B E Y O N D
It’s time to go BEYOND our current level of understanding, experience, capacity, belief, and favor. It’s time to leave some things behind and let go of what we cling to for security so that we can step into the wild, wonderful, and unfathomable unknown with Jesus. Are you in?
Jesus, you are
Further than I have found,
Past the point of possible,
Outside understanding.
More than the very most,
Better than the very best.
Ahead of the future,
Before the past began.
You have
Disempowered impossible,
Annihilated never,
Abolished absolute.
Jesus, you surpass ALL,
In every way.
A couple of weeks ago I was praying through all that is contained in, implicated by, and expressed through the name of Jesus. As I let my mind spin, I landed on this word,
BEYOND.
From there, the above poem spilled out and as I pressed into the concept in my spirit, the Lord showed me a picture of another place, beyond this earth. It was like another planet, bare and dark, but bright with starlight and a green and purple glow. There was a chainlink fence that crossed the curvature of the entire planet. I saw a woman who was leading another woman who was following her. The leader was crouching down as she removed her backpack to crawl through a hole that had been stretched open near the bottom of the fence. I realized the leader was me and I sensed the anticipation, excitement, courage, and intimidation of the moment before entering the unknown. I heard God say,
"If you want to go BEYOND, you’re going to have to leave some things behind.”
That Sunday, we sang Spirit Break Out and as we sang with one voice asking the Lord to break our walls down, I started praying for all the walls in the room to come crashing down and blow away like dust. Walls of insecurity, fear, shame, depression, and anxiety. Suddenly, I remembered the picture of the woman crouching to go through the hole in the fence and I sensed in my spirit that one thing we have to leave behind is our assumption that there is ANYTHING standing between us and the BEYOND of life with Jesus. There is nothing that can separate us from pursuing the deeper, higher, farther, better or greater things of Christ!
When we got in the car, I told my husband and 13-year-old about what God had revealed about my vision from earlier in the week and my daughter said that it reminded her of a dream she had a few years ago. It was about a series of walls in the ocean that were a few feet apart and each one got taller as they got further from the beach going out into the sea. The shorter walls that were closer to the shore were getting beaten and battered by the waves. There were people desperately clinging to walls, struggling and suffering because of the violent crashing waves. She had a burning desire to get past the walls and go out into the deep where it was calm and safe. Once she let go, it was easy to reach the still waters and she saw that it was peaceful and full of wonderful creatures and infinite beauty. There was literally NOTHING to fear! Then she felt desperate to go back and rescue all the other people who were clinging to the walls and getting battered by the waves. As she was retelling this dream my husband and I were completely blown away! I realized that
We have to let go of the walls we have built AND insist on clinging to if we want to go out into the deep with Jesus.
A few days later I was at a prayer meeting and as we opened in worship, I imagined the outflow of air from our lungs while we were singing becoming like our breath on a cold morning, only it didn’t disapate. It filled the room with His presence like the billowing cloud of His robe in the temple. It was like our worship became part of his adornment!
That reminded me of an experience I had seven years ago. As I was practicing stillness one time, I was taken away in my spirit to the Heavenly throne room, much like what is described in Isaiah 6, and I was at the feet of the Father on the throne. There was a sort of blind spot in what I could see in the upper left part of the balcony that was filled with angels. I asked the Lord to let me see more and He took me from where I was out into all creation. The experience went on from there, but what He was highlighting in that brief memory was this:
If we want to see or go BEYOND, all we have to do is ASK!
Even as I write this, I am blown away by the way my visions, my daughter’s dream, and our corporate worship have come together to bring clarity to His message to me. Here it is as boiled down as I can make it:
We all hold onto so many things that we think are keeping us safe from the unknown, but if we will just let go of our walls and put down our baggage, we will see that what is BEYOND is so much better!
We keep ourselves trapped on this side of understanding, revelation, encounter, and every other good thing in the life of Faith, but God is calling us to go BEYOND in 2020.
He’s asking us to leave some things behind, let go of our dysfunction, and enjoy the wonder of the deeps!
It’s time to let go of some dreams and take hold of the PROMISE.
It’s time to trust that what we can’t yet see or dream of is so much better than anything we might have previously imagined.
It’s time to leave old habits, patterns, and assumptions behind.
It’s time to begin walking the unobstructed path to everything that the name of Jesus contains—the path to BEYOND!
SPIRIT BREAK OUT
Written by William McDowell, performed by Kim Walker-Smith
Our Father, all of Heaven roars Your name
Sing louder, let this place erupt with praise
Can you hear it, the sound of Heaven touching Earth
The sound of Heaven touching Earth
Spirit break out
Break our walls down
Spirit break out
Heaven come down
King Jesus You're the name we're lifting high
Your glory shaking up the earth and skies
Revival we wanna see Your kingdom here
We wanna see Your kingdom here
Interested in having Tia teach at your conference, retreat, or Sunday service?
Examples of topics include:
Christ-centered soul care + intentional living
My story and God’s overcoming Power in my life
Hearing God’s voice, how He speaks, and listening in ordinary moments
Soul care for the selfless servant
Attitudes, perspectives, and mindsets that foster healthy relationships with God, self, and others
My work in Kenya / living on mission
A topic or Bible selection of your choosing