I've been in America for almost TWO weeks now! Crazy! The first observation that I made was immediately in stepping out of the airplane: it is w-a-r-m. I was extremely blessed to stay at my cousin's place the first night. Yeah, and the second day I tried my best to use the shower but managed to first get really hot water on me and then icy cold! I also fell in love with peanut butter-avocado sandwiches (sorry boys) with a hint of salt, lemon and black pepper! Exactly what heaven on earth tastes like. (Though strongly think this experience might still be perfected with rye bread......) The most beautiful thing in this city called Redding is the presence of God. The heaven is open and the atmosphere is filled with faith here because of the prayers of the saints. (We all know that for believers there is always an open heaven! But it needs to be mentioned that even Jesus couldn't do any miracles among the people of Nazareth [except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them] because of their unbelief! (Mark 6:5) And that's exactly why I think the atmosphere here is so remarkable!) You perhaps know the feeling that when you're praying somewhere and your prayers hit like a wall? I've felt the exact opposite here. I feel POWERFUL here! Here it feels like the Spirit of God has more room to manifest and work through believers! (–trying to find the right language to describe my amazement–) GOD gets to be Himself here! And: He is overwhelmingly good, awe-inspiring to the max, and frighteningly wonderful in every possible way! Bill Johnson The most important lesson I've learned by far is the importance of worship. I've had to encourage and tell my soul to sing to God (like David) because I actually haven't been used to that much of worship. I say this as a worship leader who has always loved to worship Jesus, but there's something in stepping out of your comfort zone even during the worship time. Believe me, I have just wanted to sit back and have a break... but still chosen to praise Him like this was my last day to live. My decision has done something in the deepest parts of me: God has strengthened my soul, extended my capacity to receive from Him and our friendship has grown deeper still. I love it. Reminded of Psalm 84: My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. PRAISING GOD renews fainting hearts! What else could I share? There are so many things that have happened that I don't even have words for. I have seen plenty of amazing miracles already (and this is just the second week??) and smelled the anointing oil in the air in the sanctuary! One day at school I counted all the students that came up to testify what Jesus healed them from. Bill Johnson got a word of knowledge during His teaching and we ended up having: 7 people got healed from ADD, 2 from learning disabilities, 4 from reading disabilities, 2 from massive headaches, 8 from dyslexia, 5 from brain drama, 3 from ADHD, and the rest 6 from all kinds of other defects, like one from the damage that a tumor in her brain had caused. Speechless. I have never in my entire life seen so much power and authority in a room! God touched people and some of them could FEEL like a steel band lifting up from their heads. It was amazing to hear a person who couldn't read aloud reciting the Bible to us! Some told how incredible it felt to finally be able to understand what they read! "God didn't design the Gospel to be lived differently during "modern times" versus "biblical times". It is still biblical times." (Bill Johnson) "If Jesus did His great miracles as God, I'm still impressed. But I'm impressed as an observer. When I discover that He did them as a man, then suddenly I am completely unsatisfied with life as I've known it. I am now compelled to follow this Jesus until the same things start happening in my life." (B. Johnson) Ahhhhhh. What will happen when we start to teach this to our children when they're born? The secret ingredient of BSSM is that there are are actually people here who will talk to us about us and who are committed to draw the gold out of us. We will be learning our identity as the sons and daughters of the most High God and to live in a culture of honor and culture of confrontation. Our prophecies will actually be judged, which doesn't happen everywhere! We'll be focusing on the Godhead this year and we will learn to study the Bible for all it's worth. Exciting times and a lot of work coming up :D! To be continued... MUCH LOVE! May God lavish His love upon you guys! I LOVE YOU and wouldn't be here without your support!
0 Comments
I love testimonies about crazy, fearless courage because they awaken something in me. A warrior. A giant killer. OHHH I can feel the lioness in me arise every time I hear people share about how brave they were in peaching the Kingdom, sharing the Gospel, fighting for justice and loving the one in front of them. Testimonies remind me of my identity. I'm really in a season of new courage in my life and have begun to see that God really comes to back me up when I take new steps in faith. I think that courage is an overflow of God's love in our hearts. Yeah, the Holy Spirit WANTS to come out! I wonder if He ever kinda gets a change if we keep on feeding and resurrecting our fleshly desires, which make & keep us empty and never full and never ready to serve and love truly. We are called to love one another like we love ourselves and like we love God. We are called to love one another in the same way that God loves us. If we never encounter the love of God and receive it for ourselves — we don't have much to share. God well of love will never run dry (unlike ours). Christmas 2012. We were praying with my dear friends and asking: "MORE OF YOU GOD. OWERFLOW!!!!! OVERFLOW! We want to be FILLED WITH YOU and fill this earth with the knowledge of You!" once again. "The waters are longing for to be walked on again." Bill Johnson So... on my way back home to Turku by train a guy sat before me and asked me about my guitar. I don't have anything to lose, I realized. What if I didn't hide who I really am? The conversation led to a point where I got to share this man (who happened to be just finishing his doctoral thesis on philosophy) about a God who LIVES and was thrilled how interested that (obviously a wise and thoughtful) guy was in my view of life and how I saw Jesus and ethics. I shared to him how God had just recently healed my back in a service where the preacher got a word of knowledge of someone's back being healed. It came up then that the man had a back problem so I suggested if I could pray for him (there were other people in that wagon with us but I can't remember how many exactly.. because I wasn't paying attention to them). I placed my hand on him and prayed... something? And the next moment the man stood up and started stretching himself and trying out his back. What happened? he asked. It felt sore this morning and the other mornings before. YEAAAAH GOD. I wrote him back a month and then a year later to ask how he was doing and got an understanding that his back is still fine. Wow, it might have been a miracle. :) The fun didn't end there. After I left that train and changed for another, the train conductor of the new train came to check my ticked, noticed my guitar (THANK GOD FOR MY GUITAR!) and asked if I could come to play to the restaurant wagon. (I had played in a train once before but then the conductor asked me to stop-- which is also a funny strory!) Hmmmmm seriously, I asked him, Does it matter if I only know gospel songs? Well, apparently it did not :D I ended up playing and singing in the restaurant wagon for the train conductor and some other people who were buying sandwiches & beer and eating them there. WOW! "Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." C. S. Lewis This courage theme is one of the reasons I like Todd White so much. I came across a clip on Youtube where he was preaching and the following is what I wrote down from his message. You will love it! It's about the Kingdom-lifestyle. What does it mean to follow Jesus anyway? <<Jesus didn't say: "I am the way to Heaven." He also didn't say: "I am the truth about Heaven." He said: "I am the way, the truth and the life." He didn't say: "No one gets to Heaven but by me." He said: "No one comes to the Father except by me." So, Jesus is not just the "way to Heaven" but to the Father. "And this is eternal life that––!!" ..they might go to Heaven? Absolutely not. "And this is eternal life: that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." I (quoting Todd White here) think that Jesus' definition of Heaven is better than the one we've made up. We preach to people: "Get your name written to the book of life and live like hell 'til you get there." But it's not just about praying a prayer to get to Heaven! It's about putting off the old nature and taking on the brand new one. So that you can become a son again. Jesus came because you are a son who lost his identity.>> First pic is from my own instagram. Pic 2. Pic 3. "Now faith is the evidence of things not seen. It is being sure of what we cannot see. God was pleased with the men who had faith who lived long ago." I'm so glad to announce that I'm going to attend Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry next fall! California, here I come! BSSM is a big school of 2,000 students from 64 different countries. Their mission is to equip and deploy revivalists who passionately pursue world-wide transformation in their God-given spheres of influence. Students are trained to continue in the ministry style of Jesus: to enjoy the presence of God, say what He is saying, and do what He is doing. There is a strong emphasis on healing, developing a prophetic culture, and demonstrating the gospel with power. This was one of the reasons I decided to launch a new blog: so that I might be able so share my journey with you! Your support and encouragement means A LOT to me and I'm blessed to have you in my life! (I wouldn't be going without you, that's for sure.) ♡ I'm really excited about this blog too, because I honesty think that this will also encourage you a lot! God has really led me to make this decision and I'm going to share some of my testimonies here in this blog in the future. I write about things that have transformed me, touched me and what I've personally experienced, but one of the best things about having a blog is that God often times tests my heart about the things I've boldly declared here––leading me to live out my faith over and over again. This post, for instance, Tuhlaan kaikkeni sinuun (I waste it all on you) increased God's radical moves and power in my life (I'm going to repost that in English in the future). Had I been told about the sacrifices God was going to ask me to make, I wouldn't necessarily have believed them then. But now, (once again) in the middle of laying down my life and dreams for Jesus, I have NEVER felt so blessed, favored and safe! Sacrifice feels really good. Painful, yes, but really good. All I want is to give something valuable to my King, who I'm madly in love with! When people look at sacrifice on the outside, they many times miss to perceive the love and affection that causes givers to give. In the end, the price of following Jesus is ridiculous compared to what we will receive! Ah, what else could we give to God when we see Him? HE IS SO WORTHY! My desire is to give Him more than He ever even asks me to give! I am not my own anymore and He owns all of me, but I have still found out that there's a difference between the sacrifice that He compels us to give and the sacrifice of thanksgiving that we willingly make out of love, affection and gratefulness toward Him. (Check out David in the OT for instance!) I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU JOIN ME ON THIS ADVENTURE! I welcome you to like Gold Poured Out on Facebook to stay tuned! You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. On suuri ilo kertoa teille, että lähden syksyllä Kaliforniaan Bethel-kouluun! Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry -kouluun saapuu vuosittain 2 000 opiskelijaa jopa 64 eri maasta. BSSM:n näky on kouluttaa, valmentaa ja lähettää herätyksen kantajia kaikkialle maailmaan: ihmisiä, jotka haluavat nähdä Jumalan valtakunnan tulevan todeksi kaikilla elämän osa-alueilla. Opiskelijoita valmennetaan elämään kuten Jeesus eli: nauttimaan Jumalan läsnäolosta ja tekemään niitä tekoja, joita Isä tekee. Opetuksessa painottuu Valtakunta tässä ja nyt: parantuminen, profetaalinen kulttuuri ja evankeliumin voima. Tämä oli yksi syy sille, että aloitin uuden blogin: että voisin jakaa matkaani myös teidän kanssanne! Kiitos tuestanne ystävät, en lähtisi ilman teitä! ♡ Olen todella innoissani myös tästä blogista, sillä uskon, että kirjoitukseni tulevat rohkaisemaan sinua paljon! Jumala on todella kutsunut minua lähtemään ja jaan aiheesta hieman enemmän joskus myöhemmin. Kirjoitan blogissani kokemuksista, jotka ovat muuttaneet, koskettaneet ja lävistäneet oman sydämeni. Yksi parhaista jutuista blogin pitämisessä on se, että Jumala testaa minua aina uudelleen asioista, joista kirjoitan ja laittaa minut todella elämään ne todeksi. Esimerkiksi postaus Tuhlaan kaikkeni sinuun, huh, todella lisäsi Jumalan voimaa elämässäni. Jos joku olisi aikaisemmin kertonut minulle uhrauksista, joita Jumala pyytäisi minua tekemään, en olisi välttämättä heti uskonut heitä. Mutta nyt, keskellä oman elämäni syvintä palvontaa ja antautumista, en ole koskaan kokenut oloani siunatummaksi. En tiennyt sen olevan tälläistä. Kukaan ei kertonut, että antaminen ja luopuminen on ihanaa! Kivuliasta, kyllä, mutta ihanaa. Jos katselemme toistemme uhrauksia huokaillen tai arvostellen niitä mielessämme, meiltä jää huomaamatta se siunaus, rakkaus ja ilo, mikä saa uhrin antajan antamaan. Minusta parasta maailmassa on antaa Jumalalle jotain sellaista, mitä itse pidän arvokkaana. Jeesuksen seuraamisesta maksettava hinta on lopulta naurettava verrattuna siihen, mitä saamme! Kun näemme Jumalan, emme edes halua muuta kuin antaa hänelle ihan kaiken! HÄN ON NIIN ARVOLLINEN! Suurin haluni on antaa hänelle enemmän kuin hän edes koskaan pyytää minulta. En enää omista itseäni ja hän omistaa kaiken, mitä olen, mutta uskon silti, että on olemassa ero uhrilla, jotka annamme sen tähden, että Jeesuksen rakkaus velvoittaa ja pakottaa meitä tekemään niin, ja kiitosuhrilla, joita annamme suuresta rakkaudesta, ilosta ja ihastuksestamme häneen. (Tsekkaa esim. Daavid!) Minusta olisi ihanaa, jos jäisit seuraamaan blogiani ja matkaani myös Betheliin! Voit tykätä Gold Poured Out:sta Facebookissa, niin näet päivitykset sieltäkin suoraan! AWESUM!! Encountering us Christians should be encountering JESUS!
Will you become a revivalist in your own community?
The picture was taken from "BSSM memes" Facebook page.
"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" God's love is so extravagant and outrageous. Come on! Just think about Jesus... He displayed the radical love of the Father perfectly. And God is still today calling his children to come back home. "That is the freakiest thing... this is nuts, dude!" "And blessed is the one who is not offended by me." said Jesus in Matthew 11:6. Try it out! Fill in the gap: "Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the ––––– of God leads you to repentance?" Romans 2:4 "Dude, this is not just preaching the gospel, this is doing the gospel! Can I shake your hand?"
Näitä jättipallovideoita löytyy Youtubesta sydämen kyllyydestä, haha olkaa hyvät! Muutama viikko sitten kirjoittamani teksti MIND-BLOWING! Kuka mittaisi Jumalan? kertoo myös tästä aiheesta: Jumalan ihmeellisyydestä. Itse ainakin oon ihan fiiliksissä kun kuljen ulkona mun SkyView-applicationin kanssa ja ihmettelen kuin hullun kaukana kaikki tähdet oikeasti onkaan. Jotkut on niin monen valovuoden päässä, että se valo, joka me nyt nähdään, on lähtenyt sinä päivänä niistä tähdistä kun Aabraham itse katseli taivaalle! THINK ABOUT THAT. |
Heavenly
|