Month: November 2022

Days, calendar days can be so disappointing. We hope this will be the day or that will be the day something will change. We look to election days, to feast days, to holidays, to this day or that day and what we find is disappointment because the day does not produce the change we are looking for, hoping for. We will have disappointing days, if you hope something and it doesn’t happen the natural reaction is disappiontment. It is not wrong to be disappointed, the challenge we face is not remaining disappointed, but rising above the disappointment and realigning what we are hoping in.

I was praying this morning about disappointing days and the Lord spoke me and said, “I don’t want your hope in a day, I want your hope in Me. I am not calling you to hope from one day to another day, I am calling you to put your hope in Me all day, everyday, knowing I am Lord of this day, that day, everyday.” When God speaks, my heart aligns with truth and my whole attitude shifts back into hope and peace. But the Lord had another thing to say, “Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil” (Proverbs 4:25-27).

Do not turn to the right or to the left. Church the Lord is jarring us loose from right and left and fixing our eyes straight ahead. We have been so focused on right and left, we have not realized God is not right or left, He is straight in front of us. We are about to run right into God as the nations. The changing of the guard is from parties and politics to people and His presence. We can still impact the world without looking to the right or to the left. What God is about to release in signs, wonders, miracles, and demonstrations of power, will not be because of the right or the left, but because of the only One who really matters. Fix your eyes straight ahead, He has us on the path of His presence which never loses a race, a house or a senate in Jesus name!

You will never be able to convince me there is no God, nor will you ever convince me He is not involved in the affairs of men. How do i know? Because there are signs of His presence with us in everything we do and everywhere we go. The challenge is we do not know HIs language so we miss His voice in what seems “unusual/coincidental”.

I went to vote today and on my registration card they gave me, they wrote the number 22 in red ink. I took notice but did not think much about it, I mean it is 2022. Then I get to my voting booth and I am the 70th person to vote at that booth. Okay, now my ears are perked up. 22 and 70 at the Middle School in the cafeteria with a mural on the wall that says, “Generals”. Then I am walking my dog after returning home from voting and on the street, the very street I walk everyday, next to the curb in the dirt is a key, not just any key, a house key. Three puzzle pieces, at least that is what they are for me, because this is one way I hear the voice of God.

22, Isaiah 22, a chapter about a leadership change. 70, the number of years Israel was in Babylonian captivity, at the end of 70 years they were coming out. House key, a nod back to Isaiah 22:22 “Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, When he opens no one will shut, When he shuts no one will open.” What key? Oh the house key or as stated in the verse the key of the house.

Finally, is that a 64 on the house key I found on the ground? I wrote this morning about the number 64 as it ties to Israel elections. The whole number on the key is 643 and the Strongs says, in Hebrew this number is palace and in Greek it means to prepare, equip, to pack up one’s bag. Hmmmmmm, either I am making things up or the Lord is speaking to me, we are about to see leadership change in a big way today.

What puzzle pieces did the Lord give you today?

On November 4, 2022 it was announced that Prime Minister Netanyahu won the Israel elections with a solid 64 seats. When that headline crossed the airwaves, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “So goes Israel, so go the nations.” I then felt a nudge to look up Psalm 64 and what I found established what the Holy Spirit said. Listen to the psalmist in light of America’s elections today.

Psalm 64:5-10 “They hold fast to themselves an evil purpose; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, “Who can see them?” They devise injustices, saying, “We are ready with a well-conceived plot”; For the inward thought and the heart of a man are deep. But God will shoot at them with an arrow; Suddenly they will be wounded. So they will make him stumble; Their own tongue is against them; All who see them will shake the head. Then all men will fear, And they will declare the work of God, And will consider what He has done. The righteous man will be glad in the LORD and will take refuge in Him; And all the upright in heart will glory.”

One plan was made in the hearts of men, BUT God had an arrow in HIs bow He was going to shoot. Once God’s arrow hit its mark they stumbled, all men feared the Lord and we declared the works of God. People will consider what God has done and shake their head at what man had planned. Oh my friends, when God intervenes in the affairs of men, you can plot, plan, scheme, but you cannot outwit Almighty God.

Then Isaiah 64:1-3 adds the exclamation point to what God is doing today. “Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence— As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil— To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence! When You did awesome things which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.” America, we are in a moment when God is about to show up just like He did in Israel 4 days ago, because righteousness is exalting our nation again!

It is overcast, warm, and a gentle mist is falling on my face as I walk my dog this morning and the Holy Spirit starts speaking to me saying, “Whether it’s Dom Perignon or Boone’s, the vessel/bottle does not take credit for what is inside, but the vessel/bottle does identity what is inside.” Immediately my spirt went to 2 Corinthians 4, which says, “For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.”

The thoughts continued as I kept walking, kept listening, “You can have great packaging but the product inside is not of the quality or caliber that the packaging is projecting.” The Holy Spirit was showing me that people know who we are by what’s inside of us, so when we come walking in the room they know what they are going to get. That’s why people who don’t know who you are can be surprised, either for the good or the perplexing, by what comes out of you. Some people have better quality inside than they manifest outside, others have better manifested quality outside than what they have inside. People tend to be surprised by us.

If we are a vessel of beauty and prosperity that is projected but what comes out of our mouth is not of the same caliber of grace we are manifesting in how we look, it is surprising to people, because they wonder how did you become what we see based on what we hear. Then their are others who do not project all the glitz and glamor, but they carry a product that is undeniably desirable. My friends, we are vessels that carry the Name, power, presence and Words of God Almighty, people know we are Christians, let’s align our mouth with Who lives inside of us. Then people will know when we walk in the room, good news just came in the room.

It is overcast, warm, and a gentle mist is falling on my face as I walk my dog this morning and the Holy Spirit starts speaking to me saying, “Whether it’s Dom Perignon or Boone’s, the vessel/bottle does not take credit for what is inside, but the vessel/bottle does identity what is inside.” Immediately my spirt went to 2 Corinthians 4, which says, “For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.”

The thoughts continued as I kept walking, kept listening, “You can have great packaging but the product inside is not of the quality or caliber that the packaging is projecting.” The Holy Spirit was showing me that people know who we are by what’s inside of us, so when we come walking in the room they know what they are going to get. That’s why people who don’t know who you are can be surprised, either for the good or the perplexing, by what comes out of you. Some people have better quality inside than they manifest outside, others have better manifested quality outside than what they have inside. People tend to be surprised by us.

If we are a vessel of beauty and prosperity that is projected but what comes out of our mouth is not of the same caliber of grace we are manifesting in how we look, it is surprising to people, because they wonder how did you become what we see based on what we hear. Then their are others who do not project all the glitz and glamor, but they carry a product that is undeniably desirable. My friends, we are vessels that carry the Name, power, presence and Words of God Almighty, people know we are Christians, let’s align our mouth with Who lives inside of us. Then people will know when we walk in the room, good news just came in the room.

I woke up from a dream this morning to the Holy Spirit saying, “I have given you power to tread upon scorpions.” I immediately open my Bible to find where this verse is and it is in Luke 10:19 “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.” As I am praying into this dream the Lord adds some puzzle pieces for me reminding me the Houston Astros won the World Series last night for the second consecutive year. And this month in the astrological calendar is the month of the scorpion. I do some Biblical research on the word scorpion and find out it lurks in walls, it is called a watchmen and the Holy Spirit immediately says, “The scorpion is a counterfeit watchman, but I have given you authority over every snake in the grass and scorpion in the wall.” Immediatley I see in the spirit a hammer smashing the head of the scorpion and the snake to death.

The Lord has been speaking to me this week about how the church has not dealt with the enemy correctly. We have tolerated rather than dominated the enemy. We have allowed him access into many places in the earth and the Lord is ready for us to pick up the hammer of His word (Jeremiah 23:29) and crush the head of the scorpions in the wall and the snakes in the grass. We are called to tread upon them, to put them under our feet, to crush them. It is not a passive act, this is a smiting, a striking we are to release. Our decrees of the word of God smite the enemy in our nation. But we must exercise our authority. The Holy Spirit reminded me of Romans 16 which says, “And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under His feet.” We do not need to be angry or violent, but we do need to exercise authority and use some force. I remember Jael in Judges 4:21 “Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and seized a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died.” Grab your Bible, grab your song and smite the enemy today, tomorrow and everyday going forward, if we are going to take our countries back, we must deal with the snakes in the grass and the scorpions in the wall.

I saw in the spirit people’s voices that have been silenced in the past, but have yet to be completely unlocked in this present reality. What silenced them was varied, but something literally shut off aspects of their voice and now they have learned to live with a lesser measure of their original voice. It was so clear to me. As I was seeing this and calling for their unlocking of voices, for the full expression of people’s voices, the parable of the sower came to my spirit. Listen to this from Matthew 13 “Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.”

The thorns, the prickly things we have went through has choked out aspects of our voice. Whether we cognitively realize it or not, we have a lesser version of our original voice because of the thorns we have experienced. But the Lord would say to us, just like He did in the next parable about the same subject in the same chapter, “Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” God is about to burn some things out of us and those things are tares, thorns that have choked out our voice.

The Lord is giving the church her voice back. We as believers are going to be bold again, speak the truth in love again, we will no longer shrink back in order to fit in, we will speak the truth and stand out and stand up again. Your voice has more authority and power than anything else in the world. Is it any wonder the attack has been on the voice? But God is unlocking voices right now, He is breaking the strangle hold of the enemy off of us and we are going to not only raise a hallelujah, we are going to raise a roar of righteousness in the midst of wickedness and not apologize for it. Church, it might get loud!

One of the great mysteries of humanity is the very thing we long for, the very thing we need is the very thing we resist. We long to know we are loved, deeply loved, passionately loved, it is literally the air that keeps us alive. Yet so many people resist being loved because they have been holding their breath for so long they do not know how to exhale and let themselves inhale love. Striving, laboring, performing, are all evidence of people who are holding their breath seeking affirmation, seeking attention, seeking love but if given it have no idea how to receive it. It is so sad to watch people resist the very thing they desire, they need.

Jeremiah 31 says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness. Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt.”

What is it in us that cannot receive this kind of love? We said a prayer, we read our bible, we go to church, but we cannot receive this kind of love from God, and then whether we realize it or not, we cannot receive love well from others. One reason is fear, fear of being out of control, fear of being hurt if you let your guard down and let someone really love you. Fear of being taken advantage of, fear of having to change. Fear is a root in us that resists love, the very thing we want, the very thing we need. It is no wonder 1 John 4:18 says, “Perfect love casts out all fear!”

Did you know the only way to be fearless is to accept, receive and embrace love? Did you know your fear is evidence of a lack of love? We operate out of fear, we avoid, we dodge, we ignore, we run, we block, we resist God and others because of fear. Friends, if you can’t trust people, practice trust with God. If you don’t know how to receive love from people, open your heart and receive love from God. His love is unfailing, it is everlasting, it is healing to the wounded soul. No wonder Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, “The greatest of these is love.” You need it, you want it, and you were created to receive it and give it. If we can’t receive love is it surprising why we can’t give it? Love, real love, is what we all long for.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” I think this was one of the first verses I memorized when I got saved. I like so many others absolutely love the promise in this verse. But what I didn’t know then, but do know now is that this verse was given to the people of God before they were taken captive by the Babylonians. God spoke through Jeremiah to tell them this is what God’s plan is, even though you are about to go into captivity for 70 years under Babylonian rule. Can you imagine how hard it was to hear that promise, which is so rich, as you are about to be taken captive by another nation and brought to live as exiles for 70 years? This means, some of them would not outlive the 70 years, so this promise would outlive them. “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

What would behoove God to speak such a beautiful promise to them while at the same time not take away the Babylonians from them? Some promises give us strength to go through, while other promises are going to come true. Not everything God speaks to us is come true promises some of them are the very truth we need in order to walk through some hard things. The people of God needed to know before they went into captivity, that God had a plan in their captivity. God, who is all knowing, He knew what captivity would do for them. God was about to use captivity to set them free from captivity. How do I know, listen to what Jeremiah says their response will be to God after 70 years of captivity. Jeremiah 29:12 “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” Prior to captivity, they were not seeking God they were worshipping idols.

No one wants to go into captivity, but God used captivity to set His captives free. This is nothing new for the Lord. He used the death of Jesus to defeat death. He used the famine of Elijah to break the famine in Israel. And don’t forget Esther was one of the exiles of Israel brought to Babylon and look what happened to her and how her captivity set her whole nation free in the midst of Babylon. God’s ways are higher than our ways, trust HIm and He will bring you into places you would never have wanted to go and He will bring you out into spaces you never thought you would be. He knows the plans He has for us!

The women at our church have been doing a bible study by Kristi McClelland called Jesus and Women. It is a Middle Eastern view on how Jesus treated women, that we in the west are not privy too, because the culture is different. This study is digging deep in my soul, transforming my mind, healing my heart and literally causing tears to fall every week as I hear what these stories about these women Jesus interacted with really meant. Last night she spoke about the Woman at the Wall, it was the story of the woman who anointed Jesus feet with her tears and with an alabaster jar of oil, then dried them with her hair. Powerful truth in this story on so many levels, but the one theme she is bringing out is how Jesus took women’s shame and gave them honor. She calls it Generous Justice. It is life changing truth for me in ways I did not even realize I needed.

All that to say this, shame hides in the inner crevices of our heart, soul, mind and comes out of our mouth. It would remain hidden if we did not speak it out, so last night, we were invited to be vulnerable and I shared something I am ashamed of. The ladies in my group were so gracious and kind, but this morning the Lord and I were discussing it again and the Holy Spirit said to me, “Lies are prisoners waiting to be set free, that is why they cry out so loudly.” I was stunned. I began to see these lies locked up inside of me that cry out through me wanting to know the truth, so they can go free. It was so clear to me. Lies are counterfeit truths and the Lord wants what I cry out about to be the indicator to me it is a place I am not free yet.

This truth was so real to me, I stopped in my tracks and sat there stunned. Even the lies inside of me, are being wrecked by the Christ in Me who is the truth that is setting me free. My friends, the lies you believe are crying out from inside of you, wanting to be set free, that is why they come with tears, why they come out loudly, why they fight to defend themselves to you, for they are imprisoned inside of you and you want to be free so the lies must know the truth, because only the truth can set them free. (John 8:32) I hope that makes sense, for I see freedom coming on so many levels even lies are going to be set free by the truth we are about to see!