Ponderables

This week, allow me to give three thoughts that I share in our Ignite the Supernatural Conferences. Though seemingly simple, meditation will show the vast depth of each thought. They aren't just flippant words. With the revelation will come a great manifestation of God's glory.

Today is the day of the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost won't be real through me until He is real to me.

If I make room for the Holy Ghost, He will make room for me.

Pass these thoughts on to those working alongside of you in your ministry. I guarantee that you and your ministry will never ever be the same again.

Holy Ghost Passion Feeders

Just a quick thought concerning seeing your children's ministry flow in the supernatural ... outside of the "givens" of your relationship with Jesus (prayer, time in the Word, etc.), do you have Holy Ghost "feeders"? By that I mean, are you feeding yourself with supplements that will fan the flames of your passion for a genuine move of God?

Consider these three "feeders" that will help keep you on track and motivated as you seek to lead your children into the realm of the Holy Spirit:

* Do you connect with at least one individual on a regular basis that is passionate for a move of God? It might just be a phone call a couple of times a week or getting together for a breakfast or cup of coffee occasionally. Connecting with someone that has the same heartbeat and passion is so, so important!

* Is there some form of media (TV, radio, CD) that stirs the longing inside of you for a move of God? I give oversight to children's services/ministry for four services a week 52 weeks a year. Unless I am speaking at a conference, I'm rarely if ever in an adult service. While God speaks to me while I am ministering in the children's services, I need to feed myself and be able to see and hear what God is doing. For me, there are certain ministries that I watch on television that takes me into the services and allows me to see the Holy Ghost at work.

* Are you reading books/magazine articles that stirs the longing inside of you for a move of God? Few people are readers any more. Because of so many things pulling for their time and attention, reading has been pushed aside. Many have given up on reading because of only being able to read a few pages or a chapter or two in one sitting. Others have abandoned reading because they've come to realize that after making time to read they aren't able to remember what was read. Can you identify with that discouragement? So, rather than throwing aside this valuable passion builder, consider this suggestion for how I read a book. When I read, I don't read to retain. By that I mean that I don't try to absorb what I'm reading while I'm reading. I do this for two important reasons. First, due to tiredness or my mind being too scattered, many times what I'm reading just doesn't stick. Secondly, reading to retain can make it too easy to get bogged down in a book thus causing me to be discouraged as my time restraints won't allow me to slowly inch my way through a book. So, instead of reading to retain, I've learned to read to gain. As I read, I'm not reading to retain what I'm reading. I'm not in a "study" mode. As I read, I highlight things that are noteworthy and jump out at me. Then, after reading the entire book, I come back and absorb just the highlighted portions of the book. So, by highlighting as I read, I can finish the book and then gain the knowledge by just focusing on the highlighted area and absorb what God wants to teach me.

Dependent on the Holy Spirit #5 - My Brain-Leak Fixer

If you've been to any of our Ignite the Supernatural Conferences, you have heard me tell of my Grandma Burns. She was one awesome lady. To be kind to you and considerate of your time, I won't spend a great deal of the blog going on and on about what I love about her. In her 99 years here on earth ... well, you can see why one blog can't capture 99 years of stories.

Years ago, I heard her make this statement, "My brain leaks." What Grandma Burns was saying was that she had seen so much, heard so much, and experienced so much that her brain had trouble remembering it all. Her memory was overloaded consequently, to use her words, "My brain leaks."

Well, you don't have to be 99-years-old to have a leaky brain. We all have trouble remembering things. It has nothing to do with age. It has everything to do with overload. We all go too fast doing too many things and ... are you with me? Can you identify with having a leaky brain?

Fortunately, the Holy Spirit has been sent to help with this dilemma. In fact, He specializes in leaky brains. In John 14:26, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit has been assigned to bring all things back to our memory. Probably like you, I can tell story after story about calling upon Him to come to my rescue and do a miracle on my leaky brain by reminding me of a particular piece of information. In each case, it wasn't until I called upon His help did my answer come. He knew the information all along. But, it wasn't until He was invited to get involved that He stepped into my dilemma and came to my aid.

Join me for a fifth time by standing to your feet. In this support group, let's all acknowledge our dependence on Him. From years of experience, I know that He will sit back and watch us do things in our own strength and ability. But, upon hearing our cry of dependence, He will step in and begin to fulfill His heavenly assignment by joining together with, linking arm-in-arm with us to fulfill the plan of God. Today, let's begin to acknowledge and vocalize our need for Him to be our heavenly memory. Let's not ask Him to get involved as a last resort. Throughout our day let's dialogue with Him and ask Him to interject His insight and knowledge. Let's allow Him to speak to us and direct us. I guarantee that we will be spared a lot of wasted time and frustration. One more time, I will unashamedly declare that I need the Holy Spirit and want Him to be involved in each and every part of my life and day ... especially in being my heavenly brain-leaking stopper!

Dependent on the Holy Spirit #4 - Brain-Bypassing Prayer

Years ago while speaking at a conference, I jokingly told an audience, "I'm smarter than I look." From the back of the auditorium, I heard a retort, "You'd have to be." (I trust that they too were joking.) Sadly, contrary to what I said in the conference, for more times than not I am not smarter than I look. There are so many areas in life that I honestly am clueless. And, before you start looking for an institution to house me, if you are honest, you will make the same declaration about yourself. We all are so limited in our understanding in so many areas of life.

It is so, so evident that the apostle Paul knew me some 2,000 years ago. Somehow, he must have been able to see that I am not smarter than I look. In Romans 8, he tells about one of my major limitations ... my cluelessness in the arena of prayer. When it comes to communicating to the Father about circumstances and needs, I often have a limited understanding of what is actually going on. There are times when I will just have an unction to pray for someone and not have any details about why I feel that urgency to pray and intercede. At other times, I can have someone to request me to pray about a person or situation and I might be given incorrect information and/or slanted and biased opinions about the request.

Thankfully, Paul provided the answer to this cluelessness. Once again, we discover that the Holy Spirit has been assigned to help us. When we don't know how to pray as we ought (which can be a major portion of the time), we are to pray in our heavenly language thus allowing the Holy Spirit to pray through us. Praying in and through the Spirit allows us to have a brain bypass. Praying in the Spirit bypasses our limited understanding and possible incorrect information by totally keeping our mind out of the process. In praying in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit connects with our spirit and allows us to pray mysteries (Romans 8:26; 1 Corinthians 14:14) and the perfect will of God concerning that person or situation.

One more time, I come back to the gut-level honesty and admit again that for more times than not I am not smarter than I look. You might want to make the same confession and then join me in declaring our dependency on the Holy Spirit. If we are going to be able to address our weakness and inadequacy (KJV "infirmity") in the area of prayer, we must become more and more dependent upon the Holy Spirit praying through us. Together, let's acknowledge that since He knows the whole scenario and all of the details about what is needed in our times of intercession we will become more dependent upon praying in the Spirit so that He can make effectual intercession through us. A healthy dose of brain-bypassing-prayer just might be what heaven ordered for us to fulfill the will, plan, and purpose of God!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Burns family!
Billy and Vickie
Our 3-year-old grandson Joey is being held by our oldest son Jason.
Our 7-month-old grandson Gavin is being held by Jason's beautiful wife Elisabeth.
Completing the Burns' household are our sons Michael and Aaron.

Vickie and I pray that this is a blessed, Christ-filled Christmas season
and that the upcoming year will be a testimony of the goodness of our God.

Dependent on the Holy Spirit #3 - Heaven's Eyes & Voice

At our recent 2010 national Ignite the Supernatural Conference I needed to rent a vehicle. I find that renting a vehicle is both good and bad. One of the great things about renting a vehicle is that it is a new vehicle with all of the new features and accessories. The bad thing about renting a vehicle is that it is a new vehicle with all of the new features and accessories and after a few days I will have to leave the vehicle behind and return back to my ancient Ford Explorer. Can you relate to this disheartening feeling?

During the conference, I found that one of the features that I really, really loved in the rental vehicle was the screen on the dashboard that enabled me to see what was behind me when I was backing up the vehicle. I loved it so much that it will be on the have-to-have list of features on my next vehicle. In my estimation, having the ability to eliminate one of the major blind spots in driving is must for me.

Long ago, I realized that life is filled with blind spots. Try as I may, I just can't see things from every angle. And, I have learned that what I can't see can hurt me or cause me to hurt others. On other occasions, blind spots can cause me to miss out on opportunities. Thankfully, there is One sent who enables me to see what normally would be unseen. According to John 16:13, the Holy Spirit is assigned to see and announce what we can't see with our physical eyes or sense with our intuition.

In this fourth installment of the Dependent on the Holy Spirit blog series, I'll unashamedly announce again that I am dependent on the Holy Spirit. There are no if, ands, or buts about it. I am helplessly dependent on the Holy Spirit. There have been numerous occasions when His promptings have diverted me from impending danger. At other times, His gentle push has caused me to venture into an area that was totally beyond my comfort level and say words to a total stranger that brought them freedom and encouragement.

Join me right now and acknowledge the fact that you will depend more and more on His guidance and insight. Acknowledge that He sees things that you can't see and then join me in quoting B.B. Hankins, the pastor of my home church in West Columbia, Texas, "I wouldn't cross the street without the Holy Spirit." Thank God for the Holy Spirit.

Dependent on the Holy Spirit #2 - The Greater the Assignment, the Greater the Need for His Power!

It's difficult to believe that this is blog entry number 182. That means that for well over three years, I've been sharing insights on flowing with the Holy Spirit and hopefully helping to challenge and equip children's ministry leaders to raise up a power-packed generation of children. From the last report that I read, this blog is being read in 50 nations. To God be all of the glory.

This week, allow me to share the second reason for my dependency on the Holy Spirit. I can summarize it in just a simple thought ... the greater the assignment, the greater the need for the power to complete the assignment. Quite simply, the assignment given to us far exceeds our ability to fulfill the assignment. Without the supernatural power promised in Acts 1:8, the mission will never be completed.

Thank God for giftings and talents and natural abilities. But, as great as these are, they come with limitations. Thankfully I learned a long time ago that these human abilities are profitable ... up to a limit. I learned that in some things, charisma and personality are great for certain situations. But, when it comes to dealing with principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places, I need something far greater than a winning smile and vivacious, bubbly charm. When I stand in front of a child or an auditorium of children who have been detached from the things of the Spirit and perhaps suffered supernatural onslaughts from the enemy during the past week, I need a power (Acts 1:8 “power” from the Greek word “dunamis” from which we derive our English word “dynamite”) to rise up within me that demolishes and annihilates the power of the wicked one.

Each week, I must remind myself of the magnitude of my assignment. This alone is enough to cause me to drop to my knees and cry out for the Spirit of God to rise up within me. In fact, like last week, you might want to take a minute to join me and begin to announce along with me that "I am dependent on you, Holy Spirit. I need you to give me the power needed to fulfill the plan of God for my life."

Remember ... the greater the assignment, the greater the need for the power to complete the assignment. Let's be helplessly dependent upon His power!