NEW CONNECTIONS, RE-SET AND RE-BOOT!

NEW CONNECTIONS, RE-SET AND RE-BOOT!

I have been experiencing “glitches” in many things lately, particularly electronics, and have had to create new connections, re-sets and re-boots!I don’t know about you, but when my electronics malfunction, even for a very short time, I tend to go into panic mode and fear sets in. This is what the enemy wants, but God wants us to look to Him for everything. First it was the router needing to be reset. Then it was my phone not connecting to the Bluetooth in my car. My car is 12 years old and this has never happened before. I tried all the things I knew to do, but eventually had to reset Bluetooth in my car to link with my phone.Most recently it was the wireless receiver for my keyboard. I went through many different troubleshooting tactics, changed all the batteries, reset all the connections, rebooted the computer, etc. I prayed over my computer because I did not want the aggravation to continue, nor did I want to have to take time out of my day to go to an electronics store and buy a replacement!  I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to try another USB port and it worked! The other port had become faulty for some reason and once I put the USB into another port, and re-set all the connections, it worked fine.I started to wonder if there was a connection in all of this. I know when things around me are recurring there is something God is trying to tell me. It was not until I began writing this that I realized my car was 12 years old (apostolic), which represents apostolic government.  I asked the Lord and what I am hearing is that God is re-setting our connections. This is necessary as He is setting His apostolic order in place. We will need to have our connections re-set.We may have been doing many things by rote, and this is a new season. There is a new level of warfare and we will need a tighter connection with Him. I had recently been feeling a great need to connect on an even deeper level with Him! I had been very busy with ministry and trying to finalize my newest book, but needed to feel a stronger connection with Him. The old is never going to be enough. I need more and more of Him to keep moving forward. I sense that many are experiencing this, because He is drawing us deeper. Deeper intimacy is necessary to walk in greater authority! One with Him, He will bring forth the Kingdom through us!What I am hearing through all of this is that the old way of doing things isn’t going to work anymore. We have to be freshly connected to Him and it may require doing things differently in this season. We may need to push the “re-set” button (spending more time seeking Him, more time reading the Word, more time praying in the Spirit, etc.) It is also time to ask the Lord if it is time to disconnect from current activities, people or things that are hindering our connection to Him or where He wants to take us.  I hear the Lord saying that He has brought an increase in our level of discernment so that we can use wisdom and move in His timing!We can’t access new territories using the same strategies as before! Even things we learned spiritually along the way may not work in this season. We have the mind of Christ, but we also have the mind of the flesh, and have to choose each moment to press in to the Spirit of Christ and see what the Father is saying to us in the moment. We can remind ourselves of how faithful God has been in the past, but He wants to do a new thing so that we expand into new territories!"For My thoughts [are] not your thoughts, Nor [are] your ways My ways," says the LORD. "For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV)"This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:2-3 NKJV)This is a time for greater results; more of His presence, expansion of Kingdom territory and more of His glory being seen. Those who have walked with God for some time may have come into a place of familiarity with His ways that may not work for us in this new season. Once we have an experience, even a spiritual experience, our natural minds puts it into a box and our tendency is to remind ourselves of what worked before. It has now become a “law” in our mind, or our religion! The spirit of religion isn’t just legalistic rules, it is doing anything by rote without taking a moment in faith and seeking the mind of Christ in that moment to find out what He wants. Jesus didn’t heal the same way each time, and the miracle weren’t always the same. Certainly He didn’t say the same thing to each person. It was always a unique, specific expression of the Spirit for the moment.We will need new connections! The full counsel of the Lord will be necessary to advance into new territory. This is a time for the Body of Christ to come forth as never before, with every joint supplying. Some of the ministries and people we have been connected to may need to change. God is drying up some of our favorite resources and disrupting certain connections so that we will listen closely and follow His lead to move forward. This is a time of great expansion, both internal and external. Holy Spirit is saying that He is leading into new arenas and new connections are necessary. It is time to connect to new people for the Body of Christ to grow in exponential ways."From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." (Ephesians 4:16 KJV)"And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God." (Colossians 2:19 KJV)VISION OF EXPONENTIAL INCREASEMany years ago, when I was reading these verses, I had a vision where I saw a heavenly sphere exponentially increasing in size. The Lord told me it is time to share this vision and what He told me through it. When I asked the Lord about the picture I saw, He said that as each member of the Body is uniquely formed with varying gift sets, when one ministers to another it adds to them in the impartation. Now that person has more than they started with. As they go and minister to another, they are now bringing multiplication because they are ministering not only from their gifts, but from what they received from the other members of the Body.What I was seeing in the vision began changing to a multifaceted jewel of such beauty and clarity that it caused great illumination; everything in its path was affected by the light.I believe this is a vision of the Body of Christ as we begin to understand the importance of every joint supplying, to the extent that we take extra measures (led by the Spirit of God) to seek out the lost, but also to seek out other members of the Body of Christ. They are necessary for full expression of the Body as a whole! It is time to leave behind our mindset of denominational boundaries, our preferred way of doing things and the ones that we desire to be around because they are just like us. It is wonderful to be around those that are like us, to give and receive encouragement and exhortation, but real growth of the Body is going to take place as the “different” ones are connected and multiplying of the gifts occurs.Recently, the Lord has been opening doors with people that I have felt uncomfortable in their presence in the past, for a variety of reasons. These are the very ones that the Lord is showing me that I need and that He is using to open doors. There is a grave danger when we stand on the “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” as a rationalization for not venturing out of our comfort zone and also for thinking we don’t need others to help us.I remember reading that a good leader surrounds himself with those not like him; he recognizes that he needs the other skills that others have to produce what he can’t on his own. This is something the world recognizes far better than the Body of Christ. The enemy loves to divide and God loves unity."A Song of Ascents. Of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant [it is] For brethren to dwell together in unity! [It is] like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments. [It is] like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing--Life forevermore." (Psalm 133:1-3 NKJV)The 12 tribes and the 12 apostles were all very different in their roles and functions, and each was  necessary to get the full counsel of God in a matter, and to bring forth God’s purpose in the earth.  We all have a part and each part effects the whole; when honoring one another and functioning together in unity, there is an exponential increase. This is what is so necessary for us to expand the Kingdom.Yes, we will all have areas personally we will need to expand, as our soul comes into alignment with the Spirit of God and we submit our will to His will. But what He is showing me is that every part must be in operating order, and that may require checking our connections, re-setting and re-booting for the full functionality and exponential expansion of the Kingdom.I hear the Lord saying, “This is a time for new connections and divine direction. This is not a time to feel dejection. Every member supplying brings a fresh injection and necessary correction. Walk in love with great affection, My grace will hinder potential defection; unity will provide protection. For too long the enemy has brought division, causing many to speak in derision and blocking the flow of My provision. Now is the time to come together as One, under the headship of My Son, for on earth as in heaven My Kingdom to come.”