Guilt. Accusations. Shame. Regret. Many in the body of Christ are riddled with negativity, with condemnation—some even to the point of despair. This concept was made crystal clear to me earlier today. Dan and I choose to speak to each other with kindness and respect. In fact, he almost always makes me feel that I am a person of immense value. So, an episode that happened this morning might seem trivial to some, but it was a big deal to me.
God speaks to the positives of what we are and what we can become, rather than emphasizing the negatives. For example, God does not speak to our sickness and disease; he speaks to our health. He does not speak to our poverty or lack; he speaks to our wealth and abundance. He does not speak to our failure or mistakes; he speaks to our success. He does not focus on the past; he speaks to the now and to the future. God speaks the language of hope to encourage each of us to succeed. We do not like to be left in the dark so God brings us into the light. He wants us to know the wonderful plans he has for our futures as much as we want him to reveal them to us.
"O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?" 2 Chronicles 20:6 When faced with what appeared to be certain destruction, King Jehoshaphat set himself to seek the Lord. Today's scripture is part of his prayer. Note that instead of rehashing his fears to the Lord and lamenting about how overpowered by their enemies their small tribe was, Jehoshaphat centered his prayer and thoughts on just how big and powerful his God truly is. He proclaimed boldly that "no one is able to withstand" the Lord—no one! In a hopeless situation, he hoped in the Lord.
People who have been touched by God usually want to get the message out there. They have had an experience and want to share it in the ways they can. They press in to press forward and they leave a trail of signposts and input (intel) for others. Is it easy? Usually not. Does it take prayer and energy? Yes, of course. Is it casual? No, not really casual at all, even if it seems that way. We are in a warfare, not just a conquest for self. It's not just "a game" to see if we can get to the next level or not. When there is a commission from Him, it is not just casual conversation with others. It's not entertainment to see if we can find more "luxury." In a war, sometimes you do take hits, but you also gain victories.
The other day I saw something from Jeremy Lopez (Jeremy is an awesome and anointed man of God by the way) on his ministry page, Identity Network that prompted me to write this article. He said, "some people have a very real, continuous fear. "Is this the will of God?" "Is this the will of God or is this my will?" He goes on to say, people are religiously bound up by this. I can concur with what he is saying and know it all too well. I have even been there myself. You want to be in Gods perfect will and plan, you naturally don't want to do anything that goes against that or is out of that. God also desires us to be obedient and in His perfect plan, but we need to be careful we aren't being too religious and bound up by that.
In John 3:3, Jesus says to Nicodemus, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (NKJV).This is an extremely well known verse. It is often quoted to refer to a particular experience. That experience is usually referred to as saying the sinner's prayer. While the sinner's prayer is important and a great first step in following Christ, this verse has so much more depth. This verse is about a whole new way of life. At the time of our physical birth, we knew nothing about living in the material world. We had to be taught everything. For a while, things even had to be done for us, things such as bathing, dressing, and eating.
Father God is a good father. In fact, He's the best! Like a good Father, who always has our best interest in mind, He never does anything or allows anything to take place without preparing His children beforehand, by first, giving those with an ear to hear a head's up. Why does He do this? The answer doesn't come down to only one reason. There are many answers, depending on the individual circumstances and timing. At times, He may give an advanced glimpse because He wants to give us peace of mind that He's already got everything covered.
I'll never forget where I was sitting in the Orlando airport in Florida several years ago when I heard an unusual announcement on the public-address system. A male voice said: "George Mueller. George Mueller. Please contact a service desk for a message." George Mueller? I suppose there really was a man by that name in the airport at that moment. But I couldn't help but think about the George Mueller of history, a courageous Christian leader from England who died in 1898. I had his biography but hadn't read it in a while.
I kept hearing in the Spirit, "I call forth the law of establishment." It would not leave me but cycled for many minutes. The Spirit of the Lord had me declaring it out in our prayer meeting, and I knew there must be more revelation to come forth. Establish is defined in Webster's as "to set up on a firm or permanent basis." I had just finished prophetically teaching my group that when a revelation comes into your soul and spirit that you need to pray it out but also that you need to pray into it. I was teaching them that often the Lord gives us revelation through declaration.
In my morning prayer time God began to share with me about the strong winds and rain that He was bringing upon the earth in this season. He said to pay close attention to the elements this season, because it is a sign of what He is doing in the earth realm. God never falls off of His throne and He is still in control no matter what we see going on all around us. The Lord is bringing physical strong winds and rain in this season. Strong winds in the bible are a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
Follow Up
