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Do you go to an evangelical church? Does that make you an evangelist? It is one thing to affirm in principle the importance of reaching the lost with the gospel message. It is another thing to do it. My word lists evangelists as a special office and calling. Do you think of these only as those who organize mass crusades? Yet you know people who have a special ability to share the gospel message effectively without holding large rallies. My word tells you to desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. If you want to have a heart for the lost that you may reach them effectively you can ask me for that and I will give it to you. 

I created man in my image, and breathed life into him. So life and breath are closely related, and you understand this from a medical and physical perspective. Do you see that it is also true in other ways? Life and breath are not meant to be held, for to do so long enough results in death. The life in breath takes place in exchange – inhaling and exhaling. In like manner the life of the spirit takes place in giving and receiving. Your life does not consist in isolation, either from me or from others. All the members of my body receive life from the body as a whole, and in return do the part assigned to them. So it is with you as you function as a part of my body. 

Were you raised in the faith, and did you grow up thinking that the way you learned was the only way? When you were older and learned that other people did things differently did you feel that yours was the only right way? As you advanced in maturity were you able to see that some of the practices you were raised with were not optimal or superior? An even further advancement of spiritual maturity is to seek to combine the best of everything without becoming an opponent of what you leave behind. Cast you net wide, and sort out your catch on the deck, gathering the good into your own vessel. 

When I began to do two-way journaling in 1979, the Lord gave me a poem for the first time ever in my life, as far as I can remember. He was awakening creativity and right brain flow. Well, below is a poem received yesterday by Linda Burton. She posted it on the School of the Spirit Chatroom for the Prayers that Heal the Heart course. As Jesus is restoring her heart and restoring her self image, poetry is springing forth which describes the healing process.

Thank You, Lord, for Your healing and for Your restoring creative flow within us all!

Of course it can be difficult to hear the silent voice.

God trying to listen to you like this -- trying to hear your voice on every single little subject… it can actually get a bit weird. I could end up seeming fanatical, a little crazy. Wouldn’t it be safer just to rely on my own common sense? Even just now and then?

Do you think that your spiritual growth is complete? I said that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness were blessed, for they shall be filled. Hunger and thirst involve an awareness of need. I promise that if you seek you will find, but you have to know that you need more than you have to begin seeking. Have you ever read books or encountered people who referred to a more advanced level of spiritual progress than you experienced? Do you avoid them or seek them out? Your spiritual growth is facilitated by the awareness that you have further to go. Seek them out that you may hunger and thirst after righteousness and be filled.

Do you have a title? You normally think of this as something conferred by others in recognition of your office. Some of these are mentioned in the Bible and conferred by me. Some people think of their titles as status symbols but some take for themselves titles in a negative way, such as victim, adulterer, or addict. In this sense there is a personal identification with a besetting problem. I want you to know that I don’t see you that way even if that is how you see yourself. Those may be issues in need of resolution but even now I see you as the essence of your being created in my image and loved in a way that you don’t need titles, good or bad. 

You are at a certain stage in your spiritual journey. Can you see how far you have come? Do you, in humility, see how far you still have to go? The other people you meet are also at a particular stage in their spiritual journey, although early in the process they may not even see it as a journey. Schools understand the concept of learning progression by having grades and a curriculum in sequence. Good teachers will not try to prove how smart they are to their students, but will meet them where they are to move them forward. In like manner you honor the work I am doing in others and advance it by meeting them where they are rather than trying to force them to your level or prove yourself superior.   

Do you desire to grow in wisdom and understanding? Do you think this consists only of learning new things and making new connections? Have you executed this process with no errors to this point? That would make you a rare person. Who hasn’t accepted some misunderstandings as truth along the way? I want you to remain teachable. This involves a willingness to revisit things you have already learned. You may find that they need to be modified or released. Would this seem like losing ground to you rather than making progress? I tell you that it is progress to let go of things that are wrong. 

You know that I have many titles. Do you see me as the president of a large corporation? Part of the job of a business manager is to hire staff and assign them to the proper positions. A good manager will find people who are well-suited for the job in every way, including natural talent, skill, experience, character and temperament. Do you understand that I have a job for everyone in my Kingdom? Not all of them pay wages in the wealth of this world, but all have rewards in heaven. Submit your application and trust me to assign you a task for which I created you and prepared you for it is your destiny.