's water lilies, and it was famous for its vivid colors and the play of light on the water. It was a genuine masterpiece, and it drew art enthusiasts from all around the world who wished to gaze at its authenticity.
One summer, a skilled forger crafted a replica of Monet's painting. He was well-versed in Monet's techniques, and his forgery was so precise that even the trained eye could be fooled. He managed to have his replica displayed at a nearby cafe, marketing to the visitors that it was a "little-known original Monet" that had been recently discovered.
Word spread quickly, and soon, many visitors preferred the cafe to the gallery, believing they were experiencing a unique piece of art history. The gallery noticed a significant drop in visitors, as everyone flocked to the cafe instead.
As months passed, the true art critics began to notice some differences in the replica, subtle deviations that made it stand apart from Monet's originals. The truth of the forgery was eventually exposed. The authenticity of the original painting was questioned, and trust in the local art scene wavered.
The gallery, despite possessing the genuine article, struggled to regain its former prestige. The incident served as a stark reminder that the presence of something very similar, yet not authentic, could indeed overshadow and threaten the genuine, reducing the public's ability to appreciate and value the real over the mimic."

This is where Yeshua would say, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

The greatest threat to the real thing is not something obvious and markedly different; the greatest threat to the real thing is something so similar that it may cause you to miss the real thing altogether.

We could have a point of view that sounds so similar to God's point of view, possibly even using some of the same terms and language, and the same scriptures, but it still not be the real thing. There's only one way to know that you have the real thing: intimacy. You can no longer settle for having someone else hear Abba's voice for you. You must hear for yourself.

Beloved One, pull up your chair at His table. Taste and see for yourself that He is good. Remember, the only people who could tell the difference in the art pieces were those who had become so intimate with the real thing that they could spot a fake anywhere.

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Worship: "O Taste and See" 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!

The Wilderness Place 5/6/24 The Wilderness Place 5/6/24

Change Your Point of View

(5 minutes)

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2 NKJV)

"Your mind is your perception, it's how you see things. Let me put it another way: change your point of view! Some of us have long held our point of view, and that point of view is from this world, not His...I have some casualties of holding on to religious points of view in my own life. I have casualties. That means I have received damage from holding on to the point of view that I inherited from religion. If you're honest, everything you think about God, you inherited from someone else. Most of the things that we regurgitate out of our mouths, we just heard someone else say, and it sounded right. And then we started implementing that point of view in our life and all of a sudden that point of view leads us down a road that causes casualties. But God's point of view doesn't lead you down a road that causes casualties." (Pastor Tim)

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, your perception, your point of view. What point of view are we still holding onto that we didn't receive from Yahweh? What point of view are we still nursing that didn't even come from Abba's mouth? How much of our perception is still shaped by the religious point of view that we inherited from someone else?

This is so important for us. We cannot trust anything that comes from an unrenewed mind, even our own unrenewed mind, and what it thought and believed five years ago, or ten years ago, or thirty years ago. We should not hold on to a point of view just because it's been around a long time.

Our relationship with Yahweh and the Kingdom of God is ever-expanding and ever-growing. We're being invited deeper and deeper with every encounter. The unrenewed mind will always want to cling to doctrinal certitude and be right, but the renewed mind learns to trust what is coming from Abba's mouth day by day. The renewed mind has learned to live on daily bread from the presence of God. Like Pastor Tim said on Sunday, are we more concerned with being right or having right thinking? There is a difference.

As we take the walk with Abba today and continue the conversation that He started with us, let's allow Him to speak to our hearts about our point of view. Abba and His goodness will lead us into a new way of seeing, and a new way of thinking, if we let Him.

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Worship: "I Love Your Presence" 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!

The Wilderness Place 5/3/24 The Wilderness Place 5/3/24

The Three Leavens

(9 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!" But the disciples had no clue what Jesus was talking about, so they began to discuss it among themselves, saying, "Is he saying this because we forgot to bring bread?" Knowing what they were thinking, Jesus said to them, "Why all this fussing over forgetting to bring bread? Do you still not see or understand what I say to you? Are your hearts still hard? You have good eyes, yet you still don't see, and you have good ears, yet you still don't hear, neither do you remember. When I multiplied the bread to feed more than five thousand people, how many baskets full of leftovers did you gather afterward?"

"Twelve," they replied.

"And when I multiplied food to feed over four thousand, how many large baskets full of leftovers did you gather afterwards?"

"Seven," they replied.

"Then how is it that you still don't get it?"

(Mark 8:14-21)

In this scripture, Jesus gives the disciples a very important warning. One that the disciples didn't understand at the time, but that we should really try to receive today because it's still a reality for us. He tells the disciples to be on guard against two leavens that exist in the world. The leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. Jesus is saying that the most dangerous things on the earth (which surprisingly is not behavior) are these two leavens or systems that are at war with a heart that loves God.

"Leaven is the influence from the world that you're receiving from. You can either be receiving the leaven from the Kingdom of God, or the leaven from the Pharisees, or the leaven from Herod. What does this mean? What do those two terms stand for? The leaven of Herod is the political leaven, it's the political realm. It's for those of us who think our answers are going to come from who we vote for on November 4th. It's the leaven of sitting on Fox News or CNN and consuming political ideologies continuously, as if that's your answer, as if that's what's controlling your life...The leaven of the Pharisees is the religious system that tells you that you can have a form of God, but you cannot be close to Him, you cannot be intimate with Him, and He has no power in your life." (Pastor Tim)

What do you believe the most dangerous thing in the world is? What, on the earth, threatens the love affair between you and Yahweh the most? We must have a shift here, because the political and religious leavens would have us convinced that the most dangerous thing on the earth is the people who don't think or behave like us, but the danger lies much deeper in the leaven or influence that these two systems have on our heart. This is an area where we need to change our thinking. Jesus is telling us to be on guard against the political leaven and the religious leaven, because they are at war with the leaven of the Kingdom of God that's expanding within you. These two leavens will squash what the Kingdom is trying to produce is us.

Why is it so dangerous?

Because the unrenewed mind can be deceived into believing that it has a real relationship with Yahweh, but all it really has is a relationship with the political and religious spirit, something similar but not the same. A form of godliness, but it's devoid and empty when it comes to the power to see anything changed. The political and religious leavens only have words and thoughts and ideas, but never any fruit. The Kingdom of God actually has the power to produce the transformation that it preaches. Again, Jesus didn't pray for people to be healed, He healed them. What are we carrying? The leaven of the Kingdom of God, or the leaven of Herod and the Pharisees?

I'd say that's the most dangerous thing in the world - thinking you have a real relationship with God, when you're really in a relationship with something completely different. It's Jacob thinking he's intimately connected with Rachel, when he's really been in bed with Leah the whole time.

The Kingdom of God is right here and right now. It's available to us in every moment. Yes, it will require us to metanoia, to have our thinking changed. We can't keep our old perspective and inherit the Kingdom of God. Our unrenewed mind will always be at war with what the Kingdom is trying to produce in our heart. It's the goodness of God that leads us into the place of metanoia. It's encountering Abba's goodness that draws us into the place of having our minds renewed. And as we allow this process to take place, we need to be on guard against the two leavens that would try to creep into our love affair with Him - the political leaven and the religious leaven.

Do you know what activates leaven? Heat.

As we experience adverse situations and difficult circumstances, the leaven that's inside of us activates and expands. The storm has an interesting way of revealing what leaven has the most influence in our lives. When difficulties arise, what is our perspective? Like the disciples, do we only see what we don't have and what we lack? Or do we have a Kingdom perspective, that is imagining all the ways that Abba can get glory from the situation?

Our hearts and minds were made to partner with the Kingdom of God to bring restoration, healing, and hope to ruined cities. But the first place we have to partner with the Kingdom of God is in our own lives. It must become a way of life in us first.

Abba's goodness is inviting us into metanoia today. Let's take the walk with Him!

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Worship: "Good Good Father" by Housefires

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 Wilderness Place 5/2/24 The Wilderness Place 5/2/24

Jesus, We Don’t Have Enough Bread?

(7 minutes)

After a long day of feeding thousands of people from just seven loaves of bread and a few small fish, it was time for Jesus and the disciples to depart to their next destination. Remember, this is the disciple's second time seeing Jesus feed multitudes of people by multiplying food. They climb into the boat and set sail to another region of the country, and here's what happens next:

"Twelve," they replied.

"And when I multiplied food to feed over four thousand, how many large baskets full of leftovers did you gather afterwards?"

"Seven," they replied.

"Then how is it that you still don't get it?"
(Mark 8:14-21)

"The disciples have seen on two separate occasions Jesus, multiplying bread, feeds twenty-thousand in one crowd and eighteen-thousand in another crowd, and the first thing their mind turns to is what they don't have, or how little they have." (Pastor Tim)

If we're ever wondering what kingdom we're feeding from, we don't have to look any further than our first response to hardships that come into our lives. If you want to know the default operating system that your life depends on moment by moment, just pay attention to the first thoughts you have when a troubling situation arises. That will tell you all you need to know.

The disciples had front-row seats to the multiplying of bread and fish to feed thousands, but when they climbed into the boat, got comfortable, and felt their stomachs rumbling, their minds immediately turned to what they lacked. They're sitting in a boat with Jesus, and they're worried about the shortage of bread. Now, we could shake our heads in complete disapproval over the disciple's behavior, but how many times has our mind defaulted to fear and anxiety after experiencing countless miracles in our own lives?

What does this show us? Well, I don't know about you, but here's what I can see: it doesn't matter how many times you witness Yahweh perform miracles on your behalf, if you don't allow your mind to be renewed you will always default to the kingdom that you have been most intimate with in your life. See, we say things to ourselves like, "If I could only see God come through in this area, it would change everything." Well, this scripture, and plenty of others, tell us a different story. Because the problem isn't really our shortage of powerful encounters with Abba, it's that we don't allow those encounters with His goodness to lead us into metanoia, the changing of our mind. We have powerful encounters in His presence, but we don't allow those encounters to shift our perspective and usher us into a new way of thinking.

Are there still areas where you can only see what you lack and what you don't have? That should be a witness to you that you're still feeding from the kingdom of this world. That is Abba's open invitation to you to come into His presence, experience His goodness, and let Him lead you into the renewing of your mind. By the time Abba's goodness is through with you, your default way of thinking will be that of His Kingdom, and His Kingdom never starts with what we lack and what we don't have.

Beloved One, you have a history with Abba. You have a long line of previous encounters with Him that were powerful. What if you took time today to remember those encounters, but this time ask Abba to use those moments to change your perspective? Abba, we don't want to waste any encounter with Your goodness. Lead us into metanoia!

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Worship: "Million Little Miracles" by Joe L. Barnes

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 Wilderness Place 5/1/24 The Wilderness Place 5/1/24

What Is God and What Is Not? The Renewed Mind Knows

(5 minutes)

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2 NKJV)

"If you worked 80 hours on your job, you would be applauded. If you prayed for 80 hours, you would be looked at as peculiar. You see how we have come into agreement with what the world says about what is possible, what is approved, and what is unapproved." (Pastor Tim)

What kingdom are we allowing to influence us and make our decisions? What kingdom are we being intimate with to determine what is acceptable and what is not? What kingdom is forming our perspective and thinking about every area of life?

Renewing the mind is so significant. Having our perspective changed is vital if we're ever going to see the benefits of the Kingdom of God in our own lives.

"An unrenewed mind will not have the ability to look at two things that look similar and pick the one that is God. Unrenewed minds will not be able to look at two scenarios that look very similar, one is not God and one is God, and make a determination. This is why we have so many churches, and we can't discern whether they're godly or not. The unrenewed mind will pick what it likes over what God says to do. Your renewed mind from His Kingdom, your mind that feeds from His Kingdom, will be able to discern what is Him and what is not Him." (Pastor Tim)

The renewed mind has the ability to approve of what is actually Yahweh. The renewed mind can see what God is doing and hear what God is saying about a matter. And the renewed mind has the ability to choose that thing over what it likes.

An unrenewed mind lives by the rules of the kingdom of this world, and reaps the benefits that this kingdom has to offer. A renewed mind lives by the rules of the Kingdom of God, and reaps the benefits that His Kingdom has to offer. Jesus is able to walk on water and multiply meals. Why? Because He was living by the rules of Abba's Kingdom. Jesus didn't pray for sick people, He healed sick people. Why? Because He was living by the rules of Abba's Kingdom.

What if what we're experiencing and not experiencing is being determined by what kingdom we're feeding from? What if the key to experiencing the benefits of the Kingdom of God is having our mind renewed? Maybe this is why Jesus came saying, "Metanoia!" Stop focusing on the behavior that is flowing from your unrenewed mind, and start staring at Yahweh's goodness that leads to the transformation of that mind.

Your only responsibility today is to pursue intimate encounters with Yahweh. His Goodness will do the rest!

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Worship: "I Lose My Ability" by Jonathan David & Melissa Helser

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 Wilderness Place 4/30/24 The Wilderness Place 4/30/24

The Mind Is Worth Renewing

(7 minutes)

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2 NKJV)

"The mind is important or it wouldn't be worth renewing." (Pastor Tim)

But what happens when the mind isn't renewed? What happens when the mind continues to feed from the kingdom of this world?

Did you know that the first thing formed in a baby in the womb is their heart? That's significant. As important as the mind is, it was never supposed to be our true north.

"Let me tell you what happens in the spiritual realm. You're going to hear the anointing and the presence of God. It's going to strike your heart. You're moved and stirred in the innermost being of who you are. You just heard something that rattled your cage and all of a sudden you can't keep yourself from crying, and you love everybody in the room, and you love everything, and you're going to go all out for God. Then the Spirit of God takes the word that was deposited in your heart and it starts making a trip to your mind. And you're mind says, 'Oh no, we can't do that. We have a life to live. We can't be fanatical about the things of God. We still have to go to work. You can't abandon everything. You can't think about God 24/7.' And then the anointing, the Spirit, the seed that God deposits gets cut off, and nothing changes." (Pastor Tim)

This is why the mind must be renewed. Because we'll hear something from Abba and it will resonate with us and stir our hearts, but if the mind remains unrenewed it will shut down and war against the things that Abba is speaking to us. Believing happens in the heart, but an unrenewed mind can be in opposition to what our heart is trying to receive from God.

And it's not just the emotion in a room that stirs our hearts.

"Your heart hears something it was made for and it responds the way it was designed to respond, but that word has to make a trip to your mind and if your mind is not renewed it will not make it back to your heart. And a renewed mind is not designed to control your life, your mind is supposed to be used to emphasize what your heart is already saying. To make clear what your heart is already decreeing. To say 'Yes, everything you just felt is true, now these are the steps we're going to take to implement what your heart just said.' But if you don't have a renewed mind, all you see is obstacles, you your life and other concerns and cares of life. An unrenewed mind will prioritize those things over what your heart cares about." (Pastor Tim)

An unrenewed mind will always prioritize other things over what your heart is receiving from Abba. The mind is not supposed to be in control. It's supposed to support what Abba is doing in the heart. But the unrenewed mind simply cannot do that.

This is why Jesus steps into the cosmos with one message, "Metanoia! Change the way you think! Because the Kingdom of God is right here, right now." The Kingdom of God is available to anyone who's willing to have their mind changed, anyone who's willing to have their mind made new.

Soaking in the healing waters of Abba's presence will be the thing that causes our perspective, and our thinking, to shift. Our intimate encounters with Him are meant to change our perspective. It's how we see the mind renewed. Are you willing to step into those waters today? The soaking can happen anytime that you're ready to step in. Abba is waiting to take a walk with you today.

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Worship: "You Always Restore" 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!

The Wilderness Place 4/29/24 The Wilderness Place 4/29/24

The Grace to Change Is Right Here, Right Now

(5 minutes)

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2 NKJV)

"Do not be conformed to this world. That means do not let this world be the thing that tells you how your life is supposed to look. That's what the scripture is saying. Don't let the rules of this world be the one that you feed from, that you become intimate with." (Pastor Tim)

We've all heard this scripture at some point, but like Pastor Tim mentioned on Sunday, I don't believe we've learned how to actually do it. When Jesus comes to us with the message of, "Metanoia! Change the way you think, because the Kingdom of God is right here, right now," we have to understand that with that word comes the grace, the permission, to see that word become a reality in our own lives. Abba never brings us a word, or whispers our name, without giving us the grace to see that word become flesh in the garden of our own life.

This is another step into metanoia. Do we actually believe that there is a grace being given to us in this season to see our perspective changed in a significant way? Do we believe that with Abba's word, comes the permission and power to be transformed?

This is why it's so important for us to respond rightly to the words we're hearing in intimacy with Abba. Because that word carries more than just some opportunity to feel good in the moment; it carries the grace we need to see that word become a way of life for us, and in us. How we respond to the word, or how we honor the seed, determines what we will get from that seed.

There is a grace being given to our Kingdom family, right now, to metanoia - to change the way we think - to shift from feeding on the kingdom of this world to being exclusively intimate with the Kingdom of God.

As we show up to the walk with Abba today, let's ask Him about how we can honor the seed of His word so we can eat its fruit, after it's been established in our life. Abba, we don't just want to hear a word, we want to become the word. Abba, show us how to honor what we're hearing!

All the grace we need to change is right here, right now.

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Worship: "Make Room" by Kim Walker-Smith

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 Wilderness Place 4/26/24 The Wilderness Place 4/26/24

Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done

(7 minutes)

In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen
(Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV)

Pray like this: "Our Beloved Father, dwelling in the heavenly realms, may the glory of your name be the center on which our lives turn. Manifest your kingdom realm, and cause your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth, just as it is in heaven. Forgive us the wrongs we have done as we ourselves release forgiveness to those who have wronged us. Rescue us every time we face tribulation and set us free from evil. For you are the King who rules with power and glory forever. Amen." (Matthew 6:9-13 TPT)

The disciples witnessed so much power in the life of Jesus that they assumed it had something to do with His prayer life, with His intimacy with Abba. And they were right in their thinking. So they asked Him how to pray. This is so right! When we see something in Jesus that we do not yet see established in our own life, it should cause us to go to Him in intimacy and say, "How? Teach me! Show me!"

Jesus opens this prayer with the most offensive words to the culture of His day. Calling God "Father" or "Dada" would have easily gotten you kicked out of the synagogue. The fear of religion kept the Father at a distance, only referred to as "God" and "Master" and "Lord," but never Dada, never "our Father." Everyone needs an encounter with the Abba revelation - He is the Beloved Father and we are His Beloved Sons and Daughters.

Then Jesus says, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This is the heart of theFather revealed to us. We're not biding our time, waiting on some end-of-days escape plan. We're ushering in the Kingdom of God on the earth, just as it is in heaven.

"Is Jesus giving them something that could not be accomplished, or is He telling them it can be accomplished? If Jesus is saying that His will could be accomplished on earth, why have we been looking to escape? Why have we be parroting out of our mouth that it's going to get to worse, that His will has no chance in being done here? Because we became intimate with delusional thinking. We became intimate with what this world is parroting. And what this world was telling us gave us the theology of 'it's getting worse.' And Jesus is telling us that we should be in the secret place asking for His kingdom to be here now." (Pastor Tim)

Either Jesus thinks that it's possible to have the Kingdom of God established on the earth, or He's lying. Which is it?

Abba wants His will to be happening on the earth in the same way that it's happening in heaven. He wants everything that's happening in heaven to be established on the earth. When? Right now.

"How many of us grew up thinking that it was possible to have heaven on earth? So what kingdom have we been eating from if none of us thought this?" (Pastor Tim)

What we're meditating on is being reproduced in our lives. Whatever kingdom we're living more aware of is having more influence on us and the decisions we're making. The things we're seeing reproduced in us, in our kids, in our families, and in our lives all originate from what kingdom we're being most intimate with.

Jesus is inviting us to see the Kingdom established on the earth. He's inviting us to be a part of the restoration of all things. He's asking us to change the way we think, and start feeding from the Kingdom of God that is available to us right now. Our intimate encounters with Him can shift our thinking so much that we could literally begin seeing everything that's happening in heaven established in our own lives.

Abba, let Your kingdom come and Your will be done, right here, right now! Start declaring this over your life, over your kids, over your family, and over generations to come. Beloved Sons and Daughters are starting to believe that we could actually see Yahweh’s Kingdom established on the earth. We don’t need an escape plan! We’re going to witness an invasion of heaven in the cosmos, and the glory of God will cover the earth like the waters cover the sea. We will see the restoration of all things, and we will see it in our own lives first.

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Worship: "I See Heaven" 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!

The Wilderness Place 4/25/24 The Wilderness Place 4/25/24

Waking Up With Dysfunctional Vision

(5 minutes)

"What's your appetite look like? What's controlling your appetites? Is it the Kingdom of God or is it you? What we feed from is what we reflect. So if we're feeding from this world and we're listening to the doubt, fear, and anxiety that this world provides, this is what we reflect, this is what we reproduce. Whatever you're intimate with is what you reproduce. So think about this for a moment: am I exclusively intimate with Him or am I intimate with a multitude of things? The issue is when you become intimate with something that's dysfunctional, when you become intimate with something that's not of His kingdom, you lose your ability to see that it's dysfunctional. This is why Jacob thinks he's marrying Rachel, and wakes up with Leah." (Pastor Tim)

We've all walked through moments where we couldn't see the dysfunction right in front of us. We all have things in our past that we look back at and say, "Why couldn't I see it?" This is why we couldn't see it: because when you become intimate with and start staring at something dysfunctional, you lose your ability to see correctly. Your perspective is twisted. It's called delusional thinking.

When you're right in the middle of delusional thinking, Jesus will even have a hard time convincing you otherwise. We literally become blind to the truth. And like Pastor Tim mentioned on Sunday, there's only one way to wake yourself up from this kind of deception: you have to look at what your life is producing. Fruit doesn't lie. It's always a truthful witness to where it came from.

"Is what I'm reproducing in God's kingdom? So if I'm experiencing doubt about a situation, fear, anger, or any of these things, I ask myself the question: is this going on in God's kingdom?" (Pastor Tim)

If what you're producing can't be found in God's kingdom, you've become intimate with dysfunctional vision.

This is why Jesus' invitation is, "Metanoia! Change the way you think, because God's kingdom is here and available to you right now." But it can't be accessed while you're still feeding from the kingdom of this world. We've already established that our relationship with Yahweh has been patterned after a covenant marriage. And just like us, He doesn't want there to be any mixture in this union. He's after exclusivity, our whole heart. He's patient with us, but He's also jealous and constantly pursuing His beloved Bride. He's coming after everything that hinders the love affair between us and Him. He's coming after our delusional thinking.

If He's lured you into the wilderness, that's a sure sign that by the time this is over you're going to be transformed into a radiant Bride, and His name will no longer be "Master," but "Husband." Let Him pull you even deeper into this intimate, exclusive union. His kingdom is already expanding within you!

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Worship: "I Love Your Presence" 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!

The Wilderness Place 4/24/24 The Wilderness Place 4/24/24

Peripoiesis: Exclusively His

(5 minutes)

"He's only ever asked for our hearts. The whole thing." (Pastor Tim)

Abba wants exclusivity.

Pastor Tim introduced us to his favorite word this past Sunday. It’s found in 1 Peter 2:9.

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9 KJV)

Do you see the word "peculiar" in this verse? The Greek word is peripoiesis (per-ee-poy-ay-sis). And peripoiesis doesn't mean peculiar. Peripoiesis is a way to describe something that belongs exclusively to you. It's a possession that has been paid for in its entirety and belongs to no one else, but you.

What if I told you that we were meant to be exclusively His? Like a husband and wife, only ever belonging to the other? We are not meant to be shared with others; our heart is designed to be exclusively His, the whole thing. This idea sounds peculiar and far-fetched, which is probably why the writers of the King James Version used the word peculiar in the first place. Peripoiesis doesn't mean peculiar, but the thought of devoting one's entire existence to only one other person is certainly on the list of peculiarities. But this is the word that Yahweh uses to describe us - exclusively His.

"We expect this in marriage. Think about it: you wouldn't be married to anyone that wasn't exclusive to you. You mean God expects the same thing from me that I expect from my spouse? You mean I can only be His? That means I can't have a thousand obsessions, I can only have one? You mean I can't run after this or feed from that kingdom, I can only feed from His?" (Pastor Tim)

Let's ask the question: are we exclusively His? Do we belong to Him completely? Is He in control of every area of our life? Does He decide what our lives look like, or do we? Does He have a say? Is He the first one we run to when making a decision? If our relationship with Yahweh was a marriage, what would it look like? Are we all in?

Our hearts are uniquely designed to crave peripoiesis: an exclusive, intimate relationship with another. It may be the deepest longing of our hearts, and it can only be found in Yahweh. Our time in religion taught us how to pretend to be exclusively His while we were giving our hearts to other things in secret. That's why it was wrought with suspicion and fear and hiding. That's the same thing you find in a marriage where someone is secretly giving their heart to other things.

But Abba has lured us into the wilderness. He's speaking tenderly to our hearts and He's giving us what we've always cried out for... peripoiesis. What does this intimate, exclusive relationship produce? A radiant Bride who reflects the marvelous light that she's been exposed to in the presence of the Bridegroom King.

Are we mingling? Or are we married? Are we partially His? Occasionally connected? Or are we exclusively His in our entirety?

Take this word, peripoiesis, into your walk with Abba today and let Him talk to you about what exclusivity looks like. We've never been told that our relationship with Him was supposed to look this way. That's okay! But He desires to teach us the ways of His kingdom. Remember, Jesus is extending an invitation to us today, "Metanoia, the Kingdom of God is here!"

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Worship: "Have My Heart" by TRIBL

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 Wilderness Place 4/23/24 The Wilderness Place 4/23/24

What Kingdom Are We Most Aware Of?

(6 minutes)

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent (metanoia), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17 NKJV)

"So when Jesus shows up and He says, 'Change the way you think, the kingdom of God is available to you,' He's telling them that there are two kingdoms available: His and the kingdom of earth. Begin to become aware of His Kingdom over the kingdom that you have been aware of up to this point." (Pastor Tim)

What kingdom are you most aware of right now?

Take this question even deeper because there are some areas where our perspective is shaped by the Kingdom of God, but there are others that are shaped by the kingdom of this world.

What kingdom are you most aware of when it comes to your finances?

What kingdom are you most aware of when it comes to your marriage and your family?

What kingdom are you most aware of when it comes to your future?

Abba is coming after your perspective. He's coming to have a conversation with you, not about behavior, but about the thing that determines your behavior...how you think. Look at this verse in Romans 12:2 and hear God's heart for you today.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2 NKJV)

"Whatever world you're most aware of is the one that will have dominance in your life. Let me give you an example: how much fear and anxiety is in heaven? How much fear and anxiety is in this world? So whichever one you're experiencing tells you that's the world you're more aware of...You get to decide which world you will feed from. Whichever world is having the most influence on you, you have become intimate with." (Pastor Tim)

We have to wake up to what world, what kingdom, we're most intimate with. We have to wake up and see what kingdom is having the most influence on our thoughts. That's not hard to do, but it takes intentionality. Our life is already reflecting the traits of the kingdom we're most aware of because we become what we behold. That's a Kingdom principle that never fails. If you want to know what kind of tree it is, you can look at what it's producing.

What thoughts are we meditating on the most? What kingdom are we most aware of right now?

There's a daily invitation being extended to us from Abba's presence to come and have our minds changed by His goodness. Do you remember what lures us into metanoia?

Do you realize that all the wealth of his extravagant kindness [goodness, sweetness] is meant to melt your heart and lead you into repentance [metanoia, changing how you think]? (Romans 2:4)

Come and have an intimate encounter with Abba's goodness and your perspective will naturally shift towards His heart and His Kingdom. Let perfect love lead you back to where you belong - your original design!

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Worship: "Gratitude + I Love Your Presence" 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!

The Wilderness Place 4/22/24 The Wilderness Place 4/22/24

Metanoia: Jesus’ Invitation Into The Kingdom

(5 minutes)

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent (metanoia), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17 NKJV)

"Metanoia. That word means to change the way you think. But we got repent. Repent causes you to look in your past. Metanoia asks you to look into your future. Which one do you think is more likely to come from God's kingdom? Him asking you to look in the past, or Him saying let's look in the future? In the future." (Pastor Tim)

How we think determines how we see and perceive what's going on in our lives. Our thinking shapes our experiences.

Why does Jesus come to the earth and spend so much time saying, "Change the way you think, because the Kingdom of God is at hand?" Well, the 400 years before Jesus came, there was no Kingdom revelation on the earth. The mouths of the prophets were shut, and no one was hearing anything from heaven. If nothing was being heard from heaven's Kingdom for that long, then everyone must have only been experiencing and learning from the only other kingdom that's left: the kingdom of this world.

"So when Jesus shows up and He says, 'Change the way you think, the kingdom of God is available to you,' He's telling them that there are two kingdoms available: His and the kingdom of earth. Begin to become aware of His Kingdom over the kingdom that you have been aware of up to this point." (Pastor Tim)

Jesus is inviting us to become more aware of and more intimate with the Kingdom of God. And to even venture in this direction, we must change the way we think. Jesus is telling us that everything we've learned from our time in the previous kingdom is diametrically opposed to the Kingdom of God. They are completely different. We will have to let go of the one to inherit the other. Both perspectives will not be able to co-exist together.

"Metanoia starts you on the path of learning how the Kingdom operates, what Jesus is trying to teach us, and what He's trying to say. You're going to have to start thinking differently than you thought before. The Kingdom looks differently than you ever thought it looked. The Father's different than you thought He was. The Father's different than you were taught He was." (Pastor Tim)

Metanoia is our first step into relearning who Yahweh is and what His Kingdom is like. Jesus' message is still the same for us today, "Change the way you think, the Kingdom of God is at hand, the Kingdom of God is within you."

The walk we take with Abba today is the encounter that will facilitate the changing of our minds. Through intimate encounters with Him, our perspective will begin to change.

Beloved One, just show up for the walk with Yahweh and let the intimacy pull you in.

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Worship: “I Love Your Presence” 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!

The Wilderness Place 4/19/24 The Wilderness Place 4/19/24

Encounters That Change Perspective

(8 minutes)

"Unfamiliar things always war against familiar things. And the enemy of the current move of God is always the last move of God. We must let ourselves question some things about the way we think. Is this producing fully alive? Because the Kingdom's idea of life and life more abundantly is you, fully alive. Let me ask you a question: what area would you consider of your life, fully alive? Because the Kingdom's saying every area of your life can be fully alive, but maybe what's keeping it from being fully alive is the way you think. This is why encounters are so important. But encounters can also be worthless. How many people in the Bible encountered Jesus and it produced nothing in their life? How many times have we had an encounter with God that produced nothing in our life? How many encounters have I wasted because I did not respond correctly? Well, how do we respond? Encounters are designed to change the way you think. It's an opportunity to let the encounter with God change something in my life that He wants to change." (Pastor Tim)

Encounters are important, be what we do with the encounter is equally important. How we respond to our encounters with Abba can mean the difference between the hair standing up on the back of our neck or our entire life being changed and us being brought more fully into abundant life. How are we responding to the encounters that we're having with Yahweh? Are we allowing the encounter to do what it's intended to do: change our thinking?

"Understand that any encounter that you have with Abba is an invitation into transformation, into metanoia. This is the soaking that takes place." (Pastor Tim)

And this soaking can happen every single day, throughout the entire day. Encounters are available every moment of the day. We just have to step into it. No matter where we are or what we're doing, we can invite Abba into the moment. We can start a conversation with Him in the morning that can go with us all day until we lay our head back down on our pillow at night. This intimate, unbroken fellowship is what we're made for, designed for. We just have to learn to practice the presence of God.

"I don't want you to get discouraged or allow shame and condemnation to come because you have some values out of whack. Encounters are meant to change that!" (Pastor Tim)

Let's talk more about metanoia.

Repent [metanoia] therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:19-21 NKJV)

And now you must repent and turn back to God so that your sins will be removed, and so that times of refreshing will stream from the Lord's presence, and he will send to you Jesus, the Messiah, the chosen one for you. For he must remain in heaven until the restoration of all things has taken place, fulfilling everything that God said long ago through his holy prophets. (Acts 3:19-21 TPT)

Abba's idea of restoration is returning all things to pre-fallen conditions. That's His heart for the cosmos. He intends to restore everything, and this scripture tells us that once that happens He will send Jesus again. That's not how we've heard it preached for the last hundred years in American Christianity, but here it is in the very first message that was preached after the Holy Spirit was given to the world.

"We have to be allowed to rethink some things. We have to be allowed to rethink some theology. If you believe things are supposed to get darker in order for Jesus to come then you will have no hope for restoration to take place. You can't hold these two things at the same time. You can't believe that things are supposed to get worse and at the same time, Jesus is being held in heaven until the restoration of all things. They can't coexist with one another.... We have to let God's word challenge some things that were said from the pulpit. We have to let the truth of God ask us some questions." (Pastor Tim)

Are we allowing our encounters with Abba to change our perspective? Are we allowing the truth of God to challenge some things we thought we had settled? Or are we having encounters with Yahweh, but not allowing those encounters to change how we think?

Why does it matter? Why does it matter that we allow Abba to change our thinking? Here's why:

Don't you know that when you allow even a little lie into your heart, it can permeate your entire belief system? (Galatians 5:9)

These little lies are affecting everything. Our current perspective is permeating our entire life and shaping our reality. How we see determines what we experience. This is why it's important to Abba. This is why Jesus comes to earth and His message to mankind is, "Metanoia, change the way you think!" This is why we must start allowing our encounters with Abba to go deeper, until they change our perspective.

It starts today, on your walk with Abba. Practice His presence today. Take every step with the dove in mind. We are walking in unbroken companionship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But the soaking on happens when you step in!

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Worship: "You Walk With Me" by Housefires

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 Wilderness Place 4/18/24 The Wilderness Place 4/18/24

Every Circumstance An Opportunity

(5 minutes)

"When we believe that we are truly God's favorite, that thinking determines how we respond no matter what the circumstance says. If we really believed that we were God's favorite and we were beloved, any and every circumstance would be an opportunity for us." (Pastor Tim)

Just like Joseph was able to excel in every environment because he knew he was his father's favorite, every circumstance we face will become an opportunity to see Abba's favor when we start believing that we are truly beloved sons and daughters. Believing that you are loved by the Father will change how you think. It will change your perspective. It will change how you see things that happen in your life.

Think about Joseph's life - sold into slavery by his own brothers, becomes a slave in someone else's home, targeted and accused by his master's wife, and thrown into prison. Let me ask you a question: would your current perspective allow you to see these circumstances as opportunities to excel and experience Yahweh's favor? Or would your current perspective keep you stuck as a slave to hopelessness?

It all goes back to how we think. Remember, how big you dream communicates how deeply you believe God loves you. Knowing you're favored of the Father will change your perspective.

"So imagine this: what if you so believed that you're His favorite that the circumstance did not determine how you responded to the circumstance? So when rejection comes, it doesn't feel like rejection. It feels like an opportunity. What if the flat tire is no longer an inconvenience, but you see it as an opportunity? What if a health crisis comes up, and you don't see it as a crisis at all...you see it as an opportunity? What if you find yourself trapped in a conversation you don't want to be in and it no longer says you're trapped...it's an opportunity? How you think determines where you are." (Pastor Tim)

What if the circumstance is not overwhelming at all, it's just an opportunity?

Are you a slave, or are you Abba's favorite?
You can't be both.

Beloved One, what circumstance in your life is waiting on you to believe you're Abba's favorite? The entire cosmos, all the way down to the circumstances you're walking through right now, are waiting for you to believe that you're Abba's favorite, because they want to experience His goodness, too. As long as we're enslaved in our thinking, they're enslaved. But when you put your coat on and start walking in your beloved identity, everything changes.

The entire universe is standing on tiptoe, yearning to see the unveiling of God's glorious sons and daughters! (Romans 8:19)

While you're on your walk with Abba today, take a look around and let Him point out every opportunity that He's brought into your life. You may be surprised at what He calls an opportunity, that you've been calling a trap.

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Worship: "Beauty for Ashes" 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!

The Wilderness Place 4/17/24 The Wilderness Place 4/17/24

Unless You Become Like A Child

(5 minutes)

"This is the invitation into the wilderness. Every single time God wants to speak to someone, He draws them into a place of unknowing. 'Abraham, I'm going to send you to a place you know not of. I'm not even going to give you a map to tell you how to get there.' But we hate that. Why do we hate that? Because we have to trust. Every step is about hearing and obeying. The wilderness is an invitation for you, me, us, we to go into the unfamiliar. And He doesn't let you bring what you thought you knew before with you. You have to let the unfamiliar challenge what you thought you were certain of, and we don't like that." (Pastor Tim)

You have to let the unfamiliar challenge what you thought you were certain of. This is what most of our encounters with Jesus feel like because so much of what we've learned isn't the way of the Kingdom. Pastor Tim illustrated this on Sunday when he shared Jesus' thoughts about children. Listen to Jesus' words:

Learn this well: Unless you dramatically change your way of thinking and become teachable like a little child, you will never be able to enter in. (Matthew 18:3 TPT)

Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3 NKJV)

So Jesus shares this Kingdom-truth, and what did we do? We removed the children, who were supposed to be an example to us, from our gatherings and stuck them in a back room. The very expression that Jesus said we needed if we were going to experience the Kingdom, we removed from our sight "so we could be undistracted." This is what we learned in American Christianity, but it was not the way of the Kingdom. These are the things we're unlearning in the wilderness.

As we venture out into the wilderness with Abba, He begins to undo so much of what we thought we already knew. At first, these interactions can be uncomfortable. Trusting can be uncomfortable. Having your previous perspective undone can be very uncomfortable. It can cause you to be unsure and question everything, and that's okay.

The beautiful thing about taking these wilderness walks with Abba is that you may be the most unsure you've ever been in your life, but you're closer to Him and His presence than you've ever been in your life, too. You may be spinning, but you're spinning in the Potter's hands. And like Pastor Tim said on Sunday, Abba can handle your questions and He can handle your doubts. This is what unlearning feels like. And now Abba can speak to you Himself about what the Kingdom is really like.

Beloved One, don't run away from these encounters just because they challenge what you thought you already knew. This is Abba inviting you into a new way of seeing. This is Abba inviting you into trust. Trusting like a child.

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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!

The Wilderness Place 4/16/24 The Wilderness Place 4/16/24

Metanoia: Moving Beyond Behavior

(5 minutes)

"We thought 'repent' meant 'change your behavior,' but you can't change your behavior until you change what produces your behavior. It's how you think. How you think produces behavior." (Pastor Tim)

It's so important that we see that Jesus did not come saying, "Repent, change your behavior!" The word "repent" is the Greek word metanoia, which means to change the way you think. This isn't a small thing. When you read the word "repent" in the scriptures, what comes to mind? Because if the default meaning for you is still tied to you turning from sinful behavior, we need to soak in Jesus' perspective a while longer, because behavior was not top of mind as He preached the message of the Kingdom. Behavior is the byproduct of what you believe and how you see things. Jesus came saying, "Metanoia, change the way you think!"

"You know, when the enemy with his deception came along coupled with the spirit of religion, he tried to convince us the problem was our behavior. So for a long time in the Bride, we focused heavily on behavior." (Pastor Tim)

Isn't that the truth? Haven't we just been licking our wounds in the church for years? We designed entire weekends around having an encounter with Jesus, and then ended up diverting our eyes to our own behavior, listing on paper our most troublesome sins and even the "unknown sins of past generations." Now we're not just focusing on our own sins that we can't shake, but grandad's sins that could have been passed down to us. Instead of gazing into the eyes of Jesus, we were cheek-swabbing past generations trying to find where the sinful behavior started. The funny thing is Jesus never used this strategy when healing or delivering someone. He simply asked them, "Are you ready to believe that you're healed?"

"Scripture tells us that whatever you behold is what you become. What you stare at is what's produced in your life...So for the longest time, the church focused on behavior, and everybody got really frustrated because we couldn't stop behavior. We find ourselves slinking back in this area and that area, because nobody was willing to go into the scriptures and find Romans 2:4, which says it's the goodness of God that changes the way you think. It's His goodness - not your discipline, not your behavior, not you focusing on your behavior. It's staring at His goodness that naturally causes your behavior to change. Well, how does that happen? Because it changes the way you think!" (Pastor Tim)

Jesus never came saying, "Change your behavior." But that's the message we've heard the entire time in American Christianity. And on the backside of everyone breaking themselves, striving to change, we find ourselves dealing with the same behavior, but now we're neck-deep in hopelessness and broken lives because the whole time we were staring at the wrong thing, and we ended up becoming what we were beholding.

Jesus' message, the message of the Kingdom, is "Metanoia, change the way you think." Abba wants to take a walk with us today, and the conversation won't be centered around your wrong behavior. The conversation is going to be about your thinking. It's going to be about what you believe, and how you see. Abba's going to ask you what you're staring at, the long list of problems...or His face? Because only one of those leads to metanoia.

Beloved One, don't let shame and condemnation keep taking you back to what's wrong with you. Let Abba's goodness lead you into what's true about you! Don't worry about behavior right now. Just focus on having an encounter with Abba, because that will be the thing that changes your perspective.

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Worship: "Abba, We Let You" by The Wilderness Place

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 Walk is a daily writing to inspire you in your own personal intimacy with Abba.

Listen, my radiant one—if you ever lose sight of me, just follow in my footsteps where I lead my lovers. (Song of Songs 1:8)

208 Pass RoadGulfport, MS 39507

208 Pass Road
Gulfport, MS 39507