Last week we began to address one way we can judge by appearances that can be wrong. I shared a prophetic experience I had years ago in which I was shown a man of God who was accomplishing many things for the Lord. I was then shown a man who appeared to be homeless walking down the street. His name was Angelo. As he walked, a little kitten got in his way, and he roughly thrust it aside with his foot. The Lord then asked me which of these two men I thought He was most...

         In the summer of 2014, I had an experience with the Lord in which He said I was no longer a servant, but a friend. It was like being born again, again. I have had the most wonderful times with the Lord ever since, but in some ways this has been much harder for me than learning to be a servant. Even so, everything I learned being a disciple and a bondservant was necessary for this next level of relationship with the Lord.

         It has taken me forty-five years to get to this point. I...

         When the Lord called me to take on some very difficult restoration projects, it was the best of times and the worst of times. He gave me jobs no one else wanted. They were hard on me and harder on my reputation, and sometimes cost me good friends. But through them I got to know the heart of the Lord better than I ever had through study. The harder the job, the more deeply I grew to know Him and the more fulfilling it was, and I think, the more fruit that came.

         We are...

          For the last two weeks we’ve touched on restoration. This is the main thing God is doing in this age. It incorporates redemption, reconciliation, and in some cases, restitution. We cannot be in unity with God without being united with His purpose in this.

          One of the biggest challenges I’ve had personally while being part of restoration projects is my tendency to limit the power of the cross to redeem and restore. This tendency has almost always been the result of my personal disgust with certain sins or sometimes just...

        We discussed how we are changed by seeing the Lord’s glory in His ministries and gifts, but there are overall aspects of His nature that reveal His glory, and as we behold them we are likewise changed by them. The biggest of these is His love. The others are His peace, patience, faithfulness, and all that makes up the fruit of the Spirit. So to grow in wisdom and stature as He did, we must be growing in both the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit.

         His glory is also revealed...