​Love you all, praying for you,
 
I just love God’s Word.  It tells you when you’re off, when you’re upside down.  And it tells you what to do.  Romans 8:24:  “For in this hope we were saved.  But hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what he already has?”  A promise is hope.  If you don’t have a promise, there’s no hope.  Do you hope in that promise?  Do you believe it?  What He said?  Then your hope is sure.  A promise fulfilled is a blessing, not a promise, an answer, a harvest.  Its not a promise if you already received what was promised.  It’s whatever that promise guaranteed… provision, strength, wisdom, healing, direction, revelation, understanding.  A promise is a guarantee in the future.  Some promises are for a set time, other promises have no set time.  A set-time promise, we wait for that time (in hope).  An unset-time promise, we wait for His timing (in hope).  Both are hope, both are faith.  The stronger your faith is, the more sure your hope.  And your words determine your faith, not God’s Word.  His Word is absolutely true.  It will build your faith, but your words determine it.  The question is:  Do your words agree with His Word.  If they don’t, your faith is weakened, and what little you have (which is all you need) will waste away, be ruined.  If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. (Isa 7:8).  So be sure to soak in His Word, so your words match it.  Your moment of truth, is in your words.  If they are set on His Word or other words, different words – someone else’s words other than God’s Word.  Never let your own words, be different from God’s word.  Why curse your seed, why nullify the promise?   I rejoice in your promise as one who finds great spoil.  If you’re rejoicing in a promise – like you already received the fulfillment of it… you’re not wondering if it will happen, or when it will happen.  You’re getting a cash advance on your paycheck – in your spirit.  A cash advance on the celebration!  You’re rejoicing now, like you will then!  David encouraged himself in the LORD, and He rejoiced in God’s promise, like He would if it came right now.  He said He would rule on the throne of His father David, forever.  And then He gets crucified by the Romans.  Would you doubt His promise?  It sure looks like that one failed.  So much for that promise… What do you believe when His promise fails?  Can you at least wait until Sunday morning?  For the first Easter ever?  Then your eyes will see, what could only so far be seen in faith.  He has never failed on His promise.  Not one.  Is it taking a long time?  Abraham waited twenty-five years, only to have God tell him to sacrifice His son. Would you believe His promise?  God told Isaiah within sixty-five years this powerful enemy that threatened their destruction will be no more.  There’s something bigger than you at work.  God’s plan!  His promise is sure, He has never failed one.  Build your faith so your hope will be sure.  Rejoice in His Promise like it’s already happened.  Think of God’s love for you for even giving you one?  Who said He had to do that?   God, we thank you that you are faithful!  not one word of your promise has not been fulfilled, or will not be fulfilled, You are a God of your Word.  If you said it, you will do it.  And we believe you, forever. If we see it in our day, or if we die in our faith.  You will surely fulfill what you promised.  We rejoice in you, and we rejoice like we have received it.  Because as soon as you said it, it was already done.  Time just has to catch up, second by second, and minute by minute.  Meanwhile, we’ll be rejoicing! 
 
Love you all,
dad

​Love you all, praying for you,
 
I just love God’s Word.  It challenges you.  What you always thought, or were always taught. and if you hold onto those things closely, it could offend you.  Have you ever heard people tell you to dream big?  “Because dreams turn into goals, and goals turn into plans, and plans turn into action and the diligence required to accomplish anything, so you make something of yourself.  So dream big, if you fall short, at least you came close… at least you did something… nothing was ever achieved that was not first conceived.  What the mind of man can conceive, it can achieve.”  Are you familiar with that sermon from the lions of the world, the dream biggers, the millionaires, the world changers, the money makers?  Have you ever considered what God thinks?  I considered, and then remembered the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instruction to his disciples on big dreams and goal setting… Hmm, wait a minute, it wasn’t about that.  So I looked for that sermon - from Jesus to His disciples… about dreaming big, and setting goals.  But I couldn’t find it.  He never taught it.  What is a dream? A mental picture that affects your subconscious when you’re asleep.  Sometimes God appears to you in a dream, other times they are just a hodge-podge of thoughts or experiences, the movie you watched last night, or the pizza you ate…  or even attempted intrusions into your thoughts and heart, that don’t come from God at all, but from the enemy of your soul.  But those are not the dreams we’re talking about – these ‘dream big’ dreams are dreams when we’re awake, our own imaginations and machinations – conjuring up greater ideas.   But what if they could actually become just selfish ambitions in disguise? Jesus never taught on goal setting, or dreaming.  But He did teach on following.  In fact it’s all He ever did.  He followed His Heavenly Father.  The first call of his disciples was not to dream, conceive, or achieve.  Just, “Follow me” and I will…  Not dream big so you will.  The problem with dreams, they can be deceiving.  Like your heart is deceitful above all things…  It can fool you.  Misguided intention, which corrupts implementation.  You could dream things God never had for you, and end up on a twenty year wild goose chase, with nothing to show for it but a mouth full of feathers.  God actually warned about it.  James 4:13 - “Come now you who say today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there and make a profit. Why you don’t even know what will happen tomorrow, (implied, much less a year from now).  Instead you ought to say, Whatever God’s will is, that is what we will do.”  David said, I don’t occupy my mind with things too wonderful for me. (Psalms 131:1) Some of the crowd surrounding Jesus got to dreaming big.  They tried to talk Jesus into their dream of Him replacing Caesar.  Now that’s a big dream, nothing bigger than becoming ruler of one of the greatest world powers in human history – the Roman Empire.  And Jesus certainly had the chops to do it.  If he could feed thousands from a lunch box, and raise the dead, who could ever defeat that army?  But that was not what He was called to.  Jesus didn’t accomplish what He dreamed, He just listened and obeyed.  He was a seeker, not a dreamer.  Seeking the will of His Father in Heaven, and doing it completely.  The world would think that would limit you.  If you don’t dream, how will you accomplishing anything?  How will you make something of yourself.  Jesus knew better.  God’s plans for you are so far more than you could ever dream or imagine – it’s not even close!   God said,  No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.  And love is clearly and simply – obey.  John 14 and 15, mention it numerous times in a row.  Love God, Obey Him, Seek His plan for you, and your life will be crazier than anything you could ever dream up.  Dreams of you – can be deceiving, and derailing.  Dreams God has for you – those are plans that will surely succeed.  Praying that you would replace dreaming, with seeking – to see the wonderful things He has in store for you, and then - just get busy with what He told you to do first.  You can trust him with the rest.  Doesn’t mean you don’t work hard, you work harder, but no rabbit trails, no wild goose chases – just a direct line from point a to point b – where you are, to where He’s taking you – today, and tomorrow, this week, and next week, preparing you for more than you can imagine.  And it is good!  His plans will prosper you!  Praying that PiVAT before dinner, PiVAT Weekly, Monthly and Yearly – will be your lifelong commitment – seeking the will of your Father in Heaven.  If you ask Him, and obey each time, He will tell you, He will lead you to the rest.  It will let God pour His dreams into you.  Dreams beyond what you could ever imagine.  Not pipe dreams, dreams He will surely fulfill.  Then you can dream his dreams!  But you probably won’t, because you don’t dream His plans, you just do them, and you’ll be fully occupied with the joy of obedience, and the overcoming testimony of the journey!    
 
Love you all,
dad

Love you all, praying for you.
 
I just love God’s Word.  It gives light and life!  Have you ever felt a little sluggish? Low energy, weak, soon tired or distracted, not physically or mentally sharp?  Nutritionists will tell you.  It’s probably your diet.  You are what you put in.  A junk food diet won’t lead to a sharp and fit mind and body.  You need a food check.  Your body needs the right fuel, and it needs exercise.  A latent body is soft and weak.  But with use and the right fuel - your body becomes strong, resilient, capable, and it affects your mind as well.  That same truth applies to your spirit as much or more than it applies to your body.  You are what you eat.  What are you eating?  What is fueling your spirit? Perhaps, you need a food check.  What influences you the most?  Probably the things that influence you most often.  What are you feeding on?  Are your inputs spirit or flesh?  Here’s a quick way to do a food check for your spirit.  Take a PiVAT What If – this week, and write down your diet.  Not the food you eat, but the input and influence you eat.  If Tik Tok is your diet, if the news cycle, or the Top 40 on iTunes, if video games, and Social Media is your diet. that junk food will make you soft in spirit.  Easily weakened, frustrated, discouraged, angered, easily deceived, lacking wisdom.   And before you know it, you are a slave to the system of that other kingdom, that makes you ignorant, and powerless.  Seems good, sounds good, entertaining, enjoyable for a season, but underneath the oversized sweatshirt, is just flab, soft.  Buns of marsh mellow, not buns of steel.  When it comes to influences that you allow in your mind and spirit, what you watch, listen to, what preoccupies you, it will determine your life, even more than your physical diet.  It’ll slip into your mouth, what comes in goes out.  And before you know it, you words are condemning you, and bondage is inescapable.  But if Worship, that Time in His Presence with thanksgiving and praise, PiVAT before dinner getting God’s plan, not yours, and doing it…  If His Word becomes your preoccupation, over the inputs of this world… soaking in truth until it runs over into, and then overruns from your mouth, you will grow strong in wisdom, discern deception, it will make you wise, strong, diligent, humble, kind, selfless, effective, powerful, in Spirit.  Iron Relationships – Iron sharpening iron – Daily Time with people who are pursuing the excellence and wisdom of God, not the pleasure seekers of this world…  If you are feeling weak, frustrated, unsatisfied, fearful, prideful, sluggish, ineffective, or after all that chasing and doing and enjoying -  still just feeling an emptiness, still lacking true victory, and true joy, and you know that there’s got to be more than the life you’re experiencing so far, and the harvest you’ve been reaping.  There is.  That’s not what God has for you… You need a change of diet, and exercise.  PiVAT What If – can help you track your hours of influence.  Are you being influenced by the world? or influenced by the Word – and what it says that will make you grow strong in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man.  Have you ever seen someone who completely transformed their body, from the ninety pound weakling to blown up, and ripped with guns and an eight-pack? or from extra everywhere… flabby and overweight to strong and toned, just rocking it in that black dress?  Those body transformations that are so obvious – are equally obvious in the spirit, but far more important.  How do you get there from here?  Food Check, a decision, then, a change of diet and exercise.   Worship (Praise and Thanksgiving), Pray in the Spirit and you’ll grow in the Spirit!  Seeking His plans daily! and being diligent in them, His Word and Prayer, and Overcoming with someone – The system that God designed for your victory!  This is the change of diet and the exercise that makes you buff in spirit.  Full of energy, and powerfully effective.  But in order to gain it and maintain it, your real food intake has to surpass your junk food intake.   Spiritual Calories, you’re at a surplus or deficit.  John 4:30 – They came out of the town and made their way toward him.  Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”  Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?  (Did He get Door Dash or Uber Eats?)  - Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.  He knew the will of the One who sent Him, because He asked – He got God’s Plans, and the Word of His Father, He had a different diet.  And He did what His Father Told Him – that’s the exercise that removes the weakness, the flab, the under-performance, or the lostness, and brings strength of spirit soul, mind and body.  Obeying His Heavenly Father, walking in the plans God had for Him, and the inputs that come from God - is real food.  Praying that PiVAT, PRISM, and your Daily Call – increase this year as your habit.  Praying that His Presence consumes your downtime, that you would be fervent and effectual in prayer, that your praise and thanksgiving would be excellent, and your words to yourself and others would reflect it.  Praying that His real food, will become your new diet, which will replace and far outweigh the junk food.  So you grow strong in spirit, effective in prayer, established, and producing fruit that will last – even after you’re gone!  Just Ask God, what change He wants? He’ll tell you.  You don’t have to be Mr Universe, or Miss Universe – just buff in spirit! It’s not a competition, it’s an invitation, to life that is truly life! 
 
Love you all,
dad

​Love you all, praying for you, 
 
I just love God’s Word.  It is Logos and Rhema.  God recorded it in Scripture, and He reveals it in your heart.  Have you ever asked God for a Word for the coming year?  I have in the past… And I did again for this year.  God is not obligated to give me one.  Maybe He’s still waiting for me to implement the last one He gave me… but God’s Word does say if we ask we will receive, if we lack wisdom, and we ask Him, He will give it.  So I just asked, and the day before the New Year began – God revealed the Word that He has for me this year.  And I’m praying it over you as well.  Have you ever noticed when we ask God for a word for this year, we want those words that are for us, some good thing.  Like breakthrough, or prosperous, or vindication, or promotion, or millionaire.  But that’s not always what God gives – what we want or expect.  He gives what we need most, the Word we need most, if we will ask.  I asked Him, and here is the Word He gave:  Love.  It took me a little by surprise, and as my mind raced to process, he immediately explained further.  “You shall love the Lord your God, with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind.”  – Matthew 22:37.   And then I felt Him asking me… “What if this year, more than any other year that you have ever lived, more than you ever have before.  What if you learned to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind?  It stopped me, and made me consider… Have you asked God for something this year… other than a Word for this year?,  I did.   And as God always does, He answers.  This is a part of His answer – to the other thing I asked, just not what I expected.  Because everything you need from God, starts with you becoming, not what God brings.  He wants to become, so He can bring you to the place, where He can bring things to you.  Praying that you will love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  The second thing God said.  “A new command I give you.  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.  God wants us to love him with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and then love one another – like He loves us - completely, sacrificially.  God said, love your neighbor as yourself.  And God said even love your enemies.  Love Him, Love one another (your family, your brothers and sisters in the kingdom of God).   Love your neighbor, (who’s that – he gave the example of the Good Samaritan, any person next to you, the person wounded and bleeding by the side of the road, when everyone else walks past)…  And love your enemies – even those who hate you without cause, and try to harm you.  What if we loved God this year? – more than we ever have in any year of our life?  And what if we loved each other, and loved our neighbor, even our enemies?  What could God do through that kind of love.  His love is so much higher and deeper and greater, and He pours it out freely on all of us.  Praying that you will love this year, that you will Love God more than ever before – with all your heart, all of your soul, and all of your mind.  That you would love those around you – so well, like Jesus did.  Like He still does, like He loves you.  Praying that you will know the Word that God has for you this year, that it will be light and life for you, that you will walk in it fully – Logos and Rhema.  You can trust Him.  He has good for you!
 
Love you all,
dad