Mark Salazar

Five Spiritual Senses (Five Smooth Stones)

We have five spiritual senses that need to be “opened” so that we can more fully encounter God.  In the same way that Elisha prayed for his servant’s eyes to be opened to see what was really transpiring in the unseen real (2 Ki. 6:17), we need our five spiritual senses (I refer to as Five Smooth Stones in the soon-to-be-released Beauty for Ashes Encounter protocol) to be intentionally activated.  Paul also prayed for the Ephesians to experience an opening of the eyes of their hearts, so that they could understand their full inheritance as sons and daughters of the King and lay hold of His resurrection power (Eph. 1:17-21). 

We are designed to experience the fullness of God’s presence through the awareness and integration of our five spiritual senses.  So what do we do?  Just like Elisha and Paul, we ask God to release the full capacity of our spiritual senses to be intentionally laser focused on Him.  By faith, after asking Him to do this, we intentionally align our physical and soul senses with the spiritual realities that they are pointing to. In other words we become consciously tuned-in to the “shadows” of the deeper spiritual realities that He is revealing through our natural (body) and soul (mind, will, and emotional) senses.  For example: When we taste something delicious, we allow it to speak to our hearts about tasting the goodness of God (Ps. 34:8).  When we hear a beautiful musical piece that makes our hearts swell with passion, we are reminded that God sings over us (Zeph. 3:17).  When something doesn’t “smell right” at work, or in a situation that requires a weighty decision, we begin to understand that God is developing our sense of discernment (Phil. 1:10).  When we see a world-class athlete do something that seems super-human, we get a glimpse of God’s creative genius and the glory of being created in His image (Gen. 1:26).  And when we selflessly serve others in the body of Christ with the gifts that God has deposited in us, we interact with (and feel) His power flowing through us (1 Peter 4:10).

As we mature in the development of our five spiritual senses we become consciously aware that God is always speaking words of life to us; we begin to apprehend a deeper measure of Isaiah 55:3, “...hear my voice that your soul may live.”  We develop a keen sensitivity to, “live by the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25).  God will also begin to reveal more of Himself through spiritual gifts to edify the body of Christ.  For example He may allow some of us to “sample” a physical ache in a certain part of our body, communicating that He wants to heal someone in that area (this is a word of knowledge delivered through one of our natural senses).  Or we may receive a prophetic word of encouragement for someone while reading a certain scripture verse (in this situation He is using our natural senses of seeing and hearing the words, to activate a spiritual “rhema” word for a brother or sister).  When we ask God to activate our five spiritual senses, we ask Him to help us sense and discover more of Him.  

Super Sonic God who blesses

God is a Super Sonic God who blesses and manifests breakthrough. His heart literally resonates with delight when we pray and worship. When our words and songs come into agreement with the “heart-strings” of the God of the universe, breakthrough is released.  When we “name” things, because we are made in His image and we are authorized as sons and daughters of the King (to decree and legislate), we release creative power in the unseen heavenly realm to manifest in our natural three-dimensional realm.  Another way to put this is, when our words and praise come into entrainment with the sounds of heaven, we release heaven on earth.  This authorized “decreeing” causes a manifestation in the natural, something we usually call a miracle, healing, or blessing.  The manifestation in the natural can be delayed by opposition in the spiritual realm, or by God intentionally holding back the manifestation for a season. 

The enemy and his cohorts, originally angels assigned to aid the saints in their Kingly inheritance, are now seeking to malign the manifestation of the sons of God (see Romans 8:19).  The manifestation of the sons of God includes the “decreeing” creative release that the sons of God are authorized to step into.  There is therefore an epic battle going on in the second heavens between angels and demons; a battle over the saints apprehending their true identity and authority in Christ. Our prayers and worship set the victory in motion that is ours in Christ.  But the manifestation or answer from heaven can be held up by unseen spiritual clashes (see Daniel 10:13). 

When God intentionally holds back a blessing, I believe it may be because His heart is concerned about creating (in us) a “galvanized strength” that can sufficiently carry the blessing.  He is a good Father and He wants to create a depth in us that will facilitate the “weightiness” of the manifestation/miracle.  In other words if what we desire to see manifest (a blessing, a healing, a miracle) will “ruin us” because our character is not strong enough to carry the glory attached to it, God will mercifully give us time to go through “process” (His refiners fire) so that we develop the character, spiritual fortitude, and maturity in Christ, that will protect us from claiming any of His glory as our own.  In layman’s terms: if we are too immature to receive the blessing, and we need to grow up in Christ more, God will kindly hold back a blessing that will destroy us.  

God is a loving Father who knows what will cause reciprocal damage to a premature release of a blessing. In the same way that a good and healthy earthly Father will exercise discernment as to when to release the stewardship of a blessing (e.g., when to allow a teenage daughter to drive on her own), our heavenly Father will not release a blessing a moment too soon.  The depth of our character and weight of glory that we allow God to produce in us, will determine the depth of eternal blessings that He will release in and through us.  When we have been “made ready” to receive what He has always desired to give us, we become stewards of His glory; we become a visual aid to the world of His outrageous love.  The beautiful thing is, we are “made ready” by deepening our faith in Christ and walking in true intimacy with God, not by our efforts.  So the more we lay everything at the feet of Christ, and trust in Him, the more we become prepared for carrying blessings that will multiply and spill over- impacting many lives.

Incarnational Reality

Recently I've been revisiting the reality of Jesus living "in" his people. As I am in the middle of producing the Beauty for Ashes albums, I'm intrigued to know more about what it means to have Christ living in and through me. His presence can only be experienced through a conversation relationship- one that is birthed out of an encounter.

Encountering God is like feeling His heartbeat as He embraces you with a massive hug. But an encounter with God can have no subjective "feeling" accompanying it. It can totally be birthed in faith alone. In other words we don't have to feel anything. If the feeling is there, it's a bonus. In the context of His embrace, whether felt or not, we then invite Him to inhabit all of the deep places of our hearts and minds. We ask Him to replace the lies with the antidotal truth. We give Him permission to crowd out the darkness in our hearts with His very nature and attributes. As G.K. Chesterton said, "God is not a symbol of goodness, goodness is an attribute, or symbol, of God." For example, when God fills a space in our hearts once occupied by rebellion, with goodness, He fills us with His very nature. Jesus becomes our sanctification (1 Cor. 1:30). This is what Leanne Payne (author of The Healing Presence) calls, "Incarnational Reality." It is what the Bible calls the "mystery" of God: Christ in us, the hope of glory… that we may become complete in Christ (Col. 1:27-28). 

This "Divine Displacement" (as Graham Cooke calls it) means we don't have to "manufacture" the fruits of the Spirit because we partner with Him and He actually produces them. So we can (and must) cast off a works oriented approach to God, and learn to abide "in Him." His presence becomes our focus. We become preoccupied with Christ and the strongholds lose their grip. We experience what the song Oh How He Love Us says: "I don't have time to maintain these regrets, when I think about the way He love us." So, part of Incarnational Reality means that we cultivate a growing relationship with God to the point where we don't have any more bandwidth to allow the lies to ferment.

Beauty for Ashes

Yesterday I spoke on Isaiah 61 at Emmaus Church in Woodinville, WA. What a great group of folks! "Beauty for Ashes" has been the theme of my heart for the last few months. As I began to look at the context of Jesus life message, His quoting Isaiah 61, I was thrust into a study on the idea that God could access the deep places of my heart and replace or "flood out" sin habits, negative emotions, and faulty mindsets, with the antidotal truth found only in His very nature.

Talk about revelation. God is saying, "That's it Mark! I have not come to just set the captive free, I have also come to heal the broken hearted. I am the God of the living not the dead. I have come to immerse and overflow a willing heart, with what was meant to be there all along- Me." God is not content with us "just being saved." He is jealous for us to overflow with His presense. He has set me free from so many things. But He has not stopped there. He is displacing fear with love, rebellion with peace, abandonment with Fatherhood, and despair with hope. I'm a work in progress of course, but He is doing it! He is filling me with Himself. The opposite truth, of what I have tried to fill my life with to cover up pain, is found in God's nature. And the beautiful thing is, because we can only "hold" so much in our heart-containers, as He invades the space, the "diseased matter" (false mindsets, sin, sickness, etc.) loses it's grip... and the good stuff, His very nature, spills over! This is, I believe, what Paul was referring to when he said, "Make no provision for the flesh" (Ro. 13:14). Our part: Forsake our idols and ask God to flood our hearts with Himself. Encounter Him, and allow Him to give us His Beauty for our Ashes.

So my friends, I encourage you, no I admonish you... arggg how do I say this- please, go re-read Isaiah 61. Then read Isaiah 53- this is where all of the "diseased matter" goes (a fascinating and mysterious truth itself). Ask God to illuminate these passages to you, and He will do just that. Our God is amazing, wonderful, and all together beautiful! 

Placing what we have, in the hands of God

We often think that we need abundant resources to have impact on others. But the truth is we simply need to place what we have, in God's hands... for Him to do something great. Instead of focusing on what we "don't have," what if we moved forward with what we do have? Today's Soulbyte is all about what Christ can do if we place what we have, into His hands.

What I am learning is that God is not interested in what I "don't have." Because He alone has true abundance, and He specializes in divine acceleration and multiplication, He is not limited regarding what He can do with a small amount. I personally think He delights in us placing something that we think is "small" into His hands. After all a seed is pretty small, and He has ordained multiplication to come from one seed. The other cool thought is that, because God has deposited gifts inside of us... we always have something to give. For example, what if "words of encouragement" were like $20 dollar bills that we could sow with liberty? What if we could reap a material harvest (whatever that may look like.. not just money) by sowing a spiritual seed of encouragement (hmmm... sounds a lot like 1 Cor. 9:11). Here's a question for you, "did the lame man at the Gate Beautiful need money (see Acts 3:6)?"... and, what did Peter give him? Wow, that doesn't leave me much room for excuses. We always have something to give... and God can take anything that we put into His hands, and multiply it.

Speaking to your soul

The idea of speaking to yourself just seems flat-out weird. Weird, that is, in our American culture of properness and cerebral processing. I love today's Soulbyte. Here's what God says about David, "I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do" (Acts 13:22). Seriously? Oh my goodness! How do you get to that place with God? Doesn't God want that type of relationship with all of His kids... to be sons and daughters after His own heart?

Speaking to our own souls has to do with the "I" word- INTIMACY. David was so passionate for God, that he would tell his own soul what to do. Now that is intentionality toward hardwiring an overcoming kingdom mindset! We live an ascended life, when we live with a heart governed by God's feelings... not our own. It's great that God gave us feelings. He wants us to "feel" feelings. He is the happiest person I know. He is the most passionate person I know. He loves to shine upon us. He feels deeply. And He wants our feelings to line up with how He sees things so that we can feel heavenly "true and aligned" feelings. To be called a man after God's own heart, is to be called a man who feels what God feels. Our emotions (or passions) line up with God's emotions. How does that happen? Part of it is, like David, we cultivate the discipline of subjecting our souls to worshiping God. Take a look: "Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name" (Psalm 103:1 NIV). In the context of this intentional intimacy toward God, He releases His heart toward us (in us). And, in the same way He released His passion in and through King David (think of all of the Psalms that David wrote... that we now benefit from), He will release His heart in and through us.

Mark

Vision and revelation

Today's Soulbyte is pretty cool. I love to think about how God communicates to me. This morning I went to Tully's at 5am. I couldn't sleep. After last night's Men of Destiny meeting. My mind was swimming in God's joy and love for these men. I feel so honored to be His mouthpiece at MOD. There were about 18 guys lat night for the topic- Favor. I asked God for revelation as to how to structure the Encounter Modules for MOD... how to build the CD's. He told me what to do. I asked Him to confirm it, and He gave me a scripture this morning. When I opened my laptop- first one in Tully's, ya man, there was a verse in a separate window. It was "on top" of all the other programs that were open, in a "pop up" window I had never seen before. I knew this was from God. This is one of those special little communication validations that is between me and God... so I can't share... well I choose not to share what the verse was with you here. But I will just say this, things like this are happening more and more in my life. I ask God for something and He shows me. Why is that? Why now? Naaaa those are the wrong questions. The only response is, "wow... are you kidding me [smile] seriously... thank You Lord." 

So regarding "divine communication" (vision), it's imperative. It not only sustains us as we move forward, it keeps us moving forward. God really is a prophetic God- He's always moving forward into new territory. No wonder the universe is always expanding... testifying to His nature. We need vision and revelation from Him, to keep up with Him... to enter into what He wants to give us. Ahh... unbelievable!

Seeing beyond the natural

How do we see beyond the natural (see today's Soulbyte 2 Cor. 4:18)? This is a tough concept to wrestle with. Paul wrote... "we fix our eyes not on what is see, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Wow, if that is true then how in the world do I live in this natural world with an eternal perspective? I mean I have to work and eat and live... and doesn't God want me to enjoy life? My thoughts are that God responds with, "Yes, yes, and yes... I know that." 

I think what He is asking us to enter into is a place where we have a "divine disinterest" in holding so tightly onto the things of this world. The Corinthian church was plagued with bickering and back-bighting. They battled temporary indulgences and internal fighting about spiritual gifts. They were immature in their relationships. They had a focus that was "earthed" in a temporary perspective. Wow, do we ever battle that today. I personally believe that as we let go of this idea that things here on earth need to be grasped and corralled, God allows us to enjoy life more. He provides for our needs and He blesses us with our wants. 

Your thoughts???

Mark

dreaming in God colors

What does Paul mean when he says that God can do "...immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20)"? To me that would be... dreaming. So then the question banging in my head is, "what if I aligned my imagination with what God is dreaming about?" 

Tomorrow I am speaking at Emmaus Church in Woodinville. The doors are opening wide for me to share about the principles in the Men of Destiny Encounter Modules. As I dreamed about what God was doing eight months ago, I set things in motion. I had no idea what would culminate, I just knew that I God had brought me through a lot, and I knew that other men were in bondage to the same things that God brought me through. So Men of Destiny started out as an idea to help men get "unstuck." Then God gave me the modules... the teaching protocol or strategy. Do I dare believe that this is divine revelation, and insight? Was I aligning with what He was dreaming? I do believe so. Why? Because I believe that Ephesians 3:20 is real.

The way I see it, I either believe the promises of God on my life- promises like, "Mark you will be involved in releasing a clear sound from heaven." And promises of asking for nations and seeing many come to Christ, and helping many people discover and hardwire an overcoming mindset... I either believe that these thoughts, impressions, dreams, are from Him, or I have to get them out of my brain. I can't go half-way. So what are You dreaming about today God? What are You dreaming about for Emmaus Church in Woodinville, WA? If my imagination is limited to my perception, but You dream in heaven's full colors... then what does that look like?