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5 Essential Things You Need to Know About Jesus

If you spent any time in Sunday School as a child, you know that God is love. You know the Christmas story and the Easter story, and you know that Jesus died for you. But when the harsh realities of life kick in, sometimes these stories can seem like fairy tales.  

When you feel disconnected from the Lord, or you feel like God doesn’t love you, what will help restore your trust in His goodness? What do you really need to know about Jesus that will keep you “on track” spiritually? 

Here are "5 Essential Things" you to know about Jesus, things that will get you through the tougher times in life. They are not EVERYTHING there is to know about Jesus, they're just some essential things I believe will help you hang on when the going gets tough. 

1. Jesus Was the Exact Representation of God
If you go back to the Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible, you see that Moses at one point asks God who He is and what He is like. He says, “Show me Your glory, God; show me who You are. Show me what’s different and unique about you.”
 
And God agrees. He says, “I’m not going to show you My face, but I’ll let you see some of My glory.”
 
So he does. The Bible says God descends in a cloud on the top of Mount Sinai. He stands with Moses and proclaims His Name. He passes by and says of Himself:
 
“The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7)
 
And then God makes a covenant with Moses and Israel, saying that if they follow Him He will do miracles for them and deliver them.
 
If we made a list of God’s attributes based just on this section of Scripture it might look like this: 
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Roughly 1500 years later God does the unthinkable and He says to Himself, “you know what, I think instead of showing them My back, I’m going to show them My face now.”  Once again, God shows His glory, this time in the form of a Son. He sends Jesus to earth, and Hebrews 1:3 tells us that the Son was the “radiance of God’s glory and exact representation of His being.”
 
What does that mean? He looked just like Him!
 
As I was meditating on these Scriptures, the Lord reminded me of a story that I thought I’d share with you to help illustrate this point.

My husband, Kevan and I have three sons. Our oldest, Micah, is now 17 and almost ready to go off to college.
 
When Micah was born, all the grandparents showed up at the hospital. (In fact, I'm pretty sure they were there before he was!) When he arrived, the first thing they said was “Oh, he looks just like you!” They found the Perkins ears, the Perkins chin, the Perkins cheeks, you know the drill – all the things that proved he was an authentic “Perkins” boy! (It didn’t matter to them that I thought he was Italian, because he came out with jet-black hair! I was wondering if someone had switched kids on me in the nursery!)
 
It was important to the previous generation that the next generation “look like them.”
 
It was so important, in fact, that when Micah was three years old I received a phone call from my mother in law. She asked if I would please dress up my firstborn in a little sailor suit that she had and take his picture. When I asked why, she told me that when Kevan was 5, she had dressed him up in a sailor suit and taken a professional photo of him. (I guess it was the fad back then to take pictures of little boys in sailor suits!)
 
Joyce wanted a picture of her grandson that was an exact replica of her son. So here is the photo of Kevan from 1966:
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If you’ve had kids, you know that taking a three-year-old boy to a strange place with bright lights at naptime, and then forcing him to wear a sailor suit and a hat and smile is a sure recipe for disaster. This is what we did. Silly first-time parents!
 
I don’t know how it happened, but after several hours of Micah kicking and screaming and crying, we finally left with a picture of him smiling. Here is the photo. Like Father, Like Son!


You have to admit that we got pretty close to an “exact representation” of the father in the son! 
 
But dressing a boy up like a sailor doesn’t make him a sailor. Even having the Perkins ears doesn’t make you a Perkins. What makes you a son or a daughter starts on the inside. It’s the seed of the Father in you. It’s how you act, what you believe. How you speak and what you do. It’s loving the same things that your father does. It’s being born into the family that makes you a son.
 
When God’s Son is born, no one has ever seen God. So instead of saying to Jesus, “you look just like Him!” people said, “How dare you say you’re God’s Son! How can you call Him Abba, Father?” They couldn’t accept that the seed of the Father was planted in the Son.
 
The Jews didn’t recognize their own savior because they didn’t have an accurate picture of God the Father in their hearts. What they had was an image of a political redeemer or a powerful leader, not a humble deliverer. If they had gone back to that day when Moses met with God, they would have known immediately that Jesus was God’s Son. Here’s how Jesus compares to the Father:​
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John takes on the role of an adoring relative when he writes chapter 1 of his gospel. He says this: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14, NKJV)
 
John is saying – “Look, here’s God’s firstborn Son! Do you see the Father’s glory? He’s got the same grace as His Father. He’s full of His Father’s truth! He looks just like Him!” John is pointing out the similarities between Father and Son, just any grandparent would do.
 
John also says that although Jesus was in the world and the world was made through Him, the world did not know Him. He came to His own people, and His own did not receive Him.
 
Jesus was not just the exact representation of God; He WAS GOD. So if you ever wonder what God thinks about something, you just look at Jesus. Does God want to heal? Jesus healed 100% of the sick people who came to Him. Does God know who you are? Jesus knew the name of Zaccheus before Zaccheus ever met Him.
 
When Peter asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus said: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father? If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” (John 14:9)
 
When we see Jesus, it’s like looking at that picture of my son; we see the Father in him. And so from now on, you never need to wonder what the Father is like. If you know Jesus, you know God. And if you don’t know Jesus yet, we will happily introduce you to Him at the end of this service! Just like Jesus, you are made in the image of God. When people look at you, they see Jesus!   
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2. Jesus Always Did What the Father Was Doing
We know this from the Scripture in John 5:19:“The Son can do nothing by Himself; He can only do what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”
 
To put this another way, Jesus lived a purpose-driven life, but His purpose didn’t come from within Himself, it came from the Father.
 
How many of you, at the beginning of a New Year or a new career, have ever sat down and written out a mission statement or a vision statement for your lives? When Jesus created His mission statement, this is what He said:
 
The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,
because He has anointed Me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me
to proclaim freedom to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free the oppressed,
To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19)
 
When you read the accounts of what Jesus did in the Gospels, you find that He was always true to His mission.
 
For example, a woman came to Jesus once on the Sabbath. Her body had been bleeding for 18 years. Jesus healed her. He fulfilled His mission. But He didn’t just heal her, He also gave us a glimpse into the heart of the Father, who was working with Him.
 
He said, “Shouldn’t this woman, whom Satan has kept bound for 18 years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” When Jesus said this, even His enemies were humiliated. Why? Because this kind of love had never been seen before, love that went beyond legalism. Love that would go to such an extreme as to violate religious rules about the Sabbath in order to heal a fellow human being.
 
The compassion of God silences even His enemies. It reminds me of the song “Reckless Love,” which we sing often in church:
 
“There's no shadow You won't light up
Mountain You won't climb up
Coming after me
There's no wall You won't kick down
No lie You won't tear down
Coming after me.”
 
Jesus did what the Father was doing. God is still healing and delivering people today, and He will do this for you.

3. Jesus Only Said What the Father Was Saying
I want to show you something special in the Scriptures that is incredibly good news for us. Turn to John 14:14:
 
“IF YOU ASK ANYTHING IN MY NAME, I WILL DO IT.”
 
This isn’t just Jesus talking. If you go back a few verses to John 14:10, you’ll hear Jesus saying, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.”
 
Jesus only said what the Father was saying. The Father dwells in Jesus. So when Jesus says, “Ask me anything,” it’s the Father saying, “Ask Me anything!”
 
This isn’t just a loving father spoiling His child. This is Someone who believes so strongly in the life of God dwelling in us, that He trusts us. He trusts us to carry on the same mission Jesus outlined and to do even GREATER works than those Jesus did.
 
I don’t know about you, but this makes me happy. It brings me freedom. It gives me courage to believe that I am FAMILY. I belong. So do you!
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4. Jesus Lived the Perfect Life You Couldn't Live. He Took the Punishment for Your Sins
2 Corinthians 5:21 says: God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. Isaiah says Christ was numbered with the transgressors. He poured out his soul until He died. He bore the burden of our sins and interceded for us. He offered a perfect sacrifice, fulfilling every detail of the law, and satisfied God’s requirements.

​God SO loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him – not whoever works for Him or tries to overcome sin in his own strength – but whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

5. Jesus is Alive Today, Praying for You Because He Loves You!
Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father. The Bible says He “ever lives to make intercession for us.” That means He’s praying for you right now.
 
Hebrews tells us that we have a compassionate high priest. No problem you can throw at Jesus is too big; He has seen and experienced it all. Because of His time on earth, because of what He experienced at the hands of men, He can pray effectively for you in any situation.
 
Remember:
 
Jesus has been rejected. He’s been betrayed. He’s been the victim of violence. He was falsely accused on more than one occasion. He was abandoned by friends and family. He was disfigured. He was alienated. He was tempted in various ways. He was spat upon, abused, and told He was a child of hell. He suffered the death of a close friend. His quiet times were interrupted by bad weather, needy people, and His own inner circle. He’s seen suicides, robberies, hatred, malice, greed and anger. He’s lost His family and been told He’s an arrogant man who didn’t know squat about religion. He knows what you’ve experienced, and He knows it firsthand.
 
Jesus has lived in a wilderness, had nowhere to sleep, worked a menial job, suffered a famine and wandered aimlessly in a desert. He’s been beaten, stoned, imprisoned, pierced and crucified.
 
But glory to God, He’s also been baptized by the Holy Spirit, called the Son of God, spoken to millions, and been raised from the dead. He’s performed resurrections and released restorations. His speeches went viral and He’s been summoned before Kings. He’s shown mercy to the weak, healed the sick, and delivered the demonized. And He still does this today.
 
He’s stilled the storms, trained his disciples, and fed the poor. He’s loved the loveless, carried the suffering, and ministered to the masses. JESUS LOVES YOU. Because Jesus is God, that means that God loves you, too.
 
Jesus went through all of the things He did so that the love of God could be released upon you, and not only that, but so that the love of God could dwell in you. Anyone who accepts Christ as their Lord and Savior, believing that He came from God and returned to the Father, can know this love forever. It’s a love that is free of religion and based entirely on relationship.
 
I want to close with the most essential thing you need to know about Jesus, from Romans chapter 8: “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor rulers, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
 
Jesus is God . He loves you. He’s for you. He is praying for you, and He and the Father are still working with you to reveal God’s glory on earth. You are sons and daughters of the King, HUGELY loved and held securely in the palm of His hand. You can trust Him. When you get hold of this for yourself, you will never need another person to pray for you again, because you know God Himself is praying for you! Knowing these truths about Jesus is what’s going carry you through thick and thin in your life.
 
If you’ve never accepted Christ’s love for yourself, please pray this prayer today:

Father, thank you for sending Jesus, Your own Son, so that I could know You better. I believe Jesus took care of every requirement of the law and became a sacrifice for my sins so that I could be free from the penalty of death. I receive Your gift of love for me, and believe I will live eternally in heaven with You. Help me to trust You as My great and compassionate High Priest, convinced forever of Your love! Amen.

© Deborah Perkins / www.HisInscriptions.com
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Keys, Doors, & Unlocking Revelation: Prophetic Insights for This New Season

Those who read this blog on a regular basis will remember that last week, I wrote about a fictional encounter with God in which He took a key and unlocked the secrets of a believer's heart. (Click here if you missed it). Little did I know how prophetic that statement was!  

The same week, on Friday, I attended a gathering of believers from New England at the Congregacion Leon de Juda church in Boston. Chuck Pierce, an apostle of the faith and founder of Glory of Zion Ministries, also came to deliver a prophetic word of encouragement for our region. His message?  "It's time to unlock the rock!"

Referring both to Jesus's statement to Peter (Christ will build His church on the "rock" of revelation) and to the historic roots of New England (Plymouth Rock and the Puritans), Chuck spoke of the coming revival as both imminent and dependent on our need to unlock spiritual revelation. In the Spirit, Chuck saw keys coming down in response to prayers that have gone up. From those keys of revelation an entire nation will be unlocked. (Scroll down to watch the video replay, hear the word and join in praying for freedom over America with the declarations at the end of the video. 

I believe God is very interested, this season, in unlocking the treasures of revelation stored up - not just from our founding rock in Plymouth, but also in our hearts. How do we do that? By spending quality time with Him in prayer! Here is what He whispered to me as I meditated on these things... 

Unlock Revelation! 
“Unlocking prophetic revelation will require the unlocking of you first! A polluted stream cannot prophesy clearly, nor will you release rivers of healing unless that which is within you is no longer stagnant. To flow with Me, your heart must be free.

It is for this reason that the (New England) region must be unlocked. A hardness of heart has come upon My people in this area due to past offenses, closing the door to the release of what is fresh and new. Remaining in the past is a recipe for disaster. Therefore I am opening the prison doors for My people, that they may see the light ahead of them, welcome and embrace it, and find strength to renounce their old ways. They will walk out of darkness only when they see the light ahead of them. For this reason I sent My servant Chuck Pierce, so that there may be a “light at the end of the tunnel,” so to speak – that those who still cling to the old may find the courage and hope to walk towards the new. I am doing new things, and My people must be made new on the inside in order to participate in what I am doing, lest they miss it completely. The old wineskins cannot hold this new wine!

And who does not replace what is old and worn in their house when presented with a new and better alternative? So shall I do in My house, for I have need of new vessels to carry this new wine. Be not afraid to cast off what you find that is old and dry within you. Let go of it freely, for there is a “spandex” in the Spirit to which you now have access, which will allow the anointing within you to expand and grow! Be not afraid to release those garments that do not fit you anymore, for as you grow in the Spirit you will require new vestments, and I have already prepared them for you. Come to Me and buy that which you have need of. As a sign to you, I will provide this new clothing and you will radiate joy and peace as you wear it!

Dig deeper in Me, for you have not yet scratched the surface of who I am. I am infinitely able to expand and grow your horizons, change and refine your perceptions of Me, and bring you into a fuller understanding of all that you and I possess together.

The key to your growth lies not in your past, but in your future. Come to Me for the keys. Come to Me to see which key fits which door, for not all enter through the same door. There are majestic doors and lowly doors, and you must discern where I am leading you in order to go through.

Those who are warriors must often enter through lowly doors, secret places of humility and openings so small they must crouch down to fit. These doors lead to great conquests.

Those with a call to leadership enter through doors they do not savor – doors that are not their own and are not of their own choosing. (John 21:18.) They leave with appreciation for that which is different from them. They leave, often, with priceless gifts they never expected to own, given to them by the grateful who live within these difficult places.

The pure of heart enter majestic doors of beauty and royalty, though they do not perceive it. Their purity causes them to bow low, oblivious to the honor bestowed upon them until such time as I open their eyes. Purity and innocence shield them from the pride they might have if they discerned their true positions; their childlike attributes allow them to enter the palaces of the great, yet emerge unscathed by power or prestige.

Those who seek Me shall be given keys to unlock not only treasures within their own lives, but also treasures in the lives of those around them. To unlock self is to learn the way for others, bringing healing to many." 

© Deborah Perkins / www.HisInscriptions.com
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Covenant Declarations Made Over New England
March 16, 2018, Boston, Congregacion Leon de Juda
"Unlocking" Prophecy Begins @ 47:07 mins. 
Declarations over New England begin @ 2:24:12 mins. 

Transcript of the declarations at end of video -
Join us in praying for the New England Region! 
We, believers of New England, gathered as an ekklesia, a formal assembly of God’s people, come together in obedience to God’s summons. We gather as representatives of God’s spiritual government in this region, endowed with the authority of His Kingdom to bind and to loose, to open and shut both in the spiritual and the earthly realms. We assume the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, and make these formal declarations on His behalf, believing that we have discerned correctly His will for this time, for our region, and for our nation. We open gates on earth for the entry of God’s specific purposes into our region. We release God’s power upon us for evangelistic harvest, for revival, for miraculous interventions and manifestations, and for unity and holiness among God’s people.

We restore the covenant root of Boston and New England and release God’s original covenant plan for our region. We remove the constricting band that principalities and powers have illegitimately placed over this region. We declare their downfall, their complete defeat. We order the release of individuals and institutions to be able to hear and respond to the message of the Gospel. We declare grace, favor and boldness upon the people of God in this region, to proclaim the message of God, and to carry out His will in this time.
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We affirm the words of God’s prophets over our region, and say Amen to their declarations. In the words of Psalm 24:9-10 we declare over our region: “Lift up your heads, O you gates and be lifted up you everlasting doors, that the King of Glory may come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory!” Amen. 
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Experiencing God: A Parable on Prayer

Perhaps the #1 reason why we pray is because we need God. We come in great need to Someone who suggests that He might meet our needs for us, something no man has ever done before. We have not seen this kind of love this side of heaven. We discover God’s amazing goodness and generosity, and we are compelled to love Him more.

But prayer is not meant to end at the meeting of our needs! We begin here, but soon realize that our needs are meant to be a gateway into greater experiences with God. It is always relationship that God seeks with us. He means to be Father, not just Provider! To focus on God as Jehovah-Jireh alone is to miss the myriad other aspects of His character and Names, to miss the greatness of Him.  
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The short story that follows is meant to illustrate our passage from beggars to sons and daughters. Our story unfolds like that of a weary traveler: 


​We come to God fearful, thirsty, impoverished and battered by our journey, to what seems like a mirage in a dry, never-ending desert. The water ahead of us shimmers in the sunlight. To our great delight we find that this is no mirage; this is real water: in fact, it is an overflowing well! All we have hoped for, all we will ever need we find here, in the unlikely place of our desert.

Isaiah 35 comes to life for us: “…waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes.” (Isaiah 35:6-7, NKJV.)
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Like Joshua, we camp out in amazement near this living water. Our hearts are as calloused as our feet from the hardness of the places we have walked. Yet here, the grass is soft beneath our feet and the air is cool.

​Who owns this well? we wonder. “The well is God’s,” others tell us who have come before. “He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and all the ancient wells are His.”

Timidly, we pitch our tent here, not wanting to leave such goodness, such satisfaction. The sight of the water is beautiful, its coolness refreshing. We remain here long after the heat of the sun fades, long after tradition or common decency tells us it is time to move on.

We are told that with this God, there is no worry of overstaying our welcome: indeed, He is laughing; He delights in the ones around His throne! It seems like He almost wants to share this abundance with people. Who is like Him?

Listen – do you hear Him? He is singing over us! So joyful is this God, He cannot contain Himself. He leaps in exultation at the sight of the thirsty ones splashing in the water around His throne!

We are embarrassed at first. After all, we came to get something, not to give! Our pockets are empty; does He realize we cannot pay Him back? Why does He delight so in those who resemble only beggars and thieves?

But we hoped for a crumb; we found a loaf. We scavenged for coins but happened upon a bank! We didn’t realize who He was – a King!  Now He is showering His grace upon us like rain and, helplessly, we do not know what to do, how to react. Should we gather the loaves in our cloaks and store them, lest they disappear? Will there be more loaves tomorrow?

At first, we do not know. Such joy overwhelms us, a stark contrast to the depression we have carried for so long. We do not care; look, we have bread and water ! We sit and ration what we have, hungrily sharing portions with our friends, but still setting some aside. We know better than to use it all up at once.

We sleep peacefully for the first time in years. We cannot leave this place yet – not yet, for we are still too weary and the journey has been too much.
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​The sun rises again; we wake and survey our new surroundings. Is it still there, that goodness? “Yes,” say the others with a smile, “for God’s mercies are new every morning!” What this means we cannot fathom; no one has an endless supply of anything, and we should know!

Yet the water sparkles in the sunlight, and someone has set out new loaves of bread for breakfast. Again, we help ourselves, wondering how we will afford this but too hungry to care. Later, having eaten, we ask and find that it is all free. Loaves multiply, and the “living water” knows no end!

After many such days living near this Kingdom, we come to realize that the King’s goodness really is endless, His resources renewable. He did all this on purpose, we discover; He knew we were hungry and He prepared a feast to draw us to Him.

We want to never leave! How could we purchase the rights to this land, we wonder? How could we live nearby so that we, too, will never run out?

“It is simple,” the others tell us. “If you believe in God’s goodness all this will be yours, too. Go and speak to the King, and you will see.”

Speak to the King? Now? We examine our tattered rags, look with shame at the buckets of water and the pile of bread we have hastily stored up near our tent. Will He know we have stolen from Him, having never met Him? What about our rags? How can we appear before a King when we are half naked and unclean?

We linger for days, arguing amongst ourselves and wondering whether such a trip to a King is worth it. Will He not chastise us like all the others from whom we have stolen? And what can we say to excuse ourselves? There is nothing; we know we are worthless and have nothing of value to offer this man.

Our fears keep us close to the tent and far from the throne. At least, we think, we can remain hidden amongst the others for the time being.

Daily, our ongoing need gnaws at us as eagerly as we gnaw on our newfound loaves. Our home cannot be temporary, we know; our family needs more than a tent to dwell in. The thought of wandering in the desert again sickens us, makes us fear for our children. And so we go; we swallow our pride, put on our best rags, and we go to the King. 
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​So awesome is this King when we approach that we are compelled to bow down, to close our eyes against this glorious light. Even the desert was not as bright as this! Yet the light does not scorch; how can this be? It warms us, but does not burn us.

As we approach the throne, the atmosphere changes. The air seems almost to hum, as if  supercharged with electricity. Our senses come acutely alive; we do not know what to expect.

Suddenly, we feel liquid love, like golden honey sticking to us. Amazed, we lick a drop of it from our skin and it tastes sweet and delicious. It fills us with an energy and a hope we did not know we could have. It is His Word, we realize; the King is speaking to us!

Words never tasted so good, we think. Instead of lashes, we feel His love. Instead of bruises, we see ourselves healing. Our bodies and our rags are transformed in His Presence, taking on the glow of heaven even as He speaks. Look at us! Water swirls around our ankles, and we are becoming iridescent, sparkling like the pool in which we stand! 

The King’s words are unmistakable. We have not learned His language, yet He is speaking ours. We are convicted. We did not take the time to know Him, yet it is clear that He already knows us. It would be impossible, we realize, not to know when He was speaking.

The King approaches. He turns a key in the doors of our hearts, unlocking the very secrets we thought were hidden and showing them to us, one by one. All the earth, it seems, trembles with us under the weight of His Words. We cannot respond. For one horrible moment, there is deafening silence.

Then suddenly, He breathes upon our secrets and they are gone. Like a puff of wind, He blows them away, lost to the endless spaces of the surrounding desert. He closes the doors of our hearts again, and locks them. We feel lighter, airy, as if we could float up and fly with the angels who stir the air near His throne.

“ You will be back ,” He whispers, as our time together ends. “ I have always known you, but now you know Me. ”

And it is true. We already long to come back again, to taste this goodness, to feel this lightness, to soar with these angels and to dance in these waters around His throne. What joy! We are like those who dream!

Such encounters are the reason we return, day after day, to the place of prayer. Like a never-ending well in the desert, prayer restores us, gives us hope, and empowers us with an energy that cannot be found in the natural world. As we abide close to Him, the source of our provision, we in time discover all the other wonderful things He is. 

There is no shame in needing God. The world we come from tells us our need is a weakness, but we know that our need has brought us to the richest place we could ever imagine. We thirst no longer. We have been given an inheritance we can now pass on to our children, much greater than the rags and tents we owned before. Our land is verdant, watered by the streams of heaven. Our crops are abundant. We have new life, new joy, and a new purpose, building a highway through the desert so that others can travel more quickly to the living water we have found.
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It is not the King’s will that anyone should perish. Having sated ourselves, we now live for the others. And the King, pleased Himself, is still singing and dancing, waiting for the day when all will come and dance in these waters with Him. 

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Why Pray? Part 3: You Have A Supernatural Enemy

If you’ve been a Christian for even a short time, you’ve already realized that despite God’s promises of both eternal and internal peace, you’re constantly confronted with the enemy’s plans for chaos and suffering!

As soon as you begin to get serious about prayer, the enemy gets equally serious about keeping you out of your “secret place” in a bid to rob you of your peace. He knows, as you do, that prayer is the difference between a defeated warrior and a powerful victor. This is one compelling reason why we pray: because we have a supernatural enemy.

God's "War Room"
​Jesus had a special place He used to pray in the Kidron Valley. The garden of Gethsemane at the Mount of Olives was just east of Jerusalem. The Bible says it was His “custom” to go there, and that the disciples knew the place because He often prayed or taught them there. It was a secret garden, private, and the perfect place for a quiet time. You could say it was Jesus’ “war room.” 

Related: Watch the "War Room" movie today- click here.
​ Gethsemane was the place of Jesus’s greatest prayer battle. Just like us, Jesus knew that He had some amazing promises from God: in a few short days, He would be resurrected, save the world, and destroy the work of the devil. He knew what the will of God was, but He also knew He was about to be betrayed. He knew the price of salvation, and His only task was to surrender to the will of God.

Luke tells us (in Luke 22:42) that Christ knelt down to pray: “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will but Yours be done.”

This was the same prayer he taught his disciples to pray earlier: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.” It is one of the toughest prayers we can ever pray, because it means we have to die to ourselves in order to complete the mission of God.

At Gethsemane, Jesus’s prayer went way beyond the typical Sunday School “bless me” prayers. He agonized, wept and sweat drops of blood because the battle was so intense. His entire being – spirit, soul, and body – was engaged in an appeal to the Father. He was fighting a supernatural foe.

Most of us do pray harder when we are attacked. Like Jesus, our first prayer is that God will stop the attack. We’re only human! We call friends and ask them to pray for us when we don’t think we can go on.

While Jesus did ask the disciples to pray, He didn’t rely on them. In fact, His disciples were so grieved at Christ’s imminent departure that they fell asleep from sorrow. You might say they were sleeping on the battlefield!

Jesus, however, went straight to the Father and shared His heart with the only One who could change the situation. He fought a supernatural enemy by interacting with a supernatural God.
 
Here’s the problem: the external situation didn’t change, despite Jesus’s prayers.
​ Jesus Prayed To Receive Supernatural Power to Combat a Supernatural Foe 
Christ's prayers were not a failure. Jesus knew that sometimes the battle isn’t won by prayer alone, but by walking in obedience to God’s plan. Just as the enemy’s lawlessness causes chaos, so a believer’s obedience brings blessing. Supernatural intervention, for Jesus, meant receiving the strength to go on.

In the middle of Christ’s prayer time, (Luke 22:43), an angel appeared from heaven and strengthened Him. God gave supernatural aid to His Son so that Jesus could obey Him in a humanly impossible situation. (See Hebrews 2:16.)

After the angel strengthened Jesus in the garden, He prayed even more powerfully. Having received God’s strategy, which was to go through the situation, not be removed from it, Christ brought His soul into compliance with God’s will and gathered supernatural strength for the days ahead.

Friends, when your situation doesn’t change, but your heart does; that is power in prayer! Scottish commentator Alexander MacLaren writes of Gethsemane: “Such conformity of our wills with God’s is the highest blessing of prayer and the true deliverance.”

Thanks to Christ’s obedience, we have been delivered from the enemy. It is our job now to enforce Christ’s victory. To overcome a supernatural enemy, we must use the supernatural aid God gives us through prayer. Sometimes our prayers have immediate effect. Other times we must persevere through difficult situations until we reach the place of blessing. In His wisdom, God is allowing a supernatural enemy to refine us for an end-time supernatural reign. 

Quiet Time Questions:
1. Have you ever received supernatural strength in prayer? What changes in your situation did you see? Were they internal or external?

2. A supernatural foe requires supernatural strength to overcome. Apart from prayer, how else do you tap into the supernatural power of God as you walk through life’s challenges? Think of a few other biblical ways to tap into the power of God.
 
3. If you've had a similar experience in prayer, where God did not remove the external situation but gave you grace to walk through it, please share with us! How did God help you through your situation? Comment below or post your story on our Facebook “Connect and Pray” Group so that others may be encouraged by your testimony. 

© Deborah Perkins / www.HisInscriptions.com Read Part 1 of the series: Why Pray?Read Part 2 of the Series: Why Pray? Subscribe

Why Pray? Part 2: Power & Effectiveness

There is power in prayer, but we don't want to stop at just receiving God's power for ourselves. God's power has a purpose. We can know for certain that we are praying effectively when we partner with that power!

I have had the privilege of being part of many denominations within the Christian church-at-large over the years. From Presbyterian to Pentecostal, house churches to megachurches, I have experienced God in a variety of settings. This is what I have found: that we need both power and effectiveness, as James the apostle writes, in order to fulfill the Christian mandate.

What troubles many pastors and believers alike is that we know there is genuine power in the Kingdom of God, but we have seen so many bad examples of the use of that power that we prefer to keep it out of our services and out of our lives. This, however, is a mistake.

​Power has a purpose. It isn't wrong to experience the power of God; in fact, we should both desire and delight in the many manifestations of God's Presence in our midst! They produce the fruit of miracles, healing, deliverance, prophecies, tongues, and a host of other experiences that contribute deeply to Christian life.

The trouble is, when supernatural power comes, our flesh often reacts strangely. The impact of spiritual reality on human flesh can cause us to tremble, shake, cry, laugh, or prophesy. (See Acts 4:31, Matthew 28:4, Jeremiah 23:9, and Daniel 10 for a few biblical examples.) In Acts, at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the disciples were at first accused of being drunk. But that release of power had a purpose: a great ingathering of souls.

God does not release His power so that people can make spectacles of themselves. Church leaders have traditionally struggled with the challenge of "controlling" manifestations of power because of those who have not handled it well, bringing glory to themselves instead of to God. But the prophet Isaiah tells us that God "looks with favor on those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at His Word." (Isaiah 66:2, NIV.) The manifestations are not the problem. People who get "stuck" on the manifestations, either for or against them, are.

Trembling, shaking, and experiencing the power of God are also not signs of holiness. They are simply signs that God is on the move and has a purpose He's fulfilling. The question is, when God's power comes, what is His purpose? Are we using power effectively?
​
James writes that the prayer of a righteous person is both powerful AND effective. This tells me that once we access the power of God, we are meant to have an effective impact on the world around us, just like that pastor I described in last week's post did on me. 

"The spirits of the prophets are subject to the control of the prophets," the apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians  14:32. Not only prophets, but anyone who experiences the power of God can exercise the self-control needed to wait their turn to prophesy, to turn that power into prayer, or to release healing to someone in need. Remember: it's not about you. It's about the Kingdom of God advancing!
​A Personal Power Encounter
Here's an example of powerful and effective prayer. Years ago, I was visiting a Christian couple at their home in Massachusetts. I was in my 20's, just out of college, and part of a Baptist church that did n​ot emphasize the Holy Spirit! But they did believe in prayer. 

This particular couple had a house rule: if you visited them for any reason, they insisted on praying for you before you left. I had no objection to that, since I loved prayer, too. But when we began to pray, something unusual happened.

I felt the power of God in my physical body.

It was as though the Holy Spirit landed heavily upon me and began praying through me, for someone who was in need of prayer at the time. My body began to shake violently, and I began to cry. I could see this person's face in my mind's eye as I prayed. I knew that it was urgent that we pray for her. 

Not knowing how these Baptists would react, I tried to explain what I thought was happening. Thankfully, they agreed to join me in prayer, despite my odd manifestations, and we groaned, wrestled, and prayed until the burden for that person lifted. The trembling stopped, my tears dried up, and I wearily made my way home. 

It wasn't until years later, as I talked with the person who had come to mind, that I realized that the time God's Spirit caused us to pray was most likely the exact time this dear one needed prayer most. A series of life events had made her desperate, and God actually sent a believer across her path to assist her with basic human needs, helping her through those tragedies. While I cannot go into details, I am convinced that the time I spent praying in that couple's home was both powerful and effective, however strange it may have looked to them! God mercifully showed me the fruit of those prayers.

Romans 8:26 reads: "The Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (NKJV.)

Are your prayers powerful and effective? Do you co-labor with the Holy Spirit, God's power manifested in you, to pray more effectively? (Or evangelize, give, show hospitality or preach?) To be both powerful and effective, we must know the Word of God, but we also need to know the Spirit of God. When the Word and the Spirit work together, we have both power and effectiveness! Pray with me today: 

Father, I confess I have been skeptical and even judgmental about whether the power of the Holy Spirit is still valid for us today. In my reluctance to abuse power, I have sometimes shut down the one source of power I should welcome most! Forgive me, Lord, for trying to put you into a more "acceptable" box for the sake of pleasing man. We need your power more than ever before, and I want to be someone You can trust to use it effectively. I welcome the manifestation of Your Holy Spirit in my life for the common good: to be a more effective worker for your Kingdom, bringing hope and healing to all who will receive it. Amen! 


© Deborah Perkins / www.HisInscriptions.com Subscribe Free Blog Home Deborah Perkins

Why Pray?

The first time I ever heard someone speak on prayer was when I was around 25 years old. I was helping to coordinate a large conference for Christians in New England, and I had a few minutes free between responsibilities. I slipped into a workshop on prayer with a speaker I had never met, and those few minutes changed my life.

The speaker was not notably charismatic or eloquent. In fact, he did nothing more than sit on a chair, talking quietly about intimacy with God.

I don’t even remember what he said. But I can tell you one thing: this man knew Jesus.

Something about the way he spoke of Him was different than what I’d heard in churches. Real. Authentic. I could tell that Jesus was with him. It made me hungry to know Jesus that way, too.

From that day on, it became a lifelong passion of mine to know this God that was more than words, more than religion, and more than the ritual prayers I had been taught as a girl. I saw that the way I prayed was dry and passionless. Meeting someone who loved Jesus and spoke with authority about intimacy with God had a life-changing effect on me.

Later, I discovered that this speaker was a pastor whose ministry extended well beyond the four walls of his church. His effectiveness in ministry was a direct result of his personal commitment to prayer. He exemplified the primary goal of prayer, which is to know God and make Him known.

Paul wrote in Philippians: “I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord… that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings…” (NKJV)

Why pray? Because when you have a dynamic prayer life with God, it shows. You don’t even need to say anything sometimes: people will see Jesus in you and be drawn to you because they want to know Him more.
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I used to wonder why strangers approached me in stores and began telling me their life stories. (This happens more often than I like to admit!) Couldn’t they see that I was in a hurry, busy trying to shop for my own family? Now I know that it isn’t me they’re talking to, it’s Jesus in me. They are seeking what I sought earlier: a life-giving relationship with Christ.

Friends, the only way people are going to see Jesus is if YOU are full of His Presence! God has decided that for the most part, this is how He wants to reveal Himself to the world – through us.

One man’s authentic relationship with Jesus changed me forever. The Presence of God in Him was more convicting than any sermon. Is your life this powerful? Do you know Jesus this way? 
​
Reflect and Pray
1. Have you ever had an encounter with God that convinced you of His reality and Presence in your world? If so, take a moment to remember the details. Thank God for your experience of Him!


2. If not, why not? It’s up to you! Read Jeremiah 29:13, Proverbs 8:17, and Matthew 7:7-8. These scriptures show clearly that those who seek God wholeheartedly DO find Him, just as I did years ago. Make a quality decision to diligently seek the One who longs to be found by you!


3. Pray this prayer with me: Father, I thank you for Your Presence that abides in me! (John 15:4.) Let Your light shine brightly as I move through this world, and help me to identify those times when people see You in me, so that I can love them as you loved me! Help me to develop a life of authentic intimacy with You that impacts those around me, so that they long to know You, too. Amen.
​ © Deborah Perkins / www.HisInscriptions.com. Cover photo credit: Nicola Fioravanti. Subscribe Free About Deborah PerkinsRead More on Prayer Here

Prophetic Vision of the Stairs, Interview on Pray.Network, and More!

On 2-9-18, I had a prophetic vision of a stairway connecting earth to heaven. In the vision, I encountered the Lord, who gave me wisdom concerning what this staircase represents for every believer. Keep reading to discover a unique way of understanding your quiet times, and what happens within them! 

This week's blog also contains a link to an in-depth interview I did on Pray.Network, with Phil Miglioratti. Click here to listen in as Phil and I talk about Life-Giving Prayer in greater detail.


I saw in a vision as I prayed, a white, stone staircase that extended from earth to heaven. Around it was a deep blue sky, studded with thousands of stars, and open space as in the atmosphere. The staircase was made with unhewn stone, so that its steps, which were wide but extremely narrow, were also rough and uneven. There were no sides or railings to this staircase, so that it seemed to be suspended in mid-air.

Each step on the staircase represented a day in the believer’s life: another quiet time where they stood on the staircase and called to meet with Jesus. I saw that whenever a believer called to Him, Jesus descended from an area at the top of the stairway down to the level of the stairs where the believer was standing. He appeared in human, manly form, wearing a white robe, and met with the believer to talk with them each day as they continued their daily climb up this staircase. It was a picture of the believer’s life-connection with Jesus, from birth to death, start to finish. When the measure of their days is fulfilled, believers will have reached heaven, Jesus’ abode.

Because the steps are wide but very narrow, they do not lend themselves to long periods of rest or stagnation; their sole purpose is to provide a solid place on which to stand in communion with the Lord as a believer continues in his day.

I perceived that in my case (being exactly half a century old) I was standing on a step that was already halfway up this staircase. Behind me, though, the previous stairs had disappeared; there was nothing but an open drop into space. It was as if the step on which I stood was the first one in the remaining series of steps I was to climb. I asked the Lord why this was and He said: “You can never go back.”

Our communication with the Lord, while progressive, is as an upward climb, bringing us ever closer to Him. We have no need to return to the “first principles” we have been taught, nor do we need to return to our past. At every step on the stairs, when we call to Jesus, He brings us fresh revelation. Also, at the step where we stand, we have opportunity to reach down and pull up those who have lost their footing or who cannot seem to climb onto on that first step. Every new day, every quiet time, every step represents a fresh encounter with Jesus, even if the stairs themselves feel uneven and rocky beneath our feet sometimes.  

I pray you will keep climbing, keep seeking the One who responds to every call, coming quickly and lovingly to meet you on your spiritual stairway of life.

​© Deborah Perkins / HisInscriptions.com 

Pray.Network Interviews Deborah on Life-Giving Prayer!
This week, Phil Miglioratti and I discussed my new book, Life-Giving Prayer, in an interview for Pray.Network. Click here or on the photo to read this in-depth Q&A on Prayer - it's packed with insight!
Happy Valentine's Day! During the month February, Deborah is sharing God's love by giving away 100 copies of her newest book, Life-Giving Prayer!  ​(Kindle/e-Reader version) Click below to enter. .goodreadsGiveawayWidget { color: #555; font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; background: white; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget p { margin: 0 0 .5em !important; padding: 0; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink { display: inline-block; color: #181818; background-color: #F6F6EE; border: 1px solid #9D8A78; border-radius: 3px; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; outline: none; font-size: 13px; padding: 8px 12px; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink:hover { color: #181818; background-color: #F7F2ED; border: 1px solid #AFAFAF; text-decoration: none; }Goodreads Book Giveaway Life-Giving Prayerby Deborah Perkins

Giveaway ends February 28, 2018.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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God is Encouraging Wounded Warriors!

During the month of January, many Christians have been fasting and praying, seeking God for His plans for the coming year. At the same time, many of us have felt like the enemy's attacks also increased. This Facebook Live video is meant to encourage you if you feel wounded, battle-weary, or abandoned. (20 minute video replay with prayer for listeners included.) Click the link below to watch!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         


Like Free stuff? Enter Deborah's February Giveaway on Goodreads to win 1 of 100 FREE copies of Life-giving Prayer for Kindle/e-Readers! now through February 28th. Click below to enter!
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How To Win a Power Struggle Against the Enemy

Sometimes the voice of the enemy is LOUD. Embarrassing. Even publicly humiliating. Sometimes the devil is uncomfortably close to home. Like a strong-willed child, he tries to draw you into a power struggle. He hopes you will cave to the factual truths of his accusations against you. Has this happened to you? 

It happened to King Hezekiah. And it’s happened to me. The question is, what do you do?                                                                               


Immediately after the wonderful promises of Isaiah 35 – the desert blossoming like a rose, a highway of holiness for believers that no unclean person or beast can travel on – Isaiah presents the ironic story of an evil king of Assyria, Sennacherib, who posts his chief officer on the highway that leads from Syria to Egypt.

Sennacherib’s army has defeated thousands by the sword already, and his goal is to reach Egypt to inflict further damage. But King Hezekiah’s land, the land of Judah, stands in the way.
​
King Sennacherib’s goal is to draw Judah into a power struggle. Sennacherib knows that the facts are stacked against Judah, and if he can just cause them to engage with him, he will win. His armies are stronger, his arguments more substantial. What do they have to stand on, really?

Sennacherib’s minions spend an entire chapter mocking, humiliating and insulting Judah, her king, and her God. All of Isaiah 36 is filled with the bribery, insults, and arrogant boasting of Assyria’s servants. So proud are these men that they actually claim that God sent them! (Isaiah 35:10.)
This suspenseful story gives us 3 rules to follow when we want to win a power struggle against our enemy. The first rule is this: Don’t engage!    

Rule #1: Don't Engage!
Judah’s wise king, Hezekiah, follows the first rule when he instructs his three servants not to respond to the enemy’s accusations (verse 21). Praise God: Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah honor King Hezekiah and keep their mouths shut!

This is the first principle of good warfare, one we do well to emulate. Until we hear from the Lord, we should be very careful about responding to the enemy’s advances with foolish, fearful, doubtful or angry words.

But that doesn’t mean the three servants aren’t worried. They return to the king with clothes torn, covered in sackcloth and ashes. They fearfully tell the king that Sennacherib has left them no hope; it is certain that he will attack Judah and defeat them. Even King Hezekiah and his elders cover themselves in sackcloth. Their grief is apparent.

I love that the Bible gives us honest stories of weaker men and women just like us, who feel their human weaknesses but rise above them through prayer.
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We know that our emotions won’t help us, even though they are very present! We know that much of what the enemy says is factual. But we know one more thing, which is the key to our ultimate victory: in prayer, we have an “edge” over all the power of the enemy. So we wait to hear from God before we engage in a struggle we cannot win by human strength alone.

Rule #2: Keep Your Peace
Instead of taking the enemy’s bait, the first thing Hezekiah does (Isaiah 37:1) is to “go into the house of the Lord.” He turns to prayer, the source of his peace.

He also seeks out a prophet for a strategy from God. He sends men to Isaiah, the same prophet who has just told them (in Isaiah 35) that victory is assured and God is with them.

Our first response to enemy attack or accusation should be the same. What is God saying? What does God want to do?

​Do you immediately go into the house of the Lord when circumstances conspire against you? Do you invite others to pray with you, or seek wisdom? I do.
 
Hezekiah receives a simple strategy from the Lord through Isaiah. If you look carefully, you find that it has two parts:

Do not fear.I will send a spirit upon Sennacherib, and he will return to his own land the way he came. I will cause him to die by the sword in his own land.
The first part is internal: something Hezekiah and his people must do: “Do not fear.”

While that may sound simple, anyone who has faced adversity knows that fighting fear – an internal, mental battle – can be just as ferocious as fighting an external, tangible opponent.

The second part is external: “I will cause him to depart... and die.”
​
God promises Hezekiah that if he fights the internal battle of the mind, God Himself will oppose the one who blasphemes Him.

​Like Hezekiah and his servants, we need to maintain peace in our minds, refuting fear, and allow God to fight for us when we are outnumbered or overpowered.

Rule #3: Use God's Strategy, Not the Enemy's
I love what happens next. It reminds me that the enemy doesn’t always give up just because we pray once. Even after God’s strategies are revealed, Sennacherib still sends another mocking message to Hezekiah.

Hezekiah wisely returns to prayer, this time spreading the letter out before God, praising Him, and inviting Him to save Judah, “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that YOU are the Lord, You alone.” (Isaiah 37:21, emphasis mine.)

Hezekiah refuses to be drawn into Assyria’s power struggle. Instead, he sticks to the strategies God gave him. He refutes fear and maintains his peace through prayer.
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As a result, Isaiah prophesies again to Hezekiah, saying that because Hezekiah prayed, God is taking this attack personally, and will defend Judah for His own Name’s sake. 

Conclusion
This Old Testament story is one of the most powerful Scriptural indicators that our prayers are effective in God. God clearly states that it is because of prayer that He will act on Judah’s behalf. If ever you need a motivation to pray, this is a good one!

The story ends with 185,000 Assyrian corpses on the ground, slain by the angel of God in response to a single man’s prayer.

20 years later, historians tell us, King Sennacherib himself was executed by his own children in the house of his false god. The moral of the story is this:
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When life pulls you into a power struggle, refuse to engage. Stay peaceful through prayer. And rely on God's strategies, not your own. After all, where would you rather end up? Slain in a struggle of your own making or delivered in the house of the Lord, praying?

© Deborah Perkins / www.HisInscriptions.com Learn More About Prayer. Click here to Purchase Deborah's book! Home

Envision Expansion! Kingdom Growth Through Partnership

​I am humbled by the extravagant promises the Lord is extending to His people for this coming year. I shared some of these prophetic promises last week ( Click here to read them ), and many other voices are echoing similar themes. 2018 promises to be a year full of expansion, growth, connection, and acceleration. 

But this growth is not automatic. 
The most important spiritual "key" I can give you to open the doors of God's Kingdom and release His provision for 2018 is this:         

You must move in partnership with God.

Just like Jesus, we can only do what we see Father doing. If we want to be part of the expansion He is promising for 2018, we need to sit down long enough with Him to envision it, plan it, understand it. 

How do we do that? 

First, we must rid ourselves of the notion that in order to "walk by the Spirit" we cannot plan ahead. Many Christians (charismatics in particular) have a tendency to think that the most "spiritual" events are those that are spontaneous or unplanned, when the Holy Spirit just "shows up" on the scene and does miracles! 

One look at the Bible shows us this is only partially true. Yes, we do well to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, but a diligent reader can also see that the most significant spiritual event in history - the birth, life, and death of Christ - was an intricately planned, highly coordinated event. There are hundreds of prophecies about Jesus's coming, long before He arrives on earth. Even a cursory glance at biblical history shows that God had a plan then, and He has a plan now. The question is, do we know what God's plan is? 

As you ponder the promises God has given you for your life or ministry this year, I urge you to partner with God in prayer and set personal goals, together, for expansion. I have created a printable worksheet for you to use as you do this ( Click here to view or download ). Why? Because without specific goals to reach, you will not have specific testimonies in the end! 

Identify Your Plan Click for Printable Worksheet
Is this just another New Year's Resolution? No. When you take the time to prayerfully plan your year with God's input, you will find that in September, when your "resolved" friends have long since abandoned the gym or their diets, you are still going strong with God, because He is helping you! (See John 14:26.) Not only that, but identifying ahead of time the things you hope to see happen will make it far easier to recognize when they've been achieved - and give God glory.

For instance, many of you know that last year, at the beginning of the year, I had a dream in which a shimmering gold angel gave me a golden book. I knew I was supposed to write a book, but I had no idea what it would be about! As I sat down with the Lord in prayer, I asked Him how this would come to pass. He said: "If you will listen diligently to Me, by the end of this year (2017) I will reward you with a book." 

I did, and He did. Although I tried several times to write the book on my own, it wasn't until December that He made it very clear what needed to be written, and with the Holy Spirit's help, the book came together almost effortlessly. It was a partnership empowered by the Holy Spirit, and at the right time, my angelic promise came true. I cried happy tears when the first copy of my book was delivered, and I heard the Lord say: "This is My gift to you." Wow! 

So He anoints the plan, but we have a part to play. Had I not listened or taken the time to write, there would be no book today. (By the way, you can see that book right here!) 

Today, as part of your quiet time with the Lord, sit down with a copy of the worksheet I've created and ask Him to show you how you can partner with Him for Kingdom expansion. Remember that expansion and growth happen not just when we capitalize on our strengths, but also when we take time to tackle our weaknesses. The more we work on changing ourselves, the more we will have to offer the Kingdom of God - and the world. 

Once you set those goals, if you'd like others to pray for you, contact me here at  His Inscriptions  or post a few of your goals on one of our Facebook pages. This is, after all, a community of people who like to pray, so who better to ask?

​I pray this coming year will be all that you imagine - and more - as God helps you take the limits off and expand the reach of His love through your Spirit-led plans!

Deborah  ​
​ Download Your Prophecy Worksheet Now © Deborah Perkins / www.HisInscriptions.com About Deborah Perkins