A Season of Expectancy and Purity

Have you ever had one of those seasons where every turn you make your heart jumps with expectation. You are not really sure what to expect, but you are sure you are suppose to expect something. It may be good, or it may be bad, but it feels good. However, all you know is that something is about to happen, and you need to brace yourself for whatever it is, because whatever it is going change everything. Once whatever that is going to happen, actually happens, you will never be the same. So, you wait in an eager expectation for whatever it is, longing for what is to come.

Well that is the season that I am in. I am certain whatever happens will be good, and not bad. However, that does not mean that it will not be hard. In fact, whatever is going to happen I am almost certain will be hard. I figure there will be a little of pain involved and even some confusion. But that is why it is awesome that God is my Guide and Comforter, because I know He will get me through. He will make straight paths, and if there are tears he will catch them and count them, and will guard my heart beyond all understanding, because that is type of God He is.

Like I said, I cannot exactly put my finger on what is going to take place. I know going to Fargo/Minnesota has a huge part to do with it, and that it will bring purity and righteousness into my life. This transformation that God is going to bring will take away a lot of the muck and mire that is my currently blocking my vision, and will bring a new found intimacy with God and deeper vision into His Kingdom. Basically, my heart will become more in tune with what God is saying. I will become more aligned with His will. In fact, in one prayer session I was told this season will prepare me to make decisions for His kingdom on a moments notice knowing the decision I make is God's decision, because I will be so intimate with God that His will, will be my only desire. Now, that folks is a pretty exciting to hear, and also somewhat intimidating.

I look at my life now with all of the struggles and sin, and wonder, "How can it be? How could my life ever look like that? Why would God ever look to me to make those decisions?" And all I hear God saying is that, “It will be, because that is who He made me to be. It is His gift to me, and that I just need to rest in Him, and in due time all things will come.”

Some of you are probably in the same situation. God has called you to something, and you feel completely inadequate, or you just feel generally inadequate and unworthy. And just like God is whispering words of encouragement and empowerment to me. He is doing the same for you. He is saying to you, "You are my son/daughter. These dreams are what I have made you for. They are my gift to you. I have made you worthy, and you do not have to keep striving. Rest in me. There is something coming. Be expectant. Long for the change I am bringing. Contend for the change. It may hurt a little, but it is good. It will prepare you for what is to come. No matter what keep going because I am with you. I am going to change the world with you, because I love you." I love it when Dad tells me those things.

The good thing is that God's plans for us are beyond our belief. I am just starting to see mine. I see that God has called me to unite His Kingdom, and to network it together. I am supposed to be a force that mobilizes a movement of missions into the world. He has called me to help serve of a movement of evangelism in Germany, and ultimately to provide infrastructure that will launch a mighty movement of outreach in and from Africa to the world. Hearing that blows my mind, and even makes me seem like a crazy idealist that does not have one ounce of realism. But that is only the beginning of God's plan for me. It is a taste of what is to come. The fraction he has allowed me to see. I know there is more, and there is more for you, and it may be even bigger. In fact, my prayer is that it is, because that would be awesome. God has such plans for us. We need to be expectant. We would be foolish not to.

Now the coolest thing about all of this is that our sin does not disqualify us from our vision. These dreams and desires that we have to save/change the world are God's gift to us, and He will do whatever He can to make sure that we unwrap them. Sin may keep them from us, but that is more of our choice than God's. The sin causes us to question our selves, and puts chains on us. It makes us tired and groggy. We begin to question God, His character, and His desire for our lives. We start to see Him as the culprit for all of the evil things in our life. Then we throw away the dreams He has given us, as rubbish and foolish, and move to a more practical and powerless lifestyle that matches our worthiness.

This to a certain extent has described my life. Not to the extent that I completely threw away God or His vision for my life, but to the point that I thought I was not worthy and would never attain His dream for me. It stole His peace from me as I sat up at night thinking I had lost it because I sinned. I had lied again, or I had looked at the horrible stuff one more time. For sure this time God has scaled back His dreams for me, and walked away. His promises cannot be valid anymore. I have lost them.

Meanwhile God was saying to me, "Matt my visions and dreams for you are still true. I still am going to give them to you. In fact, not only will I give them to you, but I will set your free from the lies, from the insecurity that causes them. I will set you free from the lust and the porn, and I will strip you of the loneliness and lack of self-worth that thrusts you to sin. I then will make you a force against these things, and will give you authority to bring healing into these areas. All you have to do is come back to me. I have already forgiven you. Please, forgive yourself."

I realized He was pleading for me to repent and forgive myself. He was so eager to make me forget because He already had. He showed me His vision for me, and told me to expect all of the things He showed me because they were coming, and they are only going to be a taste of what is to come. He led me to humility and repentance, and through that He is stripped all of the shame, fear, and guilt that sin had used to rob me of God's vision and peace for my life. He led me back to Himself, and this week at the office was a huge part of that.

Wednesday, we had an intense time of prayer for each other. At the very end I got prayed for. I asked them to pray for healing for me because us of all the crap I had looked at. We listened to God for strategy and wisdom on how to pray, and God gave us some awesome words, and then we prayed following His instructions. One of things He told me was to be expectant that today everything would change. I went into prayer expecting, which for me is hard. I was looking for fireworks, for an overcoming experience with the Lord. It did not come. At least not like I thought it would for anyone there it was just seemed normal, but when we were done something was different. I was lighter, and my Spirit was changed. I still cannot explain it, but I had my vision back, and I was free. I am free. That is what the Kingdom does. It offers freedom for all of those who will humble themselves and ask for it. When we let the Kingdom in. We let Heaven in, and it makes ALL things right.

Going through this process is why I have seemed very distracted and preoccupied lately. I have been fighting a war in my mind. God has been speaking amazing promises and visions into my life that are completely life giving, and I have thrown chains over myself making them impossible. I have focused on my sin and the circumstances around me, and thereby allowed the shame, fear, and guilt associated with them to bolt me down. Leading me to consistently questioned God's vision and words to me. It made me a real party pooper.

Praise God, something has shifted in the Heavenlies, because of people’s prayers and God’s faithfulness. Now I am in a season of purity and expectation. I have been freed to truly dream and vision with an expectant that is free of disqualification. God is cleaning out the trash, and that hurts every now and then, but is so exciting to be clean. It gives me confidence and new found authority in Him. Fargo is going to be awesome, and I cannot wait. God has dreams for me, and He has dreams for you. We are not disqualified. We are His chosen ones! Things are going to change!

My First Northern Exposure and a Flat Tire

This week began my ministry up in Northern Minnesota and Fargo. I spent the week traveling with Mike, another coordinator in IWT, and Marty, the National Director of IWT, across the northern part of Minnesota. We picked up Marty from the Minneapolis airport, and then went to Duluth, and worked our away from Duluth across the state of Minnesota to the Fargo/Moorhead area. It was an awesome week of meetings.

The purpose of our trip was to start having some of the initial conversations in communities across the state about getting ready for the tour towards the Fall of 2011 and the Spring of 2012. In Duluth, we were able to meet with some key youth leaders and the director of Youth for Christ (YFC), as well as a very respected church leader. The conversations were very fruitful, and there seems to be a lot of excitement growing in the area for the tour and the discipleship process we hope to form. We also had a meeting just outside of Duluth in a small town called Cloquet, which had a similar tone to the meeting, and we even saw an open door into the indian reservation in town, which is really exciting.

After our meetings in Duluth we drove to the Hibbing/Grand Rapids area, which is known by some as the Iron Range of Minnesota. We had two meetings, one in Hibbing and one in Grand Rapids. Both meetings saw a lot of growth as the communities began to engage with each other about discipleship and prayer. The coolest thing about the meetings had to be how God communicated to us before hand in prayer exactly what happened in the meeting. In one of the meetings it seemed we were going a little of course. Normally that would have been a little disconcerting, but it was communicated to us through our team back in Kansas City that this would happen, and that we were not to be worried, but instead go to prayer with the leaders of the community. That is exactly what we did, and through the prayer God brought us back on course and broke through. It is cool to see how when you leave things to God how He is always faithful to come through in the end.

The final stop was in Fargo, which is the city/area that is moving the fastest out of the entire region. I got to meet the local steering for the first time on Friday, and it was so encouraging to be in the meeting. The people in Fargo have such a dedicated heart to Jesus and the Kingdom. To see how the Lord has grabbed them and is moving them along is awesome, and they have such a dedicated heart to discipleship, prayer, and the power of God, which are some major themes that God has been speaking to us as a team, which is another display of God's faithfulness. He has called us as a ministry to focus on prayer, discipleship, and to go in His power, and now has brought us to a communicty that has such a heart for all three of those areas. That is so awesome!

After all of our meetings we drove back to Minneapolis to drop Marty off at the airport, and then Mike and I high tailed back to Kansas City to miss the huge storm that went through the area, and we made it just in time. Now we are back in Kansas City, and working on some preliminary projects until Mike and I move up to Fargo on the 18th of January to be the ground forces so to speak for the ministry. Until then we are working on getting a Discipleship Seminar organized, a banquet put together, the local exec board assembled, getting more churches aware and partnering with the tour, trying to find venues for the events, as well as finding housing and an office for Mike and I. So, we have a decent amount of work to do.

With all of this I am super excited to start working up there. I feel that through out the week God gave me a lot of vision for the area, as well as a sense of expenctancy and excitement for what He is about to do up there. One point the ministry has really been working on is forming nets of discipleship to catch all of those who come to faith at the events. God has really spoken to us about building a lasting structure for the communities to work with once we are gone, and we believe those nets will take the shape of what we call neighborhood networks, in which we empower all of the believers to turn there households into outreach centers for their neighborhood. In essence, every Christian's home will become a hub in that neighborhood for prayer, bible study/discipleship, outreach, and nurturing. Our hope is that we can begin to unite the Christians in every neighborhood regardless of chuch and denominational lines to begin to unite together to pray for strategy and wisdom in how to reach their neighborhoods for the Kingdom. The vision is what is exciting most of the area, so we are excited to see this vision take root and really flourish, because we believe this is what will produce lasting fruit

As a result, God has talked ot me a lot about discipleship and training the local church, which speaks right to my teachers heart. I love teaching and discipling, so I am pumped for that. Although, this has had a strong focus on targeting the youth and young adults of the area, and training them to form these centers in their high schools and campuses. I would love to see a revival among this younger generation, and from the sounds of it God has something up His sleeve to do just that in Northern Minnesota, and I cannot wait to see what is and be a part of it.

After all of that excitement I came home yesterday and just crashed, which was good. I just relaxed and spent some time with God, that was until my room mate and friend Cassi wanted to get a movie, so we went out to get one. On our way to the Red Box I over looked a curb and busted out my tire, which we changed out for the spare in the middle of blistering cold winds. However, the moral of the story is now I need a new tire, and I am looking for the finances to do that. If you could help with the repair of my new tire you can donate below by clicking on the button and giving into my paypal account. It would be extremely appreciate and is needed.

I just want to thank you all for supporting me through your finances, thoughts, and prayers. Everything I do is because of you guys, and I am so thankful to have such a good group of friends and family who allow me and go with me to do the work that God has called me to. I am praying for you and love you. If there is anything I can specifically pray for please let me know! God bless!

Also if you want to partner in prayer here are a few prayer points.

1.) First, is that God would release the funds needed to get out of debt from my colleges loans, which are a huge hindrance to my ministry right now.

2.) Strategy and wisdom for the leaders in Minnesota/Fargo who are beginning to prepare their churches and the community for the tour in the fall of next year

3.) Safety and protection for all of the IWT who are traveling through out the holidays

4.) Strategy and wisdom for IWT staff as we seek to make some adjustments in the ministry to make prayer and discipleship a stronger focus in the ministry.

5.) Revelation for all of the staff into the Kingdom and love of Christ, which is our motivation for everything.

My First Week in Kansas City

This week has been so good! I really do not know where to start with all that has happened. The moral of the story is that God showed up.

This week was an amazing time for IWT, Impact World Tour. With most of the ministry back in Kansas City we had the entire week to seek the Lord together, and hear what He had for us, and it was dynamic. God gave us a lot of vision and direction for this next season. He is entering us into a rebuilding season, where we are going to start rebuilding on the foundation of IWT. There are a few things that He is really highlighting for us as a ministry. The first, is that we would have a lifestyle of prayer in everything that we do. As a ministry, we want to become so dependent on God that we cannot even have a meeting until we have prayed into and have received the Lord's direction. We need to become more pro-active through the leading of God then reactive. So, this next season will be a time where we simply seek the face of God, and everything that happens will be an outflow of falling in love with Jesus, and that is exciting to think about.

In addition, to developing this lifestyle of prayer and intimacy with the Lord we feel that God is calling IWT to develop more lasting foundations into the cities that we are going into. As a result, we are trying to form the ministry in a way that we can partner with the church in every community and build something that will be lasting, and can be used by the church in the foundations they are building. We want to help every community become a hub for missions. In which churches and even individual people's homes become training centers that train followers of Christ to reach those who are not in the Kingdom of God both in their own community and communities around the world. It is such an exciting vision to be given, and each day God reveals more to us of how this will happen.

The cool thing is that God is developing this lifestyle in all of us individually/corporately, so that we can not only spread the vision, but by His love become an effective model to all of those we seek to partner and work with. It is really cool! He is building IWT into a powerful missional community, that not only loves others, but that deeply loves each other as close knit family. It such a privilege and honor to be part of this ministry, in this season.

In addition, to all that God is doing with the ministry. He is just wrecking my heart for Him, and it is so good! Each day I find myself being drawn closer and closer to Him. My quiet times with Him have been awesome. He has been speaking to me with so much clarity about this next season of my life. But the best part has been Him just telling me how He sees me, and when the King of Kings tells you how He sees you it is the most humbling and uplifting thing ever. I am His glorious Son, and He has taken me into deep parts of His kingdom and wants to take me even deeper. When He looks at me He smiles as He sees passion and desire for Him and His Kingdom. And ther was so much more! When, I heard God talk to me like that I was in tears, but it gave me so much healing and confidence. It has embolden me to be His messenger and servant. It is so good!

As I continue to have my identity as a Son of God illuminated He is opening more and more of His Kingdom to me and allowing me to reach more people. This is the message that people need to hear. They can become a child of God. In fact, that is what they were created for, to be children of the most High God, and then it was stolen from them. Their identity was high jacked, and they were told they were of this world and worthless. God is screaming for them to be His kids again, and they are screaming to have a Father. This is the message that I am taking to Minnesota. Your Father is waiting for you. No more fear. No more shame. No more guilt. You are not fatherless. Your Father is waiting with His arms wide open to protect you and to restore you. Let me take you to your Father, to our Father. He has so much to tell you!

I am so pumped for what God has in store for Minnesota, and it all starts tomorrow. Tomorrow I am driving up to Minnesota with, Mike Stanley, and picking up Marty from the airport in Minneapolis, and then we will have a bunch of meetings through out the week to get ready for the Fall Tour in Northerwestern Minnesota and Fargo where we will help tell Minnesota about their Father. So that we can guide them back to Dad, and then Dad can tell them how beautiful they are to Him, so He can take away their fear, guilt, and shame, because perfect love casts out all fear.

My prayer is that you all would join with me in this journey, and pray for our travels and favor with all of those that we meet, and clarity to hear the direction of God in all that we do. Also, join me in spreading this message. If you do not know how Dad sees you as His child ask Him. He will blow you away, and heal your soul. And if you know someone who is hurting tell them about their Dad and take them to Him, so that Dad can heal them and whisper His love into their ears. All we have to do is ask Him. He has been desperately waiting for us to ask. So ask you have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.

I love you guys, and I pray a rich blessing of provision and love from the Father for He is good and loves to lavish on His children, and you are His child!


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There is one more thing I want to ask you guys to help with. Over the last few weeks God has really been talking to me about my debt that I incurred in college. Currently, it is at $48,000 and growing because 3 of my loans are in forebearance and as a result getting bigger. I want to ask for your help. I need vision and strategy to start paying on these loans, and right now I have none, and I am living off about $300 of committed monthly support, but because God is always faithful that is always supplemented with random gifts that give me enough to cover my monthly expenses, such as gas, car payment, my Compassion Kid, insurance, and 1 of my student loans (I have 4). He has shown me that I need to start paying on all 4 at the beginning of next year.

So, the first thing I would ask for you to pray and seek God with me so we can find his strategy and plan to develop a budget to pay these off. I also want to ask you all to pray and see if He is asking you to help with this through financial support, whether that is monthly or a one time gift. Then write whatever you hear from the Lord as a comment to this blog, and we can go from there!

Right now my loans are a huge barrier and burden to the ministry God has called me to. The good things is that God is bigger than them, and He wants me free, so He will show me the way to freedom, and I just need to be obedient and follow my Dad. Thank you for your help in finding the way!

If you have any questions or would like to support me give me a call, 330-754-7878, or email me at matthew_woods31987@yahoo.com.

Love you guys!

Matt