If you look closely enough, you can find something to honor in everyone. Natural human love looks for something to honor in the people we like and stops looking in people who are different from us. Supernatural love keeps looking, keeps hoping, and keeps finding ways to honor others – even when those ways are hard to see. This is very important because wherever honor is, life flows. Dishonor quenches life and produces death.

The love between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit before time was a perfect picture of honor. The Trinity models honor for us. The Father honors the Son and the Spirit, the Son honors the Father and the Spirit, and the Spirit honors the Father and the Son. This continuing cycle of honor creates oneness and makes life flow constantly.

This is how things operate in the Kingdom of God. It is a culture of honor. The family of Heaven and Kingdom families on earth are kept together by the superglue of honor. 

Have you ever noticed how Jesus honored even those who dishonored Him? He honored His own followers too, but many of the people dishonored by society – demoniacs, tax collectors, women with bad reputations – had their honor restored by the words He spoke and the works He did. Regardless of how people looked on the outside, Jesus saw something to honor on the inside. He saw the real identity the Father had given them. 

Imagine what that would look like today. Think about the political figure you can tolerate the least. Picture yourself saying, “He/she is fearfully and wonderfully made, beloved and adored, so important that Jesus died for this person. I honor this person because Jesus does.”

If you have become immersed in the culture of social media, you will not be able to say this very easily. If you read those comments and have conversations about current events, you know how rare it is to hear or see words like this about a political adversary. 

Imagine speaking highly about society’s outcasts, blessing people who make hateful comments online, or praying for terrorists because you know that even though their acts are serving the kingdom of darkness, their souls are precious to God. 

If our love does not look like honor, it cannot be a reflection of the Father’s love. We need to reevaluate the source because the love of Jesus is rooted in honor. In our current culture, where dishonor is normal, people are often surprised when they experience someone responding from a place of honor. Actually, they are surprised when they see any evidence of supernatural love. 

I hope you notice that there is an opportunity in that. If supernatural love and honor are so rare, and if this kind of expression of the Father’s love surprises people, then we have a greater opportunity than ever to demonstrate who God is to the world around us. 

As the world seems increasingly divided, we can choose to love and honor God’s way, without an agenda or hook. But our love must be more than words. When love is genuine, it’s in our hearts, our words, and our actions. It looks very much like Jesus.

In a world that constantly is being shaken how do we have an unshakable heart? In Psalm 16, David says that keeping his eyes on the Lord enabled him to have an unshakable heart.

I will praise The Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on The Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also rest secure. – Psalm 16:7-9

In Psalm 21, David said it was his trust in God that made him unshakable:

For the king trusts in The Lord; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken. – Ps. 21:7

David learned how to turn to God, regardless of what was happening around him, for his strength and hope. Because he fully relied on God, the giants he faced could not cause him to lose heart. In Psalm 62, it is David’s belief in God’s strength and salvation that makes his heart strong:

Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken. – Ps. 62:2, 6

Here, David refers to God as his fortress or stronghold. 

In the Old Testament, a stronghold was a place of safety and refuge. Often, a stronghold was built on higher ground to give added protection and advantage over the enemy. In ancient warfare, the army that possessed the higher ground always had the advantage. This same principle applies to our spiritual lives. By fixing our eyes on Jesus, we cause our hearts to occupy the higher ground of the presence of God. In this way, we create a stronghold, a fortress, for ourselves against the enemy.

In the same way, when our eyes are on Jesus, our hearts will not be swayed or intimidated by the giants we face. In all circumstances, Paul’s advice holds true:

“Since, then, you have been raised up with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” – Col. 3:1

When we set our hearts on Christ and His heavenly truths, the difficulties of earth will not be able to overcome us. Keeping our eyes on Him enables us to see life the way He sees it. As a result, we will have the strength of heart to respond in faith. We will have the strength of heart to live like David did. 

This is what it looks like to be imitators of Christ. He is our ultimate example of the unflinching heart of a giant slayer. Through His perseverance and strength of heart, He faced the greatest giant of all and overcame:

Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. – Hebrews 12:1-3

His example and the grace He imparts in our lives can chase away weariness and keep us from losing heart. When we fix our eyes on Him, we become more and more like Him. And we learn to live like He lived and have a heart like His. We learn to be unshakable.

I remember lying on the floor several years ago and soaking in the Father’s love. I was so tired and burdened. It was one of those seasons when the journey was costly and painful. As I lay there, I sensed Jesus saying, “I’m going to wash your feet.”I was like Peter. “No, Lord. I can’t do this.”But like He said to Peter, Jesus said, “Yes.” I had to receive in order to be able to give. And having already given much, I had to receive more.

So I took off my shoes and socks, lay on a mat on the floor, and literally began to feel someone massaging my feet. I wept and wept. I knew the King of kings and Lord of lords had come and washed my feet, just as He had done with His disciples, just as He does with anyone whose heart belongs to Him.

I got up, healed, and refreshed. And I knew the words Jesus was saying to me, which were the same words He spoke to His disciples. He wanted me to love in the same way He loves me, to continue in the love that I had been shown. He wants that for all of us. 

In our relationship with Jesus, we have unveiled faces. We are free to experience love and glory. This is part of our journey. 

And it is a necessary part. We cannot see transformation in the world until we see transformation in our hearts. We have nothing to offer orphan hearts until we know the perfect love and acceptance the Father has given us in adopting us into his family. 

Good works, diligent study, compelling arguments, and strong relationships aren’t enough by themselves. They are good, but we need personal face-to-face encounters with the Father and the love that carries us through our journeys between those encounters. With our spiritual eyes, we need to see the love in His eyes, feel the affection of His heart, study His ways, and build relationships with others from this place of heavenly love. We need to live from love rather than strive for it. 

We have been adopted into the family of love, welcomed into the warmth and acceptance of the Father’s living room, seen Love in the flesh, and received the Spirit of love He gave us.

It’s a heavenly encounter on earth and an earthly process that carries us to heavenly places. We have been, are being, and will continue to be baptized in love. 

What is the relationship between your private moments of encounter and God’s glory covering the earth? How can your private moments lead to transformation in the world? Why do you think He has arranged the world so that our intimacy with Him does not always remain private?

What is the difference between a visitation from God and a habitation of Him? What benefits does a habitation of love have that a visitation does not?

🙏🏼 Prayer: Ask Papa God how He wants to send you out as a love ambassador. Pray for His love to fill any cracks in your foundation and for Him to supernaturally empower you to know the width, length, depth, and height of His love. Ask Him to put specific people and situations on your heart and to give you wisdom and power as you enter into those lives and situations in love.

📝 Next Steps: Think of a difficult situation or relationship that affects you today. Ask, “What does love look like in this situation?” As you pray through this situation, listen for insights that might help you apply love and take practical steps to show it. Memorize and meditate on Luke 19:10 as a mission statement of what love is sent into this world to do.

You can learn more about this topic by purchasing my newest book, The Love Awakening!

Sometimes we have to ask ourselves if we really know that we have a good Father in heaven. Often, the emotional trauma caused by the betrayal, abandonment, and infidelity of our earthly fathers blinds us to the reality of our wonderful heavenly Father who is always calling those who have gone astray. Being the by-product of a dysfunctional family may make it difficult for some people to understand the concept of both good and father in relation to each other. 

For many, it seems to be a misnomer to place these two terms side by side. Others have taken for granted the goodness of our Father God. Jesus said, “He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt. 5:45). The kindness of God surrounds us. It is this unconditional love and the repetitive nature of His blessings that sometimes dull our senses.

The people listening to Jesus telling this story could relate to the younger son’s dilemma. In ancient societies, the honor of the father and the honor of the family were of greater importance than the individual merit of the son. In the case of the prodigal son, he was at a greater disadvantage because he was the younger of the two sons, therefore, less important. Based on the Mosaic Law, he was only able to get one-third of his father’s assets. Moreover, tradition dictated that he did not have much leverage to ask for an unconditional pardon in order to be restored to his former status. Nobody had to tell him he had brought all of his troubles upon himself. 

Among the crowd were Pharisees and teachers of the law (see Luke 15:2). They probably snickered halfway through the story, wondering why Jesus was wasting His time talking about a sinner who deserved to be punished severely. In their minds, there was no news to over-analyze this parable. They believed they knew the moral lesson because they were confident they knew the law. In the minds of the Pharisees, the Law called for death, for this is what was written:

If someone has a stubborn or rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” then all of the men of his town are to stone him to death. (Deut. 21:18-21)

It was as if this particular law was written specifically with the prodigal son in mind. The description fit him perfectly. He was stubborn and rebellious. We can surmise that he loved to drink, but we are sure that he was a glutton because he recklessly spent every single penny he owned. It was easy for the Pharisees to judge this young man. For them, it would have been better for the prodigal to stay away because his father had the legal right to stone him for his rebellious attitude. They had no idea that Jesus was talking about a different kind of Father.

In the parable, the prodigal son lived outside the embrace and the will of his father. He put as much distance as he could between himself and his father and spent all his time and money pursuing the things he thought would make him happy and satisfied with life.

Dirty, tired, weak from a lack of food, and living in an environment to which he was not accustomed, the prodigal son is a powerful image of the consequences of rebellion—the insistence that we can live outside of Father God’s embrace. At home, he has been certain he was missing out on life, deprived of the freedom to do the things he really wanted to do because his father was too strict, like a tyrant, having absolute control over him. However, in the pigpen he realized the real tyrant was self.

His self-will had driven him to the pit of despair and into a spiritual pigsty. As he compared his current status to that of the servants who worked for his father, he concluded that they were better off than he was: “How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!” (Luke 15:17). Then it hit him like a thunderbolt—his father was a good father!

The prodigal son went through life without taking time to reflect or be grateful that he had a loving father. It wasn’t until he experienced life in a pigpen that he was able to recognize the difference between the world and his father’s home. The Bible says, “He came to his senses”(v. 17). He knew in an instant there was nothing else he could do except seek his father’s face and beg for mercy. Only one thing had been stopping him: his belief that no one could accept a rebel such as himself.

Take some time to reflect on the goodness and loving kindness of our heavenly Father who says, “Everything I have is yours!” 

Ask the Father to show you if there are ways in your life where you choose to act like the prodigal son, working as a slave for His love and inheritance instead of knowing it has all been yours from the very beginning.

P.S. Interested in learning more about this topic? Purchase Healing the Orphan Spirit here.

One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire of His temple. Psalm 27:4

Gazing at His beauty and inquiring in His temple, both aspects of our coming to God are important. One might think soaking prayer is only about developing intimacy with God. However, Psalm 27:4 reveals soaking prayer is not just about developing intimacy with God, although that should be our main motivation; it is also about inquiring of Him about our Kingdom assignment. 

We can never separate our Kingdom assignment or heavenly call (what we are called to do) from our Kingdom identity (who we are) as sons and daughters of God. As we go deeper into intimacy, we discover who we are in Him and what He has called us to do and to be. When John the Baptist saw Jesus by the River Jordan, he exclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” The Lamb of God is Jesus’ Kingdom identity. Taking away the sins of the world is His Kingdom assignment. 

David’s leadership differed from Saul’s in many ways. One difference was in the area of inquiring of the Lord. Saul inquired of God only once or twice throughout his reign as king, while David inquired of God in almost all of his battles. God revealed to him strategies and specific directions which brought him sure victories. David led Israel in possessing the Promise Land.

So David inquired of the Lord, saying, ‘Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hand?’ And the Lord said to David, ‘Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.’ 

2 Samuel 5:17-25

We see that David inquired of the Lord twice before he and his army went to battle to face the Philistines. The first time was in verse 19. Despite his skills and a great army, David took time to ask God and never presumed anything. The victory was sure, of course. He declared that God had broken through the Philistines before him like the breakthrough of waters. 

The second time he inquired of the Lord was when the Philistines once again came against Israel in Rephaim. Remember, earlier, David wrought  GREAT VICTORY against the same nation. It would have been easy and logical to go against their opponent at once, considering their advantage, but David took time to inquire of the Lord. This shows his heart to trust God in all things, more than his strength or the size of his army. 

In verses twenty-three and twenty-four, God gave David clear instructions on how to defeat the Philistines. God said, “You shall not go directly up; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees. And it shall be, when you hear the sound of the marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall act promptly, for them the Lord will have gone out before you strike the army of the Philistine.” 

It takes a listening heart to hear such detailed instructions from the Lord. Such was David’s heart; it was so trained and sensitive to the Voice of God. his heart was always leaning towards Him to listen. He developed this ability to recognize God’s voice through the intimate times he had with Him in the secret place. The instruction God gave him this time around was the complete opposite of the first one. 

The first one was a direct assault. This time around, they had to go behind the enemy and wait for the go signal, the sound of marching on tops of the balsam trees, before they fought their enemies. This is amazing! This time the angelic warriors marching on the balsam trees are with David and his army. To top it all off, God Himself went before them and struck the Philistines.

As we come into deeper intimacy with God, we capture His heart and mind and understand His purposes on earth and the very things He is about to do. He reveals His secrets to His friends because He desires for them to be part of the fulfillment of His plans on earth. The way to co-labor with God is to recognize and hear His voice clearly and obey what He says. Hearing God’s voice is imperative in our stepping into our destiny.  

If you enjoyed reading about this topic, purchase the Soaking In God’s Presence eBook in my online shop.

It is possible to feel powerless as a Christian in modern society. Political parties are full of corruption on all sides. Wars and rumors of wars fill every corner of the earth. Divorce rates continue to climb. Church leaders are regularly caught in adultery. How can we, the ones who are supposed to “turn the other cheek” and be as “gentle as doves” hope to bring change to the world? 

1 Corinthians 12:4-8

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails.

It did not say love is weak. It did not say that love is powerless. It did not say that love is afraid. Many of the miracles Jesus performed were done when He was “moved by compassion.” Love releases the power of heaven on earth. Love is aggressive. It seeks to bring the justice of heaven to every injustice on earth. It fights for the restoration of the victim and the redemption of the victimizer. God is love. Therefore love is powerful. 

God’s love sent His son to die for the redemption of all mankind. His love is the final authority in heaven and on earth. There is nothing higher. 

I believe that the enemy has tried to rob love of its power. He wants us to feel powerless when confronted with the darkness in this world. In reality, we have been given all authority through the power of His great love. 

We Are Commissioned

Jesus did not come just to die for our sins. If that were the case, the Gospels would have been much shorter. Jesus came as the redeemer of our sins, but also as an example of what it looked like to be a child of God. His life was not just an act of love. It was an example. As He ascended into heaven, after he had been resurrected, He gave us a great commission:

Matthew 28:18-20

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

We have been commissioned with the full authority of heaven, and our words and actions are meant to carry that authority. We are not meant to look at the world with the authority of kings and queens in the kingdom of God. We are to look at the world as ambassadors of heaven, commissioned to make our world look like His. 

It is easy to see the darkness in the world, but we are called to something higher. We are called to be the light. We are called to be the city on the hill that cannot be hidden. We are called to shine. God’s love acts both as the power to make us shine and the authority to let us do it. 

Now let’s attack the fears that have held us back from showing God’s love to others. Whether it’s as simple as not knowing where to start or as big as being overwhelmed by all darkness we see in the world, God is ready to empower the church to do His work on the earth. If you need boldness, He will give it. If you need wisdom, He will give it. If you just need permission, He will give it.

Pray this prayer:

Jesus, help me see the world as you did when you were here. Help me not be overwhelmed but inspired by what I see. Show me how to release your goodness into the earth by the authority of your love. Thank you for commissioning us with your authority. Show me the tools you’ve given me to do your will. 

What has your perspective been on the nature of God’s love? Do you see it as powerful?

I admit that sometimes when I look at the Heart of the Father and I see that His heart is for me, I am filled with such peace and rest and joy, yet fail to go on further to see that His same heart of perfect love is for others as well. Even the others whom I disagree with, others who might frustrate me, others whose core values differ greatly from mine, yes, those “others” are dearly loved by the Father as well.

I am grateful God did not wait for me to get my act together or have my values line up with His before started loving me. He didn’t wait for me to agree with Him on everything before He sent Jesus to die on the cross as an atoning sacrifice to redeem me. He just simultaneously saw the worst in me and the best in me and chose me in Christ.

Last year while my wife and I were at a restaurant with our son and his friend, I overheard our waitress talking to a couple at another table near us about some pain she was in (if I remember correctly, it was from an accident) I eventually asked her about the pain and if I could pray for her.

Eventually, she told me that she was a single mom and her little girl had just told her the other day out of nowhere, “Mom, I wanna go to church.” She shared with me she didn’t feel like it was a coincidence that I was at her workplace sharing with her right after her daughter “randomly” said how she wanted her to take her to church.

The point is, you never know what’s going on that you can’t see in someone’s life, both the bad and painful. You also never know when God is working behind the scenes, preparing them for encountering the life of Christ through us. 

I landed in a city a year ago and was getting my rental car at the airport. When I got to the counter, the young man in his twenties asked me what my plans were while in his city. I told him I’d be speaking at a church there. He then began to open up his heart and share with me how he had recently broken up with his girlfriend and had been thinking a lot about God. I had the opportunity to share with him the love of Christ and he allowed me to pray with him. It was so easy and he was so open. It was another reminder to me that you never know what’s going on with the people right in front of you and how God is preparing them.

Finally, last spring, I had the privilege to minister in Cuba with a GMA team. It was an amazing honor and we saw God’s Spirit touch many people, including many coming forward for the call to salvation in Christ.

When I got to the airport in Havana, I had to wait in line for quite a while by myself with no wifi connection. I finally decided to strike up a conversation with the person in front of me rather than continue with all of us standing there bored and in silence. She began to share with me that she was back in Cuba visiting family and shared all the tragedies happening in her family. Then we started talking about God being a loving Father. She was crying, so I asked if I could give her a hug. Next thing I knew, she was in my arms weeping and I felt like I was back in the conference at the church releasing the love of the Father. 

I shared with her the love of Christ and got her number and connected her with a church in Miami where she lives so they could follow up and help her grow in her relationship with Christ. It was all a bit stunning. Afterwards, I wondered how many times God has put people right in front of me to share Him with but I was too distracted to notice. I am still growing and learning not to be too distracted to notice the precious ones God places in front of me. 

I am repenting for being self-absorbed in my own little world rather than seeing who the Father sees and how He sees them. I may not “feel” like I am an evangelist, but I am a child of God who by Grace through faith in Christ has come into union with our resurrected Savior. What is greater and more and more important than my feelings is the fact that Jesus, the greatest Evangelist ever, now lives inside me, even during my most, unanointed or boring or busy or distracted moments. 

Maybe I’m not technically an evangelist, but I am a son of my Father and His heart for the harvest is huge! His heart is daily yearning for the lost to come home to Papa through faith in Christ.

May God’s grace be upon us as we cooperate with and overflow with His divine love and grace for the broken humanity that God wants to restore in Christ!

Christopher Olson

This is a guest blog from Christopher Olson Ministries. Learn more about Christopher’s ministry here.

To be overwhelmed by God is the core experience in soaking. As we gaze upon His majesty and beauty, we are overwhelmed with His greatness and His goodness. In that place, all the noise and concerns around us, fades.

The moment He comes to reveal Himself more, He lifts the veil of our spiritual eyes and we see clearly who He is to us and who we are in Him. Oh what a joy to be in the presence of God!

Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. Exodus 33:11

Why didn’t Joshua leave the Tent of Meeting with Moses? I would like to believe that he actually got soaked with the presence of God and he loved it. By watching Moses, he had seen what intimacy with God could do to a man. I believe his desire went deeper than just to have his face shine like Moses’. 

He had tasted the sweetness of His presence, His glory, His nearness and he couldn’t get enough of Him. And so he stayed a little bit longer. He loved His presence and wanted more of Him. This is what compelled him to stay in the presence of God.

Psalm 27:8 When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.”

The goal of soaking prayer is communion and intimacy. It is coming to God face to face. The focus is God and not self. We come for God Himself, and not to ask for answers to our needs. Intimacy necessitates deep communion, and communion requires sharing of intimate thoughts and feelings. 

Developing intimacy with God warrants time. It takes time to go deep. Communion is taking the time to search His heart and allowing our hearts to be yielded and open to His inner workings. As we align our hearts to His, we hear His voice and experience Him deeper. 

Jesus calls us His friends. More than obedience, ultimately, it is relationship that He desires from us. When we gaze upon Him, we see the face of a Friend.

In intimacy, He reveals to us His secrets and He gives us keys to the Kingdom of God. As we read through the Bible we begin to see nuggets of wisdom and revelation as if suddenly we have been given a new set of glasses. We can read the same passage again and again and new things are still being revealed. 

This is because our Friend lifts the veil and reveals to us His marvelous secrets. When we gaze upon Him, we see the face of a friend. I want to challenge you to take time with the Lord this week, soaking in His presence. Spend time in His word and let Him reveal Himself to you. I’ll leave you with some questions to consider and to help you to process this idea:

1. Do you have the revelation of how much Father God really loves you? If so, when did you receive that revelation?
2. What lifestyle changes do you need to make to ensure your relationship with God is being nourished through soaking prayer?
3. Are there distractions keeping you from being completely overwhelmed by God? What steps are you going to take towards removing them?
4. What are your goals for soaking prayer? Is it to strengthen your relationship with God? Deeper intimacy?

Meditate on the fathering love of God with this scripture:

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him and the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.  Ps 8:3-6

Ask the father to develop in you a heart of intimacy.

Interested in reading more about this topic? Purchase the Soaking in God’s Presence eBook in my shop here.