Have you ever prayed and asked God one thing, and He seemed to answer with something that was totally off-topic? For most of my adult life, I felt this way when I prayed about my life's calling or direction. My prayer would always start out something like this: "God, I know You've called me to write, but it feels like there is something specific I should be writing. Would You show me, please God? Call, and I will do whatever You want me to do." Eventually, God would answer, but it seemed His answers to my plea for direction were totally incongruous with what I thought I was asking.
"For the zeal of Your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insulted You fell on me"(Ps. 69:9). What is it that stirs your soul to stand against the enemies of God? What reason do you have to raise your voice and cry for justice? Is it a mere idea that you hold dear? A just cause you uphold? What is it that burns in your belly that would cause you to cry out for those who are being sacrificed at the altar of Baal? What does it take for you to rise up and take action against those who defy the Lord by eating their own children and drinking their own blood?
The Lord recently gave me a powerful prophetic dream. In the dream, I was walking into a church with a group of my friends. Some of the men with me were friends from past seasons, some of them were men I am still connected with today. As we were walking down the hallway to reach the sanctuary of the church, we were all excited to get into service and go after the presence of God. However, as we kept walking. We all started running into cobwebs. You couldn't see the cobwebs until you walked right into one.
"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you." Isaiah 60:1–2 NIV It is time to rise up! I heard the Lord say, "I am moving this month through the message of Isaiah 60—particularly verses 1, 11 and 22—and also the entire chapter of Matthew 13." We are at a major turning point as the dark night of 2020 is coming to an end. The Lord is shining His light and revealing the areas where the enemy has been attacking and trying to discourage you.
Some people want to be loved by others. They feel they need the love of their father, mother, friends, spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend, their children, strangers, and even God. They go looking for love in all kinds of places from all kinds of people. But the truth is, the person who matters most to love you is you. You need your love more than anyone else's. As the saying goes, how can you love others unless you love yourself.
On Saturday, March 13th, at sundown, we entered into Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew year, according to Exodus 12:2-3. This is the time during which the Lord spoke to Moses and the Israelites about preparing for the Passover. Passover this year starts on March 27th and ends on April 4th (Resurrection Sunday). We need to celebrate! He is alive! Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. He is our Passover Lamb. He died, was buried and resurrected to overcome sin, death and the grave so the curse over us would be broken.
Transformation is God's promise as we see in 2 Corinthians 3:18, yet there are areas where we often don't allow God to work. Let's take a few moments and discover how God's care for you can manifest as you recognize the need for it and you allow it to manifest. If you're struggling to make changes in your life, it could be that you're not convinced a change is needed. Many of us are also great at avoiding change. It tends to be something we dread, rather than look forward to.
And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. 2 Timothy 4:18 Psalm 91 ends with the power-packed verse, "With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation." Many years ago, the Lord opened my eyes to see that apart from the four names of God that we covered in the first two verses of Psalm 91, there is another name of God, a fifth name, concealed in the very last word of Psalm 91.
"Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7 Do you know what time it is? Is your watch synchronized with heaven? For those who are watching and discerning movements in the spiritual realm, know that this is not the time to acquiesce, comply or back down. Nor is it the time to fight one another or battle for vindication. As the enemies of God spew out their defiant destruction on anything holy and pure, it is time for the people of God to take their stand and resist the devil. "Be sober and watchful, because your adversary the devil walks around as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter 5:8
Have you ever been stuck? When I weighed 430 pounds being stuck was a fear I had. I didn't sit in booths because I was afraid I would get stuck there. I didn't go in caves because what if I got into the depths of it and I couldn't fit through an opening? Then I'd have to go back to the beginning or wait there all by myself. I remember one time when I was a teenager. We went on vacation to Lookout Mountain in Tenn. They had one pass called Fat Man's Squeeze. I didn't even attempt to go through it. There was a way around it although it was up steep stairs and down more steep stairs.
Follow Up
