The blessing of Mourning

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." To mourn, what is it to truly mourn? Once again we have to look through the spiritual lens to get a proper perspective and understanding of the message Jesus is trying to convey in these words. For this 'mourning' is more than the natural sadness over the loss of something. But to mourn over the sin in our heart and life. That battle that is raging on the inside. "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep doing." Romans 7:18-19 The wrestle in my heart against the things I know I do not want to do because they are evil, when i do them it brings me to a place of mourning over my sin.. The place of mourning is the correct response to our sin. It is the mourning that will lead us to repentance, which will lead to a superior comfort, our hearts will be put to rest. The world is searching for peace, rest, and joy, and there is only one that can offer that full satisfaction. Jesus alone can bring comfort and trade our ashes for beauty. So why not surrender everything to Him? Why not enter into that eternal perspective of realizing we are weak and broken at the end of everyday, and the fact of mourning over our sin is taking us to the place of repentance, which leads to feeling the enjoyment of the Lord over our lives! I want to forever be pained over my sin, I want to look to the hope of the age to come, and in that place know there will be fullness of joy and comfort. That in that day, there will be no more sickness or death, no more pain. He will make all things new, and we will be perfectly one with Him!

Strength & Honor,

Grace & Peace.

Isaac

Poor in Spirit

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." What is Jesus really saying here? We know He is not addressing finance, "poor in spirit" I think He is speaking directly to that mentality in all of us that screams independence and self reliance. I have to come to a place where I recognize my lack, my spiritual barrenness to produce anything on my own. That it is all Him all the time! It's never by my strength that I will be able to accomplish anything, or get anywhere spiritually. It will always be about this truth of realizing that it will always be His strength giving me the endurance to sustain my heart. I am weak, I am broken, I have nothing apart from Him. I have to believe He is my good shepherd and He knows my weaknesses and will lead me on the path perfect for giving me strength to keep saying "Yes" to Him.I have nothing apart from Him. I am nothing without Him. I exist for Him, He doesn't exist for me. I have to learn to lean into the way He leads even when it feels opposite of normal, I must proclaim that His ways are far above my own. I think David was able to proclaim "You Gentleness has made me great" because He was connected to this truth of in our weakest and darkest moment, His strength is sufficient for me.My strength and my riches are found in CHrist alone! How encouraging that Jesus teaches this to us and desires to meet us in that place of weak reliant love on Him! Jesus knows we need Him, He lets us know we need Him, and then relentlessly calls our hearts to that place of learning to trust Him fully with our weakness. Let me never think I can do it on my own. Let me never find strength in myself. I proclaim that my strength is from a far superior strength. "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1

Strength & Honor,

Grace & Peace.

Isaac

Photography these days.

So I'm doing quite a bit of picture taking these days. Here's one from a recent wedding I assistant shot. LOVE THIS ONE!

A Walk that's Worthy

Lately I've been doing quite a lot of thinking. That pretty much goes without saying I guess. But even more so there has been questions on my heart and mind. The burning Worth of Jesus has been a topic on my mind. The heart of worship, the very center of what worship is. Why do I sing songs and pray things back to God that He already knows? Why is it important that we sing songs of praise to Jesus? I don't want to sing just empty meaningless songs. I want to sing straight to the heart of Jesus. Why, do we do all of these things? Because He is WORTH IT ALL! Everything we have to give, He's worth it all. What an interesting thought. The angels have been singing songs about the glory of who God is for all of eternity past since they were created. Angels were created. Since the time they were they've been singing about the majesty of God, the mystery of the greatness of who He is! The angels have been singing songs about how great He is, yet they have known what it is for God to look on their current situation and provide supernaturally for them. They've never felt the emotion of knowing that God is looking at their life specifically and caring about them. They are merely angels, and they still cry Holy. All they can do at the response of seeing this great and marvelous God is cry out Holy! God, in and of Himself is worth our every ounce of adoration and praise we can give. Why am I involved in a 24/7 prayer and worship movement? Because God is so worth every bit of 24/7 worship! Anything less would be less than what He deserves! He is worth 24/7 worship just in the character of who He is. How much more every time He has proved His faithfulness in our personal lives. He is worth a endless song that sings of His power and majesty. He is worth an unending song that sings of His beauty in His kindness and mercy that knows no end. He is so worth our songs, our hearts, our lives! Not that this is a real number or percentage, but lets say about 95% of the songs that we sing here on the earth wouldn't even qualify as worship in heaven! Our songs are filled with selfish motives and external motives. Not that God is sitting in heaven looking at how bad our songwriting is, because He loves the song. But He is worthy of the best that we can give! My heart has been singing of songs that would declare the beauty of who He is to the nations. But not just in music or song, because that is not the end of worship. A life that explodes with thought, emotion, expression, passion for the Glory of what God is deserving! He's worth our every breath, our every movement, our every thought, that Jesus may be exalted in that place. This God/Man is so worth our every moment of time. He is so worth wasting your life on. If there is one ambition of mine lately it has been to waste my life on the journey of knowing Him and giving Him the Glory He is due. It's no wonder when Jesus was born that the angels couldn't help but cry out to the shepherds, "Glory to God in the Highest!" The angels could absolutely not help themselves when the God that created them, created the earth, created man, became what He created. They thought they had songs to sing about the Glory and Majesty of God before, then He steps into the form of His own creation as God in the flesh of a new born baby, and the angels go CRAZY!!! I want to stare at Jesus with that kind of revelation and give Him all the glory He is due! But not only that, when God became a man, it was a testimony in itself that He desires to know us individually. So not only in my songs do I want to testify about my love for this God that became a man for me. My heart response, when everything is cursing and bringing shame to His name, from a lovesick I have to scream out and defend His name. My heart has grown to love Him, I can't just let people trample all over His name. If there is anyone worth defending, or dying for, it's Jesus. Let my heart be connected to that, so that I may live a walk that is worthy of who He is.

Grace & Peace,

Strength & Honor.

Isaac

Allen Hood Sharing about Boston

How amazing it was to be apart of this trip!

Boston Trip

I made it back to Kansas City this afternoon after a long week out on the east coast in Boston. The Lord did some incredible work in the hearts of the people out there! There was about 300 give or take IHOPU students that were out there with me, along with another 100 people that were from the area with local ministries.

For about four days straight we hit inner city Boston hard with evangelism outreaches on the subways, buses, and different college campuses. It was an experience with evangelism like I've never had before! One of the days that stuck out to me so much was Wednesday as we were ministering at the Harvard campus. As we were walking to the subway we saw a couple of older gentlemen sitting on one of the park benches. One of the men was on crutches, so instantly a few girls walked up and asked him if they could pray for healing. The man promptly responded that someone had already prayed for him, but the man next to him said that he would like prayer.

As of the girls was praying for him the Lord gave me a word for him. After she was done praying for healing I shared what I felt like the Lord was feeling about him. When I finished he told me thank you with the sort of voice that sounded as if he were about to cry. I knew that the Lord had opened up a opportunity to share the gospel with him. So I was able to present the salvation message of Jesus to him and lead him in a prayer of acceptance of Christ into his life. After finishing this one of the girls asked him if he had struggled with thoughts of depression at all. He said that he was currently on anti-depressiants and often felt unhappy, or upset. The girl in our group shared with him that she had been delivered of 16 years of suicidal thoughts, and that the Lord desired to heal him emotionally as well. We were able to pray for him for this as well, and after finishing he lifted up his face and it was as if we were looking at a different person. He was so happy and told us he felt much different on the inside, that he actually felt happiness and joy! As we walked away he was smiling so big, and what a joy in all of our hearts that this man had stepped into the family of Christ, and was no longer bound by depression!

That same day I actually shared the good news of Jesus on the subway on our way to Harvard. After I finished a couple of the girls from our team shared a few testimonies and offered to pray for anyone that needed healing in their body. A girl on the subway responded to the call for healing, and ended up receiving Jesus into her life that day as well!

Finally arriving at Harvard we split up into different groups and started talking to different people in the area. Our group was walking in the park right next to the campus talking to people sitting in on the benches.

As we were walking I felt like the Lord highlighted a couple that was sitting on a park bench. As I started conversation with the couple I asked them if there was anything they needed prayer for, as I did they both started crying, and could not believe that the Lord knew they needed encouragement and sent someone to pray for them. It was so amazing to see the Lord's perfect leadership, and how this divine appointment was so timely! They were both christians and going through a rough time in their marriage and really needed a word from the Lord. We were able to prophecy over both of them and pray for them. As I walked away I was in awe of the Lord how in His perfect leadership, this couple who was 2,000 miles away from home visiting Boston needed a word, and me being 1,500 miles from KC meet in the park at just the same moment! God's leadership still never ceases to amaze me!!! The way He cares so much about the needs of His people.

That is just to share a few experiences that I had while in Boston, the Lord absolutely blew me away as I watched heart after heart come into the knowledge of the Lord's saving grace. Each night as we met back together and shared different stories of what the Lord did, it was so encouraging to hear the stories of the Lord breaking into lives and bringing restoration and healing! What an AMAZING trip!

Isaac

In Boston

I drove 24 hours over the past 2 days with 3 other people from my school in Kansas City, and am now in Boston for the next week doing different evangelism projects and school evangelism outreaches. Please pray for our teams here in Boston as there are about 400 students from my school here participating in this outreach. The Lord is going to do some amazing things this next week. I'm excited to be apart of it!

Strength & Honor,

Grace & Peace.

Isaac

Sweet Picture

I took this picture on Saint Patricks day. I love it!

Hunger

To ache, to long. I've been in this constant state of burning desire for the Lord over the past few months. It's been like life wouldn't be worth living at all if I wasn't pursuing something of eternal weight. That deep desire within all of our hearts to pursue deeper things that will truly satisfy our hearts, I've been finding more and more as I give myself to spending time with the Lord in the mornings and seeking Him in the quiet place. I don't want that aching and longing to be satisfied by keeping myself so busy that I don't make time for it. I know that hunger can only be filled by one thing alone, and that is getting to know my heavenly Father and the way he desires to spend time with me.

Hunger for the things of God is something that is placed within each one of us, and depending on what we are filling our time with actually determines the degree that we feel that hunger. To the degree that we don't have a burning desire for a raw, vivid, alive relationship with our heavenly Father, is to the degree that our Spirit has been dulled by the temporary pleasures of this world. What are we filling our time up with? We can sit in front of TV screens, computers, entertainment of any kind and try to get away from that hunger for something that would satisfy, but we actually need to embrace that hunger, and run into relationship with a real God that really desires each one of us individually!

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." Matthew 5:6 When we are hungry for righteousness, for holy things, when we partner with that deep cry echoing from within our hearts that is screaming, "Father I desire to be filled with something that would not leave me feeling empty!" When we wake up a few minutes earlier just to spend some time with the Lord, we create a capacity in our hearts that has been stuffed full of everything else we've been trying to fill ourselves with. Us slowing down and actually wanting to spend time filling ourselves with things from the Word of God actually creates in us room for God to fill us with something! When we create that space and ask, our good Father in Heaven says that He WILL fill us.

A quote from Saint Angela when she was in a place of hungering and desiring the deeper things of the Lord. The Lord said to her, "Make yourself a capacity and I will make myself a torrent." What a promise! The Lord was saying, make room in your dull heart, and I will come like a rushing river and fill you! I want to always keep this gift of longing and desire for the deeper things alive and thriving in my heart! I don't want to let my spirit get dulled and tainted by what this world would say fills. I know that this world has nothing to offer me that will cause my heart to grow in love. I want to fill myself up on things that will last eternally! Another quote that is astounding to me!

"O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still...Amen." A. W. Tozer

This is the desire of my heart right now. I want to want, I long to be filled with longing. I am ashamed of my lack of desire! When we experience the embrace and touch of the Lord, it both satisfies our hearts, but leaves us longing and desiring more of Him. It's a continuous ride of seeking the Lord out, finding and experiencing Him again, but in return leaving us with a deeper longing in our hearts to find whole heartedness in Him and Him alone.

My heart aches, it burns, it's on fire for something that would not leave me feeling empty, but that would fill my heart and cause me to grow in Love for others and myself.

Strength and Honor,

Grace and Peace.

Isaac

The Lord's Faithfulness on Display!

It has been altogether way to long since my last update! We've moved into a new decade, and I've started a new season of life here at IHOP-KC. I had just finished up 9 months of life on Nightwatch schedule last time I checked in, and much has been happening in life since then.

Looking back at the past 9 months of Nightwatch here at the International House of Prayer, I realize it was the Lord's perfect leadership in my life to prepare me for the next stage of my time here. The Nightwatch schedule I think really put me in route to live a lifestlye of dedication to the place of prayer, and really forming in me a desire to find my identity in the Lord.

There hasn't been any other underlined theme in my life lately other than placing myself daily before the Lord and confessing my identity and success I have in Him as a son. Resting in knowledge of knowing that my Father in heaven is so pleased with me and so proud of me for choosing to love Him in return. My primary calling in this life is to be in communion with Him on a daily basis.

Just this past week at one of our Sunday evening services I was talking to the Lord during worship. The reality of the fact of how much more committed to me He was, verses my commitment to Him. He is Faithful in His commitment to me even when I fail in my commitments to Him. As I was just talking to Him about how thankful I was for this fact, He just whispered back to me, "Isaac, I want to do life with you!" How refreshing it was for me to hear, more than my daily plans of spending time with Him in the morning, or going to the weekend services, or learning about Him in classes. He was actually genuinely interested in every other area of my life. My time throughout the day when I'm going from class to class. When I'm at the grocery store, when I'm at home cleaning the house, He is interested in talking to me in those places and finding a friend that would commune with His heart!

There has been some new developing areas of opportunity opening up for me this summer. I am planning on for sure returning to Phoenix to be a counselor again at the kids camp that I've participated in the last 2 years. Something that has just recently come up in the last couple months is an opportunity to go to Sierra Leone in western Africa for a three week trip in late June. I've really been asking the Lord if this is something I'm supposed to do this summer. I think it would be an incredible opportunity, but there are many logistical things that would need to line up for this to happen. The primary work I would be doing is working with a private non-profit group that is going to help establish an orphanage. I would be going to document and photograph the children as well as the facilities for supporters back here in the states to get a vision for what this group is trying to establish in Sierra Leone. On top of the full time photography work, I would be helping establish a soccer league structure for the community there. I am really excited for this potential trip, and as of right now am planning on going, but again, there will be quite a few things that need to line up in the next month for me to be on a plan to Africa in June!

The Lord has continued to be so faithful as I've been here in Kansas City serving at the International House of Prayer. I've been enrolled in the school here full time since January, as well as being involved full time as an intercessor missionary, I've had quite the busy schedule lately. My time commitments as an intercessor missionary and full time student are about 50 hours a week right now. So, not leaving much time for anything else on a weekly basis, it has taught me ow to be very good at time management and staying on top of things! I'm praying that the Lord would provide a car in the next couple months so that I can be working somewhere to create an income. I am in need of some supernatural finances on a monthly basis right now, and the Lord has been meeting this needs without exception monthly!

This next week will be 1 year that I have been in Kansas City, I can hardly believe how fast time has flown by! I am so blessed to be at a place like the International House of Prayer! Over any other school or scholarship I could have chosen, I am ultimately glad that I came here with no remorse over the decision! I know that the leading of the Holy Spirit has brought me to exactly the place I am supposed to be!

I am making a priority to be more adamant about keeping this updated with what I'm up to. I head to Boston next week to minister on different college campuses in the Ivy league schools. I'll make sure to let you know how that time goes.

Strength and Honor,

Grace and Peace.

Isaac