04 Sunday Apr 2021
Tags
Covenant, Eternal Covenant, Eternal redemption, Good News, Hope, Jesus, New Covenant, Resurrection, righteous, sacrifice, the Cross, Tracy Gatewood
Posted by Sacred Ramblings | Filed under Uncategorized
06 Tuesday Sep 2016
Posted in Blood of Jesus, Christianity, Jesus, Keys to the Kingdom, the Spirit, Wisdom
Tags
Blood of Jesus, Christianity, Grace, Healing, Holy Spirit, Jesus, New Covenant, Pray, Prayer, The Church, the Cross, Tracy Gatewood
Most Precious Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your mercy and great kindness. Your love endures forever. When I ask, you impart gifts from your Holy Spirit and as needed, the gifts of love, patience, kindness, self-control are brought to me without delay. Through my failures and successes, you have equipped me with sound wisdom, but your correct time and seasons are without fault or error to impart this wisdom. I seek timing, leading and most importantly, even more of your wisdom.
Because I walk in undeserved, unmerited favor, I live expectant that doors of great opportunity unlock on my behalf and in their correct time and season. The favor of the Lord opens doors that no man can shut. The favor of the Lord is upon me, and He confirms and establishes the work of my hands. Because of the New Covenant and the finished work of Jesus, my career is blessed, my family is blessed and my ministry work is blessed. I have been granted the keys to the Kingdom. Because I have dominion on the earth, what I bind on earth will be bound in heaven.
I decree that the favor of the Lord surrounds me like a shield against all enemies. When I call forth the blood of Jesus as protection – I speak into existence an impenetrable fortress. I am always above and I am never beneath. I am always the head and I am never the tail. Jesus has acquired all heavenly wisdom and because I am in Him and He is in me seated in heavenly places at the Father’s right hand – His Spirit counsels and teaches me skillful and Godly wisdom for any circumstance. I have the Spirit of Jesus Christ living in me and possess the identical power that raised Him from the dead and back to life. Thank you, God for the gift of your Spirit to me.
In the Name of Jesus I Pray – AMEN (So Be it)
Prayers of Grace –
Tracy Gatewood
Twitter: @TracyLGatewood
FB: Tracy Gatewood Christian Writer and Teacher
Author: Doorways of Grace, available on Amazon
08 Sunday Sep 2013
Tags
Christianity, compassion, Eternal Covenant, Forrest Gump, gifts, God, Grace, Healing, Holy Spirit, Mercy, Moses, Religion, Tracy Gatewood, Tracy Gatewood Alabama, works
FORREST GUMP TRAILER 3:12
FIRST please click on the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPIEn0M8su0
Psalm 5:12 AMP For you Lord, will bless the (uncompromisingly) righteous (him who is upright and in right standing with You); as with a shield You will surround him with goodwill (pleasure and favor).
Forrest Gump is a beloved movie character that stole hearts across America. Despite Forrest’s well below average IQ and slow speech, a flow of God’s mercy and compassion were evident in his life. He was blessed with a mother that worked diligently to give him a life of normalcy, he possessed extraordinary athleticism, and had a vast list of achievements; All American football star to war hero and as a Medal of Honor winner he even met two Presidents. Forrest also played on the winning National Championship Ping Pong team that traveled to China.
Forrest purchased a shrimp boat and asked Lieutenant Dan to go into business. When a Hurricane blew through Forrest’s south Alabama shrimping fields, every shrimp boat but his was destroyed, leaving the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company to net all the shrimp for their own gain. Following the death of his mother, Forrest chose to remain close to home, allowing Lieutenant Dan to run the business and invest their personal earnings, which Dan did in a “fruit company” called Apple Computers. Forrest became a multi-millionaire and given the ability to retire at an early age, all the while carrying an innocence about him that surrounded him like a shield. Favor is a shield.
Romans 9:15-20 AMP For He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion (pity) on whom I will have compassion. So then God’s gift is not a question of human will and human effort, but of God’s mercy. (It depends not on one’s own willingness nor on his strenuous exertion as in running a race, but on God’s having mercy on him). For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, I have raised you up for this very purpose of displaying My power in dealing with you, so that My name may be proclaimed the whole world over.
In real life, God’s gifts are not bestowed to an individual due to intellect or performance. Although God may bestow a gift on a person because of character displayed during a season of difficulty, a person cannot intentionally earn His gifts through works – gifts are administered by the Holy Spirit and given out at His discretion. Holy Spirit gives each person spiritual gifts and abilities that no man can take away, and gifts God wants used for His glory and important Kingdom purposes. Moses, like Forrest, was slow of speech, but up in years yet was given a great mantle of responsibility by God. After hearing God speak through a burning bush that never really burned, he left armed with a wooden rod (Staff) and a discerning inner circle, charged with leading a few million people out of Egypt, no small feat. (Exodus 3:1-21)
Moses could have passed on the assignment but we know Moses today because he trusted in the nature of the One who made the request. Moses was given uncommon favor to accomplish an uncommon assignment which was not without its share, too, of uncommon hardship and difficulty. Mercy and compassion become highly valued attributes around hard and difficult times. We thank you Lord for your mercy.
It is the Holy Spirit that grants favor but it is God Himself, again in His enduring mercy and lovingkindness, that has set forth the principle of Grace by offering the life of His Son to complete the terms of an Eternal Covenant. Grace is both a Noun and a Verb. It is Grace that we can walk by faith in what Jesus has done and in close partnership with the Spirit to accomplish all that God desires for us. It is through Grace that God offers us a way around the sin conscious Law and the continual cycle of self-effort, self-consciousness and performance – a way that leads to death; death of relationships, spiritual death and even physical death. We cannot achieve through our own self effort being good enough to receive God’s gifts or even His mercy and compassion. If we could be good enough, there would have been no need for Jesus to die to redeem (buy us back) from Adam’s fall and sin.
When you accept Christ You are given as a Gift to Jesus From His Father. Isn’t that a beautiful revelation of the love that God has for each of us?
John 17:24 AMP Father, I desire that they also whom You have entrusted to Me (as Your gift to Me) may be with Me where I am so that they may see My glory which You have given Me (Your love gift to Me): for You loved me before the Foundation of the world, O just and righteous Father, although the world has not known You and has failed to recognize You and has never acknowledged You, I have known You (continually): and these men know and understand that you have sent Me. I have made Your Name known to them and revealed Your character and Your Self and I will continue to make (You) known, that the love which You have bestowed upon Me may be in them (felt in their hearts) and I (Myself) may be in them.
Certainly we are all far more important to Jesus than a box of chocolates. Each one of us is a perfectly faceted jewel containing unique qualities fashioned by the hand of God, gifted and skilled for critical missions that only we can fulfill. We must only accept our mission knowing that the power of Christ lives within us and the mercy of God is with us to assist with our assigned task.
Twitter: @TracyLGatewood
Wordpress Direct:http:// tracylgatewood.wordpress.com
Author on Amazon: Doorways of Grace; My Uncommon Journey to Healing, Wholeness and Meeting Jesus
Facebook: Tracy Gatewood Christian Writer and Teacher
Related Articles:
The Assignment http://wp.me/p1zoxs-4C
Purpose Driven Bride http://wp.me/p1zoxs-S
My Journey with Jesus http://wp.me/p1zoxs
04 Thursday Jul 2013
Tags
Blood of Jesus, Christianity, forgiveness, Grace, Healing, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Religion, The Church, the Cross, Tracy Gatewood, Tracy Gatewood Alabama, TracyLGatewood
HEBREWS 8:10-12 AMP For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint their laws upon their minds, even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding, and engrave them upon their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be My people. And it will nevermore be necessary for each one to teach his neighbor and his fellow citizen or each one his brother saying, Know (perceive, have knowledge of and get acquainted by experience with ) the Lord for all will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful and gracious toward their sins and I will remember their deeds no more.
The Lord is describing the New Covenant, and that we no longer must live with the aid of the Mosaic laws, but that He Himself has put in each of us an innate ability to know right from wrong, and that understanding will come through His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is imparted to us by Jesus Himself when we accept by faith that He is the Son of God and understand that His sacrifice was required to pay our sin debt. Equally important for us to note in this passage, not only are we being given the Holy Spirit but God’s statement that He will remember our sins no more. God has established a higher and better, and more fair approach for those that believe in Jesus. We are not to be sin-conscious, but filled by and with faith as righteous children of God, our righteousness paid for by Jesus Himself. Righteousness could mean Right Living – but like the Ten Commandments, we could never live right enough so we look again to Jesus who paid for our righteousness. Romans 1:17-19 AMP – For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live by faith. For God’s (holy) wrath and indignation are revealed from heaven against ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in their wickedness make it inoperative. For that which is known about God is evident to them and made plain in their inner consciousness, because God Himself has shown it to them.
In other words, live by faith in the Gospel and stop your sinning because you know that you are doing it.
Colossians 2: 13-15 AMP And you who were dead in trespasses and in the un-circumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful, carnal nature), (God) brought to life together with (Christ) having (freely) forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This (note with its regulations, decrees and demands) He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to His cross. God disarmed the principalities and power that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, triumphing over them in Him and in it (the cross).
Most calling themselves Christians have a clear understanding that when Christ was crucified, that He paid for their sins. God being Holy and Perfect, can never look upon sin so He placed all of the sin of the entire world committed from its beginning to its end on His Son. Jesus took all of His Father’s wrath so that we would never be judged for our own sin. Colossians 2 refers to the nailing of laws to the cross of Jesus, because they were hostile to His people. These refer to the Laws of Moses. How could laws that seem so perfectly just be viewed as hostile to God’s people by God Himself? Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, Honor your Father and Your Mother, Do Not Murder, Do Not Commit Adultery, etc… you know them. Remember, the Holy Spirit wrote the bible and this is all in there. It is not the laws themselves that were hostile, but that for them to be fulfilled – ALL of them had to be adhered to perfectly for us to remain out of God’s judgment. This was an impossible exercise for His people to accomplish making these decrees and demands HOSTILE and also making His people SIN conscious rather than GRACE conscious. (Grace is undeserved, unmerited FAVOR)
And because God is God, He knew we would miss this one, and so planned from the very beginning in agreement with His Son (before the earth was formed in fact) that Jesus would return and walk out this agreement on earth that would complete a new, more perfect and everlasting covenant. This is the Gospel and the (very) Good News – because what Jesus gave us as the gift of grace, no man can boast. He freely gave up His life of His own volitional will (now if that’s not more grace, I do not know what is) to open the door so that all the blessings promised to Abraham, as his seed, are given to us.
Because God recognizes a legal system, His covenants can only be ratified through blood which always results in death. A person’s Last Will and Testament only becomes activated at the time of that person’s death, and the same with God’s New (and Final) Covenant for His people, which too became active at Christ’s death. His resurrection signified that the actual exchange at the cross took place proving to everyone that He had completed His assignment. After showing His disciples that He was ok and that His work was finished, He filled them with His Holy Spirit, giving them passion and momentum to forward what He had taught but now with holy, dunamis power. He then went back to Heaven, to hang out and rest next to His Daddy where He prays for us and mediates His covenant. His return to earth after his crucifixion demonstrated to all of the (now former) powers and principalities that previously ruled the earth that He had successfully completed the job of disarming them and He was now heading Home, but not before He released His Spirit which would give them an additional kick in the pants. There was no one ranking higher than Jesus, the sinless, blameless Son of God, that could pay for our iniquities; addictions, adultery, thefts, lies, envies, lusts, slanders, unforgiveness ….. you get the picture. It had to be Him – this was a very big job!!!
In recent months, I confess, that I have pondered the practice of churches offering their attendees the opportunity to “nail to the cross” their unforgiveness, shame, porn addictions and various other muck and weaknesses. I am now so grateful to understand that Jesus has already taken away all of this JUNK on His own body. A person nailing an iniquity to a cross in their own strength may not be truly aware of the magnitude and the complete truth of what Jesus has accomplished. “It is Finished!” – their acts do not count against them as sin. What we are left to manage is our own emotional condemnation; guilt, shame, or a weakness of will (unforgiveness) etc but God is not seeing any of these iniquities (iniquity means to go your own way) because He now sees all of us through the lens of the Blood of His Son. Jesus’ perpetual flow of blood never stops, constantly cleanses, purifies and even sanctifies those that belong to Him. Christ is in you, you are in Him and you are the righteousness of God through Jesus. If there was anything you could do in your own strength – even nailing your bad actions to a cross – then that act would be more transformational and more effective than Christ’s own sacrifice. Turn by faith to God and speak His promises to yourself ALOUD and thank Him and Jesus for what they did for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse you from unclean spirits and torment that plague your soul and body. You yourself are a One Stop Deliverance Shop! Jesus has already released us from oppression! Freedom is in the simple Gospel message – Jesus has paid it all. Believe and you can receive. Happy Independence Day!
Constructionzon
TWITTER: @TracyLGatewood
Wordpress Direct: tracylgatewood.wordpress.com
RELATED ARTICLES
The Crimson Flow of Freedom http://wp.me/p1zoxs-1Y
The Assignment http://wp.me/p1zoxs-4C
From the Beginning http://wp.me/p1zoxs-97
01 Friday Feb 2013
Tags
Blood of Jesus, Christian single adults, Christianity, Church, God, hand of God, Healing, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Louie Giglio, North Point Community Church, sexual addiction, small groups, Song of Solomon, the Trinity, Tracy Gatewood, Tracy Gatewood Alabama, TracyLGatewood
North Point Community Church auditorium during 7:22,
Louie Giglio teaching, 1999
I was working for an Atlanta church that was growing as fast as the national debt. The decision to close my business was not made lightly but I continued to sense that God was trying to do something very different and He had my undivided attention because of the intense pain. I was numb with pain. Had I recovered and brushed myself off, and continued on as usual running my business and ignoring these promptings, I would have missed one of the most important seasons of my life that God wanted to use. By not medicating the pain of this very deep betrayal through breakneck secular ‘busyness’ God was able to heal me one layer at a time; peeling off the past while re-framing the future.
Living at a more deliberate and much slower pace throughout this traumatic event allowed me to watch God’s hand moving on my life, shuffling people and circumstances into place in His perfect timing in the precise time of need and almost always at the very last minute. I knew it was Him because no one else could do what I was seeing happen. It was remarkable to watch this process unfold adjusting to new realities; church worker rather than business owner, singleness, entirely new group and type of friends. My position provided instant access to new relationships with hundreds of single adults and I was even the one planning their entertainment so always had something fun to do and people to be around. God did not miss one detail.
One afternoon in late 1999, I was standing totally alone in the church’s main auditorium (above photo) then watched as I saw myself teaching to hundreds and hundreds of people. I was not thinking about becoming a teacher, this just happened, like an out of body experience – wide awake and watching myself on a stage teaching. (I know this sounds wierd but this is what happened). I knew exactly what city I was in teaching and it was not Atlanta. This scene replayed twice more in 2000 with no warning, searing a distinct picture of an auditorium in my mind.
Nine years later, the first week of July 2009, I met with my pastor and after explaining that I was moving from Birmingham, (I had moved there in 2002), displayed a picture of the Atlanta church auditorium filled with people and recounted the spirit scene teaching story. His response was that I had gotten what he had gotten (“Tracy, you got what I got!”) referring to his own experience with God showing him something in a supernatural fashion that confirmed a very important decision.
I put my house on the market in Birmingham, and nine months of misery later, sold it to a member of the family that owned the office complex in which my Birmingham church began. The woman walked in the door said she saw her piano in my living room (I did not have a piano in my living room), walked through twice, left and wrote a contract the next day. It was the ugliest house in an otherwise very beautiful area so I was grateful she only came over once before she wrote the contract. That was God, too. I also owned an investment condominium that I had been trying to lease for many months – my father told me that I would have to live in it if I did not get it leased before I left. The Thursday before the Saturday that I was scheduled to move, a young woman called, saw it then wanted it. She then asked if she could pay me for one full year in advance because she had no credit history. Nobody does that. There was God again. She was moving into my condominium as my movers were loading up their van at my home. These circumstances marked the beginning of another season of transition and change.
When God wants to build your spiritual muscle, He will allow you to walk through neck deep waters of opposition for a protracted period. It doesn’t feel like a gift at the time but if you survive the stretching without becoming bitter from the losses, remain yielded to the voice of God and find its purpose, it can become a gift. He will remain with you at the front of the boat – the Captain, giving you instruction, comfort, guiding, teaching, consoling, advocating, bringing connections / contacts in your path to assist you – but you must continue to row and if you actually fall in the water, you must quickly start to swim.
I love to walk along the river and watch the University’s rowing teams glide across the water and hear the coach in the opposite boat giving instruction, keeping the team in perfect rhythm to achieve their best result. This is what the Holy Spirit will do for every Believer if they will listen and not depend on the voices and the pressures of other people. Your experience is one that He customizes uniquely to you, in His own way and timing.
{ I must insure that my readers understand distinctions about the Godhead; it is Triune – The Trinity being God, Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit – a great mystery but so perfect in their individual responsibilities and assignments to each of us. It is crucial that we understand that they are separate but still the same. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who is the Father of all things. Jesus sits even now at the right hand of Father God to intercede for His people all day and all night. He is our High Priest and mediates from heaven, a new covenant made between Himself and God on man’s behalf, and sealed with His own body and blood. The Holy Spirit is equal yet less understood, but is God and lives within each person that has accepted Jesus Christ as Son of God and understands that Jesus’ blood paid their sin debt (redemption). The Holy Spirit is a person; a Comforter, an Advocate, Teacher, Consoler. The Holy Spirit’s power is actually The One that conceived Jesus in the virgin womb of Mary, He empowered Jesus to walk to the cross, and raised Jesus from death to life.}
It is essential to attend a church that teaches on each member of the Trinity, while acknowledging the importance of the roles of each all.
Twitter: @TracyLGatewood
Follow on WordPress: http://www.sacredramblings.com
Facebook: Tracy Gatewood Sacred Ramblings
Author: Doorways of Grace: My Uncommon Journey to Healing, Wholeness and Meeting Jesus
Special Note – This article is a follow up to Part One which is essential for the clear understanding of Part Two.
<Related Articles
My Journey With Jesus Part One tracylgatewood.wordpress.com/my-journey-with-jesus-part-one/ January 2012
The Assignment tracylgatewood.wordpress.com/the-assignment/ December 2011
Purpose Driven Bride tracylgatewood.wordpress.com/purpose-driven-bride/ June 2011
01 Tuesday Jan 2013
Posted in Blood of Jesus, Christianity, Emotions, Grace, Healing, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Tracy Gatewood, Tracy Gatewood Alabama, TracyLGatewood
Tags
Andy Stanley, Bible, Blood of Jesus, Christianity, forgiveness, Grace, Healing, Jesus, Louie Giglio, Prayer, sexual addiction, Tracy Gatewood, Tracy Gatewood Alabama, TracyLGatewood
I was a late bloomer in knowing Jesus. As a child, I grew up attending church every Sunday, sitting there week after week believing I had everything necessary to get to heaven when it was my time to “pass” (I never liked that term – still don’t). In college and in my 20’s I steered clear of churches but in my early 30’s I lived on an Atlanta street that bounded the largest Presbyterian church in the country. The pastor was an older gentleman and great communicator of masterfully crafted moral essays that made my sharp young mind really think about moral virtue, where I was headed and why, but he rarely mentioned Jesus.
Time wore on and 4 days shy of my 35th birthday, I married a quiet, reserved man unknowingly that was hiding a profoundly advanced addiction.The next 1.5 years were chaotic adjusting into newly married life, moving twice and for him – trying to slay this addiction before I found out about it. Did I mention advanced. Three years into the marriage, after his repeated job losses, I was well fed up with the bizarre, unexplained behavior. The confrontation finally occurred, the truth came out and the magnitude of the circumstances were beyond anything that I could understand or imagine. We attended a great church but were not deeply involved and I was a base level believer. Immediately following the “exposure” he moved out to live with his Sponsor (I had no idea what that meant), living away from our home for over a year. It was during that time of total devastation that my walk with Jesus started as does this story.
At 37, I had no friends that had been divorced and had waited late in life to marry, determined never to end up a divorce statistic myself. My parents divorced while I was in college so I fully understood the damaging impact on families and individuals that walk through that trauma and wanted no part of it. I became acutely aware that I needed a place of belonging and began to search earnestly for answers to all of the pain. I was told of an evening bible study that was meeting up the street from my Dunwoody home; it was called 7:22 and geared toward college students and younger singles. I knew no one going there but heard that the teaching was sound, and it was taught by some guy named Louie Giglio.
I had also tried out a church a few times that was meeting on Sunday evenings while they raised the funds to build their own. It was called North Point Community Church with a pastor named Andy Stanley. He was an excellent speaker. I watched him actually teach straight from the bible, at times word for word,making sense of the bible for me for the very first time. I was hooked, learning about Jesus. He was cool. (I mark this as the time that I accepted Christ and began my relationship with Him and was baptized shortly thereafter in a North Point elder’s swimming pool) Both of these meetings were occurring at the same church about 2 miles from my home. Within 4 months, I was working for North Point and about 6 months following that, became responsible for non production aspects of 7:22 (volunteers, prayer, resource sales, customer service, etc.) 7:22, an interdenominational service for Atlanta college and single adults, quickly grew to a weekly attendance of 2800.
Although the Lord had miraculously opened a door of grace for me through this dark time, I was still actively searching for answers. Jesus seemed very far away, He was up there with God, but I needed Him down here with me ~ desperately. My marriage had imploded ending 12/1999, I could no longer afford my home, my now former husband had no job and had returned to his south Alabama family. When I went to work for North Point, I decided to close my successful staffing business. I had no active relationship with my own family. Jesus felt way “out there”, and I needed Him to be way “inside”. My prior idea of personal success had always been defined very differently. I felt as if I was treading water with no sign of moving upward, little understanding of my identity in Christ.
During this very confusing time, I left my position at the church in 12/2000 and began to prepare to leave Atlanta which felt like a tremendous relief. I put the house on the market and watched as month after month passed – no one came to look at it. I was desperate to leave the city that I associated with so much pain. In the waiting, I was told of a 28 week program that would assist with my healing and felt the Lord’s confirmation to me to take that direction. The house came off the market and I took the course. Each week, a guest lecturer spoke on an important topic of healing and then our leaders prayed over us for one solid hour each week- we were not allowed to speak, and prayers of deep healing were prayed over each of us and our individual circumstances.
I am convinced that the reason that I am healed and restored today over this situation is because 1) I forgave my former husband and 2) from the effects of these healing prayers. I am free of that damaging wound purely by the grace of God and the active working of the blood of Jesus. (the latter of which I have not understood until the last six years).
To God Be the Glory.
http://www.268generation.com Louie Giglio
http://www.northpoint.org Andy Stanley
Twitter – @TracyLGatewood
Website – http://www.sacredramblings.com
Facebook. Tracy Gatewood Writer Teacher
Author: Doorways of Grace: My Uncommon Journey to Healing, Wholeness and Meeting Jesus
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RELATED ARTICLES
My Journey with Jesus Part Two http://wp.me/p1zoxs-gR
The Assignment http://wp.me/p1zoxs-4C
The Wisdom of God http://wp.me/p1zoxs-6
22 Thursday Dec 2011
Posted in Christianity, Grace, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Tracy Gatewood, Tracy Gatewood Alabama, TracyLGatewood
Tags
Andy Stanley, Assignment, Chris Hodges, Christianity, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Pastor, Prayer, Tracy Gatewood, Tracy Gatewood Alabama, TracyLGatewood
HEBREWS 12: 1-2 AMP
Therefore, then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses (who have borne testimony to the Truth), let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us. Looking away (from all that will distract) to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith (giving the first incentive for our belief) and is also it’s Finisher (bringing it to maturity and perfection). He, for the joy (of obtaining the prize) that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
A course has been set before each of us with our own personal lane for a Kingdom purpose. There is room on the course to accommodate everyone’s unique, divine assignment no matter how similar it may appear to someone elses. Most importantly, there is an appointed time for each person to step into the race – onto their section of the course to fulfill their appointed time of destiny.
Favor, which is imparted by the Holy Spirit, rests first on the assignment, and then flows to the accepting person, manifesting through their actions and words and decisions. There are innumerable accounts in Scripture of favored assignments. When Jonah disobeyed the Lord and ended up in the belly of a fish, the Lord gave Him a second chance at his assignment which was to proclaim the simple message to the Ninevites, “Forty more days and Ninevah will be overturned.” The bible states the result as – “The Ninevites believed God.” (Jonah 3:4).
There was nothing extraordinary about the actual words that Jonah chose however they were blessed and anointed by God, causing the Ninevites to fast, pray and repent. The King himself got behind Jonah’s words in support of his assignment. Jonah 3:10 states, “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion on them and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened.“ Jonah saved an entire city from the wrath of God.
HEBREWS 13:20 NIV
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Through the sacrifice of Jesus, and the resulting Eternal Covenant we have with God, we have permanent access to the redemptive covenant benefit of God as Jehovah Ra-ah, Our Shepherd. Through the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit shepherds us on Jesus’ behalf to teach, guide, guard, comfort even pastor us through our assignments. The Holy Spirit is the divine equipper for every Believer, possessing the ability to release His power through us to accomplish our goals and destinies and complete the part of the race that God has set before us in its perfect time and season. The Spirit of God has been released to take up permanent residence as our divine cheerleader, compass, bell weather and soul caretaker through the Eternal Covenant and the finished work on The Cross. It is the Holy Spirit that equips for everything good for doing His will and works in us what is pleasing to God through Jesus.
But in God’s grace and compassion He also provides for us earthly shepherds that are called by Him and come under the watchful eye, care and guidance of the great Shepherd. These men play a crucial role in the spiritual development of people in every community. A pastor holds the most esteemed position in every city because he is appointed by God and held to the highest level of accountability; a level at which few truly grasp.
Beneath every steepled roof works an earthly shepherd given a vision imparted to him by God (The Creator) for his community or region, carrying the responsibility to God as a CEO to forward that mission. It is critical work. Please express your appreciation by covering your pastors and their staff in prayer.
Luke 11: 29 – 32
Tracy Gatewood
Twitter – @TracyLGatewood
Facebook.com: Tracy Gatewood Sacred Ramblings
Author: Doorways of Grace: My Uncommon Journey to Healing, Wholeness and Meeting Jesus
After volunteering for my church for several months, in June 1998, I found myself in the fortunate position of working for this start up called North Point Community, pastored by Andy Stanley. In October of 1998, we moved into the new facility in Alpharetta, experienced an explosive growth spurt and began having more formalized staff meetings and prayer time.
The very first time I prayed publicly was in a small staff prayer group with 4-5 people, one being Andy. I thought I was going to black out before it was my turn to pray. I have no idea what I prayed but probably recited the Pledge of Allegiance then buttoned it up with a chorus of Kumbaya. Andy, a very kind and compassionate man, never skipped a beat. I wanted to die but didn’t and for quite some time asked God to teach me everything possible about prayer.
(Andy and his team are masterful at creating relevant environments and experiences that draw in masses of the unchurched and now have approximately 45,000 members and multiple campuses, no doubt because of my prayer prowess while working there.) www.northpoint.org
In 2002, I moved to Birmingham and struggled to find a new church home, truly convinced that heaven and God were only positioned directly over Alpharetta, Georgia. I visited good churches across Birmingham but there was always something just alittle off about these in my spirit so I continued to pray. One day someone mentioned a non – denominational church that was meeting in a high school auditorium on Sunday and on Wednesday meeting in an office complex behind a Shelby County Wal-Mart. I thought she was crazy but for some reason I still drove over there.
God apparently had to split His time and live over the High School / Wal – Mart church too because 21 years later, Church of the Highlands, pastored by Chris Hodges has 50,000 + members and 23 campuses. Chris is intentional about every aspect of prayer, and provides his church with all necessary tools and environments to walk out their God given destinies. An equipper of leaders with few equal and a true pastor / shepherd, his deep compassion for people is matched with a laser-like discernment. www.churchofthehighlands.com
God graced me over a 17 year period with two extremely gifted pastors not that I am so deserving but He knows I adore Him, and His Son and that I need all the help I can get each day and will even more so in the days ahead to successfully complete the assignment for my appointed time on His course. In both instances, I was led solely into these bodies of Believers, not by my natural mind, but by His Spirit. I remain very grateful for everything that Andy and Chris and their teams have done for me. Their ministries dramatically impacted my life. TG
21 Thursday Jul 2011
Tags
Atonement, Christian, cleansing, Eternal Covenant, faith, God, Grace, Holy, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Law of Moses, love, New Covenant, peace, soul, Sovreignty of God, The Blood of Jesus, the Cross, Tracy Gatewood, Tracy Gatewood Alabama, TracyLGatewood
Colossians 2:13-15 NIV “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
Colossians 2:13 – 15 AMP “And you who were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful carnal nature), God brought to life together with Christ, having freely forgiven us all our transgressions. Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This note with its regulations, decrees, and demands He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to His cross. God disarmed the principalities and powers that were raged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it (the cross).”
The written code, or ordinances, with its regulations that were against us and that stood opposed to us refers to ‘the law’ – this is the Law of Moses, which Hebrews 8:13 explains was rendered obsolete by the New Covenant which went into effect at Christ’s death and resurrection. There can be no remission for sin without the shedding of Blood. There was (is) no one closer to God or more highly regarded by Him than His Son so when Jesus willingly, by His own volition, gave His life and allowed His own Blood and Body to be exchanged for us to insure that our souls live eternally, there was no Higher or Greater sacrifice that ever could occur any where at any time simply because nothing Higher exists. So when we Honor His Son, God in turn, will honor us. One way we honor Him is through understanding and accepting by faith His Son’s gift adding nothing to this action of sacrifice (our works) because the only action that counts is His.
There are great benefits when we Honor the Son but you must respect the importance of Jesus’ Blood to God. I do not profess to entirely understand this – blood is scary – why can’t it be hair, bone, skin, an eyeball or a kidney? For God, it is all about Blood. A symbolic tree is safe and pretty but dilutes the message of pure Jesus and the significance of His Blood. Jesus hanging on a tree (the Cross) became Life. Blood is Life for without it you cannot live. The New Covenant is based on Blood and simply stated; if not for it we would experience eternal damnation. So, be all about Jesus and His Blood and gain understanding of your authority and the redemptive hard fought covenant benefits won through it for you at the Exchange as Jesus intercedes for us. His sacrifice covers the scope of every human need: Healing (Rapha, Exodus 15:26), Provision (Jireh,Genesis 22:14), God’s presence, Victory over darkness (Nissi, Exodus 17:15), Peace (Shalom, Judges 6:24), Pastor/shepherd (Ra-ah, Psalm 23:1) Redeemer of righteousness (Tsidkenu, Jeremiah 23:6) Sanctifier (M’ Kaddesh, Leviticus 20:8). You now stand from victory and not from defeat – the battle has already been won for you. Honor Him by embracing and walking out your benefits.What we have been given is a miracle.
His Blood cleanses us making us holy, just and good in the sight of God when nothing else does. His Blood awards us ownership rights to authority over Satan. His Blood redeems us from performance-based acceptance, reprioritizing us because who can surpass what He did for us on the cross? Our salvation is solely based on Jesus’ goodness and faithfulness. When we understand the grace that we have been given, we desire to live rightfully to honor, serve and esteem Him. The New Covenant reflects God’s new heart, “I will remember your sins NO MORE.” Grace (love) now becomes the great motivator for repentance – rather than repentance being fueled by negative fear, condemnation or control. We can only be right with God through the marvelous Grace of the Exchange, which cancels the code of the law. God cannot see your Blood covered sin. A law, any law, is based on refraining from the bad to preserve the good but the best is the knowledge and revelation of grace where there is an internal desire that drives us to be good because of the knowledge and gratitude of what Christ did for us. This knowledge also draws us into relationship with Him, a relationship which is based in love – not fear or condemnation by Him. God is love. This is the better way.
John 14:25-27 NIV “ Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid ….. “
Is peace achieved through the law or through grace? Does the counsel of the Holy Spirit reside in law or grace? It is through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (the Teacher) that we gain full revelation of the covenants and authority we now own.
Colossians 1:19-23 NIV “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the Gospel.”
The code of the Law is canceled by Honoring the Son, understanding His sacrifice and acknowledging His grace. The seed of Honoring Him sows a harvest of blessing, health, favor, promotion, advancement, provision and protection.
Tracy Gatewood
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23 Monday May 2011
Tags
#April27, #DisasterRecovery, #EquiptheBride, #TornadoRecovery, #TuscaloosaTornado, Equip, The Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, The Church, tornado recovery, Tracy Gatewood, Tracy Gatewood Alabama, TracyLGatewood, Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa, Alabama – I have watched for weeks as churches put forth Herculean effort to resource and rescue thousands of Tuscaloosa citizens in the wake of one of the most devastating storms in our country’s history. Still The Body functions in excellence. This week, a meeting of 40 Tuscaloosa pastors met for a time of unified, corporate prayer to seek God’s wisdom for each other, their congregations and the city. The wisdom of God will be a strong requirement to move forward with vision and fortitude in the months, and likely years, ahead.
Each day I observe the undeniable need for funding the local church as we become increasingly aware of these organizations as powerful centralized distribution hubs for stability, resource and counsel. Churches, like mini City Halls, possess the infrastructure for financial disbursement and accountability, the ability to provide clothing, food and shelter, stability and healing as well as serving as points of access for connection to every conceivable vocation through its members. Churches are the finest “one stop shopping” option for disaster relief. In the days ahead, all churches will be utilized more frequently as access hubs for immediate stabilization, healing and disbursement of resources but first they themselves must be properly structured and resourced. This is serious, time -sensitive business.
Genesis 41:38
“So Pharaoh asked them, ‘Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the Spirit of God?’ ”
Pharaoh of course was referring to Joseph. This is the hour for marketplace Joseph’s to stand in preparation and walk in action to equip, fund and structure the Church, the bride of Christ, in anticipation of His return and enable Her to stand uprightly and majestically within every community served. (Not merely have Her stand with the aid of a cane or a walker – but properly financially resourced to function in full capacity. )
The need for funding has never been greater for churches and ministries in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I am writing to simply sound the alarm because of what I see happening. The anointing is here, the people and hearts are here but it is time to move and equip these Brides. Do not let the Bride go hungry (food banks), dress shabbily (clothes closets) or be in ill health (health centers) or become in disrepair. Do not let the Bride become inadequately staffed and forced to turn from people who require healing and wise counsel – the type of counsel that is imparted from the wise and Godly as they hear from the Spirit of God.
Job 32:8
“But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty,
that gives Him understanding”
Equip the Bride and Her Children, para-church ministries that are not churches. Do not make them beg for discernment of their worth if you know they are set apart by God for His work and purposes. Tuscaloosa is no different from any other community – disaster will come to a city near you – each Bride in each community must be equipped and structured.
It is the responsibility of the Church through The Body to equip, educate and counsel people on El Shaddai (God Almighty, All Sufficient One, Genesis 17:1)and the meaning of the covenant, redemptive names purchased through the exchange at the cross and Jesus’ blood sacrifice which covers the scope of every human need:
Shammah (His Presence, Ezekial 48:35), Shalom (Peace, Judges 6:24), Ra-ah (Shepherd / Pastor, Psalm 23:1), Jireh (Provision, Genesis 22:14), Nissi, ( Banner of Victory over principalities and darkness, Exodus 17:15), Tsidkenu, (Righteousness Jeremiah 23:6), Rapha (Healer, Exodus 15:26), and Jehovah M’Kaddesh (Sanctifier, Leviticus 20:8).
A tremendous responsibility indeed but one in which The Church, the Bride of Christ is uniquely designed to deliver but must be adequately enabled to perform. Simply put, please give money to the churches, they will soon be serving entire cities, not just their own membership rolls.
The city lost 21 churches plus the Salvation Army buildings. Please pray for those people who have lost their places of worship, fellowship, resource and community. Thank you for your continued prayers that city and state government leadership and spiritual leadership hear from the spirit of God.
Tracy Gatewood
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18 Wednesday May 2011
Tags
2011, A.W.Tozer, April 27, Disasters, Jesus, Tornado, Tracy Gatewood, Tracy Gatewood Alabama, TracyLGatewood, Tuscaloosa
“Wisdom, among other things, is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends by the most perfect means. It sees the end from the beginning, so there can be no need to conjecture. Wisdom sees everything in focus, each in proper relation to all, and is thus able to work toward predestined goals with flawless precision. All God’s acts are done in perfect wisdom first for His own glory, and then for the highest good of the greatest number for the longest time. And all His acts are as pure as they are wise, and as good as they are wise and pure. Not only could His acts not be better done, a better way to do them could not be imagined. An infinitely wise God must work in a manner not to be improved upon by finite creatures.Oh Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom thou hast made them all. The earth is full of thy riches!”
A.W. Tozer Knowledge of the Holy
Job 38: 1-15
“Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said, “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or laid its cornerstone while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
Who shut up the sea behind the doors when it burst forth from the womb when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its door and bars in place, when I said, “This far you may come and no farther, here is where your proud waves halt.’
Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. The wicked are denied their light and their upraised arm is broken.”
As the waves of life have struck then rolled over, I have found that life first happens in the natural then secondly in the spiritual. With each wave of “natural” has come a tsunami of revelation. I believe that we could have the same experience in store for #Tuscaloosa. A.W. Tozer states, “Wisdom, among other things, is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends by the most perfect means“. Might God have allowed this storm in Tuscaloosa as the perfect means to devise a better, more perfect end? Life is becoming more challenging across the globe – the Japan earthquake even shifted the earth’s axis. Could it be that we are appointed to mentor, assist and counsel and bring to salvation many others and become a beacon of hope and light across the world after we have walked through “perfect means”? Tuscaloosa has the spiritual, city and state government leadership in place to successfully position itself as a city on a hill for this time in our history.
After returning to Tuscaloosa in the spring of 2010, leaving it at the ripe old age of 17, I have spent the last year observing people in spiritual leadership and have witnessed an undeniably rich, bold spiritual fabric woven across this city – this fabric is mature, it is humble, it is confident in what it knows and most importantly, it has developed from a foundation of decades of committed prayer – pastoral prayer threads now woven into a beautiful and strong mosaic. These threads act as a protective network of unity that will sustain it in the days ahead. There is extraordinary power in unity. I can see why Tuscaloosa, Alabama could be the recipient of one of the most destructive storms in the history of our country. Few cities of this size could withstand this level of trauma and tragedy but Tuscaloosa’s citizens are securely braced within fabric covered walls.
It is difficult, if not appropriately impossible, to look past the urgency of the needs of people living in the Tuscaloosa communities of Holt, Rosedale, Alberta City and Wood Manor. This recovery will be a long process of restoration requiring dedication, determination and a decision to stay the course toward achieving a perfect end. I am convinced that God would not have allowed this storm to occur without a greater purpose in mind, after all, He is infinitely wise. A God that can see the beginning to the end working with predestined goals makes Him very strategic and the Chief Strategist – there are no accidents in His economy. Although God did not cause this storm, He also makes no mistakes.
Now is the time for The Body to move in its true identity and in the authority they have through the Finished Work of Jesus also recognizing the Holy Spirit as their new best friend (John 14:15). After all it was the Holy Spirit that conceived Jesus in Mary’s womb (Matthew 1:20). It will be through His power that He raises up Tuscaloosa, enabling men and women of this city with His spirit of wisdom and might. Pray for this city, its pastors, city and state leadership. Prayer is the single most powerful action available to each of us because by doing so, we access God.
Tracy Gatewood
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Sharing shortlink: http://wp.me/p1zoxs-6 Wisdom of God
Tracy Gatewood 