I wonder if too many times we mishandle prophetic words in our lives. I’ve seen time and time again the people of God hearing a message of looming judgement. Or they will hear about certain catastrophe coming to a nation or person that is provoking God’s wrath. After hearing the prophetic insight, we’ll sit back as though we’re at a movie theater and watch the show. We do nothing but observe the situation to see if the prophet was right or if he had missed i

This can’t be right.

The purpose of prophetic insight is not only to reveal what is coming, but that through prayer we can alter the events that are coming. We can get God’s mind concerning a matter and then change God’s mind concerning a matter through prayer and agreement with His heart.

The life of Hezekiah, king of Judah, reveals these two responses to the prophetic. In several cases, he receives prophetic counsel, and he then sets himself to prayer and actually changes what the prophetic word originally was. Isaiah tells him, “Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live” (2 Kings 20:1). Hezekiah goes to prayer, and God then says to Isaiah, “Return and tell Hezekiah . . . ‘I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you’” (v. 5). Amazing! His prayers changed the outcome prophetic insight had originally revealed!

However, in another situation Hezekiah did not take the stance of prayer.

Hezekiah makes a mistake and welcomes an envoy from Babylon. Because of this Isaiah prophesies that Hezekiah’s treasures and sons will be carried away to Babylon. Hezekiah responds, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good! At least there will be peace and truth in my days.” His son, Manasseh, falls into sin and is led around by the nose by Babylonian.

I wonder how many times we respond to prophetic insight the way Hezekiah did when he heard about Babylon. We see our nation heading toward destruction. We see our friends and family making mistakes. We understand by scripture and by God’s voice that judgement is coming. And yet, we do nothing because it doesn’t seem to affect us. But God never gave us prophetic insight just because it would be cool to know the future before it happens. He gave it to us as an opportunity for change. He hoped His children would see looming judgements and set themselves to pray until catastrophe turned to revival and blessing.

What will we do with our opportunity for change today?

-Micah

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"Never mistake temporary darkness for permanent blindness, for today's training is the very process that opens us to see God's glory."
-Francis Frangipane

In my life, temporary darkness or times of extreme stress have always caused me to dig in deeper or start wondering where my faith has been. Sometimes I have felt like I am totally blind in believing for the end of a situation. A lot of times, I have done something that was totally not God and the process would suck the life out of me. What I did recognize in the midst of it all was that I obviously wasn't alone and it had a purpose. The purpose was to push me closer to be the glory of God and to see the glory of God. I was never really blind, but just learning a new level of faith. I encouraged myself in the Lord and kept pushing through the darkness.

If you are going through times of stress such as losing a family member, your finances are running low, you're sick, or you just don't feel like you have found your calling in life; God will answer your cry for help even in the most dark of times. Think about King David's life: he had to run from Saul (1 Samuel 19-23), the very one who had favored him previously. He had to run for his life, even though he was anointed to be king. In essence, you are anointed to be a king. God has created you to be with Him and desires your heart. Darkness can not reign in the life of a God-seeker, or at least not for too long.

Today, as you deal with issues that feel bigger than you are capable of, remember that His glory is only a moment away. This statement by Francis Frangipane says it all, "If you are a God-seeker, except for times of darkness when the Spirit refines your spiritual senses, you should expect to see the glory of God! There should be an anticipation that, any day now-as you enter your prayer room or go for a walk, or in a dream-the Spirit of God is going to appear to you in some marvelous and life-changing way."

In essence, be the glory of God and let Him take you deeper instead of allowing negative or depressing thoughts to rule and reign in your life. God will always lead you into life and life more abundant. Use difficulty for your training, so that you will be more prepared to fight the fight of faith the next round.

~Dedra

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in·sa·tia·ble: Impossible to satiate or satisfy.

hun·ger: A strong desire or craving

God woke me up recently with the words, “insatiable hunger.” I, of course, being the word buff that I am, went directly to the dictionary. I looked up the basic definitions of each. It rocked my world. I’ve heard the term before and thought I had been living a life of insatiable hunger for God, but I had to check my heart again after really reading those definitions. I had to let the revelation of what God was saying to me sink into my thoughts and heart.

I realized I haven’t even scraped the surface of what God is wanting me to love and know about Him. In Song of Solomon 8:6, it says “For love is as strong as death, jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire.” God has a love for us that is comparable to jealousy and as strong as death. How does my love, my human knowledge of love, compare to that? It doesn’t, not really, nor will it ever. But, what I began seeking from God when He spoke that to me was the hunger part. God is always giving us challenges that cause us to pursue Him deeper. He was telling me that it is impossible to satisfy my love for Him, but if I hunger--it will be the strongest craving I could ever have, the strongest desire I could ever develop. So, I have determined in my heart and walk with God, that I will pursue His love even unto death. I am going to, and as a result, I am falling head over heels in love with the things of God--all over again. I want more of His love, more of His voice, more of kingdom, more of His fire. Just more.

So, as God challenged me, I challenge you; pursue Him today with an insatiable hunger and your life will be forever changed.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6

~Dedra

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I have been thinking a lot lately about my recent decision to move to Hamilton, Alabama (over 500 miles from my hometown, Whitesburg, Kentucky–the only place I’ve ever called home). I left my family, friends, job, and church to come to the Ramp. It seemed God had spoken so clearly to me about moving, but in the three months I have lived here, I have questioned Him everyday, “Did I really hear you, God?” I have had question after question of doubt rising up about not hearing God’s voice as clearly as I had thought.

I finally came to the conclusion, after two months of no job, money running out, and being without internet and cable at my house (pretty much cut off from the world) that I was definitely not doing this out of preference. I have stayed because I live a life of conviction–not my own personal preference of choosing some of God’s word or voice in my life–but a life of conviction, convinced that seeking God is my only choice.

I left a great job and a wonderful family behind because my conviction pushed me to hear God and to obey, to pursue the invitation to hear His voice and move. Numbers 15:39 helped me to stand on my conviction: “that you are to obey His commands instead of going your own ways, as you are prone to do”. Jesus is real and He does speak. But I had to be the one who chose conviction over preference. I had to let the Holy Spirit lead my life and not my flesh. We all have this decision to make. “Don’t you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you choose to obey God and receive His approval” (Romans 7:16 NLT).

What would happen if we truly became God seekers? Where would God take us and who would He lead us to awaken? If we were fully obedient to what His word said about obeying Him and pursuing Him with all of our hearts, can you imagine the magnitude it would have on your generation? Are you willing to be the generation that changes your nation? I believe that if we could avail ourselves to the voice of God and to His word, we would become obedient in action, whether it be to move, change, or to speak to someone outside of our comfort zone. Are you living according to your own purpose or are you truly heeding the word of God and pursing a lifestyle of seeking after His heart and kingdom purpose? Are you living a life of conviction or preference? Your choice can begin today.

-Dedra

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People often ask what happened that caused such great freedom in my life. As I've written before in "I Fell in Love," the answer is simple. I fell in love. Jesus' love and passion broke through into my darkness. My secret lifestyle of pornography and sin could not withstand the love He displayed for me on the cross. Now, seven and a half years of purity and passion for God testify that His love is enough.

As I've pondered this experience time and time again, I've realized that it's not only the initial love at an altar that produced freedom. It's the daily love I've experienced that's maintained the purity in my life. Romans 8:37 tells us that "we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." If I want daily victory over temptation and sin, then I must have a daily revelation of Him who loved us. A consistent conquering of the old man comes when the new man consistently experiences the love of God.

It's His love that changes us and keeps us changed. When closing his second letter to the Corinthian church, Paul writes, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Cor. 13:14). Notice that love is the center. Love is the core that grace or empowerment to live right and the communion of Holy Spirit revolve around. If we will fight to daily understand and know His love for us, then grace and communion will be the natural results. And daily we'll be conquerors because of that great love.

-Micah

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God is the great initiator. Romans 3:10-18 clearly outlines our condition prior to salvation. We are utterly lost. We are not looking for God. "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Ro. 3:10). In this lamentable state of spiritual darkness, how is it that we ever came to God? How is it that something in us ever found Him or believed in Him and clung to Him? It happened because God is the great initiator.

Isaiah 65:1 says, "I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am.'" God reveals Himself to our hearts, screaming "Here I am, here I am," even when we don't want Him. He sees us in our pitiful state and initiates a glorious meeting. He knows that our fallen hearts don't understand that we need Him, so He gets things going. He begins the relationship. He starts the journey. He ignites the fuse. He draws close.

Why is it important to understand God is the great initiator? Because we must interpret His initiations not as the fullness of a matter, but as the invitation. When we experience moments when God breaks into our situation and saves us, we can't sit around and wait for another breakthrough. We can't willfully drift back into sin and blame God that His deliverance was not real. He initiated the process and left it up to us to steward what He initiated.

In Luke 19 Jesus tells a parable to teach that the kingdom is advanced through stewardship. In the parable, a nobleman gives out sums of money to his servants. When he later checks the servants, he finds one multiplied the money by ten, one by five, and one not by any. The good stewards are rewarded, and the one who didn't multiply his original gift is judged.

The message is clear that Jesus intends to initiate something in us with the gift of salvation. He intends to provoke our hearts. When He returns, if all we have to give back to Him is the original gift, it won't be good. He's looking for someone who will labor to multiply the fire, passion, and zeal that He ignited. He's looking for someone who will labor to multiply their salvation into other salvations. Because God is the initiator, He expects us to respond to His initiations. When He shows up and screams, "Here I am, here I am," He expects to us to answer, "Here we are, here we are!"

God the great initiator is looking for someone who will chase the initial touch.

-Micah

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Reading the book of Isaiah recently, I've found myself confused. At times it seems God is schizophrenic. One moment He is railing judgment against Israel, and the next moment He's promising to be close and to be with them and to comfort them. Make up your mind. Are you judging them or are you drawing near?

In this question, I've found a wonderful answer. It is yes. He's both judging them and drawing near, because God is near in judgment.

We usually think about the judgment of God as His final decision about someone. We think God's patience has run out and He's finally decided to judge them and be through with them once and for all. There certainly will be a day of final judgment when unbelievers will be eternally separated from God, but until that day happens, God doesn't distance Himself in judgment. He draws near.

Isaiah begins with chapter after chapter of God judging wayward Israel and Judah. However, nestled in the midst of these judgments are wonderful promises. For instance, Isaiah 4:4, 5 says, "When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion . . . by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering."

God promises to cover His people with glory. The purpose of the "spirit of judgment" is not to cast them away. The purpose of the judgment is to wash away their filth and sin. The purpose of the judgment is to prepare the way for the glory.

The cross is the greatest picture of God drawing near in judgment. At the cross we find the due reward of our sin. We find God exposing the wickedness of man and revealing His justice and wrath. We also find it as the place we can draw near to God. Ephesians 2:15 says, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." In God's judgment, He brought us near.

What does this mean for you today? It means that you can stop resisting His conviction. You can stop running from His righteous judgments. You may fear coming to Him because you think He'll judge all the wickedness in your life. Here's the good news: God has already judged our wickedness, and in judging us He's come near. There's an invitation from God today: "Come. I've drawn near."

-Micah

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The Bible makes some pretty radical promises. In Matthew 5:6 Jesus says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." What a promise! No matter who it is, if someone hungers for righteousness, he or she will be filled. Jesus would go on to make similar statements in the Sermon on the Mount: "Everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened" (Matt. 7:8). Again, what powerful promises. Regardless of the person's background or occupation, asking, seeking, and knocking will bear the fruit of finding.

These promises are wonderful, but oddly enough, they also cut me in a way. I'm encouraged to know that if I truly hunger and seek, then I will find. But that also means if I am not currently finding then I may not be truly seeking. If the hungry are always filled, could my complacency and disinterest be contributing to the lack of
fulfillment of Biblical promises in my generation?

The promises of God have an "if" and a "then."
The promise is that "if" we seek, "then" we'll find.
"If" we are hungry, "then" we'll be fulfilled.
"If" we pray, "then" He'll come and heal our land.
Therefore, the absence of true revival and awakening in my life is not a problem on God's end. It's a problem with my failure to fulfill the "if."

God makes to us many great and wonderful promises. May these promises cause in us a great seeking, hunger, and thirst. May they show us the standard of what is available, and then make us seek after God until we access what He's made available. He's promised healing. He's promised salvation. He's promised to cover the earth with His glory as the waters cover the sea. That's the standard. May we hunger until the standard is fulfilled in our generation.

-Micah

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In Luke 19 we find a peculiar story about Jesus. He is crying. He's weeping over Jerusalem. Here's what provokes the tears and the sorrow: "If [only] you had known . . . the things that make for your peace!" Jesus is broken because Jerusalem resisted Him, not perceiving His arrival as the means of their peace.

I wonder how often Jesus weeps over our situations. He gives us a command or asks us to make personal adjustments, but, sadly, we resistance His word because we don't perceive it rightly. When He commands obedience all we see is the sacrifice. All we see is the pain in laying down this relationship or getting rid of that music. We
don't see that if only we would obey it would lead to our peace. If only we'd not resist Him, we'd find even our deepest desires satisfied in His presence.

How blinded we must be to resist Jesus. And how surprised Jesus must be to find us resisting Him. The very ones He's approaching to give peace are the very ones running and hiding from Him. Today, may we not be like Jerusalem who missed their moment of visitation. May we not misunderstand what Jesus' word and presence produces. It
does not produce bondage, but great freedom. It doesn't cause pain, but life and life more abundantly. Say, "Yes,"
today, and find in Him the great comfort of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

-Micah

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We sing very often at the Ramp "Send the Fire," written by William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army. Not only do we sing it, but we pray it at the top of our lungs. And then, we have Fire Tunnels, where all our leadership lines the platform and prays for God's fire while the Ramp attendees walk through. We're pretty obsessed with the idea of burning for God. We can't hardly tweet or status update without mentioning it. Therefore, I've been to ponder lately what it really means to be consumed in the fire of God.

Usually, we associate terms like "fire" and "burning" with high energy levels and great zeal. However, scripture doesn't just trigger thoughts about loud voices and expressive worship. It introduces you to much more.

John the Baptist prophesies about Jesus, "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matt. 3:11). I like that part. But then John goes on to say, "His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (v. 12). This description of the baptism in fire is a little disconcerting. Notice the use of words many times associated with judgment: "winnowing," "clean out," "threshing," "burn up," and "unquenchable fire." It seems this fire Jesus brings isn't limited to a fun feeling. It seems there's great purpose in it.

The prophet Isaiah may give us a little more clue about what this fire is all about. In Isaiah 10 God is railing judgment on the king of Assyria because of his arrogance, thinking he's the source of his success. God is also judging Israel for putting their trust in this king rather than in God. While declaring judgment, Isaiah says, "Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts . . . He will kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. So the Light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day." Whoa. This fire is serious. Basically, God is saying that He's coming as a fire to burn up this wicked king and all his works.

What's the result of this burning? Isaiah goes on, "And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel . . . will never again depend on him who defeated them, but will depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth" (v. 20). This fire comes and burns up everything that Israel trusts that is not God. The fire ensures that their hope, satisfaction, and trust will remain in "the Holy One of Israel."

So, what are we saying when we pray, "God, send the fire"? Of course we are praying for a deep longing and desire for His presence. But we're also praying God would rid us of everything that steals our gaze. We're praying the unquenchable fire of His love would eat up everything that keeps us from being wholly given to Him. The fire judges us, but in judging us it brings us closer.

So let's keep praying that dangerous and necessary prayer, "God, send the fire."

-Micah

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