Journals of the Heart

You are browsing the archives of Apostle John Dean.

After many years I came to the conclusion that there is a father’s anointing that God Himself puts on us as He would any other anointing. Any man can be fatherly, but that does not necessarily constitute a father’s anointing. Being around one who is fatherly may be a great comfort when you are in need. However being around one with a father’s anointing could effectively change your life as did my friend’s influence changed my life.

God has given us the power and authority by the spoken word to do great things, yet far too often we use our authority (the rod) to strike the rock. You may wonder how it is possible to strike the rock in today’s world. We may not carry a rod in our hand as Moses did, but we do have a tongue in our mouth that is far more destructive. We no longer strike with a rod, but with the tongue a critical word.

Eating the apple seemed to be a good idea in order to take man to that next level, so he ate the apple. Mankind was of course deceived by Satan. The root of impatience is to attain something without paying the price. Consequently mankind is prone to fall for the old ‘apple’ trick.

Back in the days when I started ministering I was often asked, “What are you?” What they meant was, “Are you a pastor, evangelist or missionary?” Even though folks could clearly see what I was doing they still asked the question because I apparently did not fit the customary mold. Answering such a question was hard for me since I had been doing some of all three. As a matter of fact I had a passion for all three. I really wanted to answer their question but felt guilty because I didn’t have the answer. This agonizing question was on my mind far too much in the first five years of my ministry.

It has been a while since I have sung the old hymn, “Love Lifted Me.” But its message continues to have a deep impact on my life. As a matter of fact I am not sure I could sing the old hymn “Love Lifted Me” and do it justice unless I throw my head back and sing it at top of my voice as I once did.

Keeping God’s commandments has to be the master key that unlocks the love house door. Jesus Himself lives there and is inviting us to move in with Him. However, there is a price to pay for the privilege of becoming a permanent resident in the love house. A part of that price is to move out of your flesh house into His Spirit house. Another way of saying that is we have to move out of our will into His will.

That may take some getting used to…since the last time we saw Uncle Charlie was when we put him in the ground. We are aware that his spirit is with the Lord, but as far as we are concerned Charlie is still in the ground

Some experiences in life are almost too good to be true, while others are too bad to forget. Such was the case with me and many others like me back in mid fifties…when trying to get a good job was out of the question. That means that I was thrilled to even get a bad job.

There seems to be a relationship between being negative and being selfish. The negative person wants attention and the selfish person wants things. The negative person judges all things by their own standards. The selfish person can’t bear the thought of not being recognized for their efforts

In Matthew 12:36 it says, “And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment”. Maybe the idle words that Matthew is talking about have the same meaning as what Titus is speaking of. Nevertheless the point is well taken, let’s clean up our idle talk.