Blazing Fire's Encouraging Blog

  A few of our Blazing Fire Family teamed up last Saturday night to consider how our study of the Beatitudes has been impacting their lives.  They shared deeply and vulnerably from their hearts how the truth of Jesus’s words have been making a difference for them: Cynthia:       The Beatitudes are such a great picture of what God’s perfect love looks like.  Love that I receive from Him, and then can extend towards other people.  When we experience mercy, meekness, purity of heart and peacemaking we know we have been encountered by Love.       When I am able to acknowledge that I am “poor in spirit”,  i am accepting myself as I am, not having all the answers.  I am willing to be honest about my own need for help, comfort or guidance.  And when I mourn, willing to be real and vulnerable about however I’m feeling and what my heart needs, I am able to receive the tenderness of His love for myself.  And by receiving that k...

Jesus shared the beatitudes with us to illuminate the truth of our being, enlightening our authentic selves by waking us up to the divine nature we share with him. The great mystery of the Gospel is Christ in you! Which then becomes Christ through you to others. The beatitudes were never meant to be a checklist to the blessed life, as in, if you do these things then God will bless you. Rather, Jesus was showing us the way to a flourishing life by seeing that even the difficult aspects of life can be viewed entirely differently if we can see they enrich our lives as essential parts of our spiritual journey. Then, Jesus walked this out before us in real time so we could watch what our lives were to look like. Even more than what he said , he lived the way of love in a beautifully breathtaking way. Jesus was poor in spirit . He acknowledged his continual dependence on and deep need for his heavenly Father. Jesus mourned. He felt deeply, had extreme compassion, and wept real tears, hur...

  Last Saturday (September 12), I shared another remarkable Jamie and Donna Winship story of peacemaking through following Holy Spirit’s leading and risking their lives. Here is a link to the Youtube video of the service My talk starts at about 1 hr 42 min.  But, I encourage you to watch or listen to the whole service.   So much was moving, beautiful, and insightful: Todd’s worship leading, Sarah talking about Rosh Hashanah.   God encouraged us through Susan, Jim, Esther, Gilbert, and Bill.  And Brent blowing of the shofar called us to receive what God is saying and doing in this season. Here are some of the memorable points from Jamie & Donna Winship’s story: - Jamie is told by the group leader they plan to drive him out to the desert, give him a trial with an Islamic cleric, and then execute him.  Jamie concentrates on staying in the present moment and focusing on Holy Spirit’s leading.  He resists going with his imagination into the terror of th...

  “Happy are the peacemakers for they will be called God’s children.”  Matthew 5:9 The Source New Testament This past Saturday night, I had the joy of sharing two stories by Jamie and Donna Winship that beautifully illustrated many things - including peacemaking, suffering persecution for the sake of justice, and experiencing insults and all kinds of evil lies about you as you follow Jesus. (Matthew 5:9-11) You can find the whole service here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyRfuYL9KsM&t=6590s My talk starts at about 1 hr 23 min. Here are what I consider key peacemaking “ingredients”: Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  The “Sar Shalom”.  Jesus is the One whose reign is Shalom: Completeness, safety, soundness, welfare, health, and prosperity.  Jesus orchestrates the establishment of peace in situations of conflict - and He includes us in this beautiful, important work when we obey Him and surrender our fears, offenses and judgments. Focus on forgiving those who ...

  Paul encourages us in 1 Corinthians 14:26 that each one of us carries something vital and unique that helps “build up the church family”.  We saw this in action last Saturday night as the Holy Spirit moved in our midst through worship, testimony, teachings and prophetic revelations.  One of the resonating themes was that of our union in Christ as several people shared inspiring revelations of what Jesus had been showing them.  To be one with the God of all creation is a concept beyond what our minds can comprehend, but which our spirits welcome with open arms.  Our God, the source of all that is good, loving, and life-giving wants to be intimately in union with you in every moment of your life.  We are reassured in John 14:18 that “At no time will you be orphaned or abandoned by me; I come to abide face to face with you.” (The Mirror).  And that “face to face” promise is for always in every circumstance. If we really believe we are as one with Christ...

  I used to pray or sing about the Lord showing His glory. In a group setting, we would enthusiastically call upon the Lord to show His glory or sing that His glory filled the temple—with our arms raised, tears streaming down faces, people falling to their knees, lots of shaking and baking, and some doing the Pentecostal shuffle. Sometimes these events fell flat for me. I sat there completely disconnected, watching everyone else launch into the sky. But there was nothing wrong with me. I simply wanted to connect with the Lord, person to person, and eventually it became clearer to me how I could do that and have a true encounter with His heartfelt love. In Exodus 33:18–19, Moses asks the Lord to show him His glory. The Lord instead said His goodness would pass before him. That goodness was entirely relational, not flash and dazzle. His goodness was about compassion, mercy, forgiveness, patience, and restoration. It was a heart-to-heart connection, and we can all have that in deeper ...