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What connection do you see between your faith and the environment? I commissioned Adam to tend a garden and to replenish the earth and subdue it. This now falls to you, to be a good steward of the earth where you live. Yet environmentalism as such is not central to my plan of redemption. For many it has become an alternative faith, with its own doctrines and rituals and heresies. Good stewardship of the earth fits within the greater context of your faith in me. Are you able to keep this in the perspective of a complete transcendent view of the world? Saving souls is more important than saving the earth, but these goals are not in conflict.

What do you think of when you think of blessings? Do you think of money? It is reasonable for you to think of the money you have as a gift from me. My word asks: what do you have that you did not receive, and the implied answer is that everything you have is a gift from me, and this includes your money. Yet if you think that money is your only blessing, then you have settled for too little. Money is a default blessing that everyone has, in the sense that I send rain and sun on the just and on the unjust and feed the sparrows. If you want to go further I am eager to lavish the true wealth of the Kingdom of God on you. 

Are you rich or poor? In some faith traditions, prosperity is highly rated and sought. In others, poverty is admired, although there are not as many who seek it. Is the pursuit of one or the other part of your spiritual journey? A wise king asked me to give him neither poverty or wealth, because he realized that both had potential pitfalls. Do you notice that most believers are middle class? Paul had a mature attitude toward wealth. He said that he knew how to be abased and how to abound. He knew how to stay focused on his true spiritual path regardless of his economic condition, and you should understand this too.

[Mt 17:1-8; Mk 9:2-8; Lu 9:28-36]

My word says to examine yourself when you come to the table of the Lord lest you partake in an unworthy manner. Do you view this in a negative manner, reviewing your life for faults that need to be corrected before you come? You should do this, rather like washing your hands before you eat, but you can also examine yourself with regard to the times that you felt the most joy, the strongest sense of purpose, felt closest to me. If you consider the conditions that brought about these experiences and how you may structure your life to have them more often, or for longer periods. Examination can be positive as well as negative. 

Are you at home? Everyone has some place that they identify as home whether they live there or not. People identify home as a place of love and acceptance, and blessed are those for whom that is a reality. College students, soldiers, and prisoners typically do not live at home, but still identify with it. For some, home is not a place of pleasant memories and this is tragic. Some seek a city with foundations in the heavens so they see themselves as pilgrims here, and not entirely at home in this world. All can take comfort in my promise that I have gone to prepare a place for you, that where I am ye may be also, and you will have love and acceptance at home even if you never had before. 

After hearing Mark Virkler teach on the flow of the Holy Spirit and the flow of demonic spirits, I discerned that I was under attack of demons of lust, sensuality and a demon of pain which was causing my headaches.

Do you consider yourself to be brave and courageous? Do you think these terms only apply to situations of grave physical danger? Do you care what people think about you? You may never be in a situation where you have to act decisively with your life or the life of others at risk. But everyone has to decide how to conduct their own life and how much influence they will accept from the opinions of others. Don’t you admire people who have a strong enough sense of identity and purpose that they don’t lose focus whether other people express approval of them or not? You can have the courage of your convictions even if you don’t have to display courage in battle. 

Harriet Tubman dreamt of escape routes as she conducted the Underground Railroad. She said God spoke to her powerfully through dreams, showing her maps and helping her find safe houses to guide slaves to freedom. By honoring her dreams and acting on them, she became a hero and saved the lives of hundreds of people.

Do you think of a doorkeeper as a status job with prestige? Yet David said he would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Do you realize that you face this same choice? For you are my temple in which I dwell. You are bought with a price, and you are not your own. You stand as a doorkeeper of your temple, deciding what you will admit and what you will refuse. I want you to realize the importance of performing this task with diligence that I may dwell in comfort within you and that you may be a vessel of honor, equipped for every good work.