SUMite Nation:

I have a homework assignment for you.

Several weeks ago, I found what I’ll call a “Dream List” tucked inside my Bible. It was written on September 14, 2015. I wrote out this list in the early dawn of Rosh Hashana that year. I apparently decided to scribble down my future hopes, prayers, and aspirations that I longed to accomplish with the Lord.

I’m sharing this experience with you for two reasons.

1. God hears our prayers. However, we forget that He responds because our current concerns block the memory of all He has done and provided for us. This is a good day to remember His provision and goodness.
2. We are all blessed. God doesn’t only dream with me, but also with you.

It began:

Papa,

This is my dream list: (And the answers)

I began to read down the list…. To my utter shock, many, I MEAN MANY of the dreams I’d scrawled out in long hand, had already come to pass. In four short years.

• To love you with all of my heart, mind, soul and strength – ANSWERED
• To walk in increasing power and authority over the demonic and sickness – ANSWERED
• Provision for college for Caitie -ANSWERED (Full scholarship and they paid her to teach. Say what?
• More Prayer opportunities – ANSWERED. I pray with many of you from all around the world. and recently I was promoted to Director of Freedom prayer at my local church.
• A House of Prayer in the Valley – ANSWERED. I’ve watched the prayer ministry grow into exactly this! WOW! Before my very eyes!
• Mike’s salvation -ANSWERED. I’m still wrapping my mind around this reality. I’m wordless to express how stunned I remain even today, at all that God did to bring this into reality. Wait until you read the book, I share the detail in there.
• Loose 30 pounds. Ahem, well…. I’m still working on this one *GRIN*

I humbly ask and submit these words of my heart to You, Papa. May you show kindness and favor upon them. Your daughter, Lynn

My list is way too long to share more. I like to dream……There are dreams on that list that remain to be fulfilled but so many more have already come to pass. I’m nearly in tears as I write with such deep gratitude and humility to know our Father loves me with such depth and care that he fulfills the dreams of an ordinary blonde lady.

So, as we approach Yom Kippur, a very hold day unto the Lord, sit with the Father and dream. Write out your dream list and put it away to find it again in a number of years. You will be overwhelmed by the love and faithfulness of our good God.

He loves you that much also. Start to believe it!

Share three items on your dream list with me in the comments. Let me pray over them with you. I adore you.

Dream bigger than you dare because our God is so much bigger than we allow.

Hey SUM family, Tiffany Here!

Sunday, September 29th is the beginning of Rosh Hashanah. We've talked about this Jewish holiday over the years. In fact, the first time I'd ever been made aware of it's significance was because of a blog post from either Lynn or Dineen. For those who are not familiar or are new to this holiday, a simple "Rosh Hashanah" search on this site will provide you with a wealth of information. Feel free to check out the archives!

My prayer for us today is that we will each take away something fresh and new. Holy Spirit, reveal to us the heartbeat of God. Amen!

Rosh Hashanah isn't actually a biblical holiday but a traditional Jewish holiday. The term "Rosh Hashanah" means "head of the year" and is celebrated as the Jewish New Year. This is a two-day celebration that proceeds Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).

In the beginning of this month, the Lord really pressed upon me to watch Patty Tower's talk that was given at the SUMite Summit this last April. I decided to go back and watch it again. (I will provide a link below so you can revisit that as well. It is absolutely worth a re-watch!)

As I sat down to think about Rosh Hashanah and what I would include in this post, I went back to my notes from Patty's message. There is so much good in this message but I want to point out one theme:

• Joshua 6 - God gives specific instructions about the destruction and taking of the city of Jericho. In verse 20 we see the result of following God's plan and not their own: "So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city."
• Patty called us to march around our house 7 times and shout, declare, pray and praise things into existence. It was in the great shout that the walls fell flat down.

Rosh Hashanah isn't in the Bible; however, the first day of Rosh Hashanah, is. Let's take a look.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,  “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.  You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’ ” - Leviticus 23:23-25

The Hebrew word, Teruah, in Leviticus for blowing trumpets is the same word used in Joshua 6 where they shouted with a great shout. The first day of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Teruah, is a day of blowing trumpets or shouting.

Notice what else it says in Leviticus about this day - you shall have a sabbath-rest. Yom Teruah happens to fall on a Sunday. The day we, as children of God, call our sabbath!

So, why is this important for us? If we are not Jewish, what is the point of celebrating this time of year?

We've already seen in our community some amazing things worth celebrating. Many professions of faith and baptisms with our spouses, children or others we love. Libby gave us a beautiful word about the SUMite community with her picture of the mountain. The SUMite Summit where some gathered in California being at the top and from that trickle, the waters of our faith continued to pool together to create a river at the bottom.

I truly believe something was activated in the heavenlies and we have set off a chain reaction. The enemy has been stirred to anger and we have seen much push back from illness, discord with our spouses and children, financial struggles, backsliding, strongholds etc.

However, I truly believe that God is calling His children deeper. I believe that He is stirring in us a hunger and thirst that can no longer be quenched by fear, pain or opposition tactics from the enemy.  I believe that NOW is the time for us to press in all the more into the God of Miracles. NOW is the time to storm the gates of Heaven for our spouses, children, our complete freedom and healing. I believe that NOW is the time for us to suit up and prepare for battle.

There is a shifting going on right now. As we are in this transition period, it is up to US if we are going to take God at His word - for our destinies, purposes, signs, miracles and wonders. We cannot afford to give up or give in. The future of generations to come hangs in the balance. It sounds intense but don't worry! Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).

Patty's talk at the SUMite Summit: https://www.facebook.com/SpirituallyUnequalMarriage/videos/387269661859875/

There is so much more I could say but I've gone on a little long.

As we approach this Jewish New Year, what are the things you are coming to the Throne of Grace for? What do you hope to see in this new season?

Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! -- Psalm 47:1 (Shout here is the root word of teruah ::grin::)

We are going to shake the heavens and the earth with our shouts! In the comments, give a mighty shout to the Lord. Thank Him for the victory you've been praying and waiting for! Decree and declare that these prayers are answered in Jesus' mighty name! Now it is up to you to take Him at His word. Trust. Believe. Wait and see. God is so good. And He is worthy of the wait. Hugs!

Come Away With Me, Tiffany Carter, 4/18/2019

Come away with Me
My darling, My bride.
Revealed in the chamber
The secrets I hide.

I long for your presence
I'll wait here all day.
My love please don't tarry
There's so much to say.

I give you My heart
You hold the key.
All you must do
Is linger with Me.

No need to worry
I'm protecting your heart.
I'm faithful to you
I vow to never depart.

So come now, I'm waiting
Believe Me, it's true.
The treasures of Heaven
Are poured out for you.

The Lord is beckoning us to draw near to Him. I don't know about you but in this season I am in need of some refreshing! Will you answer His invitation?

I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel. - Isaiah 45:3

I love you dear SUM family!

Hey SUM family, Tiffany Here! 

During the leader's meeting on the Friday morning before the conference I said I would share a spoken word piece during the offering time. I didn't have anything prepared at the time of volunteering. In fact I just heard the words come out of my mouth. You know those moments when you realize after the fact that you were pushed into things by the Holy Spirit? Maybe it's just me. It happens quite often. *grin*

The rest of the day seemed to fast forward pretty quickly. Filled with fellowship, food and fun. I was exhausted after the meet and greet at Lynn's house - in a good way - and went to bed shortly after everyone left. Saturday morning I wake up and realize that I didn't take time to prepare a spoken word! Out of desperation I laid flat on my back with my arms outstretched (my body in the shape of a cross) and said, "Holy Spirit, I need You to give me a spoken word for today. I want those who hear it to feel your deep love. I want them to know that they can have a close relationship with You. Give me something."

In that moment of asking Him, I could feel the atmosphere change in the room. It was like He was waiting for the invitation to share what was in the deep recesses of His heart. The following is the spoken word. I have posted it on Facebook so it may be a repeat for some. In my humble opinion, Holy Spirit really delivered!

More, Tiffany Carter, 4/6/19

 

Remember when I first revealed myself to you?

The relief you felt?

Just wait there’s more.

 

Remember when you heard me speak life into your bones?

The comfort you felt?

Just wait there’s more.

 

Remember when you received my loving embrace?

The warmth you felt?

Just wait there’s more.

 

Remember when you needed Me and cried out for help?

The deliverance you felt?

Just wait there’s more.

 

Remember when you sought me for clarity?

The answers you felt?

Just wait there’s more.

 

More. Love that is unendable.

More. Passion that is unshakable.

More. Desire that is unquenchable.

More. Joy that is uncontainable.

More. Intimacy that is unthinkable.

More. Wisdom that is unmatchable.

More. Peace that is uncontrollable.

More. Power that is undeniable.

More. Faith that is unbeatable.

MORE.

 

Remember when you stepped into your destiny and calling?

The freedom you felt?

My beloved child…

Just wait.

There’s MORE.

Ephesians 3:20-21 (TPT) - Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.  Now we offer up to God all the glorious praise that rises from every church in every generation through Jesus Christ—and all that will yet be manifest through time and eternity. Amen!

Do you want more? I know that I sure do!

Let's talk in the comments. In these weeks since the conference, what are some things that God has been showing you? How has He shown up in your life personally? In reference to Libby's visions, how have you been feeling the residual affects of the river flowing from the conference? I love you all.

Joseph & Jesus

I’ve been reading the Christmas story in the Gospels the past two weeks. My time in the Word has been utterly revelatory. Father, God has been speaking to me in His kind voice and uncovering treasures of the Christmas story that I didn’t even know were there. Such was the post from Friday about Zechariah.

After having my mind blow up over Zechariah, God led me to read through the first chapter of Matthew. That’s when my eyes were drawn over and over to this heading:

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

On the surface, nothing is noteworthy to most. However, for me. I was drawn over and over to the implications of this heading and then the passage that followed. And that’s because, in my Healing Prayer sessions, over and over again, I pray with believers to restore their voice.

So much of human misery is cloaked in lost identity, the result of rejection. This passage in Matthew 1:18-25 is about this very issue. This is the telling of Joseph’s tremendous struggle, which until today, I've never considered the enormity of what is happening here. As I read, I pondered. Why would God include the story in the Bible about Joseph’s struggle to accept an illegitimate child?

Joseph’s story is the story of humanity. We are all illegitimate. Born into a world that is harsh, unkind, brutal. And we find ourselves far away from our Father in heaven. As I mentioned, in nearly every prayer session, I help believers discover when and how their voice and identity was taken and then gently lead them through healing from a deep soul wound of voicelessness and rejection. It grieves me that many people live decades under words of pain, most often inflicted by a parent. And my friends, this is at the core of tremendous wounding in men! Most men are desperate to be accepted by their Father. 

I guess that explains why I was drawn to the words: Joseph ACCEPTS Jesus as his son. I can’t tell you how many people long for the same. We LONG for acceptance by others of our authentic self. 

I’m convinced that our good Father purposed this passage as a blueprint for family.

This man, Joseph legally and religiously was entitled, as well as expected, to walk away from Mary and the baby. Remember, Joe had already determined to divorce her. In ancient Hebrew culture, an engagement is the beginning of a marriage contract. They were considered married, yet unconsummated. As I think about Joseph, I see this play out day after day in our modern society.

Joseph was unwilling to face the shaming, the rejection of his own family (usually a controlling mother or harsh father) nor the disgrace of a marriage to a perceived “stained woman” some would say – a whore. How often are marriages doomed because of parental shaming, ignorance, misguided expectations.... the list is endless. 

Yet in a dream. A DREAM, no less! (Side note: I wonder how many times God has told us to do the right thing or answered our prayers and we didn’t recognize it was Him because He communicated in a way we refused to validate????)

Back to the dream: A nighttime visitation. The Lord said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

Upon reading this verse, revelation then began to emerge in my mind. My dear friends, this passage is in the Word for all of us. It’s the LORD speaking. This is also our “Dream from the Lord” written in antiquity for all generations of believers.

ACCEPTANCE!

Joseph accepted wholeheartedly the enormous, life-long task of raising a child that was not his own. He willingly and with gravity, accepted the mandate upon his life to love and protect someone that society said he should reject. Isn’t this similar to our lifelong mandate in our SUM marriages? Hmmmmmm

May I ask you a question as we ponder this underlying wisdom within the Christmas story? Who is God asking you to accept? Is it a step-child? If so, decide today to no longer call that child (step) but embrace that child as son, daughter. Decide to never say the word, step, again to them or in their presence. 

Is the Lord asking you to accept and “see” the broken, the angry, those crying inside, the vulgar, the sinner, yourself?

Have you accepted who you really are? Is the LORD calling out to you, “You are Worthy of love. You are worthy to be protected. You are worthy to be cherished and nurtured.”

Forgive those who rejected the “real” you. Ask for help if needed. Fully forgive and let go of the bitterness that holds you in chains of regret and anger.

This profound story in the telling of the birth of Christ, resonates throughout the centuries and remains vitally powerful today.

Listen as our Father speaks with tenderness and truth in His voice, “I love you. I accept you just as you are. You are already perfect to Me. My favorite things about you is your quirkiness, your weaknesses, your tender heart and all the things about you that others criticized. I love YOU!”

Let’s ask the Lord a question on this day in December. Ready?

Jesus, who do I need to accept?

What did you hear?

Now let’s ask this: Jesus, how do you want me to proceed to show love and acceptance to this person(s)? Jesus, how do you want me to show love to myself?

The road to Bethlehem is filled with lessons of love and God’s wisdom. Walk we me a bit further. By December 25th it’s possible that we will have walked into a new season of powerful awareness, freedom, and healing.

And isn’t that what the birth of Jesus is all about?

Share in the comments if you are able, the name you need to forgive/accept. I will pray with you.

Hello Sum family!

Tiffany here:

It is very easy to see the heaviness and struggle going on in the world. Just in our own community there is a weight of illness, backsliding (in ourselves or our spouses), addictions, anger, depression, anxiety, spiritual attacks to our identity, self-worth, motivation, and will to keep going in the faith. There is bitterness and envy, there is confusion and doubt - toward others and even God Himself. It's like we have lost sight of who we REALLY are (we'll talk more about this later).

Before I continue, I want to preface that I don't believe that our SUM community is in this bad of shape. I don't believe that we are all struggling at all times. I do however, see a trend of these things happening in the ranks...and it seems to be increasing. I myself have been struggling a lot lately. I feel as though I have opened the door to anger and fits of rage again and it is running rampant and tearing apart my family as I unleash it's fury over my husband and children. I know I am not a monster and YET...that is what the evidence has been showing me lately (tune in next time to learn more about evidence - it's life changing!).

This is where the grace of God comes in. Where the Spirit of the Lord is - there is what? FREEDOM!

In these next couple of posts, I want to share some things that I have been learning recently in God's classroom and I pray that as we work through these things together, we will gain ground in our faith and also in victory over struggles.

I have been reading From Dream to Destiny by Robert Morris (you can find the book here). In this book he walks us through the life of Joseph and explains that there are ten different tests that we must go through in order to fulfill the purposes that God has on your life. Reading this book has been so insightful. I have been able to look at the life of Joseph in such a different way. The test I want to touch on is the Pit Test (chapter 2). Let's check in on Joseph:

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. Then they said to one another, "Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ' Some wild beast has devoured him.' We shall see what will become of his dreams!" But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, "Let us not kill him." And Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him" - that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father. So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it (Gen. 37:17-24).

 As we just saw, his brothers conspired to kill him. In verses 4 and 8 of Genesis 37 we find out that his brothers all hate Joseph because he was Jacob's favorite. It made matters worse when Joseph so shamelessly shared the dreams that he had of being bowed down to by his brothers and his parents. Morris goes into more detail throughout the previous chapter (chapter 1) of his book but essentially Joseph's pride is what mainly caused this rift in his family. Out of his pride he helped fuel the events that led him to this pit moment.

So what about us? What is the pit test? How do we end up in the pit?

Like it or not, all of us will go through some times when we feel as if things are just the pits. We may not be sure just how we got into that pit - and even less sure as to how to get ourselves out. But one thing is certain - we won't move ahead into our destiny unless we get out of that pit...Jesus knew we would have trouble because He know we would be living in a world contaminated by the effects of sin. As a consequence of sin, this world is full of  trouble - and pits are just one form of it. Pits are simply a by-product of a fallen world. (From Dream to Destiny, p.29, 31)

Next time I want to talk about the mind blowing truth I gleaned from this book about our time in the pit and how Satan schemes to keep us there. Until then, I can't wait to see you in the comments. What kind of pit are you in right now? How can we pray for you as a family to raise you up out of it?

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. - 1 Corinth. 15:57

Children And Night Terrors (Series Part III)

Part I

Part II

Part III

WORHIP. Our next tool in the tool belt to defeat the demonic.

It appears obvious that worship music that praises God would be something the devil hates. And this is true but let me share something that you might not know. There is a description of Lucifer in Ezekiel 28 that blows my mind. If you can explore that chapter and perceive all that is within it, it will freak you out. But let’s look at this specific passage:

Thus says the Lord God:

“You were the seal of perfection,

Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

You were in Eden, the garden of God;

Every precious stone was your covering:

The sardius, topaz, and diamond,

Beryl, onyx, and jasper,

Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.

The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes

Was prepared for you on the day you were created. —Ezekiel 28:12b & 13

Timbrel: a tambourine or similar instrument. (noun)

Pipes: Organ pipes of music. (noun)

Most of you may already be aware of this but Lucifer was likely the head worship leader in the heavenlies. He was DESIGNED to make music within his own body. The winds of heaven would blow and the worship of the angels would swell and he would create the most unique and beautiful music in worship for the LORD and it would come from within his body.

No other angel was given this ability.

I pause to wonder if this truth contributed to his prideful downfall?

I’m convinced that when there is great worship upon the earth, the devil feels it to this day within his body and it causes him great pain because it’s no longer worship but torture. He fears worship. He despises worship. It’s a continual, in your face devil, reminder of his past, his present and his future. Torment! And all the little devils fear worship for this reason as well. They CANNOT remain in an atmosphere of worship and not be affected, defeated and tormented.

BLAST the music. Worship God in your artistry. Sing acapella. Worship with dance, guitar, painting. Many of the creative abilities that God placed within us ere given to create in worship for our Lord.

For our kids, Mom & Dad, you bring the atmosphere of worship into their lives. Play worship music. In the car, in the house, in their room at night. Be worship to them in the morning. Show them that worship is a lifestyle and when they are grown, they will walk in it.

Okay, how has worship changed you? Your kids?

Children and Night Terrors, Part I

SUMites, Lynn here. Let’s pick up from our last post: Honor your child and take a posture to monitor what their exposure to frightful images and sounds. Children under the age of seven are unable to distinguish what is real and what’s not.

What does it mean to honor your child’s fears?

Don’t dismiss their fears as insignificant, ridiculous, or dumb.

Your kid is afraid. Bend down and say, “Baby girl, tell mama what has scared you?”

Listen intently and don’t make facial responses that bring them shame or show exasperation. They are truly afraid and only have you, mom and dad, to help them process their fear and come out of it in wholeness.

Okay we’ve reached the place where Mom and Dad, we need to talk. You can’t assure your child about anything until you understand that some of the stuff your kids see at night, IS NOT IMAGINARY!

Gather yourselves because we need to have a straight talk, a real talk.

Ready?

The demonic world is real. The angelic is real. And often children are very sensitive to see and perceive both. They haven’t been fed a regular diet of doubt and religion to convince them it’s not real. Now I’m not trying to frighten anyone because there are times kids are perceiving something as real when it is not. But the more I speak with parents and through my own experiences with my kids, there are times our kids are dealing with something truly frightening and we are ill equipped to help.

BUT not any longer.

I want to share a conversation I had with Caitie, who at the time was very young. I think she was under six-years-old. And I’m giving you my best recollection of this event. And it was very real. My daughter and I have spoken about it several times throughout her growing up years. If you asked her today, she would affirm what I’m about to share.

When she was small she would be frightened and sometimes in the night she would run to our room to climb in bed with mom and dad. I believe we should comfort our kids and there are occasions when they run into your room and you invite them to stay and then there are times to face their fears with them.

My memory of this particular night was followed by conversation the next day. I asked Caitie what did you see that scared you? She replied that she could see red eyes glowing at her from within her stuffed animals. Now gang, here is where it becomes challenging. Are you brave enough to believe what your kid is seeing is a legitimate “something” in the room?

In that moment, I chose to believe her. I’ve seen enough of the spirit realm, even back then, to understand there are spirit beings, angels and demons that are in and among us. It’s in the Bible. Read it….

I immediately assured her that she wasn’t wrong to be afraid but instead of dismissing her fears and telling her that it’s imaginary, I affirmed and THEN EQUIPED her to conquer her fears. And better than that, I taught her how to evict any scary spirit from her room.

“Caitie, when you see something like those eyes or hear something that scares you, I want you to speak out loud; ‘In Jesus name, I command you to leave my room right now.’ Keep saying it and because you have Jesus in your heart, it will eventually go. It must go because you are strong in Jesus. Be persistent.”

I also would bless her room before she sent to sleep as I was tucking her in. I would pray, out loud, so she could hear me and anything else that might be lurking, that this room was off limits. I would instruct angels to stand guard at her door and window with swords drawn and ready than then pray that she had good dreams from Jesus.

These efforts, over time, equipped her to stop living terrified in fear and to start sleeping at night. And she used them!

In my next post I want to share the four weapons we have available to equip our children to fight off the demonic realm. And you can teach your kids to use them. And by-the-way, you are equipping them to become powerful adults with this knowledge.

So, how many of you have heard similar stories from your kids? What did you tell them? Is this topic helpful to anyone? Talk to me in the comments. Be blessed, Lynn

My friends, I have something very special to share with you today. It’s something I was unsure about sharing at first, but a phone convo with Lynn helped me see I should indeed share it with you. And since then, God has revealed a bit more and connected more dots.

In early 2014 God told me to pray for California. This was before our move to Florida. II was sitting on my porch one morning with my favorite mug full of coffee and my Bible. As I read and prayed, God told me to “pray a wave a faith over California.” I didn’t quite understand what that would look like, but I did what He asked and began praying this obediently for months.

Fast forward to the Spring of 2015. We’d moved part time to Florida but still spent several months in California and still owned our home there. The Holy Spirit led me to read the book of Isaiah.

One particular morning, I reached Isaiah 55 and the Holy Spirit began to point out parts that had to do with the land and water over the next several chapters. I knew in my spirit this had to do with the drought in California. I continued to read, wondering why He would even show such things to me.

Now let me preface this to say that the He’d first set me up the day before with Isaiah 52:6. I underlined it, recognizing that as new covenant believers, this was connected to the promise of the Messiah to come. And we know the name of Jesus is powerful and thus why we pray it.

Therefore my people will know my name; therefore in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it. Yes, it is I.” — Isaiah 52:6 (NIV)

So the next day when He stopped me at Isaiah 59:19, I already had this reference to connect to. As you can see in the picture, I dated my notation April 28, 2015. I suspected this was related to the Holy Spirit’s instructions to pray a wave of faith over California and that this also spoke of the end of the drought. In fact, that is what I heard in my spirit, that God was decreeing an end to the drought. 

Within weeks of this revelation, several other Christian leaders in California began to say the same thing. I knew God was revealing His heart and plans for the state of California, and now we are seeing the full revelation of this.

What was predicted to take years—the return of the rains to refill the reservoirs—is happening in weeks. We are seeing God move faster than we ever have before, my friends. And He is moving in new and stunning ways. Right now it’s very important that we keep alert to these new ways and be willing to let go of the old. I believe this is also part of what He meant when He told me things wouldn’t look the way we expect and that He wants to do things differently. These are things I shared with you last year.

Now there is more to this moment in time, my friends, and it includes us. On that same day, the Holy Spirit stopped me at Isaiah 60:22. See the picture below with SUM written next to the Scripture.

SUMites, we have grown from a small family and a tiny group to a mighty nation of over 2,000. I believe we are symbolic of what God is doing all over the world. He is bring up communities like ours to operate the way the church did in Acts 2. We are the new church He is bringing into place. 

Last July, I shared in a video message what I felt God was speaking about His church, that “His heart is to establish a new and holy church—not fix the old one.”

That doesn’t mean we are to abandon our churches, dear friends, it simply means God is transforming us to function in greater unity and love if we will allow Him to come in and do this in our places of worship, no matter where they are. Our church will no longer be limited and defined by physical walls and building. We will be the unified body of Christ, His bride made pure. Connections and partnerships (bridges) are being formed between churches in communities even now to work together to have greater impact in communities and cities.

My friends, I believe this also means God is working in new and significant ways in our marriages and in the hearts of our spouses. This is part of our salvation word from last year, which continues to be the seed planted that the Holy Spirit is watering. 

Let me share some of my observations and what I am seeing:

I believe the rain we are seeing in California and the overflow is symbolic of God’s glory pouring over His children and our loved ones (that they shall be saved too! Acts 16:31). I know it looks messy, but remember what I said in one of my previous messages about God’s favor. It can look messy at first (remember how God favored Mary to carry Jesus), but we can trust God to bring His plans and purposed to a good completion for His ways are always good (Rom. 8:28)

I believe we are going to see significant shifts in our homes and in our spouses, SUMites. Many of you already are. As Lynn has shared in the emotional healing series, we need to be healed so we can help those coming to faith to walk in wholeness as well. Part of the video message I shared last year was about God’s “harvest time” and the “fruit” (remember the figs), which are the many souls being called in. (Some of you may even remember the harvest dream I shared in 2013.)

I believe we are entering this time at a new level. We are stepping out of the old and into the new. We will see things happen in ways we never expected or anticipated. We will see God move faster than we thought possible. And we will see our faith increased to new levels as we step into our promises and new opportunities. 

My friends, I will stop there. I have something else from Isaiah that God is showing me to pray for my husband that I may share on Friday. I'm asking the Holy Spirit for wisdom on that first and for any more insights He wants to reveal for us. Be assured I will share as the Holy Spirit leads me. I don't know why the Holy Spirit uses the book of Isaiah like this to reveal things to me, but it is fascinating to say the least.

SUMites, we are living in exciting times! Reading this may very well bring things to mind and connect some dots for you. Please share you're thoughts and what you believe God is showing you. I can't wait to hear your hearts!

Love you, my mighty friends! You are greater in Him than you know!
Dineen

My daughter Leslie's blessing prayer on our entry. :-)

My friends, Mike and I are getting settled into our home. There are still boxes to be unpacked and things to be put away, but I am loving the process. And the promise. There is so much promise coming…

I shared on our Facebook page recently a verse that the Holy Spirit kept bringing to my attention over and over again. I honestly have never had a verse “dog” me this much. 

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. — Romans 16:20

I didn’t fully understand the full “breath” of this word at first until I was in a moment of worship and God overwhelmed me with not just His love but a hope so great it brought me to tears of joy. It’s huge! And then I understood that our Papa God is about to release a greater hope into this world than we have seen before. His promises are true and just—our enemy is destined to be crushed under our feet. That’s where we stand, my friends, for Jesus, and the enemy is crushed. 

And this great hope will accompany His love as never before. It’s absolutely huge. We will be stunned, awestruck and swept over by intense gratitude as it appears and transforms us in ways I can’t even imagine at the moment. I am so full (pregnant?) with expectation.

My friends, will you dream with me? I believe God is about to do some amazing things right in this SUM community. I’m asking Him personally for something I never could have thought of without His loving inspiration and this budding hope working in me. It’s just not something I would have thought of asking on my own. And when the words first left my lips I was shocked to hear them.

I’m asking that Abba move in my daughter Leslie to want to be baptized. I’m asking Him to put this on her heart and that she’ll ask me to baptize her in our pool in our new home while she is here for Christmas. I believe God will move in this, and it may not happen as soon as I’m asking, but I believe it will happen. 

Why? Because I believe this dream is from Him. And why would He give me a dream He didn’t plan to fulfill?

So, SUM family, it’s dreaming day. What are you dreaming of? Here’s one I want to ask God for now, with your agreement, dear friends. 

Lord, we are dreaming of homes that are spiritually matched! We ask that our House of SUM become a House of SEM—Spiritually Equal Marriages! In the name of Jesus, amen!

I love you so much, my friends! I can’t wait to read about your dreams, to bless them and pray with you.
Dineen

A few more of the Scriptures written on the beams...XOXO!

My friends, we’ve already started to receive prayers from many of you for our new book, Praying for Your Unsaved Spouse. I’m hoping there are many more of you out there praying, considering and even writing your prayer story.

But if you’ve decided that’s just not something you can do, I want to tell you a little story. About a year or so after I rededicated my life to Jesus, my church started a Stephen Ministry and put a call out for participants. It was a two year commitment—a year of training and a year of service within the church. 

When I read it, I thought how wonderful that will be for our church membership, but I didn’t even consider signing up. I had two young children and a husband who didn’t share my faith at all. Didn’t seem like a good fit for me. How could I do something like that?

That same week, my pastor called me into his office to chat. He asked me if I’d considered signing up for the Stephen Ministry training. I told him honestly, no. He looked me straight in the face and asked, “Please pray about it.”

My friends, I was surprised that my pastor, who knew my situation and knew me, would think I’d be a good candidate for this. But I was very willing to pray about it. And that’s what I did the very next morning. 

I love the saying that God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips those He calls. Jesus told the disciples not to worry about what to say but to trust that the Holy Spirit would give them the exact words they would need (Matt. 10:19, Mark 13:11, Luke 12:11).

That morning I sat in my favorite chair with my Bible in my lap, I began to pray about what my pastor had asked me. And before I could even finish my prayer, I heard God clearly say, “Well, what did you think I had in mind for you?”

You see, sometimes we disqualify ourselves for things because we haven’t done them before. Or we make assumptions that disqualify us that are completely contrary to God’s truth—and His plan—for us. 

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. — Ephesians 2:10

My friends, if you think you are not qualified or capable of contributing to this project, please let me encourage you to seek God and ask Him. Let Him be the one to tell you what you are capable of. I have a feeling you will be very much surprised and delighted. And if you want some biblical inspiration of just how specific God can do this, read about Bezalel and Oholiab in Exodus 31. The only difference between them and you is that you already have the Holy Spirit living in you.

And I have a feeling there are prayers you haven’t thought about that have become near and dear to your heart. They don’t have to be about just salvation. How about prayers for your spouse to have favor at work or to be the best parent he or she can be with God’s help? We’ve seen God move in amazing ways through our spouses. What prayers have impacted your life as a SUMite? What prayers have impacted your marriage?

SUMites, I believe you have something to pray and say. Even if it’s something new that God inspires you with, share it! You’ll inspire more SUMites along this path than you will ever know. Like I say, God is not wasteful. He will take whatever you offer up to Him and multiply it beyond your wildest imagination (Eph 3:20)

I never imagined myself as a Stephen Minister, but God had planned it all along. And you know what’s even more amazing? All that training was part of God’s plan to bring me here too, to be a part of this beautiful SUM ministry. He’s the best equipper I know!

And I want to let you in on a little secret. As I was praying for this book and for our SUM family, Holy Spirit showed me there will be a sequel to this book—one filled with the salvation stories of our spouses! Can you imagine that, SUMites? Wow, God is on the move!

Holy Spirit, fill every SUMite praying this prayer with words and inspiration to be shared with those coming up behind us. I pray they be filled with wisdom, understanding and knowledge and with all kinds of words to express their heart and prayers. In the mighty and most able name of Jesus, amen!

Love you, SUM family!
Dineen

When I opened my email early this morning, one of the first headlines I read was an article on Spirit Led Woman, entitled "Why You May Not Recognize God Speaking to You." I had to smile—one, because here we are talking about the very same,-much needed subject, and two, because I recognized God speaking to me indirectly at that very moment in what I like to call "a confirmation."

How so? Here's the path to this recognition:

1. I always pray and ask Holy Spirit to tell me what I need to write about for our blog based upon what YOU, our readers need. His leading reminded me of this exercise He'd led me to just weeks earlier, which started with a Scriptural instruction from the Bible.
2. Yesterday Lynn and I discussed the need for more teaching on this subject and decided that in May we would make this one of the topics we will cover in four one hour online teaching seminars we've already had in the works. (More information and sign-up details to come so stay tuned! We are so excited about launching this!)
3. Then I see this article on Spirit Led Woman. Thank You, Lord, for Your leading!

By experience, I've learned to recognize this kind of confirmation as following God's lead for the universal church. Last year, His leading was focused on knowing His love. This year seems to be starting off with a clear message about knowing His voice. The Holy Spirit, Who connects us all is communicating the Father's heart in a broad spectrum for His children to hear.

And this is just one way of communication. Over the last few weeks God has used the following ways to communicate with me:

•His still small voice

•Scripture

•The counsel of a trusted friend

•Several devotionals 

•Ian's post about Lent

•Your comments on our blog

•A song on K-LOVE (a single line carried the same message I felt God impress upon my heart that morning.

•Waking up with a particular song repeating in my mind (this usually tells me what God wants me to focus on that day)

•A dream in answer to a prayer for specific wisdom and insight

•A prophetic word confirmed by the "coming soon" sign in the front yard of my CA house.

And there are even more that I could draw upon from past events and experiences. In the Bible you will see God communicating through dreams, visions, animals, rainbows, people, and more. Very often these come in combinations. For example, I will sense God's heart in my morning quiet time, telling me something specific. Then I will get a devotional or an email from a friend on that very same topic. Then on Sunday, my pastor will speak on the very same subject.

Sometimes it can be very clear to us, like a friend reaching out saying God put us on their heart and they just want us to know they're praying for us. What they don't know is that very morning we cried out to God for help because something in our life has just fallen apart. Can you relate?

Or you sense God leading you in a direction to do something that is way out of your comfort zone. Then suddenly the training, the invitation, or the steps to move forward are presented to you in an undeniable way that you know deep in your spirit that is the next step.

Lynn has shared how Mylar balloons have shown up for her and even her husband with a word so specific you just can't miss it! Tiffany shared on my Tuesday post about fortune cookie messages, which I've experienced too. (God has confirmed every one of our major moves with a cookie message. I just giggle and enjoy God’s ways.)

God has even used feathers for many of us. Sometimes these can push the boundaries of what we are comfortable with, but nothing is off limits for God to use. However, it is up to us to test what we hear and discern against the truth of God’s Word, to prayerfully consider and ask God for confirmation if we’re unsure, and to discern the source (spirit) of the word as Scripture tells us (1 John 4:1). 

The most important key to hearing God's voice, my friends, is your relationship with Him. Our intimacy with God is what opens our eyes, ears, heart and spirit to discerning, hearing and recognizing when He is speaking to us. Thus the more we seek to know Him and spend time with Him, the more you will hear Him and recognize when He is speaking because of the past experiences you are building upon.

Our daily time with Him isn't about fulfilling a duty. It's about building a relationship with our Father God, our best friend Jesus, our comforter Holy Spirit so that we KNOW Him, recognize His presence and voice, and can follow and receive from Him. 

We won't get this perfect every time. It's a trial and error learning process for sure. And thus why I so diligently (and vocally) express the importance of journaling. But it is worth the effort, my dear friends. At one dark point in this shoulder recovery the Holy Spirit told me to reread my journal. I did and was reminded of all the things God had spoken to me recently and was greatly encouraged.

I hope you’ll share in the comments how God has been speaking to you these last two days AND continue to keep a log for a couple of weeks—I have a feeling Abba is going to give you some very special words and confirmations that will increase your faith to hear more. 

Next week I will share a couple stories of how God used imagery to show me very specific details for a person I was praying for. Trust me, this blew my mind completely, yet the facts were undeniable…

And now, SUMites, let’s pray. Father God, we are Your SUMites and we stand humbly before You with a burning hunger and desire to hear and see You more. Lord, You created us to be in an intimate relationship with You, to walk in friendship with You as Abraham did. You created our senses to perceive not just the natural but the supernatural as well. Give us eyes and ears to see and hear You. Increase our faith, Lord, to hear and recognize Your holy voice, presence and intervention more and more. We love You, Lord Jesus! Thank You for sitting at the right hand of the Father and interceding for us every moment. We are so grateful. Lift our hearts, minds, and spirit to the heavenly realms so we are focused on You. In the name of Jesus, amen!

Love you, my friends. So much. Praying for you!

My friends, I heard a speaker once explain that the belt was a crucial part of a Roman soldier’s armor, because it held the rest in place. I find that so symbolic in that it is the first piece of armor that Paul speaks of and because all that we are and do as believers is about who Jesus is and who He says we are. 

Let’s jump in today with our breastplate of righteousness and our shield of faith. These two pieces of our armor are so connected that I’ve had to truly sit and study these Scriptures to take it all in. Again, my goal is to show you how our identity in Christ is our armor. Take your time to study these Scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit to bring this truth home deeply to your heart and mind.

First, let’s look at righteousness. In the Greek translation, the word used is dikaiosynē, which means equity (of character or act); specially (Christian) justification:— righteousness. Further definition: in a broad sense: state of him who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God.

In other words, who we are supposed to be as His children. Take a look at these Scriptures. The first one is a “biggie.”

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. — 2 Cor. 5:21 

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. — 1 Cor. 1:30

If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. — 1 John 2:29

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. — 1 John 3:10

We are the righteousness of God in Christ, my friends. Say this out loud and truly hear it. Christ’s death made you righteous, and our righteousness from Jesus proves who we are. You don’t have to prove it, because He did it!

Now here’s where it gets really interesting. Our righteousness is necessary to our faith and our faith is necessary to our righteousness. They are inseparable.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” — Romans 1:17

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. — Romans 3:21-22

Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” — Gal. 3:6

and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith — Phil. 3:9

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ — 2 Pet. 1:1

Plus, our righteousness produces fruit, which includes our children and generations to come!

filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. — Phil. 1:11

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. — 2 Cor. 9:10

And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.— James 3:18

Now go with me just a little further in this imagery of our armor. Jesus is our truth (our belt), and His truth says were are the righteousness of God (our breastplate) and it is by faith in Christ that we are the righteousness of God (our shield).

Do you see how this all builds upon each other? Do you see how the belt of truth (Jesus) is the starting place? And soon we’ll see He’s our ending place. He is the beginning (Alpha) and the end (Omega) (Rev. 22:13) and our middle (the belt!) that hold us together (Col. 1:17).

It’s a mystery that is overwhelming in beauty, my friends, and boggles the mind. I’m still wrapping my brain around it all. 

Quiet Time Study:

If you’ve identified a fear and the lie behind it, find at least two Scriptures that speak truth. Renounce the lie, in the name of Jesus, and declare these truths out loud. Do this every day until you see your thoughts and your behavior now act according to the truth instead of the lie.

Community Question:

My friends, let’s dream a little here. Sometimes we feel like we could be so much more or do so much more if we were just a little freer. That’s actually another lie from the enemy to keep us ineffective. So, what is that one thing you’ve wanted so much to do that this lie (or any other lie) has kept you from going after it? We’re going to start living by our true identity and not by the lies the enemy has used to limit us. Amen? Amen!

Next week I'll finish up our armor/identity, and then I hope to share with you how I pray on my armor, which is also declaring who I am in Jesus, my identity. 

Lord, I declare today is freedom day for our SUMite community! We are ready to live by truth, righteousness and faith according to who You say we are. No longer will the lies of the world and the enemy dictate our choices, our thoughts, our faith, or our prayers! We are Your children, the righteous of God through Jesus Christ, filled with faith and truth! In the Mighty name of Jesus, amen!

Love you, SUMites! Have an amazing weekend filled with Jesus' peace and love.

Hello SUMites;

My friends, where do I begin? I have experienced tremendous defeat and disappointment in the last 30 days as well as amazing breakthroughs coupled with providential appointments, miracles and more.

The spiritual warfare has been relentless.

My friends, now I’m mad. I want to punch satan in the face and I promise you this, my mission for the rest of my life is to hurt the devil and destroy the demons.

But before I bring you to this place of war, what I found is that God needed to teach me about surrender. And man, can I just say, bummer! It’s hard.

Most of you know that I’ve been working on a new manuscript for over a year. My ability to write came under intense warfare last year through my son’s arrival in California. His family moving in, baby and all. His marital separation shortly after and what followed was six months of illness. Both myself and the baby. I kid you not, I was ill every two or three weeks, on the couch, in the doctor’s office, ill. I couldn’t pull myself out of bed let alone try to be creative and write. A entire year of warfare in one form or another was at hand.

But there are great answers to prayer even in the midst of spiritual warfare. My son’s wife returned to her marriage nine months later and the family is doing well. This was an outright miracle! Truly! Time marches on. I finally complete my book proposal and four chapters of the book.

Then on June 16, 2015 my manuscript was turned down for publishing. My title and content were now old and many new manuscripts with similar content and title were already in the process of coming to market.

I missed the window.

Disappointment doesn’t come near to describing the feelings that swirled within. I have learned to release offense and disappointment which I experience at the hands of people. But my friends, what do you do when you feel disappointed by God?

You see, I KNOW the Lord gave me the outline for this book. He spoke the title to me, clearly during my prayer time. I had several people, who don’t know me, speak prophetically over me about it. So, what do you do when you feel like God set you up for a great disappointment?

I truly struggled with trust for the first time in a long while. During the past year, I believed scripture promises and I spoke them over myself and my writing. I believe so fully that this book would come to market, that I had set a number of things in motion in support of the future book launch. I was that confident in my faith and in hearing the Lord.

Devastated, I wrestled with confusion. My prayer time faltered. I felt a terrible and great distance come between myself and God. I cried. A lot. I asked Dineen to pray for me. I tried to understand why God would tell me to do something then allow the warfare to ensue to keep me from completing the assignment.

Am I alone in this?

Anyone?

In this season that I experienced beginning mid-June through early July, faith was difficult and the core of my belief was challenged. But ………

Praise be to Jesus because He will not leave us in this place.

I have so much more to tell you, so stay tuned, as you have me all week. (Dineen is traveling this week) Get ready for some blondeness, some crazy antics, and get ready as we learn to deal with “our stuff.” Do you truly want to walk in freedom? Do you want to walk in powerful faith? Well stay tuned as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. There is something waiting at the end. And can I just tell you…. Everything is going to be okay.

Today, in my heart I’m moved to pray for you. Perhaps you are also dealing with faltering faith or great disappointment, let me pray for you. Tell me how to pray and the specifics in the comments. Because our God is not dead. He will bring beauty from ashes. We are on the road to learn all about His redemption of disappointment. We need to know how to walk fully in this kind of tried and true faith because it’s going to take every bit of our conviction to walk in the months ahead in this world that is growing increasingly darker and more evil.

I love you, SUMite Nation. You are more powerful than you know. You are braver than you think. God has not abandoned you. He will, in due time, explain all things. He loves you WAY TO MUCH to leave you where you are.

See you in the comments. Love you so much, Lynn And stay tuned because there is MUCH more to come. Hugs.

SUMite Nation:

Many of you participated in our Dream With God experience during Rosh Hashanah, 2014. If you didn’t, don’t click out. Because God is up to some crazy, neat stuff and our entire community is part of this.

I thought my “Dream List” was crazy, BIG and filled with impossibilities but this past week, I was praying with a few friends and Christi said to me, “You aren’t praying big enough.” Now SUMites, I’ve been praying:

2 million souls
2 million books
2 million dollars

This seems impossible to me.

But I was so taken back by Christi’s declaration that I spent two days and asked God, “What would you want, Lord? What do you dream? What should I be dreaming?”

Friends, take heed, when you ask God questions like this……. I went a laid down in the afternoon on Friday and over the next two hours God began to down load a vision that is so far beyond my mind that I couldn’t think of it myself. I began to see schools…. Ministry schools, supernatural training of teachers, leaders and every believer who wants more of God. I saw houses of prayer in our valley spring up that will worship God 24/7 and people from all over came to receive prayer, healing and deliverance.

God said, “Two million souls is way too small. Lynn, dream and contend for ONE BILLION SOULS.” The harvest is rich but the workers are few. Pray to the Lord of the Harvest and train those to bring the broken, the demonized, the sick the proud, the poor into My House.” Pray for the resources. $10 million to start.

(By this point I’m in spiritual shock and awe.)

Then I heard a name or a type of another school that God was wanting. I keep hearing “Gregorian.” I don’t know what that means so when I woke, I Googled the word. There are many meanings such as our Gregorian calendar and it’s a name of a rock band. But what I saw that grabbed my attention was there was a Pope named Pope Gregory… He was a good Pope who was born 540 years after Christ. Now get this. He is the patron saint of musicians, singers, students, and teachers.

I about fell off my chair. The second school that God wants is a school of music… A WORSHIP SCHOOL. For students and for teachers. Duh!!! Worship is at the core of my heart. I’m happiest when in worship. Sometimes I’m soooo blonde! Sheesh!

Gang, I’ve been humbly contending to just get my next book approved by the Publishing Committee. (Which I still contending) But I’ve been dreaming way too small. I serve the God of the Universe of all time and eternity. And He can do this.

Do I have a clue how? NO. But I believe right now He is connecting me with people who have connections who will share His vision for the future of His Kingdom. I can’t wait to see how this all comes together.

On Friday, the Lord told me to write this down. It is my vision for my future and I’m to share it, read it often, keep it at the forefront of my prayers and thoughts. So here it is. I will post further in detail in a new website I’m going to launch soon.

Okay, so NOW I say to each of you my SUMite brothers and sisters. Did you dream with me last fall? If you did, have you checked your lists lately and thanked God for His faithful fulfilments? At this time also renew your prayers for those dreams yet to come to pass.

Right now, I believe the Lord is calling all of us to once again write down our dreams, our vision, for our purposes to bring His Kingdom to earth. So, right now make it plain. Go into your quiet time. Ask God again to dream with you. No, to give you His dreams!

Write it down. Share what pops into your mind right now in the comments and make a public declaration of what and where God is leading you. We are walking in an anointed time and I ABSOLUTELY believe our community was born for such a time as this.

I love you so much. I can’t wait to read what the Lord is placing on your heart. Let’s dream BIGGER SUMite nation. There are a billions souls waiting to experience the love of Jesus, His healing, freedom and the abundant life. End of days are upon us. Let’s bust out the truth and bring it to our world who needs to experience perfect love.

See you in the comments. Share any and all that the Holy Spirit is impressing upon you. Nothing is too weird, too big, too great or outlandish. Love you, Lynn

Here is the link to the original post: Dream Big.

PS. My Biggest dream: My husband and family meet and fall in love with Jesus, The King of Kings!

My friends, we have some exciting news to share. Starting today, Lynn and I will be part of the myKLOVE Mobile App line up of challenges and resources. We would love for you, our SUMite family, to download this app and join us there. This is a new audience for our community to reach out to and share the love and truth of God's presence and love working in mismatched marriages. 

The link to download this app on your smartphone is at the end of this post, but let me first tell you the story of how this amazing thing happened. I share this story in my new book I'm working on but I want you, our SUM family, to hear about it here. This was a breakthrough for me in my faith walk, my friends.

You see, I'd been praying for this for a long time, for our ministry to somehow be featured on K-LOVE. I'd even written it on my dream list. I love this station. My girls and I have listened to it for years. I've supported Air-1 financially in the past and now support K-LOVE as it has ministered to me in my life these last few years in a great way. 

Trish Fuhlendorf, who has written guest posts for us, helped me connect to their rep for the CA area. This dear woman, Edee, worked up a proposal for us and even recommended the app over the website as she felt our ministry would reach more people there.  

My friends, I so wanted to do this but the cost was prohibitive. I'd put away a small amount of funds from my design work, but it just didn't seem enough. And in the midst of this, specific people and ministries I care about were coming forward with needs and the Holy Spirit was nudging me to support them. So I did and watched my balance go down. Each time I prayed in trust for God to provide the funds we needed to do something on K-LOVE...one day.

I let Edee know this too. She completely understood and asked if it was okay to still tell their team about our ministry here. Of course I told her to do so with the promise that we here at SUM would love on anyone they sent our way. That is our heart here, SUMites. We love all who come and share the hope Jesus has given us.

One more ministry need presented itself—a friend and her family planting a church in a country predominantly Muslim. I prayed and pondered for almost a week. My funds were almost gone. But the question became, was I truly willing to trust God completely for this? I sat in front of my computer and prayed as I sent the money to help. I told God I would trust Him to provide what we needed. 

Are you ready to hear what happened next? 

The very next day Edee called and left a message for me. Their team was moved by our ministry and wanted to help. They wanted to share the SUM ministry with the myK-LOVE community at no cost to us. Free…a gift. 

My friends, I bawled. It was an astounding moment for me. I not only witnessed the truth of Luke 6:38, but had an important breakthrough. The truth hit me deeply that not only was God good, He was good to me.

Dear friends, God's faithfulness and goodness astound me. Today I have the honor of presenting our first resource, “I Can’t Save My Spouse,” on the myKLOVE Mobile App. On May 4th, Lynn will present a Mother's Day challenge that is absolutely beautiful. We will be sure to let you know each time we're featured on the app.

Get the myKLOVE Mobile App: http://www.klove.com/ministry/myklove/)

SUMites, Abba is taking us to a whole new level. We've talked about this in the past, that He's been preparing us for what's next and now here it is. He is taking our "church without walls" into the world to minister and share the truths we have come to know, live and love in our marriages and in our faith lives. We have grown and overcome, we have shared our victories and breakthroughs, and we have helped others to find theirs.

God is so good. My friends, let's praise and rejoice in Him today. Let's make our Papa God proud.

I love you all so, so much. 

Hi My Friends, 

I want to give you an update about the letters and Dream Lists. I have read through all of them now -twice. I have been encouraged by your words of love. I didn’t expect that happy blessing to come with this experiment, but Papa, thank you for your children. I thank all of you for the words of encouragement. I was teary several times. 

I was also teary several times reading your letters for other reasons. Can I say, “THANK YOU” again for trusting me with some of your most intimate and at times painful parts of your lives. I have grieved with the Lord for some of you as you face incredibly difficult situations. I want you to know that Dineen and I are trustworthy. Nothing you shared brought a single thought of judgment into our minds. In fact, I was incredibly moved by God with a fresh anointing of compassion. 

Many of you were also so FILLED UP with hope. You have dreams and you wrote them out in the most beautiful love offering to our Lord. The words of your hopes and dreams were not lost for once second on the heart of Jesus. And Dineen and I carry your heart with us as well. 

I have begun to address the return envelopes and hope to get them posted by Monday, October 27. So watch for them. 

Now this is the important part. When they arrive don’t open them up until you are in a quiet place where you can read them uninterrupted. Open the envelope, place the anointed Dream List in your hands, on your lap, hold it. Let the glory of the Lord come upon you. Then read the list over and let your dreams come to life once again. 

Pray. 

Ask God again for His blessing and favor upon your dreams. Ask Him to show you where and when to move into some of your hopes and dreams. Many of you will be prompted immediately to do something in pursuit of your dreams and creativity. Don’t ignore the Holy Spirit prompting but follow through. Others may find God starts to open doors or speak to you about your dreams in the coming days. Listen. Write stuff down. It’s critical to remember what God is telling you to do. 

Save. 

Keep this dream list in your Bible, underwear drawer, or in someplace safe. Go back to it and read it every now and then. Let the glory flood your soul every time you read it. 

Trust. 

As I am typing just now, I feel the great love of our Father for you. I feel a sense of peace that comes from knowing God has all of our dreams in His capable and good hands. So ask for the impossible. And let our Papa astonish you. 

I have one favor, as you begin to see God move you into these dreams, please write to me. Tell me about it. When a person, or perhaps it’s just me, prays with fervor and takes letters on trains, cars, and airplanes. When a blonde girl loves people and truly cares about their hearts, let her know when God answers. I will rejoice with you. Hugs.

Wow Oh Wow… The heavens opened this morning. 

On my walk n pray this morning God just started talking. And talking. And talking…. I was so overwhelmed by all He was sharing that I had to call Dineen while I was on the trail. 

What was He saying? I’m so glad you asked because it was all about you, Sumites. 

I’m going to write out what I heard. 

First I kept hearing over and over, humble and contrite. Humble and contrite. Humble and contrite. 

Then He explained. 

Lynn, I know you have talked to me a lot about these letters and lists. You have brought the people who wrote them before me. But I want to tell you how I feel about these men and women. 

My heart is moved with joy and great pleasure for these, my children. 

“Why Lord?” 

Because they have given me a sacrifice of great significance. 

“How did we do this, Lord?” 

In your culture today the devil has created a frenzied pace in life. The demands on people’s time and energy are beyond what I ever intended. Culture dictates, a do, do, do mentality and shouts that you are not valuable if not busy and productive every minute of your life. I hate it. 

It is a lie, Lynn. 

But these. These precious children of mine, they have taken time to sit down with me. They talked with me and then handcrafted a letter, a list of their dreams. They made an effort. An effort to stop and think about Me and what we, together might do in this world. Do you know how that thrills my heart? 

As they sat writing out their dreams in their precious and unique handwriting style, they were with me. I was with them. I watched their faces as they wrote the words and formed the sentences. I felt the stirring in their hearts as they dared to bring me into their lives to help them accomplish and see their dreams come to life. 

Lynn, I see this very act of writing these dream lists as I saw the very first sacrifice that was given to me. You know who gave me that precious sacrifice? It was Able. His gift was a gift of love, his first fruits, a willing gift of love. 

These dream lists are so much more to me than words penned on paper; they are a gift of great love. They are a gift from children who love me. They are a message that I have priority. That I am their Lord. That I am loved by them. They are birthed of a humble and contrite heart of which I find great, great pleasure. 

Lynn, today the angels sing! They sing because I have watched this SUMite Nation and I approve. I thrill over all of you. I adore you. I am Your God and Your King. I am your Father who loves you. And Lynn, you know when a Daddy loves His children, do you know what He does? 

“Tell me Papa.” 

He moves heaven and earth to give them the Kingdom.

Good grief SUMites. I have a lump in my throat. 

SUMites, God went on to tell me some other amazing things. He told me that He has something for Dineen at the conference. —Can’t wait to see what that is. 

Then God showed me something. I saw a picture of a Bible open and there was a person reading it. I could only see the hands as the right hand reached up to turn the page. Now this next part astonished me. When the page was turned I saw gold shimmering dust, glory dust, float from the page and onto the person who was reading. 

Again God said to me, “See Lynn, when you spend time with me reading from the Bible, My glory comes upon you.” 

Say what? I was immediately impressed how God takes great pleasure when we simply sit down with a “paper” Bible. Literally gold dust fell on the hands and arms of the reader. 

HOW COOL IS THAT? 

Approaching The Most Holy Day in God’s calendar tomorrow, I hear a calling to understand what God sees as humble and contrite. So as we fast tomorrow, look up these scriptures in a paper Bible and let His glory dust upon you. Let His great pleasure flow and give the angels even more reasons to sing over the SUmite Nation. 

I love you all so much. I love our God, His Son, Jesus and the Spirit that empowers us and makes us one. 

Isaiah 66:2 Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the Lord. “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word. 

My friends, God told me that it’s not too late. You can still sit down and handwrite your dream list. You can still mail it to me if you want to but it’s not about getting it to me. This is a sacrifice of love that is between you and our Papa. Make time to dream with Him. You won’t regret it.

It’s Wednesday and time for another post. Yikes. I haven’t had time to respond to all of the dreams that were posted in the comments on the September 23rd post. Please be patient with me as I want to post a reply comment to every one of them.

So today, I am only leaving you with a few random thoughts to consider. On Friday, I’m expecting our Lord to whisper again as He often does on the Day of Atonement.

Here is my randomness and in no particular order:

• I do NOT believe in a name it and claim it gospel. What I do believe is God places gifts and dreams in each of us. Satan steals our gifts and dreams and in this season of Rosh Hashanah we are silencing the lies and reclaiming what God has given us. (BTW, no one has complained to me about me teaching a name it and claim it gospel. I just felt like I wanted to be clear regarding the intent on this series. Thanks for listening. *grin*)
• The letters, cards, list are rolling in. So many, many of us have similar hopes and dreams. And so many are hopes, dreams and prayers that do not benefit us in any way. They are selfless hopes and prayers for other people that we love. SUMites are kinda cool that way.
• Here’s a photo:
• 
• I emailed Bill Johnson yesterday. Jesus it’s all in Your hands now.
• Scripture verse is from Dineen today:

“Look at the nations and watch—
    and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
    that you would not believe,
    even if you were told. —Habakkuk 1:5

More than anything, I hear the Father’s urgency during this season. He wants us to just spend time with him and to get to know Him more. He wants us to open hearts to allow Him to know us deeply, intimately. His great desire for us is to experience His love, peace and joy. But we must do our part. Part of it is obedience, part of it is silencing the devil and the lies, embracing truth and having even just a tiny bit of faith, a mustard seed amount, and step into the next season and adventure He has planned.

I pray that the entire SUMite community will rise and step into their inheritance, claim the power, love and our identity as His beloved child.

Then we, The SUMites, will represent Him well.

See you Friday.

I believe in the power of fasting. If at all possible, please plan to fast from sunup to sundown on Saturday. I’m convinced you will hear from God.

And today is the last day to mail me your dream list:

Lynn Donovan
43952 Barletta St.
Temecula, CA 92592

Gang,

The Dream Lists are arriving and I know more are on the way. In my head I saw these lists as I prayed over them and placed them before the Lord. They became shimmering with gold dust as they were anointed with power and the purposes of God.

I am taking these lists with me and Dineen and I will pray over them and then have them with us at the Open Heavens Conference. It is our goal to ask Bill Johnson to lay hands upon them for anointing. How cool is that. We will see if Jesus works that out for us.

But it’s neither me nor Bill who will dust them with glory. It is Jesus. He sees your heart and your yearning to serve His Kingdom. So let’s say that simple yes and let Jesus loose on this world through our hands and hearts. Woo Hoo!!  I can’t wait to see all that comes from this.

Day of Atonement

Yom Kippur 2014 begins in the evening of Friday, October 3
and ends in the evening of Saturday, October 4.

According to my research this is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar year. This period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is also considered the Days of Awe and a time for reflection and repentance.

What I’m discovering personally are a couple of breakthroughs. One, the breakthrough in my creativity and second, the Lord has placed me on an interesting food diet for the next 40 days. Weird, yes, I know. (I will share more about this development later.)

MOSTLY I have heard undeniably that my new year will bring many new adventures but God has asked me now to get serious about obedience.

Yes, obedience.

I have a couple of things in my life that I’m holding on to that I know God has asked me to remove. They are little things such as eating and drinking habits that to anyone else, they are completely fine and normal. However, in my life, God knows they are holding me back from breakthrough and thus they have become sin and I am in disobedience.

Yikes. Please tell me I’m not alone in this mess.

Well, through this difficult year of brokenness I believe the Lord is showing me His patience but He has also shown me where I haven't taken ground from the enemy because I’m not living in full obedience. I want to obey. And there are days I do obey however, there are days I whisper to myself, “Oh, it’s not a big deal. This isn’t really a sin. It’s not like I’m lying or cheating….. It’s really not a big deal.”

Gang, this message here is mainly for me ------> If we want to hear God’s voice more, move in His Spirit, and see the miracles then we must obey His voice when He speaks.

If we want God to move in our dreams, then we need to be trustworthy to God. If He speaks to us and we know clearly it is Him asking us to do something such as a new step in our faith or removing sin from our lives, or leaping into our impossible dreams, we must be a mature believer who will obey when our King speaks.

The Day of Atonement is a time to take an account of your life. Bring areas of His calling and areas of obedience before the Lord and come into agreement with Him. So, let’s pray this week toward that purpose in our lives. Toward His purposes in our lives.

Ask God this week where you need to be in repentance and where is he calling you to be in obedience. This is what I’m praying for in my life right now. Because after this Saturday, October 3rd, I’m planning to see and be part of the astonishing and impossible workings of God.

How about you?

Also, consider fasting sunrise to sunset on Saturday. Don’t forget to postmark your Dream List to me no later than Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Lynn Donovan
43952 Barletta Street
Temecula, CA 92592

The obedient always obey God when He first speaks. —Smith Wigglesworth (1914)

One final note: I’ve struggled for many years with a specific area of obedience and I know how very difficult it is to overcome something that you like but is actually harming you. I have experience in this now and I feel a series forming in my mind to help us escape the hold our habits have upon us. So take heart. If you are wanting to be obedient but just don’t know how, we will be talking about that shortly. And get ready for some warfare because that is where many of us will find our freedom - finally! It’s going to be good!!!! Hugs, Lynn

Rosh Hashanah 2014 begins in the evening of Wednesday, 
September 24 and ends in the evening of Friday, September 26.

Do You Dream?

I know we all dream when we sleep. However, it is rare that I remember my dreams. I know that God speaks, even today, through our dream life. And many of you have an active night life *grin*. (Acts 2:17)

For many believers, because they are so busy during the day, they rarely sit quietly before God and listen, so it’s only at night, when we are still that we are positioned to hear the still small voice of God. (1 Kings 19:11)

But for me I can’t seem to recall my dreams very often. So what is really cool about that is that God wakes me up on occasion. Today as we move into the “New Year” I want to share what I heard God whisper to me a few months ago. And as I sat quietly before the Lord this morning, it was as though I heard Him shouting now that what I heard is not only for just me but also for you.

So a few months back, I woke from a sound sleep in the middle of the night. It was dark in the bedroom and for some reason I became completely awake and opened my eyes. It felt as though the Holy Spirit was standing over me for hours, waiting for my eyes to open and it was at that precise moment, that I heard, “You are My craftsmanship.”

Whoa!!!

I laid in bed staring at the dark celling, pondering this message. Craftsmanship? Craftsmanship? What does that mean? Is that in the Bible? Why are you telling me this Lord?

The next morning the Lord directed me to a specific verse. And wouldn’t you know, it’s in EPHESIANS CHAPTER TWO. I can’t tell you right now how profound that is to me. I have a post planned for next week about this very chapter.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (KJV) —Ephesians 2:10 

I’ve looked at the definition in the Greek and various translations and the word, workmanship, is defined. As a poem (poiēma —isn’t that cool), A work, a craft, Art, trade. 

We are God’s art, His Poem, His work, His craft. We are created for good works as the verse continues. My friends, each and every one of us was created…….

To create. 

We were born to create. To be creative, to dream up crazy, wild, imaginative stuff and create something beautiful, something useful, powerful, lovely, fun, transformative. We were born for THIS purpose. What I’ve come to know is that the great deceiver has stolen that truth from God’s children. The devil has lied to so many through a parent or teacher who said we couldn’t make anything worthy. Or that to be creative you must sing, dance or paint. 

Creativity is everywhere and I promise you this, you have been given a gift to create. It may be with drafting, with math and money, the ability to gather an effective team, teaching, decorating your house, parenting well. You may be able to sing, write or paint. These are all part of God’s great works that He created for us to do here on earth before the world began. 

So today as we pass before the Lord on this, The first day of His New Year, let’s dream. 

Let’s Dream Big.

I want you to take out a piece of paper. On the Top write Rosh Hashana 2014-2015 Dream List: 

Then start writing out every dream you have for your life. Nothing is off limits. Dream Big. Write down even the dreams you’ve dared not share with anyone. This year we are going to dream with our Papa and allow Him to stir many of these dreams into life in the next 12 months. 

Do you want to see if our God moves upon our dreams? Then get your paper and start writing. So far, I have 23 dreams written down. I will share a few with you to give you a taste that I dream BIG with God.

• Experience “The More” of God. I want more and more….
• Signs and wonders, gold dust and glory clouds and Your name honored among the nations
• Publish my next book – You Make Me Brave
• Second book -  Loneliness in Marriage
• Bring my body into full submission
• A cabin in the mountains
• Holy spirit encounter for my children
• See angels
• A great marriage for my daughter in the future
• Great marriage for my son in the future
• Financial ability to pay for college
• Understanding of the three keys I’ve received
• To dream more
• To laugh more
• To love everyone
• To never be offended again, by anyone.
• Lay hands on more people and watch Jesus heal them
• And mostly…. The complete and Holy Spirit baptism and salvation of my husband, Mike 

Okay, was this enough to get you started? Today or tomorrow, go to your secret place (your quiet place) with God and say: 

“Lord, I’m ready to dream. Show me what we might do this year. I cast off all doubt and I demand the silence of voice of the enemy that is trying to keep me from dreaming Your dreams. I choose to believe in You and Your Word that says I have good works for my life that You prepared before the world began.” 

Let’s create my friends. Many of you are supposed to write, to sing, to unite the church, to speak to nations, to draw. You are destined to raise children who will soar for the Kingdom, to plant and harvest, sow, reap. You are meant for greatness. Do you hear me? YOU ARE MEANT FOR GREATNESS! Let’s step out of fear or our comfort. Silence the lies and become the child, the blessed and creative child, of the Most High God. 

In Jesus name. 

Okay, get started. Leave me at least five of your dreams in the comments and I will pray in agreement over them. And my friends, I feel as though God wants me to hold your list in my hands in the next several weeks, to take them with me to the Open Heavens Conference and receive anointing. So write out a second list, (must be in your handwriting. I don’t know why but I sense it must be penned by you), mail it to me. I will pray with passion over it and take it with me in October and then send it back to you later in the month. 

What do you think? 

Okay, five of your dreams in the comments. See you there. Oh and pray for one other person and their dreams today. Leave them a comment and say, I prayed for you. 

Can I just say, THIS IS THE BEST FAMILY ON THE WEB. I love you SUMites. You are amazing and I am so excited to see where our dreams take us in the next few months. Love and hugs forever, Lynn

Lynn Donovan
43952 Barletta St.
Temecula, CA 92592