Pastor Ray shared…
I keep seeing this. Several years ago, I went to the Louvre in Paris and I had one plan and that was to see the Mona Lisa. I went through the whole gallery. It is huge, huge. And when I got to the Mona Lisa, it was a disappointment because it was so small and it was covered in plastic and you could hardly get to it. Too many other people wanted to see it also.
And the Holy Spirit has been revealing to me that inside of us, we too are like a gallery. Picture after picture after picture after picture, some have been painted because of what the Word has said but other paintings are there because someone else allowed them to come through them and come into you and it put a picture in you and it was a disappointment. It was a disappointing picture, a disappointing time, a disappointing situation.
And the Holy Spirit is reminding me today to take the frame, take the frame off those pictures that are pictures of defeat, pictures of lack, pictures of someone else’s problems and situations or whatever. We put no limits on it. Just take those frames off and put them on pictures in your heart that are painted by the scripture, by the power, by the presence of the Word within you, the power of the Holy Spirit and put a frame on each one of those. They are in full color, purple, green, yellow, orange, red – all the colors blended together. They’re masterpieces! His “Masterpieces” for us and they’ve been painted in us individually for us that we might go step by step by step, always ascending and moving from one degree of glory to another because of what we see, because of what He said, and the picture that it painted within each one of us. Hallelujah.
A gallery of overcoming power, a gallery of supernatural strength, a gallery where that joy is present bringing about such strength beyond what you could ever do, a gallery of prosperity for you. We frame those things today, we see those things, we receive them as pictures in us concerning our future, concerning the steps, the plans that God has called us to.
Prayed…
We take authority over our thoughts and we say stop it!
No, those things are not beneficial to our plan or our future!
Yes, we are overcomers through and by the precious blood of Jesus
Father, we thank You that we don’t have to have the old picture
You are making all things new, Lord!
Give us eyes to see and ears to hear that which You are speaking to us, Father
Out with the old and in with the new!
We are all Your children, and You have made us in Your image
You are working out the glorious church, from one degree of glory to another!
By Your mercy and by Your grace, You are allowing us to speak and declare whose we are and whom we serve!
Yes, we are conforming more and more and more to You and to Your Word
Help us to shine during this Christmas season, Lord
No, we will not miss any opportunities to share the reason for the season!
Fill us with Your joy, with Your love, and with Your power
We are overcomers in, by, and through the blood that was shed for us
Shared…
The following excerpt is taken from Meat for Men by Leonard Ravenhill:
The Upper-Room Men
God-Hungry men find God. As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so the souls of the Upper-Room crowd panted for the living God. Spiritually naked, they fled to Him that they might be clothed upon with the blessed Spirit. Empty, they craved to be filled. Powerless, they tarried until they were endued. Bankrupt and beggar-like, they pled the riches of His grace. Then this fear-filled crowd became fire-filled messengers. Though swordless, these soldiers of Christ fought the might of imperial Rome and won. Though without ecclesiastical prestige, they opposed the frozen orthodoxy of sterile Judaism and pierced it to the heart. Unlettered, they unblushingly declared the whole counsel of God and eventually staggered the intellectual Greeks.
Without question, the greatest need of this hour is that the Church shall meet her ascended Lord again, and get an enduement that would usher in the revival of revivals just before the night of nights settles over this age of incomparable corruption.
My guess is that the waiting host in the Upper Room never anticipated the rushing, mighty wind, where staggered by the tongues of fire, and were all amazed that they had utterance they could not define. To say that these folk were all backsliders awaiting another touch from God is to twist truth. Backsliders are the most joyless fold in the world, but these disciples, having seen the Master recently ascend to heaven in a cloud, had returned to Jerusalem with great joy. They had fled to the Upper Room to await the promise of the Father. That meant they were obedient; backsliders are disobedient. After Christ’s ascension they worshiped Him; backsliders forsake Him. No, let’s get this straight: these were a happy people, an obedient people, a worshiping people, a praying people.
Yes, this was a praying Church. In the Jordan while Jesus prayed, the Spirit descended upon Him; and in the Upper Room while the disciples prayed, the blessed Spirit descended upon them. Let’s keep this to the forefront in our thinking: the Spirit comes upon praying people. That which He did in the past, that He will do again.
This was a concerned Church. In the Upper Room, every known step they could take had been taken in obedience in the divine command. These inadequate men longed to be adequate so that the world might know He had sent them.
This was a contrite Church. In the Upper Room these men were plagued with their own spiritual infidelity. They had failed Him; some had lied about Him; some had doubted Him; all had forsaken Him. What a wailing wall that Upper Room must have been! Was there ever such a Valley of Baca? Were the angels ever so busy storing tears – bitter, scalding, salty tears – into the battle of memory as in those ten days? These men were rending their hearts and not their garments. Their harps were on the willows. An old mystic once said, “There are only two places for God’s people – in the dust and in heaven.” Only in one or the other are we safe. These men in quest of the Spirit were in the dust –blessed dust-better than gold dust if in our prostration we seek the power of the Lord and see His glory!
This was a confessing Church. In that Upper Room no man ran his theological inch tape over his neighbor. They were all with one accord. No lip shot out in criticism; no finger pointed at a supposed leakage that hindered the coming of the promised power. All were self-admitted bankrupts. Here is a classic example of God’s people, called by His name, humbling themselves and seeking His face; and God in turn hearing them and sending through an otherwise paralyzed arm a wave of supernatural power. They waited on the Lord and renewed their strength.
Today no one has time to wait. Some argue there is no need to wait for the coming of the Spirit because He has already been given. I am sure they are right. But I am equally sure there is need to wait so that we can take a Spirit-conducted tour around our own hearts. We need to say with Croly:
“Spirit of God, descend upon my heart,
Wean it from earth, through all its pulses move;
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art,
And make me love Thee as I ought to love.”
The common offer of evangelists these days is this: “You need power; come to the altar and get it.” This has no more moral appeal than taking a car for gas and saying to the attendant, “Fill her up.” This shibboleth brings no moral change or spiritual enduement that would make a sin-sick world and a flabby faltering Church know that the Almighty has visited His people. Obviously He has not.
In this evil hour of aggressive, atheistic philosophy and passive Christianity (so-called), we need a Mordecai with a broken heart but a resolute will to lead us all in sackcloth and ashes. God pity us that we have swung from the Upper Room with its fire to the church with the supper room and its smoke.
Continued Praying…
Father, we are looking for Upper Room men and women in this day and in this hour
We allow Your Spirit to pierce and to penetrate our hearts, Lord
Yes, we are looking for that change from one degree of glory to another!
You, by Your mighty hand are writing on the tablets of our hearts
Renew us of and by Your Spirit, Father
We ask You for a greater transition and a greater transformation in the Church!
Thank You that You have chosen us for this day and for this hour
Give us a greater revelation of Your love, Lord
You are a good, good Father
Freely we give, because freely we have received
It is our desire to love and be loved
Yes, we will be Your hands and we will be Your feet
We will press on to the higher calling in Christ Jesus
Thank You that we get to be co-laborers with You, in the great work of God
Yes, we will step out into the darkness, being carriers of the light
We will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover!
Thank You that You have called us to live now, in these last days
You have called each and every one of us for such a time as this
Grant unto us supernatural strength and power to finish the race, Father
No, You did not leave us alone, but You gave us Your Holy Spirit to help us
There is a stirring and there is an awakening!
Yes, there is a joining together of the supplies of the Spirit, to finish the last leg of the race
All things are possible in You, Lord
We keep ourselves on the altar, as living sacrifices, ready to do the Master’s plan!
No, it’s not by might, not by power, but by Your Spirit, O God
Strengthen us to keep on keeping on!
Thank You that You have called us for this day and for this hour
Our eyes are fixed and focused on You, Lord
We are the sons of God, blessed because of Your Word
Yes, we go forth with boldness and confidence, and we will finish this year strong!
Glory be to God!
