Fresh Wind Ministries, Int´l

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us

I was able to go away for a few days to Playa Hermosa last week to meet some clients coming in. 

When I travel, I usually take a semi private shuttle.  I am not good a driving long distance, and I prefer to relax and enjoy the scenery. 

At one point, there was some road work being done.  When the shuttle bus arrived it had to stop since there was only one lane open. When it was our turn to go, the worker handed him a red flag to hand over to the employee at the other side. The red flag was their way of stopping the flow of traffic.

As I sat behind the driver, I saw something different though.

As leaders, there comes a time where we need to pass the flag so to speak, so that others can run the race that the Lord has set before them.

How does one do this?  You pour everything you have into them. You pour your time, you pour out of your spirit, you impart to them everything that you have. You then you let them go.  Some however, may need a push out of the nest and they must learn to flap their wings and fly.  The Lord has equipped us with a task, and while each task may be different, they all have the same goal. To edify the Body of christ.

Let us pour into others what the Lord has poured into us.  In doing so, we are building a team to extend His kingdom.  Pass the flag to the next person, and those that you have removed it from will begin to soar as eagles.

May you be blessed this day.

Yvette :: Jun.26.2008 :: Christianity, Devotionals, Inspiration :: 3 Comments »

By Claude Widmer

I was always against writing articles or books. I figured that there were enough books written and articles were not really needed. What for? Was the bible not enough? Were there not enough stories there to tell us the truth? But on the other hand I was reading so many things every day. I was reading devotionals, books, magazines…

What a contradiction. I had just a religious mindset about writing and thought the bible was enough. But I myself read lots of other stuff and was tremendously blessed by reading articles and devotionals. I still remember many of the devotionals and often got encouraged by different articles or learnt a powerful principle.

May be I was against writing because I always hated writing essays in school. Oh Lord… write about a boring topic that I was not even interested in myself. And my big interest showed and I did not get really great grades for writing.

But soon enough my heart just burned to pass on the truths that I had discovered in the Bible or write about what I had experienced with the Lord Jesus to encourage some others. And it is such an awesome tool to really bless other people and minister to others! For the writing stays and you can read something over and over again! It is an awesome tool to minister the Lord Jesus Christ to others!

I am sure you’ve had some ideas in your head about writing something. May be the Lord gave you a little gem from his word or you saw a principle in nature that applies to the spiritual life and you wanted to just write it down and help others with it. There are so many different things that can be taught to others and writing a little article about a truth you discovered is so powerful!

Well, I guess for most people having the ideas is not the problem. But may be you are struggling with this and you think you don’t have anything to say to others. So let me first try and help you getting some ideas for an article or a devotional.

Ideas and Principles come to you every day

Yes, although you might think this is not true for you, it is something that God has built within us! He is speaking through his spirit to our spirit all the time. So when he speaks to you, be this through the bible, a vision, through a situation or through nature you will form concepts and ideas that will stick with you!

So don’t tell me you have nothing to say. As long as you walk with God and have a relationship with him you will find that he is speaking to you all the time and showing you new things! And these new things are the ideas or principles you can write down and put into an article and bless others with!

This can be an encouragement, a teaching about something, a challenge or exhortation. Whatever it might be. But you will have an idea and that is usually the starting point for every article!

So let me give you an easy little run down what you must consider before writing an article:

1. Write to bless
What are your motives for writing an article? Do you just want to get out there and make all your great ideas public so the whole world can read them and see what a great person you are and how much wisdom you have?

When you write an article you want to bless somebody with it. It is a ministry. May be you want to help somebody overcome a problem that you have overcome. You have discovered this powerful biblical principle that helped you overcome and now you want to share the truth with others through your article.

It could also be that you have experienced the Lord as this loving Father and you want to just encourage others with this truth that you have discovered! Or may be you just have a thought about something and suddenly the Lord starts giving you a prophetic word and you want to share it with someone else. This is more the devotional kind of things. But never the less, you can bless people with what you write down. And this must always be your attitude. Whether it is to convict or to encourage or challenge…

2. Everything starts with an inspiration
That might be clear to most of you. But I mention it here anyways. You can not just sit down and write something. You must already have an inspiration or an idea of what you want to share with others.

You know these people who say that they just sit down and write and can not control their writing anymore, but that the Spirit just gives it to them and they write and write and write… Well, I am afraid, but this is not how the Lord works.

You get an inspiration first. Either from the word of God, from something you just experienced or a revelation you just had. What ever it is, everything starts with this inspiration.

3. Write down your ideas
You might not always have time to write the article right away when you have an idea or an inspiration. Then just write the main parts of what you want to do on a piece of paper or in your diary or whatever you are used to use for things that you should not forget. May be you even put in on your shopping list… Might be a bit strange when you are in the shop and don’t know exactly why you wrote down to get some “Truth will set you free” or whatever it was you wanted to write about.

If you have time and a quiet place to sit down and write, then I suggest you take the idea you had right away, sit down and bring it to paper. Do not wait days and weeks to do it and right it down. There might be other things to come later. So you just want to do it right away.

4. Share a story
When you wrote down a few ideas and know where you are going with your article you need to get the attention of the reader. Jesus often used stories to get the attention of the people. Story telling is such a powerful tool to make somebody remember a principle. They might not remember the exact bible passage or the biblical principle, but they will remember the story and still know the principle because of the story.

So whatever you want to share with others through writing, always think of a great story that you could use to illustrate what you want to say! I love it when a real teacher shares things and starts telling stories that bring it all together and make the principle so much alive!

So remember that. You don’t always have to use stories, but if you can use a story that you experienced or heard someone else tell, then use it. It will always brighten up your article and make the reader remember it! Story telling just brings things alive!

5. Writing is a spiritual thing
When you write you will express what is in your spirit and you will find that there comes a flow when you start writing down what you have in your heart. It is very important that you really put emotion into the writing and express all that is in your heart! I find that when I put my whole heart into it and just write in the flow, that the Lord is really pouring out his anointing through my words!

And that is what you want to accomplish. You want your article to be anointed and really flow in the Spirit. Because you can release the Spirit by writing when you let him flow through you! Just write with all the emotion there is within you! Give yourself completely into it and just let it flow.

If you find that there is no flow, then just start writing down the ideas you have and start sharing as you would minister to somebody. You will find that suddenly you will flow in the spirit and one thing after the other will come and it will all come together. It will feel a bit like journaling and you might get additional revelation when writing an article.

So just try to let the Spirit flow and minister to others!

6. Go over it again
Once you have written the article and have put your ideas down just go over it again. Sometimes you might find that certain passages just don’t fit there or that you might have had too many different thoughts into it and you need to narrow it down to just one main thought that you want to communicate.

It is important that you go over it and see where you were flowing in the Spirit or where you just flowed in the mind. This will take a bit of practice, but you can also give your articles to someone who is more mature in the Lord then you and let them give you their opinion. So you can learn from it.

To read more great articles, visit Ministry Made Simple

Yvette :: Jun.24.2008 :: Articles, Christianity, Inspiration :: No Comments »

Philippians 3:3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,(NKJ)

Have you ever been one of those type of persons that had to feel the anointing before you went out and prayed for others?  You felt  goosebumps, butterflies in your stomach  or maybe the warmth on your hands before you stepped out in faith.  For new believers, this may be good and needed to build confidence. 

But as you mature, there comes a time where you  learn to not put any confidence in the flesh, but into  the word that you have in your Spirit. 

As new  believers,  these feelings may trigger a response to pray for someone or when the Lord speaks to you.  But did you know that there comes a time when all of that changes, and those feelings are not always there?  Did you know that is a sign of maturity, that God does not have to get your attention that way?   He can speak to you as an adult!

I remember when the butterflies in my stomach were no more, and I panicked!  Has God forgotten me?  It took a little while to realize that God was speaking to me, but in a still small voice, and not through the butterflies or goosbumps.  I had to grow up and walk a new road, and road where I had to trust the word in my spirit and not the feelings, and learn to listen to the Lord in a new way.

The word says to not put confidence in the flesh.  We should put our confidence in the word  that we have within our spirits, and minister to God´s people as adults.  As we do, we will minister with greater authority and revelation.

Be blessed!

Yvette :: Jun.16.2008 :: Christianity, Devotionals :: 2 Comments »

Ephesians 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him

For those of you that know me, Ephesians is my favorite book in the Bible.  I have read this book countless times, and never grow tired of it.

As I posted earlier, the Lord has been speaking to me about authority.  But, how do we obtian that authority if we don´t fully understand it?  Like with the word, everything comes by revelation through the Holy Spirit.   Consider this passage:

Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.(NKJ) 

I feel that there are many truths in the Bible that we have not tapped into yet.  Understanding His authority is part of it.  But there is also something else that I would like to share with you, and that is receiving a greater measure of  revelation.

The passage quoted above is quite popular, but have you considered personalizing this verse?  I tried that just a few days ago, and last night my spirit was leaping as I slept.   I literally said this verse in my sleep!

I will use my own name to give you an idea of how powerful this verse is:   that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, has given me, Yvette  the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

This is an exercise that I do often with other Bible passages, but it was the first time that  I personalized this verse for myself. 

Do you desire to flow in a greater revelation in Christ?  Then I challenge you to personalize this verse, and other verses that speak to you.  As you do, you will flow in power and authority unlike you have ever flowed before.

Have blessed weekend!

Yvette :: Jun.13.2008 :: Christianity, Devotionals, Inspiration, revelation :: 2 Comments »

By Sidharth Mohandas

While Jesus was with His disciples He made it clear to them that the Holy Spirit would not come until He [Jesus] ascended back to heaven [John 16:7]. He also said that when His disciples would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, they’d be witnesses unto Him [Acts 1:8]. In other words, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the waiting disciples was a proof that Jesus had ascended to heaven and had sat down at the right hand of the Father [Acts 2: 33]

Here’s a statement I’d like to make: When you are born-again you become a witness to Jesus’ resurrection. However, you become a witness to the ascension of Jesus into the heavens only when you receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the gifts that accompany it.

When He ascended on high, He led captives in His train and gave gifts to men. [Ephesians 4: 8]

When Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave the gift of the Holy Spirit, through Whom came many gifts. These gifts are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 and Romans 12:6-8.
Now I wish to draw your attention to 1 Corinthians 13: 1, where it says “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”

It is interesting that Paul was using the Hebraic High Priest garment to explain the more excellent way of using the gifts of the Spirit through the fruit of the Spirit [love]. Now, the High Priest’s ephod had two things at its hem: Pomegranates and Golden bells [Exodus 39:22-26]. The Pomegranates symbolizes the fruit of the Spirit while the Golden bells in between them symbolize the gifts of the Spirit. This is why Paul says we’d be just clanging cymbals without the fruit of the Spirit. Now in the Old Covenant, the High Priest would enter the Most Holy Place once every year and the people would wait in fear outside the tabernacle while the High Priest sprinkled the blood on the Mercy Seat. In those days if a High Priest came before the direct Presence of God with sin in his heart or with a displeasing sacrifice, they’d fall dead then and there. The only way those who stood outside could know that the High Priest was alive was by the ringing of the bells on his ephod. In the New Covenant, Jesus is our High Priest, and according to Scriptures He has ascended into the the Most Holy Place. Therefore, when you and I operate in the gifts of the Spirit, we are being witnesses to the fact that Jesus is alive in the Sanctuary.

I encourage you today not to be ignorant about the gifts of the Spirit [1 Corinthians 12: 1], but to desire earnestly the best gifts [1 Corinthians 12: 31], to be zealous for them [1 Corinthians 14: 1], and even pray for them [1 Corinthians 14: 13]. When you operate in the gifts and excel in it by operating in the love of God, you are being a witness to His ascension. We need to ask ourselves today: Are the bells ringing in my life?

Yvette :: Jun.11.2008 :: Articles, Christianity :: 1 Comment »

Luke 9:1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 

In mid April a very pregnant dog adopted us.  She parked herself at our front gate and would not leave.  Me,  being the softy I am with dogs could not turn her away.  She was small, wagged her tail constantly and I could tell that she was grateful being with us and was enjoying our large yard.   Our two other dogs took to her, so it made it easier to adopt her. 

We found out very fast that this small dog  has turned out to be the dominating one of the bunch.  She took over almost immediatly, and Wilma,  our bully boxer suddenly became submissive. 

What I got out of this entire ordeal is that it s not really the size that matters, but the authority that one carries within.

We as believers have an authority within us  that was handed over to us through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Lord had been speaking to me about authority, and I have been meditating on it more.  I was surprised to find out about a book called The Believers Authority by Kenneth Hagin.  A Book that I quickly purchased.  

I know we have authority, but what I did not have was the fullness of it or the revelation of it in my spirit.  With that understanding and knowledge, I can now go on to greater authority in Jesus.

We can never exhaust the truth of the word, and I plan on receiving a greater revelation of authority in my life as a believer.  What about you?  Let´s tap into that power that was delegated to us.

Blessings in His name,

Yvette

Yvette :: Jun.09.2008 :: Christianity, Devotionals, Inspiration :: 4 Comments »

Luke 15:4 – 6 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ¨And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.   And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’

This is a wonderful parable that Jesus is sharing.  Here we can liken this parable to Jesus as the shepherd that is in search of the lost sheep. The lost sheep in this case would be a member of the Body of Christ.

We can see here that a sheep has strayed and fallen into the wilderness. The wilderness is a desolate place where one is lonely and deprived of protection. In the wilderness there are no guidelines, no safety and depression can easily set in.

How would the sheep get lost? What paths did he or she walk in, and how did they stray from the protection of the shepherd?We see that these things happen often.  Perhaps they begin going to church and maybe even a Bible Study and somewhere along the line, they take a different path and end up in the wilderness.

Maybe they fell into deception. There could be a number of reasons. But the reason why they go astray is not what I would like to focus on. I would like to focus on the rescue.

The parable states that the shepherd goes after the one which was lost in the wilderness. We see the heart of a pastor working here, or anyone in ministry that suffers when  a member goes astray.

When the lost sheep is found, notice how the shepherd lays him on his shoulders. He decides to take his burden and give him rest, and carries him along to a safe place.The sheep at this time has been feeding on the world, and not the word of God. I can imagine he may be pretty heavy with the world inside of him.

We don’t read in the Bible how the shepherd is scolding him or rebuking him for his behavior,  or for separating himself from the fold or lecturing him on his sin. He simply finds him, carries his burden and brings him back home.

After the lost sheep  is found, the shepherd is rejoicing because the sheep is back in the safety of his home. He is so happy to have him back that it sounds as if he is going to have a celebration. I can imagine the neighbors and family members just as excited about having the lost sheep back home safely.

We are living in grace, and are no longer under condemnation. We as believers make mistakes, we are not perfect. There are times where we will fail.

What I love most about this parable is that grace does not remember your sins. Grace does not bring condemnation. No fault was found upon the lost sheep. Rejoice at the grace that the Lord shows His Bride. Let us show that same grace to those around us.  Let us flow out of love and grace towards each other. In doing so, it will be automatic that those around you will flow the same way, in love and grace.

What mistakes have you made? God does not remember your sins or your failures. We are the ones that bring condemnation upon ourselves, the Lord does not. Shake off that condemnation and rise to the fullness that the Lord has for you.  Remove the condemnation that you may be sitting in, and rise up in His Glory.

Yvette :: Jun.02.2008 :: Articles, Christianity, Inspiration, Writing :: 5 Comments »