He Stinketh

John 11:39
"Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. "

Jesus then replied to her "Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?"

How many times have we stifled God's willingness to make His glory manifest because we were afraid of the odor? Those raised from the dead surely do still reek, but can we not get past the olfactory discomfort to take in the incredible miracle that is a restored life?

Father, I pray that we will look beyond the natural, to see the supernatural transformations You are making everyday. That we can embrace those returned from the dead, annoint them and celebrate their return.

Beautiful Loved and Blessed

A couple of years ago, I was watching a Prince music video on TV at work and I know I was making some moral judgements in my head. The Lord spoke to me about Prince , "I have blessed him like no one since David" and that he will produce some of the greatest worship music of our generation. He even gave me a prophetic message to deliver to Prince. But, the problem is, I am a middle aged married man with 4 kids, and absolutely no connections to the man. But after a little research, I was directed by someone on a Prince fan club message board online the best way to get the message to him. I sent it off with no return address, so I knew it wasnt about me.
Other than my wife, I had only told 2 people about it, and a couple of months later, my friend Steve said, "Hey, look at this" It was an article in the newspaper about how Prince had renounced his "dirty" language and had become a Jehovahs Witness. I sort of laughed saying,
"Man, I should have been more specific" But as I prayed for him, the Lord told me that is exactly where he needed to be in this season and that I was to pray "Freedom" over him.
Last year, I was standing in the same break room watching some music awards ceremony, and Prince was given some award, and, his final word to the crowd? "freedom"
This past weekend, Prince was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live and here is a snippet of the new song he performed.

When U found me I was just a piece of clay
I was 4mless, U gave me a new name
With the breath of life I now live abundantly
All I needed was the potter's hand
And the blood on Calvary (that's right)

But 2 much power (tell it)
Can can sometimes turn 2 shame 2 much desire
Sometimes makes U feel the same (come on)
But 4giveness is how U win the game
I begged 4 truth, now I know the truth
And that is when U came and said I was...

Beautiful, loved and blessed
I'm better than the day b4
Cause U made me confess that I am...
Beautiful, loved and blessed
When U're free U're really free indeed
All U gotta do is just plant the seed