Month: May 2021

One of the greatest things about praying the word of God is that it opens up revelations that aren’t always seen in just reading it. Today I was praying Psalm 23, which is a very familiar psalm and is quoted quite often, but today the Lord gave it a new cadence which brought about a new revelation.

David begins this psalm with a thesis statement, with an announcement, with a declaration of absolute truth. He says in verse one, the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. From this thesis statement he begins to release eight supporting points as to why he is making this statement with such certainty. Here are his eight supporting points:

1. He makes me lie down in green pastures.

2. He leads me beside still waters.

3. He restores my soul.

4. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

5. You are with me in the valley of the shadow of death so I fear no evil.

6. Your rod and your staff comfort me.

7. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

8. You have anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows.

Those eight supporting points are all sufficient in meeting needs in everyone of the lives of someone that makes the Lord their shepherd. A shepherd leads them and they willfully follow. David then stamps the whole psalm with this conclusion. “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.“

David said with confidence the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He spoke from his reality. He had chosen to let the Lord be the shepherd of his life, he followed wherever the Lord lead him and what he found is that the Lord took good care of him. Then he wrote it down in a psalm so that all of Israel could follow the same shepherd that he is following and now we get to read it today and hear the same question, would you like to follow this good Shepherd?

These are not just words, these words are an invitation to follow Jesus Christ the son of the living God. Are you willing to be a sheep, so that a good shepherd can lead you? In following you will find, as David did, you will have no lack.

I’m seeing “truth bombs”. I keep seeing them and in my imagination I think they falling from the sky as though heaven is hurling them to the earth. But as I prayed about these “truth bombs” the Lord said they are not coming from heaven they are coming out of the mouths of God’s oracles on earth. It was as though mouths became cannons that shoot these “truth bombs” and as they land in people’s hearts they explode.

The “truth bombs” did the work of destroying walls of resistance; blowing up strongholds of lies the person has been locked in; and kicked open doors of deception that were tempting them to make wrong decisions. These “truth bombs” were killing the enemy and all his operatives in people’s lives. When these “truth bombs” exploded on impact the person was set free.

I see God’s oracles like His special ops team that will release these bombs so the person can go free then others will come in and disciple the person on how to live in this freedom. The whole body of Christ is going to be needed for the walking out of the freedom that is gained from the “truth bombs” that are about to explode in people’s lives.

John 8:32 “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

The Lord is the best teacher. He reveals things to us, to make us more effective in what we do. The classrooms He uses may not be optimal in our estimation but if you’ll listen to learn it will produce a demonstration of truth.

As the Lord trains us to be ministers of the gospel, He shares ministry truths you won’t learn in school. His Holy Spirit is the most adept teacher you will ever have. No wonder the apostle John said, “As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit–just as it has taught you, remain in him.” (1 John 2:27)

The Lord teaches us things everyday and many things we don’t share, because most are for our restoration not public proclamation. However, many things are for all of us. Today, I want to share a phrase the Lord spoke to me, for it will help us all as we minister to others. The Lord said, “Many people want to be heard not healed.” I hope that empowers you with understanding as you minister to others.

I had a dream last night and I know it’s a strategy for me but I also think it will bless many of you. In the dream I was on a beach with some people I know and there was a prickly flying bug that kept coming after me. It would land on my clothes and I would be able to remove it but then it would come back. Due to the prickles every time I pulled it off my clothing it was difficult because of the prickles on the back of this bug. I finally grabbed a pail and began swatting at it hoping to knock it to the ground and step on it but to no avail. Then my friend who was with me came over to me the next time it landed on me and she said the only way to stop this bug is to pull its tongue out. She grabbed it off of my clothing and pulled the tongue out of it and it immediately fell to the ground. End of dream.

When I woke up from this dream last night immediately I knew that the flying prickly bug was the enemy and his voice that is a nuisance to me. The Lord said you have been trying to swat the voice away or brush it off of you but you need to grab it and pull its tongue out if you want it to stop. I knew immediately that the next time that this voice that comes as a nuisance no matter how prickly it is I’m going to grab it and pull the tongue out of it.

I don’t know what voices are coming against you, but what I do know is that we cannot swipe them away, we cannot brush them off of us, we must face it grab it and pull the tongue out of it. Then it will fall to the ground and no longer bother us. I hope that was encouraging to you because the dream is very encouraging to me.

James 4:7 “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

We have seen, heard, and experienced what we called the anointing, but we are about to be amazed as God releases authority. Authority is what is going to bring the increase, the harvest, and the great awakening.

Mark 1:27 “They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.”

Do you ever find phrases, statements or verses in the Word of God that cause you to read no further? Do you find yourself going beyond the black and white on the page into the words being spoken? The Word of God is like CS Lewis’ wardrobe. You may look at it on face value but when you enter into it, you find a whole other world to explore and discover.

Psalm 18:35 brought me to a standstill this morning and I wonder if it will do the same for you. Listen to what David wrote, “Your gentleness makes me great.” The Word of God corrects our understanding of God. When we realize He is gentle, we let our guard down, we open our heart to Him, we let Him see us. If we don’t know He’s gentle we hide from Him, we talk about Him but don’t know Him, we spend very little time with Him. Because we don’t realize “Your gentleness makes me great.”

I have learned from spending time with God that He always corrects me up, He never tears me down; He always speaks better of me than I speak of myself; and He loves me more than I know how to be loved. “Your gentleness makes me great.” Its verses like this that dismantle defenses, melt hard hearts, and unlock prison doors inside of us. I have experienced His gentleness, His kindness, and His goodness that’s why I want people to know Him. “Your gentleness makes me great.” Selah/Wardrobe/Narnia Come on in, there is so much about Him we don’t know and it’s better than we realize.

Have you noticed the noise level in the nations has suddenly gotten louder? Can you hear the sounds of change everyday becoming more clear? Have you seen the acceleration of activity? How you interpret the sights and sounds will determine how you speak about what you see and hear. Some interpret the sounds as disaster, but others hear them as the sounds of deliverance. Depending on how you interpret the sounds will be revealed by your response to what your hearing.

1 Corinthians 14:10-11 “There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of languages in the world, and no kind is without meaning. If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me.”

It is Pentecost week, there are many sounds going off in the atmosphere and they are seeking to cause confusion to the hearer. If you walk by a hospital room and don’t realize you’re in the maternity ward you may think someone is being tortured, not realizing that is the sound of new life coming forth. On Pentecost they thought the sound they were hearing is a bunch of drunk people, not realizing it was the sound of the Holy Spirit being poured out.

My friends, the sounds we are hearing can challenge the ears and the heart if you don’t know what you’re hearing. Many popular preachers are trying to interpret the sounds, but those who have an ear to hear know we are hearing the sound of the enemy being defeated. We are hearing demonic strongholds coming down. We are hearing the sounds of deliverance. Fear not my friends what you hear is not the end of the world, you are hearing the breaking of a new day! You are hearing the sound of salvation for the nations!

There are many opportunities right now to “look here”. All of these opportunities combined are going to cause people to stress, rant, fear, and pray frantically. As the enemy says…look here, Israel is being bombed; look here, the border is being invaded; look here, the East coast has gas shortages; look here, the stock market is going to crash; look here, Coronavirus cases are rising, look here, look here, look here.

Yes there’s many places to look but they’re not new, so what does God say when there are many places to look…The Lord says, “Come, behold the works of the LORD, Who has wrought desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire. Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Selah.” (Psalm 46:8-11)

Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of the US Embassy being moved to Jerusalem. It was also the day a decree was made the Jerusalem is the rightful capital of Israel. It should not surprise us that Hamas chose to fire rockets at Israel yesterday. For the date is very significant. Now we pray, “oh, that salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!” (Psalm 14:7). The Lord has done it before for them and He’ll do it again for them. Release salvation for Israel oh God and defeat everyone of their enemies just as you have done before, do it again oh God.

What we are seeing is not what God is saying. Those who prophesy what they see in culture reveal where they are looking at and who they are listening to. The reason what they say resonates with so many is because anyone can see and hear what’s happening in culture. But those who are seeing and hearing God are saying what God is saying and it doesn’t generate a huge following, because most people have no idea what God is saying. This is why it takes faith (time) to see what God has said come to pass, but mark my words God is not speaking what we are seeing He is speaking what we are about to see. This my friends is the difference between biblical prophecy and cultural reality.