The Journey into Remembering by Amanda Leonard

I have been on a journey of re-discovering my Father. I have believed so many things about Him that were so far from the truth. Whether it be what people had told me He was like, my preconceived ideas of what He was like, whatever demonic doctrine I had believed, He is helping me to remember, before all these things. He is helping me come back to that place as a child.
For me, it's been that I haven't seen Him rightly, so I haven't seen myself or others rightly either. I say, "re-discovering" because He knew me before I even came to earth, He was mindFULL of me (His mind was full of thoughts towards me). So I imagine that I knew Him too, so the re-discovery begins again.
A child, is so sensitive to His voice, His leading, His love because they just came from Love Himself. There's been no time yet, to believe opposite of what they originated from, anything contrary to what they know to be true, would just be ridiculous. Their home is still fresh in their hearts. The thoughts He has towards them are still vibrating within and everything echos His name, His nature, His character. We've all seen it, in the face of a child; sheer wonder, creative expression, love that knows no boundaries. The very nature of their Daddy seeps out. I can just hear someone saying to them, "You look and act just like your Daddy!"
Then something happens and life experience begins to speak louder. The mind becomes like static. We tighten up, leaning in to try and hear the familiar tune our hearts once sang.
Often times it fades, but then one day you hear one note and the memories begin to replay. Bits and pieces come and flood your heart and pours from your lips, you remember!!! The more you sing it, the more you begin to remember. You re-member, that you are a member from another dimension, eternity. Eternity begins to tell you again who you really are, why you were created.
I believed at one time, I was created to worship. Sure, I love to worship my Daddy because He is amazing but that's not why He created me. He doesn't even need my worship, just as David discovered with His intimate time with Him. Acts 17...says, He doesn't even need to be worshipped with human hands.
I've heard the prophetic community talk about rebuilding the tabernacle of David, the worship tent, with 24/7 worship and this is not a bad idea but I wonder if this is more the tabernacle that it's referring to. The knowing, dwelling, abiding; the "tent" without walls, (our own bodies) where He created us to BE, to be His image, His likeness upon the earth. The place within us that He can be Himself. The place within where we know ALL His thoughts are towards us and His love cannot be measured. He created us for intimate relationship. This is how His Kingdom comes.
My son is always trying to impress me or others, he gets it honest, as I had always done the same. He longs for attention, mainly because he is learning, as am I, that the Father's endless attention is upon us, not because of anything we do but because He loves us. We don't have to fight for His attention or strive for some position, we are in Him and He is in us. His thoughts are forever on His children.
I, at times would try to impress God with my worship, which led to striving and trying to gather my identity from that place. Worship is just a byproduct of our oneness, of our union with Him. He just wants us to BE.
He has always wanted relationship. He is so far greater, bigger, more creative, more, more, more than I have ever known up to this point. His thoughts towards us are always good and His love really is like an endless ocean, a bottomless sea. I use to just sing it, now I'm beginning to believe it. I'm excited to be on this incredible journey of remembering again.

Amanda Leonard
Time in His Presence Blog

He Makes All Things New by Amanda Leonard

It seems one of our greatest setbacks, is the repetitious cycle of our old ways. Jesus talked a lot about old things becoming new. It is our choice to let go of the old and walk in the newness of Life in Christ. We must receive new wineskins because the old ones can't hold the new wine. Our old life is crucified, and now we have a new life in Christ. We can try all we want to change our old ways, but until we allow Holy Spirit to do what needs to be done in our lives, we will constantly revert back to the ways of the world, the teachings and wisdom of man. Man without Holy Spirit will just fumble through with limited knowledge and is unable to comprehend the things of the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:12-18 "What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. "
Last week, while praying and talking with the Lord, I had a vision. I saw the church on a hamster wheel. While bowing low before the feet of the Father, I heard Him say, "The church needs to get off the hamster wheel!!" I could feel in my spirit, that He was pretty adamant about it. He was tired of seeing them run on this wheel, round and round in circles, not going anywhere. They were doing the same thing (old ways) and expecting to get different results. If I remember correctly, that is the definition of insanity. They were just expounding energy, just serving the Lord, because it was all they knew to do. They were trying their hardest to "run the race." They were so worn out and tired. This is the old way. The old must go to make room for the new.
The Father was calling them to rest in Him. This is the new way, to be one with Him. The new way is to stop all the striving in our own strength. Instead, keep our eyes fixed on the finished work of the cross and receive all that He has already given through the cross, His blood and resurrection life that now lives in us through the person of Holy Spirit.
We no longer have to wrestle like Jacob did. We no longer have to wait for a burning bush, or a cloud by day or fire by night. We have been made one with Him, we are reconciled to God through Christ. We are now the sign and wonder, we are the burning bush, the cloud of His glory, the ark of His presence and glory, we are His temple where His presence resides. The old is gone and the new has come.
Revelation 21:1-27 "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death, there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. 5 And He who sits on the throne said, 'Behold I am making all things new.' "
God is an absolute genius. He sees the future us, completely new and filled with the fullness of Christ. Eternity is His view and He's waiting for His sons to bring eternity into now. There's no separation to Him, just as heaven and earth are not separate to Him.
It may seem separate to us because we've been taught all our lives that it is. We have been taught that heaven is just a place that we go when we die physically. Death has never been a friend of God. Jesus has conquered death and now it's time for death to be conquered in our lives as well. Let's believe more in His life, than death. Heaven is here now, where He is, in you, wherever you are. I believe the second coming of Christ, is Him coming into His body. No longer do we even have to go in and out (John 10:9), you can if you want because it is your home but now we have the opportunity to dwell, to be where He is, Him be where we are, we go together. Hand in hand, heart in Heart.
I'd like to share this personal experience with you, just for you to know what is possible IN Christ. I am nothing special outside of Him. I want you to know that I did not pray for hours on end, or fast, or try to make this experience happen. It caught me totally off guard and it was in a corporate setting. The reason I even say these things is because, I am no different than you. I am learning to walk more in this reality of Christ and I together, us working together to bring His Kingdom to earth. It's an exciting journey, especially when you don't feel the pressure of trying to make something happen, or perform a certain way, but trusting in Him and being taken by surprise many times on this wild ride.
This is an example of how there is no separation between heaven and earth, that where He is, we are too, if we are abiding in Him by Holy Spirit. Also, as a side note, I do not practice Necromancy (calling on the dead) and I'm not a physic. I know things like this can make people question and it's risky for me to even make it public but I believe others are having same experiences as well, actually I know they are. Part of that feeling many people get when things make them uncomfortable, is because of our old teachings. Sometimes it's discernment but if we are in Christ, we will know and there's no reason to be afraid. So just ask Him about it. Anything is possible for those IN Christ!! Anyways, I'll cut to the chase smile emoticon.
I believe this was about a year ago or longer now, we were at the Outer Banks at a corporate gathering. We are all just resting in His presence, waiting on the Lord, worshiping and enjoying Him. My body was on the couch but I could see and experience what was happening in the heavenly realms. A young boy approached me, who looked to be in his early twenties, wearing all white, with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. Without saying a word, I knew that this was the son of the lady who was sitting right beside me, who had transitioned to heaven. He wanted me to give a message to his mom. He looked at me and said, "Will you tell my mom that God didn't take me, He received me? Also, here's a key for her heart. It's for her to keep and unlock when she's ready because Jesus wants to heal some places in her heart."
He turned and walked away, it looked like he was walking on water. I was shaking uncontrollably, because my flesh couldn't contain the glory of what had just taken place and the whole time I was sitting beside this boy's mom. I heard Holy Spirit clearly speak to me and tell me not to share this with her until her husband came and sat beside her. Not even a minute later, he stood up from across the room and came and sat beside her. I could barely get out the words to share with them of what had happened. There was so much healing that took place that day, all because Jesus knew that she needed it. There was no separation that day of heaven and earth, and in actuality there's no separation any other day. (Ephesians 2:6)
This is the new way, not that we are to seek the experience and try and make these sorts of things happen, but to know that in Him, through Jesus (our door) anything can happen, anything! So the new way is that if this does happen, it won't be weird but normal. The supernatural is really just super normal. It's supposed to be normal for us that are IN HIM. It seems like the Lord has been trying to show me bits of this truth for the past three years. As I look back, the things He was showing me all point to this truth. Many times my most intense times with the Lord have been when I had absolutely no agenda, things would happen that in no way could I work up or imagine. It is just a product of oneness.
I believe right now across the body of Christ that He is showing people things that are still the old way, so that we can bring it to Him and let Him show us His new way. Whether it's old wounds, old mindsets, old ways of prayer, His light is revealing the old that needs to go. There's no reason to get anxious, feeling like you have to get rid of every old thing you've learned, or all the old wounds that need healing. He is well able to show you what needs to go and what needs to be healed. By His grace, He will do it as we allow Him to. If it's broken He can fix it.
He longs for oneness with His bride, to tabernacle with His people. He wants His people to know that they are blessed, they no longer have to call forth blessings. Ephesians 1:3 NLT "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ." He wants His children to know that we no longer have to beg for things He's already given, believe it and with great expectation receive it, and walk in everything He's so graciously paid for. This is the new way.
The bride is coming into her new name!! He wants His bride to know how lovely and accepted she is. He longs for her to walk as His equal, in the authority of Christ within her. No longer is she called deserted or the name of her land desolate. She is the crown of His splendor, in His hand a royal diadem. She will be called "Hephzibah" (His delight is in her) and her land "Beulah" (married). (Isaiah 62)
Newness, newness, newness is here!! Receive new names, new hearts, new assignments, new direction, new mindsets, new opened doors, new health, new bodies, new ways of prayer and worship, new awareness of our holy blessed union with Jesus the Christ!!!
He has given us His Spirit to give us everything that we ever need, you name it, He's given it to us. All of heaven and earth is our inheritance, there is no separation. All we have to do is realize it and come to Him, trust Him and His ability. Religion says the opposite, that we are separated from Him, we have to work to become clean, we have to earn His love by doing these steps, obey these rules and protocols and do the right thing.
So repent, (change your mind), for the Kingdom of God is in our midst. Receive His new and living way, where Rivers of His life flow. Old ways must shift, old wounds will heal and bring beauty from ashes, old mindsets make way for new oil, all the old must bow to our King Jesus! So thankful that in You King Jesus, YOU MAKE ALL THINGS NEW!!!!

Amanda Leonard
Time in His Presence

The Old Man is Dead – In Christ is Newness of Life by Amanda Leonard

There comes a time in each of our lives that we must go from merely having head knowledge about our Father, to that deep KNOWING Him in our hearts. This can be a difficult journey for many of us, mainly because of the way that we are taught from the time we enter this natural world. Almost every one of us were taught by the ways of the world. We have been taught "the way that seems right to a man." (Proverbs 14:12)
We've been taught things like, "What you see is what you get.", "Don't get your hopes up", or "I'll believe it, when I see it." That last statement alone would blow all of Christianity out of the water, if it were true. There have been many things that we have learned throughout our lives that were the ways and wisdom of men.
Religion is the byproduct of many of these false ideas and perceptions. So many of the body of Christ, continue to be sin-conscious (old man) instead of Christ-conscious (new man in Christ). Sin-consciousness keep us focused on ourselves, while Christ-consciousness keeps us focused on Christ. I believe religion is one of the main ways that we get "stuck in our heads" and are unable to move into the reality of being one with Him and His truth being rooted in our hearts. Religion says you must do this, this and this (works apart from His grace), to earn His love and acceptance. Religion is like a wall that causes His true love to ricochet away from our hearts.
The way that seems right to a man is still the old mindset, the Adamic way of thinking; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which leads to death (no life in Christ). The old man was born into Adam, where it was all about "self" that's why we must be born again. We must die to the ways of Adam and be born again into the newness of life in Christ.
In the garden, when Satan told Eve, if you eat of this tree you will be like God, they didn't realize they already were made in His image. They were already like Him. That was the day their identity surely died. The same goes for the way that seems right to a man (head-knowledge), it only leads to death.
We need His knowledge and wisdom, His love and mercy flowing in our hearts. He is our source of life. Our identity needs to be secure in Him alone.
All our old ways have died, once and for all. Your depressed self, your old anxious ways, the fallen personality of who you once were is buried and gone. The striving to overcome our old sinful nature is gone and buried.
You may say, "But I don't feel dead to depression, I feel so overwhelmed", child don't let your feelings be greater than His truth. The truth is, that is not who you are anymore, the old man is gone and with that old man goes depression, anxiety, fear, being impatient, addictions, health problems, insecurity and every other thing that is not in Christ. We get so focused on what we are not, that we can't see who we really are. This doesn't mean that we will won't still feel these things but as we can bring these feelings to Jesus and thank Him for our new man in Him who is free, completely free, we will trust in His word. I believe this is where faith comes in, where no matter our circumstance, no matter what we see in the natural, His truth stands.
Here's a couple examples to share to maybe make this more clear. I was talking with my friend, who has a very special little boy. He is special needs but the thing is this, he is healed. His mother and I were talking about how the Lord has been giving us more revelation of the cross. If we could just see ourselves through the cross. Her son's healing came over 2,000 years ago on the cross and as we now know this truth, we can see him fully healed, fully restored and can believe that "it is finished". She's been speaking this truth over him, by the faith of the Son of God and things are changing, in her, in him, in her entire family, as His Truth has come and has set us free! This is not just some method, as if God is a genie in a bottle, it's through that love relationship with Him. Sometimes we can just quote, "In the name of Jesus" as some formula, but He wants us to literally know Him, to see ourselves through that name, through the cross, as His perfect bride.
Another example is of a precious daughter of God and author, Michelle Perry, I've read some of her writings where she talks about being born with one leg. So there have been obvious obstacles that she has had to overcome. The first time I read something she wrote, I was taken back at first. She mentioned that although she has one leg here, she really has two legs. She could see in the eternal, she sees herself with two legs. She knew what Jesus had paid for and she could see past the now, into eternity where the cross has paid it all. The cross is eternal, Jesus was the Lamb that was slain before the foundations of the world and that reality is still present today and will always be, forever. She sees herself with two legs because she sees herself through the eyes of Jesus the Son.
What if we can see through His single eye to who He created us to be and who our new man is in Him? Wouldn't that be a lovely picture of Truth? I believe so, actually I know so.....and now we have His Spirit in us; the same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead to quicken our mortal bodies!!! How can we lose folks? We can't, He's already won and we are in Him, so we win too!
Romans 6:10-14 "For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 Likewise you also reckon yourselves dead indeed to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in it's lusts. 13 And do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as righteousness to God. 14 For sin SHALL NOT have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace."
He has been so gracious towards us. We have had some really good ideas on how to alter ourselves and yet many are still living in bondage. We've came up with some good protocols and keys to living a more blessed and prosperous life and yet we still can't even see our created value. So we end up just trying harder and continuing to eat off the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Those ideas are all well and good but if we don't have Christ as our cornerstone, we are just building another set of good ideas with no power behind it to accomplish change through Jesus. He is a God of transformation.
We have focused so much on what is wrong in our lives and the lives of others, that we over look what He's made right. We are dead, the old man is gone. We have tried to resurrect our old man instead of living in His resurrection life within us. The more we focus on what we think we are not, the more we miss who we really are now in Jesus.
Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me."
He longs for us to see ourselves the way that John saw each of us in the book of revelation. As a bride ready, a changed people who know who they are in the Son. A bride who is spotless, beautiful and radiant, joyful and full of life.
Revelation 19:7-8 " Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage supper of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints."
Let's pray together. Father, I thank You that our old man is dead and that IN You we have new powerful resurrection life. Thank You Jesus for the cross, for Your blood that was shed that has made ALL things possible for us that believe.
Father forgive me for times that I have let my circumstances speak much louder than Your truth. I thank You that Your truth is rooted in my heart. I thank You Jesus for allowing my eyes to be opened to see myself through the cross and that all my old ways have died and I have been made alive in You alone. Help me Lord to walk this out.
Transform my mind Father, that I will even hear words that I speak and realize that it's just old mindsets trying to define me, these are lies Father, so as they come up, I just give them to You. I see You just taking those lies of who we thought we were, old mindsets and You just burying them on the other side of the cross, never to come up again.

I love You Jesus and I thank You for transforming me by the power of Your Spirit living in me. I give all of myself to you, thank You for building me up in Christ and seeing that reality manifest in my life. You are amazing Daddy and my love for you fails in comparison to Your love for me. I am forever Yours! Amen.

Walking In Newness of Life,

Amanda Leonard
www.timeinhispresence.wordpress.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w6YG2NZguc

Picking Up Sticks and Shining His Light by Amanda Leonard

The past few weeks, I've felt this restlessness in my spirit. It's sort of a good aching deep within, to experience more of the real thing. Aren't you ready for ALL that He's spoken, every promise of what's available to us as sons to actually manifest, to transform us and others and bring glory to our Father? Aren't you ready to see His Kingdom in our midst, to see His many sons come to glory?

Many around the world are waiting for this manifestation, even if they don't realize it. The whole earth is groaning for it, for Christ the hope of glory within to be unveiled. Uncovered. They are waiting for the sons of God to reveal His light and love, to show up and disperse the darkness and evil. I can't say that I know what this will look like or what we will look like, but I know it will be good and it will be God!

1 John 3:2 "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."

If He's the Father of Lights, then I have to believe that we are sons and daughters of light! We share the same DNA, the same image upon the earth. We are light, as He is light. We walk in perfect unity with Light Himself. We are a city on a hill, whose light cannot be hidden. A lighthouse that shines on the mountaintop to bring others to His refuge, His shelter, away from the darkness. Where His light is, darkness cannot be.

John 1: 1-9 " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world."

Let's Pick Up Sticks

I've been reminded several times recently about a dream that I had two years ago. In the dream, my whole front yard was full of these dead sticks and a few empty pop bottles. I knew that these sticks needed to be picked up and put in a pile, eventually to be burned. I was not excited about this, we have big front yard. You couldn't even see any grass because there were so many sticks. I remember thinking that these were my husband's sticks and I was not happy about picking up his mess. The Lord sent my friend from Canada and heavenly reinforcement to assist in picking up these sticks. I had such a bad attitude, while slowly picking up these sticks. My friend and the angels that came with her, were excitingly picking up these sticks and putting them in piles.

The Lord revealed to me that these sticks were actually all mine. They were sticks in my heart that needed to be picked up, put in piles and then destroyed by fire. I wasn't happy about picking them up because they revealed how many lies I had believed. These were lies that I had believed about the Father, lies I had believed about me and others. They were hay, wood and stubble that was not built upon the foundation of Christ. They were lies that I believed about His word, many, many lies, my whole heart was full of them.

So, the past two years the Lord has been doing some "yard work" in my heart. It's been hard but I'm beginning to see the "Light" at the end of the tunnel. Just this week, Holy Spirit began to show me how that His light was in me but these sticks had been in the way. As the sticks were being piled up and moved, it would reveal this Light within. It wasn't until the sticks were moved that this truth was revealed. It was like I could see inside my heart and there was light, His perfect radiant light. Yet, all these sticks were laying on the outside and were obscuring the light from being let out. Reminds me of the song, "This Little Light of Mine", my light was hid under a bushel because of all these sticks. It's like these sticks had created a veil, a covering, to where His light couldn't fully shine.

As the Lord began to remove these sticks, little pinholes of light began to shine through. At first, it was just a little bit of light peeking between the sticks and each day there would be more space for the light to shine through, as these sticks were being moved. I heard in my spirit this week, "It's almost time for the fire." I knew that He was talking about this big huge bonfire to burn all these sticks!! Oh what a brilliant light, not only the light from His fire but the Light He has placed within, shining from the inside out. It's like the light from the fire and the light glowing from within were converging to form this most magnificent blinding white, pure light!!!

Where His light is, no darkness can abide!! That means in you too. As we walk in the light, as He is in the light, when He shows up, darkness must leave. Darkness is only the absence of light. So whether it's in our own hearts, in our sphere of influence, or in the earth, where darkness abides, it's just the absence of His light. I believe many others are ready to shine His light, to no longer be hidden but to step out and let your light shine! Arise, you shining ones! Let Him do His work in you, He has much grace prepared to give you through the process. Receive all that He has given, receive the grace He has given to pick up the sticks of wrong thinking and let them burn to the ground as ashes, only to give rise to His beauty.

The Light of His Face

Several years ago, a friend and I sort of had a tandem vision. She saw in an aerial view, these lights that were all over the world. The view began to telescope in and she saw the United States, then closer it came and she saw the state she lived in. The view came even closer still and she saw that one of the lights was her. There were many little lights. She watched as the view came back out to an aerial view and she saw the lights begin to move to form an image. She couldn't make out the image at first because it was blurry. My friend began to think in her own mind about what this image could be that was forming. She thought, "Maybe it's going to be the shape of the earth, or maybe it's going to form a heart". She continued to watch and the lights began to come together and form the shape of the face of Jesus!

The part that I saw in the vision, was what was happening in the in between stage, when the image was blurry. I saw that each person that had this light within, had angelic help to get into this formation, to be His face upon the earth. I saw as angels were trying to help by gently nudging these lighted ones into their position. Many though wanted to go their own way or had their own idea of what they thought Jesus looked like, which created this fuzzy, unclear image. Then, it was as if these people had an epiphany, and they began to cooperate with heaven and listen to what was being said and began to get into position to form the face of Jesus upon the earth. I then saw above the earth, as I was high above. The angels were encircling the earth and they were clapping and rejoicing as each part of the body came together to become His face upon the earth. The Father then smiled and raised His hands, as He raised His hands the light from the people began to shine even more greatly and became one with the Father of Lights!!!

2 Corinthians 4:6 " For God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness", made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ."

As we see His face, those eyes of love, our once, "No" or hesitant "Maybe", becomes a resounding "YES!" As we look into His eyes we are transformed by His love, in the intimate chambers of His heart, it's there we begin to see His love for us. When we see what He looks like, we see what we truly look like. Then, we can see the Light within. He spoke, "Let there be light" and there was light. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. So, if He lives in you and He's light, then you are light as well. Until we see that Light within, there's darkness and misunderstanding about what He even created us for. He's showing us what we were created for, for Him, to be light in the darkest places; for love, to become that very Love that ran red upon the cross.

This is happening now!!! The image of Jesus upon the earth has been fuzzy and unclear. There's been many "sticks" in the way of being able to see Him clearly. There's been so much confusion about the nature and character of God because of the misunderstandings about Him and what He's doing. Holy Spirit, along with heavenly angels are here to help bring His truth and light about His goodness. The gospel is truly good news!!! The image of who He is upon the earth will no longer be unclear! The angels are helping and His light within is shining as we are seeing the Lord clearly and allowing Him to shine through us!!! He is longing for His light to shine in the darkest places. His light and His love are inseparable. Where His light is, His love abides also. The knowledge of His love towards us, brings the light of His truth for us, now, unto eternity.

Religion has got us nowhere, it has only created a fuzzy image of our precious Savior to the eyes of those who do not know Him. Religion only brings more sticks that need to be picked up and burned. There are many broken, pitiful, hurting people who will freely receive this light and love. Just release what He's put inside you and the Kingdom of God shall be in your midst. The religious ones may snub their noses at you, don't let them stop you, love them anyway. We have pushed the sinners and the broken away with our religious jargon and list of rules and laws. The church has pushed scriptures down their throats, to where they are gagging at the very mention of "Christianity". We have tried to coax people into changing, instead of allowing Holy Spirit to do His perfect work within them.

In the word, the beggars, the sinners, the tax collectors, the most unwanted, loved being around Jesus. Why is this often times not true of us? These people flocked to Him because of the love that they experienced while being with Him. It should be the same with us. If we are walking in the light of His truth and grace, these broken ones will see the face of Jesus as they look at you and His light will radiate from your face. His love will radiate from your heart. They will experience that unconditional love, if we are walking in the light. They won't see just another religious person, they will see the beautiful face of Jesus!!

So I encourage you to receive His fire to clean up all the wood, hay and stubble that has accumulated from our wrong ways of thinking. I encourage you to step out in holy boldness and share His love, His light in your workplace, in the marketplace, in EVERY place!!! His glory is His goodness, His light is His love, they are all inseparable, for He is ALL in ALL! Many of you will experience His glory (His goodness) in the darkest places, as you go out and set the captives free!

Matthew 5:16 "In the same way, let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Our Prayer

Oh God!!! Let us form this image of Your face, Jesus, upon the earth. Forgive us for all the false images that we've portrayed of You. So many of the ways we had viewed You was not the truth. Thank You Father for showing us the real You, Your true ways, Your love, Your mercy, Your forgiveness and Your grace! We have come this far only by these very things that You have so freely given us. We receive, we receive, we receive! We rest in You and ALL that You are and ALL that You have accomplished! Lord, let this truth of Your light, Your love, Your glory, explode within us. Let there be a healthy unsettling in our spirit for the real thing, for no more games, no more religious performance, but for the entire package of Truth wrapped in Light to exude from within us!!! We thank You Father for Your patience that You have so gracefully given us, as we've been learning to see You more clearly. Lord, let those who are ready to shine Your light, who know the goodness of Who You are, go to the darkest of places and SHINE! Forgive us Lord for trying to change people, You do such a better job at that, we release these precious ones to You. Help us to love the unlovable, to heal the broken hearted, to set the captives free by the Light of Your glorious Truth! As You've revealed this truth to us, let us give grace to those who are learning about You and learning to walk in Your ways, and let condemnation be far from us. Your love is like gold, shiny, liquid fire, getting into all the cracks and mending all the broken places. We thank You for removing all our sticks and preparing us for this fire that will remove all the wood, hay and stubble. As we've fallen further in love with You, we see that ALL Your ways are good....so we say, "YES!!!" Yes to the process, yes to Your love, yes to Your light, yes to everything that is You!!! I thank You that we are becoming that clear image of Your face, Jesus, upon this earth!!! Thank You Lord for shining Your light in our hearts, to reveal the light of the knowledge of Your glory displayed in the face of Jesus!

Isaiah 60:1-3 " Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn."

Let the Bonfire begin!!

Let's reveal the Light of His face,

Amanda Leonard

Transformation of the Bride by Amanda Leonard

The beginning of this week, as I was getting ready for work I had a vision. I saw the bride. She was tattered and torn. She looked so malnourished and slumped over. Her dress hung off her shoulders. Her face was thin, her cheekbones were very prominent. There was no life in her eyes. She looked completely defeated, worn out and tired of the fight. I knew that she had been in a long wilderness season and the evidence was written all over her.
Song of Solomon 8:5 "Who is this coming up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved?"
I saw Jesus in front of her. He looked at her and took her hand to dance with her. I watched as each spin she would begin to transform. She began to mature and fill out the dress. I watched as Jesus placed His hand under her chin to lift her head. Her confidence began to strengthen and she began to stand up tall. Each time Jesus spun her around her whole demeanor would change. She began to dance with assurance, no longer tripping over her own feet. There was a fluid movement, a blissful love dance was taking place before my eyes. I watched her transform into His glory. She was beautiful, full of grace. My eyes couldn't depart from what was taking place before me, until I heard His voice.
Jesus spoke to me and said, "My daughter, stop focusing on the bride and focus on Me."
When He spoke these words to me, I saw His fiery eyes of love for His bride. I felt the longing of His heart to be one with her. His eyes were burning, burning with passionate love for her. His eyes seemed to pierce straight through her heart and she could feel how much He loved her.
It was then I realized, I was this bride. I was looking through her eyes and staring at His face, straight on, no longer looking from the outside but from the inside out. The fire of His eyes became more intense, the feeling of love that I felt He had for me became way more intense. I knew He wanted me to know that this was me the whole time and He wanted me to focus on Him, instead of the process. When I was looking from the outside, all I could focus on was the process. As I started looking from the inside of the bride, the process seemed to just fade away in the glory of His presence, in the glory of His love for me. The process no longer mattered, the wilderness no longer mattered. The process was a distant memory, lost in His eyes of love.
The Lord began to speak to me and say, "You are worth it. You are My glorious bride. You are who I love and whom My soul longs for. I've always thought you were beautiful, even in the beginning. I love to dance with you and watch your spirit brighten with My light and love for you." There were so many things He spoke to me about my worth and value to Him. Then, I watched as the bride walked as one with her bridegroom. She walked in beauty, strength, and authority, with regal ness and confidence.
As I began to have this deep knowing of His incredible love for me, Holy Spirit began to reveal some things to me that I believed were important to share with the Body. First is, to focus on His eyes and not on the process. The process can seem overwhelming but when we are in Him, it's not overwhelming at all. As we focus on His face, we can enjoy the process of transformation instead of feeling that we have a long way to go. He is the only One who can make us a pure spotless bride and He's doing it as we spend intimate time with Him. As we become more aware of our Oneness with Him, we are being changed and it won't feel like a duty of ours but it will be Him changing us, as we surrender to Him.
Dear reader, I believe the Lord wants you to be able to see this same thing for yourself. The same words that He spoke to me, He's speaking to you as well. "You are worth it. You are My glorious bride. You are who I love and whom My soul longs for." These words are yours too and there's much more. I encourage you to just spend time with Him and allow Him to tell you how He feels about you.
Holy Spirit began to show me that I haven't been able to love myself the way that He loves me. I realized it was much easier to love others and speak about His love then to receive it for myself. I knew it in Word in my mind, but not in my heart. I know we've been told that it's more blessed to give than to receive, Paul tell us in Acts that Jesus said those words. So I believe this to be true but how can we fully give away something that we don't understand to be true of ourselves. Jesus says in Matthew 22, about the greatest commandments, the first being to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." The second commandment that was like the first is to "love your neighbor as yourself." How can we love like He loves, if we don't know how much He loves us first? How can we love like He loves if we don't love ourselves?
I began to realize how I thought about myself, the words I have spoken over myself were NOT how He felt about me at all. I have focused so much on my outward appearance and how my physical body has changed over the years, instead of focusing on the inside and Him living in me and how beautiful that is! God gave us a body. If we didn't have a body to house His Spirit we wouldn't be here upon the earth at all. We wouldn't be able to spread the good news and be His glory that covers the earth like the waters cover the seas. Your body is beautiful just how He made it. He truly wants you to see that and to know it deep within. It's not about our "self-image", it's about HIS image!! As we begin to focus on His face, His eyes of fiery love, we are being transformed, we can then love ourselves and love others.
2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT "So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord--who is the Spirit--makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image."
"Father, forgive us for speaking curses over our bodies. Forgive us for the thoughts that we have had towards ourselves. You make us beautiful, in Your image. We are so thankful that we have You to focus on during this process of transformation. We ask Papa that You reverse every curse that we've spoken against our bodies, we wipe those words clean with Your blood. Lord, I ask that every person reading this will know their value and will love themselves the way that You love them, so that we can truly love others like You love. Thank You Lord for Your incredible love for us, let us never forget. Set Your seal of love upon our hearts, our minds, every part of our being. We love You so much and we thank You for loving us first! We are forever changed by Your love. Thank You for our dance together, that is transforming us with every spin."
1 John 4:19 "We love because He first loved us."
John 17:20- "My prayer in not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you have gave me, that they may be one as we are one--23 I in them and you in me--so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 Father, I want those that you have given me to be with where I am, to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me, 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFfw6OSbUwE

In His Love,
Amanda Leonard

https://timeinhispresence.wordpress.com/author/timeinhispresence/

His promises are surrounding and encircling you by Amanda Leonard

The beginning of this year, we were at the Outer Banks at a gathering with a bunch of people to worship and up lift our King. My daughter, who is 6, was in the shower one morning and went into a trance like state. It took me a few minutes to realize what was going on with her. In this encounter, she heard angels singing and saw a rainbow that completely encircled her.

Then about a month ago, I was pulling out of my road onto the main road to go to work. I turned to look both ways and I couldn't believe my eyes. To my right, the entire sky was filled with these circles of rainbows all over the sky. It was so REAL, I almost turned around to take a picture because it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Well, it took me about 2 days to realize that what I was seeing was from the Spirit. I couldn't quit thinking about this magnificent image that I had seen. The things of the Spirit are more real than what we in the natural can put our hands on, hear with our ears, or see with our natural eyes.

This morning, the Lord wanted me to share that His promises are surrounding and encircling you. Those prayers that you have prayed, have been heard around the throne of your Father and they WILL manifest!!! You have approached His throne of mercy and grace, and maybe not even realized it. Don't lose hope, turn your gaze to Him and know that His promises endure forever more!

I heard almost audibly this morning, the Spirit of the Lord say to me....."I'm healing My children, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically NOW! For it is TIME for My promises for you to come full circle!"

Revelation 4:3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.

Amanda Leonard
Time In His Presence Blog