Mary Lindow ~ The Messenger Podcast
REFURBISHING EVERYTHING
Episodes
Saturday Aug 31, 2024
Saturday Aug 31, 2024
By Mary Lindow
Today’s podcast is going to be discussing a subject that a lot of people avoid because they honestly just don’t know how to approach it or, they are afraid to approach it.
Somehow people think that people like myself who have been serving in ministry to the Body of Christ for many, many years, and who are called by the Lord to operate or flow in a prophetic ministry as well, do this 40 hours a week. And, of course, people do expect you to be on call and ready to deliver a clear and concise word from the Lord, without considering the fact that you are not just simply a prophet or a teacher/minister, but you are also a human being who lives and breathes and moves and feels.
BEING IN MINISTRY ON ANY LEVEL IS NOT FOR THE WEAK OF HEART and truly should not be something to be considered or pursued by those who are looking for a platform for fame or to hold power over others. It is a call to hear the voice of the Lord, to study his word and to always be ready to give a good report of what he has promised or what he is requiring of his people.
So having said that, I am echoing the words and most likely also the thoughts of many disappointed and disillusioned believers right now.
I read a wonderful devotional last week from the Bible app. and it so resonated with where things are right now in our world.
It said,
“If we are paying attention, we will see a lot of “off” around us. I bet you have noticed things that appeared unjust. Cracks in the façade that show injustice is real.
People hurt. Bullies winning.
The right action is left undone or the wrong action brings harm.
When we pay attention, we have to acknowledge this world is gut-wrenchingly broken.”
Many of us will read a description of mistreatment and nod along from experience, memories bringing a fire to our chest. Others hear words about injustice, and it all feels distant. The deep desire to downplay evil stirs, perhaps even subconsciously.
Reading Habakkuk beckons us to acknowledge a foundational principle God reveals through Old Testament prophets—you have to see the evil. We must look around at what is happening in the world and see it for what it is.”
THE BIBLE PAINTS THE PROPHETS AS THOSE WHO JOLT US AWAKE AND FORCE US TO SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING AND WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT SUCH THINGS.
They are the watchmen signaling with waving arms, often to people wanting to look away.
“Look up and see the evil done against others”, the prophets said.
See the impact of your own choices on the vulnerable.
See the disobedience of God’s people.
GOD SEES THE WAYS WE’VE GOTTEN THINGS SUPER WRONG FRIENDS, and he’s coming to do something about it.
Get ready. We might not be paying attention, but he is.
It would be easy for some of us—and beneficial at times—to look away from the wrong done around us. We much prefer the aesthetics that way. Yet, there are consequences to indifference. We should not be surprised by discipline from the Lord if we choose not to pay attention to the discrepancy between our community’s actions and God’s righteous standard, just as the prophets warned in Israel.
FOR OVER 16 YEARS STEVE AND I HAVE ALSO BEEN INVOLVED AS PASTORAL COUNSELORS. Now, some individuals say that all pastors can give pastoral counseling to people. It’s a little different than that. Some people go to school and study psychology, which is the study of the mind, and how to understand the psyche of people and help them. This is a secular approach, and there have been good results and helping people resolve conflicts and often mental illness issues as well as addressing dementia and Alzheimer’s problems and more.
Pastoral counseling is where the Bible is the foundation, the Scriptures are the foundation of what you use as a basis to advise and counsel and hopefully help restore people. You also do have to take study courses and apply different techniques in counseling that assist you in being able to assess and discern, as well as understand some issues of mental health in order to be integral in your approach. Steve and I were supervised for over 15 years by a doctor of psychology, who was a strong believer, and we both took courses from different Christian counseling associations and college courses in order to broaden our ability to help people. We also had a brick-and-mortar counseling group with a dear friend, our friend who was the doctor of psychology and the practice supervisor for three years in our local area.
WE SAW THE LORD TRANSFORM, marriages, families, young people, and drug addicts, as well as dealing with many abused believers who had come out of almost cult-like, churches, or who were involved in environments and churches where they could not talk about abuse going on with the staff. Many in ministry callings came to us to share their hearts and gained helpful counsel as well.
LITERALLY A FEW WEEKS BEFORE COVID LOCKDOWNS BEGAN, our landlord who was also a believer let us know that he was going to sell his portion of the medical unit building that we were renting from him, and the Lord had begun to speak to Steve and I about the timing of where we were supposed to head into more private work as pastoral counselors and as mentors within that same timeframe. The state of Colorado had begun to dictate what licensed counselors were permitted to address, absolutely mandating that they were not permitted to talk about any kind of therapy, that assisted those with “different sexual lifestyles” if they wanted to be transformed or helped.
Steve and I strictly operate as Ordained ministers so we do not have to bow our knee to the dictates of a corrupt government licensure program. We still have to follow confidentiality laws as well as report any kind of devastating child abuse that we may hear in our counseling sessions, but it is all done ethically and legally, and with grace. When the lockdowns began the majority of our work took place over the phone or occasional zoom sessions. With great sadness our dear sister and friend and Counseling Center Supervisor Dr. Muskie, passed into heaven, due to complications with WuhanCovid19.
When You Counsel People, The Number One Thing
That Needs To Be Absolutely Evident Is That You Are Willing
To NOT Look At Everyone From A Lens Of What YOU Know,
But Rather From The Lens Of God’s Compassion, As Well As
Leaning In To The Discernment Of The Holy Spirit.
The majority of the people I work with are women who have been in abusive environments with either husbands, abusive parents or/siblings and with people in ministry environments (and I’m telling you there are many sexual predators who prey upon women right in church buildings!) as well as working with professional women who are pressured by men and women in their work environments.
There are also a lot of women who are very sensual, who get attention by teasing men hoping to cause them to fall. It’s a real deal! And they don’t just go after pastors. They will go after any man in a local body or church or work environment to get the attention that they hunger for when they missed out on being parented properly, or if they feel that something sensual makes them get the attention they need to feel loved. This often happens when there has been sexual abuse in their lives.
Pastoral counseling is based on getting to the root of the problem according to what the word of God says, and for a believer the importance of it is that we are willing to face the root cause of what causes us to be traumatized, bitter, secretive, or lie.
ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS TO COUNSEL IS A PERSON WITH AN EXTREMELY HARD, WOUNDED HEART, OR WHO IS EMBITTERED. No matter how much you try to show them the way and soften the pathway for them with the grace of God, there is often a back lash that always has a reason to explain why they are hurt, why they are hard, and why they choose to stay stuck in a hard place.
In Matthew 13:15 Jesus says:
“For the heart of this people has become hard,
With their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes,
Otherwise they would see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return,
And I would heal them.”
It is a humbling thing to admit that you are stuck or that you are in a hard place, or that you are dominant and mean and cruel to people because you are bitter over tough life circumstances that have happened to you, and so you put up a wall to protect yourself.
I have met Christians who justify the fact that they can bully and name call and yes, often swear at other people when they think they are trying to help them or advise them. They often get angry when they are confronted about their bad bullying behavior towards their children. If you ever hear a believer say something like “my child is a jerk”, or “you’re a little brat”, or “stop whining and get up or I’m going to give you something to cry about”, you can tell that there’s verbal abuse going on in their home.
Verbal abuse isn’t just cussing at someone although it is verbal abuse for sure! Verbal abuse is considered shaming, humiliating, paralyzing, and dominating over someone else verbally to the point that they are caused to emotionally shut down in fear. Unfortunately, I hear in the confines and confidential pouring out of hearts in my counseling sessions many who have been yelled at with scripture verses and shamed over not being perfect and obedient to God. This is called spiritual abuse.
Picking out specific Bible verses, and using them as a battering ram, or a knife that stabs into the heart of someone to get them to “obey" or to get them to “submit”, is absolutely vicious behavior and it is abusive. There’s no godly virtue in posturing to be a big shot, or to appear to be the person who can control a room with snarky snide remarks or a bunch of advice that everyone is forced to listen to.
This is called "insolent pride" in the Bible, and we always take that biblical view, but in the natural if you were studying a psychological viewpoint, this is called narcissism.
Proverbs 21:24 states
“Proud,” “Haughty,” “Scoffer,” are his names,
He who acts with insolent pride
INSOLENT PRIDE CREATES A SCOFFING, ARROGANT “KNOW IT ALL” ENVIRONMENT, where there is no ability to ever address the deep-rooted issue of control and abuse in a human being and how they use it towards others to posture. The need for power and control becomes “out of control”! But underneath that simmering rage there is someone who needs to keep everything tightly organized and under their thumb in order that no one finds about out the secret part of them that is either weak, wounded, or has done something they should not do to harm others.
WHY AM I SHARING THIS?
Well, we are living in a time where narcissism is actually applauded and stroked as a point of near genius! Insolent pride and verbal domination have become the way of communication in most social media groups. And, unfortunately it takes place in a lot of texting where people can say cruel or snarky things behind the protection of a telephone screen and slander others in one mass social media post or text! But to say it face-to-face and see the pain in someone’s face by the words they’ve spoken is a different thing isn’t it? And the other party suddenly being painted as a “rotten person” never gets a chance to tell the side of their story that may actually be the truth.
Every day we come across people who need to hear a kind word, who need to be lead to a place where they can get help or truth, or just simply be treated with a level of empathy. And, every day we come across people who may be predators, verbal abusers, spiritual abusers, and have no conscience about how they treat people.
IT IS ABSOLUTELY TIME FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST AGAIN TO READDRESS THE ISSUE, FOR THE NEED FOR EXTREME DISCERNMENT. Everything that the enemy could throw at us and our children is on full display right now, and if we dumb down safety and sexuality, safety and what our children watch on television or other tech devices, safety and what WE as adults watch, we simply embrace the narrative of the world, and we move away from scriptural goodness into a place that pollutes the ability to have good discernment.
When we don’t allow accountability to come into our lives, whether it be with a good and wise counselor, or with a group of trusted friends who are not going to take your information and spread it far and wide, we leave ourselves open to a secretive fantasy world, or a secret world of torment.
What do you do when you’re anxious or sad or depressed or fearful over the way your husband treats you or the way your wife beats you down verbally?
What do you do when you are at a stalemate because a spouse refuses to forgive or move forward into hearing the truth about some of the things they have done to get locked into bad behavior and resentment?
What do you do when you have a child that suddenly has become addicted to video games and it’s moved up into their adult life and they have no friends because their world is all in front of a screen?
What do you do when you know that a minister or a member of a staff in a church or a CEO of your corporation is secretly sexually preying upon individuals in their offices, and you could lose your job, because you know?
THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT ARE HARD TO ADDRESS,
BUT MUST BE ADDRESSED!
The world is feeling a tremendous amount of being unsettled right now by the great upset of realizing how easy it is to be controlled by a few tyrants, and yet people will cower and go about in denial, instead of learning how to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
I have worked with many brave women, who have prayed and fasted and done everything they possibly can to help work on their marriages, but their spouses have chosen to hunker down and gaslight and punish. No matter what approach is taken they become more verbally violent and are determined to blame everyone else.
Is this easy to talk about? Absolutely not!
But when you are scripturally based not only as a minister, but also as a pastoral counselor, you must bring truth into the light and help people become free from abusive environments and often “self abusive” environments. You must above all have confidentiality and trust level that they know will not be breached. Most pastoral counselors work on a sliding scale fee in order to keep their rates low for those who are working hard, sometimes two and three jobs, or a wife who has limited income because her husband tightly holds the reins of the finances.
WHEN YOU’RE A PASTORAL COUNSELOR, IT IS DONE OUT OF THE PASSION FOR CHRIST and therefore money and income are not the foremost driving purpose for your work. But, there must be an investment and a fee from those who are in counseling, or people tend to not take it seriously.
It needs to be considered per individual and what they are capable of handling. I often tell people their counseling is much more important than the two or three times weekly custom cup of coffee at their local coffee shop, or perhaps snacks in their afternoon candy bar routine. It really isn’t a sacrifice when you start doing the work to get yourself whole and healthy.
It becomes a lifetime investment.
Pastoral counseling is definitely a calling and not to be simply a moneymaker. However, many individuals still expect hours and hours of free counseling time, and rarely invest much into changing their lives if there isn’t some kind of financial accountability for them. Of course if you attend a local church and there is a counseling pastor on staff, that’s what they are there for! If you regularly go to that fellowship and support them, usually there is an option or opportunity for you to see a counselor on staff for no fee. But having experienced some of this in the past, I also know that people tend to jump from counselor to counselor or, Pastor to Pastor if they don’t want to deal with the root cause of their problems, and it can cause friction in a local body if there’s not respect for the position and the role the pastoral counselor is assigned to, by the Lord. Basically they want someone to justify what they are doing, and their bad behaviors.
I URGE YOU TO ASK THE LORD TO WALK THE CORRIDORS OF YOUR HEART. Are there things in your life that you dominate and hold over others as scriptural and “legalistic absolutes” and they have become nearly abusive because you refuse to listen to someone else’s heart on the matter?
One thing that I have often observed is that people become very hard and hardened because they want to win an argument, or something that has helped and changed them, becomes a law for them to use against others.
Now, before others think I’m going to lighten my approach to the Bible, understand this. The word of God is perfect and enlightens the soul. It brings truth to a matter and it does not waver.
Of course, there are absolutes in the Scriptures that God will not deviate from no matter how many people try to dilute or maneuver around them. But if we use a hammer and verbal abuse and shame and scripture to “scorch people” in order to prove a point, or to advise them then we are also biblically unsound and abusive.
FIRST CORINTHIANS INSTRUCTS US SO CLEARLY THAT LOVE IS WHAT?
It is patient.
It is kind.
It is not boastful, it is not arrogant, and it is not self-serving.
When the Lord said, come to me, all of you who are heavy, laden, weighed down and burdened, and I will give you rest, he meant that, because he knows we get heavy laden and burdened and weighed down, either by our own destructive behaviors and sins, or by the destructive behaviors and actions and sins of others.
There is also nothing more painful than when someone is in pain or sorrowful or going through a great loss or trauma, and another individual shouts, “get over it, move on”, or cracks jokes about the person in pain.
Yes, you will be around people who are chronically in pain or depressed, and it takes patience. It takes guidance, and it takes kindness to either help direct them to help, or gently tell them that you are not the person that is able to help them at this time, but that you will stop and pray for them right now.
You see, it takes humility.
Although there is a lot of reading material produced that uses the term “tough love” and a lot of books about boundaries that we can study, remember, if you’re coming from a scriptural perspective the ultimate goal of God is a Redemptive moment or a restoration if possible.
BOUNDARIES ARE NOT TO BE HUGE CEMENT WALLS WITH BARBED WIRE AT THE TOP BLOCKING OUT EVEN THE SUN.
Boundaries as a believer are there for when there is a conflict or a disagreement or a different viewpoint with another person. It’s a "time out" to go and think about it, to pray about it, check your own heart and see if there’s something that would bring about a form of reconciliation. And then, you try to come together and discuss the issue.
You can agree to disagree and not banish people!
Imagine how much Jesus disagrees with a lot of how we behave and yet he doesn’t banish us! He continues to wait for us to come out of our corners of hiding or corners of denial, and meet him again in dialogue until light comes and hope and help, bring a different perspective on our pathway of life.
I have worked with people through phone counseling sessions from many different places in the United States, and I have seen them grieve and open up and trust me with the deepest of their painful sorrows and things that are unbelievably sometimes even unbearable to mention. Slowly, but surely, a foundation of nurture and truth combined begins to chip away at the lie that they have believed and feel viewed as something no longer valuable or useful, or that they are worthy of value and are not to be abused!
For instance, if a young girl has been used and trafficked by a parent for most of their childhood and up into their high school years, once they awaken to this later in life, there is no way that anyone can accuse them of “choosing” to not face it!
There comes a time where the light of God shines brightly on the pain and the sorrow, and they need to be led out into a place where they can express the grief, the anguish and the huge loss of childhood innocence, and yet be brought to a safe place before the face of God, through strategic dialog, planning, or behavioral changes. Gently addressing the people that they affiliate, with until they see the light and the kindness of God. Until they can see themselves as the original creation God had planned them to be.
NOW, DON’T GET ME WRONG.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE WHEN THE LORD OPENS DOORS FOR ME TO SPEAK AND MINISTER, and if so called to, I to do operate in the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom when I am involved in these environments. It is hard work to study and prepare in prayer for when you are assigned these opportunities to speak and minister publicly. But, this behind-the-scenes work of mentoring and pastorally, biblically guide people with counsel, is one of the hardest things that I think I’ve ever done, and yet the most joyful and rewarding when you see the lights come on and the light enter and the chains of the enemy become literal paper and fall away. The person finds the joy and laughter and finds that God has a glorious plan for them.
Sometimes it can be a rather rapid process, but the majority of times it is a steady, consistent work, until they find their wings and fly. Every time I work with someone I think about how long it takes for Jesus to help us to find our way, and he often narrows the path of our relationships and friendships in order for us to not only be safe, but to also be on a pathway that is not crowded by those who choose to not do the work that God is asking them to do, in order to be transformed.
If we look at the parable where the seed falls on the ground, there are those who will stay stony hearted and will not take in water. They will not receive nourishment. They choose not to grow, and the sad thing is that their seed is pecked up on my other predators.
I CAN TELL YOU HONESTLY THAT ALL OF THE PROPHETIC WORDS SPOKEN OVER YOUR LIFE DO NOT CHANGE
THE HARD WORK IT TAKES TO GET YOUR LIFE ON A PATH WHERE THEY CAN COME TO PASS.
The Lord is so good to give us future promises, but with those there’s a requirement for action.
Don’t wait until things are so bad and you have a minefield of heartache and debris left in your wake that you have to now clean up.
Don’t be afraid to ask for the help that you need, and find someone whom you can work with and feel safe with, and get on with allowing God to create a new clean heart and renew a right spirit within you.
If you have addictions to pornography or addictions to drugs or any other thing that causes you to feel driven towards it, the Lord wants to offer you freedom and restore you to a place of peace and no longer walking in fear.
The greatest counselor that we can have is the Holy Spirit; the scripture says the Holy Spirit is a counselor.
Now, many people say, “Well! I can hear from the Lord for myself, and I will let the Holy Spirit counsel me!”
The problem with that statement is that if we are already in trouble, or we are hiding something, or we have been abused and beat down, we can often dismiss the deep inner voice of the Lord telling us that we need to talk to others and be accountable and get help. Often the Holy Spirit will gently say to someone, “Go talk to so-and-so or go talk to your pastor or go talk to a counselor or a close friend, who is wise”. Yet pride or fear keeps us paralyzed and afraid to move forward.
EVERYONE SOMEWHERE IN THEIR FAMILY OR IN THEIR LIFE EXPERIENCES HURT, AND PAIN AND TRAUMA. Unfortunately, this is the nature of fallen man and the Earth is riddled with devastation because of it. But in John 10:10, Jesus himself said, “I have come that you might have life to the fullest!” He said that you MIGHT have life to the fullest! And the first part of that verse is, “but Satan comes to rob to steal to kill and destroy”. This is what happens to people in life when they are abused and traumatized!
Jesus offers a hand to us saying come to me all of you, who are very weary and heavy laden, heavy burdened, and I will give you rest so that you might have life to the fullest.
One of the simplest ways you can find help is to simply look in your area for a Christian counselor, and you can even ask for specifics and details. Those who are really dedicated to the call of God as pastoral counselors spend as much time in prayer and preparation before there counseling session, as they do IN the counseling session.
The word of God ultimately has the answers that we need, and the pathway that will guide us out of darkness into the light.
I AM IMPRESSED TO SHARE THIS PODCAST SPECIFICALLY
BECAUSE I KNOW THERE ARE THOSE OF YOU
THAT ARE LISTENING WHO ARE CRYING OUT FOR GOD
TO SHOW YOU WHERE TO GO OR WHAT TO DO ABOUT
SOME OF THE SITUATIONS YOU FIND YOURSELF IN.
He wants you to know it is not wrong to seek help and that counseling is not of the devil!
After all the scripture in Isaiah calls, Jesus, The Mighty Counselor! And again he speaks of the Holy Spirit as being our advocate, or one of our counselors, because they are in themselves three in one with the Father. But, the Lord gives the spirit of counsel and wisdom, and insight to those who are called to help others out of dark places.
Don’t hesitate!
Call someone, research someone in your area, or if you have a pastor or individual who is skilled in your church to help you deal with the specific kind of trauma upset you are dealing with, make an appointment and step forward. Not all pastors are skilled or qualified to help people who have been through traumatic sexual abuse issues, or who are dealing with parents who have dementia and Alzheimer’s. But, they can certainly pray with you and help also to direct you to the proper resource.
JESUS WANTS US TO FIND A PLACE OF PEACE AND REST IN HIM. His ultimate is to bring us peace and to draw us close to him.
If there’s anyone who has ever shamed you by telling you that, seeing a counselor is weak or shows that you don’t trust the Lord, just understand that that individual is also hiding something, or is extremely bound up in the fear of being led astray.
Some counselors are not a good fit and so you go to a different one! There have been times when I have worked with individuals and I have to lovingly let them know that I am not a good fit for their situation, or it becomes overlapped into situations where there needs to be another specialist who can better help them walk out an area where they’re stuck, and they need a Focused, Skilled individual to help them unpack, and unburden the deep pain that they are in.
THE SCRIPTURE SAYS HE WHOM THE SON SETS FREE IS FREE INDEED.
My prayer for those that are listening today is that you will open your heart to the Lord in prayer and ask him to help you to take the steps forward that you might need to deal with whatever it is that you are suffering over.
If you have been verbally abused by bullies in the church or those that may even say that they have some form of counseling skill, but they verbally abuse or shame or use harsh language in order to shock you, this was not the way God planned it. Try again!
Step forward one more time and ask the Lord to open the door for you to the right counselor. He will do it, and he will help you be free from pain, the hiding of abuse as a child, the difficulty of dealing with addicted or angry adult children, and those that are prodigal parents, or prodigal children.
Jesus has a plan and helping us to hand things over to him in his care when we’ve done all that we know we can possibly do, and we have apologized or repented for actions on our part.
Remember, nothing is impossible with God.
I have seen him turn situations around that seemed absolutely impossible! He can help us to stand firm in our faith and not hide in order to be people pleasers, or to cower under the pressure of abusive treatment.
OUR NATURAL HUMAN RESPONSE TO SHAME IS TO HIDE.
We hide from each other and hide from God.
This has been the case since Creation. The Bible describes how the first human beings responded to God when they had sinned and were ashamed: “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8).
FRIENDS, HIDING KEEPS US FROM HEALING.
Let’s all aim to be a compassionate, courageous community of believers. A community in which we support each other as we choose healing over hiding.
Let’s support each other as we ask God to grow, to change and heal us.
Let Me Lift You Up To The Father In Prayer Right Now:
Father, I thank you for those that are listening to this podcast today. I know it’s not an easy one and certainly not as stimulating and supernatural or as exciting as some, but it IS a supernatural work that you do when you bring us to a place of releasing pain and telling the truth about what has happened to us, or where we have done something to harm someone else.
Lord, I know you’re doing a great cleansing work and that you are starting with the body of Christ, bringing your judgment and your truth, and your light.
Lord, you said the days are coming when we will worship you in spirit and in truth. Lord, we can’t fully worship you when we’re not truthful with you, if we’re hiding and if we’re cloaking, so I pray that anyone listening today. Father anyone who is afraid. I pray that you tell them that fear is holding them back and that you would guide them literally by the hand and direct them to the proper counselor, to someone who has the wisdom to help unlock the pain, the history, the stories and the trauma that has happened to them, in war, in family, in abuse in school or a job. With an abusive Pastor, with an abusive Sunday school teacher.
The list goes on and on and you know every one of these events.
So Father I ask that those that are hearing this message will take courage. You will GIVE them the courage to step out and ask for help and I know you will do it.
You will help them if they will simply step out, and I thank you for hearing this prayer from my heart for them, in Jesus name.
Duplication and sharing of this writing is welcomed, as long as the complete message, Website, podcast link and information for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You! 2024
"THE MESSENGER" - Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
www.marylindow.podbean.com
If you would be so kind and assist Mary helping her to meet other administrative needs such as website and podcast costs, or desire to bless her service in ministry with
Spirit-led Love gifts or regular support:
Please JOYFULLY send your gift in the form of:
► Personal Checks ► Business Checks
► Money Orders ► Cashiers Checks
To:
His Beloved Ministries Inc.
PO Box 1253
Denver, Colorado 80614
USA
Or feel free to use our send a tax-deductible gift with
Pay Pal paypal.me/mlindow
Under the name of - His Beloved Ministries Inc.
ALL gifts are tax-deductible under
His Beloved Ministries 5013c non-profit status.
We are financially accountable
and have been in full compliance since 1985.
Thank You!
X0b4EOoOzHFtDNYJun0d
Monday Apr 08, 2024
Monday Apr 08, 2024
by Mary Lindow
We Are On The Cusp Of Probably One Of The Greatest Days
Of The Dismantling Of Religious Behavior And Abuse
In The Charismatic Church
And Evangelical Church To Date.
In the days ahead we’re going to see many people hungering for that sacred time in worship where there is a waiting upon the Lord, and in the honoring of his name. Clearly we attract the presence of the Lord when we are focused upon “The Presence”, and not upon the performance.
We shouldn’t be surprised if like Jesus, we collide with torrents of political & religious and cultural expectations. So, on a daily basis, our purity of vision to move toward the Kingdom will also cause us deep discomforts that will ask us to set aside our preferences, and our convenience.
This pressing towards the kingdom will ask us to say things that we’d rather not say, to go places that we’d rather not go, to give away things that we’d rather keep.
And in this discomfort, each time we have an opportunity to cry out to God:
“Where did you go? Why does pursuing your kingdom of abundance and peace not always feel like abundance andpeace?”
I’d like to offer these possibilities to ponder.
In every way,
He’s purifying your heart.
WHAT IS THIS OBSESSION THAT IS BEGINNING TO DRIVE PEOPLE AWAY
FROM RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES AND STRUCTURAL PROGRAMMING?
Is it fatigue from fleshly efforts?
Is it weariness with well doing?
Or!
Is it the beginning of a matter?
A. W. Tozer once said,
"Self Is The Blurred Veil That Hides The Face Of God From Us.
It Can Be Removed Only In Spiritual Experience, Never By Simple Instruction."
The Lord is allowing man to have the joy and shock of coming to the end of his means of prodding and producing until he falls into a heap at the feet of the One who has the key to the place of hope and rest!
He. The King of tranquility and Divine Purpose has the place of Sanctuary carved out in a definite place.
THE PLACE OF WORSHIP
"But the time is coming--it has, in fact, come--when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter."
"It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself--Spirit.
Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.” That is all from John: 23-24
APOSTOLIC ORIGINS BEGAN WITH THE DEVOTED AND YET WEARY DISCIPLES OF JESUS COMING TOGETHER IN A "PLACE" OF WAITING, RESTING AND WORSHIPING
Those waiting in an upper room.
Hiding from the world and its pressures and threats!
Waiting.
Worshiping.
REMEMBERING the past things they had experienced while walking with Jesus.
They were asking the heart questions of,
"Why are we here?
What are we waiting for?
What is this all about?"
My Brothers and Sisters, We are Again...
...In the same place.
WE ARE SIMPLY RESTING IN THE KNOWLEDGE
THAT THE LORD HAS BROUGHT US
TO END OF THE OF THE PAST WAYS
AND FORMS OF MAN.
He is preparing the way of His Power with a place of personal introspection and heart searching until we see that we must be truthful in our worship of Him. We must come into agreement with His Spirit and the way that He desires to move among those who know Him and among those who do not.
Old things are passing away.
LOOK! He does a new thing!
New to us,
BUT Not To Him.
AS WE BECOME OBSESSED WITH THE IDEA OF NOTHING TO PERFORM,
nothing to take to task, nothing to self generate but only to "marinate" and saturate in, we see the promises He has made begin to be realized. We must bring a mind, which has been emptied of old prejudices, old traditional theology, human philosophy and false data.
A mind so fully humble and empty that the Lord can reveal to it great, bright depths of truth and beauty, and floods of spiritual understanding that we have never dreamed of before! (Amplified Bible)"Call to Me and I will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish.'-Jeremiah 33:3
The Author Francis Frangipane stated so powerfully , "We must bring hearts that are emptied of our abundant earthly attachments and sad, “holier-than-thou” sentimentalism, old friendships, old day intuitive loves.
We must bring empty hands that have handed over our own works, all planning strategies and “string pulling” for self.
Hands and hearts that hold onto no toys, and to no Treasure. Hands that bring no human demand or bargaining skills.
Hands so empty that they can grip firmly the Sword of the Spirit, the cross, or the tool that God may put into them."
God fills our nature and fills our lives in relationship to how they are emptied for Him. God knows our heart. He sees what we can’t see.
If we allow Him, He begins taking out all the impurities, emptying us of ourselves and filling us with Himself – so He can use us as a vessel of honor.
SO OFTEN AS OF LATE,
IN PLACES OF MEETING AND GATHERINGS OF HUNGRY SAINTS,
THE HOLY HUSH OF HEAVEN HAS FALLEN
WITH SUCH SWEETNESS AND SIMPLICITY.
All the fancy trappings of "noisy worship strategy" pale compared to this heavy rich perfumed presence that descends on those who will wait upon the Lord and grow stronger.
There is no need for airy or trendy teachings and thoughts. No need for the pious and well-oiled speeches implying the way to go. ( Because they say so!)
Blessed are those who are willing to release all that is not THE Kingdom in them, who let their hearts be purified, for they shall see God himself—God’s life being birthed in every challenge. God’s kingdom coming on Earth as it is in heaven.
As we wait.
Humble.
At His feet...
...He moves upon many within the Body to rise up and declare, to share, risk, expound and grow in the Grace of God, as well as in much Mercy.
You are right in the middle of God's process for you. You don't have to settle for God's second best because of somebody else's choices or your own. As you are being who you are in Him, you can do what you are supposed to do. You may have disappointments, but your life is His story with depth, adventure, suspense, surprising plot turns, and darkness that Jesus defeated. Be blessed as you understand more of His story that He is writing in your life.
1 Peter 1:5. "...Who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."
God surrounds you with His favor as a shield. You are shielded by His power, so that in every dark thing you experience, you can live large and strong.
God put you on earth in your exact place for His specific purpose, and you are living in that purpose, even when you don't know it.
Your soul may be grumbling and resisting, but you are living the story that God is ready to reveal to you.
God is a lot bigger than you expect Him to be. He's a lot bigger than your circumstances. He is the God of detail. He is deeply involved in the small details of your life
HEAVEN LONGS TO KISS THE EARTH AGAIN.
The King of Heaven is descending with an unexplainable and definite wave of stillness.
It is His manifested Presence.
In His Presence. His Sanctuary.
Is fullness.
Completion.
Needs met...
...And Joy.
COME. LET US BE MAGNIFICENTLY WRAPPED UP IN HIM!
"O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you;
My soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Thus I have seen you in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory."
- Psalm 63:1-2
Let's pray from Ephesians 1.
I ask that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion. And every name that is invoked not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. In the power of that name we pray. Amen.
NOW I ENCOURAGE YOU NOT TO BE AFRAID
WHEN THE EARTH IS SHAKING
AND STRANGE AND ODD THINGS ARE TAKING PLACE!
Unterstand, God is not weak.
He is not deaf.
He is not asleep.
But, he does have an extended power in mercy because he knows that when his justice and judgment is kindled and he moves, it is sovereignty complete and there is no turning back.
This is a time for us to do personal examination, and yeah, there’s a lot of stuff being shaken.
A lot of people have been warned, a lot of ministries have still chosen to hide things that are going to come out, because they chose not to go the way of accountability and repentance, and the Lord has to let it come to pass. He doesn’t want his sheep deceived, and he certainly doesn’t want them abused, but it’s also happening in individual lives.
If we’re looking to the church and if we’re looking to leaders to be our ultimate guide, then the Lord will allow us to have great disappointment and failures there.
EACH OF US IS TO COME BEFORE THE FATHER!
Jesus said how to pray, he taught us! He said to say, “My Father, you are in heaven, holy, holy is your name! Let your kingdom come, let your will be done, (which means in our lives and in others lives) like it is in heaven, and give us today our daily bread.
You see, we look forward to everything we want now down the road instead of accepting that today is enough, it’s sufficient.
So I encourage you to get still, get quiet.
Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
It says in the word whether you turn to the left or to the right there is a voice behind you saying this is the way, walk in it. (Isaiah 30:21)
It may not be pleasant, may not be popular, and it certainly may not be comfortable, but it is safe and it will keep you in a place where you are determined and at peace to serve the Lord.
REMEMBER, DON’T BE AFRAID.
Don’t listen to the frightening narratives, don’t give into the sounds around you telling you to be afraid because that’s the goal of the enemy.
Satan comes to bring fear and steal and rob your peace and destroy your trust in the Lord, and Jesus said, "I AM come! I am! I have come that you might have life, and have it to the fullest!' That’s John 10:10. And what that means is “might have life to the fullest”.
We have to choose to not listen to the world’s narratives, and trust me some of them sound really great! There are some great analytics out there, brillant minds. Brilliant voices, but if they don’t have the God breath, breathed on them, and they are not hearing from God accurately and it is nothing more than just a bunch of propaganda, or people trying to sell stuff, you’re going to get sucked into looking for answers and places that will come up empty.
The voice of God is big, but sometimes it’s very still and he wants us to discipline ourselves to get away from our phones get away from all the stuff, and simply bask and wait…
… Until he speaks.
I bless you today, and I look forward to our next podcast together. Goodbye for now.
Duplication and sharing of this message is welcomed provided that complete article, Podcast link and website information for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You! Copyright © 2024 " THE MESSENGER "
www.marylindow.com
KINGDOM PRAYER ROOMS
www.marylindow.podbean.com
If you have been impressed by the Holy Spirit to assist Mary helping her to meet other administrative needs such as website, video teachings and podcast costs, or desire to bless her service with Spirit-led Love gifts
or regular support:
Please JOYFULLY send your gift in the form of:
► Personal Checks ► Business Checks
► Money Orders ► Cashiers Checks
To: His Beloved Ministries Inc. PO Box 1253Denver, Colorado 80614USA
Or feel free to use our send a tax-deductible gift with
Pay Pal paypal.me/mlindow
Under the name of - His Beloved Ministries Inc.
ALL gifts are tax-deductible underHis Beloved Ministries 5013c non-profit status.
We are financially accountable and have been in full compliance since 1985 with Clergy Financial Advantage.
THANK YOU!
Tuesday Sep 25, 2018
Tuesday Sep 25, 2018
THE CHALLENGE BEGINS
"I AM RESTRUCTURING AND REFURBISHING EVERYTHING"
A Prophetic Insight For Today's Church
By Mary Lindow through the Holy Spirit
The Lord has shown me that there are a great number of Divine plans being drawn up and a re-designing going on in the lives of those called to move into the roles of Kingdom modeling of the Father's heart, the Savior's desire and the Holy Spirit’s purest functions in the Body.
"See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms.
To uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow.
To build and to plant."
- Jeremiah 1:10
A PHASE OF "REFURBISHMENT"
The Lord spoke to me in this time about His house of worship.
As we put first and out in front of everything else, the “becoming of safe shelters” and hearts of men surrendered to him as yielded vessels, there will be rooms re-designed by the "Master’s craftsmen" that will be filled with strategically planned prayer initiatives, music rooms equipped with "unpolluted spiritual headsets" to hear the songs of the Kingdom and then actually record and share them freely.
Church sanctuaries will become more like "family rooms" where multi-cultural groups become "one family" as they fix their eyes on upon the "fireplace" of the presence of the Holy Spirit and His Upper Room visitation type of power and might, accompanied by inspired teaching from God’s word.
"I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me,
And what the King had said to me.
They replied, "Let us start refurbishment."
So they began this good work.
~ Nehemiah 2:18
I AM RESTRUCTURING EVERYTHING
"Yes says the Lord! I Am restructuring everything in your lives that I have allowed to be taken and shaken from you! How can you be examples of My fresh demonstration in the earth with the worn out living of the past?
Those who continue to cling to the accolades of the past and bygone ministry meetings and services (even if they were recent) will receive a limited amount of new responsibilities until they realize that the past is... PAST!
Each day is a new day and needs a fresh approach to the fresh design template that I AM revealing!"
"The day for building your walls will come,
the day for extending your boundaries."
Micah 7:11
The unseen prophetic and travailing groups of individuals, who are being shaped into the fabric of my own weaving, are currently being made ready for a swift and dynamic change of stride.
What was once long and hard will become shortened and filled with purpose. Release of My grace and abundant mercy is coming into fulfillment as you end your cycle of instructions for this past season.
"My friends don’t be surprised at the painful things that you are now suffering,
Which are testing your faith.
Don’t think that something strange is happening to you.
But you should be happy that you are sharing in Christ’s sufferings.
You will be happy and full of joy when Christ shows his glory."
1 PETER 4:12-13
SHOUTS OF JOY
There will be shouts and tears of joy as heaven moves upon the hearts of wise, kingdom-minded saints, who have been given grave responsibility over heavenly blessed currency.
My sober, truth-seeking saints, will hear my voice and will not be moved by flashy pleas for glamorous support and promises of free gifts in return! No! They will be led by the counsel of my Holy Spirit to be vessels that release a steady flow into the hands of those ready to only build with the name "Jesus" on the final product.
The financial institutions will be dumbfounded as supernatural windfalls hit many believers, while worldly concepts and scheming only further muddy the waters of universal finance.
RE-ESTABLISH A NEW "HABITAT OF WORSHIP"
Allow Me to do this work of re-construction without hindrance or fear!
I will RE-ESTABLISH a new "habitat of worship" within each of My people who allow Me to walk into each room of their hearts, tearing out the embedded dirt, grime and staleness of passive and fearful living.
Accusing and harsh judgments, disrespect for others who have devoted their time in preparation, and -critical attitudes will be purged again and again in the hearts of believers who have yet to see those whom I lovingly call beloved and faithful, even though viewed as awkward or fragile in the eyes of the immature or worldly heart.
"All who belong to the Lord,
show how you love him!
The Lord protects the faithful,
But he firmly rebukes
everyone who is proud."
Psalm 31:23
A TIMELESS DESIGN
It is the day for each member of My Body to think of themselves as one Godly unit, ready to honor and edify each unique Master plan of their King.
It's the hour where building upon egos and entitlement is over and the conviction of My Spirit goes to work, until the knowledge of humility and eternal reward are viewed as the most perfect and timeless design.
"Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts,
Try to excel in gifts that build up the church."
~ 1 Corinthians 14:12
AN ASSURANCE FOR RELIEF
As the training in humility and gentleness of “heart-expanded compassion” are applied in your lives as friends of Me, your King, your souls will stop from striving and from chasing after lofty goals you set out to accomplish in your own strength.
You will learn to listen to the wisdom and warnings of others in simplicity and in humility. In gentleness you will sincerely approach one another as I the Lord do to you. Although I am the wisest among you, I put no heavy yokes or shameful methods of performance upon my children.
I simply yoke them to Myself in a promised rest when they yield humbly.
"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
For I am gentle and humble in heart,
And you will find rest for your souls."
Matthew 11:29
A PROPHETIC WORD CONCLUSION:
" Hear Me! - Cries the Spirit of Holy Grace and Mercy!
I desire to move upon, in, and through each of you. Not one of you alone can endure the onslaughts of evil by standing aloof and silent. Nor can the most vocal of gifts among you clearly communicate all that I long to express.
Until each one is willing to step into the Holy place of pure relationship with Me and with one another, waiting, crying out in prayer, Yes - even waiting until I come and refresh, then those ready for training and release who are waiting in the wings will not fully come forward.
Until it is imprinted into your heart that this segment in time is for the saving of the lost, the redeeming of the wasted, and the release of the power of My glory, you will be so very frustrated by the heaviness that continually harasses your soul.
What I authorize, I protect.
Be certain that you have heard what I am saying.
I am fully aware of the weariness and fatigue you have been experiencing. Heavier than anything you can recall from the past.
“Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering,
As though something strange were happening to you!”
1 Peter 4:12
There are many others globally who are also still wrestling out of the cocoon in newness and are suffering also. PRAY FOR THEM!
Conflict will be a normal disturbance in the days ahead. Unless you harness the power of consistent prayer and train yourselves in regular gatherings of prayer and worship together, you will shrink back into serious doubt, anxiety and dread when the trauma of warfare attacks!!
GIVE VOICE TO MY SPIRIT!
Awaken your silent tongue and give voice to my name, My power and My Kingdom Solutions! No resistance executed against you will ultimately succeed! My Spirit longs to broadcast wonders, to decree Justice, and to destroy darkness with your lips proclaiming from the spirit.
"So is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
But will accomplish what I desire
And achieve the purpose for which I sent it."
Isaiah 55:11
Speak out in truth and in praise and I will step into your midst with the peace you have been craving and seeking for. Quickly! Enter in before you make decisions and exchange ideas with others who might dilute what I am speaking to you!
When I am given My rightful place of honor and reverence…
… Then I will speak and give you clear vision and direction."
"In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning
I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. "
Psalm 5:3
Duplication and sharing of this writing is welcomed provided that complete message and website information for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank you! Copyright © 2018 "The Messenger " ~ Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
www.globalprayerrooms.com