How to bring Comfort

We must concentrate our behaviors towards our values and beliefs. Focusing our efforts upon our circle of influence and not upon things that we can’t control. Our primary core value should be knowing what the Lord cares about, and carrying the ministry of reconciliation to those around us. Never to impose our own will upon those we are to both lead and influence. This doesn’t mean that we dial down what the Lord has decreed nor accommodate what is outside of God’s will. It means that we grieve when the spiritual unity of the Lord’s people becomes fractured by values that are not consistent with scripture. We weep, along with Jeremiah, when a religion of revelry has been set up, instead of an authentic community and intimacy with God and with one another.

We feel the horror when self promotion has replaced genuine worship towards Yahweh. We’re not driven by appearances and religious disguises because what the Lords values have marked our hearts. We speak not to punish, but to reestablish authenticity, Kingdom demonstration and sound relationships. What proceeds out of our mouth must be anchored in a heart that is overflowing with beautiful thoughts. We love to pour out the God story and have learned to absorb ourselves in words that are pregnant with the touch of God. Understanding that having revelation, although vital, isn’t enough to transform us or anyone else. Because unless proper values are revolutionized, revelation is just more information.

Biblical values must govern how we behave. In other words, when we perceive correctly, we begin to grow correctly. For instance, all of us would love to be instantaneously delivered from our challenging circumstances. However, if values and beliefs are not in alignment with truth, we will not witness the supernatural provision that the Lord promises us. Certainly everyone desires to be successful? But do we have the internal fire that is hot enough to get us there?

Beloved, our God given vision is the most priceless commodity you and I have. Vision keeps you and I not only focused, but vision keeps us powerful. Without focus we restrict our effectiveness. So that we don’t get lured into a story that isn’t ours. Because those that foster evil designs will try to not only lure you and I into battles that we are not supposed to fight, but also into conversations that we aren’t suppose to participate in.

We must intentionally set godly boundaries in our relationships and never let anyone into a place in our hearts that belongs only to God. Nor becoming seduced by an inferior beauty or allowing others to turn our affections to that which is against His will. Because when we operate outside of God’s will we face the possibility of being outside His protection. However, when we place our worth upon what the Lord values, we will be empowered to purposefully persuade those within our circle of influence to believe what the Lord has said prophetically about them.

I believe that's what it means to bring comfort.

Sincerely, 

John Harke Team

God's Love Can Cure Any Relationship

Hosea is a story of warfare and marriage, and how the Lord and His prophet navigate through that journey. God must instruct Hosea to know a love which is unfailing, just as God invites Israel to Himself, even in the horrific state of brokenness. Hosea must invite Gomer to himself as well. When love abounds, abandonment isn’t an option.

 

The Lord’s vision for Israel and Hosea’s vision for his wife, Gomer, outlasted the betrayal that both God and the prophet suffered. We don’t think in the terms of God agonizing over the loss of accountability among His people. For without accountability, idolatry and adultery become the behavioral pattern of a disoriented community. Society inevitably falters when our love for God and each other is absent. God and Hosea must do something shocking to cure His people who were always fluctuating in their love. Gomer and Israel’s self delusion had to be terminated. Both God and the prophet have one ambition, and that is to restore relationship with Israel and Gomer. So here the Lord speaks through Hosea.

 

 

“How can I give you up, Israel? How can I abandon you? Could I ever destroy you as I did Admah, or treat you as I did Zeboiim? My heart will not let me do it! My love for you is too strong.”

 

‭‭Hosea‬ ‭11:8‬ ‭GNTD‬‬

 

God doesn’t confront to prove He’s right, He confronts to penetrate the conscience. He has been deserted by the very wife He loves and in His anguish, His heart won’t let her go. So the Lord gives Hosea the rare privilege to be able to see the inner being of how He feels. This is why the Lord must insert His word in Hosea, so that the prophet doesn’t speak from anger, but from the very inner being of God. The prophet must not collapse into rage, he must be moved to relent. Hosea must become as vulnerable as the Lord is, fully engaged in Gomer’s life just has God is engaged in Israel's life.

 

 

What does this narrative tell us today? I believe it tells us how to navigate through relational warfare. Just like a marriage, when there is deep betrayal and conflict, how will we respond? Do we quickly forsake the relationships that we have formed in church? Do we look for the perfect ministry in order to grow? Or do we learn from Hosea about the power to love, the power to forgive, and the power to weep in the midst of unfaithful people. Hosea shared God’s hope for a restored people, do we? For Hosea and God the answer wasn’t to leave and remarry, the answer was to strengthen the commitment to love. Not because it was easy, but because love would win, it would hope, it would protect and it would persevere. Even in the midst of an unhealthy environment, God’s love can cure any relationship. I yearn to love like that.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

John Harke

 

Growing in Intimacy

As I write this blog there seems to be the desire in many of us to grow in connection with the Lord, freeing ourselves from shallow relationships and knowing God’s will much more deeply. For some, this is a frustration particularly because others judge their character by what happens to them and not by who they really are. We all at times have the pain of rejection, however spending time in the presence of God seems to embolden us with this sense of holiness. An awareness that we are meant to be sitting before the Lord. Because humanity is most whole when they are attending to God.

What does it mean to attend to the Lord? I believe that concerning ourselves with the knowledge of God’s emotions, we feel what He feels, and this begins to heal our brokenness. Intimacy with God gives us the buoyancy to stay afloat in the middle of hostility. We all need physical touch from another person which is powerful, yet the physical touch from God is transforming.

Intimacy with the Lord has to become our storyline because it's our comfort. This kind of relationship never misuses the power of speech. Because love doesn’t desire to conquer, it desires to empower. And yet sometimes the Lord will displace us socially so that we can find Him in the place of intimacy. When we overflow with love for God it energizes us and we become a people, even in times of loneliness, that are never held hostage by hopelessness. We seem to understand the one we love more deeply because isn’t that what intimacy is? The willingness to understand the one you love? Intimacy doesn’t come to control but to comfort. So we must pray that whatever is a hinderance to loving God fully would be completely removed from us. Here are a few things that we can do to increase in our relationship with the Lord. 

 

1. Eliminate as many distractions as possible, this will quit the soul so we can hear the voice of God. 

2. Pray to serve, more than praying to be promoted 

3. Self-denial is the way of authentic discipleship, it also is the way of true love. Look for ways to deny your flesh. Fasting being one of them.

4. Find your wellspring because this will keep you from spiritual apathy. 

5. Realign your priorities by emphasizing spiritual growth over all other priorities.

6. Make it your primary passion to honor, respect and worship Him.

7. Daily present yourself to God and ask Him that you would have a life that reflects what He values.

 

Sincerely, 

John 

Seized by the Presence

Loyalty, honor and kindness are characteristics that come from someone who has been miraculously set free. These individuals have an appreciation for what was done for them. They seem to live in Holy remembrance and deep gratitude, like most, they want to live in peace, enjoying personal rights and liberty. However, we find ourselves in a hostile encounter with a dark opposing force. This attacker wants to foster shame and steal our desire for peace and prosperity. Our archenemy wants us to believe that we don't have a deliverer so that we'll simply give in and resign ourselves to the powers at be.

I've been profoundly touched by the narrative in 1 Samuel Chapter 11:1-11. This compelling story gives us a framework for hope. Wickedness doesn't have rules in fact it seems to initiate a violent hatred towards the people of God. Human rights, human dignity and human worth was being challenged by king Nahash's brutality. In fact, Nahash's name means snake. However, we witness the men of Jabesh (which means dry) making an agreement with this wicked King. There is a spiritual principle that we all must learn here, and that is, when we are spiritually dry we should never make any kind of negotiations with the our adversary.

Decisions made from the place of His presence are what build hope and freedom, decisions from the place of fear only end in humiliation and the loss of vision.

Our opponent wants to bring disgrace upon us and rob us of our sense of destiny, we must trust that the Lord will bring a solution to our dilemma. In this narrative, Nahash agreed to a truce as long as he could have the right eye of everyone and degrade all of Israel. This is a prophetic parable of the deep hatred and emotional assault that the enemy bombards Christian's with, (the loss of dreams and a great uncertainty about their future).

For the people of Jabesh, all they could do was break into tears because no one was there to save them. Since losing their right eye meant the loss of identity, what were they to do? Will someone come to their rescue? After reading these verses I hear the same cry ringing from the people of God in our era. They need deliverance from the negative emotional traffic that robs them of joy and the ability to imagine what God has for their future. Certainly there is a real threat, but I believe God is moving upon His sons and daughters right now.

While self respect gets lost in the sea of guilt, our Lord is raising up men and women throughout the earth to break the spirit of oppression. We find in this powerful drama that King Saul, who although made some foolish choices in his life, actually started off very focused. He hears the weeping of a nation and begins to ask what is wrong. I have no doubt that a generation is also hearing the weeping of the nations of the earth and they too begin to ask why. Asking the right questions touches the heart of God because those kind of questions originate from a heart that has a holy burden for humanity. By being sensitive to the plight of others, the Lord begins to act. He will then release many that will become His instrument of healing and salvation to communities and nations.

 

1 Samuel 11:6 "When Saul heard this, the spirit of God suddenly seized him; in anger".

 

Beloved, not only did Saul hear this, he literally felt their grief, and then suddenly God captured him. Saul isn't just seized by human need, he is seized by a sense of divine justice. Around the globe today people are getting on a cultural bandwagon, completely unsettled about what they don't agree with. You see, God's desire is to send His presence and power upon the people to accomplish His will. Beloved, God feels divine emotion for those who have been threatened and manipulated by the enemy.

 

The question we need to ask ourselves is "have we been seized by the presence of God or are we just upset"? And yes, there are many social ills that need attention, however, unless we have been truly captured by the anointing and not just a cause, our communities and nations won't experience the redemptive power of God. I believe Godly leadership is being raised up to end the humiliation and impart a right perspective. Arguably, we could make the assumption that God is angered by the oppression, so in response to divine anger, the Lord seizes men and women. Beloved, Saul isn't seized by a cause, he is seized by the spirit of God.

Can we imitate a posture of compassion and humility so that the pleas of those who are victims of demonic brutality get answered? Saul did, he rallied a nation, delivered a community, and they never forgot what had been done for them. Because forty years later when king Saul's body had become a Philistine trophy, the men of Jabesh Gilead rescued this King and honored him.

 

Sincerely,

John 

 

Reigning as Kings

Romans 5:17 (NKJV) 

For if by the one man's offense, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

---

 

It seems that we can so easily forget what Christ has purchased for us, so we end up living with a much lower standard than what Jesus has called us to live. To reign as Kings or Queens means much more than monetary success, public recognition, and thousands of likes on Facebook.

To reign as Kings is to not come up short from the image of God. It is finding victory on the inside where our emotions are, to have control over our own spirit, this is what it means to reign in life.

It doesn't mean that we are completely free from crisis, it means we are seated above our own minds. We tap into divine wisdom and we prophesy to the situations that don't represent the beauty of God. You see, God has a goal for us individually and corporately, to make us a prophetic voice to the earth, prophesying liberty from bondage and decay. Creation is yearning for sons and daughters to speak what the Lord is speaking.

When there is repentance, respect, honor and love, our identities flourish and our roles get clearly defined.

When this is properly modeled the Kingdom of God is authentically demonstrated. By prophesying His heart we come into agreement with what God sees, for He sees beauty in the midst of our deformity. The prophet Ezekiel found himself in a valley and wasn't told to pray about the spiritual conditions, he was told by the Lord to prophesy to it. His words transformed the people, will we do the same in our time? Will we prophesy the wonderful grace upon the slain that are on the battlefield of life? For without the wealth of grace there isn't any true wealth in the soul. For the wealth of grace allows us to rule with the knowledge of the Kingdom and not rule as those who haven't been regenerated do. We reign from a place intimacy not just in the place legality.

Life becomes more of a joy because we witness supernatural interventions in our spiritual lives, relationships and financial breakthroughs. We live the way Jesus lived when he lived upon the earth. Reigning over sickness, demonic attacks, and over economic lack. We become yoked to His peace, free from the yoke of anxiety and fear.

The body of believers that reign as Kings repair the wrongs in society and restore human dignity by bringing the knowledge of the truth in every sphere of society.

Living like King's means thinking like King's, speaking like a King, weighing over our words before we say them because they declare who we really are. The words we speak build the kind of Kingdom we choose to live in. Through the gift of righteousness we can rule with same heart of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sincerely,

John 

Correct Convictions

What shapes a leaders belief system is arguably the most valuable necessity. How he or she thinks about God, others, and themselves is formed by what they allow in their hearts. Correct convictions can positively form a people who believe that they will be able to obtain the promises of God. With the right knowledge, leaders will not just form others in their own image, but transform others in God's image. When a leader intentionally sits under the word of God, the authority of what our Lord taught surpasses the leaders own experience. Armed with a sense of responsibility these leaders will not just control but inspire.

To bless is to empower and genuine leaders filled with compassion release communities into their inheritance.

This ability to influence isn't because they have conformed to educational theories or to political ideologies, their influence originates from relationship first with God, and then with their colleagues. The way they look at life and the way they see problems are unique. Instead of fear, they have learned to tap into a well of endurance. This attracts others to them. While some in leadership roles are just digging out some new principles to become more popular,

real leaders are passionately willing to become better servants.

We can't take on the responsibility of Godly leadership without becoming a servant. We all want a place among the powerful and the strong, the Lord put that desire in all of us. To get there we have to serve. Servanthood is the true representation of the leaders nature. By putting ourself aside we amplify who He is. Knowing that the majority of disputes happen because we want to rule rather than care for the body of Christ. Many times we perceive major character flaws in gifted people and begin to downgrade their significance, and instead of looking for ways to empower them, we assassinate their reputation. This doesn't solve the issue it only creates a sense of hopelessness.

However, there are corrective ways to fixing what may seem overwhelming. It's really about living a life of prayer. The heart of a true leader doesn't go to God to obtain judgment, but to obtain forgiveness for the Lord's people. We can clearly see this in Moses's leadership approach.

While we appreciate professionalism in the presentation of sermons and worship, professionalism should never be elevated above loving God and loving one another. In other words, let's take the quality of sound, we all like when something sounds good to our hearing, but is that sound the sound of Heaven? Because when love abounds, the sound of God's heart is clearly heard. A sincere leader understands that godliness needs to be elevated much more than talent. People are rewarded amazingly for their accomplishments and talent, but how many have been rewarded for their godliness?

Any person that is in a place of influence whether you're a parent, a CEO, or a pastor, we need to protect those who are around us, by not reinforcing wounded feelings in relational conflicts with one another, Because this doesn't bring the solution that is needed, it only produces more validity to the irritation. In order to have genuine success, rather than contributing to each other's conflicts, we have to work hard on improving our relationships with one another, all while asking the Lord for the keys of the Kingdom to unlock breakthrough for them.

 

Sincerely, 

John