Leadership Nugget... by Elisabeth Cooper

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Being a good leader does not mean you always have the answer. Being a good leader means you have the character to stand in a situation without an answer while remaining humble, teachable, and honorable; with the truth secured like an anchor in the heart, and with the wisdom to seek The Answer.

#seekwell #leadwell #servewell

©Elisabeth Cooper 2019

We’ve Got a Problem… by Elisabeth Cooper

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Let me begin by saying, this is not a typical blog post for me, but I have been tumbling this subject around for years due to its ever present nature in the church and my life. I have seen, and experienced first hand, this spirit and all its cohorts at work to destroy families, destinies, and kingdom ordained relationships since I was a young girl. I have not spoken about this subject even though it has been a huge part of my life story, and has effected my family and I greatly. I have had reasons to not speak about it. Some of these reasons were valid and right, some of them were fueled by fear. So, while I am taking a very objective tone in order to, hopefully, shed light and help the body of Christ, please know that this is a very vulnerable thing for me to write about. This is by no means, a comprehensive look into this subject, but an overview of some of it’s components.

I’m not going to go into my story (partly because some of it is not exclusively my story to tell. I have a family who owns this story as well, and my heart is to honor their process and protect them. The situations that are exclusively mine to tell will have their proper timing, which may never be public, and that is something we all have to wrestle and make peace with in the painful places of our lives), but suffice it to say, I have seen the devastation of what we are going to talk about several times first hand, and countless times as an observer. And I am standing up today to say, “No More!” No more in the church. No more in our families. No more in any of our relationships. It’s time to mature, Beloved. It’s time to look at the fissures in our own hearts, repent, get healed, and change the landscape of relationship in the kingdom. Let’s take back the power of healthy and pure relationships, rooted and grounded in love. 

“Those who are loved by God, let His love continually pour from you to one another, because God is love. Everyone who loves is fathered by God and experiences an intimate knowledge of Him. The one who does not love has yet to know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8

In the past several years I have seen such a growing trend of false accusation, lies, misunderstandings and misconceptions in relationships stemming from unhealed wounds and outright agreement with demonic spirits. It seems we have been tolerating an epidemic for years, and we should know better. The righteous tend to stay silent (in the natural) in the midst of these situations, which is not necessarily wrong, and is typically the wisest course of action. (I think this may be an entire subject unto itself, which we can delve into at another time, perhaps.) I have experienced major devastation with this first hand more than once, and countless times over as an observer. 

Let’s look at the nuts and bolts of the beginning, perpetuation, and some practical solution when it comes to dealing with this evilness.

There are a few participants that this spirit needs to complete and perpetuate its destruction:


First, it needs one (or more) hearts who are willing to make a spiritual agreement to initiate an attack, make the accusation(s), agree with the destructive plans of the enemy towards the person, family, relationship, etc. The catalyst for this agreement is typically unaddressed offense, jealousy, deep seated identity issues, etc. And it almost always feels to the person like they are standing for what is right, protecting the church or others in relationship with the target of the attack. This is the great deception of this spirit. It operates in delusion and religiosity, in self promotion and edification of wounds and lies. 

 Second, it needs those who will believe, support, and continue the attack by means of their spiritual agreement. To gain a support system, this lying and pervasive spirit seeks to appeal to the wounded and weak by framing up the appearance of community and appealing to self-righteous tendencies, etc.; often times also playing on un-addressed offenses that may or may not have anything to do with the target. 


Let’s talk about the first group:

Like I said, most of the time the spiritual agreement is made springing from un-addressed, and unhealed issues of the heart. Every single time I have seen this operate, the crack in the door has always been an identity issue. The person doesn’t truly know their worth, value, or unique calling. Most importantly they fail to perceive that they are loved and championed by God who has made enough space for every single person to fulfill their destiny. There is often an unrighteous hunger for platform and position, which can stem from many different motivations; all of which need to be addressed. There is often, but not always, both an orphan spirit and a political spirit operating. This then leads to jealousy (For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing James 3:16). The target is perceived by this person as being more than they could ever be, and having what they will never have, therefore they perceive them as a threat. Most often, in my observation, the target is, indeed, walking in a decent level of freedom and anointing, and is typically operating in the prophetic. This spirit wants to kill the prophetic. (See1 Kings and the story of Jezebel and Elijah. This story is rich with truth, wisdom, and instruction in dealing with this.) This does not mean that the person accusing/presenting a negative case is not anointed and called, but their perceptions are tainted by their wounds which give way to dangerous motivations and spiritual agreements. It is imperative that we allow our hearts to be searched and known by the Spirit of Truth. We’ll talk about this in a minute 

Let’s talk about the second group:

This group is no less responsible, and no less in spiritual agreement with the demonic forces that are operating. These forces present a case for support of the one who feels abused, wronged, or on a “holy” mission to purify the church from the alleged horrible actions or failings of a fellow believer. This can be such a deceptive trap that we can all fall into easily, but we need to grow up, get healed, get wisdom, and rise to lead the Bride of Christ out from under the influence of this evil. 

It breaks my heart that the church seems to be largely unable to deal with personal wounds and unhealed areas in our lives. So we perpetuate these wounds as we project, join the bandwagon of personal attacks, and make agreement with accusations and stories of offense. 

We are so quick to swallow a story of offense, alleged hypocrisy or heresy, and/or the alleged failure or wrongdoing of a fellow believer. Why? We must ask ourselves the question and allow the grace of God to come into our wholehearted turning back to truth and righteousness, and to bolster us up into the place of the shining, brilliant light of Jesus we were born for. 

I think we need a makeover. I think we need a baptism of fire in the love and wisdom of God. I think we need to rise up in purity and victory over the wiles of the enemy who is ever the accuser of the people of God, seeking always to divide and kill relationships, people, and destinies. 

How do we do this? 

What are some practical ways we can “check ourselves before we wreck ourselves”? 

 We should all recognize that none of us are immune. We all have cracks in our armor that can lead to dangerous decisions and agreements, should they go unchecked. We all need to place our lives in the light, fire, oil, and blood of Jesus. We need to be open to the conviction, correction, and healing of God in our lives. We also need to have relationships in our lives who can see into our blind spots and areas in need of healing. We need to value and listen to these people who love us. It may hurt, but faithful are the wounds of a friend, and I would much rather have someone who loves me enough to call me higher, than have a passel of friends who are easily manipulated by me or others. We may not want to look at some of these places in our lives. But we must. We must walk in freedom, focus on Him, and rise to the greatness and beauty He made us for. It is time for the bride to come higher! 

We cannot allow identity issues (or any other issues) to give way to utterly destructive spirits. We must embrace repentance and healing. Repentance is a gift. I have come to love repentance. It rests on my life as an invited friend. The entirety of our lives change every single time we repent. It’s beautiful and necessary. If you haven’t, learn to love repentance. Search it out in the scriptures, invite conviction and repentance into your life as friends who keep, protect, and set your life on the Highway of Holiness. 


“We now repeat His words to you: God is pure light. You will never find even a trace of darkness in Him. If we claim that we share life with Him, but keep walking around in the realm of darkness, we’re fooling ourselves and not living in truth. But if we keep living in the pure light that surrounds Him , we share un unbroken fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, continually cleanses us from all sin.” 

-1 John 1:5-7


Here are a few things that I have put into practice/questions I ask of myself when faced with situations where there is an accusation/attack on character, a possible potential sabotage, basically when I hear a negative report about a fellow believer that I know: We must be careful not to lend judgement towards a person or situation based on someone else’s story, opinion, or possible offense without seeking wisdom and truth. In some cases it may be appropriate and necessary to have a conversation with the other party(s) involved...especially when we are in relationship with all involved. Whether or not we choose to do this, it is our responsibility to nip this toxic evil in the bud. If we are turned against someone even just slightly, in response to someone else's story exclusively, we can be sure we need to do a heart search and correct. We also need to bear in mind that most often the one who talks the loudest in situations like these is likely the voice we should not be listening to. The enemy has a big mouth. 

When I jump to quickly believe one side of a story about a person or situation, draw boundary lines in relationship based on that story; heaven forbid, I perpetuate the story/accusations as truth to others, this tells me something about where my heart is at. This tells me I likely have unaddressed offense from some past wound lodged somewhere in my broken heart. This tells me I may have a need to be needed and will fall into line with anything a person in crisis may present to me. Above all, this tells me I am not walking in the Spirit of Wisdom or Love. 

People say and believe all sorts of garbage about others. But we don’t have to be those people. We shouldn’t be those people. The kingdom of heaven doesn’t operate that way, and neither should we. 

I urge you, beloved, keep your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life (Proverbs 4:23). Life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Let’s get our hearts in the continual flow of the blood of Jesus that purifies and heals, that speaks a better word, that protects and preserves our lives from evil which seeks to set up camp in our lives and in the body of Christ at large. Love and purity are a better way. We hold the power to change this evil trend and stronghold in the church. We have choices to make. 

I write this full of love. Love for the church. I write this with great hope that we can make right choices and see incredible health and change come to the body of Christ. I believe in the pure and spotless bride.

I pray this has helped to begin to shed light on this subject for some. There are many subjects within this that I think are important to address, and I may write further on this in the future but for now I will leave you with a prayer that I pray over my life and that we can pray together as we move forward:

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I pray that I would always be submitted to the Love of God, that my life would pour love and wisdom straight from His heart, and that I would not look to the right or the left away from His heart of holiness. In all things, I would keep communion with Him, constantly turning towards His healing, wholeness, and heart for me and for others.


This is an invitation to revolution. Let’s be a holy revolution in the church. Let’s be a holy revolution in the earth. Are you going to join? 

©Elisabeth Cooper 2019

The Music of Stillness by Elisabeth Cooper

Photo by: Rebecca Cooper ©Aduro Images

Photo by: Rebecca Cooper ©Aduro Images

There is a philosophy of progress

Nothing grows in stillness

We must keep moving

Make things happen

Turn the cogs of the wheels of machines

Sweat and toil and churn

To that I say

Go stand in a forest

Let the purposeful stillness

Seep into your bones

Absorb the life in stillness

The progress of rest

For in the silence

There is music

In the stillness 

There is growth

The mighty trees are about their business

Without sweat

With effortless greatness

As they forge in the stillness

They sing

They live

They grow

They stand

Carpets of moss

Ferns with their swords

Wild hearted blossoms

They sing

They live

They grow

They stand

The forest and the wilderness know

The stillness of the mystics

Enfolded and captured

They rest unto greatness

In stillness running with rivers of music

In stillness wrought with growth and strength

In stillness bursting with banquets of beauty



©Elisabeth Cooper 2018

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Steady On, Forerunner... by Elisabeth Cooper

Steady on, forerunner

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The challenges of being a forerunner can sometimes seem to outweigh the rewards. But we are only overcome by our challenges when we break gaze with the eyes of fire that fuel our strength and resolve; when we break connection with the Heart of Heaven that provides our confidence, affirmation, and provision. One nano-second of broken gaze in this rough terrain, and the torrents of all the challenges present themselves with puffed up chests, yelling loudly that you will never make it, and attempting to overtake your courageous heart with doubt of purpose. 

He is our portion, our reward, our strength. He is always faithful, kind, and good. We stand unshakable and immovable in this. 

So in your moments of doubt and discouragement, lock your gaze again with the One who has all the strength and provision you could hope for and more. 

The road has been long, but in its length we have seen all the goodness of God overtake darkness. We've seen miracles on this road, far from the sight of the masses. We have learned boldness and strength and how to rise victoriously. We have learned to teach and to listen and love. We have stopped and poured our hearts out for the one. Let's never stop doing what we do. Never stop blazing a trail; even though some days, a lot of days, it has felt more like taking a pickaxe to brick and we haven't moved an inch. If we look into His heart, we will see the road we've made for others to follow. It's there. It's brilliant and beautiful and waiting for the brave and hungry to traverse it. And just up over this mountain we are climbing is the morning sun. So, look up and steady on. 

Forerunner, you are not forgotten. And your King is filled with zeal and joy to move on your behalf.

So, get ready for the thunder.

Because it's coming.

And you get to bring it.  

#wearethebringersofthunder #steadyonwarrior


© Elisabeth Cooper 2018

Thoughts on Difficulty and the Increase of His Government in Us by Elisabeth Cooper

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When life decides to be unrelenting in pressure, sneak attacks, and opposition, it helps to remember a few things: 

•We win.

•Defeat is not an option.

•God is good, He is always faithful. 

•Love is the most powerful force in heaven and on earth. 

•There are lesser realities seeking to set themselves up as counterfeit governments in our lives, and to rule us from the place of power we give them. #getoutofthematrix 

These days, I have had to declare these things to my heart on a daily basis...sometimes moment to moment. It’s been a rough couple of years, and the last few months have been more brutal than I bargained for. But here’s the bottom line: joy cannot be stolen without my permission. Promises cannot be abandoned and left on the side of a bumpy road without my consent. Are we weary? Yes. Have our hearts been broken and discouraged at times? YES. Are we stopping? No. Is our joy absent? No. Do we understand? No, we don’t. But we do understand that fact are facts; and that what we are experiencing is, in all truth, inferior reality at its core. A counterfeit government which seeks to convince us into buying into its false framework over our lives. 

Go sell crazy somewhere else, we’re all stocked up here. 

Again, we win. Defeat is not an option. Our God is good, He is always faithful. And His Love is the most powerful force in heaven and on earth. So we stand. We love. We laugh. We cry. We believe. We move forward. And we live in victory. We agree with the government of God in our lives; a government of order and justice where all the wrong things are made right. Chaos, calamity, sickness, etc. are counterfeit governments which pose as reality and deceive us into believing we are powerless over them. 

I think one key to walking through difficult times, and cooperating with the increase of His government in us through them, is remaining.

Remain connected: to Him (abide) and others; At least a few people. Sometimes in times of difficulty it’s nearly impossible to keep up with everyone in your Rolodex (Do those exist anymore? They were cool, we should bring them back if they don’t. #vintage). Remain in the knowledge and experience that you are loved. Intentionally baptize yourself in the love of God. It never fails, remain there. Let others love you as well. surrender to love in every way you are able. 

 Remain in the rest and peace of God. Rest is a weapon. Wield it as such.

Remain gracious. Even when we feel broken and unable to offer anything, the world is not less in need of the sweetness of your spirit poured out in it...even in the midst of your broken bits of life. It doesn’t have to look like a party all the time. It doesn’t even have to look happy, but happiness and joy are two separate things...joy can exist even in the most broken places. Joy supersedes emotion. You don’t actually have to say a word to change the atmosphere or pour love into it. We need only expand our hearts over it in love (blog on expanding our hearts coming soon). The world changes when love soaked people pour their genuine and authentic selves into it; in the midst of the battle, in the midst of difficulty love can still win if we let it. We change when we keep ourselves in the healing oil of God and allow it to work in the midst our sadness. I want to give this to the world; This peace that resides in the healing oil of God. In the middle of heartache and brokenness it remains, it works, it flows, it heals. 

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Remain kind. Remain generous. Let your heart remain, and even become more generous; more generous with beautiful words and encouragement, more generous with love and support, more generous with your resources. In love and giving, there is life. And in the middle of what seems like the opposite, we have the opportunity to create life, to banish hopelessness in our hearts and the hearts of others, and tear down counterfeit governments seeking to convince us of false realities. 

I’ll be honest, some days I do well to simply remain in the knowledge that I am loved. However, when I can do that, it opens the door for the rest to come in and set up camp, to have the government of God established and increased in my life...the government of peace, generosity, strength, kindness, love, justice, gentleness, mercy, joy. So I declare that the increase of His government and peace will know no end in me today. I agree with the reality of His victory, love, and promises over my life. We must live in this place in the middle of challenge and difficulty. It’s the only place of victory.

©Elisabeth Cooper 2017

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Tune the Earth, Create the Future by Elisabeth Cooper

Photo by: Aduro Images

Photo by: Aduro Images

Everything we see and do not see is comprised of frequency. At the core of anything, it is made of sound and light. 

There’s a principle in the science of frequency called sympathetic resonance. A good illustration of this principle is: two tuning forks designed to vibrate at approximately the same pitch. If they are within proximity of one another, when one of the tuning forks is struck it produces a sound that spontaneously causes the second tuning fork to produce the same sound as if the second fork was physically struck as well. The sound wave from the first fork actually does strike the second fork, causing the second to resonate responsively to the tune of the first. This sympathetic resonance occurs because both forks contain similar vibrational characteristics, which allows energy transfer from one to the other. When two objects have similar vibrational characteristics that allow them to resonate at the same frequency, they form a resonant system. 

Now let’s consider the fact that we are made in the image of God, therefore we are comprised of, and are capable of “similar vibrational characteristics”. When we abide in Him, we put ourselves in the middle of the sound of everything He is, and our beings are tuned to the frequency of Him, of who He made us to be. As we abide in Him, we resonate with the sound of His heart. We resonate with His voice and His desires for us, for others, for all creation. We become the sound. We become “tuning forks” to bring the earth into the resonant system of Love, Truth, Healing, Justice, Grace, Mercy, The Miraculous, Beauty, The Future. 

In union, in oneness with Him, our capabilities go beyond mere human capabilities. We become Kainos; the unprecedented ones, something like the earth has never seen, heard, felt, known. We become the physical resident resonance of Him in the earth to call all creation to enter into the frequency of Love. 

We need to rise up and tune the earth (and all creation, but we gotta start somewhere). We need to enter into the resonant system we were created to live in and, consequently, create the resonant system on the earth we were created to create! Go deeper, get higher, let’s apprehend the fullness that Jesus has given us in Union with Him. 

We're tomorrow people. Our lives sing the songs of the future to create it. So let’s create it. Let’s create the beauty of His heart in the earth, the worship of all the nations in the earth, the goodness of God in the earth. Let’s become the sound. Let’s go inside the thunder of everything He is and become it. We are the bringers of thunder, but we must enter into oneness with The Thunder in order to become it. 

The sound of Him, the light of Him, the colors of Him; we were created in this image. Let’s get resonating. Let’s get tuned and start tuning.

 

© Elisabeth Cooper 2017 

#gettuned #tunetheearth #becomethesound #bringthethunder #sympatheticresonance #resonantsystem #mysticprayer  

On Withholding Blessing by Elisabeth Cooper

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By withholding blessing from those who have hurt us, we are essentially saying we want to hold some power over the outcome of the situation, or process, of the person(s) life we are withholding blessing from. 

We are saying, "We don't trust you, God, in Your ability to bring about good for this person, bring them to repentance, and still get justice and healing for me." This is a paupers mindset because it stems from the belief that there isn't enough power, love, grace, etc. in the heart of God to make all the wrong things right. So we withhold blessing as our "contribution" to the process in order to see to it that we are satisfied with what we think should be the outcome. 

However, if we understand blessing and the heart of God, we would never withhold blessing; For it is the very thing that avails their life and ours to the glory of kindness which brings repentance, forgiveness which brings freedom, and love which brings justice. It is one of the very things that releases God's best over their lives and ours.

We must gain a proper perspective regarding blessing those who have wronged us. Blessing means going inside the wisdom and love of God to understand and partner with all the rightness and justice and goodness of His heart; For all parties involved! 

Blessing, like forgiveness, has nothing to do with approval of actions or permission to hold a place in your life again. It has everything to do with love that runs deeper than any wrongdoing, any hurt, any betrayal. His love is deeper than the deepest wound, and His love lives in us. 

So, bless those that have wounded you, betrayed you, and hated you. Love them with the everlasting love of The Great King that courses through your veins and brings justice and healing. It is precisely by this letting go, this releasing, that we find we are released as well. We learn how to love deeper within this place. We learn the cogs of the wheels of love are greased, in great part, by blessing. Bless, bless, bless...and do not withhold your blessing. You'll find the beauty of God here, I promise you. 

© Elisabeth Cooper 2017

Love, justice, and judgment... by Elisabeth Cooper

We often perceive that love and mercy must be separate, at least in part, from justice and judgment. Justice and judgment have been misconstrued and misunderstood through lenses of fear, misunderstanding, and lack of knowledge of the heart of God. Justice and mercy cannot be separated. Love and judgment are partners. The justice of God IS the mercy of God, and visa versa. 

Sometimes we are more comfortable with the word justice than we are with judgment. But judgment from the God of Love is not to be feared. There is no fear in love. Yet, He is the Just Judge. Justice is the establishment of the heart of God and His judgments are the means by which it is carried out. They cannot be separated and are to be celebrated and ushered in by US! 

The cross was the greatest judgment ever pronounced. It was (from before the foundations of the world were laid), and remains (for all eternity), the greatest act and definition of justice. It is the establishment of justice.

The justice of God makes all the wrong things right and all the dark things light. The judgment of God on sickness is healing, and that is the justice of God. The judgment of God on separation from love is salvation and adoption into His heart and family forever, and that is the justice of God. The judgment of God on addiction and bondage is freedom and grace, and that is the justice of God. 

So when we call for the justice of God, we are calling for the joy, love, mercy, and grace of God to come and make all the wrong things right. 

Love, justice, and judgement cannot be separated. And we get to partner with Him to bring His heart into this world and break chains, bring reconciliation, healing, and salvation to the lost and hurting. We get to call forth the judgment and justice of God to heal lands and nations with the absolute and unshakeable love of Jesus. 

If your theology around judgment and justice involves fear, it may be time to take a look at the glorious love of God and rethink so we can agree with His love in establishing it on the earth to the fullest measure. 

It's time to ring the bells of justice!

© Elisabeth Cooper 2017

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