By Janet Smith, gardenministries.org

Let’s face it. No one likes hardship. It’s hard. In fact, many of us invest big chunks of our time, money, and energy avoiding hardship. But what if hardship isn’t all bad? What if hardship is an important part of realizing our destiny in God? There are two kinds of hardship: God’s disciplining hardship, which is productive hardship, and Self-inflicted hardship, which is unproductive hardship. Hebrews 12:6,7 “…the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?” 2 Timothy 2:3 “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

The Self-Inflicted Curse of Hardship
When God created mankind, he gave us the freedom to love and obey him, or not—making love a heart choice, not a mandate. Before Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they lived in a state of complete harmonic union and dependence with their Creator. There was no hardship in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1, 2). But after Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, they gave sin entrance into humanity, reaping the curse of hardship (Genesis 3) for their disobedience. Thus, mankind took on a propensity to turn to their own ways and means to accomplish life, with the expectation that they could achieve the same quality of life—only without God. Unfortunately, this gravitational force toward living independently from God has big side effects. Because of the curse, and because God created people to be in a state of supernatural communion with him, the vacuum, created by an independent-from-God lifestyle, makes humanity vulnerable to another supernatural power—the seduction of evil. The curse of hardship and the affects of evil have infected every aspect of creation, producing global disharmony and corruption—creating an environment of continual toil and a longing to live supernaturally engaged, with no more toil.

The Vicious Cycle of Avoiding Hardship
No matter who we are, how much money, talent, or smarts we possess, because we are naturally bent toward selfishness, and because we live in a world (and a body) that is in a declining state of corruption and decay, we will regularly encounter hardship and difficulty. The problem with using our own ways and means to deal with hardship is that, without realizing it upfront, we tend to make decisions to protect ourselves from hardship that, in the long run, end up creating more hardship. The amount of time, work, money, emotion, and personal sacrifice we invest to avoid hardship creates tremendous hardship, costing us in areas that we should not sacrifice, like relationship time with our loved ones, helping others in need, resting, finding and imparting hope. By favoring independence from God, we are forced to trust ourselves instead of God and thus, turn to the same broken system that keeps disappointing us. We jump on the treadmill one more time using our limited, temporal-and-material means to obtain a sense of comfort. Before long, we find ourselves back on a “new” treadmill, a little more tired and exhausted than the last round, pushing the “start” button on another attempt to solve our problems and satisfy our discontent.

We Think We Know Better
Without first turning to God to seeking his direction and submitting to his ways, based on our own counsel, we make “new” treadmill decision. We buy and remodel that house. We start working out. We start a diet. We start a family. We stop having kids. We get new furniture. We get married. We don’t get married. We change jobs. We travel. We consume. We purge. We do. We think. We act. We play. Just like the little piggy, we “We-We-We” all the way home! And that is not to condemn any of these actions. They may very well be in God’s plan for our lives. It’s when we turn to these things for comfort and happiness instead of turning to God first and getting his clear direction, we have chosen to act independently of him and have tagged these “things” as our answer. We are using them to avoid hardship, satisfy our discontent, and gain comfort. For a short while, they might even work for us. But in the long run, if we honestly evaluate these self-made decisions-for-a-happier-life, in every case, the overall payoff was much less than the price we paid to obtain them. The comfort and satisfaction these decisions gave us wore off long before the full price for them was paid.

Wisdom is Proved Right by Her Offspring
In comparison, the decisions and plans we make in a state of complete dependence on God, following his clearly articulated direction, will always prove out to be wise and productive. In the end, the payoff of following God and trusting him will outweigh the price we are called to pay. We will see the most payoff in the authentic, thriving relationships we have gained through it all. We are not lonely anymore.

Can’t Give Up the Control
So why do we keep throwing ourselves under this same bus? Why do we succumb to the vicious cycle of avoiding hardship? Why? Because we aren’t yet ready to trust God and follow him exclusively. At best, we will give him lip service but when decisions to trust him butt up against the decision to rely on what we think is best or “wise,” we would rather trust ourselves than him. Besides, deep down, we subconsciously know that we are likely to encounter the God-disciplining hardship by following God so we’d rather stay in control of what hardship we are willing to face and not entrust that power to him.

Take the Issue of Money for Example
Take the issue of money for example. Saving money isn’t bad. In fact, to live debt-free, saving money and then buying something is way smarter than borrowing the money and paying interest on that thing. Yet many people save money, not because the Holy Spirit is leading them to save it, but because they are afraid of being in a state of hardship without money to save and support them through the hardship. Matthew 6:24 says, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

If saving and stockpiling money or things is based in our fear of a “rainy day,” then we are protecting ourselves and are avoiding the extreme challenge of walking by faith and trusting God. If we are asking God for a closer relationship with him, then we can be sure, he will give us a “rainy day” to drain our self-protective, fear-based, self-preserving resources. He does this to give us a platform of trust and faith to stand on—the required basis for a pleasing relationship with him. God wants us to depend on him because he knows that as the Creator of all people and all things, he is the God of the impossible and does everything with our good in mind. He is perfect and loving in all his ways and has proved this to be true over and over again. The Scriptures chant, “The Lord is good and his love endures forever.” We have an entire book called the Bible that spans thousands of years documenting the stories of this truth. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Even so. When the rainy day comes and our self-protective measures are gone, do we view it as reinforcement for our fears and begin again to save and hoard for the next crisis? Or do we stop acting independently from God and turn to him, asking for direction and show him our love and devotion by implicitly obeying his commands. (John 14:15)

God is not focused on giving us hardship. God is focused on restoring dependence on him. Andrew Murray describes Humility as being “complete dependence on God.” Conversely, independence from God is based in Pride. And Pride is delusional. Hardship happens to be one of God’s ways of gaining our dependence on him. The good news is that God delights in showing himself faithful and loving. He loves to affirm our choices to turn to him. He will always give us the grace to endure the hardship as we turn to him. He is a good Father and always has our best in mind. And as a good Dad, he will not affirm our decisions to rely on our SELF or the World. He is not obligated to own and support decisions we make that he did not author. If we seek, daily surrender to, and align our will with Jesus as Master and LORD, if we put our trust completely in him when making decisions, and daily walk out his direction, putting our trust in God and leaving it there, we can be completely confident that we will discover all hardships endured actually turned out for our good. They are a necessary discipline that prepares us to handle the responsibilities of our destiny. This discipline creates humility and actually shortens the process of preparation. If you are still wondering if all this is true, just read the biblical stories of Joseph, Esther, Abraham, Ruth, David, Moses, Mary, Elizabeth, Paul, John. Plenty of “hardship” there. Plenty of fantastic destinies realized too.

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The Spirit of Divine Love will set us free from Anxiety – Anger – Stress – Disappointment
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

The following article written by Janet L. Smith uses excerpts from the book entitled “Freedom from the Self-Centered Life” by William Law and edited by Andrew Murray

The Spirit of Divine Love is defined by these characteristics:

• Patience: forbearance, perseverance, the capacity to accept or tolerate delay without getting angry or upset, serenity, imperturbability, staying power
• Meekness: the gentleness of restrained power (in this case, the restrained power of Self)
• Humility: rather than relying on the power of Self and acting independently from God, we make daily decision grounded in a mental, emotional, and physical state of utter dependence on God. We host a mindset and live a lifestyle that directly reflects an acceptance of who God says a person is in heaven and in the earth.
• Resignation to God: reverent submission to Jesus, the One who has the power to accomplish God’s will in us here on earth. The refusal to be double-minded which uses the will and power of Self along with the power of God to accomplish our own ends. Self is the power we resort to as a backup plan if God doesn’t answer our prayers or people don’t respond in the way we want them to.

Problem solving when presented with an “opportunity” to Love in union with the Spirit of Love:

• Sink down into and acknowledge my helplessness to solve this problem.
• In humility (i.e., in complete dependence on God and not on Self)
• And with patience (i.e., employ staying power and calmly embrace my helplessness to stop or fix the throbbing ache of the problem presenting itself),
• Resign myself to the Spirit of Love who has the only viable solution to the problem (i.e., refuse to think that I have to immediately figure out a way to fix this problem in my own strength).
• Turn to the Spirit of Love as the only true source for a solution and wait for truth from the Spirit of God to come, keeping in mind that part of the solution includes our personal transformation—which means that I am bearing the good fruits of the Spirit of Love in the moment. “Good fruits” being Patience, Humility, Meekness, Resignation to God.

When we respond by the Spirit of Love in this manner, we are “embracing the cross” and “dying to Self.” And when we don’t respond by the Spirit of Love, we simply admit it to ourselves and, if necessary, admit it to others affected by our lack of it, and ask Jesus to help us increase in His Spirit of Divine Love.

Learning how to love in union with the Spirit of Divine Love has two stages:

1. Stage 1: Promise and Preparation. Intellectually we accept the principals and doctrines of the Spirit of Love, for example, taking in and accepting the information listed above in this article and below.
2. Stage 2: Fulfillment and Possession of the Spirit of Love. This means that what we have intellectually learned, we are employing in everyday life situations in union with the Spirit of Love—God himself.
3. Warning: Works of love, humility, benevolence, and prayer that are performed under obedience to rules and doctrines will produce a mixture of good and bad fruit because our humility will help our pride, our charity to others will nourish our self-love, and our increase in prayer—our opinion of our own sanctity. Thus, these rule-based “to-dos” are grafted upon a corrupt bottom. The “corrupt bottom” is the belief that following outward instruction alone will produce a pure heart.

The fruit of Divine Love

The fruit of Divine Love is perfect peace and joy; it is a freedom from all disquiet; it is all content and mere happiness, and makes everything to rejoice in itself. Love is the Christ of God; wherever it comes, it comes as the blessing and happiness of every natural life, as the restorer of every lost perfection, a redeemer from all evil, a fulfiller of all righteousness, and a peace of God that passes all understanding.

Through all the universe of things; all of nature that is uneasy, unsatisfied, or restless, is that which is not yet governed by the Spirit of Love. It has not yet reached or attained the full birth of the Spirit of Love.

How do I transition from following outward instruction to possessing the Spirit of Love?

The difference between following outward instruction and possessing the Spirit of Love is that I have transitioned from assimilating information (outward instruction) about the Spirit of Love and, through a series of events, such as setting my heart to possess it, praying for it, employing the instructions and information, walking it out in my everyday “opportunities” and not quitting, I finally come to the end of my Self. That is when the Spirit of Love enters in such a way that I am finally possessed by Love itself. I can now operate from the truth of the Spirit of Love as it is rooted and grounded in my heart, not just from an information-based “to-do” list of “should’s” and “should not’s.”

The yielding of my independent Self to the Lordship of Jesus has over time, produced humility (complete dependence on God) and made room for him to dwell in my heart in an ever-increasing measure. In Romans 6, 7, and 8, the Apostle Paul described his own frustration with this same process. Thus, the times when we feel worn down and weary—painfully aware of our ineptness to ever get it right—we can be encouraged, we are closer than ever before. The power of Self is almost vanquished. We are approaching the end of ourselves.

Complete transformation is possible

“I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). Just as Jesus and the Father are one, Jesus prayed for us to attain to oneness with him and the Father when he prayed in John 17:22, “…that they may be one as we are one.” All of Jesus’ prayers will be answered. We can attain to the full possession by the Spirit of Divine Love. When the full birth of the Spirit of Love has been reached and attained, every hunger is satisfied and all complaining, murmuring, accusing, resentfulness, revenging, and striving are totally suppressed and overcome, just as the coldness, thickness, and horror of darkness are suppressed and overcome by the breaking forth of the light.

If you ask why the Spirit of Love cannot be displeased, cannot be disappointed, cannot complain, accuse, resent, or murmur, it is because Divine Love desires nothing but itself. Divine Love is its own good. It has all when it has itself because nothing is good but itself and its own working. For Love is God, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives [dwells] in love lives [dwells] in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4:16.

What complete transformation looks like

The fruit of being possessed by the Spirit of Love (i.e., living in the full birth of the Spirit of Love) is that the power it exerts is not as it was in the promise/preparatory stage (that of effort and strain with continual failure). The power of the loving nature, born of the Spirit of God, is that it cannot help but to love. The more opposition or ingratitude it meets, the more opportunity for proving its divine nature and power. Love is its own happiness. It is a joy to love. Thus, death to self does not precede the possession of the Spirit of Love, it coincides with it and is the result of possessing the Spirit of Love.

The difference between the Promise and Preparatory—Stage 1 and the Fulfillment and Possession—Stage 2 is that those who possess the Spirit of Love have paid the price that embracing the cross daily and dying to self has called them to pay. Without quitting or drawing back, they have paid this price until the transformation is complete and the Spirit of God has utterly replaced the prideful power of Self. As John the Baptist said, “He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30

1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”

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Garden Ministries highly recommends listening to this message spoken June 25, 2008 by David Ruis (www.davidruis.com): The Tension of the Gospel by David Ruis.

One-page summary notes for the above audio file: http://www.davidruis.com/teaching_files/VAM_06-25-2008.pdf

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By Janet L. Smith, March 4, 2010

When I stop communicating with God, my relationship with him stops. The same is true with people. When communication between people stops, so does their relationship. God never cuts us off, so if the relationship needs repair, the burden is on me to reopen the lines of communication with God. I simply ask him to restore in me the joy of loving him. The process of repairing a broken relationship between people however, means that both sides will have to risk communicating again. Obviously, the relationship will not be repaired if only one side is willing to risk communication and the other side remains closed, negatively biased, and unwilling to communicate. For the purposes of this article, we will assume that both sides of a broken relationship have purposed in their hearts to risk communicating again with the hope and intent of repairing the relationship.

Change Perspective
Perspective is the key essential ingredient in effective communication. Perspective defined is, “a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something.” I can ask myself, “how do I want to be regarded in this relationship? Do I want to be viewed by what the other person perceives as wrong with me or do I want them to view me as Jesus sees and loves me?” Matthew 7:12 says, “so in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” If I hope the person(s) on the other side of this broken relationship will change their perspective of me, I must be willing to change my perspective of them. And the only way I can change my perspective of someone is if I can see them differently than I have seen them in the past.

Ask to See as Jesus Sees
Jesus sees past the temporary, imperfect, work-in-progress me and relates to me as his eternal family member whom he purchased at great price with his own shed blood on the cross. I Samuel 16:7 says, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” And Jesus asks me to look at others as he does. If we really want to see as Jesus sees, he will first show us how much he loves us. The revelation of God’s love for us becomes authenticated when we turn and love others. We turn and love others by letting go of our wounded, opinionated, self-centered and competitive perspective of others and give them the same honor that Jesus gives them. This fresh perspective produces within us a square one, fresh-start “attitude toward and way of regarding” others.

We will literally stop relating to people based on our bent and wounded perspective and start relating to them through what we perceive as good and beautiful in them. As we honor the Spirit of Prophecy within us, which is the testimony of Jesus, we will be empowered to give greater honor to God and greater honor to people. How well we know God’s love for us will be evidenced in the overflow of love and honor we are able to give others—even the undeserving. We will naturally extend the truth of God’s kindness to people instead of competing with them through withdrawal, rejection, malice, and slander. We will bless others instead of cursing and criticizing them. By the Spirit of God’s love in us, we will literally see the goodness of Jesus in people and his lovesick view of their heart—even when we perceive that they are buried under lies and unbelief in their struggle to know God’s love for themselves.

Changing our Perspective Builds TRUST
By basing our communication exclusively upon the truth of how Jesus sees us, we will, in union with the love of God, speak the language of his love. Luke 6:45 says, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” If we insist on viewing each other through the unifying Spirit of Truth, saturated in God’s affirming love, our negative perspective of others WILL CHANGE and become like Jesus’. Because we believe the good of God in others and the good of God in ourselves, we will by nature, speak the language of Love. And this love is the foundation upon which TRUST is rebuilt. When trust has been restored to a relationship, the relationship has been repaired and the risk taken to communicate again was well worth it.

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“The price I pay to lay ahold of the price that Jesus paid for me, is the price I owe. And His grace is always enough for the price I am called to pay.” - Janet L. Smith

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Word received by Janet L. Smith on 1-6-2010 regarding the coming Revival in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota

The Word

“Just as the scales of justice have tipped in favor of the saints—to release the captives and to give strength to the weary—so has My word gone forth and will not return void. The word is: FREEDOM.”

What this FREEDOM Looks Like

All-mighty people consumed with and consumed by Almighty God, living out their faith and love with unprecedented passion.

What’s Different this Time Around?

The difference between this move of God and past “Reckonings” is that this move is both founded in and grounded by the Love of God. The Love of God is what makes it unshakeable.

What is Our Part in Bringing this Move of God About?

Intercessors (Note: everyone is called to intercession): Cry out for a revelation of the Love of God. Do not relent until the heavens are torn open—ripped by the bursting out and the pouring down of heaven’s great Love. The GREAT I AM loves with an energy of passion and fire that is meant to utterly consume us.

What are the Signs and the Hallmark of this Outpoured Love?

Possessed by God, we are wholly and completely ALIVE. Alive to Love and good works. This is the good pleasure of the Savior—the work of His unending supply of Grace. And we know what “good works” are because we do them by tangibly loving others as God loves us. So let the Love of God come and consume us, head-to-toe, forever.

How Do We Connect to this Cry on an Everyday Basis?

Our Faith is the substance of what we are hoping for. And we are hoping for the Lord Jesus’ outpoured Great and Fiery Love. Everyday we cry out in faith, with the hope that the heavens will tear open and the fire of His intense love for us will pour out of heaven like a river and consume us—making us wholly alive unto Him and unto good works in the earth.

To quote an excerpt from our article Love and Fellowship – The Wineskin of the Holy Spirit: “In yielding to God during this last season of Divine preparation, God is also fulfilling His promise to give His Son Jesus, a pure and spotless Bride (us), cleansing us with the precious water of His fulfilled Word. Past revivals haven’t transitioned into a long-term, dwelling-place for God because our spiritual character was not first deeply invested in the Agape love of God (loving God and others at great cost to ourselves and not taking offense with God’s dealings with us). Without a deeply invested love for God-and-for-people anchoring our hearts, the old, dry wineskin of broken and wounded relationships can’t hold the continuance of God’s presence. The Spirit of God is attracted to the presence of His Love in and through us.”

By Our Faith We believe:

That God wants to and WILL pour out His fiery, passionate Love in such a way that we—being utterly possessed by it—are completely undone.

That all the years of enduring, of pressing in, and hungering after God, always left wanting, will finally be satisfied—once in the “now” and also—throughout eternity.

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© 2009 Garden Ministries – http://www.gardenministries.org

On November 24, 2009, while dreaming, George was shown that when God pours Himself out to us, unlike past experiences, it will be with the fullness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 12) AND the fullness of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22). And when we, being filled with such fullness, say, “Come Holy Spirit!” He will actually COME—in FULLNESS.

The “fullness” referred to in George’s dream experience has not yet happened. Up to now, we have only seen partial fillings, which have been called Revivals, Refreshings, Visitations, Awakenings, Outpourings, etc. The Move of God that is coming “with fullness” is the answer to the prayer of Jesus found in John 17, “that they would be one as We (the Godhead) are One.” As God the Father answers His Son’s prayer “to be one as They are One,” He is creating an environment into which He will come and stay. God will literally DWELL with His people in the earth in His fullness. It is what Haggai 2:9 promises. “‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty.” The peace of God will be needed in supernatural measure to maintain balance between heaven and earth while we house the very presence of Almighty God—both individually and corporately.

The wineskin is our extravagant love relationship with Jesus expressed in and through our love relationships with others. Because God doesn’t dwell with darkness and can’t change who He is to be more like us and still be God, He changes us to be more like Him. Thus, God is relentlessly preparing extravagant lovers of Jesus to be the wineskin that holds the very presence of God in His fullness. The fire of God’s love for us is forging deep humility and persevering character that transcends even good intentions. It is a faithful love that cries out, “God is GOOD” and “Though You slay me, I will trust you!” (Job 13:15).

How do we know if God is getting what He is after in us during these intense times? Here are the character traits of loving devotion: We have not quit when our faith is tested to extremes and we refuse to take offense with the severity of God’s preparation. We sink into patient resignation to the Lordship of Jesus. We open our hearts and allow the Divine Heart Surgeon to plunge His sword of truth into our core where we feel the most vulnerable. We have asked Him to extract from us all that is not in union with Him. We have cried out, “Don’t relent until you have it all. My heart is Yours!” And so, within the anesthetic comfort of His divine and imparted grace, God has relentlessly culled from our hearts Fear, Anger, Pride, and Self-Reliance and sewn and sealed us up in His extravagant love for His Son Jesus. And best of all, we are seeing the fruits of the Holy Spirit’s love, peace, patience, long-suffering, goodness, kindness increase within us. This is the evidence of transformation. We want what God wants more than what we want and we have learned the difference between the two.

In yielding to God during this last season of Divine preparation, God is also fulfilling His promise to give His Son Jesus, a pure and spotless Bride (us), cleansing us with the precious water of His fulfilled Word. Past revivals haven’t transitioned into a long-term, dwelling-place for God because our spiritual character was not first deeply invested in the Agape love of God (loving God and others at great cost to ourselves and not taking offense with God’s dealings with us). Without a deeply invested love for God-and-for-people anchoring our hearts, the old, dry wineskin of broken and wounded relationships can’t hold the continuance of God’s presence. The Spirit of God is attracted to the presence of His Love in and through us.

On Sunday, November 29, 2009, George spoke at Garden Ministries House Church about the 4 characteristics of progression of preparation we are in:

1.) Agape Love (Gr) means “sacrificially loving and preferring others to ourselves.” (Matt. 22:37-40)
2.) Koinonia Fellowship (Gr) means “sharing in common, communion.” (Acts 2:42)
3.) Charismata Attraction (Gr) means “things given to us from the Spirit by grace that cannot be earned or bought.” (Zech. 4:6)
4.) Dynamis Power (Gr) means “dynamite power of God through signs and wonders.” (Acts 2:43)

The progression is this: Agape Love is required to sustain Koinonia Fellowship. This Fellowship of the body of Jesus Christ leads to the Charismata of God—the attractiveness of the Holy Spirit in us. God is attracted to His Charismata presence in us because it is born of His love in us and expressed through us. The Charismata of God leads us to the Dynamis of the Holy Spirit and when Dynamis occurs, miraculous Signs and Wonders occur. Many Moves, Visitations, Revivals, etc. have experienced the Charismata and the Dynamis of God, but because the wineskin of relationships did not have a deep enough foundation of Agape love and Koinonia Fellowship cultivated as Acts 2:42 and John 17 call for (i.e., heart-knit relationships of loving interdependence and becoming one as Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Father are One), the wineskin of relationships couldn’t hold the increase of God and it blew up.

God’s presence is always growing and increasing; it never “tops out” or stagnates. Thus, when the increase of God’s presence comes into a wineskin that is old and dry, it blows up. A wineskin that is deeply founded in the Agape Love of God and exercises such love through Koinonia Fellowship is supple and will organically stretch to accommodate the increase. This wineskin of Holy Agape Love and Fellowship is the loving environment that attracts the Holy Spirit and into which, He will come and fully pour Himself. And this wineskin of deep loving relationships will continually release its fullness to others and thus, remain intact. To this end were we destined—to be Glory Carriers of Almighty God in the earth—continually being poured into and continually pouring ourselves out in the sacrificial, Agape Love of God.

© 2009 Garden Ministries – http://www.gardenministries.org

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By George R. Smith
© 2009 http://www.gardenministries.org

The purpose of the Jesus movement of the 70’s and the Holy Spirit/Charismatic movement of the 80’s was to prepare and lay the groundwork for the upcoming move of God revealing the Father.

This outpoured revelation of our Father God will do two things:

1. Confront. Many traditionally held perceptions of the Father will be confronted. Only the humble in heart will perceive and accept it.

2. Heal and restore. The Father will reveal his deep and powerful love and will fill the holes in our hearts. When the Father fills these holes with his powerful love, our fears and insecurities will fall away. The Father himself will completely heal broken hearts. People will experience wholeness like they never imagined possible.

Spiritual Fathers (not just men, but both men and women who have matured in their Heavenly Father’s nature) will soon emerge, carrying this message and the revelation of the Father to the broken-hearted. As Isaiah 61 says, they will “bind up the broken-hearted and proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners.”

Not only will broken hearts be healed, sicknesses and diseases caused by suffering from depression and a broken heart, will also disappear.

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By Janet L. Smith
© 2009 http://www.gardenministries.org

We believe what we WANT to believe so that we can DO what we WANT to DO.

In order to keep doing what we’re doing everyday, we have to believe in what we’re doing and believe in who we are as we are doing it.

If we believe that we are helpless to change our addiction to emotional pain, anger, and unforgiving bitterness toward those who have wronged us, then we will do what those powers compel us to do every day and justify our actions because we BELIEVE we are helpless to change them. If we will not forgive AND FORGET (hold no record of wrong in our heart-felt thoughts), and if we are not open to repairing a broken relationship, then we are choosing to stay in our emotional pain, anger, and unforgiving bitterness. We may think that we are helpless, but in fact, we are choosing to be helpless.

If we believe that we are sons and daughters of the Most High God and heirs to the kingdom of heaven through Jesus Christ our Lord, then we will act in accordance with that belief. We will believe that the power of Love and forgiveness will help us overcome our addiction to emotional pain, anger, and unforgiving bitterness toward God and toward those who have wronged us. We will be open to taking action to repair broken relationships. We will be willing to listen and learn. We will stop relating to people from a hurt and offended broken heart, and start relating to them from a place of compassion—knowing how deeply we are loved and cherished by the living God who has forgiven us as we forgive others.

If we believe both—that we are sons and daughters of God AND that we are helpless and addicted to emotional pain, anger, and unforgiving bitterness—then we are double-minded, unstable in all our ways.

Ask God for the wisdom to be single-minded and to fully believe in his outrageous love for you, and who he says you are. Keep asking until you finally believe his words. Then Do what you Believe.

James 1:5 The MESSAGE version “If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who ‘worry their prayers’ are like the wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

James 1:22-25 NIV “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:5 NIV “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord, he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”

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Commentary by Janet L. Smith © 2009
Scriptures NIV: Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Why People Don’t Believe in Jesus
The reason people hold to other named beliefs (Atheism, Buddhism, Islamic-Muslim, Hinduism, etc.) and place their deity’s or their intellectual conclusions on the same level of, or above the eternal achievement of Jesus, is because those same people have no comprehension of what Jesus did for them or who Jesus is, namely, the Divine Son of God and the Son of Man. In his humanity, Jesus lived out the divine nature of God perfectly—even when faced with every temptation ever offered to mankind, and perfectly when under the duress of unimaginable torture and unjust human meanness during his scourging and crucifixion, and in perfect trust in his Father’s love while suffering the horrific torment of hell itself.

People can read and read and read and never understand until they ask the Holy Spirit for an understanding of who Jesus is. Because this understanding transcends natural human comprehension, the inspiration must come from God himself, by his Spirit. So if a person wants to understand God’s love for them and they open the door of their heart to the possibility that Jesus is who he says he is, they simply need to ask the Holy Spirit for an understanding of who Jesus is and the price of love that he paid to gain their eternal salvation. If people understand who Jesus is and the price he paid to save them because he loves them, they will believe in him.

In order to believe in Jesus, we must be given divine understanding that he is the Son of God and that he loves us like we couldn’t have ever imagined without divine understanding. And knowing how incredibly profound his love for us is helps us trust that what he says is true. When people understand the price that only Jesus could and did pay for them, they would naturally give him the place of exclusive honor in their hearts and everyday actions. They would gladly call Jesus their “Savior” and “Lord.” They would also accept that the hardcopy of eyewitness accounts, i.e., the Bible, is true and all that Jesus said about himself in the Bible is true.

When we finally understand the incredible price of love that only Jesus could and did pay for us as the Divine Son of God, we would never consider putting anyone in the same sentence, let alone the same galaxy of comparison to Jesus. He truly is the Name above ALL names. Only Jesus could and DID pay the price described in Philippians 2:5-11 which says this: “5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus is the Only Way to the Father: John 14:5-10
John 14:5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

Isaiah 43:10-13
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed– I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”

Believing in Jesus Saves Us from Eternal Death and Gives Us Eternal Life: John 3:16-18
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Why Jesus is Qualified to be Called the “Only Way”: Philippians 2:5-11
The three things that qualify Jesus to be the only way to eternal life with the Father are because:

1. Jesus is the Son of God (John 3:16).
2. Jesus paid the extreme price of love that was necessary to save us (Philippians 2:5-11).
3. Jesus is the only one who could, would, and did pay the necessary price (Philippians 2:5-11).

Philippians 2:5-11 describes in detail the outstanding accomplishment of Jesus and confirms that Jesus is the only one qualified to be called by the names of Savior and Lord. Furthermore, the Father whom Jesus exemplified, backed up everything that Jesus did and endorsed every word that Jesus said about himself, said about the Father, and said about the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Mark 9:7 Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

The Validity of Jesus’ Testimony: John 8:12 - 59
People who believe in Jesus do not have to prove that he is God. Indeed we cannot make people believe something they cannot comprehend. Beyond our own experiential testimony of knowing and understanding the truth about who Jesus is, we cannot prove that what Jesus said about himself, about his Father, and about the Holy Spirit is true either. It is God’s responsibility to prove himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Those who believe in Jesus can simply point people to the Bible to read about what Jesus said about himself there, pray with or for them, and let God do the work of proving himself.

If we don’t open our hearts to receive the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we cannot blame God for not answering us when we ask to understand his love and how he expresses it through the divine nature of Jesus. We must blame ourselves for not being open to the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the change of mindset and lifestyle that may occur make once we encounter and understand the love of God.

In the following scripture (John 8:12-59), you can listen in on a heated conversation between Jesus and some determined-to-be-proven-right intellectuals and religious leaders. Their motive in engaging Jesus in a Q&A conversation was not to understand his answers but to invalidate his spiritual authority and to make him fit into their system of rules, regulations, and beliefs. Unless the people asking the questions were open to understanding what Jesus was actually saying, it was impossible for them to comprehend his answers. And so it is with us.
John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

13 The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

19 Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”

“You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.

21 Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”

22 This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

23 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be,[a] you will indeed die in your sins.”

25 “Who are you?” they asked.

“Just what I have been claiming all along,” Jesus replied. 26 “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”

27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” 30 Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

39 “Abraham is our father,” they answered.

“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do the things Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are doing the things your own father does.”

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

48 The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”

49 “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

52 At this the Jews exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

58 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

WATCH THIS 8-MINUTE VIDEO: Jesus Loves Us Outrageously, Music by Jonathon David Helser and Words by Graham Cooke