Focus!

 35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”  Mark 4:35-41 NIV

In this passage - didn't Jesus say, get in the boat and let's go over to the other side?  When the storm hits, are you looking at the storm or are you eyes fixed on Jesus and His words?

The waves are crashing in.  The enemy is prowling around looking to devour.  BUT GOD!

This devotional is a good reminder of who God is for us in this season.


Streams in the Desert June 27th.
The Lord hath sent strength for thee (Ps.68.28, PBV).

The Lord imparts unto us that primary strength of character which makes everything in life work with intensity and decision. We are "strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." And the strength is continuous; reserves of power come to us which we cannot exhaust.

"As thy days, so shall thy strength be"—strength of will, strength of affection, strength of judgment, strength of ideals and achievement.

"The Lord is my strength" to go on. He gives us power to tread the dead level, to walk the long lane that seems never to have a turning, to go through those long reaches of life which afford no pleasant surprise, and which depress the spirits in the sameness of a terrible drudgery.

"The Lord is my strength" to go up. He is to me the power by which I can climb the Hill Difficulty and not be afraid.

"The Lord is my strength" to go down. It is when we leave the bracing heights, where the wind and the sun have been about us, and when we begin to come down the hill into closer and more sultry spheres, that the heart is apt to grow faint. I heard a man say the other day concerning his growing physical frailty, "It is the coming down that tires me!"

"The Lord is my strength" to sit still. And how difficult is the attainment! Do we not often say to one another, in seasons when we are compelled to be quiet, "If only I could do something!"

When the child is ill, and the mother stands by in comparative impotence, how severe is the test! But to do nothing, just to sit still and wait, requires tremendous strength.

"The Lord is my strength!" "Our sufficiency is of God" (2 Cor. 3:5. from The Silver Lining

Our only hope is trusting in the strength of our Lord.  We have to keep our focus fixed on Jesus, our trust has to stay on His promises and His Word - He will see us through!

Streams in the Desert June 29th 

"There we saw the Giants" (Num. 13:33).

Yes, they saw the giants, but Caleb and Joshua saw God! Those who doubt say, "We be not able to go up." Those who believe say, "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able."

Giants stand for great difficulties; and giants are stalking everywhere. They are in our families, in our churches, in our social life, in our own hearts; and we must overcome them or they will eat us up, as these men of old said of the giants of Canaan. The men of faith said, "They are bread for us; we will eat them up." In other words, "We will be stronger by overcoming them than if there had been no giants to overcome."

Now the fact is, unless we have the overcoming faith we shall be eaten up, consumed by the giants in our path. Let us have the spirit of faith that these men of faith had, and see God, and He will take care of the difficulties.
--Selected

It is when we are in the way of duty that we find giants. It was when Israel was going forward that the, giants appeared. When they turned back into the wilderness they found none.

There is a prevalent idea that the power of God in a human life should lift us above all trials and conflicts. The fact is, the power of God always brings a conflict and a struggle. One would have thought that on his great missionary journey to Rome, Paul would have been carried by some mighty providence above the power of storms and tempests and enemies. But, on the contrary, it was one long, hard fight with persecuting Jews, with wild tempests, with venomous vipers and all the powers of earth and hell, and at last he was saved, as it seemed, by the narrowest margin, and had to swim ashore at Malta on a piece of wreckage and barely escape a watery grave.

Was that like a God of infinite power? Yes, just like Him. And so Paul tells us that when he took the Lord Jesus Christ as the life of his body, a severe conflict immediately came; indeed, a conflict that never ended, a pressure that was persistent, but out of which he always emerged victorious through the strength of Jesus Christ.

The language in which he describes this is most graphic. "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body."

What a ceaseless, strenuous struggle! It is impossible to express in English the forcible language of the original. There are five pictures in succession. In the first, the idea is crowding enemies pressing in from every side, and yet not crushing him because the police of heaven cleared the way just wide enough for him to get through. The literal translation would be, "We are crowded on every side, but not crushed."

The second picture is that of one whose way seems utterly closed and yet he has pressed through; there is light enough to show him the next step. The Revised Version translates it, "Perplexed but not unto despair." Rotherham still more literally renders it, "Without a way, but not without a by-way."

The third figure is that of an enemy in hot pursuit while the divine Defender still stands by, and he is not left alone. Again we adopt the fine rendering of Rotherham, "Pursued but not abandoned."

The fourth figure is still more vivid and dramatic. The enemy has overtaken him, has struck him, has knocked him down. But it is not a fatal blow; he is able to rise again. It might be translated, "Overthrown but not overcome."

Once more the figure advances, and now it seems to be even death itself, "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus." But he does not die, for "the life also of Jesus" now comes to his aid and he lives in the life of another until his life work is done.

The reason so many fail in this experience of divine healing is because they expect to have it all without a struggle, and when the conflict comes and the battle wages long, they become discouraged and surrender. God has nothing worth having that is easy. There are no cheap goods in the heavenly market. Our redemption cost all that God had to give, and everything worth having is expensive. Hard places are the very school of faith and character, and if we are to rise over mere human strength and prove the power of life divine in these mortal bodies, it must be through a process of conflict that may well be called the birth travail of a new life. It is the old figure of the bush that burned, but was not consumed, or of the Vision in the house of the Interpreter of the flame that would not expire, notwithstanding the fact that the demon ceaselessly poured water on it, because in the background stood an angel ever pouring oil and keeping the flame aglow.

No, dear suffering child of God, you cannot fail if only you dare to believe, to stand fast and refuse to be overcome.
--Tract

I close with an amazingly anointed song a friend sent me last night.  This really spoke to me and I pray will bless you too. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnyVz1u-6yM&feature=share

The King Is Among Us

Elevation Worship

All our fathers saw in the days of old
Would you do it again
Do it again
All the stories told
All the miracles
Would you do it again
Do it again

You said “Consecrate yourselves to me
And you will see amazing things”

We need Your revival
Holy Spirit fire
Burning ever brighter in our souls
Kings and kingdoms falling
Hear your people calling
King of Kings, we need a miracle

There’s a time to sow and a time to reap
Would you do it again
Do it again
There’s a time to heal and a time to build
Would you do it again
Do it again

You said “Consecrate yourselves to me
And you will see amazing things”

We need Your revival
Holy Spirit fire
Burning ever brighter in our souls
Kings and kingdoms falling
Hear your people calling
King of Kings, we need a miracle

We need Your revival
Holy Spirit fire
Burning ever brighter in our souls
Kings and kingdoms falling
Hear your people calling
King of Kings, we need a miracle

The King is among us
And His glory surrounds us
And His fire is falling as we sing
The Savior is for us
And His love is victorious
And revival is rising in His name

The King is among us
And His glory surrounds us
And His fire is falling as we sing
The Savior is for us
And His love is victorious
And revival is rising in His name

The King is among us
And His glory surrounds us
And His fire is falling as we sing
The Savior is for us
And His love is victorious
And revival is rising in His name

The King is among us
And His glory surrounds us
And His fire is falling as we sing
The Savior is for us
And His love is victorious
And revival is rising in His name
Oh, oh, we see His revival is rising up
We see His revival is rising up, oh

The King is among us
And His glory surrounds us
And His fire is falling as we sing
The Savior is for us
And His love is victorious
And revival is rising in His name, oh, God

And revival, You are rising
You are rising
The Savior, oh, God, He is right here
He is rising up in His name
So waking up, He is waking up
We all see the problems all over the world
So waking up, oh, waking up
'Cause we all know, 'cause we all know our Gods
Oh, glory surrounds us
And our Gods, His love is among us
We stay with His victorious
This place, full of fears and coming down
This place, full of tears, broken down

The King is among us
And His glory surrounds us
And His fire is falling as we sing
The Savior is for us
And His love is victorious
And He is rising in, He is rising

The King is among us
And His glory surrounds us
And His fire is falling as we sing
The Savior is for us
And His love is victorious

Praise & Prayer Requests -
God is good!  He is faithful!  Thanking Him often for those who reach out to bless us with prayers and support of what God is doing in and through us.  Words can't express the humble gratitude I have for your ongoing friendship.

Ken - strength & endurance for his job - both physically & emotionally.  Still only part time!
Me -Healing and SLEEP - back to 2 hours or so.
Canyon - is still hanging on - but seeing more signs the end is getting closer.
Ministry - the Lords will be done.  We want to step into what He has called us too!!!

P.S.  There's a show on Netflix we saw awhile back- its called The Kindness Diaries. If you have the ability to watch it, please do.  It is so inspiring!  The guy who made the show, Leon Logothetis (you can like his page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/leonlogothetis/) has these postcards that you complete every time you do a kind act for someone.  You mail them in and he will send a book to a child.  I asked him to send me several hundred.... so that is a goal I have - is to be able to complete at least one a day.  Kindness is Contagious!  

Thank YOU to those who email me prayer requests. It's been awesome especially this past month, the many I have received!  

If you have been blessed by this ministry or feel led to support what God is doing through us - financially, below are a few options.  Your generosity and your prayer support is greatly appreciated and needed as we continue to walk in faith and God's calling. 

Megablessings  - 

Ken & Michele Cole

http://www.wantinsight.com

michele@wantinsight.com, ken@wantinsight.com

Tax deductible & non tax deductible donations can be made: 

1.  Checks made payable to Sonlit Fields, PO Box 371, El Dorado Springs, MO 64744 or if you prefer anonymous giving - you can give through our Donor Fund 

2.  Non tax deductible donations can be made directly to us by:  THIS IS THE FASTEST WAY TO GET MONEY TO US FOR DAILY USE. 

 Paypal - www.paypal.com  (michele@wantinsight.com) 

3. Donor Fund - Contact National Christian Foundation - Ken & Michele Cole - Want InSight Fund -   Tax deductible 

    7171 W. 95th Street, Suite 501

Overland Park, KS 66212

    Phone: 913.310.0279

    Fax: 913.227.0254     www.nationalchristian.com 

Vision

God has given us a vision to build a retreat property along with ministry equipping center.  

The retreat portion of our ministry is to provide a safe place for pastors, lay leaders & other ministry folks to come and be refreshed & encouraged through prophetic ministry (if wanted).  We will offer private cabins with kitchens & full bathrooms, and plenty of places to roam on the property to get quiet with the Lord. 

We will offer other specialty retreats - marriage, healing, prophetic teaching & activating people into the world & health and wellness retreats and more.  

The Lord has graced us with the desire to come alongside the Church - to bring healing, deliverance & freedom to new/newer believers.  We are not wanting to replace their church, but better help them be ready to serve in their church. 

In our community building - we will eventually have a 24/7 prayer room, healing & prophetic rooms and a place for community worship services for those on the property.  

Our passion is to minister to a lost & hurting world.   To equip the saints to do the same and to be a blessing to our community and surrounding areas.  Our hopes are that we can pour out God's love in a mighty way to bring more and more souls into the Kingdom, get them discipled, called into their purpose & destiny and released to do God's business!!!!  We also have a passion to give generously to help those in need and to help others launch into their God given destinies.