Knowing God Archives - From His Presence®

January 5, 2019 By Jamie Rohrbaugh 26 Comments

When Life Slaps You In the Face, God Is Your Strong Tower

Dear friend who has been slapped in the face by life,

I know how you feel.

At various times in my life, I have known what it’s like to hurt so badly you can barely breathe. I know what it’s like to try to keep your mask on while you’re on the elevator so you don’t humiliate yourself, but then you sob uncontrollably as soon as you get to your desk.

I know what it’s like to be unable to sleep, so you go to a different room and lay on the floor and curl up in a ball and wail and keen to the Lord because words will not come.

I know what it’s like for the only thing you feel to be the awareness of pain.

I know the pain of betrayal, the pain of feeling alone, the pain of injustice. I know what it’s like to feel helpless. [Read more…]

January 3, 2019 By Jamie Rohrbaugh 77 Comments

5 Prayers To Increase God’s Glory On Your Prayer Life

Do you struggle with prayer? If so, today’s post is for you. It’s going to give you the keys you need for GOD to turn your prayer life into a supernaturally-anointed flow of power encounters with Him and His glory.

Here’s the backstory:

When I first got saved, I could not pray. I just could not tolerate prayer. I had no appetite for it, no inspiration for it, and no supernatural flow in prayer. Even trying to pray was difficult; it felt like very hard work.

But I wanted to know God better. I was so hungry for Him, and I wanted to be intimate with Him.

I wanted to pour out my heart to Him and hear Him talk back to me.
I wanted to be His friend and have Him tell me His secrets.
I wanted romance and intimacy with the Lord.
I wanted to carry weight in Heaven.

I knew prayer was a huge key to that kind of relationship, but I could not pray. So in my desperation and from the desire of my heart, I cried out to the Lord for help. And He answered. (Isn’t it amazing how God helps us in our weakness?) 🙂

God heard my cry. He began to teach me how to pray. Seemingly out of nowhere, I started encountering God in prayer.

As I asked the Lord to teach me to pray, I started having an actual desire to pray. (Shocking, I know.) 😉 So I’d sit down with God, and all of a sudden words would just pour out of my heart to Him. (Usually silently, but God hears silent prayer.) 🙂

And all of a sudden, things worked. Prayer flowed. It was for very short periods at first, but it still started working! I was amazed. [Read more…]

December 31, 2018 By Jamie Rohrbaugh 26 Comments

Encouraging Word: You Don’t Think You Deserve Enough

Have you been struggling with financial lack, beloved? If so, I have an encouraging word for you today.

The Lord just woke me up with this word. Here is what He told me to tell you:

“You’ve been struggling with financial lack because your mindset isn’t healed yet. You don’t think you deserve enough.

Don’t worry, though; I am teaching you. My name is Teacher, and I can renew your mind if you cooperate with me.

Precious son, beloved daughter, it is my will for you to govern on the earth. This must happen in order for the Kingdom of Heaven to be manifest in every sphere of society. And in order for you to govern, I need you to submit to My wealth.

I need you to submit to My wealth.

Yes, darling child: My wealth is a work of grace, just like forgiveness of sins is a work of grace. Receive it, knowing you don’t deserve it. Deserving anything was never a part of the equation. Deserving anything has never been a part of the equation.

So submit to my work of grace. Ask, and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door shall be opened unto you. For EVERYONE who asks receives, and EVERY CHILD who seeks finds, and every door that is knocked upon shall be opened for my children of grace and love (Matthew 7:7-8).

So where do you want to go? What do you want to do?

The buffet of My grace and love is open to you. Put a demand on My grace. It is this grace that opens My Kingdom of plenty to you.

Take your worthiness out of the equation, precious child. Allow Me to manifest My own government through you. Let Me use you as a vessel for My plenty, to release My goodness and My praise upon the earth.

You are My chosen vessel. In Me, and in Me alone, you live and move and have your being. Allow Me to manifest the fullness of who I am through you … and Who I Am is Plenty. Who I Am is Abundant. Who I Am is Sovereign.

It matters not what you deserve. All that matters is that you are in Me, and I Am in you.”

Does this word resonate with you? Have you been limiting God and thinking that you don’t deserve plenty? If so, let’s renew our minds today, shall we?

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November 4, 2018 By Jamie Rohrbaugh 2 Comments

Your Eight-Fold Inheritance In Israel

Did you know that you have a huge inheritance in Israel, and because of Israel? True story!

Through Christ, you have been grafted into the covenant God made with Abraham. Therefore, the same blessings that God gave Israel are available to you too–if you appropriate them!

Paul wrote about the inheritance of Israel in Romans 9:3-5.

[Read more…]

October 16, 2018 By Jamie Rohrbaugh 23 Comments

Finding Refuge Under the Shadow of God’s Wings

Do you feel unsafe, exposed to the world, unprotected, and in need of comfort today? If so, I have an encouraging word for you.

Some time ago, during my quiet time alone with God, the Holy Spirit gave me a mental picture (a vision) of what it looks like to be hidden under the shadow of God’s wings.

This mental picture encouraged me so much. Many times, I have gone back to that picture in my mind and just meditated on it. It’s beautiful, and so I wanted to share this vision with you today. I believe it will encourage you, too, as you pray and ask God to stabilize your emotions.

The vision was based on Psalm 91, verses 1, 2, and 4, which say:

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust'” (Psalm 91:1-2).

and:

“He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler” (Psalm 91:4).

The vision was this:

[Read more…]

July 5, 2018 By Jamie Rohrbaugh 61 Comments

The Sixfold Blessing of the Tithe

If you’ve decided to travel down the path of–and work toward–a financial rebirth, the first thing to do is to break the curses off your finances.

I’m very burdened about three specific curses that can sit on people’s finances, so we’re going to talk about the first one today–and about the sixfold blessing that you get when you break this curse. There’s even a free, printable bookmark down farther in the post, so you can pray for all six blessings every day! 🙂

First, you need to know:

How is a curse broken? When you get rid of its cause.

Proverbs 26:2 says:

Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight.”

Every curse has a cause. And as soon as we get rid of the cause, slamming the door in the enemy’s face, BOOM! We are free to step into blessing.

The cool thing about today’s subject is that the WAY you get rid of the curse actually carries its own, sixfold blessing with it.

So when you do the thing necessary to break the curse, God automatically promises that He’ll bless you. Neat, huh?

July 4, 2018 By Jamie Rohrbaugh 30 Comments

Has Hope Deferred Made Your Heart Sick?

I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. I just wanted to hide.

Nothing was visibly going wrong. Everything seemed okay at work. Everything seemed okay in my friendships. And I wasn’t married yet, so I didn’t have any romantic relationships to worry about.

But I was moping around. Unmotivated, apathetic. I wanted to stay at home and hide all the time. If I had had access to one, I would have loved to have crawled into a cave and not come out.

I wanted to keep the world away. I couldn’t face anybody.

I don’t remember how long this went on. All I remember is how disengaged from life I felt. [Read more…]

June 13, 2018 By Jamie Rohrbaugh 10 Comments

Words of Affirmation: He’s Just That Into You

This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series How to Feel Like God Loves You

“The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you” Jeremiah 31:3.

If you’re anything like me, you’re a total softie for sweet words.

I truly am wasted for loving words. If I love you or even like you, I’ll tell you so ten times a day. If I’m proud of you, I’ll tell you so. If you did great at something, I’m going to make sure you know it. (And I’ll probably brag on you to everybody else I know, too.)

And when people speak kind, loving words to me, they mean the world to me. Of course, they have to be backed up by actions–I’m not so naive that I’ll believe words that are clearly spoken only to manipulate–but kind, sweet, loving words grip my heart. Every time.

Yup. I love words of affirmation.

But I’ll bet you love words of affirmation too.

Think about the role that positive words have played in your life. Think about some of the sweet things people have said to you:

Has anyone ever said anything that was precious to you, right when you needed it?
Do you still cherish the memory of what they said?
Do you remember how you felt when someone said sweet words to you–words that meant more than you could ever express?

That feeling you had when someone spoke kinds words to you is part of what it feels like to be loved.

No, really. Let me illustrate it again this way:

Think some about the people you love: your spouse, children, friends, family, church family, etc. Can you think of specific times when you have spoken encouraging words to them?

Have you comforted them when they were sad?
Have you complimented them when they look nice, or when they did something well?
Have you told them they’re great, just because you’re overwhelmed with love for them?

If so, you did so because you loved them. You were reaching out with your words to love on someone else, and you used words of affirmation as your tool to show your love.

Words of affirmation are a huge way to convey love, affection, respect, esteem, honor, and everything else good.

That’s why God is into words of affirmation. He thinks you’re great, and He’s beside Himself finding new ways to tell you so.

God’s words of affirmation are all throughout the Bible. You can’t help but be affirmed by God when you read it. He says:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3).
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine” (Isaiah 43:1).
“Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you; therefore I will give men for you, and people for your life” (Isaiah 43:4).
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love” (John 15:9).

Daddy God’s words of affirmation go on, and on, and on. You could read them all day … all year … forever… and never come to the end of God’s ministry through words.

And even though God’s words of affirmation are found throughout the Bible, that’s not the only place they are found! Try this experiment:

Sit down in a quiet room by yourself. Shut the door. Focus your mind on God, and then ask Him this question:

Papa God, how much do you love me?”

I dare you to do it… because I guarantee that He will surprise you.

Your Papa God will tell you how much He loves you, and how much fun He has spending time with you, and how wonderful He thinks you are.

Sit back and soak in His amazing words. This is what it feels like to be loved: to be affirmed by precious, loving words from someone who adores you.

God adores you, so He can’t wait to tell you so. Will you let Him? Right now? After all, He’s just that into you.

Did this message encourage you? Did you feel God’s love while reading it? If so, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Read the rest of the posts in this series:

The link above to The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts (see my review here) by Gary Chapman is my Amazon affiliate link. Read my affiliate disclosure here.

June 12, 2018 By Jamie Rohrbaugh 6 Comments

How to Feel Like God Loves You: My Story

This entry is part 1 of 7 in the series How to Feel Like God Loves You

“The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV

Before I got married, there were many years when I was really lonely. I had a pretty messed-up background, and I felt rejected and unloved by almost everyone.

During my formative years, I was bullied a lot by other kids at school. They said and did horrible things to me. I became depressed, gradually got more depressed, and eventually decided I didn’t want to live anymore.

Then God broke through my hopelessness with the radical gift of a black Corvette, and I actually thought for the first time in my life like He might love me. I suddenly had hope, and I accepted Jesus as my Savior soon after that.

But, that still didn’t change the fact that I was pretty messed up.

I had some major issues to work through. One of my issues was that I felt rejected everywhere I went. I felt like nobody loved me. I knew that God loved me–I believed in my mind that He loved me–but I still didn’t feel loved, even by Him.

One day, I remember telling the Lord that I wanted to meet my husband “so I would feel like someone loves me.” All of a sudden, I saw clearly how wrong that mindset was, because:

God is supposed to be my source of love (and He is, now). He’s my source of everything.
If I’m willing to receive something from someone else that I’m not willing to receive from God, that’s idolatry. (I’m putting someone else before God.)
So God couldn’t give me a husband before I was willing to receive love from God Himself. Having a husband would have drawn me away from Him. It would have affirmed my idol.

Oops. I had never realized that before.

So I immediately prayed and asked the Lord to show me how to receive His love. Only He would be able to break through the walls I had put up. Only He could heal the wounds of so many years.

I had just finished reading a book entitled The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts (see my review here) by Gary Chapman. This book, which I highly recommend, says that there are five ways people give and receive love in relationships with other individuals. Those five ways are:

Gifts;
Acts of service;
Physical touch;
Quality time; and
Words of affirmation.

When the Lord showed me that He wouldn’t put me together with my husband until I learned how to receive His own love first, He also showed me–just a sudden understanding!–how to go about receiving His love.

He showed me that every time He does one of these acts of love toward me–giving me a gift, serving me, touching me, spending time with me, and speaking words of affirmation to me–that He is openly demonstrating His love for me. These things are Him loving on me.

So gifts, acts of service, physical touch, quality time, and words of affirmation are what love feels like.

I began to change right away when I started to understand this. As I’ll discuss in the rest of this series, I started meditating on what it feels like to be loved by God. In the process, I actually started FEELING like God loves me.

It was no longer just an intellectual knowledge. I actually felt loved, and chosen, and special… for the first time in my life.

And I’ve never gone back.

What about you? Are you tired of merely hearing people tell you God loves you? Do you want to actually FEEL His love for yourself?

You can feel loved, and chosen, and special, too. God loves you, and you can learn to feel and receive His love.

So please, read this series and meditate on the truths it will show you. From my own journey, I will share how to feel like God loves you. And you will learn how to feel God’s love, just like I did.

Read the rest of the posts in this series:

The link above to The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts (see my review here) by Gary Chapman is my Amazon affiliate link. Read my affiliate disclosure here.

June 11, 2018 By Jamie Rohrbaugh 69 Comments

On Intercessory Fasting

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If you’re anything like me, you may have seen situations lately that break your heart:

People who are hurting;
People who aren’t right with God;
People who aren’t pursuing the call of God on their lives;
Relationships that are messed up; or
Any other situation in which someone you love is not walking in God’s best according to His Word.

If that’s you, and you’re desperate for breakthrough, I felt like I should share with you what I do to obtain divine intervention for someone else.

I’m not sharing this to get any kind of credit or so anybody will look at me. I’m sharing this because it’s a tool–a weapon in the arsenal of God–that many believers might not be aware they can use.

The weapon that will get you incredible breakthrough for someone else is intercessory fasting and prayer.

There’s something about fasting. It adds atomic power to your prayers. It somehow moves the heart of God to such a degree that it speeds up His work and gives Him prerogative to accomplish His will on the earth faster and with more power than He could otherwise.

(Remember that He has placed us in charge over the earth, and He moves on it in response to our prayers.)

And intercessory fasting and prayer is no different.

When you pray and fast for someone else, you will see God change people’s hearts even if they don’t want to be changed at this very moment. He’ll take away their hardened hearts and give them a soft heart of flesh. He’ll take away their old spirit and give them a new spirit.

Over and over, I’ve seen indescribable success and breakthrough with intercessory fasting.

I don’t have biological kids of my own yet, but I do have spiritual kids, and I love them. They have my heart in the same way that you love your biological kids. And over and over, when my kids have not been right with God or walking in His best, I have seen God:

radically transform them;
set them free;
change their hearts;
heal relationships; and
turn them back to Himself in response to intercessory fasting and prayer.

It’s incredible. It’s unreal. [Read more…]