Another Ressurection!

Another Resurrection!

God is still working!  God is still raising the dead!  This is another testimony of God bringing the dead to life.  I had just gotten to work (I am a firefighter/Paramedic) and we were dispatched to a cardiac arrest.  When we arrived on scene, we found the patients young daughter attempting CPR on her unresponsive mother.  We escorted the girl out of the room and I assessed the patient for a pulse and didn’t find one.  The patient was not breathing.  I started chest compressions while my crew brought in the cardiac monitor.  As we applied the cardiac monitor I audibly took authority and bound the spirit of death and broke the curses of death.  When the monitor was in place I looked at it and noted an asystole or “flat line” rhythm.  No hope in the natural.  Much like the drowning patient I told you all about.  I continued the battle against death and asked God to return her spirit.  I am sure my Lieutenant heard me this time but he didn't say anything.  At this point someone looked at the monitor and asked if there was a pulse with the presenting rhythm.  The rhythm had changed into something much better looking I felt for a pulse and wouldn't you know WE HAD A PULSE!!!  After a couple other interventions we loaded the patient onto the stretcher and started toward the hospital.  At the ER on transfer the pt had a strong heart rate at 120 and a blood pressure of 118/80.  Amazing! 

It’s hard to put words to a testimony like this because it seems so far out of the box than what most of us are used to.  I am discovering God is soooooo much more powerful than I ever lived like he was.     

 God is still raising people from the dead!  He is calling people who want to be bold and teaching them to be bold.  He is taking the people who he has taught to be bold and teaching them how to be bolder.  THIS IS AN OPEN INVITATION!!  God Bless!!

Jesse Birkey

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Untitled

Another Resurrection!

God is still working!  God is still raising the dead!  This is another testimony of God bringing the dead to life.  I had just gotten to work (I am a firefighter/Paramedic) and we were dispatched to a cardiac arrest.  When we arrived on scene, we found the patients young daughter attempting CPR on her unresponsive mother.  We escorted the girl out of the room and I assessed the patient for a pulse and didn’t find one.  The patient was not breathing.  I started chest compressions while my crew brought in the cardiac monitor.  As we applied the cardiac monitor I audibly took authority and bound the spirit of death and broke the curses of death.  When the monitor was in place I looked at it and noted an asystole or “flat line” rhythm.  No hope in the natural.  Much like the drowning patient I told you all about.  I continued the battle against death and asked God to return her spirit.  I am sure my Lieutenant heard me this time but he didn't say anything.  At this point someone looked at the monitor and asked if there was a pulse with the presenting rhythm.  The rhythm had changed into something much better looking I felt for a pulse and wouldn't you know WE HAD A PULSE!!!  After a couple other interventions we loaded the patient onto the stretcher and started toward the hospital.  At the ER on transfer the pt had a strong heart rate at 120 and a blood pressure of 118/80.  Amazing! 

It’s hard to put words to a testimony like this because it seems so far out of the box than what most of us are used to.  I am discovering God is soooooo much more powerful than I ever lived like he was.     

 God is still raising people from the dead!  He is calling people who want to be bold and teaching them to be bold.  He is taking the people who he has taught to be bold and teaching them how to be bolder.  THIS IS AN OPEN INVITATION!!  God Bless!!

 
Jesse Birkey

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Ishi

I’Shi

“And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.” 

Hos 2:16

            Why, oh why do we resist the wilderness?  What is the matter with us?  Why do we resist the place where God will purge, refine and strip us from everything that is unholy in our lives?  I’ll tell you some reasons why:  Pride, fear, selfishness and idolatry.  Those were the reasons I resisted and I bet I’m not the only one.  I was too prideful to be broken, I feared what would happen to me if I gave up control, for the most part I only cared about myself and I loved other things more than God.  I stood in Egypt and said “Look at all of these things my ‘other lovers’ have provided for me.”  Just like what Gomer (Israel) said as they chased money, power, sex, comfort and every other idol in our lives.  The thing is that they had nothing.  God allowed Satan to come and destroy everything that they had.  God says in Hosea chapter 2 that he allowed their feasts and parties to end, all of their luxuries to be stripped away and destroyed, money to be stolen and exposed their nakedness (shame) before everyone.   Yet they still stood there with their feet firmly planted in Egypt and resisted the wilderness. 

            As I stood in Egypt, presenting all of the things my idols had provided for me, I began to realize something.  I had NOTHING!  I worked overtime for more money but didn’t ever have any extra.  I owned a pool business striving for many accounts for extra money but stilled lived paycheck to paycheck.  I had many “luxuries” that required monthly payments and commitments but always faced the increasing likelihood that I was not going to be able to pay them all.  I exercised and worked out to keep my body in shape but it never caused me to truly love and accept myself.  I went to church, small group and read my bible but realized that I had never experienced a close, intimate, real love relationship with my Daddy.  I had nothing. 

            How many of you drive and strive but never feel like your gaining any ground?  How many of you seem to constantly be facing breakdowns, repairs and un-expected bills?  How many times does something seem to come and steal money from you however it looks?  We get promoted, make more money, buy bigger things, get more religious and yet the unbearable emptiness is still there.  How many times have you asked the question “Where did all that money go?”  We get hammered and beat down.  There is never ENOUGH money to make us feel secure.  Even with all of this we still would rather find comfort in Egypt than step out into the wilderness.  WHY?  What is so scary about the wilderness?  Don’t you know that’s where God is?  Hosea 2 gives us such a beautiful picture of the wilderness.  God says that’s where he will speak comfortably to us.  Yes it is where we get purged, refined and made white and it can be painful but God is there.  God never leaves.  In fact, unless you go into the wilderness you will never be intimate with God.  It says in Hosea 2 that it’s in the wilderness where we begin to call God “husband” and no longer “Lord.”  What better picture of intimacy is there?  But its only available in the wilderness.  God says its in the wilderness where he will establish us and begin to give back what we have lost.  This is what God says happens in the wilderness: 

 

There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

Hos 2:16  "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.'

 

Hos 2:17  I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked.

Hos 2:18  In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety.

 

Hos 2:19  I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.

 

Hos 2:20  I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.

 

Hos 2:21  "In that day I will respond," declares the LORD— "I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth;

 

Hos 2:22  and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.

 

Hos 2:23  I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called 'Not my loved one.' I will say to those called 'Not my people,' 'You are my people'; and they will say, 'You are my God.'"

 

But we resist the wilderness don’t we?  We turn our back on these promises because what we can see in front of us is so often ALL we can see.  Our pride and fear holds us fast don’t they?  Unless we humble ourselves and crawl into the wilderness on our knees, we will live our whole lives disconnected from out Daddy.  The only path to the Promised Land runs through the wilderness.  Nobody is going to make you walk.  You have to decide.  Jesus said the gate is small and few find it.  Does that surprise you?  How many people do you know willing to humble themselves in front of others?  It takes desperation and humility to find it.  Some of us enter the wilderness and then for whatever reasons decide it’s not what we want.  You don’t have to wander lost like Israel did.  Israel wandered as a result of disobedience.  Be obedient and you will find the path God has for you leading to the Promised Land.  GET OUT OF EGYPT AND FIND I’SHI (your husband)!   God bless!

 

Jesse Birkey

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but I don't want to

But I Don’t Want To!

 

          More and more I am coming to the understanding that almost every time God calls me to an act of obedience, initially, I don’t want to do it.  Whether it is out of frustration, being uncomfortable or rebellion, my first reaction is almost always hesitance.  I guess that’s why obedience is a choice and the reason that we have to engage our wills to do the things God asks us to do.  I guess that’s why the rewards of obedience are so great and the consequences of disobedience so severe.  In every choice we make we tell God who we love the most. 

            I am a firefighter/paramedic and I have taken many sick people to the hospital over the years.  It’s only been in the last couple of years that I have allowed God to move through me in the midst of my job and I have seen some amazing things.  I have seen hope restored with a prayer, freedom gained through a prophetic word.  I have ministered deliverance in the back of the rescue and seen the captives set free from demons.  I have seen miraculous healings and I have seen God raise the dead.  You would think that seeing all of these things would make it really hard to not want to be obedient every time. 

            Sometimes holding onto compassion is a very difficult thing especially doing what I do.  Trust me, you transport enough people to the hospital who called 911 because they felt “tingly” in their fingers or because their toes hurt or because they have dry mouth (yes I have run all of those calls more than once) and it’s very easy for compassion to fade.  Before you know it, you are judging people and just angry.  The problem is that Jesus’ ministry was full of compassion.  God is love.  Compassion is rooted in love and so if we lose compassion we really lose God.

            A couple of weeks ago my compassion had been under attack and a degree of “hardness” had ebbed its way into my heart.  We got called to a woman who was complaining of a headache that had been going on for 3 days.  She said it was worse and so she wanted us to take her to the hospital.  This was not a migraine it was just a nuisance.  Certainly not an emergency and I was annoyed.  I judged her as just another person abusing the system.  This woman took forever to get out of the house.  It seemed like she had 50 things she wanted to do before she left and I was doing everything short of actually pulling her out the door.  I was really frustrated now.  My compassion for this woman was “0.”  We loaded her up and started toward the hospital.  I was interacting with this woman as little as I could.  She continued to talk to me about her life.  I wasn’t really listening.  When we were a couple of minutes away from the hospital she did something I wasn’t prepared for and it made me mad.  She asked me to pray for her.  I did NOT want to pray for this woman.  I was thinking “Really!  You call me for a headache, abusing 911, take forever to get out of the house and you want me to pray for you.”  I knew God wanted me to do this but I said, NO!  I told her I would, but I didn’t. 

            We pulled into the hospital a minute later and took her into the ER.  The whole way in I was under constant, heavy conviction for being disobedient.  We put her in the ER bed assigned to her and I couldn’t take the conviction any longer.  I looked at her and said “did you want me to pray for you?”  She said “yes” and so I said a quick, mildly annoyed prayer without much feeling at all.  When I was done I looked at her and what happened next really blew me away.  Her eyes were tearing up as she began to open up to me about many very painful and terrible things she had been through.  It was like a flood gate opened.  This woman who I hadn’t really treated very well poured out her heart to me.  To tell you the truth I was actually annoyed at this.  God has used me to minister to many people and I knew that’s where this was heading and I was still mad at her.  I still had to make a choice in that moment to be obedient.  Isn’t that crazy?!  As this woman continued to share, God melted the hardness in my heart and I decided to forgive this woman and allow God to work through me.  As I said “yes” to God I felt the compassion and love come back in full force.  My annoyance and anger left and I proceeded to minister to this woman prophetically.  As I spoke the words God gave me to speak I could see the work going on in this woman’s spirit and soul.  There was a battle taking place.  God planted a seed with a call to action in this woman.  She was deeply touched and emotional.  I was filled with joy!  What a privilege to be used by God in this way! 

            I don’t know what is going to happen to this woman.  I hope to see her in the Kingdom some day.  I learned some lessons.  God can definitely use us in spite of ourselves.  A half sincere prayer is what God used to open the gates for this woman.  I learned, once again, the joys of obedience.  I became painfully aware of lost compassion which led me to some deep repentance and restoration of my relationship with God.  I learned, once again, that obedience is always a choice.  It’s a choice that, if we obey, promises to bring us and those around us so much joy and fulfillment.  Every call to obedience is huge and you can almost guarantee that your initial reaction is going to be “I don’t want to” every time.  The question God is asking is “Are you going to do it anyway.”  Who do you love the most?  God Bless!

 

Jesse Birkey 

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the foot of God

The Foot of God!!

          This is a word that I received from the Lord a couple of weeks ago.  I shared it with some but not many.  As we gathered earlier tonight praying and fellowshipping with a small group of people, a reference was made to the “Foot of God” and I sensed that the Lord was saying this word is now for a greater audience to hear.  The following is what I saw and heard that night……….

 

            I was spending some time in praise and worship and this is what I saw:

I saw the foot of God come down upon the earth.  It was huge.  I saw the foot and only the foot.  As it stepped down upon the earth, the earth groaned and trembled.  A mighty shockwave washed over the earth and thunder echoed all around.  It was the foot of our General and he was calling forth His army.  The battle cry sounded.  This is what I heard:

 

           THERE HAVE BEEN MANY WHO HAVE FORSAKEN ME AND TURNED THEIR BACKS ON ME BUT I NOW SOUND THE CRY FOR THE RIGHTEOUS!  I AM BRINING MY ARMY OUT OF HIDING AND I AM CALLING THEM INTO ACTION!  SEE THE LORD YOUR GOD.  RISE UP MY CHILDREN AND TAKE HOLD OF YOUR BIRTHRIGHT AS MY PRECIOUS CHILDREN AND PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR BATTLE.  THE CRY HAS SOUNDED AND IT HAS PRODUCED TERROR IN THE HEARTS OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS.  THE ENEMY HAS HEARD AND IS SHAKING IN TERROR.  IT’S TIME TO PRESS AND STORM THE GATES OF HELL, TAKING COMMUNITIES, CITIES AND EVEN STATES FOR THE GLORY OF GOD.  IT’S TIME TO PRESS FORWARD IN FERVENT PRAYER AND BOLDNESS AGAINST THE ENEMY.  BE BOLD.  DO NOT FALL BACK IN FEAR.  MY CHILDREN KNOW MY NAME AND THEY WHO CALL UPON IT WILL BE RENEWED IN THEIR STRENGTH.  BE STRONG IN THE LORD AND YOU WILL SEE MOUNTAINS MOVED BEFORE YOU.  YOU WHO THOUGHT THERE WAS NO ANWER WILL SEE THE “IMPOSSIBLE” BECOME POSSIBLE AND YOU WILL BE AMAZED AND FALL DOWN TO YOUR KNEES IN THE GLORY OF GOD.  THE TIME IS COME TO ASK FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DETERMINED ISN’T EVEN POSSIBLE BECAUSE THE EAR OF THE LORD IS WITH THE RIGHTEOUS.  GO FORWARD IN FAITH AND PUT AWAY DOUBT AND UNBELIEF.  I AM GATHERING MY PEOPLE TO ME.  THOSE WHO LOVE ME WILL HEAR MY VOICE.  THOSE WHO LOVE ME WILL BE OBEDIENT TO MY VOICE.  I AM EQUIPING MY BRIDE.  I AM TEARING OFF THE VEIL OF CONFUSION AND MANIPULATION.  THOSE WHO WANT THE TRUTH WILL FIND IT.  I AM DRAWING THE LINE IN THE SAND.  STAND WITH ME OR STAND AGAINST ME.  MY CHILDREN HAVE BEEN IN SLUMBER.  I AM WAKING THEM UP.  I AM DESTROYING THE STUPOR THAT HAS PLAUGED MY PEOPLE AND WASHING THEM IN HOLINESS.

Jesse Birkey    

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