Now to answer the question posed in last weeks blog - Is it possible for a man to change from one type of heart soil to another? Thinking of my own heart, I desperately need to know! Can we switch from one of the first three to the fourth, the good heart, with good soil? Can we dramatically improve our heart's condition? I cried out to the Lord and He immediately answered me by reminding me of Jeremiah 4:3 - "Break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns" sound familiar? So that we know he is speaking of our hearts, just like in the parable of the Sower, spoken centuries later, verse 4 says "circumcise yourselves to the Lord and take away the foreskins of your heart" - signifying that the law could only deal with the flesh - while all along God is wanting our hearts.
"Fallow" refers to "land plowed and left unseeded for a season or more; i.e. land not in use. This speaks of a heart that hasn't received seed, or His word, for awhile - a heart not in use by the Lord! He next spoke to me of "Hand to the plow" - "No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God". What is being plowed? Our hearts! What does plowing do to a field of soil? It is used to "break up soil, to bury crop residues and to help control weeds". This refers to us allowing our hearts to become broken - in fact breaking our own hearts, that we become soft and pliable - our hearts become soil he can plant his seed in, and in which his fruit can grow to maturity - "And I will give them one heart (my own) and I will put a new spirit within you (my spirit) and I will take the stony heart out of your flesh and will give you a heart of flesh" (Ez:11:19). Indeed, our hearts become a home for Him to claim "I will come into him and I will sup with him and he with me". We must, (I must), like the farmer, continually allow our hearts to be plowed throughout our lives. Just as bad soil can be redeemed with enough care and attention, so can good soil turn bad with enough lack of care and attention. If not plowed enough, weeds and thorns can take root rather than getting uprooted by our heart's chief gardener - The Holy Spirit. Trust him with your heart, for he has nothing but love and concern in his heart for you. Good news, yes? We can change! It's never too late! Who knows what the condition of the thief's heart was before the fateful day he had the good fortune to be crucified with Christ but on that day his heart received the Word of the Lord  gladly - a word we all hope to hear on the day we die - "Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise". Selah. 

Sometimes temptations are like a hot stove, the electric kind. After it's been turned off the warning light stays on for quite awhile. Even though that temptation in your life has been "turned off", it's still dangerous. Don't go near it - till it no longer temps you, till it's completely cold to you, till you're dead to it.

I asked the Lord a question today. Is it possible for a man to change the soil of his heart? Jesus said in his famous parable of the sower (MT:13) that every human heart that receives his word is made up of one of four types of soil. Unfortunately, three of the four types are not good enough, not healthy enough to bear fruit (interestingly, the earth is covered in roughly 75 percent salt water, to 25 percent fresh).
For some, they hear the Word but do not understand it (the Word taught without the anointing to teach can have this effect - the blind teaching the blind, teaching man's wisdom, not God's). The wicked one catches the seed sown into this type of heart, he steals it and sows his lies instead.
For others, their heart's soil is too stony, so that though they receive the Word initially with joy, it cannot take root - when tribulation or persecution comes because of the Word of God, they become offended. Notice - Jesus says when tribulation or persecutions come, not if - this is the surest sign you are bearing Christ within you to the world without you - they will hate you, disown you, disrespect you, despise and slander you and in some places, kill you physically, not just murder you in their hearts.
The third type of human heart is so full of thorns that the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches chokes the Word and they become barren, unfruitful, like a womb without a child. Oh how often are our American churches (and all those who emulate them - Nigeria, are you listening?) filled with Pastors consumed with the pursuit of worldly riches, leading their flocks down this path as well, supposing that "gain is godliness" never teaching or understanding that "godliness with contentment is great gain". My people, be content with being godly. Let heavenly wealth satisfy your soul - the fruit of the Spirit, the Righteousness of Christ, the gifts of the Spirit, knowing God. Your earthly possessions mean little in light of Eternity. The "prosperity teachers" are almost always referring to worldly wealth, though dozens of scriptures refute this type of teaching, they ignore them or twist them and others to suit their carnal lusts and desires. Some scriptures clearly rebuke this teaching, focusing on the deceitfulness of riches, warning over and over how difficult it is for the rich (in what this world values), to get into Heaven, yet still they seek to become rich in worldly possessions and money.
Only one type of heart is good soil - he that hears the Word and understands it! We cannot understand the Word apart from the Holy Spirit. "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things which are freely given us of God, which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned." Remember this - the natural man seeks after natural things, while the spiritual man seeks after spiritual things. Those who spend their lives pursuing worldly wealth have no understanding of what God wants our hearts to desire - And without understanding we cannot bear him the fruit he desires - "The fruit of the righteous is a Tree of Life and he that winneth souls is wise". This verse ties together fruit and souls - the fruit he desires us most to bear is souls! The fruit of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, are all for the glory of winning, then keeping and maturing, souls. No other pursuit in this life is worthwhile. Notwithstanding, we must never neglect the pursuit of our own soul, the mating of our heart with his, The constant "winnowing of our soul", that he may "win our soul".
My next blog will answer the question I began this article with "can we change the soil of our heart? Stay tuned....

Truth really is cooler than fiction! And the very same Spirit that abode with Jesus, lives with us now, too, if we'll receive him. Every miracle in the Bible that any man has ever done, including the man Jesus, can be done by you or I and "verily, verily, (in truth, really, indeed!) I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do". Wow! Read that again. I once asked him, what works did the disciples do that were greater than yours? He replied "my shadow never healed anyone". So, Jesus is giving us a blank check to perform, no, scratch that, too many ministries are performance oriented, let's say rather, to do greater miracles than he did, including some we've never heard of!
I think God is only limited by our own faith and imaginations. He did say "nothing shall be impossible unto you" (Mt:17:20) and "with men this is impossible but with God all things are possible" (Mt:19:26). You can't save yourselves, you can't get to heaven through your own wisdom and strength, but with God, you can, for with God, all things are possible (Mk:10:27). The Jews were accustomed to the Law of Moses, which must be kept through their own efforts - it was extremely difficult for them to let it go and accept God's New Testament, which showed them (and us) a better way - believe on him whom God sent. This believing cut into their pride in themselves (though the church has become just as proud of their believing as the Jews were of their works) and their over inflated egos, hey man, we are God's chosen people! Again, though, the churches are lifted up in the same pride the Jews walked in. Yet "for with God nothing shall be impossible" (Lk:1:37) and (1 Kings 18:27). Over and over again, because he knows how stubborn we are, how full of unbelief we can get, he tells us - NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME! BELIEVE THIS AND TOGETHER WE'LL DO THE IMPOSSIBLE! Think about it! An army of real life super-heroes, God's heroes, running around doing the impossible, doing good works, vanquishing, nay, extinguishing evil! Prophecy is a super power! Being able to look into the enemy's camp and see everything he's doing, everything he's planning! Being able to instantaneously heal the sick and wounded! Imagine being able to call fire down from heaven. The list goes on and on. When God sent a "man of God" to rebuke the wicked king Jeroboam, the king, having no humility (the kings of the old testament are a type of the pastors of today, some good, most wicked), ordered his men to "lay hold on him" but as soon as he did "his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him" (1 Kings 13). When a pastor rebukes the prophetic and does not accept it in his life or his church, his authority dries up till he has no more kingdom authority. We should never point the finger at anyone, especially God's anointed.
An army like this would truly be invincible! Quit playing the game called "Church" and put on your armor and join the army God is raising up, of whom He says "neither shall one thrust another, they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded". "THE EARTH SHALL QUAKE BEFORE THEM, THE HEAVENS SHALL TREMBLE: THE SUN AND THE MOON SHALL BE DARK, AND THE STARS SHALL WITHDRAW THEIR SHINING: AND THE LORD SHALL UTTER HIS VOICE BEFORE HIS ARMY: FOR HIS CAMP IS VERY GREAT: FOR HE IS STRONG THAT EXECUTETH HIS WORD". Prepare, prepare to go, prepare for battle - but all the while build - build God's house made without hands while defending it at the same time "They which builded upon the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work and with the other hand held a weapon" (Neh:4:17). What a prophetic picture for the Body of Christ today! We need builders trained to do warfare and warriors trained to build. We need to build up God's kingdom while simultaneously tearing down the devil's! Think less, do more! Go and preach and demonstrate the Gospel of the Kingdom "a kingdom which cannot be moved". The next sick or crippled person you see, lay hands on them and heal them, declaring "the kingdom of God is at hand". May the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. 

My vision from the Lord when I was on the Sea of Galilee -
I saw the Lord walking across the water on the backs of a legion of angels. Their wings were spread wide, bowing before him. As it took my breath away he patiently explained to me - "first of all, I knew that it was not my destiny to drown in the sea of Galilee, for I knew my destiny was the Cross. So I knew my heavenly Father would do everything in his power to keep me from harm" (this is not to say we are to tempt the Lord by doing foolish things, but it is to say that if you have a word from God still unfulfilled, you can stand on that word and your faith will see you through any situation or circumstance - knowing full well God's word is sure. Peter walked on a word from the Lord, not on water per se. Jesus only went where the Father, by his spirit, led him. We do not attempt to walk on water until we hear him telling us to, then, literally, anything is possible). He showed me that day God's care and concern for us is total and complete, lacking nothing.
Talk about super powers! Imagine that you could teleport from place to place instantaneously like the X-Man Nightcrawler. The Holy Spirit can do that too! Who needs cars in the future millennial reign of Christ? "And when they were come up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught away Phillip, that the eunuch saw him no more". Super strength? That's in the Bible too. Think of the strength of Samson! Giants attacking? Not a problem! All you need is a tiny sling shot and a big God. Wisdom? Wisest man to ever live (until Jesus showed up) was Solomon. Now there's a lesson. See, Solomon, wisest man ever, fell into idolatry and lust because wisdom in and of itself is never enough - we need the source of all wisdom - Jesus himself, to keep us from falling
Now think about this - Jesus was a man, just like us in that he had no special powers or abilities until he was filled with the Holy Spirit without measure (Jn:3:34). There are no recorded miracles done by Jesus until after John bare record that he saw "the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him". This is one reason why his own brothers and sisters and those who grew up with him and knew him in his home town, had a hard time believing he was God's chosen Messiah. They only knew him after the flesh, not after the spirit. "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James and Joses, and Simon and Judas? and his sisters, are they not all with us?" They're such a normal family! "Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him". People who do not have the Holy Spirit anointing will always be offended by those who have him - unless they're doing a miracle to benefit them, like the loaves and fishes. Even then, they will eventually take offense. "But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country and in his own house". Believe me, as a prophetic apostle, I've received very little honor in my own country and hometown - it wasn't till God sent me overseas that I was recognized and honored by people, not that I seek or need honor from men - from flesh, but that when men receive me, the receive him who sent me, likewise, when they reject me, they reject him who sent me. I grieve that they miss the blessing from Father that I bring them. I grieve that they are too blind in their own conceits to see who I am in Christ, missing completely the anointing I've received from God. "And he did not man mighty works there because of their unbelief". This is one of the saddest scriptures in all the Bible, along with Paul's testimony that "at my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me" II Tim:4:16. But those outside his own hometown and country received mighty miracles at his hand and by his word - he raised their dead, healed all their sick who came to him, cast out a legion of demons, walked on water (who needs to part the water when you can walk on it?), turned water into wine, passed through an angry mob intent on murdering him without a hair on his head being harmed. I mean, he would make the coolest comic book hero except for one fact - he's real and they're not!
       To be continued.....

Author's note: I wrote this last summer.

The new Spider man movie just came out and it got me thinking - what if you or i could have a spider-sense like him? His spider-sense warns him of impending danger. It has saved his life many times, along with his quick reflexes. Well - here is Biblical reality - the Holy Spirit is our very own super hero and he gives his power to us! Like Spidey's spider-sense, when he abides in us he warns us of impending danger! And he will warn us of future dangers (hell, for example). If we get on a wrong path, he tingles inside us - "This path leads to sin, and sins lead to death, and death separates us forever" (if we die in our sins). If we meet someone who is working for our enemy - he warns us that they are false, he reveals the "wolves in sheep's clothing" who so often fool the pastor and their flocks, with their suave words and good looks, for the Holy Spirit, unlike us who look upon the outward appearance, looks on the heart. He can see right through that wolves disguise (or Jezebel's for that matter).
I can usually, but not always, discern a Jezebel within moments of meeting her. And get this - what if you had instant access to all the knowledge in the world? Of course, you wouldn't want much of it because it's too filthy and you want to think upon whatever is pure or lovely or of a good report but what if you could have access to, and understand, every book on earth? When the Holy Spirit, by your invitation, takes up residence in your heart (roomies!) he brings Jesus with him for they are one and he brings the Father "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge". God really is omniscient (knowing everything). Because he dwells outside the boundaries of time he can literally take Eternity to examine each life that has ever lived - and remember it all! What a mighty God we serve! So, to summarize, through the Holy Spirit, who connects us to Jesus and our Father, we have access to all the knowledge worth knowing. Prophets are just people God uses to channel that knowledge to people who haven't developed the gift of prophecy yet. Any prophet worth his salt will spend as much time teaching and anointing others to prophecy as he does prophesying himself. In God's kingdom we don't hoard our wealth we give it away, whether it's worldly wealth or heavenly. In this, we emulate our God "for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom"!
What earthly king has ever given his kingdom away to his subjects? Ask and ye shall receive. Let's say your enemy is encamped against you. God knows his every move before he makes it and he's happy to share them with you. Ask the Holy Spirit anything - he knows the answer! Doing a multiple choice quiz in History class? Can't decide between A or B? Ask the Holy Spirit - he will nudge you on the inside toward one or the other. He delights in the inquisitiveness of little boys and girls who expect their daddy to know everything. As any good father would, he really delights in our coming to him as little children.
One of the most beautiful snapshots of our God in all the Bible is that of Him sitting there with little children crawling all over him "suffer the little children and forbid them not, to come unto me". I can see him hugging them and kissing them on top of their little heads as he prays over them and i know he loves to hear and answer our childish questions for when I first came to him as a little child, he patiently answered mine. I once asked him how many hairs were on my head at that moment and he told me! I asked him about the saying "where angels fear to tread" - I asked him "so, where do they fear to tread"? Immediately he replied "where I've told them they can't go". A holy fear came over me and I fell down and reverenced him and worshiped. When I was on the Sea of Galilee, as I was worshiping him i asked him "how exactly did you walk on this water?" I got a sense of great joy from the Lord that someone finally asked him that and he immediately opened up within my spirit a vision. Stay tuned for my next blog entry and I will share the vision he gave me.