Tabby cat with confident look. Click here to listen. If you long to connect with the heavenly family, which is the angels and the Father and Jesus who love you, and that you have a longing for—it's because you’re born with a longing for this loving, intelligent, heavenly family—and most of us don’t get that in our physical earth. All the adaptations that we make to try to somehow make that still work will just fall off of us if we will turn toward our heavenly family and connect there. As we get full, all those other things just flake off. I always have a picture of a person covered in mud, and then it dries and cracks and just falls off. That is so much easier than the back-and-forth fight of “I want my family to love me, but they don’t. I love them, but I hate them.” You can play that game till your death. I have supernatural self-esteem, which means that I tend to look at myself in a positive light and am very slow to criticize myself, even though I’m not completely impervious if I make a mistake. I am able to repent and correct. I have supernatural self-esteem, which I pretty much take for granted. I tend to be right, that people will like me, that people will cooperate with me. And if people try to push me around, I will successfully push them back. Pretty much any conflict or contest I join, I expect to win. That doesn’t mean I can’t say, “Well, that’s not fair,” or “That’s too weighted in my favor,” but nonetheless, I expect to win things. Once in a while I realize I can’t win—like a policeman giving me a ticket. You’re not going to wiggle out of that, particularly if you actually did it. But you can have supernatural self-esteem, and it cuts out so much self-criticism. The enemy uses that over and over again on people. You read about all these Hollywood stars, and they’re so conflicted, even though they have massive success, people telling them they’re pretty and talented, and they have millions, and they’re still unhappy. Supernatural self-esteem is something I want to start sharing in counseling because so many have that problem—saying things like, “Things never turn out for me,” even though many things do turn out for them. They need to stop saying that. Even at my age, I’m certain I could find a woman who would enjoy me, whom I would actually like, if I wanted one. I don’t want one, but it’s nice to be this old and feel like that wouldn’t be hard for me. It’s a funny kind of thing, but it sure saves you a lot of trouble. I got angry at someone recently, and I wanted to hurt her, and someone said, “Most people would be sad that they lost their temper. You’re just pleased that you didn’t hurt someone.” It never occurred to me to think I should feel bad about losing my temper. Why should I? I want to share this because it takes away a lot of ground the enemy uses. Most people who should be concerned about how bad they are usually aren’t. They’re mostly concerned they’ll get caught. Truly wicked people are usually into their wickedness. But a lot of the people we deal with are largely good people who just pick themselves apart. Supernatural self-esteem is a gift, and it should be shared. Some people need a little more supernatural self-esteem. Father in heaven, I thank you for giving me supernatural self-esteem You're such a kind God you're such a generous God. I ask that you release supernatural self-esteem to all Christians and to every counselee. And any person who struggles to do Your will. Please release the gift of supernatural self-esteem and anyone who hears this tape let it fall upon them truly it is a spiritual gift in Jesus name amen One thing that I will say there's really nothing in my history that suggests that I should have supernatural self-esteem Vital Points: Heavenly Family Humans are born with a deep longing for a loving, intelligent heavenly family. Earthly families often cannot fulfill this longing. Many emotional adaptations people make to survive family dysfunction fall away when they connect with the heavenly family. Turning toward heaven brings fullness; striving for earthly approval becomes control. Letting heavenly love fill the inner void is easier and more freeing than the constant struggle of wanting family love that isn’t given or approval from others. Vital Points: Supernatural Self-Esteem A form of spiritual confidence that minimizes unnecessary self-criticism. Includes: Expectation of being liked. Expectation of cooperation from others. Expectation of prevailing in most conflicts. Not denial of mistakes—just freedom from excessive self-blame. This gift removes the enemy’s foothold of constant internal accusation. Many people, even those with success, live in deep self-conflict without this gift. Clients often struggle with thoughts like “things never work out for me,” even when evidence contradicts it. Supernatural self-esteem helps counter such lies. Vital Points: Moral Clarification Truly evil people are usually not tormented by self-criticism. Most people we counsel are fundamentally good but harsh on themselves. They need relief from self-accusing patterns, not more scrutiny. Vital Points: Accessibility of the Gift This spiritual confidence is not tied to personal history or natural personality. Anyone can receive it regardless of past rejection or trauma. It is considered a spiritual impartation, not psychological self-talk. A request to heaven asking for supernatural self-esteem to be released to all who need it. An acknowledgment that the gift is spiritual in nature and freely given. Affirmation that it is not dependent on personal background. Vital Points: Practical Application Consider sharing this concept widely because it helps remove the enemy’s influence. Encourage everyone to take note of positive thoughts quickly and write them down before they fade. Most of us say God loves us so let us think and act like that.

Listen to this post by clicking here. Dove flying. I want to give us today some keys to controlling our mind and entering the peace and the joy of God. First, it comes from a psychology viewpoint, and I think they really did a good job, so I'm just going to read it to you. This suggests that the highest form of peace lies in releasing the need to be understood, admired, pitied, or known, because these desires tie your internal state to external factors that you cannot control. When you crave admiration or recognition, you often subconsciously perform a version of yourself designed to get approval. Letting go of this desire allows you to act based on your own authentic values, rather than trying to satisfy an audience, which significantly reduces the mental exhaustion of constant social negotiation. Relying on external validation, whether it's someone finally understanding your pain or admiring your success, makes you emotionally unstable and fragile. If your worth is assigned by others, it can be taken away by them. When you stop reading others to validate your reality, however, your self-worth becomes self-generated and unshakable. Seeking to be understood or pitied stems from a desire for others to mirror our internal feelings. When you release this expectation, criticism or misunderstanding loses its power to ruin your day. You also no longer feel the need to explain or to send yourself to people who may never intend to understand you anyway. According to the self-determination theory, autonomy and self-acceptance are the core drivers of well-being. True peace isn't about being invisible or isolated, it's about being grounded in your own identity, and you no longer feel that you are required to be validated by others. Now, many people have approached this same problem, and so I want to tell you another way that someone helped me long ago, when I was a young man, to learn to begin to control my own mind and emotions, and the fruits have been very good, and I'll tell you about them as we get closer to the end of this message. One of the keys to controlling our mind is to realize that most of us have a civil war going on inside, of desires and fears that we won't get those desires or needs met. For instance, will I be one of the popular people at work or school? Will I be promoted at work? Do my parents love me? Does my spouse love me? Do people respect me? Do they think I'm pretty or good-looking? First, we have to decide to end the almost constant back and forth many of us have in our mind and emotions. We need to decide to end the civil war within and let the peace of God and the joyful life that God intends for us to start to dominate and enter us. Here's some advice that I got, and I want to share it with you. Once we decide to go ahead and fight that civil war and win it, one of the ways is to rise up as a warrior of God that he created us to be and to be alike in pleasure and pain, praise and blame, joy and sorrow, to be a person of discernment and to leave the pairs of opposites behind. This may sound radical, but as you leave this push and pull on your mind and emotions, you enter peace, something that most of us don't have. When we come to peace, we will gradually be flooded with the joy and energy and intelligence of God. I have lived this way for more than 50 years, and it works. I want to give you a little teaching that comes out of a book that Nancy and I wrote called Welcome to the Family Business that illustrates this pretty well. There are two characters, Conal and Skye, and Conal is giving Skye a lecture because she's caught up in the civil war. Conal is a little older and wiser, and he's going to give her some hints on how to end that war and to enter into God's peace. They sat down near a stream. Conal said, "Don't try to do anything," he said, not sharply, almost casually, "Just sit." She glanced over. His blue eyes were calm, almost amused, as if he already knew that she would eventually understand. She remembered feeling slightly foolish, like she should be doing something better than sitting on a rough slab in the woods. "Stop filling the space," he added after a moment. "Let it be empty." She bristled at the word. Empty sounded like loss, like absence, like being left. "I don't mean empty like nothing," he said, as if he had felt the resistance before she spoke it. "I mean empty like a cup, expecting to be filled." They sat there for a long time, long enough for everything else to fade—birds, water, wind higher up the slope. Her breathing, which she only noticed once it slowed. And then, without warning, something shifted. The effort stopped. The part of her that was always managing, bracing, interpreting, and proving stepped aside. It just wasn't needed anymore. The space it left behind did not feel hollow. "That is it," Conal said as they faced the stream. "Don't chase it." She didn't ask what it was. Asking felt unnecessary. Words would have been clumsy there. Later, he stood, pulling something from his pocket—cash, folded once. "Here," he said, placing it in her hand and closing her fingers around it. "Hold this." She looked at him, confused, but did what he said. The bills were still warm from his pocket. "Now," he said, sitting back down, "Say, give it to me." She blinked. "What?" "Say, 'Give it to me.'" So she looked at him and said, "Give it to me." And each time she said it, the words felt stranger, almost embarrassing. She opened her hand and closed it again, fully aware of the money resting there. "I already have it," she finally said. "I know," he replied. But she said it again anyway, "Give it to me." Something in her chest tightened, not from effort, but recognition. The absurdity of it. The unnecessary strain. The way her body still wanted to take what was already hers. "You're fighting for something that was never withheld," he said. "That's what people do with God. They beg for affection, which was given at creation. They fear rejection from a love that never left." She went still. "You know the lines," Conal said, looking at the water. "You had me at hello." She glanced at him. "That's God speaking," he said. "You had Him at hello." A new thought about God landed in her, small but alive, like a seed just planted. They never talked about it again, not directly. And she never told anyone else. The moment felt too exposed. But she carried it along inside of her. And she found a new stillness and a peace and a joy and energy that she'd never had before, though it took a while to unfold. And if you will try these things—and I have lived this way for a very long time—you will find that you're not part of this horrible fight in the society around you. So you rise above it in a way that leaves you free to interact. You don't retreat from life. But you will win more of life's battles with much less effort and be much happier in the meantime. And you'll have long periods of rest, which most of us rarely ever get.

Listen here to this teaching. Today’s class is about drama and our need for significance and to be seen. I’ve been on quite a few mission trips overseas. This particular story happened in Africa, but I’ve seen it in several countries where the people are very poor. The little kids might own one pair of shorts, one good outfit for church, and maybe a broken toy or a flat soccer ball. One thing the little kids always wanted us to do was take their picture. They would say, “Hey mister, take our picture.” They weren’t trying to get money or anything else from us. They simply wanted to be seen—seen as significant. We were taking pictures with digital cameras, and most of the time they never saw the photo, and then we were gone. But to them, it was very important that we took a moment and photographed them. I saw this in several countries, and it occurred to me that this is a deep need in people. I want to talk about this because this need can bring us a lot of good, but it can also cause a great deal of trouble. All of us are born with a need to be seen and to feel significant. Many of us have seen a little baby in a supermarket trying to make eye contact with us—staring deeply, wanting us to look back. They don’t know us, and we don’t know them, but they want to be seen, and they want to matter to us for that moment. As we grow, if we’re left alone or our needs aren’t met, or someone is unkind to us, we begin to starve for attention and help. Even in a fairly happy family, the sibling pecking order can communicate that we are either less important or more important than our brothers and sisters. Even in a very good, healthy family, many of us don’t get what we truly need. God also places in us the need to be connected powerfully to Him. As we grow older, we shift from our parents—who often take God’s place poorly or occasionally quite well—to God Himself, who made us to need His perfect love. The angels and our big Brother, Jesus, are also part of His plan for our connection to Him and to heaven. Some of the dramas I’ve seen in my 30 years as a counselor come from a deep emptiness. And I’ve seen this emptiness in many people who have been regular churchgoers—some for 50 years or more. I have also seen groups of pastors, most over the age of 50 and many with white hair, vying with each other to be first among many—much like the disciples asking Jesus, “Who among us will be first in the kingdom of heaven?” The sad truth is: you cannot communicate what you don’t have. To be fair, they are saved, and they do lead others to salvation, which is very important. Some genuinely have connection with heaven and communication with God and with the angels. But this doesn’t happen often enough. So they can’t give the people in their care what they themselves don’t personally have. I’ll come back to this problem and its solutions in a moment. First, I want to describe the problem that emptiness causes. In my 30 years as a Christian counselor, a few of the dramas people create go like this: “God does not like me and is out to get me.” I had to laugh when I heard this because if God were out to get you, you’d be flat as a pancake—or have leprosy. And this person’s life was actually quite normal. Another person believed they belonged to a large, loving Southern family, even though the dynamics of that family were cold and distant. Another carried a gun to work every day to save coworkers from terrorists. After twenty years without an attack, that gun was probably rusty. Another believed, “Women will reject me very quickly,”  even though he was educated, physically presentable, loved children, and made a good living. Another believed, “Everything always goes wrong for me,”  even though they were healthy, earning over $100,000 a year, and respected at work. Another believed their mother—who beat them—and their father—who sexually abused them—were great parents. When we believe these dramas, we begin to create circumstances that prove them true. They manifest over and over again. Happily, there are some answers to this problem. Let me give a few. First, our Father, God, puts a need and hunger in us to reconnect with Him. This desire drives many of us to find Him, even if we were raised in a heathen environment—this would be my story. There was something in me that deeply wanted to connect with God, and thankfully, it worked. We are significant to Him—and that was true the moment we were born. Most people would fight to the death to protect a helpless baby who can’t even sit up. The significance of human beings is also shown by the fact that in every civilized country, it is a crime to kill a human being—no matter how dilapidated, even if they are homeless. God sees us and feels that we are significant. He is the main Person we are designed to connect with in order to feel that way. And when you feel that way, you will drop a lot of draining, energy-demanding behaviors. You will no longer need people to think you’re cool, powerful, good-looking, or highly desirable. And strangely enough, when you stop needing those things, people often heap them on you. It’s like when you don’t need a credit card—everyone wants to give you one. When you’re not trying to pick people’s pockets emotionally, you have room to actually see others as they are, because you’re no longer staring at yourself in the mirror of your own drama. If you ask God first, “Is this true about me?”  He will begin unwinding those dramas from your soul and your life. A good Christian counselor can help you with this—just make sure they personally have a strong connection with God. A PhD will not necessarily give you someone who knows God. Learn to meditate. Get in contact with your spirit-man. Open the door of prophecy. Learn to quiet your mind. Learn to visit the Father—He will welcome you. Connect with the angels and heavenly beings who are your family. You are never alone. Never insignificant. As I said before, you were significant the moment you were born—and you still are. No less than the moon and the stars,  you have a right to be here. That line from one of my favorite poems nearly made me faint when I was an insecure teenager, reading it for the first time. All these topics are taught on our website and blog, and in the School of the Four Living Creatures, they are addressed in different ways. Or you can book time with Nancy and me, and we can help you learn these things. Truthfully, these things are not learned in a week or a month—but what else do you have to do? The alternative is to play out endless dramas and fantasies that bring you nothing. Denzel Washington recently said that even though he is loved by many, is a very good actor, and extremely rich—none of it matters. Almost like Solomon, he said the only thing that matters is your connection with God. I thought that was pretty awesome for him to say. Reality becomes your greatest joy and power as you learn to rest confidently in the Lord who loves your soul.

Firehouse Ministries, Inc. provides resources for Spiritual Development and Prophetic Counsel for those who are engaging in a relationship with Jesus Christ. We work with Kingdon businesses and individuals. They will find here ongoing help and opportunities for inspiration and wisdom. Firehouse Ministries, Inc. has a strong component of emotional healing and spiritual growth. Check Out Two New Books by Dr. Nancy Moelk and Richard Kinney Welcome to the Family Business: An Invitation to Join Your Supernatural Family The Dragon Bar: A Book of Modern-Day Encounters with Angels, Dragons, and Supernatural Creatures Firehouse Ministries, Inc. Sign-Up for New Events and Posts Spiritual Development, Prophetic Counsel, Emotional Healing and More Explore the Spiritual Exercises for More Daily Protection Prayers Significance and the Problem of Drama Coming to Peace by Controlling Your Mind Light of Christ Prayer and Exercise How to Do Deliverance Cleansing Your Bloodline Sitting on the Father's Lap Stepping into the Presence of Christ Spiritual Self-Defense Course Info Encounter with Big Jesus Love and Approval of God Getting to Know the Spirit Man Spiritual Atmosphere Control Light and the Spirit Man Finding Your Destiny Pillars of Fire (Protection) Stepping into Freedom from Pain and Gratitude Peace Exercise Spiritual Barbwire Hearing Both the Spirit Man and Prophecy Encounter Jesus Moment Winning the Battle Against Fear Insigts into Spiritual Warfare Intro to School of the Four Living Creatures Get Rid of Resignation, Resentment, Bitterness and Hopeless/Despair And Many More . . . Coming to Peace by Controlling Your Mind Significance and the Problem of Drama Spiritual Warfare All Posts (41) 41 posts Protection Prayers (6) 6 posts Spiritual Exercises (17) 17 posts School of the Four Living Creatures (2) 2 posts Family Help (2) 2 posts Prayer (6) 6 posts Emotional Healing (12) 12 posts

The Unreasonableness of God by Richard Kinney discusses ways that God seems to not do things the way we think He should. Lesson 1: School of the Ox The Unreasonableness of God by Richard Kinney Is God "unreasonable" or, in other words, does He just not make sense to you at times? Richard Kinney shares with us the path to opening our hearts a bit wider to the reality of God and His way of approaching us with His unreasonable love. He also discusses some of the unreasonable things that happen to us in our journey with God. "We must be willing to have our most cherished way of looking at things greatly expanded, if we want to encounter and interact with our God." Lesson 1: The Unreasonableness of God Below you will an audio of the lesson, study and personal application questions; a prayer, scripture and finally a quiz on the class with an answer key. Click on the link. Audio of Lesson Written Transcript Discussion Questions Answer to Discussion Questions Reflection Questions Prayer Scripture Quiz Answers to Quiz Go to List of Ox Classes

Man's Desire by Dr. Nancy Moelk teaches how our desires are part of being made in God's image and how to recognize the benefit and harm they can add to our lives depending on how we chose to meet them. Lesson 2: School of the Man Man's Desire by Dr. Nancy Moelk Are our desires good or bad? Did you know that God is desire driven? We have desires because we are made in his image. They are not good or bad just a part of who we are. In life, we need safe people around us to help us to sound out what we want and what we don't want. It is a process of self-discovery every child should have. If we didn't get it in childhood, then we will need to develop it later in life. In this class, Dr. Moelk also discusses what are the two things that cause a soul to expand and how Jesus Christ is an example of this. This class will increase your ability to bring your “real self” before God. For an in-depth discussion of Man's Desire, click here for "The Evolution of Human Desire." Lesson 2: Man's Desire Below you will an audio and a transcript of the lesson; study and personal application questions; a prayer, scripture and finally a quiz on the class with an answer key. Click on the link. Audio of Lesson Discussion Questions Answer to Discussion Questions Reflection Questions Prayer Scripture Quiz Answers to Quiz Go to List of Man Classes