TESTIMONY DYNAMITE
Topic: M.A.G.H.A.N
What does M.A.G.H.A.N mean?
Why, yes it is my name but the acronym means, Make America Grateful Here And Now. Caleb was preaching on 3/6/2016. At the time Trump was running for president on “Make America Great Again”. Caleb declared “Make America grateful again!” This became part of our team vibe and we were praying over it on February 17th 2020, Phil, while on the mic declared “Make America grateful here and now!”
This word was an outworking of the Holy Spirit, which is the Promise of the Father. Coming together in unity and flowing in the spirit, getting this vision of gratitude.
You may be asking, “ok, it’s M.A.G.H.A.N and what?”
This acronym has come out of a recognition, from the Spirit, that as a nation, we are not living in gratitude.
Romans 1: 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Gratitude is key to living unto God based on wonder of what He, God can do with what we have, eg: loaves and fishes, instead of worrying what we can do based on what we don’t have.
When we have a grateful heart/mind/spirit, we are on the track to having a healthy well-being.
Within the counseling world, we focus on gratitude. Within the treatment of depression, often there is a lack of interest, a focus on the negative, things are done ‘without’ thinking, as a therapist, I use techniques and tools to help shift the perspective of the person. One of those techniques is to encourage the client to keep a ‘gratitude journal’. It’s an attempt to help this client shift their perspective from what they don’t have, whether that be physical/material belongings, etc but to “this is what I do have and I am going to recognize this is a gift that I can be grateful for”. People make lists of the things they are grateful for, the people they are grateful for, etc.
Having a heart of gratitude is a major key to relational interdependence which is the heart and soul of vibrant, virtuous, vintage relational ecstasy, for all relationships. God’s best is to have both intimacy and ecstasy in relationships and gratitude is vital to both.
M.A.G.H.A.N: a prophetic expression/vision
When Phil and Caleb had this joint expression come to them, it was an encouragement for me. This acronym, Make America Grateful Here And Now showed me and reminded me of a desire to see people transformed into grateful people, to see a generation not focusing on what they don’t have but what they do have, recognizing what God HAS provided, being grateful for who He has created us to be, the roles He has given us to act in.
In my early days, I was quite shy, timid, quiet, pretty self-conscious and quite unsure of myself. I moved to Nashville, started going to grad school and some of that started to change with getting older but the factor that really initiated change was being challenged regarding my faith and really starting to learn what it meant to call myself a Christian. Now the question that started that shift was asked by Caleb, “What do you know about the Holy Spirit?” My answer “nothing really”. That lead to conversations about faith and what scripture says about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, recognizing there was more to being a Chistian than “I go to church, I believe in God”, so much more!
Me now, I have had major changes, I can now speak in front of people without feeling like I’m going to puke, I am confident, I am confident in the roles God has called me to and that comes from the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit working in me, getting rid of the old Maghan and bringing forth the new creation Maghan. I became a person even more grateful for where God has brought me to and what He has brought me out of.
I am now a mother of 2 boys, a 2.5 year old and a 5 month old. I am very much a MOM, I am grateful for that role, it is one I believe God created me to fulfill and I am thankful for my two boys.
Walking in that role as a mom, it’s not the only role I have, I don’t solely see myself as a mom, but it is a major part of my identity, as long I live, I am a mom, but I am also a wife, a daughter, a friend, a sister, a therapist, a leader, etc. there are other facets of my identity and role that I walk in.
Now, some people may say “well a mom can just be this or a wife can be this” but what standard are we looking to? There was a show popular in the early 2000’s called Desperate housewives, fictional show depicting the day in, day out of housewives and I tell ya, if that’s the standard we are looking to, I don’t want it. Depicting wifes and mothers in a ‘desperate’ way, that they are too emotional, that they are too strict, that they are unstable even. Now, don’t get me wrong, women can be those things, all people can walk in those characteristics, but the standard that we, as women of God, should not be is that of desperate housewives, but rather that of a Proverbs 31 woman. When I was in my early 20’s, I remember really diving into Proverbs 31, “the proverbs 31 women/wife” and thinking what a joke, that is ridiculous, who could do that, and just some negative, immature things about this representation of a Godly woman. Now that I am married and a mother, those are the standards that I want to work towards. Being honorable, hardworking and being a faithful woman of God, that is what I want to be, a faithful and grateful woman of God.
Proverbs 31 woman
Pro 31:21- She is not afraid of snow for her household, For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
Pro 31:25- Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.
We see from these versus (and much more from the whole chapter)of the kind of woman we are called to be.
The Holy Spirit works inside us, both men and women, to be transformed into who God has called us to be. We are sons and daughters of the God of the universe, the Creator of galaxies.The Holy Spirit, the Promise of the Father allows us to be in relationship with God. We can come to God in gratitude, and even when our carnal selves are not feeling up to giving gratitude, God has given us a gift to give thanks, the Holy Spirit
Speaking in tongues is thanksgiving
We see in Acts 2, the Promise of the Father arrived,
Act 2: 1-4 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The Promise of the Father/The Holy Spirit had arrived and had brought tongues down. As the people began speaking, others looked on and thought they were drunk while some were amazed.
Right now, people discuss speaking in tongues as if it is something silly, done for someone’s own attention, some say done in the spirit of KUNDALINI, which is a Hindu spirit.
1 Corinthians 14:2- For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.
1 Corinthians 14:16- Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying?
Praying in the Spirit is for every believer, it is a prayer language that only God can understand and at times, God gives the interpretation and at that time, it becomes prophesy!
Praying in tongues helps you in submitting to the Holy Spirit who dwells in you and not to the unprofitable wants of the flesh. Praying in the Spirit (which is the same as praying in tongues) builds up our spirit because we are in dire communication with God, giving thanks, praying His will be done and communicating in such a way that the devil can not interfere with.
Acts 2:38,39: ‘Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
M.A.G.H.A.N is about recognizing our need to continually be grateful. That when we rely on the Holy Spirit, the Promise of the Father, we are relying on the most trusted source to get us through whatever the issue may be. The vision of M.A.G.H.A.N is that when we are grateful, we can truly walk in the roles God us called us to walk in, that we can be Godly men and women, fathers and mothers, leaders, servants, soul winners. The Promise of the Father allows us to engage with the Father and pray in the Spirit, giving thanks! The altar of our hearts is open and willing.
BID
Do you know the Promise of the Father? Do you want to experience the promise?
Are you grateful? Are you allowing the Spirit to show you what you do have instead of focussing on what you don’t have?