When I was camping on an island a few weeks ago, I woke up one morning hearing the words, “O Zerubbabel, not by power, not by might, but by my spirit!” I knew this was Zechariah 4:6, so I filed the thought away but was not sure what it pertained to, so did not say anything about it to anyone. Now this morning, I am reading Ezekiel and the Holy Spirit reminds me of this word He spoke to me on that camping trip and the Lord adds to it the word, “Beware”.

Beware is a cautionary word, and I heard the word “Beware” in the spirit, like “Be Aware”. Be aware, the Lord said of not doing things by power or by might, but only by my spirit. I listened as the Holy Spirit spoke, “Beware of saying things I am not saying, for too many words are bringing too much confusion. Beware of Ishmael, do not create something out of impatience. Beware, be aware.” I sat in silence as these words penetrated my inmost being.

I do not write to be heard, I write what I hear. This morning I was not hearing anything, so I was not writing anything, then when the Holy Spirit spoke “Beware, Be Aware” I knew instantly this is what He was saying to us today. My friends, we need to not do things in our own might, our own power, but we must do things by the Spirit of God. This means we must resist the cultural push to make something happen, to produce something, to get something out there so people don’t forget us. Christian culture is pushing people to create Ishmael’s in their own strength, by their own power.

God is not in a hurry, He actually will pause speaking to see if we will wait for Him or jump ahead and just talk for the sake of talking. We must be confident that when God has something to say He will say it, we don’t need to make something happen. We are invited to hear the words, “O Zerubbabel, not by power, not by might, but by My spirit says the Lord!”