The absence of prophetic politeness in some of today’s so-called prophetic churches is alarming. Prophetic politeness is defined as the proper etiquette in prophetic relationships or encounters.

It’s not often discussed in relation to training up prophets and prophetic people, but it’s essential to their proper development. Beyond a lack of common courtesy, I’ve also witnessed this blatant spiritual rudeness on various social media platforms, and it’s becoming bolder these days. At times, people will come up to me without a “hello” or formal introduction and ask for a prophetic word. This happens to me electronically through emails, texts and on social media.

It is both wrong and in poor taste to say to or inbox a prophet with a salutation that begins with any type of request for a word of prophecy.

My point is that these people did not greet me first. Instead, they just barged in, demanding that the prophet instantly produce a word. This is wrong on so many levels, although I’ve learned to chalk up such behavior to ignorance. I’d rather choose to believe that people are not consciously being crass but that they are just hungry. They’re hungry for true words from authentic oracles of God, not pretenders.

Prophets Are not Psychics

Many have encountered charlatans and experienced a literal famine in regard to hearing words that bear witness with their spirits. We should always be mindful that prophets of the Most High are not psychics and shouldn’t be treated as such. I’ve learned to ignore such seemingly selfish behavior. I no longer feel bad about not caving into the deluge of requests for a word from strangers. Believe me, I used to, but God freed me from such condemnation.

If you desire a word from the Lord from a prophet, you can follow this basic protocol. Begin your inquiry with, “Hello, how are you?” and tell the person a little bit about yourself. You’ll probably receive a better response along with the answer from God that you’re looking for.

God Still Speaks

I’ve seen a trend of people totally depending on the prophet rather than taking the time to hear from God for themselves. God still speaks to individuals. This is one of the reasons I train prophetic people to hear from God for themselves rather than relying on the next prophet to come to town.

You know what I’m talking about: The one who charges you $800 to give you a word from the Lord. John 10:4-5 tells us that the sheep follow Him for they know His voice. We cannot carry out the Lord’s instructions without being familiar with His voice, for the foundation of prophetic utterances is knowing God’s voice. Once you know His voice, you cut out the middleman and put yourself in a position to receive prophetic words without the filters of flesh!

Three Voices

Prophecy is listening to God and simply repeating what He says, which will help you to be 100% accurate unless you miss God or misidentify the voice that’s speaking to you as yourself or the enemy instead of God. These three voices (God, Satan and yourself) constantly contend for your attention.

You must be able to distinguish between each one, which is achieved through discernment and familiarity. We should use our supernatural senses (discernment) to identify which one of the three is speaking to us. We must become familiar with each voice. This can be done through consistent and active listening, especially during our times of prayer.

When I do prophetic training, I encourage emerging prophets and prophetic people to know who’s talking to them. You do this by not just praying but by listening so that you will know His voice. Listen more than you speak at these times. Each of these three has a distinct cadence that you will become accustomed to.

The Lord Touches the Mouths of His Prophets

Scripture lets us know God will touch the mouths of prophets and pour in His words as He did with the prophet Jeremiah. God did this throughout the Old Testament. If you were a prophet of the Lord back then, your lips were touched by the master. With the touch come the words. The tactile and the sound have a symbiotic relationship where one cannot function properly without the other. The Lord’s touch is pregnant with prophecy. When He touches your mouth, your orifice begins to fill with His words. With this filling comes release.

Pregnant with Prophecy

Whenever you are full of anything, you must expel it. The Lord expects you to pour out the sayings with which He’s filled you. That’s why some prophets feel as if they’re pregnant with prophecy and as if the words are ready to burst forth. “Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, ‘Now, I have put my words in your mouth” (Jer. 1:9).

As He did with the prophet Jeremiah, God still touches the mouths of His prophets today. All you have to do is to allow the words He gives you to be released and loosed by simply opening your mouth and saying them. It really is that simple. Remember, any Holy Ghost-filled believer can prophesy

If that’s you, prophesy. Say what He’s telling you to say. If you can hear His voice, you can say what He’s said.

Dr. John Veal is the senior pastor/prophet of Enduring Faith Christian Center and the CEO of John Veal Ministries, Inc. He is passionate about pursuing God’s mandate to preach, teach, impart and activate people within the prophetic. John is a regular contributor to Charisma magazine online, The Elijah List, IMAG, Spirit Fuel, Reformation Today and others. John has been featured on various media outlets, including Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural, Elijah Streams and Something More. Dr. Veal is a highly sought-after conference speaker due to his uncanny prophetic accuracy, humor, candor and unconventional preaching style. He has traveled the nations, presenting a myriad of prophetic training and ministry. John currently resides in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife, Elisa, and their three children. Visit .

Rabbi Curt Landry is well aware of the wiles of the enemy. He knows Satan will do anything to distract believers from their daily kingdom calling.

That’s why it’s crucial, he says, to build a habit of seeking the Lord first in all things. Once believers step into that form of obedience daily, then they will truly begin to receive the promises of God.

“Growing your faith can be an exercise that we can work for on an everyday basis,” Landry told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “The first thing you need to do when you wake up in the morning is to unclutter your life. You need to sit down and have a time of meditation with the Lord. You need to sit down and meditate on what you’re called to do, not what somebody else called you to do. Take five minutes to unclutter and meditate on the Lord.

“Then, after you reflect, you need to have a devotional where you’re reading your Bible. You need to go into a reading time and bond with the Holy Spirit. What you will read, almost every time, is what you were reflecting and meditating on. It’s going to be confirmed.

“Then, you need to have a pen and a journal. The Holy Spirit, between the reflection and the reading, is going to start giving you some small steps of obedience. You need to write those down. Then understand that when you pray for the Lord to give you strength that day for that assignment, what you’re basically doing is breaking down each day into small habits and patterns, time tasks and activities, to where you can actually succeed. You need to set yourself up for success and not failure.”

For more of how to build and strengthen faith with Rabbi Landry, listen to the entire podcast.

When I was in prayer concerning a prophetic word for this season for God’s people, the Lord showed me a vision of His people meditating and praying. The interesting thing about this vision is that those who were praying had “boomerangs” in their hands.

After they finished, they all threw their boomerangs toward the heavens or sky. I never personally owned a boomerang, but I do understand what it does. A boomerang is a thrown tool, typically constructed as a flat airfoil, that is designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower.

God began to give me a prophetic revelation and interpretation that the prayers of the righteous will prevail and avail much in this season. The prophetic act and demonstration of these people in unison throwing their boomerangs in the air was that they were expecting something to come back to them.

The Lord said that their prayers were like boomerangs, but what returns will be their breakthrough answers. God spoke to me to encourage many of you who are reading this article that your breakthrough has rerouted back to you. There are two types of boomerangs. There are returning boomerangs and non-returning ones.

According to Wikipedia, “an important distinction should be made between returning boomerangs and non-returning boomerangs. Returning boomerangs fly and are examples of the earliest heavier-than-air, human-made flight. A returning boomerang has two or more airfoil wings arranged so that the spinning creates unbalanced aerodynamic forces that curve its path so that it travels in an ellipse, returning to its point of origin when thrown correctly.”

In other words, a boomerang is created to return back to the sender when thrown properly. When we pray correct, God-purposed and willed prayers, He responds to them fairly quickly. When you pray, believe that you receive. In Mark 11:24, it says: “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you will have them.”

Grace-based prayer begins with gratitude that the very thing we are praying for has already been made available through the finished works of Jesus. Faith-filled, believing prayers are answered by the Lord. Many people have been waiting on the promises of God to be fulfilled in their lives.

However, like non-returning boomerangs, they are not coming back to us. Why? Are we praying God’s perfect will to be done in our lives for our generation? Are we asking, seeking and knocking on doors of opportunities that desire for us to inquire of Him for? Do you feel like your breakthrough is hanging in the balance? God said that when you pray, anticipate your breakthrough.

What I am saying is, expect the unexpected. Keep in mind that every time we pray, we acknowledge that we are dependent solely on the Father and acknowledge that He is Almighty. This holds true whether our prayer is one of praise, petition or thanksgiving.

It’s difficult to be proud when you’re kneeling in prayer. Faith will activate your boomerang breakthrough that is coming to you—the sender! To pray in faith means that I believe God can and I believe God will insofar as it’s consistent with His glory, because God is good.

Sometimes we pray and we ask God for something, and immediately we start reasoning why God can’t answer the prayer. The Lord says this is your “boomerang breakthrough” season to receive everything that has been held up. This is your comeback season, regardless of what it looks like in the natural. I am reminded of a story in the Bible where something supernatural happened when a young prophet lost his axe head.

The disciples of the prophets said to Elisha, “The place where we’re staying is too small for us. Let’s go to the Jordan River. Each of us can get some logs and make a place for us to live there.” Elisha said, “Go ahead.” Then one of the disciples asked, “Won’t you please come with us?” Elisha answered, “I’ll go.” So he went with them. They came to the Jordan River and began to cut down trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the ax head fell into the water. He cried out, “Oh no, master! It was borrowed!” The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed Elisha the place, Elisha cut off a piece of wood. He threw it into the water at that place and made the ax head float. Elisha said, “Pick it up.” The disciple reached for it and picked it up (2 Kings 6:1-6, GW).

We can see that the young prophet lost something that wasn’t his to begin with while using it to build a new place to live. The young prophets wanted to expand their borders and create a space for themselves. In the process one lost their ability to be relevant, cutting-edge and effective because their tool (axe) to cut trees started to malfunction. The heavy, iron axe head flew off the handle and landed in the Jordan River.

Have you felt like you’ve been working, building, establishing and praying only to receive little or no results? Well, the young prophet called upon the senior prophet Elisha to recover what was lost and not his. Elisha asked him where the axe head fell, and he was shown the place and later Elisha took a piece of wooded stick and threw it into the water. It’s interesting that Elisha took a stick like a boomerang and threw it at the place where the axe head fell and miraculously the axe head floated back. You can see that the lightweight stick served as a boomerang in the water, which caused what was lost to return.

God is saying that what you have prayed, petitioned, lost and fasted for in the last season is about to return in this season. The axe head returned back to the young prophet who lost it. The Lord is about to restore the years many of you have lost. Moreover, when the axe head floated, the young disciple of Elisha was instructed to pick it up. He reached out and took hold of it once again.

Get ready in this season to reach out to touch and receive your boomerang breakthrough blessing that is returning to you from God. The purpose of a boomerang is to come back to the sender. Your prayers are not in vain but are being returned to the prayer-sender! Breakthrough is your portion and your prayers are returning to you, not unanswered!

Not only is this your boomerang season of breakthrough release, but God says that what the enemy planned against you will not prosper. It will return to him. In other words, the enemy has myriad curses of sickness, disease, debt, poverty and other diabolical plots against God’s people. God says the enemy’s boomerangs will fall and will return to him seven times with the force and velocity of heaven’s speed, which will break his agenda into pieces.

However, your prayer boomerangs will release the blessings, favor, provision, resources and answers you’ve been waiting patiently on. Your breakthrough is in the wind of the spirit coming to liberate you from any and all plans set against you by the adversary. God said, “Stretch forth your hand to receive the catch of God’s boomerang blessings and breakthrough coming today.” {eoa}

Dr. Hakeem Collins is an empowerment specialist, respected prophetic voice, apostolic leader, governmental minister, life coach and sought-after conference speaker. He is known for his keen, accurate prophetic gifting and supernatural ministry. Author of bestselling books Heaven Declares and Command Your Healing, he’s been featured on many television shows: Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural! The Word Network and Cornerstone TV just to name a few. He is host of Prophetic Breakthrough podcast on Charisma Podcast Network (). Follow him on: and .

Everyone loves the Scripture, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4).

There is just something about that well-known verse that fills our souls with the possibility of receiving an absolutely wonderful gift from the hands of the Lord, isn’t there? However, often when I am wondering why my dreams don’t come true, I must admit that perhaps it is because I don’t know what the word “delight” actually means.

As I was reading my Bible on early morning recently, I took the time to deeply digest the verse that immediately proceeds Psalm 37:4 and in that verse, I found what it means to “delight myself in the Lord.”

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and practice faithfulness” (Ps. 37:3).

There it was right in front of my eyes—the obvious four-step process to developing a heart of delight!

Trust in the Lord

Delighting oneself in the Lord begins with the simple yet difficult decision to fully trust in Him. “Trust” is often viewed as a religious word, and we all might presume that we know what it means to “trust” the Lord. But in reality, how does one develop a lifestyle of wholehearted trust?

For me, it means to think about the Lord more than I think about my problems. It also means to absolutely refuse to worry and to remind myself every minute of every day that He is able to accomplish what concerns me!

The call to “trust in the Lord” is also an invitation to believe with one’s whole heart that His Word is absolutely true and that His goodness will have the final say in every circumstance in my life. I will trust in the Lord.

Do Good

The second imperative in this passage of Scripture is to “do good.” If your goal is to delight yourself in the Lord, then you will also choose to do the next right thing. You will determine to be a blessing wherever you go, and you will choose to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit rather than the reactions of your emotions. Whereas choosing to trust the Lord is an internal response, the decision to “do good” is an external reply.

The resolve to “do good” includes making decisions that honor the Lord morally and ethically; it is the choice to be like Jesus in practical and in personal ways. If someone needs a helping hand, you step up and offer it. If there is a place that is lacking a servant, you become the one who willingly and cheerfully serves. I will do good!

The third unction of this delightful Scripture might be more difficult to translate into a practical 21st-century application. The command is to “dwell in the land.” I believe that this verse implies giving yourself fully and completely to the season of life in which you are currently living. Wherever you are, be all there; plant your feet in the fertile soil of today. Don’t live in the past or in the future but in the present, doing good and trusting your Father. I will live the life I have been given with pleasure!

Cultivate Faithfulness

And finally, we are told by the psalmist to “cultivate faithfulness.” When I studied this phrase in the ancient Hebrew, I was surprised by its meaning! The word “cultivate” in this verse is translated as “to feed on, eat, taste, be maintained by, receive sustenance from.” Most commentaries believe that the psalmist was referring to the faithfulness of the Lord.

As pilgrims in this land known as earth, we are to feed on and receive sustenance from His faithfulness. It is His never-changing nature that will provide all that we need as we walk through our lives. He is a promise-keeping God who always stays faithful to His Word; this one attribute of His glorious nature will maintain us as we learn to delight ourselves in all that He is! I will feed on His faithfulness.

Today, as you learn to trust Him, to do good to those around you, choose to settle into the life you have been given and feast upon His promises, you will learn the secret of delight.

As you delight yourself in Him, you will notice that the actual desires of your heart are changing in alignment with His heart and with His character. He will give you new desires as you delight in all that He is and all that He does! {eoa}

Carol McLeod is an author and popular speaker at women’s conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor. She has written 11 books, including Guide Your Mind, Guard Your Heart, Grace Your Tongue, StormProof and Significant. Her teaching DVD The Rooms of a Woman’s Heart won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award for excellence in religious programming.

During one of the most fragile points of his life, Paul Martini constantly felt depressed and hopeless. A divorce had severely damaged his dreams for his family and future. But God.

Now an associate evangelist with Global Awakening and an associate pastor at Life Center Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Martini discovered the secret to weathering life’s storms. He says you can access that same power of peace God so desperately wants you to have and destroy what he calls “holy chaos” in your own life.

“Through the obstacles, I went from not knowing Jesus to giving my entire life to Him,” Martini told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “If you need peace in your life, the first thing you should do, and it was obvious for me, is right now, by yourself, pray that Holy Spirit would give you an impartation of God’s peace that Jesus refers to in John 14:27.

“Jesus said, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.’ What’s wonderful about that is Jesus is talking about a transference of anointing from His life to the lives of His disciples, and that is available to us also. We have to be open, so that the peace is not coming from our insides, it’s actually from Him.

“For me, I would lay my hands on my head and pray that God’s peace would fill me. You can lay your hands on your own head. … The peace comes from the grace and humility of knowing only Jesus can provide it.”

For more of how to find peace in life’s storms, listen to the entire podcast with Paul Martini. {eoa}

Living in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, I’m accustomed to seeing dry riverbeds. Most of the year, these desert washes have no water running in them.

However, as the snow melts in the mountains, or during summer monsoon rains, these dry river washes begin to flow with life-giving water for the desert. What’s not observable is that underneath the surface of most of these river washes is water that is running. In fact, one could say the “river is always running.”

Since Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon all of humanity. Whether we observe the “river of God’s presence” or not, God is always moving, always “running.” The Holy Spirit is actively at work in and through those who believe in Jesus!

It may sound cliché, but Christians have a “river of life flowing out of them!” Let’s discuss this more, beginning with the words of Jesus in John’s Gospel.

The Holy Spirit Promised

“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:37-39, NKJV).

Jesus was in Jerusalem, worshipping with other Jews at the Feast of Tabernacles. The feast was a celebration of the Jewish exodus from Egypt and God’s care of them during the 40 years of wilderness wandering. The feast also looked forward to the promised kingdom of the Messiah.

During the feast, the Jews lived in booths made of branches to remind them of God’s providential care of the nation for nearly 40 years (Lev. 23:33-44).

Following the Feast of Trumpets and the solemn Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles was a festive time for the people. The temple area was illumined by large candlesticks that reminded the people of the guiding pillar of fire that led them in the wilderness.

The Feast of Tabernacles was a joyous celebration where each day the priests took a golden pitcher to the pool of Siloam. They would draw water from the pool, and bring this water to the temple pouring it out on the altar as an offering to God, while the people shouted and sang from Isaiah 12:3, “Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

The ceremony was symbolic of drawing water from the rock in Exodus 17:1-7

In the Exodus story, the people complain because there is no water to drink. They contend with Moses, but really, they are contending with God. In Exodus 17:4 Moses cries out to God, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!”

God instructs Moses to take the rod he used to strike the Nile River, and strike a rock in Horeb. In front of the elders and people, he strikes the rock and water gushes forth. God provides, despite the people complaining!

The people stop trusting God and look to the man Moses as their source and provider. Our trust is in the Lord; He is the giver and sustainer of life!

While in Haiti as a missionary in the early 1990s, the truth of God as our source became painfully clear to me one day. We were a young missionary family that needed about $2,000 a month minimum to live and serve there. At the time, our pledged missionary support was about $600 a month; we were struggling, praying and looking for solutions.

I approached the director of the mission’s organization we were a part of and explained our situation. While it seemed appropriate to me, my heart motive was to complain and seek a “human” solution to our financial needs.

After sharing, for a few minutes, the director turned to me and said, “Let’s get one thing straight. You work for me, but you get your paycheck from God! I suggest you spend more time with the Lord in prayer and learn to trust Him more!”

To say I was shocked is an understatement. But I also knew that he had just spoken truth to me. This experience began to create within me a greater understanding of God as provider.

“Believe in Me, and out of your innermost being, rivers of living water will flow!”

Foremost, this living water flows from God! Jesus is the rock from which the river of God flows, Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 10:4: “and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”

We also get a picture of this in Ezekiel 47 and Revelation 22, which speaks of God’s river flowing forth from Him, from His temple, to the barren places. This River waters the trees along its bank, and they become fruitful. While prophetically these passages speak of God’s presence and His heavenly temple, I also believe these scriptures are a veiled reference to the Holy Spirit Jesus spoke of in John 7:37-39 flowing from the hearts of His followers!

God’s desire is that we, who have become His “temples,” become conduits for the Holy Spirit to flow through to impact our world! God intends for us to partner with the Holy Spirit, who is living water, to flow through us and bring life to others! {eoa}

Bob Sawvelle is the founding and senior leader of Passion Church in Tucson, Arizona. Passion Church is a vibrant, kingdom-minded church in the heart of Tucson that values God’s love and presence. He is a Doctor of Ministry doctoral mentor for the Randy Clark Scholars cohort at United Theological Seminary (UTS), an adjunct professor teaching master’s-level classes in evangelism, discipleship and church planting with the Global Awakening Theological Seminary (GATS), and an online course facilitator for Global Awakening’s Christian Healing Certification Program (CHCP) and Christian Prophetic Certification Program (CPCP).

Did you know you are specially made for God’s glory? The glory of God was a gift to mankind in creation, and it is also the inheritance of every child of God.

Jesus prayed to the heavenly Father on the eve of His crucifixion, “I have given them the glory which You gave Me, that they may be one even as We are one” (John 17:22).

Jesus has given believers the same glory the Father gave Him.

When we enter into God’s glory, we dwell in His very presence, receive His love and grace, understand His heart, learn His will and experience His divine power. That power transforms lives—saving, healing and delivering—and enacts miracles and wonders that reveal God’s majesty.

The questions we must therefore answer for ourselves are: What will we do with this revelation? How can we live according to the glory we’ve received from Jesus?

Entering into God’s glory requires revelation, and receiving revelation requires an understanding of the interrelationship between three dimensions of the supernatural: faith, anointing and glory.

1. Faith – Romans 12:3 tells us that everyone has been given a “measure of faith” by God. He gave us this measure of faith to enable us to interact with the spiritual realm while physically living on earth. Faith is the believer’s spiritual antenna to “hear” beyond the natural dimension; it “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).

Just before raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus said to Martha, Lazarus’ sister, “Did I not say to you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40). Faith is a prerequisite for seeing the glory because having faith means you believe in what God can do. It is the ability to believe the “unreasonable” or “impossible.”

There is a difference between believing for something with the measure of faith that God has given us and God exercising His own faith. The realm of “glory” is the latter—God Himself in faith and action—what He believes and does on His own, compared to what we believe based on our faith and what we are able to do based on our anointing. But there’s a prerequisite to seeing God Himself in the dimension of glory, and that is our faith.

2. Anointing – There are several aspects of the anointing for us to con­sider. First, just as each believer has been given a measure of faith, he or she has been given a measure of anointing, or a particular gift or gifts to fulfill God’s purposes. The anointing is the power of God, provided to enable believers to carry out the work of the ministry. It is also used to send men and women into the ministry. (See Eph. 4:11–13, Acts 13:1–3.) In the Old Testament, the glory of God fell on the tabernacle after the priests, the altar and the utensils had been anointed. So the anointing is God’s power working through us to do what He wants done on earth. He may say to one person, “You are called to be a missionary, so I will give you a portion of My power, as well as the necessary faith to enable you to fulfill this calling.”

It has been my experience that each measure of anointing given to a believer is made up of various levels. One level is equivalent to a “step” that must be taken or ascended as we progress in our ability to move in that anointing and grow spiritually in relation to it. No step can be skipped, because each step represents an essential aspect of maturity in spiritual matters. We must go from step to step, or from level to level, without missing one, until we reach the level at which we have fully developed the measure of the anointing we have received. When we reach the last level, we can do nothing further in terms of our anointing—we have reached the fullness of that measure. At this point, the only option available to us is to enter into the glory.

Having the anointing is not the same thing as moving in the glory, which includes all of God’s attributes. The anointing is a part of God, operating through us. Also, it is only one aspect of His power because there are many aspects to the power of God. For example, God’s power in the area of ministry is called the “anointing,” the power of God in the area of law is called “authority,” and the power of God in the area of spiritual warfare is called “might.” The power of God in the area of territory is called “dominion,” which is the highest level of power. Therefore, we can’t really refer to “the power of God” as if it were all the same.

In 2 Corinthians 5:4–5, we learn that God has given us the Spirit as a “guarantee,” “deposit” (NIV), or down payment for the glory. It is the mark of our destiny. The anointing (as well as faith) prepares us to receive the glory, which is God’s manifest pres­ence. In short, faith calls the anointing, but the anointing calls the glory.

3. Glory – We can operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit by faith and the anointing if we know how the principles that activate them operate. However, the glory of God is different. The glory is the manifest presence—shekinah—of God. It testifies of heaven and the “powers of the age to come” (Heb. 6:5b). The manifest presence operates according to God’s sovereignty. He does what He wants, when He wants and in the way He wants, without depending on our faith, gifts or anointing. It is God doing His works without bringing in the participation of human beings. I strongly believe that the last move of God upon the earth will not come through a man or woman but directly from God.

The presence of God cannot be provoked, stirred up or manufactured. Yet His presence can be attracted through worship. God has often healed, delivered and transformed people during a church service without the use of my faith or anointing; these were sovereign acts of our heavenly Father. When the glory of God is present, we don’t think about the person who may be imparting to us an aspect of that glory. God takes the initiative and works according to His will. The glory or presence of God supersedes all gifts, anointing, faith or ministerial functions—though, of course, all these things come from Him and are used by Him to build up His church.

Are you experiencing the glory of God in your own life? You need to have a revelation of God’s glory so you can experience its manifestation. Then, as you encounter the presence of God, you will be changed, transformed and ignited by spiritual passion. Don’t stay in the same place—there’s more for you in God than what you are now experiencing. {eoa}

Edited excerpt from The Glory of God, © 2012 by Guillermo Maldonado, published by Whitaker House. Used with permission.

Active in ministry for over 20 years, best-selling author Apostle Guillermo Maldonado is the founder of King Jesus International Ministry—one of the fastest-growing multicultural churches in the United States—which has been recognized for its visible manifestations of God´s supernatural power. He is a spiritual father to 400 churches in 70 countries, which form the Supernatural Global Network. He is also the founder of the University of the Supernatural Ministry (USM). Apostle Maldonado has a doctorate in Christian counseling and a master’s degree in practical theology.

Charisma Media founder and CEO Stephen Strang doesn’t pull any punches. If President Donald Trump loses the 2020 election in November, the consequences for America could be no less than spiritually catastrophic.

Strang’s book God, Trump and the 2020 Election highlights the dark spiritual path the country will almost certainly take if voters don’t keep the president in office for the next four years. Topics include religious freedom, immigration, the Supreme Court and the LGBT agenda.

“Just listen to the Democratic candidates and what they say they want to do from Day 1,” Strang told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “They want to pass the Green New Deal. There’s something called the Equality Act that all of the Democrats in the House supported, all of them. There’s some kind of scary new bill I was seeing on TV the other night, and it has to do with basically totally open borders and how illegals are treated by the justice system.

“The Equality Act, which I do talk about in God, Trump and the 2020 Election, basically takes away religious freedom. It enshrines LGBT values as the standard and criminalizes to some extent anybody who disagrees with that, which includes churches. That is the essence of the Equality Act, where LGBT things are equal with what we consider traditional values, which are based on biblical principles. But they are equal plus. So, if there’s a tension between the two, they win legally.

“It sounds good. We all want equality. We all want freedom for people. But they will undo things that Trump has done, like his executive order about the Johnson Amendment, the executive order about prayer in schools—those will be undone. They will appoint the wrong kind of judges—in our opinion, judges that sort of make up the law as they go along.

“There is so much hatred toward Donald Trump. There is a meme somebody sent me—and I’ve shown it to a bunch of friends—where there is this kind of pensive looking Trump and, at the top, it says, ‘Actually, they’re not after me. They’re really after you. I’m just in the way.’ So, they’re going to turn their hatred against Donald Trump and all of his ‘deplorable’ supporters.”

For more of Stephen Strang’s thoughts about the consequences of the 2020 election, listen to the entire podcast.

Addison Bevere doesn’t want to be labeled by our culture as a “Christian.” The Bible refers to believers as “saints,” and that’s the term he prefers to be identified with.

The COO of Messenger International, an organization that impacts millions of people for Christ in more than 150 countries through its various initiatives, and the son of John and Lisa Bevere, he wants believers to know that they are saints, a term many have mistakenly reserved for the so-called “halo-wearing elite.”

The word “saint” appears 60 times in the King James Version of the Bible, including Romans 8:27, which says, “And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

“Saints” is also the word the apostle Paul mainly used to identify believers.

“I have not liked calling myself a Christian for probably 20 years,” Bevere told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “And that’s a dangerous thing to say in the kingdom, right?”

“It’s like, ‘This is a Christian podcast.’ “I work for a Christian organization.’ I do not like labels, I do not like stigmas. I do not like the stereotypes that have attached themselves to what it is to be a Christian.

“I’m not ashamed of Jesus. I believe He’s the one person that got this whole humanity thing. Look at how Paul used the word. He said that this is how your life should look. He was writing to the people who were ‘unholy.’ He wrote to the saints in Corinth and the Philippian saints. So, it was a proclamation of identity that would reshape their destiny.”

For more of Addison Bevere’s thoughts on your spiritual identity, listen to the entire podcast.

There are many well-known people with whom I would love to develop a caring and mutually respectful friendship. For me, Jennifer Lopez has always been one of those people.

When Jennifer served as a judge on American Idol, she spoke the truth with kindness and with compassion. As I have listened to and watched many of her interviews over the years, what has spoken to me the loudest is her sincere benevolence and humanity.

Now, I will also be quick to say that I don’t often listen to her music, although I know she is an extremely talented musician and dancer. It wasn’t her developed talent that drew my desire to befriend her, but her heart.

Every year, my family excitedly plans for the Super Bowl. We anticipate the food, the company, the commercials and the teams for whom we will be cheering.

But we also all know we will not be watching the halftime show. There have only been a few times in the recent history of Super Bowl halftime entertainment when I could have labeled it “family appropriate.”

I was hoping, however, that Jennifer would keep it classy. I was expecting that what we would see, perhaps, was a finely disciplined woman sharing her Latin heritage and magnificent talent with the Super Bowl audience. I knew she had it in her.

As you all know by now, that was not what happened at the halftime of Super Bowl LIV.

If I had the incredible privilege of having a sweet heart-to-heart talk with Jennifer, this is what I might say to her.

“Oh, Jennifer! You are so much more than your sexuality, than your talent, than your body, than your million-dollar costumes and than that halftime show presented! You are a woman of unmatched glory and of eternal significance!

“Jennifer, as a woman of platform at this moment in history, you have a responsibility to communicate the power of a woman and the nobility for which women were created. Girl, you are more than sequins and a man’s attempt to grab you inappropriately!”

The NFL has never been known as an organization that honors women for their brains, their talent or their accomplishments. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at the outfits worn by the cheerleaders on any NFL team and ask yourself if you would like to be seen in public dressed like that.

We have a problem in our society that is not a new one—the blatant sexualization of women as objects rather than as people of dignity. This ugly perception has been rampant in the entertainment industry, in the church, in politics and at sporting events for decades; it wasn’t just recognized for the first time at Super Bowl LIV.

The culture is not our moral compass, but we, as the church, should be the moral compass for the culture. We can take on this role with courage, with compassion and with love.

And by the way, in case you are wondering, I still would love to develop a friendship with Jennifer! {eoa}

Carol McLeod is an author and popular speaker at women’s conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor. She has written five books: No More Ordinary, Holy Estrogen!, The Rooms of a Woman’s Heart, Defiant Joy! and Refined: Finding Joy in the Midst of the Fire. Her teaching DVD The Rooms of a Woman’s Heart won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award for excellence in religious programming.