Garden Ministries

By Shawna K. 1-11-2009
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This is the Dance
This is the Dance
This is the Dance
This is the Dance of the Father
The Holy Spirit is the Dance of the Father.

Take all the love you have ever felt and experienced as a father, mother, son, daughter, lover, sister or brother, and multiply it into infinity; now set it to music and DANCE.

THAT is the Holy Spirit, the Dance of the Father. He is about to release the Holy Spirit in a Dance that will consume you. The Dance is tribal, exotic, immaculate. The Father longs for you to Dance before him. The Remnant will DANCE!

We wonder if we will be a part of the remnant?

We try to live according to the Father’s will today, but when the Remnant is torn to shreds, will we be able to remain standing? If you want to know, answer this:

Will you dance? Because the Remnant WILL DANCE!
Will you put aside the ego of your humanity?
Will you make yourself a fool in the eyes of those around you?

He is about to set this Dance upon your feet, but you have to CHOOSE, as a mortal woman or man to receive the DANCE He wants to give you. He hopes so, because it will be so SPECTACULAR!

The DANCE is the penultimate (second-to-last expression of) worship in the Father’s Eyes. He is waiting for it. The anticipation is mounting. The Angels and the Inhabitants of Heaven are preparing. The Excitement is palpable as they know that The Father is about to pour out the DANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

The Song and Dance of the Remnant will rise and the Glory of the Lord will fall and the collision will be a CATACLYSMIC REACTION, the magnitude of which the world has never seen, or could even have imagined.

Now is the time, do not delay. Today is the day to begin breaking the bonds of your human ego and societal expectations and go against the grain. You do not want to miss a single colossal moment of the Dance because you weren’t prepared.

Start Dancing now–Today!
He wants to know.
He wants to Know!
Will you DANCE with HIM?

Our Father is calling His people to a Sonic BOOM Faith! When a jet reaches a speed faster than sound, a BOOM is heard because the sound barrier has been broken. Imagine a faith with this kind of speed and power. Walking in intimate union with the Father will naturally produce an abundance of the fruit of the Spirit who indwells us and who imparts Faith to us. Sonic BOOM Faith is a new level of faith and union with our Father that reaches a power and speed from the Holy Spirit that literally breaks barriers.

Since our intimate union with the Father is formed in the secret place of prayer, it will help to gain fresh insight on what this prayer relationship is so we can stop relating to God in boring and mundane, religious or traditional ways, and start relating to Him as our living and active Almighty Father who loves to give us powerful encounters of His active and loving presence in our lives. And our prayer relationship with God is the key. It is how we nurture our relationship of intimate union with our heavenly Father.

So what does a “prayer relationship” even mean? In 1st Timothy 4:4-5, it says, “food is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” The Greek word for prayer here is “enteuxis.” This term is only used twice in the New Testament, once for intercession and again in this passage.

Thayer’s Lexicon reveals its expanded meaning to be: “a falling in with, meeting with, an interview, a coming together, to visit, converse or for any other cause. That for which an interview is held, a conference or conversation, a petition, supplication.”

Food is not sanctified by the act of any required religious or traditional prayer, it is sanctified as a result of the abiding presence of the resurrected Christ with whom we are in constant coming together with, conversing with, i.e. we are in enteuxis-prayer with. Spending quality face-time with Jesus literally means that we are falling into Papa’s arms (even while we eat), and as a result of our intimate fellowship with Jesus, His divine presence not only is experienced in our hearts, it also extends beyond ourselves and sanctifies our surroundings (i.e., makes holy, separated unto Him), like our food, our marriage, our homes, our relationships.

Take for example, the story in 1 Samuel chapter 21. Picture David. He has just left all he has known because of his King Saul’s demonized and unjustified attacks on his life and he comes to the tabernacle in Nob where David speaks to Ahimelech the priest. David is hungry so he asks for bread but all that is available is the showbread, which is consecrated (or sanctified) to God; only priests could eat it.

Because of David’s relationship with the One and only God, he walked in a faith that broke barriers. He wasn’t boisterous or arrogant, he was living in fellowship with the Father and that enabled him to be wherever God led him. David even took Goliath’s sword, which was also consecrated to God. If someone else not in the same level of communion with God were to do the same thing he/she would have been struck dead right then and there.

All that to say is this: in the same way, “Sonic BOOM Breaker Faith� enables us to live life like David did—and even more so—because in and through faith in Jesus Christ, we have become a living temple where God Himself dwells by His Spirit. When we walk in true intimacy with our Father God, we are separated unto Him so no matter what the circumstances, He feeds us from His holy provision and equips us for battle with weapons from the storehouse of Heaven!

Meditate on this truth: Papa God delights in you (Song of Solomon 7:10). He downright enjoys spending face-time with you and the flag He flies over your heart is entitled, “My Beloved.” It is a banner that all heaven and earth encounters when you walk into a room. Now go and burn in the secret place with Papa God, as a lovesick warrior in pursuit of your lover God (Song of Solomon 2:5, 5:8).

From this place of intimate union, you will release to yourself and to those around you, the mercy that washes you clean and the grace that enables you to enter His presence through the mighty Name of Jesus. Awake and burn in the flame of the Lord (Song of Solomon 8:6) and watch the overflow of your faith bring you places in God that you thought was only for “those other guys.” We are priests and kings to our God and Father forever—Amen.

God’s Promised Help in Troubled Times
As natural and human-induced disasters and wars increase, so will the profound and tangible presence of Jesus be experienced in the earth. In Joel chapter 2 of the Bible, even though global upheaval is occurring, God promises an abundance of spiritual and physical provision, protection, restoration, and supernatural revelation.

Jesus said (Luke 21:9,10), “When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.”

The Move of God on Women – Youth – the Poor
Four major population segments are about to experience a profound move of God upon them. This move of God will not be defeated because those affected by it will experience first-hand, the supernaturally profound love of God as they never imagined possible before. It is His love that they have longed for and finally found. It is His love that changes them forever and for good.

These major population segments are:
– Women
– Youth
– Minorities and their Civil Rights
– The Poor and the Oppressed

The Inversion of Church Leadership Structure
In preparation for the harvest of souls for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, God is leveling His church by inverting the pyramidal, corporate-like structure of the church. Those in church leadership, who receive God’s input, will experience a paradigm shift in their understanding of what “effective leadership” really is. They will come to understand that church leaders can best and most effectively lead purely by serving, empowering, and supporting others rather than the other way around.

Because the number of people turning to Jesus as their Lord and Savior will be too great for the current pyramidal structure of church leadership to handle without great loss, God is inverting and creating His church leaders to walk “shoulder-to-shoulder and arm-in-arm” with each other, much like a loving family would relate to each other within their varying roles. This side-by-side servant attitude within church leadership will create a sturdy net strong enough to hold the abundant end-time harvest.

When the inversion is complete, all leadership, whether they are male or female, young or old, whatever their ethnicity, and no matter whether they are rich or poor, they will see their role strictly in the context of serving and supporting those they lead. Money or fame are not motivating factors. God’s end-time leaders will honor the dignity and excellence of Jesus in every person no matter what their circumstances or position in life may be.

God Fathers a Loving Family, Not a Corporation
God wants His church to be an intimately loving FAMILY–not a Corporation. Women will be given an expanded and vital leadership role of serving within this Family structure. NOTE: This inversion of leadership is NOT a power swing from a Patriarchal to a Matriarchal-based church system. This inversion will achieve balance and unity because the balance of power will rest solely on the manifested authority of the Holy Spirit within the male or female leader of various ages and not by their own personal authority or position-by-title.

The Emerging Wave of Church Leadership and the Move of God on Women and Youth
God is raising up an army of women who will walk arm-in-arm-with and side-by-side-of each other in their passionate pursuit of Jesus and His Kingdom. They will be known by their love for Jesus and how they focus on what’s right about the other instead of what’s wrong about them. Their loving and supportive attitudes will be effective because they will actively prefer the other women in their lives to themselves while actively pursuing the other’s good. When another women is given an opportunity to shine, these women will ask themselves how they can help and support her. Conversely, they will not be presumptuous toward their supporters but be genuinely thankful for the support they are given when it is their time to shine.

Never will the world have witnessed women so free of competitive attitudes and free from inhibiting insecurities. They will love, respect, and honor each other like never before. Wherever they had fear and suspicions in their heart, they have aggressively faced these fears by engaging the Biblical principle, “lose to win.” (Matthew 10:38-40) These women are now willing to lose it all for the sake of Jesus. They implicitly trust that in His deep love for them, Jesus Himself will guard their hearts (Psalm 91:4) and heal them when they are broken (Isaiah 61:1). These women will boldly carry their crosses forward in belief that the King of kings is with them.

The Wave of New Leadership
A wave of new leadership is rising; building in power and momentum and is about to crest and break. Past and current leadership stands ahead of this wave but at the bottom of the rising new wave. The old leadership is to step back a few steps toward this wave. Those who humble themselves and step back into the wave will gain a position that allows them to enter and be caught up into the rising power and momentum of the new wave and thus become a part of the cresting new wave.

Those who refuse to step back into the wave stay positioned at the bottom. When the wave crests and begins to break, it crashes on top of those refusing to step back and the wave crushes them. The pressure is too great to withstand and those under it are lost to the wave.

Here’s how that scenario plays out in the inversion process: The up-and-coming new wave of leadership will carry an abundance of the new wine of the Holy Spirit, thus establishing their relevance within the inversion process. These emerging leaders will in turn honor those who have gone before them and, with a spirit of respect and appreciation, accept and treasure their predecessors and their important place in God’s Family.

To enter into and rise up with this emerging new wave, past and current church leadership must step back into the emerging leadership. They will “step back” simply by recognizing, listening to, honoring, serving, supporting, and releasing the emerging leaders, many of whom are Women and the Youth.

Thus “heard, honored, and released,” these Women and Youth from all races and life circumstances will in turn honor, respect, and support the leaders that have gone before them. Those who have humbled themselves and “stepped back” to serve and support the new wave of leadership will also gain the emerging leadership’s deep respect and admiration, along with their servant-hearted support, thus accomplishing the “shoulder-to-shoulder” leadership God is weaving into a strong, end-time harvest net.

This move of God will witness Worshiping, Warring Women and Youth who dance and sing for Jesus in an abandoned state of praise and adoration. They don’t care what anyone thinks about how they look when they are caught-up-in-love with Jesus as He leads them in His dance and sings over them with His love. (Read Zephaniah 3:9-20 and Jeremiah 31:4,10-17)

Personal Experience
For years this dance has personally happened to me (Janet) from time to time and always surprised me when it caused so much “trouble” in the church. Maybe it’s because it is a warrior’s dance and perhaps the concept of Women Warriors was hard to grasp? I’m not sure of all of the “whys.”

I recently saw an example of a woman of God dancing a Worshiping Warrior dance. I am posting the link so you can see one of the ways we will see God release women. The Dancing Worshiper in this video is Heather Clark whose powerful worship ministry is impacting people all over the world. Heather experienced this spontaneous dance during a recent ministry event in Florida. You can see the dance on YouTube by clicking this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52ACWzbuMBU

What to expect in the upcoming season:

• Civil war in the church from which the Bride of Jesus will emerge
• Cities of refuge will also emerge; safe havens in which God Himself dwells
• An increase in natural and terror-related disasters
• An increase in 24-7 prayer and worship centers
• An increase of God’s supernatural power will be released as revelations of his fierce and loving Kingship increase

To have LOVE, I must know LOVE. And God IS LOVE (I John 4:8). Therefore, I must KNOW God to LOVE like Him. I thought I KNEW all of this! It seems that my spiritual Drawing Board just got erased and I am on Ground Zero and need a super-charged revelation about God’s LOVE—again.

Super-talented, amazingly gifted, dazzle-your-socks-off performances, without first investing our hearts into God’s heart and caring about what He says to care about, counts for nothing. What a waste of time, energy, and personal resources. From God’s perspective, performance-based giving has no return on our investment because it was not given out of a First Love relationship with Him.

The “Align-Abide-Agree” strategy helps us discover the vital link between knowing and acting in the kind of love that I Corinthians 13 describes.

• Align with God–who is Love–through reverent submission to and passion for Jesus, his beloved Son. Not my will but Yours be done God.
• Abide with Jesus who intimately loves us. Get to know His heart for you and for others.
• Agree with God who requires us to know his love more than any other eternal attribute. Above even our faith and our hope, the greatest of these is LOVE.

I Corinthians 13:1-3 (NLT): If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

Character Qualities that Tell Me if I Know Him and Have His Love (or Not)
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Psalm 121 – From the version of The Message (MSG)
A pilgrim song
1  I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains?
2  No, my strength comes from GOD, who made heaven, and earth,
    and mountains.
3  He won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
4  Not on your life! Israel’s Guardian will never doze or sleep.
5  GOD’s your Guardian, right at your side to protect you–
6  Shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from moonstroke.
7  GOD guards you from every evil, he guards your very life.
8  He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards
    you now, he guards you always.

"I pray that this will be a living Word for ALL
  in this new season." – George