Laura Houck addresses the need to purposefully build bridges with others in the Body of Christ, and draws parallels from the natural realm. Listen.

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Jesus said, “Have faith in God.” This is a constant, abiding, and growing faith that is accompanied by hope, peace, and love.

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A leader is a dealer in hope, and a leader will persevere when others quit.

These stories were written for our instruction that we might have hope.

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Jesus is the Perfect Redeemer.

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A petition is a formally drawn request to a higher authority soliciting some favor, right, mercy, or other benefit.

It is time to petition the Court of Heaven where Jesus our Advocate is seated at the right hand of Father God.

Jesus did not get his identity from what people said about him, he got his identity from what the Father said about him!

All things are possible - so, do you believe?

Ministry and service is extending yourself for the benefit of someone else.

Whether regardless of a primary to call to public ministry, business, family, etc., all believers are to live balanced lives that include service and ministry to the body of believers!

Sometimes we lie to ourselves rather than facing the truth of what we really think.  But your spirit knows the truth about what you think.

By taking an honest look at our thoughts and submitting them to the higher truth of God’s thoughts and meditating on HIS truth, we can make our way prosperous and successful!

Through the voice of the Holy Spirit, dreams, prophetic ministry, the Word of God and all the ways God continues to speak– we will receive the instruction and life that comes from hearing God speak if we will tune our ears to listen!

Paul used the example of an athelete as how we are to pursue the high calling of Jesus Christ.  We are to train, restrain and develop ourselves to come up higher and pursue the calling of God on our lives.

Sinners loved Jesus.  Jesus attracted people by His goodness, and we are to do likewise.  When we do good for other people, we allow the Glory of God to be seen.

Let your light shine!

It is in times of difficulty is when we ESPECIALLY need to look to the Lord, and make right, godly responses to the challenges facing us.  Obedience to the Lord and His word include our service, tithing, giving and ministry– these are the seeds to sow when we most need a harvest!

Of course, there are people who are always going to look to find fault, criticize and judge. We can have victory over reproach, and not fall into the trap of judgment and condemnation of others by sowing mercy, accepting mercy and living in faith that God is truly on our side!

But many teenagers who think they are finally “free” of their parents rules actually become slaves to their rebellion.

We are not to require continual monitoring, control and correction to do the things that are wise and godly.  That is what children require.  As we grow and mature, we are to take responsibility for our own lives– naturally and spiritually– as WE are the ones who will answer to God for them!

Our thoughts, words and actions need to agree with the spiritual image God has destined for us.  We need a heavenly makeover!

True Kingdom unity begins at the ground level of relationships.  We must maintain unity by learning to successfully overcome sin, conflict and transitions in our relationships.  When we continue to walk in agreement with the higher purposes for which our relationships exist, we will see and enjoy the fulfillment of God’s promises and blessings.

Rather than deal with the responsibility of freedom, many people revert back to a slave mentality. But in order to obtain the full legal rights of our Sonship in Christ Jesus, we must persevere and reach out for the freedom to which we were purchased!

The enemy uses very common strategies to make us vulnerable to attack. By being alert and applying the principles of God to our lives, we can keep ourselves clear of the enemy’s devices and spiritually strong and thriving.

Yet, there are times that we get so caught up in all that we’re doing with Him & through Him, that we sometimes forget that Jesus is to have the ultimate preeminence in all things.

Our actions as the Body are important, but our worship of Jesus the Head of the Body is far more important!

Unity is where love and power flow– as we minister the love of God one to another. God is not as concerned with how much we are loved, as He is how much we have loved. Let us gather together looking to give and receive the Love of God.

A heart of stone may seem like a defense mechanism against pain and wounding, but it is also a wall that keeps us from intimacy and receiving love from the Lord and people.

A heart of stone will grow from a root of bitterness, but surrendering to God’s strategies of peace, love and intimacy will melt a heart of stone and give us a heart pliable in His hands.

It is normal that things will look worse before it gets better. We are instructed to fight the good fight of faith in accordance with the words spoken over us.

God has a purpose in our destiny and the process of walking it out. Learn to dig deeper into Him and remain connected to the Body that God may be glorified in the fulfillment of all things.

Relationships may vary in levels of intimacy, but we are to share with one another and grow up into all things. Deepening relationships is a part of our maturity as saints.

Like children, we are to be filled with wonderment and delight in everything God does!

And though we are to receive with eagerness, there is still wisdom and measure to be applied to how we weigh and determine the origin of the revelation we receive.

Download Handout for ‘Discerning Spiritual Experiences’ as a PDF.

We can expect that something good is going to happen when we do what God wants us to do. As we yield to Him and preach the Kingdom, we will see and experience His power at work.

In scripture, we see that the Glory of God came when everyone was united in worship. The same is true today! We should expect Jesus in the midst of our corporate worship–and to experience the Glory!

When we sense the Lord’s presence, that isn’t the end goal, it’s our invitation. Learn to discern His presence, position yourself to enter in, and ambush Him! Like Jacob who wrestled with God all night, we must determine not to let him go until we have an encounter with him that changes us forever.

God has promised to reveal himself and to pour out His Spirit– we must position ourselves to receive. The prerequisites are not complicated: Love God and love one another; present yourself to God; seek the things above and forgive as you have been forgiven.

As we seek after God, he will reveal himself to us.

We must be willing to be changed, and willing to be available and pay the price for change: a surrendered heart, life and personal sacrifice for the sake of others.

If we will heed the voice of wisdom, hold to the anchor of faith and fight the good fight, we can avoid being shipwrecked in our faith. Hope, the Word of God, confession and consistency are the very anchors that will see you through the storm. Hold fast, and fight the good fight of faith.

Music and worship are powerful ministries that bring prophetic release, victory in warfare, deep revelation, teaching, and salvation to the lost. God has ordained that we can participate now in the worship that will be eternal in heaven.

Martin Luther spoke of music and art saying “…art is a reflection of creativity and evidence that we were created by God.”

Our sin can make us is timid to trust in God’s goodness. But God’s goodness is not like ours. His goodness is self-caused, and does not depend on or fluctuate because of circumstances.

Focusing on His goodness will cause our hearts to have full assurance of faith. The Lord is good, and His mercy endures forever!

Understanding kingdom secrets is a key to being transformed. The revelation and truth we receive is intended to change they way we function, but God has intentionally encoded those truths so that there would not be illegal access. We are the ones who must, by listening, obedience, attitudes and actions apply ourselves to decode the secrets of heaven that we may be transformed.

Our lives are to include our ministry, and God has set five-fold ministers in place to equip us so that our ministry is effective. The ultimate purpose of our ministry is to build the Body of Christ.

There are people who need your ministry–you are someone’s answer to prayer! Let us diligently seek how we may be perfected and mature so that every joint can supply the needs of the Body!

Our response to failure and our perspective if it, however, will determine whether we move forward, learn from it and grow, or whether the failure shuts us down and we get stuck there.

Throughout scripture we read of phenomenal men and women of God who had HUGE failures, but they weren’t characterized by their failures and continued to go on and fulfill their destinies. By learning to have the proper perspective and responses to our failures, we, too, can learn the lessons and move forward to fulfill our destinies.

Transition has a fair amount of uncertainty, and can be painful and disappointing. God intends for us to learn, and unlearn some things as we go through transition.

The keys to successfully getting through our transition is to get the message of what God is having you learn, and to respond properly. As we seek the Lord and the comfort of the Scriptures, we will see the end result of transition.

So, how is your field looking? Is it producing the fruit of the Word of God? Or have you gotten lazy and are weeds choking out your fruit?

It’s time to take a hard look at our fruit, and tend the areas that have fallen into disrepair because of our laziness. The Word of God WILL produce in our lives, provided something is not choking it out. And, our five-fold ministers are bringing out the shovel and the weed-killer to help!

Deaf and dumb spirits, along with unbelief, can be an obstacle to hearing the Lord. Most people’s problem in seeing a breakthrough is not the amount of their faith, but the amount of their unbelief.

But, we can overcome the deaf and dumb spirits and our unbelief and receive the wisdom, strategy, healing and breakthrough that comes from hearing the voice of the Lord.

Remember Charles M. Schulz’s “Peanuts” character Pig-Pen? He is best-known for the cloud of dirt and dust that follows him wherever he goes.

Many times we, as Christians, are like Pig-Pen — the memory, pain and condemnation of our past is like a cloud that follows us everywhere. Though we are born-again, spirit-filled believers, our current “cloud” of thinking affects our confidence in the Lord.

Jesus doesn’t look at our past. He wants to bring us PAST the law of sin and condemnation and into His law of life and peace. Through repentance, faith and renewing our minds, we can live free — remembering our sins no more, and living “from now on” as Jesus sees us.