Some people will say, “God sees all sin the same. One sin is not worse than the other.” Those statements are actually not true. Unbelievers should take heart and know that God does not view all sin the same. The Bible indicates varying degrees of sin and varying degrees of punishment.

There is a sin that is greater in degree of wickedness; therefore, it deserves a greater punishment. The Bible states that the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23 applies to all sin, whether in thought, word or deed.

God also raised the bar when He sent Jesus. Jesus made it very clear in the New Covenant when He said it wasn’t just the outward sin that made a person guilty. Sin is an outward manifestation of what’s really going on inside a person’s heart. So it’s not just the things you do that are sinful—it’s what you store in your heart.

The question most want to know is, “Will our sin send us to hell?” The answer to that is it doesn’t have to. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Because God loves us, He sent Jesus to die in our place for our sins and be raised to life in victory.

While it’s not our sin that sends us to hell, a person will not enter heaven if they reject the only provision for our sins. Rejecting the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross will condemn a person to hell. That is the one unforgivable sin. Jesus went to the cross to destroy the power of sin and eradicate it in our lives as Christians. People must choose Jesus to be found innocent of their sin.

Listen to this episode of the 23 Minutes in Hell Podcast with Bill Wiese titled Is All Sin Equal?

For more information about Bill Wiese and Soul Choice Ministries please visit us at: soulchoiceministries.org/.

You can find more of Bill’s teachings at: youtube.com/billwiesetv. {eoa}

Dear Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing,

A growing number of people in the body of Christ see you. The Holy Spirit is opening our eyes to your prophetic witchcraft and the motive behind it.

We have our eyes on you, and we won’t fall for your slick brand of deception anymore. You may have fooled us time and time again, but you will not fool us one more time.

Jesus not only warned us that you are ferocious wolves in disguise, He also warned us of your tactics. We know that you don’t enter the sheepfold by the door. You aren’t welcomed in so you find some other way to steal, kill and destroy (see John 10:10). You use manipulation and flattery. You use the hurts, wounds, desires, insecurities and other issues of the soul against us. You use our spiritual hunger and even our lack of discipline against us.

Jesus put it this way in John 10:1, “Truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber.”

I like how The Passion Translation says it, “Listen to this eternal truth: The person who sneaks over the wall to enter into the sheep pen, rather than coming through the gate, reveals himself as a thief coming to steal.” If that’s not clear enough, consider The Message rendition, “Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he’s up to no good—a sheep rustler!”

Wolves in sheep’s clothing, you are exposed. As they say in Nicaragua, “An enemy exposed is an enemy defeated.” You couldn’t build your own ministry so you had to seduce personnel from successful ministry leaders—but you will fail anyway. You couldn’t build your own platform, so you had to weasel your way onto someone else’s and prophesy to their followers until they followed you. You couldn’t write your own book, so you had to plagiarize from another author. You couldn’t get a pure word from the Lord, so you had to recycle someone else’s. I see you.

Wolves in sheep’s clothing, you are exposed. You aren’t willing to pay the price for the anointing, so you operate in hype. You aren’t willing to sacrifice the time in prayer it takes to receive prophetic revelation, so you fake it and you think you made it—but you will soon fall headlong into the snare you set for your victims. You didn’t study to show yourself approved, so you twist the Word for your own purposes. I see you.

Wolves in sheep’s clothing, Jesus has sent us out in your midst, and we are wise as serpents and harmless as doves (see Matt. 10:16). We are shrewd to your sinister sabotage. We are cautious and discerning to your ravenous ways. We are crafty against your wily witchcraft. We are prudent against your false prophetic power. Because we see you.

Wolves in sheep’s clothing, your days are numbered. Although you may still be fooling some, you aren’t fooling me, and I’m raising up an army of uncompromising believers who will not violate the Bible to make a greenback. I’m raising up an army of discerning saints who will not sow greenbacks into your false prophetic ministry. I’m vowing to equip the bride so she doesn’t get in bed with a wolf. I see you.

Wolves in sheep’s clothing, repent now. Because if you don’t, you’ll soon hear Jesus saying these words:

“”Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonderful works in Your name?’ But then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice evil'” (Matt. 7:21-24).

Wolves in sheep’s clothing, I see you. We see you. Most importantly, God sees you. You aren’t getting away with it. There’s a price to pay for deceiving God’s people.

Wolves in sheep’s clothing, I’m praying for you. There’s a better way. There is always time to repent. God is giving you that space to repent. Please, take it. {eoa}

Jesus told his disciples that He was going away to prepare a place for them in His Father’s house and then return for them, so they could be with Him there (John 14:2-3). Since our heavenly Father abides in heaven, we assume the “places” Jesus is preparing are in heaven too.

The Greek word used to describe these heavenly places is monai and it is only used in the New Testament here, in this chapter. The King James Version and New King James Version each translate it as “mansions” but the word simply means “rooms” in the “Father’s house.” Other versions have alternately have used “resting places,” “abodes” or “permanent dwelling places.”

The New International Version translation says, “My Father’s house has many rooms,” while The Message paraphrased version says that Jesus has gone “to get a room ready for you!”

In context, the term indicates that there is space in heaven for all who come to Jesus as Savior. There may have been “no room” in the inn of Bethlehem, but there are ample dwelling places in the Father’s house.

We are told in the book of Revelation that nothing will deteriorate or grow old in heaven. Those streets of gold will never get ruts or potholes as some of us have encountered in our corruptible world down here.

We can rest assured that heaven is a real place, and our heavenly dwelling place there will fit right in with all the beauty and blessings we will find all around us (Rev. 21:1-4, 22:1-5). I want to go there, don’t you?

In those passages of Revelation and elsewhere, we learn that heaven is a beautiful place: streets of shining gold with tree-lined parkways. There, we will be united with our believing family and friends who have preceded us.

The Scripture says to be absent from the body (at death) is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). If devoted disciples should die before Christ’s Second Coming, our spirits will go to heaven to await other devoted disciples of Jesus to join us, as they too end their journey on earth.

The apostles Paul and Peter remind us that Jesus is coming to earth again—to resurrect the bodies of those who are dead in Christ, to transform living believers and grant us all new glorified bodies, which are a better fit for the heavenly environment He has prepared for us.

These transformed and glorified saints will forever be with our Lord Jesus, in our Father’s house! Like all citizens of heaven, they will be free of fear and anxiety. They will no longer be victims of sickness, sadness or sorrow.

Scripture tells us that some have suffered all during their lifetime from a fear of death. It may have been the fear of dying or it may have been the uncertainty of where they will spend eternity—heaven or hell.

Hebrews 2:14-15 (NIV) teaches that Jesus came to destroy the devil, who has the power of death and to “free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” This fear of death can be evil, spirit-driven oppression, from which God wants to free us! The apostle John reminds us that “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4, MEV).

The apostle Paul explained it to the church in Corinth this way in 2 Corinthians 5:1-9 (TLB):

“We know that if our earthly house, this tent, were to be destroyed, we have an eternal building of God in the heavens, a house not made with hands. In this one we groan, earnestly desiring to be sheltered with our house which is from heaven. Thus being sheltered, we shall not be found unsheltered. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we wish to be unclothed, but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal might be swallowed up by life. Now He who has created us for this very thing is God, who also has given to us the guarantee of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. Instead, I say that we are confident and willing to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. So whether present or absent, we labor that we may be accepted by Him.”

The book of Revelation reveals a great and diverse multitude, which will populate heaven. The size of the masses “no one could count, from all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands” (Rev. 7:9b).

The English word nations is ethnous in Greek, meaning ethnicities—not modern countries or nation-states. Heaven is not a military or political entity. Nor is it a racial entity. There is only one race—the human race.

Heaven is a prepared place for all the repentant people of the world. All ethnicities will be there: “red, brown, yellow, black and white [as the children’s chorus says] they are precious in His sight! Jesus loves the little children [and people groups] of the world!”

And then we are told there will be people in heaven from “every tribe, peoples and languages.” The word for tribe in Greek is phulon, which means a clan or family group. The word is translated in some versions as “kindred.” This is similar to what we might colloquially say when someone dies, that we must “notify their next of kin.”

In this time of social unrest and mistrust, it is important to recognize that heaven was prepared for members of every “tribe, people and language” group. It’s going to be a continuous family reunion!

We must prepare during this life for where and how we will spend eternity. Verse nine of the 2 Corinthians 5 (ESV) passage we read above said “So our aim [other translations say: “(our) deep desire,” ”(our) life’s passion,” ”(our) driving ambition”] is to please Him always,” whether we are here in this body or away from this body, with Him in heaven!

The psalmist said, “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Ps. 23:6). {eoa}

Gary Curtis served in full-time ministry for 50 years, the last 27 years of which he was part of the pastoral staff of The Church on The Way, the Van Nuys’ California Foursquare church. Now retired, Gary continues to write a weekly blog at worshipontheway.wordpress.com and frequent articles for digital and print platforms. Gary and his wife live in Southern California and have two married daughters and five grandchildren.

With the accelerated worldwide spread of anti-Semitism over the past few years, the signing of last week’s Abraham Accord between Israel and the United Arab Emirates can be termed as nothing short of a miracle, says Susan Michael, USA director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.

And, Michael says, the spiritual implications of the peace agreement are nothing short of spiritually miraculous for a region where many Arabs are starving for a different life and are beginning to come to Jesus.

“There is great spiritual significance here. The message for the world is Israel is here to stay,” Michael told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “Her whole history is that she had had to fight war after war after war. She now fight a war of words and propaganda around the world with these campaigns to delegitimize Israel and actually call for her to be brought down. The goal is to bring an end to the state of Israel.

“One of the big points against Israel, of course, is this state of war with the Arab countries. So, the more that there is peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors, the more it’s just a deadly blow to this whole campaign against Israel. So, spiritually, it’s telling the world that Israel is here to stay.

“It is showing how much she has achieved in all these years and that she’s going beyond that continual threat of war on her borders. It shows the world of 100 million Arabs all around her that want to destroy her that it’s over. To see Israel brought into a more peaceful situation, it’s a blessing to the world because Israel will now have more budget and more energy that she can put into being a blessing to the world and develop technology and innovation and agriculture, and not have to focus on war and defense. So it’s a blessing to us all.”

For more about what the Abraham Accord means to Israel, click here. And listen to the entire podcast at this link. {eoa}

Do you struggle with bad habits, constant worrying and wrong behavior? If you want to live in a continual state of the supernatural, saturated and energized with the power of God, you always need to be filled with the Spirit.

When we lack this infilling, we will deal with these issues:

—Unproductivity. We become unproductive for the kingdom because we lack the power to manifest what we preach.

—Spiritual leaking. When we hold on to an offense or carry unforgiveness in our hearts, we quickly lose our fullness. It is as if there is a hole in the bottom of our spiritual deposit. The anointing of the Spirit “leaks,” and we lose the power of His presence.

—Constant spiritual warfare. When we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, the enemy uses the empty parts in us—such as the areas of our finances, health and family—to attack us. As a result, we find ourselves in constant spiritual warfare, struggling against principalities and powers, being tempted and fighting against the flesh, instead of living in the victory we are supposed to have.

—”Naturalization.” When we lose the fullness of the Holy Spirit, we walk in the natural and cannot manifest the supernatural realm of the Spirit. We cannot overcome the devil and the impossible circumstances in our lives. That is why we need a power greater than ourselves.

—A loss of what is not used. The fullness of the Holy Spirit is like the manna that fed the people of Israel daily in the desert. Remember that the manna from one day would not work for another day (the only exception being the Sabbath). What wasn’t eaten would be lost. In the same way, what we don’t use when we are filled with the Spirit will be lost.

—A return to the world and sin. When we are not filled with the Spirit, the old nature begins to rise within us and fill the empty spots in our mind, will and emotions. Little by little, our character starts to backslide. Sin no longer seems as terrible to us, and we are in danger of returning to the life of the world.

What should we do to be filled with the Spirit of God? There are certain conditions for the fullness of the Holy Spirit to be a continual part of our lifestyle and for the power of God to be with us wherever we go.

1. Recognize your spiritual condition—Many people fail to have an encounter with the Spirit of God because they ignore the fact that they need one. If someone does not recognize their needy condition, they cannot be filled with the Spirit. Acknowledging what we need gives Him room to move freely in our lives.

Knowing our spiritual condition also leads us to renounce everything taking up the space in our hearts and minds that belongs to the Holy Spirit. We need to reject every distraction, human effort, vice, sin, apathy and so forth, that is cluttering and smothering our lives. Then we must cry out to the Holy Spirit so that He knows He is welcome within us.

2. Be hungry and thirsty for God—Whether we acknowledge it or not, we will become spiritually dehydrated if we do not continue to drink of the waters of eternal life (See John 4:10, 7:37-39). In the natural, you know when you need to eat or drink because your body sends you signals. In the spiritual, it is more subtle, but there are signs. Unfortunately, we often ignore them, thinking we don’t need more of the Holy Spirit because we are full of what is vain and superficial. The Lord cannot give more to someone who is satisfied with where they are. If you are content merely reading about God or seeing how He uses other people in miracles and prophecy; if a simple message once a week on Sunday is enough for you; if you are satisfied with having a religion and living in tradition, then the Holy Spirit cannot fill you. But the impossibilities we and others constantly face show us that we must be filled with His presence at all times.

When you have a hunger and thirst for God’s presence, it will cause you to seek the Lord in order to know Him and receive more of His presence. Spiritual hunger and thirst increase our capacity to receive from God. You must feel that you need the Holy Spirit, and mean it so strongly that you depend completely on Him. A longing for God will make you seek Him beyond the familiar, comfortable, convenient or safe. People who long for God are always praying, fasting, worshipping, praising, sowing and giving to others.

3. Deny yourself—To be baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit requires death, and that death is saying no to “self.” Denying yourself means renouncing your ambitions, opinions, comforts and the pleasures of the flesh to seek the things of God. There are no shortcuts to access God’s power because it comes only when we say no to our own desires. The mindset of the world is to do things in our own strength, but the way of God is to allow Him to use us as extensions of His power.

You will be anointed in proportion to how much you have died to yourself and surrendered to the Holy Spirit. When you die to the things of the world, you will no longer be prey to temptation. You will not love fleeting pleasures or be attracted to the enemy’s offers of vain satisfaction. Only when you are in this state will the Holy Spirit fill you.

Activation

Let God be the one who satisfies you with His love, power and grace. Allow Him to make you supernatural, to enable you to overcome the world, and to turn you into an agent of change for others. Please pray this prayer:

“Heavenly Father, it has been a long time since I was filled by Your Spirit. I have been leaking in my spirit, and today I need You to fill me again. In the name of Jesus, I ask for a fresh outpouring because I desperately need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Right now, I pray that the Spirit will invade you with a fresh fullness, so that you will go out again to preach the Word, win souls and heal the sick. And so that you will return to war against the enemy, the flesh and temptations, and overcome all opposition. When people see the fruit and power of the Spirit in you, they will know there is something different about your life. They will perceive that you live in victory, even in a world that fights daily against defeat and discouragement, and this will make them desire to have what you have.

Now, be filled with the Holy Spirit, from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet. Be filled in your mind, in your body, and in your spirit, in the name of Jesus! Amen! {eoa}

Edited excerpts from Divine Encounter With the Holy Spirit, © 2017 by Guillermo Maldonado, published by Whitaker House. Used with permission.

Active in ministry for over 20 years, bestselling 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 500 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. He resides in Miami, Florida, with his wife and partner in ministry, Ana, and their two sons, Bryan and Ronald. Visit whitakerhouse.com.

Wouldn’t you love to be a part of a historic trip to the heart of our nation? Marilyn and Sarah are leading a Heal our Nation group trip to Washington, D.C. this fall. Group trips are nothing new for Marilyn and Sarah, but this will be first one in the U.S.

Like all trips, there will be spiritual mentoring, training and teaching. There will also be opportunities to minister as a team as well as prayer walking. Prayer changes things, and if you want our nation to have a revival, then join the group and be a part of the Heal our Nation tour.

Do you struggle to keep the fire of Holy Spirit burning in your heart with the same intensity as the early days of your walk with Jesus? A Life Ablaze, Ten Simple Keys for Living on Fire for God by Rick Renner shows you how you can live a life on fire for God.

Many people started their Christian walk “on fire,” but as time went by life happened, they got busy and they lost their fire for God. The good news is that there are practical, easy things to do to stay spiritually ablaze so you can fulfill God’s plan for your life.

Fashion is fun! If you follow Ephesians 6 and put on the armor of God you are dressed for the supernatural. Jen Metcalf’s book, Passion for Fashion: Walking the Runway of God’s Design, shows that we are more than good looks and fancy clothes, and teaches us that our outside shines based on what we have inside.

Remember, we are made in His image. We don’t have to be bound by guilt, shame or self-doubt. Passion for Fashion will show you how you can have your breakthrough and walk in your true purpose and divine destiny. {eoa}

One of the primary things the Lord spoke to me in the beginning of 2020 was that the body of Christ, at large, was in a time of recalibration. God also showed me a vision of a luxury car that looked very beautiful on the outside, however, it lacked momentum, endurance, stability and horsepower.

The Father compared this car to His church and its desperate need for realignment. His church doesn’t appear to be sluggish, drained, powerless or unstable, but it has been in need of attention to address what’s going on, on the inside.

Over time, like a car steering column with all four wheels on their axles, it can become very loose, shaky, suspect, unbalanced and potentially dangerous if not attended to. The steering wheel will need a realignment for there to be better control of the vehicle. The steering wheel gives direction and controls the wheels’ movements. If the axle that supports the wheels on the car is not sturdy enough and aligned properly, then it can create further damage to the vehicle’s overall performance and, ultimately, the wheels could fall off and create life-threatening situations for the driver and passengers.

Furthermore, if you ever get all new tires on your vehicle, you are required to get a wheel alignment. Why is wheel alignment important? It is essential and necessary for tracking, which is the process of ensuring a car’s wheels are set to the optimum position, as per the car manufacturer’s specifications. Incorrect alignment can create rapid, irregular tire wear and can ultimately impact the handling of the vehicle.

Likewise, it is the enemy’s plan in this season to wear out the saints, but God wants to align us for maximum performance in the Holy Spirit. The Lord said that He is aligning and realigning His people back to His original plan and purpose for them. He is exposing things on purpose so that believers will not walk in fear but supernatural faith to push back darkness and change the negative demonic narrative as a result of this pandemic. He is calling on the prophets, prayer warriors, leaders and believers to join forces to discern, disarm and destroy the works of the enemy.

Why wheel alignment and what is its purpose, spiritually speaking, you may ask?

Wikipedia says this about wheel alignment: “Wheel alignment, sometimes referred to as breaking or tracking, is part of standard automobile maintenance that consists of adjusting the angles of wheels to the car manufacturer specifications. The purpose of these adjustments is to reduce tire wear and to ensure that vehicle travel is straight and true (without ‘pulling’ to one side). Alignment angles can also be altered beyond the maker’s specifications to obtain a specific handling characteristic.”

One may ask, “Well what does this have to do with the season we are in right now?”

God said that the body of Christ is in a time and season of alignment and realignment; and in this new era and decade, He wants His body to go through a supernatural repositioning to come away and get a plan of action to address this unseen turbulence. In other words, what we are encountering in this global crisis, pandemic, civil unrest and economic uncertainty was not created by Him but by an unseen enemy—to kill, steal and destroy the overall purpose and destiny of God’s church. However, Jesus declares in Matthew 16:18-19:”And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Possessing the Prophetic Advantage

The enemy is unmatched against the body of believers; we are called to become God’s prevailing people against the forces, strategies and agendas of Hell (Matt. 16:18). God told me that what the enemy meant for your harm He is turning around for your good. We must not succumb or give in to what is happening around us in the natural. God is equipping, educating and empowering His people in the secret place to become a secret stealth weapon against the enemy.

Amos 3:7-8 declares, “Surely the Lord God does nothing without revealing His purpose to His servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?”

In the year of the mouth, the Lord is sounding the alarm through His prophetic voices, that will give divine instructions to the body of Christ with heavenly intel and strategies to outwit the enemy at his own war games.

Moreover, the Lord declared to me in prayer that the body of Christ must possess the prophetic advantage in this season as we prepare for what is yet to come in the following months. The presidential election is one agenda the enemy is targeting. We must pray and fast like never before.

We are in the middle of intense spiritual warfare; the enemy is the puppeteer behind this pandemic to control and manipulate what is projected over the media. I must admonish you not to listen to fake news or reports. Whose report will you believe? The report of the Lord should be your answer, in faith and boldness (see Mark 5:25-34).

Also, I declare to you prophetically that there are greater and brighter days ahead of us, even though it may not look like it in the natural world. Keep in mind that it is in times like these that God uses the darkest moments to speak and reset things back to His divine plan. He has done this since creation. When the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, suddenly, it was God’s opportune time to move upon the face of the waters and speak: “Let there be light!” And light came out of the shadows of darkness (Gen. 1:2-3).

When gross darkness hits the earth, it is the greatest time for the prophets to speak up and out, to declare and decree, “Let there be healing, peace, joy, breakthrough, revival and light in darkness.” It doesn’t matter what things looks like now, or how the year 2020 started out—as things look the opposite of what the prophets of God prophesied. God said it’s not over! He says to continue to anticipate your breakthrough in faith. For His promises for you are and will be “yes and amen” before the year is out.

However, in the meantime, God is asking these questions:

—What are you doing while being quarantined?

—What will you do with the time you have while waiting for things to go back to normal?

—Are you hearing and leaning into what God is saying through this pandemic?

—Have you allowed fear, doubt and hopelessness to settle in?

—Are you sick and tired and feeling hope is deferred?

God is adjusting and aligning the spinal cord of His body in this hour. He is the chiropractor who is correcting and aligning what has been misaligned in the joints of His body.

3 Words: ‘Repent, Rest and Reset’

In prayer, the Lord gave me three words that He wanted me to share with His people in this hour. He declared that this is a time and season where we must repent, rest and reset. When this pandemic hit rapidly in many places—especially the United States in late February—and things were beginning to shut down as a result of it, the Lord said that it was time to repent. {eoa}

Dr. Hakeem Collins is a part of a new generation of world changers. Gifted with a unique dual apostolic and prophetic call, he is a sought-after conference, church and ministry speaker who has traveled extensively throughout the United States preaching the message of the kingdom. He is the author of: 101 Prophetic Ways God Speaks, Heaven Declares: Prophetic Decrees To Start Your Day, Prophetic Breakthrough: Decrees That Break Curses & Release Blessings, and Command Your Healing: Prophetic Declarations to Receive and Release Healing Power.

For the rest of this article, visit elijahlist.com.

As former co-host of popular morning television show The View and former co-anchor of Good Morning America Weekend, Paula Faris can tell you: Fame isn’t everything.

Only when she found God’s purpose for her life did Faris discover her identity apart from her vocational career: a true kingdom warrior to help reach the masses for Him. She now hosts ABC’s popular podcast called Journeys of Faith and has discovered contentment in her calling for the Lord.

After her exit from two “to die for” jobs, Faris now serves God will all her heart.

“So when I was flat on my face after I walked away from my two dream jobs and I didn’t know who I was outside of them, that’s when God really revealed, ‘OK, let’s contextualize this word I gave you,'” Faris told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network.

“You have a faith calling, a purpose. And then you have your vocational calling. Your faith calling is who you are, and it has nothing to do with what you do for a living. That’s the part of you that won’t change. That’s why you’re here on this earth. For me, my purpose is to love God and love people.

“My purpose isn’t to be the best broadcaster that I can be. That probably was my purpose two years ago. That’s probably why I was so jacked up. But, my purpose, my faith calling is to love God and love people, and you have to define your purpose. God can call you vocationally to different branches in different seasons, different moments.

“Wherever you are placed, it’s like a vine in a branch. Your vine is your faith calling and the branches that flow out of it. A healthy vine produces many branches so you can have many vocational branches, but they all have to flow out of divine being, your purpose, your faith calling.”

For the rest of Paula Faris’ testimony, listen to the entire podcast. {eoa}

I asked Michelle Passey how she came to Jesus, and she said, “I met the Lord when I was younger. I was about 12 when I first got saved and had numerous encounters with the Holy Spirit. … When I reached my teen years, I fell away for many years. In my 30s, I was in a deep depression and was borderline suicidal. I’d gone to bed one night feeling hopeless. but I had a dream where I was standing with the Lord Jesus, and He was showing me pure darkness.”

Michelle continued by saying, “I could hear sounds of torment and weeping. It scared me, and I looked at Jesus in the dream. The scene then changed, and I was standing on a stage, preaching to thousands of people as far as the eye could see. In that dream state, I knew I was in a fork in the road, and I could choose to go down the path of destruction or the path of destiny and God’s calling. In that dream state, I chose Jesus. I woke up in the morning and was completely different.”

Michelle shared with me how, after the incredible supernatural dream, she was delivered and on fire for God. She then shared that God speaks to her through profound dreams and visions. She’ll receive pictures and knowings, with the word of knowledge being used through the visions.

She first started stepping out in prophetic ministry after receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit and being discipled in a healing and deliverance ministry at a church. She said, “The Lord catapulted me into an incredible ministry of healing and deliverance. Within months, I was on the leadership [team] and co-leading the healing ministry.”

God started honing her spiritual gifts as she led the ministry and started equipping others to hear God and prophesy. She consumed as many prophetic books and materials as possible, and five years ago, she started the Washington State Regional Prophetic Training and more recently, the Global Online School of the Prophets.

Listen to this episode of Adventures in the Spirit with Jared Laskey titled Prophetic Ministry with Michelle Passey. Michelle led my viewers and listeners in a prophetic activation. If you’re hungry to hear God and be activated in prophecy, please listen in and share with your friends. {eoa}

Jared Laskey, M.Div., M.A. Christian Ministry, is the founder of Fireborn Ministries and host of the Adventures in the Spirit podcast. He lives to see Jesus awaken this generation to the power of the Holy Spirit. Jared loves teaching people how to hear God. He has recently published the Spirit-Empowered Journal, available on Amazon, and e-course, Entry Level Prophecy. His testimony of how God supernaturally healed him of PTSD is in Joan Hunter’s new book, Miracles for Veterans.

If bad news from the television and internet about the COVID-19 pandemic and racism in the U.S. is keeping you anxious 24/7, Dr. Tim Clinton has an excellent resource that will help you find the peace that has eluded you.

Clinton, president of the American Association of Christian Counselors, the largest and most diverse Christian counseling organization in the world, says we can find hope in both Psalm 46 and Philippians 4. This is hope that can change your thinking, your focus in prayer and your belief in who God says He is that will lead you to an unmistakable sense of serenity that you cannot find on your own.

Psalm 46 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a well-proven help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carries into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountain shake with its swelling … The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

Through the pandemic and the upheaval in culture, you can take solace in this Scripture as it gets you through the rough times.

“I love Psalm 46, and I know that He [God] is right in the midst of it,” Clinton told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “Therefore, cease to strive, be still and know that I am God.

“He is our refuge. Claim Him, hold onto him and refresh in Him. And, by the way, share that message with others. It’s the greatest gift in the whole world.”

For more about Dr. Tim Clinton and his ministry, listen to the entire podcast.