The Noisy Now

The Noisy Now – demanding, resounding, and LOUD.

It’s an atmosphere built upon words, and words and more words. People constantly talking, about everything and at the same time about nothing. Spend any amount of time on social media and the Noisy Now demands attention. In fact, not only does it demand attention, it makes me feel that if I don’t listen, or watch, or comment or like………….I WILL MISS OUT, BE LEFT OUT. What then? Is it necessary to always be in the mix? I don’t think so. God IS the mix and wherever I am, He is. So I don’t take my cues by the Noisy Now but from all that I glean in the silence of His presence.

If I let it, the Noisy Now manipulates me into its path intent on capturing my time. Live videos, urgent posts, pictures – before I know it, an hour flies by, then two and three. It tries to imprisons me in the grasp of its insignificant sound.

Social media has overstepped its bounds in my life so I pulled the plug, giving it no attention whatsoever unless it serves my purpose. No more entitled people, bent on arguments and constant streaming of every last thought, coming into my head. Out! Out!

This all started when I looked down my news feed on Facebook and actually got stressed out by all that I was seeing. Whether I agreed with it or not, I was tired of it all. It was as if unless I checked into the Noisy Now each and every day, my life would fade into oblivion  or lack significance. This is a dangerous place to be where I blend into every sound that is coming down the line. I will lose my voice here and I will be nothing more than an echo of all that is going on around me. No! No more!

There’s an undercurrent flowing under this noisy now. It seems that we want to be listened to, for someone to show us that our life matters. When it gets to the point where all the noise distracts me, using up precious time, I retreat into silence, into intimacy with Jesus Christ. I value alone time, silence. This is my message of impartation to those younger than me. Be quiet, get alone with Jesus to find yourself, to find out who you are and why you were born into such a time as this.

The Noisy Now is not something I want to get used to, not at all. I don’t want to be a hermit but I want to treasure silence with as much expectation as when I click on every link or picture in social media, hoping it will take me on a new adventure. It doesn’t do that but Jesus will – in the silence.

This is a message that I want to get across to a younger generation – to get away, to think. Thinking is good for the soul. As a Christian, meditation builds up and strengthens my spirit. I live in the spirit, not in the noise. Life in the spirit contradicts the noise. How can I get any direction for my life without meditative silence where I can think and hear Him?

Times of intimacy with Jesus preserves my sanity, strengthens me, and builds up my identity and faith. Quiet purges away the distractions, setting me on a path to walk in clarity of mind and strength of spirit.

There are whirlwinds of endless words trying to carry me away into confusion or distraction. In silence I gain wisdom and understanding about my life. To my younger brothers and sisters…….unplug and tune into Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In His presence are wisdom, peace, guidance, and direction.

Jesus calls us away, to come apart to spend time with Him. Be still and know that He is God. Don’t be swept away by the Noisy Now.Be still.

Living with Passion and Purpose In Christ,
Debra

Please share this – so many need to hear the simplicity of the message of Christ – peace in a noisy world. 

I’d love  to speak at your gathering, conference or home group, please send me a message on the contact page or email me at westbrook.debra@gmail.com Please visit Rivers of Eden Ministry page to find out something About Us.

There’s No There………..There

Have you heard the expression – “There’s no there…there”? It captures an image in my mind of someone continually walking, but never arriving at his or her destination.

I see so many people waiting for something or someone to take them out of their current reality to whisk them away to their ‘THERE’. That place where all is settled nicely into place. That next breakthrough. That next prophetic word. That next something or other.

You know that word in Isaiah that says that those who wait upon the Lord will rise up with wings as eagles. Well, I know many who are still waiting and waiting and waiting. I used to be one of them, feeling somewhat self-righteous and smug in my spirituality. No more. It’s time to risk it all to follow the Lord – possibility, faith and obedience being the key words.

Christianity is about life in Christ. He is my life now. So for me there is no ‘there’ to move into to find Him for He is right here within me. That reality has changed how I approach life on a daily basis. How I can walk in adventure and journey, believing that He is all I need now. Jesus is capable of leading me where He wants me to go to do what He wants me to do.

When I prophesy into someone’s life or even write prophetically, I prophesy from the revelation of the finished work of Christ on the cross. I prophesy from a position of breakthrough, of being seated in heavenly places, of being a child of God NOW not somewhere out THERE.

That is who I am and that is who you are in Christ, as a Christian. Our identity is secure in Him, fully settled in His sacrifice. I no longer strive to achieve anything more to add to his finished work but live in rest, His live flowing in and through mine.

Prophecy that causes anyone to strive or to enter into performance to produce anything is not of God. Yet, there are so many words being given that project us into our future, while negating the reality of our now.

Now we are seated in heavenly places.

Now I am complete in Christ.

Now I am loved.

Now I am accepted.

Now all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ.

Now every spiritual blessing is mine in Christ.

That’s where I begin to write and prophesy. Now is the day of your salvation. What will we do within it?

To constantly tell people breakthrough is coming, revival is coming, and healing is coming negates the reality of what is here for us in Christ. Breakthrough is mine. Revival is mine. Healing is mine. Believe it. That forms the foundation of a prophetic life. The manifestation of healing or breakthrough may not seem apparent right now but they are complete, nonetheless. When we enter into the rest of this reality, we live from a position of our fulfilled life in Christ, not always searching for something more.

I prophesy that Jesus Himself has secured a life of abundance and blessing in Him. In Him is key to our understanding. I don’t strive to get more. I allow Him to live His life through me, which is a promised life of righteousness, peace and joy. It is a life that I will encounter suffering and persecution but in that I am positioned in His blessing and in His abundant life.

There are times of increased warfare in our lives. But, we don’t withdraw from life, waiting for it to pass. We stand, with an intensity to fight off the enemy through declaration of identity, not through shouting and yelling or trying to press harder and harder and harder. Everything is ours in Christ so we walk in that truth– through the ups and downs of life, through all its trials and sufferings.

This reality has changing everything about my prophetic journey. I don’t strive but find peace in Christ to live my life in the Spirit. Rest produces peace and clarity of vision. Rest increases my trust to believe in the promises of God now and to walk in their reality, one step at a time, moving forward in faith.

I prophesy life to each of you reading this, the life of Christ flowing in and through you for victory over any and every circumstance that you encounter. Our relationship with Jesus, with the Father, with Holy Spirit assures us that He will always be with us, in the midst of our life struggles.

For those who struggle with answers nowhere in sight, start by believing that He is a good Father who loves you and only wants what is best for you NOW. When darkness hits and tries to drag you down, remember that He is with you, never leaving or forsaking you NOW. No matter what storm what difficulty, don’t retreat but run to Him and He will see you through…no over or under but through and you will be stronger through it all.

There’s no there…there. He’s right here with everything you need for life.

More in a few days……………..

 

Living with Passion and Purpose in Christ
Debra

 

 

I’d love  to speak at your gathering, conference or home group, please send me a message on the contact page or email me at westbrook.debra@gmail.com Please visit Rivers of Eden Ministry page to find out something About Us.

Time to Move Out Into Those Wide Open Spaces In Christ

It’s possible.

It’s impossible.

What do I believe?

Nothing is impossible with God. He delights in giving me dreams, visions and revelation that call me out from my safe comfortable existence. I share my hopes and dreams with those who dream big, who believe in walking in the possibilities of God in Christ Jesus. His purpose for me is kingdom oriented and supernaturally driven. It’s infused with eternal perspective that is my internal GPS system.

Each day I choose to believe God. I choose to believe His word.

For with God nothing will be impossible.” Luke 1:37

2017 is a year where my key words are possibility, faith, obedience and confidence.

Possibility brings me into wide-open spaces of exploration.

He stood me up on a wide-open field; I stood there saved—surprised to be loved! Psalms 18:19

Pushed to the wall, I called to God; from the wide-open spaces, he answered. God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid; who would dare lay a hand on me? God’s my strong champion; I flick off my enemies like flies. Far better to take refuge in God than trust in people; Far better to take refuge in God than trust in celebrities. Ps. 118:5-9

In a negative, chaotic world, I choose to believe in possibility, a wide-open space where Jesus takes my hand and Holy Spirit leads me into adventure. In this place, promises abound, hope is eternal, and destinies are walked out in purpose, contrary to the ways of the world. I refuse to live any other way now.

My dad was a negative person due to pain in his personal life. This atmosphere infused our home. Growing up believing that I will never measure up, I stood back, always observing, never engaging with life, never taking risks. Deliverance and healing came in Christ years ago when I received His salvation and His healing. Step by step He walked me out into total freedom into my life message of journey and adventure in the Holy Spirit. It keeps getting better and better each day.

Possibilities are real in the spiritual realm. I see them with eyes of faith and obey the Holy Spirit’s lead to walk them out in a broad place without fear or condemnation.

Timing of the manifestation of the promise is in God’s hands but once you see it in the Spirit, it is yours. Faith calls it forth and obedience walks it out. I partner with the Holy Spirit to manifest heaven on earth through my life in Christ.

Here’s how walk it all out in my life when I receive a promise from God.

Iceland is on my heart. God put it there. He’s a good God with a keen sense of humor. I see something about Iceland in commercials on TV, on the Internet, or while I am reading. It’s like He is saying, “There it is. What are you going to do about it?”

I know I’m called there so I’m putting it out there as an example of walking in faith in journey with Holy Spirit.

I can wait until someone contacts me or I can be proactive in the spirit and start where I am right now….believing in the possibilities that exist in His promise to me.

I take the visions or dreams that He gives me and I position myself in prayer. I prophesy to myself. I pray the vision out loud in declaration until I receive more vision. I thank God for this promise seeing myself there in this beautiful nation.

He then shows me a picture of a rock tumbler and rocks’ hitting against one another and I Google what a rock tumbler is. How does this picture spiritually reveal what God is saying about Iceland and its people? This is just a small part of one vision – walking out the now step by step into the future that is on the horizon.

My call – To motivate you to move in Christ into grand adventure in your Christian walk, believing nothing is impossible with Him. Keep walking this out with me………..

Possibility = adventure and journey in Christ Jesus

Faith = believe the promise at all times, even when you don’t quite see it

Obedience = walking out small steps day by day on this journey. Get moving!

Confidence = NOT in myself but in Jesus, who strengthens me, encourages me and leads me onward.

 

Living with Passion and Purpose in Christ
Debra

Breakthrough – What exactly does that mean? Prophetically speaking

Breakthrough…I woke up the other day and saw that word right before my spiritual eyes.

Breakthrough!!!

Later that morning, I looked up the definition.

Breakthrough

• Sudden increase in knowledge, understanding, etc.
• An important discovery that happens after trying for a long time to understand or explain something.
• A sudden advance, especially of knowledge or technique.
• An act of sudden breaking.

Snowy Range Road, Wyoming

I wanted to know its meaning because in the current round of prophetic words, it seems that words like breakthrough, new, or revival have become a bit cliché and overused. What is God saying through the word ‘breakthrough”? Are we making assumptions when we hear about breakthrough?

Breakthrough brings me UP, going from glory to glory and faith to faith. Up into a heavenly reality of being in Christ, seated in heavenly places. Going up signifies that I am in the world but not of the world. While living as a spiritual being, I still encounter trials of various kinds. Breakthrough never promises a life that is on coast mode without struggle. Breakthrough takes us up into a greater revelation of Christ in me and I walk in the earth realm with a heavenly mindset and perspective. I’ll never escape the reality of suffering. Let’s make that clear.

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy 1 Peter 4:12-13 

I am breaking into greater revelation of Christ Jesus – His person, His purpose, my identity in Christ…

That may not always change outward circumstances immediately because breakthrough implies breaking through………some thing. What hinders me from seeing Christ in my current circumstances, as hard as they may be? Or as Graham Cooke says, “Where is my upgrade in what I am facing?” Sometimes breakthrough is slow and steady because God is more concerned with a life well lived rather than to pull us out of trying circumstances. Ouch! How often is that preached? Yet how many of us are going through hard times. Many, as far as I can see.

In my life right now, I sometimes feel bored and restless which can escalate into frustration or even anger. And I am in the midst of breakthrough. A breakthrough in spiritual vision to see Him in greater ways, a breakthrough in spiritual hearing to hear clearly, and a breakthrough to know Him more intimately. Some things around me in the natural are changing slowly while others are changing quicker but it’s all breakthrough into a greater dimension of a life lived to the glory of Jesus Christ.

Seminole Lake, Wyoming

So when prophetic words promise breakthrough, let’s respond in faith to accept the breakthrough rather than emotionally extend ourselves to think that all our problems will suddenly disappear. That’s not always how it goes, does it?

Break through to move ahead in spite of resistance, to worship despite trials and to praise despite anxiety or worry. Break through into living as a mature son and daughter accepting that His ways are higher but Father knows best.

Dreams will be fulfilled. Promises will be realized. All this flows supernaturally in Christ as we simply keep our eyes on Him at all times despite what we are facing. We are breaking through day by day as we grow in Christ. It’s not a destination. He’s the destination and we are completely and perfectly in Him. I have arrived. Breakthrough is the journey in Christ. So, enjoy the journey!

In Christ,
Debra

I would love to speak at your conference, gathering, church or home group. Contact me here, on Facebook or on Twitter. Enjoy reading about Rivers of Eden and the Timeline of our Life! We go as the Holy Spirit directs us. In August we will be in Kenya for glorious meetings focusing on identity in Christ, creativity, and a prophetic lifestyle. 

To See the Ordinary as Extraordinary

The extraordinary flows through the ordinary. Quite often the starting point for the manifestation of the miraculous begins in something quite simple. It could be right in the hands of a child and we may miss it unless the Lord directs our attention that way.

Jesus has a great crowd of people following Him and they’re hungry.

Jesus asks Philip,  “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”

Seeing through natural eyes, Philip says,

“Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.’ (John 6:7 NKJV)

Not quite a faith filled response considering that Philip had seen Jesus turn water into wine.

Then, Andrew notices someone, a boy standing nearby.

“There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many? (John 6:9 NKJV)

This answer is also a bit ridiculous to the rational mind. Anyone can see that 5 loaves and 2 fishes would hardly feed five thousand people.

Yet the hands of this child hold the manifestation of a miracle.

Jesus reaches to take the loaves and fishes from the hand of a child. Then He turns and hands the food to His disciples, saying,

“You give them something to eat. (Mark 6:37 NKJV)

Whoa! I thought it would be easier than this. He wants me to merge my faith IN Him WITH Him to do the work that He calls me to do. AND with only a meager provision of 5 loaves and 2 fishes?

In my imagination, I engage with this Scripture as if it is my own, now.

I look at what is in my hands. I feel what is in my heart. I sense that tension again – the fear that rises between what I see as real in the natural and what I know to be real looking with spiritual eyes.

While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things, which are, seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18 NKJV)

I am determined to see with eyes of faith. I want to be trained in the Spirit to SEE extraordinary supply flow through ordinary means when touched by the hand of Christ.

It is not enough to just see the extraordinary hidden in something ordinary. I must move out in faith to see its miraculous manifestation.

I have spent time wondering, concerned as to how the Lord will finance our dreams, our destiny. In my prayer time, I have often complained with some indignation, “Lord you gave us this dream and yet we lack the finances or the resources to accomplish what’s burning in my heart.” That seems to be a bit of an accusation hurled towards a wonderful faithful God. But, I get moments like this and His grace is indeed sufficient in my weakness.

“Debra, you give them something to eat. Here, you feed them. Stretch your faith to know I am faithful. Stand on the truth that what I start in you I will finish. Believe that He who calls you is faithful and will do it. Give them something to eat.”

In that moment, there is really no choice for me. I choose to walk by faith, move out, and believe that what He has placed inside of me will CREATIVELY MULTIPLY as I trust, obey and move out.

Can anyone relate to this? Do you have a God-given dream that seems incapable of being fulfilled? Not enough resources? Not enough time? Well, Jesus takes the insignificant reality of our lives and resources, hands them back to us and says, “Work in Me, With Me.”

He hands you a potential miracle that just needs to be activated in faith. He asks you to reach out and take it and then walk in faith and believe it. You are enough in Christ. You have enough in Christ. Be faithful in what is little and watch it multiply right before your eyes.

In Christ, Debra

I would love to speak at your conference, gathering, church or home group. Contact me here, on Facebook or on Twitter. Enjoy reading about Rivers of Eden and the Timeline of our Life!