“I am contending for you that your hearts will be wrapped in the comfort of heaven and woven together into love’s fabric. This will give you access to all the riches of God as you experience the revelation of God’s great mystery—Christ. For our spiritual wealth is in him, like hidden treasure waiting to be discovered—heaven’s wisdom and endless riches of revelation knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2–3 TPT).

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” — Nikola Tesla

…Other people I know or have met in life struggle with the notion of a God who can’t be seen or heard. But there is hope—when we are intentional about applying the frequency of God’s love to every person we touch.

“So it is impossible for God to lie for we know that his promise and his vow will never change! And now we have run into his heart to hide ourselves in his faithfulness. This is where we find his strength and comfort, for he empowers us to seize what has already been established ahead of time – an unshakeable hope! We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God himself. Our anchor of hope is fastened to the mercy seat which sits in the heavenly realm beyond the sacred threshold, and where Jesus, our forerunner, has gone in before us. He is now and forever our royal Priest like Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:18–20 TPT).

I don’t pray the way I did before. This doesn’t mean that I’ve given up on prayer. In fact, I pray way more. It’s just different, more contemplative, meditative, imaginative. You might say it’s a form of “being” that puts me in a state of almost immediate peace and rest—while at the same time creating a feeling that I would describe as being “alive.” The experience also establishes a deep “knowing” that I could never produce apart from this meditative time I spend alone with God every day.

Part of what I now “know”—after having established this mode as my “go to” with God for about ten years—is that it has worked to effectively change my mind, my thinking, and my outlook. It has changed me. And it has created hope, in and through a whole new realm of possibilities!

“I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling—that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that he finds in us, his holy ones!” (Ephesians 1:18 TPT).

Tammy came to me for help last month, physically ill and mentally tormented. At 62, she had been a believer in Christ for many years, as well as a faithful church goer. Yet her spiritual and emotional life had been in decline for decades, her most important relationships in life always suffering as a result. It had been a life of “shame, fear and overwhelming sadness” and a belief that God was “not happy” with who she was. Lately, the voice of the Accuser rang loudly in her ears: “Own up to it! You are just like your mother!”

Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He (Jesus) replied to them by saying, ‘The kingdom of God does not come with signs to be observed or with visible display. Nor will people say, Look! Here [it is] or, See, [it is] there! For behold, the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you]’” (Luke 17:20–21 AMP).

God has given us everything we need. He has given us His Kingdom! The problem is, we don’t manifest this Kingdom until we have a personal revelation of it.

But when we seek the Kingdom and get revelation of it, we begin to “experience” it. (The things that pertain to God’s Kingdom are attracted to us and become manifest in us.) Then we are able to share this kingdom with others, freely and easily!

“Fasten me upon your heart as a seal of fire forevermore. This living, consuming flame will seal you as my prisoner of love. My passion is stronger than the chains of death and the grave, all consuming as the very flashes of fire from the burning heart of God. Place this fierce, unrelenting fire over your entire being. Rivers of pain and persecution will never extinguish this flame. Endless floods will be unable to quench this raging fire that burns within you. Everything will be consumed. It will stop at nothing as you yield everything to this furious fire until it won’t even seem to you like a sacrifice anymore.” (Song of Songs 8:6-7 TPT).

“Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” I grew up singing this little ditty. If you were raised in church, you likely sang it, too.

Great for babies and small children. But I can tell you there are many people I consult with who have not moved much past this level of understanding. These include those who can quote Bible verses about God’s love all day long. But when it comes right down to it, these same folks admit they have rarely, if ever, experienced His love.

Why is this?

“Do not [earnestly] remember the former things; neither consider the things of old. Behold I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18–19 AMP).

Jesus came to earth to set the captives free, redeem the lost, and “undo and destroy the works of the devil.”

In other words, He came to change our thinking. So we could see God correctly. So we could experience Him from the “inside-out” vs. the “outside-in.”

“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more [certain], now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved (daily delivered from sin’s dominion) through His [resurrection] life” (Romans 5:10 AMP).

God has tipped the scales of life in our favor. Now we have to learn how to apply this reality to our lives.

One of the major themes in my book Invite Jesus is that of redemption (also called reconciliation or restoration). I call it the “exchange” of wrong things for right things. (In the above passage, the Greek word for “reconciled” is katallasso which can mean “to change, or exchange, as coins for others of equal value” or “to adjust a difference, to reconcile, to restore to favor.”

In my opinion, the application of the exchange principle as implied in this verse is key to living a victorious Christian life. By this I mean we should think about it, meditate on it, and apply it every day.

My practical understanding of how exchange “works” began many years ago when I was a senior in college. However, many years would pass before I learned to apply it to my own life and then teach others to do so, as well.

“Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion; and be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude]. And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God’s image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24 AMP).

Last fall, I decided that our house needed to be “transformed” so we could potentially “rent” it out during the week of Super Bowl. People sometimes do this when major events come to Phoenix, and we were going to be east coast for a family wedding during that weekend.

So I made a renovations list and got straight to work. It took four months!

I won’t bore you with all the details. Here’s the part I do want you to know:

There was one item on my list that demanded way more time than I had allotted and frankly proved to be a source of constant expense, irritation, and disappointment: our solid wood, 30-year-old double front doors.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33 NIV).

The groom nervously wiped away tears in anticipation of his bride’s appearance. He did it again when the door at the back of the pavilion finally flung open. There she was—stunningly beautiful and radiant. He could hardly wait to touch her. She glided down the aisle toward him, her mom and dad on either side. “Who giveth this woman to take this man?” “We do,” they answered in perfect unison.

“God is light, and there is no darkness in Him, not in any way.” (1 John 1:5 AMP).

At the time of Jesus’ birth, God gave revelation-Light to a group of Persian astrologers (also known as priests or dream interpreters) concerning a never-before-seen star that had appeared in their skies (Jesus’ star).

Apparently, it was particularly bright and shining; and the revelation they received through their study of it was so extraordinary, they were compelled to follow it. They traveled thousands of miles over several years’ time before their revelation was finally fulfilled!

“Where is the child who is born king of the Jewish people? We observed his star rising in the sky and we’ve come to bow before him in worship,” they exclaimed to the people they met upon arrival in Jerusalem. (Matthew 2:2).

“So now, we come freely and boldly to where love is enthroned to receive mercy’s kiss and discover the grace we urgently need to strengthen us in our time of weakness” (Hebrews 4:16 TPT).

This Thanksgiving, I’m especially grateful for grace. Not just the aspect of grace we have grown up on (that is, the undeserved or “unmerited favor” associated with the gift of salvation). Rather, I want to emphasize here the more overlooked aspect of grace—God’s power and ability, given to us, in a moment of crisis, struggle or weakness.

Football fervor in our country is a reality that cannot be denied.

Oh, the planning, the strategizing, the commentating, the engagement, the brightness, the “splendor” of the season among college and professional ball enthusiasts!

Now I don’t make this statement to begrudge the fact that many people enjoy watching the sport. It is relaxing, entertaining, exciting, and fun for them, to say the least.

Rather, I am using the analogy of football to make a point. Because I want to shed light on a word that relates to the football experience—but one that is at the same time very beneficial to the things of God.

This is the word: engagement.

“I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy and steadfast love, because You have seen my affliction. You have taken note of my life’s distresses” (Psalm 31:7 AMP).

Little four-year-old Barbara Jean was standing alone on the street corner beside a neighborhood park in Ridgewood, New Jersey. The park was situated about a half mile down the street from the apartment building where she and her family lived. Tears streaming, Barbara Jean looked up and down the street again and again, but her dad was nowhere in sight.

Surely, he did not expect her to cross the street alone! Mother would be furious at them both! Yet her keen sense, even at age four, told her that he might not return any time soon. He had gotten so angry with her earlier in the park that he had smacked her across the face, taking off, and leaving her on the corner all alone. Now she was in a state of panic and fear that would follow her for many years to come.

I have a confession to make.

Though I’m rather even tempered (so I’m told), hurtful, disparaging remarks, accusations or actions directed at me (or someone I love) oftentimes trigger a surge of offense and disappointment, and anger.

In such a case I might find myself in a state of wanting to “fight” back. Defend myself. Defend my loved one. Get the last word in. But I’ve learned to fight these type battles another way. Instead, I retreat to my secret place, where God can “have His way” with me first. In other words, I “agree” with the apparent enemy (by not fighting back). At the same time, I quickly make my way to court, heavenly court, that is!

Jesus does not come into our memories to punish the people who are hurting us. Nor does He come to prevent wrongdoing. (He adheres strictly to the free-will principle God placed over us in the beginning.)

But when we invite Jesus to come and be with us in our dark places, He can show us what He sees. And we can understand how He feels. And He can help us forgive. And when we forgive the perpetrators, Jesus gives us the power of the Holy Spirit, diffusing the negativity that has come forth from that memory.

Melody stood at the door of the cave and looked out over the jagged rocks. In the distance was a wide expanse of lush land that looked like a patchwork quilt—varying shades of green and brown and yellow and violet and a tinge of red—something like what she had seen many years ago while flying over Kansas or some other mid-western state in the spring or summer. She leaned in for a better view.

Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life. Ephesians 3:17 (TPT).

The day I met Dalton, I can’t remember if I woke up “blank”—or if I was feeling a bit out of whack, for whatever reason. A dream. A concern about some unresolved, unsettling issue. An unfinished project. A misguided friend.

But I do know that my ammo for the day ahead was this: “Lord, you love me.”

“Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever]” Romans 8:6 AMP.

Before the fall, Adam and Eve’s personal peace was off the charts. Their joy was full. Their love for each other was pure. Their relationship with God was perfect.

How did the first humans maintain such a perfect existence?

This story reveals how Jesus came and redeemed Emily’s mistake and the disappointment she was feeling about herself. Then the Holy Spirit activated her imagination to create redemptive intercessory vision concerning “a person of interest.”

I asked the group this question. There were many answers, some close, but not the one I had in mind. I had in fact asked my thesaurus the same question several years prior. I wanted to identify just the right redemption word for “shame” so I could insert it on the Rightness/Wrongness Chart I was creating.