Author: Travail and Transform Ministry

Leviticus 6:13 ~ “The fire shall be burning continually on the altar; it shall not [be allowed to] go out.”

Hebrews 12:29 ~ “For our God is a consuming fire.”

As we bring this week to an end, let’s really go back and study the Altar and how God is meeting you there and how to never let the Fire go out, it must burn continually! Let’s end with the same scripture that we started our week with!

Let’s really look at this refining process and the purpose for fire, it’s for purification! The Fire of God shows you how God continually works in your life, making you the best version of you and how to live a Holy and Righteous life as a Christian for His Glory! There is a Purpose in the Fire, and if you ever doubted it, spend some true time at the Altar, you will learn. I know what I know now because of the Altar!

You do know that above all else that your heart is deceitful above all things, and it is wicked: who can know it? Nobody but the Lord! Jeremiah 17:9-10! And the Lord is going to reward you according to your heart, (1 Kings 8:39), you cannot escape what’s in your heart, for what’s in you in bound to come out of you! so this why the Altar and the consuming Fire is so important and necessary for you, it cleanses your mind and purifies your heart that you might have right motives and clean hands.

Think about the firing pot, the silver and gold, each one has to be purified by two different pots, but there is only one fire. As you can the silver was tried in the firing pot and the gold in a furnace! Proverbs 17:3 ~ “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.” But your heart is purified by God through His Fire!  Man can refine silver and gold, but you cannot refine your heart! Nobody can, only God can change your heart, can’t nobody do you like the Lord!

Do you really know what God is a Consuming Fire means? You first need to know what consuming means. It can mean to use up, to destroy or annihilate, or to absorb the attention of someone or something. In the Word it means, plan to cleanse and to purify, to rid sin from your heart and the fire is used as a form of purification and refining. With that being the said, what are the things in your life that you want God to burn off of you and never come back?

What about releasing your fleshly and selfish desires, God wants you to remember who has brought you through your Red Sea! Never ever forget it.  “Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” Deuteronomy 4:23-24! This requires that you release any and everything that you have put before God.  As you stay on the Altar, and never let your Fire go out, God’s consuming Fire will burn away everything that is not like Him, and it will keep you from falling into sin and idolatry. You do know that God can’t bless you in your sin. Because to bless you in your sin would violate His Holiness and Righteousness!

God knows you; He knows what you are afraid of and what you boast about, He knows your strengths and weaknesses, your temptations and your secrets, and He knows what sets you off and what shuts you down! So, He refines you of the sins that so easily beset you by burning it away with His consuming fire on the Altar. Humble yourselves before Him, because He will humble you in the furnace of afflictions to test and try your faith in adversity! He will use the firing pot of infirmities to build up your dependence on His Grace!

Another thing, His Consuming Fire is for Him, for His Glory and Majesty. It’s for His Glory and your good. “When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, ‘He is good; his love endures forever’” 2 Chronicles 7:1-3! There is nothing else like being in the Presence of an awesome God! For when He shows up, everything that is around you and in you that would hinder a move of God in your life gets consumed, nothing will be left, for nothing else can stand in His Presence and survive! You have been purified on the Altar and you don’t even smell like smoke, because that’s the kind of God you serve!

So today, fan the flames of the fire through reading and studying the Word of God and lay it all on the Altar! You want your heart, right? Then how can your heart be purged, purified and prepared without going through the fire of God, (Psalm 139:23-24). You must surrender all on the Altar, to get rid of all of your impurities, that they may be moved to the top and God can remove the dross, (dross is everything that hinder the true you from being pure and ready for use), that you will be ready and fit for service in the Kingdom of God, in the earth realm! This is a part of the process, to be purged, purified, and prepared by God’s Consuming Fire! 

The process may be is painful, but the outcome is oh so are Glorious! Today, submit your heart to His Consuming Fire and watch what explodes in your life, the Peace of God and the Love of God will be your portion every day as you have spent quality time in the Presence of your Father and the Shekinah Glory is dwelling upon you!

 Don’t despise the Consuming Fire, embrace it!

Let’s Pray:
Thank You, for the truth of Your Word and for this reminder today to keep my fire burning. Lord, I want the fire of my faith to burn bright and hot for everyone to see! Father please continue to be the passion that fuels the fire in my heart. Father, Thank You! Thank You for purging me by the fire of Your Holy Spirit. Thank You Father, for cleaning and cleaning my mind that I may think like You! Father, continue to burn through me and push the dross and impurities to the surface of my life, because the more dross that You remove, the better I will be! Lord.  Father as You allow Your fire to consume my life, I pray that Your Word becomes an inferno in my life and that it will become ablaze for Your Glory to advance Your kingdom on this earth as I do what You have assigned me to do. Father, I pray that Your fire shall always burn in my life and that it never goes out! Father, purify my heart that I may love like You! Father, guide me, that Your purpose and Presence will shine brightly through me! Father, show me today what to do with the fire that You gave me and how I can share some fuel to get someone else’s fire started. Father, I’m going to praise and worship You through this process, for I know that it is for my good and Your Glory! In the Name of Jesus Christ! Amen!

Blessings…
Minister Jean

Romans 12:1 ERV ~ “So I beg you, brothers and sisters, because of the great mercy God has shown us, offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him-an offering that is only for God and pleasing to him. Considering what he has done, it is only right that you should worship him in this way.”

As I reread the devotionals on the Altar from this week, my mind fell on BBQ, and when my dad tried to teach me how, (y’all let me just say, that it was a full-time job, lol.) My dad took this very seriously, he loved it, so much that he built his own grill to perfection just like he wanted it. Grilling was an art form to my dad; he had all the utensils and stuff! But as I thought about the grill and how and what we put on it, I thought about how and what we put on the altar when we go to our Father! 

As for the grill, you had certain steps to follow, first you had to have the right type of coals, then you needed lighter fluid; you had to the soak the coals in the fluid, and they had to be positioned just right on the grill so that everything could cook evenly and perfectly. So, if grilling has all these steps, just think about what you have to do in order for your altar to be just right. First you need to start with your heart, Psalm 51:10, your heart must be right, and you have to be willing to come clean and let go. I love this quote by George Hartwell, he said this perfectly, “I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all, but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.” So, whatever you want to keep it will destroy you and you will lose everything. But whatever you put in God’s Hands on the Altar, God takes care of it, through the continuous burning of the fire. Leviticus 6:13! 

I am in no way comparing God’s Altar to grilling, but just because so many people are at different stages I wanted to use this analogy. Here’s the differences between putting something on the grill and laying it at the altar, on the grill you consume what has been sacrificed.  But on the Altar, God consumes what is sacrificed. Did you get it, the grill you choose what you will give; but on the Altar, you give it all up, you lay it all down! So, what are you putting on the Altar today? What do you need to get rid of? You need to make a conscious decision to live on the Altar, it can’t be a one-time thing. All of us reading this devotional needs to be living on the Altar, embracing the Shekinah Glory! You see you have to make the decision to stay there, and you know that we don’t like to be anywhere for too long, it becomes a problem being a living sacrifice every day, we get tired, and then we just crawl off the altars when we no longer want to be obedient. You need to pray this scripture every day, Romans 12:2 NKJV, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Learn how to tarry at the Altar!

I want you to hear me clearly, you must stay on the Altar as your life is being refined and presented to God as a living and holy sacrifice! This is what I want you to learn and get it in your spirit about today’s scripture, it matters to God how you live your life! Just because you are saved by grace does not mean you have been given a free pass to live however you want to live. You are called to live Holy and Righteous lives. It is incumbent upon you that you live in a manner that is pleasing to God. It is not enough to God that you are saved. God desires for you to be sanctified and conformed into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ daily!

Today, ask God to cleanse and strip everything off of you that is not like Him! Release, Release, Release! It’s time to release it and what better place, than the Altar! It’s at the Altar that you will find Glory in the cross, it is where you can lay flat on the threshing floor, the place of separating, it is the altar of God; just be still and watch God do a separating in your life, for everything that is not like God, gets consumed by Him at the Altar. It is also in this place that God feels you with everything that you need to blossom in Him. Yes, I know it’s not an easy journey, but I need you know it’s necessary for you to live! Ask God to make you attentive in this place, where your eyes and ears are aligned to His Will, Way and Word! 2 Chronicles 6:40, “Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.”

I know that you have heard this before but find yourself a sacred place in your home where you can offer up of prayers to your Father who is in Heaven and is listening to every word that comes out of your mouth, and He loves to hear you pray His Word back to Him! Today, pray that the place where you are praying becomes the place where The Lord meets you and answers your prayer and where you see and believe that you serve a prayer answering God! It’s where the Shekinah Glory settles upon you and dwells, there with you! 

It’s in this sacred place and time of prayer that your prayer life is birth and built! It becomes personal right here! This is where you learn what an Altar’s real purpose is and what it’s not. You move from selfish to selfless! Your Altar is not for performing, it’s for worshipping! It’s not a place to compete with anyone else, it’s a place where God completes a thing in you! Your Altar is not for personal applause; it’s for the Glory of God to be seen in you and by you, it is called your audience for One! Your Altar is where you serenade the King of kings and Lord of lords! Your Altar is where every imperfect thing in you is perfected by Him! Your Altar is where you ascend; an where God descends and delivers heaven’s edicts! Your Altar is the place where God has full access and control, it’s where you are renewed and refreshed before your day starts and it’s your cleansing place when your day ends! 

Let’s Pray:

Father Thank You for the gift of prayer. Thank you for making your eyes and ears attentive to my prayers that I’m praying at the Altar! Father, as I come to You now, on the Altar, I’m seeking You and Your Word like never before. I ask that Your grace would be upon me and that You would work through me, purge and prune anything ungodly from me on the Altar, that I may be Your mouthpiece to speak and teach Your Word to a dying nation. Father, I pray that You would go before me to every person that I will meet today and give me wisdom and discernment before I open my mouth. Father, I desire that Your Holy Spirit be at work in the mind and heart of everyone who will read and study this devotional today. Father may Your blessings be upon me this day and turn every ordinary moment into an extraordinary moment because I didn’t go on my own, but I went way of Your Altar, and you changed me. Thank You Father for what happened to me at the Altar, You made me over, afresh and anew, and I met You there and I have never been the same! It was for my good and Your Glory! 

Blessings…

Minister Jean

Exodus 40:34-38 ~ “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.”

You know as we have been speaking on Altar’s this week and truly experiencing God. I wanted to make sure that I bring this point to the forefront of your mind! You can’t be on the Altar and not have a Shekinah Glory Moment! 

Do you really know what Shekinah means and where it came from? It is a Hebrew word that means for something to dwell or to settle upon. settling. In the Bible it represents the Presence of God is settling or dwelling over you. It’s when you are at your Altar worshiping God and the Presence of God manifest right there with you, you are now exposed to the Shekinah Glory! Oh, what time that you are having right now!  This is what a real experience in the Presence of God looks, feels and sounds like!

In a commentary written by Dr. Tony Garland, he says this about the Shekinah Glory, “it is the majestic presence or manifestation of God in which He descends to dwell among men. Whenever the invisible God becomes visible, and whenever the omnipresence of God is localized.” You see it’s right here in today’s scripture that you see the Presence of God, for His Glory was represented by a cloud in the day and fire in the cloud by night! His Glory was always present, and just as He was there with them, He is here with you, remember God is spirit and His Spirit dwells within you now.

So how do you experience the Shekinah Glory today, since God is not in the cloud by day and the fire by night like He was in the Old Testament? You have to seek Him with all of your heart, while He may be found. Now in order to see the Glory of God, to experience the Shekinah Glory, your heart must be right! You see the Glory of God went from dwelling in tents and temples to dwelling in the hearts of men. 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” So now the Shekinah Glory is ever-present with you because the Holy Spirit dwells on the inside of you. 

Now you don’t have to worry about God’s Presence leaving you, He’s with you wherever you go; Psalm 139:7-10 KJV, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? [8] If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. [9] If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; [10] Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” So, as you can see by the Word of God, you can never get away from Him! 

Now as you spend time at the Altar and the Fire of the Holy Ghost comes upon you, you will become more aware of God’s Presence as you are praying and worshipping Him, and no two times will be alike, for you will be moving from level to level, going higher and higher in the things of God! God has given you the greatest gift ever, His Holy Spirit. As you have laid it all on the Altar, you have confessed and repented and God has cleansed your mouth, you are ready! You are ready to embrace the Power of the Shekinah Glory and to experienced it in your life like never before! 

It is at this juncture that you have taken the time to lean into and allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life. For every single thing that you need to live this life has been given to you through the Holy Spirit. It looks different now because you see different, you recognize who God is to you, it’s not about what He does for you, it’s about what He gives that makes all the difference. The great thing about the Shekinah Glory is that it is not just limited to you being in a church setting, you can experience the Presence of God wherever you are; and when you get to the church setting, you are already on fire, you’re not waiting for someone to light your fire! 

My prayer for each one of you is that you will allow the Spirit of God to dwell in you as you spend time on the Altar! This means that God’s Glory, God’s Anointing, His Wisdom, Love and Power goes into you, that when you look at you, you don’t see any parts of you, because the light of His Glory is covering you up! I pray that the Shekinah Glory fills every part of your life and goes wherever you go! You see when you experience the Shekinah Glory, others will see God’s character in you and it becomes clear and evident that you are who you say you are, a child of the Most-High King! The is proof is in the Power of God and His Shekinah Glory at work in you is the true reflection of His Presence! 

Let’s Pray:

Father Thank You! Thank You for establishing this place where I can meet You and You can dwell and settle in on me. Father, Thank You for this place where Your Glory will be seen shining in and around me. Father, Thank you that You know the plans and purposes that You have for those who will come to You, Thank You for Your plans to prosper me, and to give me hope and a future. Father, I bless all those that can see Your Shekinah Glory on me and that my heart for You leads them directly to You! Father, Thank You for Your Word, and showing me how to seek You with all my heart, Philippians 2:13. Father, fill me with Your Shekinah Glory and let me enter into the Holy of Holies. Father, today I bless those who pray and intercede on behalf of others. Father, I Thank You for every prophetic gift that you have given me. Father, make me over so that I can be the watchman that You called me to be in this crucial hour! Father, as You have cleaned my lips and stirred up voice, I pray that I may run and speak Your Word just like You gave it to me! Father, I Thank You for Your Power and how You are dwelling with me, please keep my heart, mind and hands clean that I may be of good use to You. Father, I know that I live in a time where the atmosphere changes daily, but Your Word never changes, and it will never lose its Power! Father, use me to bring Your light into to someone else that they may be delivered and come to know You and experience Your Shekinah Glory. Father. Blessings upon this prayer and all prayers prayed in the Name of Jesus Christ, let Your will be done and let Your Shekinah Glory fall on all those that are obedient to You and Your Word! It’s for Your Glory! In Jesus Christ Mighty Name. Amen! 

Blessings…

Minister Jean

Isaiah 6:5-8 NIV ~ “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” [6] Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. [7] With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” [8] Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

The more clearly Isaiah saw God the more aware he became that without God he was powerless and unable to do anything of lasting value. You need to acknowledge and accept the truth in your heart that you are going to need what Jesus said you must have. The baptism of Fire must burn within you, the Anointing of the Holy Ghost will make Jesus Christ come alive in your innermost being so that you will not be an imitation of Him, but the likeness of Him will be seen in you. You will have Him on the inside of you, and you will no longer have to strive to work for Him through your own strength and abilities! 

Isaiah watches a vision unfold right before his eyes, he watched in wonder and awe, as this vision was given and directed by God Himself, I mean nobody else could do this scene but God! It was a sacred moment, and it was set a part, it was from God’s lips to Isaiah ears! Have you ever encountered anything like this in your time alone with God, a one-on-one experience? All Isaiah could say was, Lord, Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, he acknowledged that he had fallen short, when is the last time that you truly repented before the Lord, Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Isaiah was convicted of being a creature of his culture, he owned the wrongdoing that was truly his, he was on the other end of his own pointing finger. But he remember His Father, yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Romans 3:24, “and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” From the beginning of time, God has been clear about what sin (and that all fall.) God has been clear, crystal clear in His Word about what would happen and what sin would bring. As a matter of fact, God told the first humans that He created what to do and what not to do. For when you trust God, you will heed and obey His Word. But to transgress His instructions, was to die. When you disobey God, you are cutting yourself away from the source of life. 

As you read yesterday, God is calling you to put it on the Altar; that you may be purged of all ungodliness, this is something that you cannot do alone, you need God! God will unfold Himself in your presence when you are going through the experience you must not lose your focus during worship, it’s in this experience that God uses the experience for His purpose in your life and it is going to take heartfelt repentance and confession for God to reach out from the mercy seat with atonement from the altar of sacrifice to cleanse you! 

Do you want your mouth cleaned today? You see you need your purged and cleansed, because sometimes you talk too much and when you do that you don’t always speak right. Your words can ensnare you, (Proverbs 6:2) and you do know that you have to give an account for every single one of them, (Matthew 12:36-37)! So, today I advise you to think before you speak, (Proverbs 16:23)! You see when God touches your lips, it cleanses all of you, your guilt departs, and your sin is blotted out! Do you have a sin that you need to have blotted out? Ask God to touch your lips, with a live coal! It might be hot, but I’m sure that you will prefer that heat over the heat from hell! But the choice is ultimately yours, you choose! 

The cleansing of Isaiah’s lips caused him to see clearly and to connect with God on a higher level! It causes him to go when God said go, without asking where? I’m sure Isaiah’s lips were still on fire, but nevertheless, God had a job for him, and I love how he didn’t ask what the job was first so that he could decide if he wanted to volunteer or not. Can you just follow God, without needing to know the whole plan before you move, and even with that, you still haven’t moved!

When you choose God with your whole heart, it’s easy for you to just move out like Isaiah. He moved because he had an encounter with King. The angels experience led to divine worship unto God, he didn’t notice anything in his surroundings, it was him and God. Think for a moment and ask yourself, have you ever really had a divine worship experience with God like that, that when you left the altar in praise, the smoke from the fire was evidence of where you had been. So now when God says He has a job that needs to be done, your heart cries, pick me Lord, I’ll do anything to serve You. Anything You want done God; I don’t care what the job is. I don’t care where You want me to go, I say yes to You God. 

For this is the hour of the Fiery tongue! Your tongue is meant to be used to be as a witness for the Lord! And yes, it has to happen in this year, 2024, and not because you have had an experience with God, but it is because God knows that you need this experience to fulfill the plan of God in your life. For the time is now for the greatness of the Lord’s Power to be poured out in this final hour over the land! Call on Him in perfect faith, and you who is faithful will see miracle after miracle. The impact of your Anointing will do much to win the souls of the lost in this hour! Isaiah was willing to be God’s spokesman. He gave God a real yes! Where is your true Yes to God? When God calls, will you also say, “Here I am. Send me”? 

Let’s Pray: 

Father thank You! Father, teach me more of Who You are and show me how flawed my I am! Father I repent right now in the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ, and I Thank you for cleansing my lips and washing me clean in the Blood of Jesus. Thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit to live in me and for building me up, into the living Temple, with all who are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Father, here I am, send me today. Send me today, use me today, wherever and however You want, for I want to spread Gospel of who You are to others, that Your Grace, Mercy and Glory will be seen in the land. Father, I pray every single person who will pray this prayer today. May prayer and praise be the posture of their hearts. Here I am Father, send me today, I give You my Yes! Father, send me share Your love, share Your joy, share Your laughter and Your peace! Father, I pray that wherever you send me today, into the workplace, into the community, into the marketplace, into the city, into the state or into the nation today, Father, I’m not asking where You are sending me, I’m just saying yes, to wherever You want me to go! that I would spread Your Word, for Your Glory! In the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen!

Blessings…

Minister Jean

Joel 2:17a ~ “Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD…”

It’s time to make haste, you don’t have time to waste or lose or procrastinate! It’s time to call for prayer and fasting, between the porch and the altar! For the last two days I have been talking about the porch and then I saw this scripture and I just wanted to cry for the people! Have you pressed into His Presence on the porch? For when you press in, God will press in and the two of you will be alignment in the present moment! 

So, what does this mean, to be between the porch and altar? I asked God, where is this porch? And what is the space between the porch and the altar called? 

In this scripture, the porch represents the flesh and the outer court of worship, (your place of cleansing and setting yourself apart for God and Him only.) Whereas the altar represents the spirit, the place of sacrifice, the place of giving up and of consecration, it’s your place of surrendering your life to God! As you have gathered on the porch with others and or by yourself during these last couple of days, did you have a one-on-one encounter with God? Did you cry out for anyone else besides yourself? 

You see after reading and studying this scripture, I realized that you and I must find ourselves weeping in the space between the porch and the altar. It’s the place where we want all to come into the knowledge of who Jesus Christ truly is. As a matter of fact, it’s a mandate for you to assemble God’s people together for a time of prayer, fasting and consecration. It’s time to start living for Jesus for real and not in word only. 

Leaders, you have been given a mandated assignment to gather God’s people for a time of prayer and fasting. It is time to move from milk to meat, you can’t remain a baby forever, for even the toddler grows up and moves from crawling to walking, Hebrews 5:13-14. It’s your turn! It’s time to eat the solid meat of God’s Word and experience the Power of His Holy Spirit. 

It’s time to stop watering down the Word of God to please others, it’s time to stop tipping around them because you don’t want anyone mad with you and all the time, they are going straight to hell because you are failing to speak up and out what thus says the Lord! When you water down the Word, you are causing a drought and dryness in the House of God! 

God is urging you to encourage the people to cry out and turn back to Him with their whole heart. I know that you see a lot of things going on in this world but understand this, God knows! God is speaking His Word to your heart, and He is doing it from His Holy Porch! The Word’s that you are hearing is from God’s heart to yours, and His Word is spoken to you at just the right time, “like apples of gold in settings of silver, is a word spoken in right circumstances.” Proverbs 25:11! God will set you in the right place and give you the right word to speak to the right place!

The time is now, you say that you are ready, but are you really? If God came to get you right now, would you be found worthy? Stop playing church and be about your Father’s business. For nobody knows the day or the hour, and if you are not ready when He gets here, you won’t be able to fix it on the other side; Matthew 24:36! 

In this season on the porch there is a place between it and the altar and God is sending out a Clarion Call to you; compelling you to weep between the porch and the altar where mankind has set up false gods and turned away from the One True and Living God. Today, open your eyes and see the similarities between the situation in Jeremiah’s day and the things that you are facing today; Jeremiah 9:17-21. 

It is time to join our hearts together and cry out in prayer! It’s time to cry out between the porch and the altar, to teach our children how to cry out and pray behalf of their neighbors, and their world, Lamentations 2:19. We must teach them how to know that at the heart of God is forgiveness, lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness, on earth! 

Let’s be confident of this one thing, God will hear you and heed to your cry, for His promises and sure and He cannot and will not lie, His Word is sure and true, it will come to pass! Keep the Word of God forever around you and tell yourself every day of His Presence, Power and Promises for, “Weeping may endure for the night, but a shout of Joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5! 

It’s time to gird yourself up! It’s time to sanctify yourself! It’s time to turn your heart back to God! It’s time to blow the trumpet of Zion and sound the alarm! It’s time to stand on His Holy Ground and tell everyone that you know that the day of the Lord is at hand, Joel 2:1!

Let’s Pray: 

Father, Thank You! Father today I choose to speak the answer and not the problem today as I come to You, the Author and Finisher of my faith. Father I lift up every minister, pastor, and leader right now in the Name of Jesus Christ. Father I lift up each disciple that is praying this prayer. I decree according to Your word that You gave us pastors after Your own heart, and I pray for the spirit of conviction and repentance to fall upon every leader that You have called. Father thank You for calling us back to the altar that we may repent and release everything that is not like You from our lives. Father may a spirit of weeping be upon us for the unsaved, the hurting, the broken-hearted, the sick and the lost everywhere in Jesus Name.  Father, I decree and declare that the leaders shall cry out loud and spare not. Father, I decree and declare that we shall proclaim a solemn fast for Your people and lead them back You, their first love. Father, I decree and declare that Your leaders’ lips are touched with the live coals from heaven as they cry unto You, saying Lord send me. Father, I decree and declare that wisdom, knowledge, skill and understanding is my portion, and that the fivefold ministry operates in gifts that You have given, may we be clothed in sanctification and covered with the sweet perfume of holiness. Father anoint my head with the oil of Your Anointing and may it flow down my garments and fall on Your people. Father, I ask You to send the warring angels to assist with the warfare that is certain to come as I make my commitment to You. Father, I say yes to Your Will and Your Way. In the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen! 

Blessings…

Minister Jean 

Psalm 113:3 NIV ~ “From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.”

As I thought about yesterday’s devotional, the porch was still on my mind. I remember as a little girl my grandmother would say, you can play on the porch, but don’t go off of it. I would have my dolls and toys spread from one end of the porch unto the other end. I use to get so much joy by being on the porch. I am a porch-sitter, I love to sit, watch and wait on God! 

I did a little quick study on porches, they were established during the cave times, if a cave had a rock overhang, they could sit and watch out for danger. In America they came about in the 19th century, Architects became infatuated with them, building them on houses for people to gather on as a way to save on air conditioning. The word porch comes from the Latin, “porticus”, which means stoop, to sit under an overhang and to watch. Porch sitters are the strength of their community. Think about your grandparents/parents, did they love to sit on the porch and watch and speak to people as they passed by? Do you like to sit on the porch and talk with others, talk with God or just be silent and embrace the Presence of God!

Now I know why people love to sit on the porch. Now as I grew up, I saw the porch in a whole different light. It became my quiet place with God, my place of peace, my place for me and Him to be in fellowship with one another. I love gazing at all of His beautiful splendor, the sky, the grass, the trees, the birds, the stars and the moon! It brings my heart joy! What about you, did you play or sit on the porch as a little child? What was your favorite experience? From sun-up to sun-down, it’s nothing like sitting still before your Father on the porch and hearing what He has to say to you!

Today, I want you to take a seat on your porch, be it day or night, and have a little talk with Jesus, tell Him all about it! While you are sitting on the porch, I want you to be present with God, for where God is present, His Presence is there. I want you to become more aware of your time with God. God is going to be present with you, when you are present with Him. Who is present with you in every ordinary moment of your life, and who turns those ordinary moments extraordinary moments, God and only God can do it! 

Now as you sit on your porch invite someone to join you and then point out to them the awareness of God’s Presence in this place! God is not waiting on people to come to church to meet Him, so why should you, have a gathering on your porch and invite someone to get to know Jesus, Romans 10:9-10! When was the last time you gathered outside on a porch? 

Think of your porch as Solomon’s porch, it was the place where Christians met to experience the outpouring of the spirit of God. Has anyone ever experienced God at your house? On your porch? If not, today is a perfect time to start spending time on your porch, you will be amazed at what you see, hear and experience, if you just press into the Presence of God in that present moment, you will see a move of God! These moments become life changing, changing you from the inside out! 

When was the last time you slowed down long enough to see God’s hand move in your life? Is there a physical place that draws you to lean into His Presence, to seek Him? I want you to know that anytime between His sunrise brilliance to His sunset beauty would be good time to stop and spend some time with Him. There is something so beautiful and peaceful about sharing first and last moments of your day with God. It’s soothing to your heart. Communing with the Holy Spirit and letting creation create a melody in your ears that moves to your heart and becomes a song of praise on your lips! 

Get up a little bit early in the morning, and prepare yourself to sit on the porch, start your dialogue with God, seeking His face, and ask Him what His plans are for you today. And during this dialogue, set the atmosphere with the kind of worship that will infiltrate your porch, your neighborhood and you!  Next, close your eyes and then open them again, and as your eyes open up, know that they are opening up to God’s Glory that is surrounding each one of your moments, this should fill your heart with so much love and gratitude for God for giving you one more day! As you look at that majestic masterpiece of the sunrise or sunset, worship your Father through connection and conversation, listening to the morning birds and the evening winds as they sing praise songs unto their Master from the atmosphere that has been set by you in prayer!

There is something so sacred about these encounters that you have with God, they give you peace, unspeakable peace (Isaiah 26:3) and joy when you allow yourself the freedom to enjoy Him and to be totally committed to the time with Him.  You see time is your most precious commodity and it’s something that you can’t get back, there are no do overs! Make the most out of the moments that matter the most, spending quality time with your Father, family and friends are vital to your livelihood! 

 It’s on the porch that you can have sweet commune with your Father. The word commune means to share one’s intimate thoughts and feelings with someone. Who better to share your thoughts and feelings with than God! The porch is your place of exchange, you share your Father shares, and oh what a time, what a time you are going to have in fellowship with your Heavenly Father! It’s in this time that you spend alone with Him on the porch, that allows you to spend time with others on the porch!

Let’s Pray:

Father Thank You! Thank You for meeting me on the porch! Father, I come to You today and ask as humbly as I know how that You would send Your ministering angels to minister to everyone that is sitting on the porch today. Father, I ask You to cover me and everyone that I am connected to, cover our homes, family, friends, finances, jobs and with Your blood. Father, I am laying everything down at Your Altar, it’s to much for me to carry and it’s cluttering up my porch, please remove it. Father thank You for refreshing, reviving and restoration me as I encountered You in this sacred place. Father minster to me from sunrise to sunset, for I am looking at the splendor of Your beauty as I sit still on the porch. Father, I live my time with You, it’s for my good and Your Glory! It’s because of Your Might, Power and Glory that I have a story to tell others about Your Goodness, Grace and Mercy. In the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen! 

Blessings…

Minister Jean

Acts 5:12-16 NKJV ~ “And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. [13] Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. [14] And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, [15] so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. [16] Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.” 

In this season I’m sure that you are ready to move! But you need to have an encounter with Jesus first! So that when you move time comes you are ready, and you won’t have to make this same lap again next year. you must be ready to for this next move! You must be ready to go to your next! Go to the next place God has for you! For there is something better and greater in this next new place! So don’t grow weary, Galatians 6:9. Don’t feel heavy or discouraged because you are tired. The best is yet to come! Take a seat on the porch and have a little talk with Jesus, tell Him all about it! You are going to move to a new spot, you just need the correct instructions and where better to get it from than from the Lord! The Porch is a perfect place to gather and meet Jesus! Solomon’s porch was the place where Christians met in the temple area after the outpouring of the spirit of God. During this time, there were no church buildings so believers gathered outside. The porch was a meeting place. When was the last time you gathered outside on a porch? 

The temple in Jesus Christ day was made up of three courts.  There was the court of the gentiles, the court of the women and the court of Israel.  The court of Israel was located close to the altar so that non priest to go in, it was reserved for the Israelite men.  The court of the women was in the temple, it was the furthest away from the court of Israel. But the court of the gentiles was located outside the temple, and it was a space in which anyone could come. The court of the gentiles were covered porches. These porches served as protection from the heat and the rain and would often be a place where all people would go to hear the word! Now the best thing about this court was that it was on the eastern side and was named Solomon’s Porch.  

It was believed that this part of the wall had remained from the time of Solomon.  It was the place where Jesus taught. This porch was named after David’s son, and it was aligned strategically in placed so that everyone could access him.  Because it was located on the eastern side of the temple.  It meant, the “Sun of Righteousness” dawns from the east! The Apostles prayed, taught and preached the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the place where He had taught them and now, they were teaching others in that same spot where they got delivered! We serve a Mighty God! Don’t be surprised or alarmed if God sends you back to the place where you got delivered to help bring somebody else out. Galatians 5:1! 

Where were you when you first encountered Solomon’s Porch? Where did you encounter the Saviour in your life? So many times it’s in the hard places and circumstances of life that you encounter God’s grace and power that propel you to testify of His Goodness!  Did you encounter God as a child or an adult?  Did you  meet you when you lost in life’s highs or lows? I want you to know that it doesn’t matter when, what matters is that you did! Now you are positioned and commissioned to share God with others.  You see nobody knows what you actually went through but you, and nobody else can tell your testimony like you. You know what they are going through what their challenges to the gospel will be and you can tell them how God delivered and healed you, even if you are still walking through the healing process, share where God has brought you thus far!

What was meant to destroy you, birth an entirely new you! Now you are able to share God with those who are still stuck trying to medicate their pain and to show them His Grace as they go through it! All this happened for you on the porch! Your deliverance came and you walked into your healing there! It was on the porch that I met my Savior and every day since then has been great! 

Let’s Pray:

Thank You Father for my porch encounter with You! Father, thank You for the experiences in my life that have made You real to me.  Thank You for drawing me to You by any means necessary. Father, Thank You for Your Redeeming Grace and Steadfast Love that You show and share with me daily. Father, Thank You for the opportunity to speak to others in the places that You spoke to me.  Father, may You continue to show me who to share Your Word with that the captives may be set free. Father, it was at my Solomon’s porch encounter that my eyes were open, and my ears were unstopped, and I was made to walk.  Father, it was that place where Jesus became both Christ and Lord to me. And now I must proclaim to Gospel to all that I meet in the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen! 

Blessings…

Minister Jean

Isaiah 54:2-3 NIV ~ “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. [3] For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.”

We are in a season where it is time to take back your territory! It’s time to mark off what’s yours than what is the enemies. All animals have an innate ability to mark off their territory so that others will know who that spot, space, and place belongs too! They do it for these reasons to protect and to defend their territory! Now is the time for you to mark off your territory!

You need to remember that you are engaged in a spiritual battle and the enemy is trying anyway that he can invade your territory! You must protect and defend what belongs to you, what God has given to you. God is strategic in His planning, and you must be intentional in your preparing! Now when you begin to go, you need to mark off your boundaries and strengthen your stakes because there are external and internal enemies trying to catch you off guard! They will try you in your family and your finances, they will try in your home and on your job, they will even try you in your church. The enemies man purpose is to sabotage the assignment that God has given to you.

You are in a pivotal time, and you must know how to pivot in this season of taking back the territory that the enemy has stolen from you. For some of you, this could have been land, homes, careers, businesses, finances, family, and healing, both physically and mentally. No matter which one it is, it’s time for you to take it back and then mark off your territory from the enemy, so that he does For the Word said in Exodus 12, when they see the blood, they will pass over you and your house!

The majority of the battles in the bible were over territory. Do you want to know why? When Satan got kicked out of heaven, he tries to bring chaos to the earth, he has been doing this ever since the beginning of time. The devil has been given a set of certain ruling principalities and strong holds over cities and regions and will do anything to protect and defend you. Territorial battles are a mark of God’s approval of His chosen warriors. God sends out His most qualified champions to fight the most forceful giants. Just ask Moses, Joshua, David, or Gideon about their encounter and experience with God! God had already established what’s going to be! God knows who can contend in battle and He only sends His best warriors into the battle ground. That is why He told Gideon to send back some of those men and to only keep 300.

I know that I have shared this story before, but it belongs in this one too. I received this nugget in November 2016, I received this note, when I was living in Texas. I had sent a print job to the copier and when I picked up my papers this word was on a plain piece of paper in the middle of my job, if was as if I had started printing and my job got interrupted and this printed and then my job finished! This is what the paper said. “God gives His toughest battles to His strongest soldiers; He knew that you could walk in this tough experience and then be able to walk out of those same experiences and be able to minister to those who are experiencing the same battles right now!”

You must contend for your promise! As you can hear and see, contend! Contend for your family, your city, your state, your nation and your region! As you contend, breathe the breath of life that God has given you, desire it like a deer pants for water! Know this, as God enlarges your territory, you will be strengthened, and your next move will be a move of God! And you will secure a Victory that will beat the enemy and dust him in the wind! As the contend, the light of God will begin to break forth and you will see the promises of God begin to unfold in your life more and more and you will hear a sound and see miracles, signs and wonders in and around your territory and your territory will be protected and defended for by God!

Let’s Pray:
Thank You Father! Thank You for my territory. Father, grant me discernment to know when to defend and when to attack. Father, open my eyes to see all the territories that You have given me and that you need me to defend. Father, give me wisdom to know when Your territory is about to be invaded, when to stand and when to move out! Father, give me the wisdom to know when the doors have opened and when You have closed them. Father, give me unshakeable faith as I press in and mark the territory and boundaries that you have given me. Father, help me to set up Your businesses, ministry, and homes, help me Father, for I give it all to You! Father, open my mouth and let the lion roar in the Name of Jesus Christ. Father thank You for keeping me and not letting me move out prematurely. Thank You for helping me to see the stake that I have in the places where You put me! Father, I Glorify You and I honor You today, and I put all of my trust You. Father, I thank You that I am walking into new territories that You have given me and there will be exponential success that cannot be denied because it’s from You. In the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen!

Blessings…
Minister Jean

Exodus 12:7,13 NKJV ~ “And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. [13] Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

If you had to have a sign, what better one than the Blood! There has been no other event in Israel’s history was that has been more recognized and remembered than the Passover. The Blood shall be a sign! In that day what made the difference between life and death? What determined whether a family’s house was passed over or the firstborn died? The Blood! It’s a different day, and it’s still the Blood that makes the difference, but the difference between that blood and this Blood is, they used the blood of an animal, you and I have The Blood, The Blood of Jesus Christ! Y’all, The Blood Still Works!

Let’s talk about how significant your blood is and how it works in your body.  First you need to know how the dictionary defines blood, it is the fluid that circulates throughout your body, it’s in your heart, arteries, capillaries, and veins, it carries nourishment and oxygen, and it brings away waste products from all parts of the body. The second definition is, the blood is your lineage, the persons related through common descent. The Blood is your lifeline, for without blood, there can be no life, physically or spiritually! No Blood, No you!

In the system of blood, there are four types: A, B, AB, and O, and there is a positive or negative factor that is associated with each of them. Every person has one or the, and if you are A positive you cannot receive the blood from a B positive person or vice versa. These restrictions are in place to help with on who can donate and who can receive blood, based on your blood type and the donor and that of the recipient. There is one rare blood type, it’s O- it is the universal blood type. Anyone with this blood type can donate their red blood cells to anyone.

Did you know that the blood type of the father determines the ethnicity of the child? Just think about that! Is God your Father? If you know that you know that you are connected to God the father through the blood of Jesus Christ, then you should live like Him! You should be acting like Him! You should be able to love like Him! You did say God was your Father, right! You did say that you have been washed and cleansed by the Blood of Lamb, Jesus Christ! You do know that Jesus Christ carries the universal blood type that is given to anyone who is in need of a blood transfusion, it doesn’t matter what your sin type is, His Blood is the remedy! The Blood Still Works! 1 John 1:7 NIV ~ “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. Yes, what seems common, what is coming, what is already here doesn’t matter when you know Jesus. For the Blood of Jesus is greater than all of that!”

The Word said that they had to smear the lamb’s blood all around the door of their house, so that when the angel came and saw the blood, he would pass by that house. Everyone in that house would be spared. (When you plead the Blood of Jesus Christ over your home, everyone in your house will be spared!) The Blood of the Lamb protect them! The Blood of Jesus Christ has spared and protected you! (Are you praising Him yet?) for those that did not obey the instructions, doom came and the first born died! I have a question, are you following the instructions of Jesus or are you following you? You can’t follow you and want God to bless you in your mess, it won’t work!

You have to learn how to follow the instructions of God and how to Plead the Blood of Jesus! There is Power in the Blood! Jesus died for the remission of all your sins, not some, but all! You have been justified by His Blood and you saved through the Blood and it’s still as good today as it was then! It still has the same saving, delivering healing, sustaining and power! The Blood of Jesus Christ will never lose its power. And after all of these years, you are living proof that the Blood Still Works!

There is Power in the blood of Jesus for the believer for:

1) Redemption: You have been Redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb! Romans 5:9-11 – “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! [10] For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! [11] Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

2) Propitiation: Your have faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and because of this, you have been removed from under the condemnation of God’s law. Romans 3:25-26 – “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood-to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished- [26] he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

3) Cleansing: You have been washed and made clean, for the Blood Jesus cleanses away all of your sins. Hebrew 9:14 – “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”

Now whenever the Father looks at you, He does not see you in your sin, but He sees what you shall become all because you are covered by the blood that His son, Jesus Christ shed for you and for me, and His blood saves us from eternal death. Remember, that you have been covered and washed by the Blood of Jesus Christ. So, what’s coming may be great, but the Blood of Jesus Christ is Greater! Because of the Power of the Blood of Jesus, your Praise is going to be different, your Praise is going to stop what was supposed to stop you, because you learned how to Plead the Blood of Jesus Christ!

Let’s Pray:
Thank You Father for Jesus Christ! Father I thank You that I am saved by Your darling Son Blood! Father, I come in the Name of Jesus Christ to plead His Blood on our lives and on all those that are a part of my family, those that You have made me a steward, a covering over. Father, I Plead the Blood of Jesus over the portals of our mind, our bodies, our emotions, and our will. I believe that I am are protected daily by the Blood of the Lamb which gives me access to the Holy of Holies. Father, I plead the Blood of Jesus over the children of this world and over my children, grandchildren and their children, and on all those whom You have given me in this life. Father, You have said that the life of the flesh is in the Blood, so I say Thank You for this Blood that has cleansed me from sin and sealed me in the New Covenant of which I am grateful to be partakers of. Father, I worship and love You for the way You laid down Your life for me at the cross, that I might be here today to pray for someone else and to Plead the Blood of Jesus Christ over them! In the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen!

Blessings…
Minister Jean