Ask and you shall receive; seek and ye shall find; knock and the door shall be opened to you.  If you don't ask, seek, or knock, then you are not desperate enough to even try to make a connection with Me.  Everything can't be brought to you without you making an to receive it.  And of most importance, with the effort made, you must believe that I see you. I promised that I would reward those who diligently seek Me with all their heart.  If you want to commune with Me, you must come to Me with an open heart like a child believing and with open hands ready to receive from Me. 
As we step into a new year, many believers are filled with great expectation and anticipation of what lies ahead. I believe that this next year will be a time of great favor, and that many in the body of Christ will be equipped with powerful anointing's to fulfill their God-given destinies. In the midst of what appears to be a dark season of opposition, there will be a sudden shift in the spirit realm. There's coming a time when we will experience supernatural miracles, divine encounters, and amazing breakthroughs.
In today's world I could tell someone that I'm a blue monkey, and they would probably agree with me. They would likely respond with something like, "Whatever your truth is, I accept and affirm it." That is absolute nonsense. Most people are agreeing with this type of absurdity because they fear appearing judgmental, or they believe they are exhibiting acceptance and compassion. But affirming someone who is confused or deceived is not compassionate. It's cowardly and selfish. Truth is not subjective. Truth is not an opinion, and truth is not a feeling. In John 14:6 (NKJV), Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me."
Their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. (2 Corinthians 3:14) It is no small thing to have true spiritual sight. It represents a mighty victory. It is not going to come to you by just sitting passively and opening your mouths for it to arrive. There has to be exercise about this matter. You are right up against the full force of the god of this age when you are really out for spiritual understanding. It is a supernatural battle.
God formed you in your mother's womb to be alive at this very time. I am always amazed when I think about the depths of God's creativity. He could have chosen you to be born to other parents in another country in a different time era, but He created and formed you in your mother's womb for such a time as this! Years ago, the Lord told me something would happen in the world and I would need to root out all fear so when everyone else was in fear, I could be in faith. I believe that prophecy manifested through 2019-2021 and what happened with sickness attacking the worldwide population. At that time, I saw a principality of fear over the earth.
Humility is such a rare quality in our current culture. We are encouraged to rise in power, be the first and achieve the most success. And there is a part of our human soul that screams to be important. The problem is that God values humility. This is seen so clearly in the Christmas story. Jesus arrived on the scene with humility. Jesus took on human form as a baby and was born in Bethlehem. The prophet Micah wrote about Bethlehem: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times" (Mic. 5:2, NIV).
We all want to ask the Lord for revelation, understanding, provisions, and physical manifestations. But most of us have had an experience with suffering that made God feel distant or moral failures that made us feel distant. Those experiences left our hearts with a conclusion, God has abandoned me, and I'm on my own. The religious spirit enters at this stage and invites us into his orphanage to help cement the stronghold. We're supposed to serve a God who is distant. Others hear, have seer gifts, prophecy, and experience Father's fellowship, but I don't.
Freedom in the Spirit is a wonderful thing. It allows you to explore HIM. And when you explore you learn things, new things, that you have not known or heard before! It was fun being a kid and exploring, but you also know there were times when your parents or caregivers said, "Wait a minute! Watch out over there! Be aware of this or that, or Don't do this or that." They meant all that for your good! They were delighted when you matured and you learned now to cross the street safely, or later when you could run to the store for them. If you kept your boundaries right, they could give you more and more freedom.
Do you ever feel like you're just checking off your to-do list? I know that I did for much of my life, and it made me totally miserable. I frustrated myself trying to do lots of good things in hopes that I might feel better about myself, but it was never a permanent solution. We all have a deep need to feel alright about ourselves. And we can spend a lot of time and energy trying to do things that make us feel like we're okay—okay with ourselves, with others and even with God. But we don't need to wear ourselves out trying to be right with God through our own effort. The truth is we can't make our lives right on our own—we need God.
Last week was tough. One of my best friends, Doug, died unexpectedly, and the tragedy shook me to the core. Doug's death also shook my friend Jeff, a pastor who looked up to Doug as a mentor. Before and after the funeral, Jeff and I cried together. We shared our memories of Doug and processed our feelings as honestly as possible. At one point Jeff admitted that the loss made him want to run away and hide. He was halfway joking when he said: "I'd like to just move to the beach and forget everything." I knew he wasn't serious.