Running With Horses - Our Vision

Jesus said, Blessed are the persecuted and they are suffering big time right now. This is Bible League International and 19-year-old Aria was beaten by her own father and violated by local authorities. You know what her crime was?

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Call 800-Yes-Word, 800-Yes-Word, 800-Yes-Word, or give at truthnetwork.com. Welcome to Running with Horses, a podcast devoted to inspire you concerning a relationship with Almighty God that empowers you to accomplish things you never thought possible. Shirley Weaver wants to take you there.

And now, here's today's episode. Hey everyone and welcome to the very first edition of this brand new weekly podcast, Running with Horses. It's where we will take a spiritual look at the culture in the world and the believer's leadership role as a catalyst for biblical outcomes that impact God's love for everyone everywhere.

My name is Shirley Weaver. So the name Running with Horses comes from our new book by the same title. That book is a volume of 365 daily writings intended to exhort every individual to have bold confidence in God. Confidence that expects impossible outcomes, even supernatural interventions.

That's what I'm thinking. That's the description of bold. And inspired this way, when the pace speeds up in the sphere to which you are called, to which I am called, then we can run ahead of anything that we previously thought possible or anything really that we even believed. I'm thinking specifically of the passage in 1 Kings 18 and especially verse 46.

I love this. The word says here, then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah. So the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah, and he, Elijah, ran ahead of the king's chariots. And the verse tells us that Elijah outran the horse-drawn chariots and was back at the city ahead of the king, the chariots, the horses, everybody.

I love it. It even says that as he began to run, he lifted his skirts and tucked them into the waist, the belt at his waist, meaning that would have been the dress in that day. So he was ready for a supernatural outcome, right?

And he was intentional as he did that. So what is God saying? I think he's saying three things, and I'll narrow this down into three things. First of all, the presence of God. And you remember in the Old Testament, in the passage there in Exodus where Moses said to the Lord, he said to Almighty God, if your presence does not go with us, then we will not go.

And the implied intention there is cannot go. We can't go without your presence. The presence of God is everything, and we even learn as we grow in the faith to practice the presence of the Lord, intentionally sit in his presence so that you can be with him here with him. So the presence of God. And then secondly, alignment with him. If you can be aligned with him, that means you can be out of alignment with him, right? You want to be aligned with the Lord and not distracted by anything that comes to deter you, weaken your resolve, that kind of thing. So once you've heard him in the presence of God, you intentionally align with him.

The presence of God in alignment. And thirdly, because see, why are we doing this? We're not just doing this for today. We are doing this with the view of what's ahead. There's a day ahead. There's a prophesied day that is ahead because we're living in the end of the end times. We're living at the last of the last of days. Some people speak of the end of the world.

That's not what I'm referring to. I'm speaking of the end of an age. So we're preparing for the church's role, what the church will look like. This is why we practice the presence of God.

It's why we are intentionally aligned with him. We are preparing for a day that is different from today or yesterday. And just one last point here. Did you know that nothing can stop the will of God?

Nothing. Now, people manage to entangle themselves in ways that delay or circumvent God's plan or it seems that way on the surface. But the truth is, even that kind of foolishness does not, cannot, never will stop God's divine plan.

Important to know. So the emphasis is to inspire bold confidence in God. And again, we want his presence. We intentionally align with him and we prepare our lives for the day that is ahead, for everything that God pours out onto the earth.

Several things here. I think this is so important to build into our lives the intention, intentionally aligning with him. We intentionally intentionally want to mature. That means not stay the same, not remain childlike. We move from praying small prayers to praying big prayers. In other words, we grow in our faith. And there are several things that I think are important to every disciple for us to actually manifest the life of a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is really important in our ministry. It's really the foundation of our ministry and the way that things, I believe, work out in the life of an individual believer once they decide to make Jesus the Lord of their life. So several things.

First of all, write teaching. Secondly, an authorized message. Three would be observable authority in your life, in my life. Next, disciplined lifestyles, a disciplined lifestyle.

And then there's word knowledge, or knowledge of the word, the ability to know the word, a student of the word. And last, not least, my favorite, big prayers, praying big prayers. So this is the overview. Write teaching, authorized message, observable authority, disciplined lifestyle, knowledge of the word, big prayers. So let's break that down.

Let's look at that. Write teaching. It says in the Gospels that Jesus fed the multitudes under impossible circumstances. He knew the right way and the right food for the people who were leaning in to hear the word of the Lord, to hear about the kingdom coming on earth and how that affected their lives.

So when we're born again, just as Jesus fed the multitudes, the masses physically, when we're born again, we must have the right spiritual teaching. We have to have that in order that we know what to do, not to, how to do it. It's how you know to go on from that initial point.

If you don't know, then you don't know how to go forward. So write teaching is critical. It determines a great deal. It really determines everything. And those of you who have had godly write teaching, you agree, I'm sure. It is a treasure.

It's so, so important. It's like a child being nurtured so that they grow properly. Matthew 7, verse 28 through 29, I'm reading from the ESV, says this. And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority and not just like the scribes, not like a religious, bi-wrote, just indoctrinated sort of instruction. So right teaching is really first. First and foremost, Jesus fed the people fed the people physically, emotionally, spiritually, otherwise.

Secondly is an authorized message. And I take this point from what Paul prayed in Colossians 4, verse 3. Remember he prayed for an entrance and an utterance, an entrance and an utterance. Probably one of my favorite scriptures.

It says this in the Message Bible. I pray that every time I open my mouth, I'll be able to make Christ plain as day to those who are hearing what I'm saying. I pray that every time I open my mouth, I'll be able to make Christ plain as day to those who hear, to the hearer.

And then the voice, I love this too, the voice concerning Colossians 4, 3, I'll read this to you. And while you're at it, add us to your prayers. Pray that God will open doors and windows and minds and eyes and hearts for the word we are speaking so that we can go on telling the mystery the mystery of the anointed one.

For this is exactly what we intend to do. You know, it was why Paul was imprisoned because he was carrying a message that would light up the heart, that it would like hit with dynamite, that it would resonate in the hearing of the hearer. Paul prayed for that.

He prayed that he would have an entrance and an utterance. Did you know that God gives you a message that he has authorized for you to speak? Every believer has that, an authorized message. So it's not something that we developed really, it's something God gives us. We become a student of it. We develop it as we release it. And increasingly so, but it's a message that the Lord has authorized.

I think of that teaching in the Old Testament about authorized fire on the altar, you know, in the temple. You and I have a message that is like fire, that God himself has authorized to be released through us. You have an authorized message.

I have one. The next person has one. We don't necessarily say and do the same thing. It's the message God gives us.

But at the end of the day, you'll find that that message is the same for everyone. It leads to the same place, back to the Messiah, back to Almighty God, back to the leading of the Holy Spirit, the authorized message. So besides a right teaching and an authorized message, the believer needs to possess this.

And you think about it, observable spiritual authority. Remember in the Word, the disciples were perceived as un-learned men. It was realized they hadn't gone to seminary. They hadn't been trained. They had not sat under the teaching of the religious leaders and the scribes, and yet they had authority. They were not educated or highly developed culturally people, but they instead had been with Jesus.

That was the bottom line. They had been with Jesus, so their words had authority. It was observable. It was something that was seen. You know, it's like a presence that you see on a person's life. We get that from Acts 4 13. The Passion translation I love says this, then they began to understand the effect that Jesus had had on these disciples simply because they were with Him, simply because they had spent time with Him. That applies to you and me. When we spend time with the Lord, we come away with something that's observable by other people.

It's not of our own doing. It's something that comes from having been in the presence of the Lord, to make that point again, but also too is something you come away with observable spiritual authority. Next is a disciplined lifestyle. You know, the Word says uniquely, I think, that we are Epistles. In other words, our life is a story that other men read, that as they watch our life play out, they read and observe certain things. So we are Epistles, 2 Corinthians 3, 2 and 3. We are Epistles, that is stories that are read and known of all men, and it's something that can be written on the heart.

Let me read it verbatim here. This is the New King James. You are an Epistle written in the heart, known and read by all men. Clearly, you are an Epistle of Christ, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the Living God. Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone, but on the flesh tablets, that is the heart. The heart. Did you know that your lifestyle comes from the fact that God has written His plan for you and His Word on your heart, and what emanates from you is that message.

This is an example. This disciplined lifestyle is an example of what we can come to expect in the life or the lifestyle of one who has been with the Lord, of a disciple, one who has practiced His presence, determined to be aligned with Him, and is living a prepared life. Next is a knowledge of the Word. So we're not religious. Jesus said, if you're religious, you don't necessarily know the Scriptures, and if you don't know the Scriptures, you can't possibly know the power of God. The power of God. The power of God takes in everything. It takes in His authority.

It takes in His will. It takes in the covenants of God as they are rolled out and made available to humanity. Jesus said this in Matthew 22, 29. He actually said it in Mark 22, 24. So both gospels record this fact, this truth.

Jesus said this. Your mistake is that you don't know the Scriptures and you don't know the power of God. And the meaning there is, because you don't know the Scriptures, you can't possibly know the power of God. There's healing in the power of God. There's deliverance in the power of God. There is the shaking of my life that causes me to fear the Lord and to want to choose the way of life that He is laying out for me as opposed to something silly or foolish of my own making over here on the side. So a knowledge of the Word. And remember Jesus said, Jesus said, a man didn't say this, Jesus said, your mistake would be to not know the Scripture, therefore you couldn't possibly know the power of God.

I know how you respond to that, the way I respond to that. I want to know the Word because I want to know about the power of God, not just for my life, which I do. I want it for my family. But I want it for every person, every person in the whole wide world.

And it is available. That is really the message that the disciple carries, right? And last but not least, big prayers. You know, it really does take bold faith, which is why we've written our book, Running with Horses. And while we're producing this podcast, it takes bold faith to believe God in a way that causes me to pray big prayers, big prayers, not praying for things that I know are possible. Actually, I'm praying prayers that are impossible.

They are beyond the norm. And the reason I do that beyond the norm, the reason I do that is the Lord said in His Word, I want to give you exceedingly, abundantly above anything that you can think. Like in your mind, you can't even think big enough to pray as bold and big prayers as I really choose, really want you to pray. Because the bigger the prayer, the larger the answer, the more of God's love is poured out in every place.

His eye is on the sparrow. So it's important for my heart to expand, to expand, to believe God for big things, big things, bold prayers, big answers. And, you know, think about it, Running with Horses, right? The prophet Elijah had the encounter on Mount Carmel. The prophets of Baal prayed their prayer. Elijah prayed his prayer. And the power of God came onto the altar and took over charge, took charge over the altar, destroyed the prophets of Baal and advanced God's prophet, Elijah. The hand of the Lord came on him in such a way that he was physically, now this is not possible in the natural, but in the supernatural under the influence of the power in the hand of God outran the physical being, God's creation, the horse outran a non-human being, right?

So this is not passive. We're talking about unusual outcomes, bold faith in God, supernatural results. So what do I believe God is saying as we begin this brand new podcast, which I just have to say, I'm so excited, so excited. I'm so glad you're here. I'm glad you're listening. I believe with you for everything that God is saying to you is saying to you in your home, your nation, so thankful for your presence here with us.

I hope you can join us every time. So what do we think God is saying? What do I believe God is saying in this three-point framework of the direction that we're going to take as we proceed beginning today?

And that would be the presence of God, alignment with almighty God, and preparation for God's plan for the day that's ahead. And I think there's something really unique that really fits right here from our book, our 365 daily writings. The very last day of the year, December 31st, is titled transition time. Transition time. And it's brief.

Let me read this because it's so important. Wrapping up at the end of the year, which we just did, right, a month ago. Wrapping up at the end of the year includes a transitioning as we consider the new year ahead. One season ends, another begins, and visionary juices stir.

Visionary juices stir, exclamation point. I believe that this transition time, I'm still reading from the devotional, I believe this transition time corresponds with the way that God opens doors. We govern and rule with the mind of the Lord so that people everywhere experience blessing. We go ye with that message to tell, teach, preach, and impart His eternal plan. Last paragraph, God with us, One with us. And to that, amen, I would add the Aaronic blessing that's found in number 6, 23 through 26. You know that passage, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you. This taken from the writing concerning the last day of the year as we transition into a brand new year.

And the part that I love about this writing is the second paragraph, second sentence, I'll repeat it. We govern, we govern and rule. We are believers. We govern and rule with the mind of the Lord so that people everywhere experience blessing. And added to that topic from that day's writing, transition time is the all-important key of what makes up the church.

What do we look like? Well, we look like an overlap of anointings, an overlap of anointings. It's the way and the ways that God moves. My anointing, your anointing, someone else's anointing, as we come together in submission to Him, our anointings overlap so that there is a corporate flow. Not just this individual or that individual, but an overlap creating a corporate flow that represents the Lord in the earth.

It's the way that it's done. That's how we and why we can even pray and believe for glory in the church. Let there be glory in the church.

And I want you to know this about our ministry, our board, our partners, our friends. We really value the glory of the Lord because that's the church the Lord recognizes. And in that and coming from that, we value and develop governmental or you might say ruler anointings.

We value those. Governmental, ruler anointings. Not just those who are in seats of natural government, but in every place we govern. The Bible says that God has given us the keys to the whole kingdom.

So wouldn't you think there'd be some governing going on there? The government of almighty God flowing through His people in every place, in every sphere. You know, because doesn't that make you think that when we say we have the mind of Christ, that would be the thought life of a king, right? If I have the mind of Christ, I have the thought life of a king.

I have the thought life of a ruler, one who governs. Oswald Chambers said this said this about the text in Acts 26 verse 6 where Paul is writing, you know, that the Lord said, I have appeared to you for this purpose. What purpose? What purpose am I fulfilling?

Well, Acts 26, 6 says, the Lord has appeared to you for this purpose, for His purpose, a divine purpose for His presence, alignment with Him and preparation for His plan. Oswald Chambers' commentary on that verse, I'm going to read verbatim here. God created man to God created man to be master of the life in the earth and sea and sky. And the reason he, I'm talking about man, is not is because he took the law into his own hands and became master of himself, but of nothing else.

I'll read it again. God created man to be master of the life in the earth and sky and sea. And the reason he is not is because he took law into his own hands, man became master of himself, but of nothing else. He didn't become master of the earth and sea and sky. He wanted to be master of himself. He wanted to control his own life. He wanted to say, I'm the Lord of my life.

And Oswald Chambers just really says that well. It says that we're called to master, to rule and to govern. We submit our lives to the Lord. And then through us, He governs the earth and the sea and the sky, all of His creation. You know, I just pray for you and for me as we begin this journey, because there's so much that's possible here.

But then there's a lot at stake. The earth is shaking. The world is shaking. And I believe that God's anointing on the inside of you rises to the day, rises to the occasion. And that we have the anointing of God to rule and to reign with Him, right here now to accomplish His purposes. I have appeared to you for this purpose, He said. So God bless you. I pray that I've had an entrance and an utterance that I reached your hearing, that you heard the message and that it touched your heart and that it's changing you even as you hear it. God bless you. We will see you next time. Amen. Thanks again, and we will see you next time.