Hearing God's voice snapshot...

Hearing God’s voice snapshot.

Job 33:14 (NIV)

For God does speak—now one way, now another—though no one perceives it.

God does speak. From the beginning, He spoke… Let there be… and there was. He speaks in many fashions and in many ways, though we may not perceive it. 

He who has ears let him hear. Jesus
 
He often speaks to us in the way and manner that we are created. Some see, others hear, others feel, and some just know.

He speaks to us according to how we are wired.

I’m so glad some of the "see people" often see beyond the natural into the supernatural. Other friends hear differently than I hear. They hear much deeper and clearer. I often hear by seeing. Some of my friends are feelers, and others are knowers who intuitively know. Everyone is different and hear differently, yet all hear.

I often hear by seeing. Some of my friends are feelers, and others are knowers who intuitively know.

Everyone is different and hear differently, yet all can hear.

Practice is the action word. With practice, anyone can become better.

One ingredient is faith. Without faith, there is little practice.
 
Romans 10:17 (NASB)

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing…
 I believe we can ask. Ask, “Jesus begin to speak to me. Help me to perceive how you speak to me, and help me to have ears to hear. Help me to see, hear, know and feel you as you speak to me.”

February Love Month.

 

We are having some fun at the Upper Room Worship Center! I love being with this crew they are creative, encouraging, outofthebox thinkers and love people. It's been fun resting and learning as we are launching into our new adventure.

This month is Love month we are encouraging people to use one of the calendars below to practice kindness. Actually that's the only way people see and experience kindness. Action. Doing. Stepping out. Loving people. Being kind.

Why not join us, practice for a month and see what happens to the world around you. Use the Calendar or be creative and develop or practice your own thoughts. 

We also have  serve and love boards in the foyer of the church. People can pick up a card to serve or go to the kindness board where people can pick up a heart and love someone in the community. 

It's all fun and very missional.

 Here is brief Update also some thoughts on purpose.

Bowen News

Bowen News

We are excited about some happenings.

Wednesday I had the opportunity to encourage a young lady at Frisch's Restaurant. I noticed her when we were paying the bill. I knew she was a person of mega influence. 

How did I know? I had an inner impression that I've come to know through practice, as a Holy Spirit prompt. She reminded me of another person I recently noticed as an Influencer. 

I pulled my car around. I pulled up to the window and asked, "I sometimes receive encouraging words for people... Would you like an encouraging word?" 

She was so open. I shared what I felt she needed to hear about being an influencer etc. I mentioned, "I'm a follower of Jesus  and He wanted to encourage you today."
She had a huge smile and I could tell what I said resonated within her. She asked my name and thanked me. She then turned around and began telling the other team members what had just happened. 

I've discovered people are very open and in need of encouragement. The Holy Spirit loves to drop thoughts of encouragement into our hearts. We just need to be open to hear His nudges and respond.

Vaughn Family
Adam Vaughn and family were given three promo videos that E.J. Wiltemire put together. The videos have helped The Backwards Missionaries raise their profile and allow people to view their ministry connection in Costa Rica. I'm extremely grateful for the people who gave to us to pull off this idea. Jesus is so much smarter than I am. He has great ideas. 

See video here https://youtu.be/HJInTmUCEGo


Overtoun House Fun Stories.
Bob and Melissa have received the 3D rendering of their Castle / Home. It's been fun to see Bob send the rendering to the teams who have worked over fifteen years to bring the home to completion.

You can view Joel Menken's, of Imagine Video, 3D rendering by following this link. https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=LKm2aTYeep3https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=LKm2aTYeep3

When the home was being constructed in the 1800's, over one thousand workers camped out on the grounds. They used the ash from their fires to insulate the floor spaces. When the teams renovated the floors the dust went everywhere.

To top it all off, when the workers made the plaster they mixed horse hair as the binder. When the teams removed the plaster the hair went everywhere. Unknown to Bob and the team, fleas lived in the horse hair. Guess how they found out? You guessed it, a summer Flea invasion!

Bob told me that the largest team was ninety nine people. Can you imagine having all those people in your home? Melissa is a hero.

They have received their multi occupancy permit and are now in the process of creating and implementing care procedures for women at risk. Their goal is to create an environment of love and acceptance to help the women heal, develop job skills and re-enter into the community successfully. If you are a professional counselor and would like to live in a castle contact Overtoun House.

Bowen's
Pattie and I are grateful that my sister who lives with us will be moving into an apartment of her own. I know she is excited. She will be receiving the care she needs and will be taken care of.

We are launching our new web site soon. We continue to press into the vision of encouraging leaders, missionaries and churches. Pattie is working as a literacy teacher in a kindergarten in the Kettering schools system. She will travel with me when she can.

I'll be sending the link to the new web site soon.

Thanks again for partnering with us in our adventure.

I'll be heading to Virginia at the end of the month.

I'm also helping a few churches in the Dayton area. Encouraging, and advising concerning outward-focused missionalness. This has been fun and refreshing for me.

Steve

If you'd like to partner with us please use Donor Box.
 

UK Trip Prophetic... fun.

While in England preparing before a meeting I wrote, page, writer, stuck. 

In the meeting I asked if anyone was in the room named Paige, not a common English name. The Paige person didn’t show a hand. I told everyone that I was practicing and sometimes I get things mixed up, or I am just wrong.

Noticing is important.

I had a word for a girl and I asked her to stand. The word was about dreaming a new dream and she was in process of moving into the dream. I later found out she was moving into developing some strategy for their group. I received the word for her because I saw a girl that day who looked like her and had "dare to dream" tattooed on her neck. 

I then moved on to find the writer who was stuck. The stuck writer was the girl sitting next to the girl I had just had the word for dreams. I thought that was interesting.

When she stood, there was suddenly an amazing flow of Jesus love for her. Seems she uses Mac to write her poetry, songs, on... pages. She felt stuck. Some who knew her were laughing and crying as I spoke over her. She was crying and laughing. it turned into an impartation and a very encouraging word to her for what was ahead. 

There was a sudden shift in the atmosphere and I knew I had tapped into Jesus’s heart for the people in the meeting. A few other encouraging words flowed.

Later, the dream girl came up to me and told me her middle name was Paige. So, Paige, dream girl, was sitting next to the writer who was stuck. How good is that? Bye the way, they had traveled the longest to get to the meeting.

I also, found out the writer had written and presented some pretty amazing poetry in the church. Which, when presented was powerful, not just in the writing, but how she presented her poetry.

Scotland, prophetic was also flowing again. 
I found myself moving down a intuitive prophetic path as I was speaking and suddenly knew, "Oh know( it was an... oh know) I knew spoke too fast and too far." If you've been doing this for awhile you will know that feeling of how do I correct myself in this situation. I had to back up, apologize and reminded the person of the first part which was the main Father's love connection. 

Yesterday, I emailed the person and asked for forgiveness.

Shawn Boltz book Translating God is so helpful. I've read it twice so far. 

The book has a section about being accountable for our words, attitudes, actions. He encourages the reader, when we give direction, times, or dates to track what we have said and see if what we have said comes into being. If not, then we may have some cleaning up to do. He encourages people to have self-awarness, to be emotionally intelligent and to ask for honest feedback. John Paul Jackson was the forerunner of this concept and made moves to establish this in the prophetic movement. 

So glad I asked the leaders for feedback. I knew in my knower I was heading in the wrong direction. Self correction, is so important.

3D Rendering
Joel Menken Imagine Media Facebook did an amazing job videoing and 3D photo of Overtounhouse.com.

Use Crome and this link https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=LKm2aTYeep3 
a 3D rendering of a castle we shot. 

I think churches will begin to use this as a virtual window for websites. Cutting edge technology. If you are in the Dayton Area grab Joel. He'd be glad to give you a price for your business, church etc.

Here is a short video of my time in the UK. 

All in all it was a great trip. Thanks to all who support us.

God speaks to us ...Dreams

During an outreach one of our guys helped a lady with her groceries and walked her to her location. When they arrived he simply asked, "How can I pray for you today?" 

She replied, "I had a dream. My father was a pastor, he passed away years ago. In my dream my dad visited me. He stood still silently looking at me. In the dream I asked, "What do you want. He didn't speak. He just kept looking at me. I woke up."
 
She asked, "What do you think the dream meant?" He replied, "What do you think your dad was wanting to say to you?" She replied, "I think he was asking me to get right with Jesus. Can you help me?" 
What a dream, and what a question!

She wanted to be forgiven and to follow Jesus. My friend encouraged her, prayed with her and introduced her to Jesus. He later told me it was the shortest discipleship course he had ever explained.
I find it interesting. God was at work long before we arrived. 

Her dream reveals God's passion and love for people. It also reveals how God never forgets our prayers for our family and our friends. Years had passed; the father had died, now the Holy Spirit was beckoning this daughter to Himself. He used a dream that opened her heart to the good news.

Dreams speak to the heart. Dreams give direction, encouragement, warning, and insight. There are many biblical examples. Daniel, Joseph had amazing dreams that saved nations and changed the hearts of men.

For God does speak—now one way, now another— though no one perceives it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride, to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword. Job 33:14-18 NIV

I was in Costa Rica last week. For some reason I found myself struggling mentally, and spiritually. I was concerned. I turned inward looking for the reason why. Had I done something wrong? What is this feeling? I felt insecure, troubled and slightly fearful. I wrestled most of the day. Most people would not have known I was struggling. I knew.

That night I had two dreams. The first: A well known prophetic person was walking with me. I had a talk thanking him for his patience with me. He looked at me with a smile and kindness and put his arm around my shoulders as we walked. I wasn't afraid. I felt secure. I was at peace. Confidence claimed my heart. 

The second: The dream was long. I was dropping in on a skateboard. It was fun. When I couldn't find my helmet I was frustrated. The last scene I was up on the ramp thinking I could put my helmet on. It was another persons and It was too small. I was frustrated.

I woke up. I knew the first encouraged me in my walk with the Holy Spirit. He was near me, walking with me, encouraging me.

The second dream encouraged me to put on armor. Fix my helmet firmly upon my head. Only my helmet over my mind would work. My battles were my battles, and the battle was in my mind.

In response I shifted my mindset and my heart set. I literally placed a new helmet upon my head and leaned into the Holy Spirit. I was set free... Two dreams strengthened my heart. The rest of the trip I was more confident and secure.

Dreams encourage the heart. I'm a visual person. I am so glad for the movies I receive as I sleep. 

Hope...Helps.

Hope:

Towards a Psychology of Hope is a great article. (click link for full article.)

"We all know that hope is a good thing, even an essential thing: there is no life without hope, or so the saying goes. Psychologists believe hope might be the most important feeling, state, or emotion we can experience. Hope is a skill you can acquire. It is active—you can cultivate and nourish it. 

It is self-perpetuating—hopeful people tend to be more resilient, more trusting, more open, and more motivated than those less hopeful, so they are likely to receive more from the world, which in turn makes them more hopeful—which is why it’s so important."

How do we gain hope? Some thoughts.

Now
May the God of all hope
Fill you
With all joy and peace 
in believing
So that
You may abound in Hope
By
The power of The Holy Spirit. 
Romans 15:13:NASB

By believing; by praying and receiving. Believe you will abound in hope.
Hope will be poured into your life and your hope will exist in great quantity.
You will be rich in hope, and you will be well supplied with hope.

You will be filled with hope. You will over-flow or teem with hope.

You will have all joy and peace in believing. 

Pray:
God of all hope, fill me with all joy and peace so that I will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit empower me with Hope. Thank you now for filling me.   

Look forward in hope:

Hope is a confident expectation of good things to come.
Hope looks to a future bright. The light at the end of the tunnel is not an oncoming train.

Jer 29:29 NASB 
For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
 
Proverbs 23:18 (NIV)
There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.

Hope is future, Faith is now. In hope see ahead, believe now.

Hey 11:1 NASB 
Now faith is the assurance /  confidence / substance of things
hoped for,
(Faith is) the conviction / evidence of things
not seen.

What things?
What are you believing, looking for, hoping for? 
Activate your faith and hope toward what you are believing.  
Develop a positive mindset by reading hopeful articles and the Bible. Fuse belief by offering thanksgiving and gratitude. 

Hope is the seed bed of faith. 

These three remain:
"Faith, Hope and Love...these three but the greatest of these three is love." I Cor 13 

Hold on to hope long enough until hope becomes faith.

Hope is the connector that creates faith and love. Faith and love spring from hope. 

Col 1:5 NIV 
The faith and love that spring from the hope stored up / secure for you in heaven

It's important to speak hope, to speak in faith, to declare, and to believe.

Ps 62:5 NIV  
Yes, my soul, find rest in God, my hope comes from him.

Lamentations 3:24 (NASB)
The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore, I have hope in Him."
 
The biggest question, "Where do we place our hope? Who is our hope?"

Where is your hope, your expectation placed? 

Hope, by definition is a person, or a thing, in which expectations are centered or focused upon. 
Who are you trusting / looking to? People? Places? Things? Jobs? Governments? Leaders?

My wife and I are in transition. We don't know where we are going, nor how provision will come. During this season we often have to shift our mindsets, focus and declare:

"Our hope is found in you Jesus. We declare ___________ is not our Savior. Where we go, or where we stay will not save us, nor provide for us. In You, and You alone is our hope. All of our hope is found in You. Thank you, our future is secure. Thank you for providing for us."

The Reality.
Jesus is our only hope. Hope is embodied in Him. He is the hope of glory.
Our hope is secure and steadfast...

Heb. 6:18-20 NIV 
We who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strong / encouraged. 

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and steadfast. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus our forerunner has entered on our behalf.

Jesus is the better hope.

Heb 7: 9 NASB
for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. 

Heb 7:22 NASB
so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. 

It's interesting and encouraging...The eye of the Lord is upon those who hope and who hope for something tangible, yet supernatural, His lovingkindness.

Ps 33:18 NASB
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who hope for his Lovingkindness.
 

"Our trials are turned to gold." Keith Green.

Trials do one thing well... if we hold on, we don't give up and we continue... Trials produce a hope that does not disappoint. In hope... we hope.

Rom 5:1-5 NASB
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 

2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.(hope)

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 

4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 

5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Running with Percy.
There is something to be said about perseverance. Perserverenc enables us to keep on keeping on, to lean forward by faith, and to look into the future in hope. 

Sometimes we need to run with our friend Percy. Running with Percy produces a hope that does not disappoint. It's important to faint not; to not grow weary and never give up.

Trials of life show us what we are made of. Trials reveal our metal. They test our metal.

People of our world need hope. They are lost without hope, and without God in this world. We are the hopeful ones. We have a future and a hope. It is secure. We can draw from heavens hope and give what we have received away.

We can have joy and peace and abound in hope. The connector... in believing.

"My Hope is Built on Nothing Less"
by Edward Mote, 1797-1874
 
My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, 

But wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.
 
When darkness veils His lovely face,

I rest on His unchanging grace;

In every high and stormy gale

My anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.
 
His oath, His covenant, and blood

Support me in the whelming flood;

When every earthly prop gives way,

He then is all my Hope and Stay.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.
 
When He shall come with trumpet sound,

Oh, may I then in Him be found,

Clothed in His righteousness alone,

Faultless to stand before the throne!

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

Intention... His Kind Intention

God is kind...His is intentional...
The kind intention of HIs will. Kindness is part of his overarching will for man.


Ephesians 1. NASB
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 

In love

He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, 

which 

He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
 

In Him 

we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, 

according to the riches of His grace 

which 

He lavished on us.

In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him Jesus (God was in Christ Redeeming the world to Himself)

with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

In Him

also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,
 

to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 

In Him, 
you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 

 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.


He bestowed grace upon us in the Beloved.(Jesus)... and He lavished grace upon us according to His kind intention.

What does bestowed grace and lavished grace look like? 

 




I think it looks like this.

                   


                     But it really looks like this!  











Kind intention... flows from His grace, from His nature.

The Point:  Kindness is more than a principle. Kindness is an attribute that flows from the very nature and character of God. 

God is Love... God is kind.

Not surprising... The word kind, is a humble word...

Bible dictionaries often define kind... by simple word, like good, gentle, easy, useful and gracious.

Kind Intention...
Kind: being of a good or benevolent nature or disposition; characterized by or expressing goodwill or kindly feelings:a benevolent attitude; desiring to help others; charitable; patient, considerate, or helpful; to be kind to another; mild; gentle; loving; affectionate; having an intention to benefit another
 

Intention: purpose; an aim or plan; a goal to accomplish; what a person intends to do; a moral decision; an attitude to propose to benefit another; a mental state that represents a commitment to carrying out an action, in the present or in the future; an aim that guides ones actions.

British Dialect. loving; affectionate.

Kindness is an action.  

She is a kind person. 

He is a kind man.  

Why? How do you know when a person is kind? There is evidence... There is something  about their character that is reveled by their actions. 
They are defined as being kind by what they do: what they say, and how they act.

God is kind to all...

Ps 145:17 NASB
The LORD is righteous in all His ways And kind in all His deeds.
 
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. (Luke 6:35)

God is Love...

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. (1st Corinthians 13:4)

Kindness draw us out of our stuff and into His light and love.
 

Romans 2:4 NAS
Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
   
Hosea is an amazing study of the goodness and kindness of God.

Hosea 2:14-15 NASB
His previous statements of Israels waywardness leads Him to respond in a way that reveals His mercy and kindness.

What am I going to do?
 
“Therefore, behold, 

I will allure her,
Bring her into the wilderness
And speak kindly to her.

Then 

I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the valley of Achor (trouble) as a door of hope.
And she will sing there as in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt."

Joseph, in spite of his difficulties, experiences the Lord's kindness... 
Here is the repeated phrase that followed Joseph...
But the LORD was with Joseph 

and 

extended kindness to him. 

The act of kindness expressed to Joseph, was the blessing of extreme Favor upon Joseph's life... He found favor where ever he went. Pit, Palace, Prison, to Prime Minister.

Kindness, Loving-kindness was the foundation of all David understood and knew about God. 

When he committed unthinkable sin, and was exposed, in the midst of his greatest failure he knew (by experience) God was kind. He humbled himself and prayed asking forgiveness (according) to what he knew about the goodness and kindness of God.
 

Ps 51:1 NASB 

According to your loving-kindness have mercy on me.
Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your loving-kindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.


A lot of people are boasting about many things. Jeremiah discovered what to truly boast about.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 NIV

This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom

or 

the strong boast of their strength

or the rich boast of their riches,

but

let the one who boasts boast about this:

that they have the understanding to know me,(that he knows me)
that I am the Lord, 

who 

exercises kindness,

justice and righteousness on earth,

for in these I delight,”declares the Lord.

He exercises, releases the action of His grace and kindness on earth... or in our earth.

Lord's prayer... Your kingdom come, your will be done, on(in us) earth, as it is in heaven.

Kindness is found in our earth, in our being. We have the fruit of the Spirit... Love, joy, peace, kindness... within us.

Kindness is so important...

Proverbs 3
1My son, do not forget my teaching,
            But let your heart keep my commandments;

      2 For length of days and years of life
            And peace they will add to you.

      3 Do not let kindness and truth leave you;
            Bind them around your neck,
            Write them on the tablet of your heart.
  
      4 So you will find favor and good repute
            In the sight of God and man.


The Point:
As believers we should be reflections of the kindness and grace He has bestowed, and lavished upon us.  
How?

By practicing being kind and doing acts of intentional kindness; by having kind attitudes and speaking kind words.  

We need to have intentionality. 
 
His kind intention is for His world.  

We can join His intention by being intentional to reach the people He loves within our sphere of influence.