"7 Signs of a Spirit of Poverty" Jamie Rohrbaugh,

I found this article by Jamie Rohrbaugh filled with wisdom and truth.  Thought you might enjoy it, also.

"7 Signs of a Spirit of Poverty"

Jamie Rohrbaugh, Chattanooga, TN

I've been very burdened lately for God's people, specifically in the area of finances. I see so many precious people being tricked by a spirit of poverty – a demonic force that wants to rob God's sons and daughters of blessing and provision. And beloveds, it's time to kick the spirit of poverty to the curb.

Being poor is NEVER from the Lord. God's Word tells us that God is our good, good Father who will bless us abundantly if we obey Him. That's why we must learn how to identify a poverty spirit: so we can get rid of it if we've embraced it.

If you don't know that you've let the enemy deceive you in this area, you won't know that you need to get free...and you won't see the change you desire to see in your life.

So let's look at 7 signs of a spirit of poverty. Before we start, know this: if you see any of these in yourself, don't get under condemnation about it. Just repent for any sin in your life in this area. Speak out loud that you renounce agreement with the spirit of poverty. Speak out loud that you receive and embrace God's abundance and prosperity instead. Command that spirit of poverty to leave you in Jesus' name, ask the Holy Spirit to fill you where that was, and to teach you the truth of His Word about His desire to bless and provide for you. OK? Here are the seven signs...

Sign #1 of a Spirit of Poverty: Chronic, Long-Term Lack and Expectation Thereof

"God tends to bless people who obey Him; who do good works; who give generously; and who make wise decisions."

Lots of people have been through slim times financially for brief periods. However, if you're stuck in a chronic, long-term pattern of lack, odds are good that a spirit of poverty (or even of limitation) may be oppressing you.

The very first step to the process of getting out of chronic lack is building your faith for more. (Additional steps in this process are outlined below.) If you have been in lack a long time, it tends to get you down. If that's you, stretch your faith and dig deeply into prayer over God's promises to bless you. As you transform your mindset through God's Word, the enemy won't be able to tempt you or rob you of your faith for reward and provision.

Sign #2 of a Spirit of Poverty: Thinking You Have to Give Your Work Away

Before I entered full-time ministry, I spent nearly 15 years in the corporate world in a Fortune 500 company. While there, I learned that work has value. Nobody goes to work from 8 AM to 5 PM every day because they want to work for free. We want to be paid, and we want to be paid more.

Yet, as Christians, we often think that we should give our work away. The result of this deception is that you give your work away, and are therefore not earning the income with which God is trying so hard to bless you. You're working so hard blessing people, ministering to people, and providing for others for free. If you feel that you are not allowed to charge for your work, then you are saying that the anointing and skills the Holy Spirit has placed on your life are worth nothing. That is an insult to the Holy Spirit.

So whether you're a work-at-home mom, a CEO, an artist, a preacher, or anything else, your work has value. Don't feel that you have to give your work away.

Sign #3 of a Spirit of Poverty: Refusing to Pay Others for Their Labor

1 Timothy 5:18 says: "For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,' and, 'The laborer is worthy of his wages.'"

A person who works deserves to be compensated for it. Therefore, if you have someone work for you, be prepared to pay them. Honor God's Word enough to pay people. They might not expect to be paid, but that doesn't negate the truth of God's Word. When we have somebody work for us, they are worthy of their hire.

If you won't honor and pay others for their work, God can't bless you the way He wants to either. However, if you DO honor others and give them their due, God can do the same for you. In a nutshell, the enemy doesn't want you to pay others because he doesn't want YOU to be paid. Fight back and pay people their due.(Photo via Pixabay)

Sign #4 of a Spirit of Poverty: Not Tithing or Offering to the Lord

Everything in Heaven and earth belongs to God. We need to specifically recognize this in the area of finance: all the money belongs to God. And He asks us for a minimum of 10% in the Old Testament (Malachi 3:8-12). For those of you who prefer the New Testament standard to the Old Testament one, the New Testament standard is selling everything:

"Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need."(Acts 2:44-45)

When we refuse to tithe and offer to the Lord, we are yielding to the lies of the enemy which state that the money actually belongs to us. But, the money doesn't belong to us, and we have no right to steal it. We are merely stewards. And when we steward God's money well, He can and will bless us. However, the spirit of poverty tells you that we don't have to tithe and offer – all because it doesn't want us to be blessed or have the devourer (the devil) rebuked off our lives.

Not tithing and giving offerings is choosing to believe a trick from the devil. If you want to be blessed, punch that spirit of poverty to the curb. Tithe and give to the Lord, no matter what.

Sign #5 of a Poverty Spirit: Resenting the Wealthy

If you resent the wealthy, you have a poverty spirit. If, on the other hand, you're happy for the wealthy, God can bless you. God tends to bless people who obey Him, who do good works, who give generously, and who make wise decisions. People like that often develop some measure of wealth, whether over a few years or over a lifetime.

If you hold hatred or resentment toward wealthy people, that exposes an inner belief in your heart that says, "Wealth is bad. Wealth is offensive to me." And if you believe wealth is bad, you can't receive wealth from the Lord yourself.

Sign #6 of the Spirit of Poverty: A Habit of Making Poor Financial Decisions

"As you transform your mindset through God's Word, the enemy won't be able to tempt you or rob you of your faith for reward and provision."

If you have a habit of making poor financial decisions, you could be under the influence of a poverty spirit. Spending more than you earn, wasting money, gambling, and going into debt are all signs of poverty thinking which needs to be transformed by the Word of God. All of these decisions will keep you poor.

The best way I've found to fix this? Educate yourself. Dave Ramsey has some great financial resource books. In order to get ahead financially, you have to educate yourself. The enemy doesn't want you to study and show yourself approved unto God. The enemy doesn't want you to understand how tithing and blessing are connected. The enemy doesn't want you to understand how sowing and reaping work in personal finance...all because the enemy wants you to be and stay poor. But if you will make a point to learn as much as you can about money, everything can change!

Sign #7 of a Spirit of Poverty: Criticizing Someone for Spending Money They Have

"That money was wasted on that nice ____. It should have been given to the Kingdom."

"I don't think that church should have built that (giant metal cross, new building, etc.) on their property. What a waste of money."

"Well, they just travel all the time. They probably spend all their money traveling."

Do any of these sound familiar? EVERY time, without fail, that I have ever heard someone making critical comments like this, the following two things have been true: 

The person making the comment has been in poverty with a long and unfortunate history of not thriving. The party that made the purchase did so with money they had to spend, and they felt released by God to do it. This is a sign of the spirit of poverty because it is the sin of judgment. Criticizing someone for spending money they have is a judgment of their motives. It's not a judgment of their financial status; it's judging that their hearts weren't right when they made the purchase. Statements like the ones above actually say, "This person's priorities aren't right because they didn't do what I think they should do, and I'm making the decision that they weren't right with God."

We SHOULD absolutely discern good from evil, yes. But if someone isn't in sin, and is just using their money in a way that you disapprove of and you're in the habit of criticizing them, please stop! If you aren't sure whether or not you do this, ask a trusted friend. Ask a spouse. Ask someone who will tell you the truth. (Photo via Pixabay)

So what do you do if you see any of these signs of the poverty spirit in yourself? Here are several things I'd encourage you to do: 

• Pray. Ask the Lord to show you any sin in your own heart. Repent of anything which He convicts you. Ask the Lord to show you any thought patterns you have that are too low or too base. Ask Him to show you any ways in which you have come into agreement with the poverty spirit. 

• Ask Him to show you any hindrances in your heart that keep you from receiving Papa God's abundant blessing. Educate yourself about how money works in today's economy. Educate yourself from the pages of Scripture about how money works in God's Kingdom economy. 

Then begin to aggressively follow God's plan for your finances:

• Seek Him in prayer.
• Pray about your finances and pray for wisdom.
• Follow God's instructions as written in His Word.
• Ask Him to help you build your faith for His abundance and total shalom – the Hebrew word meaning "nothing missing, nothing broken."

If you will do this consistently over time, I believe you will see change in your finances as you align your thoughts about money with God's Word. (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)

Jamie Rohrbaugh
From His Presence
Email: Jamie@FromHisPresence.com
Website: www.FromHisPresence.com

So True!! Kris Koback Quote

Kris Koback quote:  “We defend our president with guns, we defend our courtrooms with guns, we defend our banks with guns, we defend our celebrities in Hollywood with guns, but we defend our children with a sign that reads ‘This is a gun-free zone,'” Kobach said. “How well is that working?”

Bates Vision Method and Using EFT in Christian Counseling

I am still having a problem with double vision therefore I have been looking for solutions. Of course, many are praying for me, but I have also been encouraged to seek help from the medical community.   Because of suggestions from others I am working with an optometrist who specializes in binocular vision.   She sees me weekly to do eye exercises and then has me work on some during the week at home.  I have also been going to a chiropractor because I was told there are trigger points in your neck that can cause vision problems.  So far I haven't seen any results but I continue to expect single vision to return so I continue to do the exercises and seek other help. All prayer is definitely appreciated!

As I was researching eye exercises I recently found information on the Bates Vision Method which claims that through relaxation of the body and eye muscles you can reclaim much vision loss and in many cases get rid of glasses.  Here is an article on Dr. Mercola's website explaining it.  I may try this.  After all I'm doing eye exercises already so why not add a few more!

 In one of the articles on this method I also found a reference to EFT (Emotional Freedom Training).  After some research and watching several videos by Gary Craig, the founder, on YouTube I decided to see if there was any information on linking it to Christian healing methods.  I found a great article on the Communion With God website explaining it and discussing how to integrate it as a tool in Christian counseling.  Here is a link to the article.   Something else to try! There are no harmful side effects so what could it hurt?

Even though I continue to have double vision, I expect to have perfect eyesight soon. I believe I have some lessons to learn and some things to discover before it happens.  Please pray for patience.  😀 In the meantime I have learned about several things of which I knew nothing previously--so already good has come from this situation.

"California, Revolution, and the Angel of Innovation" Johnny Enlow,

    As any of you who read my blog know, I admire and respect Johnny Enlow and the words he brings for the body of Christ. Today's post on the Elijah List is no exception. This word is exciting, encouraging and challenging. Will you be one who continues to expect the next move of God to come the way it came in the past, or are you going to expect and allow God to move in new ways?
     I, for one, choose the latter.
     Help me, Lord, to put aside the old and embrace the new!

"California, Revolution, and the Angel of Innovation"

Johnny Enlow, Santa Clarita, CA

I believe this May, a revolution comes of full age for the state of California and it is going to affect everybody, everywhere. California is the world's catalytic leader for most everything, and has further more become the catalyst for culture itself. It is both an enigmatic and magnetic state that much of the nation has a simultaneous love/hate relationship with. There are unhinged, unbalanced policies, requirements and taxes that are "head scratchers" almost everywhere, yet it is the number one destination for dreamers from all over. 

This dynamic allows it to have almost 1/8 of the total United States population (over 40 million) and to be an economic global powerhouse all on its own terms. Not only is it a Promised Land of sorts for dreamers here and from nations south of the border, but it is a top destination for millionaires from China, as well as other Asian nations. In actuality, there is a significant number of people from almost every nation on the planet. Whatever California's faults are, it is still the most welcoming state in the union (to some that IS its fault). California is wacky, wonderful, irritating, and exhilarating all at once.

California: God's View

"Many are trying to jumpstart old expressions of revival and holiness, but what I sense is coming is decidedly not that but something altogether new."

In 2012, while pastoring with my wife in Atlanta, Georgia, the Lord spoke to me about His heart for California, and out of that we moved to California, where we have been based for the last 5 years. What He spoke to me was this: 

"California has been minimized and diminished. It has been prophesied into the sea. It has been railed against. My Holy Spirit broods over that state, and I am not done with California. It has been the head of society for over 100 years, and it will still continue to be that. The 7 mountains of California release realities that not only affect the whole nation, but they set a standard for the whole world. What starts in California goes global. I am now going to radically affect the 7 mountains of California and as a product of that the seven mountains of the world will be affected. 

"I want you to move to California and I want you to speak and prophesy that everywhere. Cast down every prophetic word of judgment against California and encourage and walk beside those that are on those 7 mountains. The enemy wants the Church to abandon California and to prophesy her demise so that the mantles and anointings I intended for California would be distorted and counterfeited." 

God then walked me through California's history of the last 100 plus years and the catalytic nature of everything that happens here on the 7 mountains. California is a Promised Land and it has in macro form a most uncanny resemblance to natural Israel. This, I am sure, is part of a mystery yet to be revealed. California's topography and agriculture also have an uncanny resemblance to Israel's. As a center of innovation and cutting-edge advances, it has again a matching dynamic with Israel. 

Furthermore, California is a major destination for Jews—and the Los Angeles area alone has an estimated 1 million who call the city home. While California is famous for "Hollywood" and "Silicon Valley" (Apple, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Ebay, Amazon, etc.), many of the key people in both of those industries are Jewish. They are also at the tops of the other 7 mountains of society as they live out their Abrahamic commission to prosper. (Photo via Pixabay)

Additionally, they are wired to know that their call is to do something that makes things better for the world. To our shame as the Church, while we have been doctrinally-inspired to tell the world things are worse and worse and are going to soon be cataclysmically so, these descendants of Abraham who mostly don't know Jesus, have been those primarily responsible for making things better for others through their inventions and innovations. They, while not yet reconciled to their Messiah, are doing more to be "salt and light" than those who should be passionately doing that. 

We, the Church, have taken great advantage of the advanced tools of technology/social media that they have made available, yet we ourselves have been perhaps the least innovative people on the planet. Christians have typically been so heavenly/rapture-minded that we have been primarily absent from the tech/innovation advances. This is all going to change now.

The Angel of Innovation

As I was praying into an upcoming conference I will be speaking at in Los Angeles, I saw a great angel of innovation presiding over these meetings. This angel has been around, but is being released at another level, coinciding with the 70th birthday of Israel—which is in May. 

There is once again interplay between happenings in Israel and California. The event is called SALT (May 3-5), and will be held at the famous Angelus Temple where Aimee Semple McPherson ministered for years. She was particularly known for her creativity and the innovative ways she thought and did everything. Most of her new ways of presenting the Gospel were met with boisterous criticism by the general church leaders of that day, but she became a household name that was greater than that of any Hollywood star of her day (reportedly greater than that of the President himself). She was a top draw, even for Hollywood elites, because of her creative and exciting presence and power-filled meetings that were unlike anything others had seen at church or ministry. 

Aimee shocked the religious Christian world by boldly taking all aspects of the Gospel, including the healing power of God, into the mainstream world. She pioneered the usage of radio as a vehicle to reach the masses; she had the first mega church in America—and it was designed to reach the masses. She was the first to use the arts to share the Gospel, often using elaborate productions from the platform to do her preaching. While most of the Church was trying to practice "be ye separate from the world," Aimee was in touch with Jesus' words: "You are the salt of the earth."

By declaring we are the salt, Jesus commissioned us to live lives that are so filled with His love, power, and creative innovation that we literally preserve society, not allowing the world's culture to rot. 

During the Great Depression, Aimee outdid the government in feeding the poor of Los Angeles, and she had a tremendous heart of justice with multiple ministries that facilitated that. Though she did not do things perfectly, in spirit she might have been 100 years ahead of most Christians. I believe Aimee had a 7 mountain reformation mentality and understanding along with a rare freedom from religion that allowed her to love unconditionally. The Holy Spirit was clearly with her, as she was also known for the miraculous being her every-day reality. 

What she did from the stage of Angelus Temple is now going to go to the stages of the 7 mountains (media, economy, education, government, family, arts, religion) as this angel of innovation is going to be key in activating the salt within us that we were meant to be.

Salting the World with the New 

"The enemy wants the Church to abandon California and to prophesy her demise so that the mantles and anointings I intended for California would be distorted and counterfeited."

Something is going to be released at this SALT conference that is going to unleash Christian innovation as never before. I believe it is out of honor to Aimee Semple McPherson that God is choosing her original staging area as a release point for something unprecedented. We are going to cease being the one-trick-pony—the over-reactive, expectant of judgment, fear mongers that we have tended to be. We are going to stop salting societal wounds and realize that salt is a healing, curing, and preserving element when it's used the way God intended, sourced in love.

Many are trying to jumpstart old expressions of revival and holiness, but what I sense is coming is decidedly not that but something altogether new. The young will probably have to showcase this next expression as we older ones are almost terminally inclined to seek yesterday's version of revival and holiness. Many are sensing the wave of the new coming in, but with it some are trying to reboot what was yesterday's expression of a move of God, based often on yesterday's assumptions of it being "the very last days." 

Rather than belaboring that or further expounding upon that, let me just say a revolution is about to be unleashed and I believe it will start in California. It will be called many things, but ultimately it will be about the people of God shifting into innovation at every level.

Just as businesses become irrelevant if they don't innovate, so too will those who stick to the old script of how God moves and become irrelevant in societal reformation. He is calling us to showcase His Kingdom in the 9 to 5 world by evidencing that we actually have a living relationship with the Creator of the universe. He has solutions, upgrades, and new ways of doing things for everything. Mining can be done a new way. The homeless can be taken care of in a new way. School can be taught in a better way. Energy can be plentiful, free, and non- polluting. There ARE cures for AIDS, cancer, blindness, quadriplegics, Alzheimers and more.

The plight of inner cities can be solved. The penal system can actually be rehabilitated. Elections can happen transparently and fairly. Sex-trade and the pornography epidemic can be completely interrupted. Cars can be upgraded where accidents are rare. The FBI, the FDA, and the IRS can all be reformed and upgraded. Housing can be beautiful and affordable. Poverty can essentially be eliminated. Science can prove God is who He says He is. And so on and so on.

We have assumed that most of these above plights can only be fixed by traditional repentance and revival. However, what is lacking is the innovative solutions sourced in love from those who are called by His name to bring a better way that becomes the new standard bearer. Germs, for example, didn't cease being problems through more prayer, holiness, or revival. Someone discovering how germs thrive and how to kill them is what became the game-changer. (Photo via Pixabay)

Practical honesty is not currently increasing in society because more people are going to church or the like. Practical honesty is increasing because cameras and surveillance technology are bringing another level of undeniable accountability. Even pastors are having to resign now because electronic trails are confirming their misdeeds.

Yes, we also need church meetings done in innovative ways—but it is the Church in society (the Ekklesia) every day that needs to be the greatest evidence of us being the SALT. The baptism of fire that is present and upcoming on the Church is to burn up the religious boxes we have mainly camped in. We are going to learn that the things we love to sing about our God are the very expressions of Him He wants us to become in society. We sing song after song of how He radically, unconditionally loves us, forgives us, restores us, gives us another chance, is kind, is generous, is graceful, etc. None of our songs are about how pleased we are that He points out our sin or how He holds us accountable, yet somehow we think that is a valuable role for US as it relates to the world. Aren't you glad that is all going to change?!

California Overhaul

California is now going to go into total overhaul-mode. Intruders, impostors, and ingrates are going to lose positions of power and influence, especially on the mountain of government, making opportunities for those with hearts to truly serve. California will cease being an orphan state, bereft of identity and ignorant of her assignment. Out of that will come unending ripples of grace and benevolence to the nations. Christians as well are going to cease operating as orphans, bereft of identity and ignorant of our assignment. (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)

Johnny Enlow
Johnny and Elizabeth
Email: Contact@JohnnyandElizabeth.com
Website: www.RESTORE7.com

What Kind of Information Does Google and Facebook Have on You? by Dr. Mercola

If you are at all concerned about your privacy you may want to read this eye-opening article by Dr. Mercola.  I have posted the beginning of the article below.  To continue reading click on the link.

By Dr. Mercola

Google and Facebook are two of the largest and clearest monopolies in the world, and between them, the harvesting of your personal information goes far beyond what most people realize was even possible.

I have recently removed Google Search from this website and replaced with a search engine without the privacy concerns, but has similar capabilities.   The search bar at the top of the website is the most used and essential feature for you to research the many thousands of pages I've published over the last 20 years.

Google catches every single thing you do online if you’re using a Google-based feature, and Facebook has a record of everything you’ve ever said or “liked.” All of this data is being used to build very powerful personality profiles that are sold for profit and used in a variety of different ways. As previously reported by Gawker:1

“Every word of every email sent through Gmail and every click made on a Chrome browser is watched by the company. ‘We don’t need you to type at all,’ [Google co-founder Eric] Schmidt once said. ‘We know where you are. We know where you’ve been. We can more or less know what you’re thinking about.’”

Facebook Sells Your User Data, and It Can Be Used Against You

According to CNN Money,2 98 percent of Facebook’s revenue comes from advertising, totaling $39.9 billion last year alone. The company is now facing a firestorm after The New York Times and British media outlets reported Cambridge Analytica used “improperly gleaned” data from 87 million Facebook users to influence American voters.3

This is not the first time political parties have utilized facebook data without your knowledge, and it won't be the last.   Political  parties will continue to fight about who used what data to manipulate voters in the least worst way.   What is important to understand is that you and your network of friends are being heavily watched and this data is sold with the intent to manipulate your actions.

This manipulation is not just about politics, it's making YOU the product.  The intimate details about you, your family and friends are being sold because it is valuable to entities that want to influence you.

In the video above, Cambridge Analytica data scientist Christopher Wylie, who blew the whistle on his employer, revealing the company built “a system that could profile individual U.S. voters in order to target them with personalized political advertisements” during the presidential campaign. As noted by CNN:

“If the Cambridge Analytica scandal leads to tougher data protection regulations — as some policymakers are demanding — or puts people off sharing as much about themselves online, that could hurt Facebook's revenue, and that of all social media platforms.”

It’s important to realize that Google is also the world’s greatest artificial intelligence (AI) company, having purchased Deep Mind for $400 million several years ago. Deep Mind now employs over 700 AI researchers, the largest collection anywhere in the world. 

They are responsible for defeating the human Go champion in 2017, which far exceeds the complexity of defeating a human chess champion. With this level of AI, it is not hard for them to sort through all your data with their deep learning algorithms to detect patterns that can be exploited for profit.

What Kind of Data Does Facebook and Google Really Have on You?

In a March 30 article for The Guardian,4 Dylan Curran takes a deep dive into the data harvesting going on between Facebook and Google, and for anyone concerned about their privacy, the results are disconcerting to say the least. Here’s a summary list of the kind of information these two corporations collect, track and store on each and every single user:

Extremely detailed location tracking If you have a Google-enabled device on your person that has location tracking turned on, it will store the exact details of where you are at any given moment, and this data accumulates from the first day you started using Google on the device. To review the details of your own data, see this Google Maps Timeline link.5

Complete search histories on all devices Google keeps tabs on everything you’ve ever searched for, on any device, including search histories you’ve deleted from an individual device. To check your own search data, see Google’s MyActivity page.6

Personalized advertisement profile Based on your data profile — location, gender, age, work and private interests, relationship status, income, health concerns, future plans and so on — Google creates personalized advertisements that might interest you. Have you ever done a search for a particular product or service and suddenly found yourself flooded with ads for that precise thing? That’s your data profile at work. To see your personalized ad profile, see Google’s Ads Settings.7

App usage Do you use apps and extensions? If so, Google knows which ones you’re using, how often, when, where and with whom you’re interacting when you do. To see your app usage data, check out Google’s Security Permission Settings.8

YouTube history Much can be gleaned from the types of videos you’re interested in, and Google keeps tabs on every single one you’ve ever searched for, watched and commented on. To review your own data, see your Youtube Feed History page.9

Facebook interactions Like Google, Facebook records, tracks and stores every single thing you do on Facebook: Every post, comment, “like,” private message and file ever sent and received, contacts, friends lists, login locations, stickers and more. Even the recurrent use of certain words is noted and can become valuable currency for advertisers.  When Curran downloaded all of the information Facebook has stored on him, he ended up with a 600MG file, or roughly 400,000 word documents. For individuals who start using Facebook at a young age, the lifetime data harvest could be inconceivably large. To view and download your Facebook data, see Facebook’s Download Your Info page.10

Clandestine microphone access Disturbingly, both Facebook and Google have the ability to access your microphone without your knowledge. If you suddenly find yourself on the receiving end of ads for products or services you just spoke about out loud, chances are one or more apps are linked into your microphone and are eavesdropping. Below is a video by Safer Tech describing how to disable the microphone on your device to prevent Facebook and Google apps from listening in.11

Clandestine webcam access Your built-in webcam on your phone, tablet, laptop or computer can also be accessed by various apps. To learn more about app permissions, see “How to Master Your App Permissions So You Don’t Get Hacked — The Full Guide,” by Heimdal Security.12 As noted in this article, “For a long time, app permissions were something the regular PC user had no idea about. When installing new software on a computer, we were never asked if application X could access our web camera, our list of contacts, etc. … App permissions may seem like a nuisance, but the better you know how they work, the safer you can keep your data.”

Event tracking By tracking your Google calendar entries, combined with your location data, Google knows what events you’ve attended, when and for how long.

Your fitness routine If you use Google Fit, all the details about your fitness routine and workouts, down to how many steps you’ve taken on any given day, are recorded and stored.

A lifetime of photographic evidence Twenty years ago, photos were a private matter, reminisced over in photo albums and displayed around the home. Today, people’s lives are on public display online, and Google captures it all. When combined with facial recognition software and other technological identification applications, including metadata detailing the time and place of each snap, your photos are a treasure trove of private information.

A lifetime of emails Google also has every single email you’ve ever sent, received and deleted.

Deleted files and information You probably delete files and information every now and then for the sake of safety, right? You might decide to delete that list of passwords from your phone, for example, in case you lose it or it gets hacked. Well, Google still has all of that information.  As noted by Curran, showing a screen shot of his downloaded Google data, “This is my Google Drive, which includes files I explicitly deleted, including my resume, my monthly budget and all the code, files and websites I’ve ever made, and even my PGP private key, which I deleted, that I use to encrypt emails.”

If you’ve done it or researched it, Google and Facebook have a record of it  Like Facebook, Google allows you to download a copy of the data they have stored on you. Curran’s personal data cache from Google was 5.5GB big, equal to about 3 million word documents. Essentially, your Google account contains a detailed diary of everything you’ve ever done or planned to do, and where you were when you did it. To download your own Google cache, see Google’s Takeout page.13

How Is Your Personal Information Being Used?

Google has “your bookmarks, emails, contacts, your Google Drive files … your YouTube videos, the photos you’ve taken on your phone, the businesses you’ve bought from, the products you’ve bought through Google … data from your calendar, your Google Hangout sessions, your location history, the music you listen to, the Google books you’ve purchased, the Google groups you’re in, the websites you’ve created, the phones you’ve owned, the pages you’ve shared, how many steps you walk in a day,” Curran writes, noting his own data cache included:14

Continue reading...

The Lord Says: "Today Everything Changes" Helen Cobanov,

    I thought this was a very encouraging and wise word from Helen Cobanov.  God wants us all to be learning even though many of us have not even applied for our learner's permit.  We just sit back and lament that we don't know how to drive.  It is time to let Him teach us how to "be about the Father's business."  When we do that, everything changes!

The Lord Says: "Today Everything Changes"

Helen Cobanov, Brisbane, Australia

The Lord has been speaking to me these past few weeks saying, "Today, everything changes." The first day I heard this, it just so happened to be the day my son Noah went for his learner's license (permit). I thought, "Well, yes Lord. Today everything does change!" But since that morning, every day I have been waking up and hearing these words, "Today everything changes."

As I have been leaning into God about what He is saying, He started to speak to me regarding my complacency and self-doubts – the feelings of not being qualified, not ready and not able to do what God is asking me to do.

"If My people are waiting to be fully qualified, they will be waiting for a very long time!"

Then He spoke to me about the journey my son has been on to get his learner's license. Noah has never driven a car on the roads before, and previously never understood road rules. But for Noah to get his learner's license, he had to be prepared to take the first steps. Then, with no experience and only the limited knowledge he had read about, he took and passed a simple paper test. He can now get into a car and learn to drive! He is NOT a qualified driver, but that doesn't stop him from learning.

Then the Lord said to me "Helen, people are sitting and waiting because they don't feel qualified to do what I am asking them to do! They are filled with self-doubt and complacency in the waiting. If you sit around waiting, without being prepared to take the first steps and then sit in the driver's seat with your L-plates on (learner's plates), you will not learn! You will never be ready and you will never feel qualified to do what I am asking you to do!" (Note: An L-plate is a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle if its driver is a learner under instruction.)

Get Used to Your L-Plates! I Am Your Instructor

Then the Lord said, "I am your instructor, and it's time to get used to your L-Plates! Don't become complacent! You must never stop being prepared to learn and grow! This is how you move forward into the fullness I have planned for you! The vehicle represents your giftings and the ministries I have given you.

"Just like a learner driver must have an instructor always sitting beside them to qualify them to learn to drive on the roads, I am your instructor. I am the one who qualifies you, teaches you and guides you as you move forward in your giftings and the ministry I have for you! The journey I have ahead for you is great. We will travel the roads together; I will never leave you."

"We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant..." (2 Cor. 3:4-6 NLT) 

Then, in a vision, the Lord showed me a person sitting in a vehicle in their driveway. They were sitting idle, not going anywhere, gripped with self-doubt and fear, believing they were unable to drive the vehicle. Then the Lord opened the door. He was the instructor and He sat in the car next to them. He gave instructions about the vehicle and about what they needed to do to get moving. He handed them an L-Plate and said, "Today everything changes...IF you will trust Me!" (Photo via Unsplash)

The person took hold of the L-Plates, put them on the vehicle, listened to the instructor and started to move. The instructor was teaching them and showing them where to go and what to do. They were learning, growing in confidence, and covering great ground as they went.

Don't Go It Alone

Then the Lord showed me another vision. I saw some people driving very confidently with their L-Plates on. Then they stopped and opened the passenger door and told the instructor that he can hop out and they can drive on their own now. They threw off the L-Plates and started driving the roads without the instructor. Most of these people just stuck to the familiar roads. The went backwards and forwards, round and round, never venturing into new territory and only traveling the roads they have already been down.

"Just like a learner driver must have an instructor always sitting beside them to qualify them to learn to drive on the roads, I am your instructor."

When these people came to a new road or a crossroad, it was unfamiliar to them! They would ask themselves, "Where do I go now? What do I do here?" Most would just turn around and go back to the old familiar road, but some chose to venture down this unfamiliar road. As they traveled it, they missed important signs and they missed directions. They became tunnel-visioned and ultimately got completely off-track and lost.

They eventually pulled over to the side of the road and sat idle, gripped by fear and completely lost. They realized that to travel these new roads and new territory, they are not meant to do this alone! They understood they needed their instructor back in the vehicle to show them where to go and what to do! They needed to be willing to put their L-Plates back on and learn!

God spoke to me and said, "If My people are waiting to be fully qualified, they will be waiting for a very long time! They will sit idle, with the engine running, going no-where. Or if My people are wanting to go it alone, they will not be able to move forward into new territory and will miss what I have planned for them." 

He continued to say, "The path I have planned for you is far greater than you know! But we MUST travel it together! Today I am calling you to be willing to put on your L-Plates and to stop sitting idle. Stop listening to the lies of the enemy that you are not good enough or not qualified enough! Put aside self-doubt, fears, complacency and distractions. Have faith in Me, for I qualify you! (Photo via Unsplash)

"I will show you which way to go and I will never leave you or forsake you. Will you trust Me and listen to My instruction? We will travel a great distance together, we will go places you never thought possible. IF you are willing to never stop learning and growing, you will be able to move forward with confidence into all I have called you to be."

Let's pray this prayer together from Psalm 25:4-10:

"Lord, direct me throughout my journey, so I can experience Your plans for my life. Reveal the life-paths that are pleasing to You. Escort me along the way; take me by the hand and teach me. For You are the God of my increasing salvation; I have wrapped my heart into Yours! Forgive my failures as a young man and overlook the sins of my immaturity. Give me grace, Lord! Always look at me through Your eyes of love – Your forgiving eyes of mercy and compassion. When You think of me, see me as one You love and care for. How good You are to me! When people turn to You, they discover how easy You are to please – so faithful and true! Joyfully You teach them the proper path, even when they go astray. Keep showing the humble Your path and lead them into the best decision. Bring revelation-light that trains them in the truth. All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who follow the ways of His covenant." (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)

Helen Cobanov
His Light Tower
Email: hislighttower@hotmail.com
Website: www.hislighttower.com

"God's Favor is Falling in the Fires of Adversity!" Lan Vawser

"God's Favor is Falling in the Fires of Adversity!"

Lana Vawser, Brisbane, Australia

Forged in the Fire

The Lord has been speaking to me recently for those who have been through intense fires of adversity over the last season. Many have faced fires that almost "took them out". They've faced intense fires of adversity where the enemy came ferociously to steal, kill and destroy, and were left in that place of wondering whether they were ever going to make it out alive. 

The Lord showed me that these fires of adversity were some of the most intense battles of their life. These fires catapulted people into dark nights of the soul, while others went into a level of warfare they had never experienced. Some felt like it was a demonic assignment of assault in every direction, and breakthrough seemed further than ever. Many faced the battle of their lives to keep their hope in the Lord to bring deliverance. 

"There is going to be such significant acceleration and suddenlies..."

There is great hope! The deliverance of the Lord is now delivering people out of the fires of adversity. The Lord is moving powerfully to deliver and vindicate His people.

I heard the Lord say: "It is a new season of favor! My favor is falling on what I forged in the fires of adversity."

When I heard the Lord say this, it was like the heralding of a season shift – a season of radical, unprecedented favor upon those who have been in this place of adversity. The Lord showed me that in the fires of adversity, the hearts of His people were turned like compasses to the true north of Jesus more than ever before. It solidified and concreted their life in Christ, their dependence upon Him, and the reality that "man does not live by bread alone but by every Word that flows from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).

The are so many different things the Lord forged in the fires of adversity that we have yet to see. The Lord did a deeper work within the hearts of His people as they looked to Him for help (Psalm 121) and deliverance. They held onto Him and His faithfulness when the enemy was trying to kill them, break them and hold them from their destiny. 

New and Creative Opportunities

Books, music, creative expressions and new wine will make room for new opportunities. The Lord showed me that there were MAJOR deposits of Heaven which took place in the fires of adversity within the hearts and lives of His people. 

There was such a deep deposit that took place in these fires of adversity by the hand of the Lord, even in the midst of the enemy's plans to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10), and people found the fourth man in the fire. They found Him in a way they have never found Him before – our beautiful Jesus. In that place, He made deep deposits that some have already been birthed and others are being birthed now. (Photo via Unsplash)

This birthing HAS taken place for many in books, music and new creative expressions, and the birthing is going to continue in different avenues in this season. What the Lord has deposited and forged in the fire is going to FLOW OUT in NEW DIRECTIONS and EXPRESSIONS, and it is all carrying NEW WINE! This is beautiful, fresh, costly, weighty wine that is being released, making room for NEW OPPORTUNITIES.

I heard the Lord say: "Many are about to see that the fires of adversity tried to kill them; it was a level of suffering and trauma in the assault of the enemy coming against them. But the favor I am now opening up in this new season which I am leading them into, is going to FAR OUTWEIGH the trauma they endured."

Faithfulness Has Moved His Heart

The Lord showed me that He was SO MOVED by the FAITHFULNESS of many hearts towards Him in the fire. The enemy came strongly, everything was going crazy and so much was shaken, lost or broken, yet peoples hearts remained FAITHFUL to Jesus. Their hands still lifted in praise to Jesus for who He is. In the intense fire and intense darkness, they still stood on His Word, they still held on, they still whispered His name in the night hours when terror surrounded them, and His heart was moved. 

The season has now changed and the favor that is opening up has not even been conceived by His people (1 Corinthians 2:9). The enemy tried to kill them, strip them and stop people, and now the winds of favor and increase of the Lord are blowing upon them to bring radical increase, opportunity and favor. There is a significant shift to a season of great REWARD from the Lord upon many.

Ease and Joy in the Favor 

"My favor is falling on what I forged in the fires of adversity."

I saw a tremendous ease and joy in the favor the Lord is releasing to His people. Where many have felt they have been in a deep place of warfare and in these fires of adversity for so long, there is a new level of EASE AND JOY being released to them in the favor of the Lord.

There is going to be more than double portions! There is going to be such significant acceleration and suddenlies, and such REFRESHING JOY is being released to many through the radical outpouring of His favor.

The radical demonstration of His favor is going to see the resurrection power come back to areas of the heart of many that were bruised, shaken and tormented by the fires of adversity. Life is coming back to those parts of the heart. The dryness is being washed out by the outpouring of His Spirit and joy! 

Resurrection life is coming back to the dry bones of dreams that died in the fires of adversity, and are now coming back to life within hearts. The favor the Lord is releasing in what He is setting up and positioning, is going to raise the faith of many along with the expectation of His people, giving us the joy and excitement to believe that this is just the beginning of the wonderful plans and restoration He is releasing into our lives. (Photo via flickr)

The enemy thought he won...he didn't! The favor of the Lord being poured out now is going to remind him over and over again that he should not have messed with you, and remind him of his position...DEFEATED! Where he assaulted you, now there will be RAPID INCREASE! (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)

Lana Vawser
Lana Vawser Ministries
Email: lanavawser@gmail.com
Website: www.lanavawser.com