It's Time To Be Authentic!

It's Time To Be Authentic!

 



Over thirty years ago, God charged me with I Corinthians 2:1,2,4,5 "And I brethren, when I came to you, Came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2) For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 4) And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:  5) That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

Because of this charge, I am a servant-leader, and my mentees see me do what I teach.  We execute hands-on ministry because "The Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power" (I Corinthians 4:20).  A few days ago, God spoke to me to encourage His leaders not to expend all of their energy in talking and teaching, but to use some of it in actually doing...healing the sick, feeding the hungry, reaching the lost, casting out demons, setting the captive free and being good stewards over all that He has entrusted to us...so that faith will arise in the next generation concerning the power of their God.  He said that it is time to demonstrate what you have been expounding. 

It is time to DO the works of the Father because that's what Jesus did, and He is our model.

Some of the young mentees that God has trusted me with over the years work more miracles and change more atmospheres than I do because they believed that actions speak louder than words as they studied the life and works of Jesus.  The preaching of the Gospel must be confirmed with signs, wonders and miracles.  Jesus always showed up doing, not just teaching.

When you live in that "Secret Place," hid in God, you take the atmosphere of Heaven with you wherever you go.  We need to check where and how we're investing our time because "talk is cheap," and "actions speak louder than words."  The world needs us to be authentic.  So, Arise, o Zion, and Shine!

What Happened To Our English Language?

What Happened To Our English Language?

 

 

I suddenly became aware (Was  it a couple of years ago?) that I no longer heard anyone (well almost no one) using the verb "saw."  I was absolutely shocked when I realized that from skid row to the boardroom, "I seen" had become the new English.  What happened to the English rule that seen needs an auxiliary verb (a helping verb), have or had, to accompany it?  Ex: I have/had seen...We have/had seen...They have/had seen.   "Saw" stands alone.  Ex: I saw...We saw...They saw.

 

Where are the teachers, and who sets out language standards now?  Have we lost our way in how to speak and write proper and formal English as we have lost our way as a nation in so many other areas?

 

Yes, I am a writer and an author, and I learned standardized English from good teachers, which included my paternal grandmother, when teachers were true educators and were not afraid to teach and to correct their students.  As hard as we try, we all make mistakes from time to time in our writing and speaking, but a mistake is just that...a mistake.  What I am concerned about is whether we are even aware that there is a formal and standardized language called English...setting aside all of the dialects and slangs and colloquialisms that we use in conversational or informal language.

 

I am almost frightened when I discern that many have no idea when to use (their, a possessive pronoun) or (there, direction/position) or(they're, a pronoun plus a verb= they are).  Many struggle with "your" and "you're."  Your is a possessive pronoun...Ex:  your coat, your money, your views.  You're is a pronoun plus a verb=you are...Ex: You're welcome...You're okay...You're beautiful.  Of course, there are so many other errors that seem to go unnoticed.  The shortcuts used on social media have just served to compound this problem.  How can we help our children and grandchildren with their academic achievements when we haven't mastered our own language in the 21st century?

 

This matter is noteworthy because if we are consistently careless in how we present ourselves publicly then there is cause for concern as to possible other sloppy areas in our lives.  And God help foreigners trying to learn our language which is becoming a contradiction of itself.

 

It appears that the people who have so much to say are so often the ones who make numerous mistakes.  It would be such a blessing if we would all strive to be a little more careful about our writing by making fewer mistakes.  When so many words are misspelled or left out, it is difficult to fully understand what is being said.  Just take a minute and double check.  It's worth the effort, causes you to be taken more seriously, and allows God to be glorified through His children. 

 

Recently, I realized that the Spirit of God was grieving inside of me because I had grown weary of "disturbing" people about this need for improvement because I have been doing it for thirty years, especially among the Body of Christ as it was assigned to me. He informed me years ago that many of God's vessels, and subsequently, many of God's messages were not being received because of haphazardness, and it still appears to be the case today.

 

Since language is our primary tool for communicating, surely we can request an anointing to help us in this very crucial area, whether we speak English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Dutch or Indonesian.

 

Thank you and bless you for even considering these thoughts.

Good Etiquette: A Romantic Idea

Good Etiquette: A Romantic Idea

 

 

    On one occasion or the other, we have all taxed our minds and our resources trying to find the most creative or the most expensive gift to present to the love of our life in order to express our deepest affections, or we have been the recipient of such lavish efforts.  An initial consideration might find this practice acceptable, but upon second glance, it might only be flattery (an attempt to gratify by undo praise).

 

    In a day where truth has become so vague, and personal or individual value has so declined, we as a society could possibly counteract this misfortune by responding to each other with acts that define another's value to us.  Holding another in high esteem and causing them to know it is a good place to begin.

 

    Good etiquette and romance might appear to be opposing ideas, but I believe that we can make them compatible.  World Book says that "the most important function of etiquette is to provide a general guideline for courteous, considerate behavior in everyday life."  We might say that it sets protocol (rules for procedure) in situations or that it simply shows us how to have "good manners" in the presence of others.  The word "romantic" takes our minds to thoughts of passion rather than reason, and imagination rather than logic.  It causes us to conjure up scenes of fantastic and extravagant happenings instead of customary and practical things.  Both ideas are valuable and wonderful, but there are lines of demarcation.

 

    A great romantic idea may momentarily extract the most satisfactory response from your mate, but daily and consistent efforts to show appreciation to your mate's personhood will more than likely produce lasting results.  We tend to value the relationship in which we make frequent and sincere deposits because it becomes an investment instead of just a passing fancy.

 

    Certainly we would never dream of squashing the practice of giving exquisite gifts to the recipient of our affections.  We simply want to be sure that we are adding our tangible or corporeal gifts to the ones that we daily deposit into the souls and spirits of our counterparts.  The sweetest romance flows out of our character and has a nurturing quality.  When we return to "please" and "thank you," sharing special time togrther, speaking kind words to and about each other, being real friends, writing love notes, asking forgiveness, opening doors and holding chairs, being on time, and just sincerely enhancing our relationship, then our presence will become a most esteemed gift.

 

    An occasional gift of a diamond, a trip to the islands, a shopping excursion, or seasonal athletic tickets should be the proverbial "icing on the cake" to a lifestyle of loving and sharing.  Out of the resources of our love and respect for each other, we can give our most creative and our most  expensive gifts.

 

    What about it?  Is good etiquette a romantic idea?

 

 

Taken from:

"His Daughters Do Prophesy"

    (With A Word For You)

Marion Clark Ingram/author

      www.amazon.com

 



The Importance of Romance

The Importance of Romance

 

 

I am still receiving revelation and understanding why the Lord encouraged me to write and perform romantic poetry among His people over twenty years ago.  As I traveled to churches and homes across the land, God would show me that the component of Love called romance was practically non-existent among leaders and their spouses.  He told me that that was one of the reasons that their anointings were so dry and forced. 

 

 

He taught me that there had to be a passion for life in order for there to be true passion for the things of God and His Kingdom.  And now twenty years later, I discern that it is still more comfortable for married Christians to speak of their love for God, but not for each other.  This is not natural because Ephesians 5 speaks extensively about the unique relationship between husbands and wives being "a great mystery...concerning Christ and the Church."

 

 

God wants His people to be authentic instead of offering Him what we think He wants.  Sometimes we're looking so hard for answers that are right under our noses.  He wants us to observe His Word with open hearts and open minds instead of with pre-conceived ideas.  We can use Isaiah 55:8,9 as a framework for trying to discrn the difference between His thoughts and ways and ours.  His are higher, and ours are base, and higher does not mean harder.  Since God is Love, we should be committed to study and to research Love in all of its facets because since God is Love, then Love is power.

God's Overwhelming Love

Gods Overwhelming Love

 



That's what I am experiencing this morning...the overwhelming love of God! 

 

I have walked in this place with Father for years now as He offered me when He invited me to relinquish my will for His will. On this journey with Him, I have been able to do just that because each time that I looked into the unconditional love in His eyes and heart He became more than life to me.  He became my life!

 

God is Father, Savior, Lord, Master, Friend, Healer and Deliverer...but His true essence is Love!  Love empowers Him to be all of the rest to us.

 

I am realizing, the more, that God wants us to celebrate His love for us and our love for Him. On Christmas Day (2012), one of my young Prophets In Training (PIT), Alicia Thompson, gave me a quite extensive letter that expressed many attributes and actualities of the Spirit that she has observed and experienced through me in the short time that she has been training with Kingdom Institute.

 

She received a "word" for me which was "love" and it expanded into "The Ultimate Love Letter" as Father continued to deal with her about me. Her direct quote is "Prophetess Ingram, I believe the Holy Spirit is calling on you to write the Ultimate Love Letter.  He says there have been so many moments in your walk with God that he has showed you love in big ways and in simple ways.  He says that it is your love relationship with the Father that causes you to be so effective.  This will be an easy task, a relaxing task, a task that will tickle you and move you."

 

Well, I have had such an intimate walk with the Lord that I don't really know how to share it...what He reveals to me and how He uses me...but I will try to do just that in the near future.  Possibly I will put it in a booklet.  Yes, I celebrate this wonderful love walk that I have been priviledged with, though it cost me much. I share a little of it in my book, "Without Apology: On Call For God."

Challenging Our Biases

CHALLENGING OUR BIASES

 

The title, Challenging Our Biases, is the title of today's H2H Eletter.  This movement is the House to House or The Organic Church Movement.

 

I will share two statements that capsulized the entire Eletter for me, and then I will share a piece that the Spirit of God formed through me two years ago from the Prophetic Poetry Section of my book "Without Apology: On Call For God."

 

 

1) "Confirmation biases means we favour things that agree with what we already believe.  So conservatives listen to conservative talk shows and news sources, while liberals listen to liberal talk shows and news sources.  Because the sources agree with what they already think, they do not get any new data or any new ideas to consider; instead, they have their bias confirmed."  2) "Let what you think you know be challenged - what is  right will survive, what is less than right just might be exposed."

 

 

WHEN DOUBT COMES

 

When doubt comes...and surely it will,

Will you command your thoughts to be still,

 

Or will you investigate the nagging gloom

Which opens the door to an unknown room?

 

Is the knowledge you have tried and true,

Or will it falter in the face of something new?

 

If what you believe is the real thing,

Then put it on exhibit in center ring.

 

If we don't ask questions, how can we know

That what we believe is truly so?

 

Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding too

Were afforded by God to me and you.

 

He said to ask and it shall be given,

But it comes to those who are passionately driven.

 

Just accepting status quo is not always safe

Because it keeps us stuck forever on first base.

 

Jesus questioned the  protocol of His time

And left us a legacy that is simply divine.

 

 

We all need to allow God to expose our biases and our "holy cows" so that He can give us fresh and clearer revelations/mysteries of our King and his vast Kingdom.  After all, there are "higher heights and deeper depths" in the things of God.  He wants to take us "from glory to glory."

 





Acts Of Sabotage

Acts Of Sabotage

 

 

There is a reality that is almost shameful to acknowledge concerning the envy, jealousy, and strife that exist in the "Body" of Christ.  This ought not to be...but it is.  often I hear these reports and have witnessed such malicious behavior myself while wishing that these conditions were only imaginary.  How can a body sabotage its ownself?!  How can I not rejoice that my eyes see, and my ears hear, and my feet walk, and my mind functions well, and that my fingers work.  A house nor a body can stand nor prosper when divided against itself.  Our tongues and our thoughts must be disciplined in righteousness in order for us to manifest in the power and authority that we so desire.  How you think is just as important as how you speak, and there are many ways to speak what you are thinking.

 

Actions speak even when you don't verbalize your sentiments.  So often, I have heard the Holy Spirit say, "Something should have been said right there."  There is a natural and even a holy progression of events that should be the offshoots of a move of God.  It is amazing how many "saints" won't exalt the work, the anointing, and the mantles of God's expressions through each other, but it is indeed time to understand that your silence causes you to look small, not the vessel or vessels that you are trying to ignore or conceal.  These attitudes only cause God to magnify those persons even more.

 

As you closely study and observe the character of God, you will notice that "He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."  It would also benefit us to be reminded that the Lord God Almighty is a Sovereignty .  He does what He wants to, through, with, and for whom He pleases.  Wouldn't it be better to be in agreement with the Lord's program instead of attempting to oppose it because of your personal "druthers"?  I am very careful concerning the Lord's people because you could foolishly be "touching His anointed," and remember...He said that "no weapon formed against them shall prosper."  In fact, Isaiah 54:17 further states "and every tongue that shall rise against them in judgement they shall condemn." 

 

So go ahead and stop being stubborn and rebellious "which is as the sin of witchcraft" (I Samuel 15:23), and become a cheerleader for God's team.

 

 

Be Warmed:  You cannot sabotage who nor what God sets His approval upon.