Volume I: The Mechanics of Transformation The Internal Shift: From the Carnal Mind to the Spirit’s Overflow 1. The Taskmaster vs. The Living Water The "carnal mind" is a legalistic machine. It functions on a "pay-to-play" basis, telling you that if you don't sit in a specific posture or listen to a specific song, you have lost your connection. This is the Taskmaster. The Performance Trap: Striving is the oxygen of the carnal mind. It creates a "blue-in-the-face" exhaustion where you try to force the Presence to appear. The Breakthrough Signal: Ironically, the Taskmaster screams the loudest right before the water breaks through. When you feel a sudden surge of "religious guilt" or a list of "do’s and don’ts" hitting you like a monkey on your back, it is usually because a realm of bliss is about to open. The Wash: You don’t defeat legalism with better behavior; you defeat it with the Living Water. You lean into the "real wa...
The season is painful. The waiting is painful. Keeping my peace is painful. Even the "not knowing" is painful. This life is truly something else; half the time, you can’t even have a conversation with someone without getting all messed up. It feels like you can’t do much of anything other than sit, drink, and wait on God to show up in a powerful way and set you loose—even if it’s just for a little while. When you’re sitting there drinking, you’re just wondering. Half the time, you don’t even know what’s going on. Is it God? Is it not God? Am I drinking the right stuff? Am I praying the right prayers or hearing the right things? I guess it just takes time, as it always has. It has rarely been an instant thing. There is a process to it, but as my mentors keep saying: "Stay in Jerusalem until power comes from on high." It is the strangest life imaginable because it’s so contrary to how the world operates. Everyone moves so fast and so impulsively, yet they aren...