" Ira " - (My 100th Post)

I couldn't have planned this out better.

The thing about allowing the Lord to take His place as your God is that you'll just live the most messed up, crazy life. And you will be left each day feeling like you've actually lived.

The fact that this is the 100th post (that I've written, I'm pretty sure I've left a few offline that had problems) is incredible. The ebb and flow of the blessings and endurances of living in intimacy with the Lord have been exchanging back and forth in a mighty way these past few months, and the shift of the past two days have been timely to say the least.

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Ira : My brother (not biologically) and best friend since 6th grade.

Everyone who is close to me knows who Ira is. Even though we have been out of regular communication for the past few years, it is a mutual agreement that we are equally one of the most important people in each other's lives.

We met in 6th grade, at the depth of my valley of rebellion, defiance, and anger. I remember Ira spending the night all the time, and many times reminding me to take my Zoloft (anti-depressant) due to certain episodes I would get into (fighting with my mom, talking about cutting myself or huffing sprapaint, etc.). Don't get me wrong, we weren't the most angelic teenagers... we definitely treated girls as objects together, helping each other out with what girl to hook up with next (a couple times we exchanged girls we had personally taken advantage of). But God was gracious, and we ended up growing out of that phase into pretty good high school students that ultimately began dating girls seriously (we both dated girls for over 3 years, beginning our senior years of high school.

Ira is contagious. Not only is he attractive physically, but even more potent is his ability to magnetically attract people with his sincere and selfless love. It's not that he's smooth, although to the less discerning he seems to be. It's his ability to sense what people are feeling around him and know how to meet that feeling with edifying words or actions that make them feel like the most important thing in the world. Always full of joy and globally accepted as the one who deserves to be the center of attention, he can entertain any and everyone with his light, encouraging, and life-bringing presence.

We both graduated, and that was about the time some things went crazy for Ira. All out of his control and despite his goodness, the Enemy made it obvious with certain events that he wanted Ira dead. Maybe a little physically, with sickness and other physical ailments that come along with hard times, but most importantly (and most intense), there was a warrant from the kingdom of Hell to kill Ira spiritually.

I won't go into the details, but I will say that over the past 4 or 5 years Ira has endured, withstood, and experienced more warfare, deprivation, and external attacks on his identity, physical body, family life, and spiritual being than anyone I know. The lies of the Enemy oppressed Ira to points of condemnation that have isolated him, leaving him separated from spiritual food and community.

aside - when you are being separated from a community of love and intimacy with Jesus, you are being kidnapped by an Enemy who has no authority to do so.

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as you could have guessed by my enthusiasm, Ira is doing well today.  A couple days ago, the Lord once again (as He has been doing intermittently in the form of big fresh breaths at widely separated times the past few years) brought Ira to a place of peace. There recently was a purging that occurred (as is the style of our jealous lover God), which has allowed for him to be alone with Jesus, discovering what it means to love and be loved by his creator.

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At prayer tonight (Ira couldn't attend), the Lord spoke prophetically through everyone there about Ira. Some people described a man with a huge smile on his face that was full of energy, life and laughter. That is the Ira that the person having the vision does not yet know in the physical, but it is who the Lord sees when he looks at his Beloved.

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Pray. I've seen the Lord redeem some key players in the Kingdom before, and let me just say that this is more than a key player we are contending for. This man has an anointing that is more potent than many people I've ever met, and that's not just my biased, love-drunk emotions talking. This is another step in an intense shift that will bring more of Heaven down to Earth, invading the lives of thousands and redeeming countless hearts to the Lord. It's intense.

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Rejoice. God has already redeemed Ira. He did that years ago. But this is the dawning of a new day for Ira. Thank the Lord for spiritual rebirth and reinstating Ira to a higher level of rank in the authority of Jesus.

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Allow this testimony to invade your life. Learn experientially the jealous, fiery love of the Father, the sweet, intense communion of the Holy Spirit, and the administrative power of Jesus.