Part 1
The Door Is Open - Part 1 - Living Right Side Up
The gathering exceeded anything we could have hoped for or believed would happen! It was such a joy to be together with those the Lord released to attend the gathering from Western Canada, Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland! And for those who could not come, but who supported with your prayers and faith and giving – thank you! It was the collective obedience and sacrifice of all of us that opened the way for the Lord to accomplish the longing of His heart for this gathering.
The Foundation
As we shared in the first session of the gathering, six of seven of us on the Awaken team first met when we served together in Watchmen for the Nations, a relational network of thousands of believers in Canada who share a common heart cry for the Church of Canada to be fashioned into a resting place for the glory of the Lord. For 10 years (1999-2009) this remnant of believers journeyed with the Lord, gathering at His request, walking out prophetic steps of obedience to see the redemption of Canada’s eternal destiny. Our experience in Watchmen and the training and mentoring we received through David Demian, as well as other respected spiritual fathers and mothers from across the nation, have been invaluable and integral in shaping our understanding of the principles of God’s kingdom and rule.
It’s upon this strong and secure foundation, which has already been laid by the older generations, that we believe God is calling the younger generations, Gen Xers and millennials, to begin to build. However, building the first floor of a house is very different than laying the foundation. So while God means us to embrace the values and principles of the journey, He does not want us to try to replicate its steps or create forms or structures from what were rhema words of God in that journey.
Creatures of Habit
This is the tricky part because as human beings we are creatures of habit. So we have a tendency to try to “franchise” revelation from the Lord. When a church or ministry does something that seems to be successful, we try to find a pattern and duplicate it, hoping for the same results. But if we look at the Old Testament we don’t see God “franchising” strategies – the children of Israel only marched around the walls of a city once. Their journey was not about learning strategies for warfare – it was about learning how to follow the presence of God as He manifested Himself in a pillar of fire or a cloud. And so it should be for us.
Our Awaken team, with our spouses, had been in Edmonton for two days before the gathering and as we talked and tried to discern about different aspects of the coming meetings, we found ourselves slipping out of rest and into human planning. Because we have been in so many gatherings, we have unconsciously developed expectations of how things ‘should be done” based on past experiences, good and bad. So without even realizing it, we were falling into trying to fit the gathering into these pre-set patterns more than positioning ourselves to receive revelation and a fresh word from God.
Thankfully the Lord confronted us about this the night before the gathering. Throughout the consecration call we would pray in the Spirit together every morning (except Sundays – just couldn’t get a schedule to work between church in 5 time zones) and from those times, much revelation came that we shared during those three weeks. As we were gathered on Wednesday night, the Lord challenged us by asking, “Why are you forgetting what you already learned during the consecration call? I told you that a new door is opening so why are you trying to force things into an old pattern instead of seeking Me for new ways?”
We were cut to the heart and began repenting right on the spot. That repentance turned into a prayer meeting and, after about an hour, we knew exactly how we were to start the first session of the gathering: confessing our own struggles to everyone so that together we could ask the Lord to help shift us from being people of the mind to people of the Spirit.
Living Right Side Up
Most of us are living inverted lives – with our minds in ascendency over the Spirit instead of the Spirit in ascendancy over the mind. Because of this we struggle to walk in Kingdom ways because the things of the Spirit are foolishness to the natural mind – they can only be spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14) So if we try to hear the Lord through the grid of our human mind, it’s going to be like trying to listen to a radio station with constant static. We are never going to hear clearly because we are living upside down. We need to turn things right side up and become true sons and daughters of God, led by the Spirit of God in every aspect of our lives. (Romans 8:14)
To hear more about this and our journey in the first session of the gathering, click here to access the MP3. (click link to listen – a window will open in your internet browser. To download the mp3 simply right click on the browser and select “save source as”)
To hear a selection of worship from the first session (please note this is raw board mix – not professionally mixed) click here to access the MP3. (click link to listen – a window will open in your internet browser. To download the mp3 simply right click on the browser and select “save source as”)
Love,
Stephanie
On behalf of the Awaken Team
We desire our journey to be an expression of the corporate body and not just a few of us, so if the Lord gives you a vision or dream or speaks to you through a scripture or if you have a story or testimony you would like to share, please send it to share@awakenthedream.org.
If you would like to stay connected with Awaken the Dream and the journey, you may sign up at http://www.awakenthedream.org/connect.
