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Are you called to re-present Heaven on earth?

God recently placed it on my heart to invest in 400 people who are called to be ambassadors of love.

Love is the culture of heaven and honor is what love looks like expressed on earth. Are you willing to become fluent in the language of love?

Not everyone is called to represent a country, but everyone is called to represent King Jesus and extend the kingdom. Every believer is commissioned to make the earth look like heaven.

In order to represent the Kingdom of heaven, you need to go on a journey into maturity which includes getting to know yourself and becoming familiar with Papa God’s character and heart.

What are you seeing? Where are you seeing? Are you seeing the size of the problem or are you seeing how big Papa God is?

When we grow in maturity and the wisdom of stewarding favor with God and man, uncommon favor is the result. God is looking for someone who can let go of what they trusted in previously and will recognize the glory of God, and see Him as He truly is.

We need to position ourselves to receive the cleansing message from heaven and we can present ourselves.

If you’d like to learn more about becoming an ambassador of love, click here to watch a special video.

Your alignment is critical to your life assignment because if your heart is not fully connected to God’s heart, you will strive to perform in order to connect with God, rather than living from the connection you already have. Many believers have trouble hearing the Father’s voice because they are sitting in the wrong chair. They are out of alignment, living from Chair 2 when they need to be in Chair 1.

‘Chair One’ represents the Kingdom of God with the Holy Spirit resting on sons and daughters who see the face and hear the voice of their Father. When we are in alignment, our ears are tuned to hear Him. Open heavens are received between the ears.

‘Chair Two’ represents the kingdom of self, in which we are controlled by what we feel and think. In Chair 2, the soul is the dominant force, Papa God’s voice is filtered through our mind, will, and emotions before getting to the spirit. Our minds, will, and emotions are nothing to be afraid of when we are in alignment because our spirit is taking the lead.

Consider this: What areas of your life might be out of alignment with God? How can you step back into alignment?

Click here to watch a video on this topic <<<

For most of my life, I’ve lived with a fear of flying. I would medicate before traveling because I had trouble breathing during the flight. This fear is problematic for an itinerant speaker! If you experience aerophobia, you know what I’m talking about here. It’s a miserable and crippling experience. On one of my flights, I was sitting next to a young girl when we started to experience intense turbulence. I clenched my fists and held on to my seat. I was so nervous! I looked over at this young girl and saw that she was smiling, laughing, and full of joy. I finally asked her, “Were you not nervous?” She quickly responded, “Oh no, this was so much fun! My dad is the pilot. I’m on a trip with my dad!”

The young girl’s response struck me. The turbulence didn’t bother her because she knew her dad’s skillset and was confident in his ability to fly the plane, no matter how bumpy it got! The young girl knew that her dad was going to take care of her. My healing journey started soon after this experience. For the past ten years, I have been able to fly without fear of heights or turbulence because I changed my perspective.

For many years, I had a view of God that didn’t look like Jesus. When there was a sin issue in my life or I did something wrong, I experienced a God who turned away from me because He was Holy and couldn’t be near me in my unholiness. I want to challenge you to take a moment and journal the following questions:

What is your perspective of God? What we see shapes who we are, and often, how we see God is how we view ourselves. Do you trust Him? Does He love you unconditionally? Write down the things you believe to be true about God and His nature.

Is there anything on your list that does not look like Jesus? Jesus is perfect theology. In John 14:9, Jesus speaks to Phillip, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” Jesus came to give us a proper perspective of God and what He is like. Jesus is the best example for our identity journeys. Whether it’s fear, unforgiveness, bitterness, or anything else, God isn’t judging you. He’s looking at you with the most loving eyes, waiting to take those things from you and destroy them once and for all.

Once I identified my improper perspectives, I repented from thinking in a way that didn’t glorify God. We often spend time fearing a future that will never happen. Reflect on what God says. Start visualizing positive outcomes. Identify what’s causing the fear, and spend time discovering the truth. Perhaps you’ve had things spoken over you—by yourself or others—that have skewed your way of thinking. Identify and renounce the lie, and prophesy the truth about your vision.

In my daily routine these days, I spend a short time watching the news and focus my efforts on Kingdom realities and solutions. If your primary input is fear, it’s difficult to see things from a higher point of view. God’s lens is never fearful (2 Tim 1:7).

What if the endemic problem in the world is not the problem itself–persecution, terrorism, poverty–but rather that people need to step into their truest identities as sons and daughters of glory. People who unabashedly, unapologetically walk in their destinies, master their skillset, and flow in a convergence of love, power, and wisdom.

In the wilderness, God’s people asked for manna, but the next day they wanted fresh bread again. They lived day-by-day dependency because that was how they received in that season. When they moved into the Promised Land, they planted. They created gardens. They were still dependent, but they received a seed that would become a lifestyle.

We have to see how the sower and soil work together—to sow the right seed in the right soil, the right environment, the right heart. Instead of a one-time encounter with joy, peace, or love, they get access to fruitful trees of joy, peace, and love. They don’t need to come back the next day asking for the same thing because they can eat the fruit anytime.

People often tell me they are waiting for a baptism of love, hoping for it as a single encounter. I would rather give them a process for full-time access. If they can stick with the process for 30 days, then they get an upgrade. Here’s the process I follow:

First, think what God thinks.

Second, feel what God feels.

Third, hear what God hears.

Fourth, and then say what He thinks, feels and says—even when it is very often the opposite of your own thoughts, feelings, and words.

The seeds that God plants in your heart during this time will grow up into beautiful trees that bear fruit. If our relationship with the Lord is moving from one encounter to the next, we will find ourselves looking for something new every couple of weeks to keep us going. But God wants to plant in you a seed of love that can grow deep roots in the soil of love so that you can have a tree of love that feeds you continually.

Don’t live just for key moments and experiences. Start seeing yourself the way He sees you. Let your roots grow deeper in love so that you can receive more love and your spirit will tune in to His voice. Rest, receive, and be.

God’s deepest desire for us is that we would be rooted and grounded in love, that we would know the height and depth and width and breadth of the love of Christ, which surpasses understanding. The Bible says God is love, so we can never be comfortable with God if we don’t also get comfortable with love.

If we are rooted and grounded in love and experience every dimension of God’s love, then we are filled with God’s fullness. That’s where our intimacy with Him thrives. When you’re living from fullness, you’re no longer living from measure. Your supply is beyond sufficient; it’s abundant.

 

Experiencing God’s Fullness

Once, as I was walking through the Oslo airport, a verse came to mind in the form of a rap. I normally don’t think that way, but in Norwegian, this verse about being rooted and grounded in love (Ephesians 3:17) just came in perfect rhythm. (In English it would have been something like, “Rooted and grounded in love, hey! How high, how deep, how long, how wise…” and so on like that.) As I was singing this to myself, I started to feel waves of being rooted and grounded in love.

When I arrived at the city where I was speaking, I discovered that this was the verse my host was reading for the event. Later, I met different people who express this same verse— an Egyptian mother, then back in Oslo a former Muslim from Afghanistan who used to abuse his wife. Each one explained that waves of love had been touching them, and I could see the transformation on their faces. They had glowing expressions.

Love is the center of life that holds all things together. While everyone in Chairs 2 and 3 live in fear and restlessness, we know that “For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

 

Becoming What We Behold

As we have seen again and again, intimacy is about loving God for who He is. That’s the invitation of Chair 1. By just being with Him, we learn how to see His face and hear His voice. We become what we behold, just as in the garden Adam and Eve saw, heard, felt, experienced, and encountered the Father as those made in His image. They gazed at Him and were like Him. They were one with Him in intimacy.

Whatever you’re facing today, I want to encourage you to take a moment to receive God’s love. His good thoughts toward you outnumber the sand on the seashore. Ask, “Papa, what do You see when You see me? What do You think about when You think of me?” When we enter into a process with what God speaks over us, we get more than an encounter; we get a lifestyle of love.

Shortly after 9/11, my dear friend Jason was deployed to Iraq with the U.S. military. On one of his missions, he was hit with an IED (bomb) during foot combat and took the brunt of the impact. It destroyed half of his body to the point where he was unrecognizable. Since that day, he’s had multiple surgeries and he’s still blind. His life was radically changed, and a deep hatred grew in his heart for the people who did this to him.

It was at a church service in Colorado when Jason was introduced to the language of love. Since that time, he has allowed God to heal his pain and hatred toward Muslims. Three years ago I met him again at a conference in Atlanta. This time, a few friends from Pakistan, Lebanon and Afghanistan were with me. Jason couldn’t see them, but he knew they were there. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he said, “I want to forgive you.” He explained that Jesus had removed all of his bitterness towards Muslims, and that he even loved them now. Then my Middle Eastern friends apologized for the bombing on behalf of their people.

 

What is an Ambassador of Love?

I’d like to give you the same miracle key that I gave Jason. This key works when I’m conversing with Jewish and Palestinian friends. It works when Shia and Sunni Muslims are sitting at my table. It’s the key that Jason used to destroy chains of unforgiveness and hatred. The key is love, and it will allow you to walk in extraordinary levels of anointing and favor.

Everyone is called to be an Ambassador of Love. This title is not reserved for a special few. We are all re-presenting Jesus in one way or another every day, whether good or bad. What would it look like in your world—your family, church, business—to love others without any agenda? It would look differently for everyone. But I can tell you one constant: it would confront and compel others to pursue Jesus and desire to walk like Him. Other people will see a difference in you. People who believe differently than you, whether religiously, politically, doctrinally, culturally or otherwise, will genuinely come to honor and respect you. People from different nations will embrace and celebrate you as their own.

So how do you re-present Him in front of Kings? In your area of influence? It’s not a formula. Love starts as a seed, grows into a tree, and blossoms into a forest.

 

How can you become an Ambassador of Love?

Know who you are

There was a shift in my life 10 years ago when I encountered Jesus while receiving a prophecy about being an Ambassador of Love. I started to see myself that way; as someone who re-presented the language and look of Heaven. Shortly after that, a Muslim Imam in Pakistan who had never heard that language before used it to describe me. Five years ago, I was awarded the title “Ambassador of Love” in front of religious leaders and dignitaries at an Interfaith, Peace & Harmony conference. When it becomes your identity—Assistant to the King of Kings—others recognize who you are as well. I share more about the subject of identity in my book “Called to Reign.”

Prepare your Embassy

Ambassadors often reside in embassies. When you step inside an embassy, you are in that country’s sovereign territory. Similarly, you carry this home with you everywhere you go. Nothing can touch you there. It’s the place you go to meet with Jesus. When Heaven becomes your home, you become completely comfortable and safe in your permanent dwelling place. And you become keenly aware of your inheritance.

Create intimacy with the King

Before I represent the King, I need to understand His protocol, language, and heart. I need to establish an intimate relationship with Him. Sometimes I ask Him what He thinks about a given situation. How do You see this person right now? What direction should I go next? What are we going to do today, Father? When I think this way, I will do what He is blessing, rather than asking Him to bless what I’m doing.

Understand context and use wisdom

Whether I’m going to a foreign country with a different culture or a class full of college students in America, I need to understand the culture and context of the people I’m going to visit. This will help me represent the King in a way that makes sense to them.

Don’t give up

Jesus didn’t promise us an easy life. We will have hardships, but the keys to breaking through are endurance and obedience. Don’t give up! Be willing to obey and endure even if you spot an easier way out. Remind yourself of God’s promises, and that He hasn’t forgotten or ignored them.

Steward what He’s trusted you with

How do you steward honor? This often manifests in the way you speak. Do I talk about how amazing Pakistan is because I love it the way God loves it? Or do I talk about how bad it is?

Perspective can change your level of authority.

It impacts what you do when nobody is watching. If you’re called to another country, are you continuing to build relationships, trust, and love when you’re not there? Stewarding what He’s given you means placing alignment before assignment, family before ministry, obedience before reasoning.

I have never been to a place so dark that love doesn’t work.

It changes the atmosphere. There is enough love in each one of you to change the darkness around you. When you see the potential in people, you don’t see how big the problems are. You see how big God is.

HOW TO SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE

“…we will remain strong and always sincere in our love as we express the truth.”

Ephesians 4:15

There’s a raging fire burning deep in the woods. I spot an empty bucket and fill it with water, pouring the contents on the flame over and over again. Wind comes and fuels the fire, causing it to spread as far as my eyes can see. Nothing will quench it.

I see a firefighter standing in the midst of the forest fire, though he is fast asleep. I widen my aperture and realize hundreds… no, tens of thousands of people are sleeping while the fire rages around them. I have options. I can continue to try to extinguish these expanding flames, but that doesn’t seem to be getting me anywhere. Then I think, What if I awakened the sleepers? What if I speak truth into the firefighters, helping them to see who they really are and what they have in their buckets? Our numbers become strengthened. Together, we have a chance of stopping the fires of injustice, oppression, and addiction as we continue speaking the truth to others in love, creating a great awakening.

I’ve had this dream many times before. Speaking truth in love is the medicine that will cure most of the world’s ailments. The language of love opens blind eyes and deaf ears. It is the most powerful, universal language in the world. It’s the language Jesus spoke while communing with the marginalized of society and the criminals of His day.

But how can I speak this language when all I hear is hatred and fear around me? Some of the best secrets I’ve found to answering this question are in the book of Daniel.

 

5 Secrets of Success for Any Culture

Daniel is famous for his wisdom, prophetic insight, and the incredible influence he had in the highest places in government. But just imagine his backstory for a minute. From a young age, he was taken from his family and planted into the enemy’s camp. Daniel and his three friends had names with significant, Godly meaning (“God is my judge,” “who is like God,” etc). They were given new names—Belteshazzar (Daniel), Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—and suddenly they are named after the Babylonian gods Bel, Aku, and Nebo.

Nebuchadnezzar was trying to prove that his gods were greater than the God that Daniel and his friends served. He tried to give them new identities; in Biblical times, names often dictated a person’s character, traits, and significance. He tried to force them to adhere to Babylonian culture, throwing them into training with witch doctors and pushing them to eat their unclean food.

But when you know who you are, you are rooted and grounded in love, and you become the force that changes culture. The culture around you has no power to change your identity.

Daniel was a covert influencer who changed the environment from the inside out. Throughout his life, we can see how the language he spoke and the actions he took shaped society:

Daniel prayed and listened to God when faced with any crisis.

Daniel prayed after receiving bad news. When King Nebuchadnezzar issued an order to execute all of his royal advisers, Daniel and his friends prayed and received wisdom. When King Darius signed an order that nobody could request anything from any god other than him, Daniel prayed, “just as he had always done.” He wasn’t ashamed, either. He prayed in front of open windows where people could see him, in a culture that rejected God.
Daniel’s prayers were so significant that God sent an angel to tell him, “God has heard your prayers ever since the first day you decided to humble yourself in order to gain understanding.” (Dan 10:12) As a result, the angel came to give him strategy and vision for the future.

Daniel chose his words carefully.

After King Nebuchadnezzar issued a country-wide execution, Daniel “chose his words carefully” and requested more time from Arioch, the lead executioner. He received wisdom after praying, and explained to the king that God could not only interpret his dream, but describe the dream to him. As he described the dream and its interpretation, his words deeply impacted the king because they were true and accurate. It impressed the king so much that Daniel and his friends were promoted to one of the highest places in government.

Daniel was not willing to compromise.

Before Daniel was recognized by any person of power, Ashpenaz—Nebuchadnezzar’s chief official—taught him Babylonian culture and issued the king’s order to eat his food and drink his wine. Daniel approached Ashpenaz to request help, and God made him sympathetic. However, Ashpenaz’s fear of the king prevented him from helping Daniel.

Daniel would not compromise, so he approached the guard whom Ashpenaz had placed in charge of him and his three friends. He was given favor again, and God gave him the strategy to ask for 10 days to eat clean food. In that time, he and his friends appeared stronger than any one of the king’s men, so he was allowed to follow God’s orders over the king’s for the next three years.

Daniel spoke honor, even when he was terribly dishonored.

Each time Daniel spoke to the four kings he served under, he addressed them by their respected title, “Your Majesty.” Love was so perfected in his heart that when he had bad news to deliver, he said, “Your Majesty, I wish that the dream and its explanation applied to your enemies and not to you!” (Dan 4:19). I can only imagine how these loving words softened the king’s hard heart.

Daniel’s consistent display of honor and love caused the kings he served under to respect and even befriend him. Daniel was especially close with King Darius, so it must have come as quite a blow when the king—out of duty—commanded Daniel to be thrown in with the lions for violating his own law. But instead of harboring resentment, he responded to the king the next morning with honor when he inquired of his well being: “I’m fine, thanks for asking! May you live forever, king! God rescued me since I’m innocent!” I can imagine Daniel playing fetch with the lions that night or curling up in their long manes, sleeping well in the midst of his enemies. Again, Daniel was promoted after this whole ordeal.

Daniel spoke the truth without fear.

Daniel lived with a confidence to tell the truth in love without fear of the consequences. He didn’t water down the news the Lord led him to give. The kings Daniel served under would kill people for delivering bad news! But they treated Daniel with favor, promoting him even when he interpreted dreams or writings that prophesied the destruction of the kingdoms he served.

Imagine what Daniel’s situation would look like today. Perhaps Nebuchadnezzar is similar to the emir of ISIS. He was quick to anger and issued barbaric punishments over anyone who disagreed with him. Daniel was like the child soldiers of ISIS today, kidnapped and recruited, brainwashed, and forced to do their bidding.

God didn’t tell Daniel to honor a king like this because he did anything to deserve honor. The language of heaven is love. God knew that if Daniel spoke love to the harshest, most evil leader, it could change him.

Could this happen today if Daniel spoke to the leaders of ISIS? Or dictators? Or the people around you that drive you crazy? Would we speak what we see on the outside (His policies are awful! He’d be great if he had some character…)? Or would we speak about them in love? Speaking the truth in love could be the catalyst that causes them to wake up. Then they can help you fight the fires in this world.

Will you be one of the firefighters?

Have you ever found yourself struggling after you’ve had your breakthrough? Have you ever felt under attack after you’ve had a victory? Most of you I’m sure just answered yes to those two questions. Today, I want to share with you something that I’ve faced countless times. I call it the battle you fight after the battle you’ve won.

We as believers love the mountaintop experiences. We love them so much that I’m sure if we could, we would build a bridge from mountaintop to mountaintop. However many of us forget that after a mountaintop there is a valley. As we walk down from the mountaintop, we are fatigued, exhausted, tired and that is the moment the enemy likes to attack. Today, I’m going to give you some practical steps to stay in His presence and pleasure as you take on the battle you fight after you’ve already won.

 

IS IT GOD OR THE DEVIL

After an amazing victory, a time of testing from God or a time of temptation often comes from the enemy. God allows us to be tempted, but provides us the ability to resist temptation and a way out of the situation. Paul wrote about how God will never let someone be tempted beyond what he or she can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). We see this a number of times throughout leaders in the scriptures. For example, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the dove rested upon him and the voice of the Father was heard speaking affirmation over Jesus. For the first time in history you have the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all in unity. This is a beautiful revelation, but in the very next moment, the same Spirit that rested on Jesus led him into the wilderness.

David, Joseph and Elijah went through similar journeys. Let’s look at the life of Elijah for a moment. Elijah in my opinion is a superhero. In 1 Kings, we get a look at Elijah’s battle after he’s been on a mountaintop. At this point in the scripture, Elijah displays the power of God like never before. He hears from the Lord on how to end a drought and famine. He raises a boy from the dead. He tears down false Gods and calls down fire from Heaven. However, a single whisper from Jezebel makes him run, flee, and hide in a cave doubting his identity and contemplating suicide. The enemy found the right opportunity to attack and it crippled his ability to be in alignment with God.

 

THE 4 WAYS THE ENEMY ATTACKS

If we lose our alignment with God, it is very easy for the enemy to take us down. The enemy finds us when we are at the most vulnerable and begins to erode away at our identity. Here are the four ways:

1. Fatigue – If you feel that the enemy has attacked you after you’ve just won a major victory in your life, it’s because you are at your weakest. After a major battle there is such a thing called fatigue where our body and mind can’t continue at the pace we need it to unless we get rest. The enemy knows this and thus tries to wear us out.
2. Fear – When you are tired, you have your defenses down and the prince of lies starts to plant seeds of fear in you. I often say that fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. You begin to see how big Goliath really is when you partner with fear.
3. Failure – This is when you begin to believe the lie and are overcome with failure, regret, or sorrow that shouldn’t be overshadowing you after a victory.
4. Forsaken – This is the last way the enemy attacks you. Your expectations have weighed heavy on you. You don’t know how to love yourself well and so you burn your oil, adrenaline, and then your flesh. At this point every single circumstance is overwhelming.

 

HOW TO PREPARE

The best way to prepare for this battle is to rest and receive. Love yourself the way Papa God loves you. Do something that recharges your emotional tank. For some that may look like golfing or riding your Harley Davidson. For others that may strictly mean sleep. Whatever it looks like to you, do not avoid rest. It is important to receive from God as well. Remind yourself who He says you are. Find memory stones that remind you daily. Receive by resting and watch your anointing level go up! What can you give if you have yet to receive anything from Him?

 

TAKEAWAY

I hope this reflection is helpful for you in this season. I feel there is power in these points as I have experienced these challenges countless times. Even this year, I have been in this battle for rest like never before and I am daily focusing on rest as my weapon of warfare.

I invite you to share how you are handling the battle you might be facing right now or share the victory you are currently celebrating – please share in the comments!