Month: July 2024

Have you ever wondered why the older we get the less we want to be protected, doted over, guarded, watched? As parents we do this for our children because we love them, want to keep them safe, our goal is to create a place for them to enjoy life free of harm. But when we get older, the idea of someone doing that for us, we shun. Yet, the Bible is crystal clear we are children of God, He is our Father, and His job is to protect His children from any harm that may befall them.

I wonder how many of us are like teenagers in our walk with God. Wanting our independence, desiring to make our own decisions, not wanting God to tell us what to do? It is as though we think we know more than He does, so we go outside of the boundaries He has set for us (Psalm 16), thinking He is keeping us from having fun or somehow enjoying life. We are called to mature, but we are never to grow past being a child of God. He always will be our Father, He will always seek to protect us, provide for us, promote us, but we must allow Him to be our Father and we must remain His children, no matter our age.

Psalm 121 is what I was praying this morning and it says, “The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night. The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.” Keeper in Hebrew means to preserve, watch, hedge about, guard, to protect, observe, have charge of. Is the Lord your keeper? Do you believe He is keeping you because He absolutely enjoys you? In this shaking, our keeper knows what will happen when, but we must remain within the boundaries He sets for us, for they are there for our protection, He is a keeper and He wants to keep you safe.

When the volume level in the world increases because of the shaking that is upon us, what are we to do? If we add our voice to an already crowded field of voices wanting to be heard; prophets wanting to be right; marketers wanting you to buy what they are selling; or click bait wanting you to echo their narrative; we will find our voice lost in a sea of voices. Everyone has an opinion about everything, many people are needing to be seen and heard, the desire for people to affirm what they say is evident in the midst of the shaking, everyone wants to be the first one to say, I told you so.

The challenge is, the kingdom of God and the ministers of the kingdom are called to another way of walking and talking in the midst of the shaking. We know Hebrews 12 says, everything that can be shaken will be shaken, so we should not be surprised by anything that is shaking right now. But what is to be our response, when all these things which are so tantalizing to the flesh are shaking around us? What is the Holy Spirit inviting us to be, to do, while world leaders are changing, financial systems are crumbling, narratives are dying and living?

Psalm 46 says, “Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

We as kingdom citizens, who are living on earth are called to Behold and Be Still. Watch, pay attention, take notice, behold what is happening, but in the midst of it all, Be Still and know that He is God. Nothing happening is catching God off guard, He is still the Prince of Peace. The earth is shaking, finances are shaking, people are shaking, behold it all, but in the midst of your beholding, be still, for the shaking is for the making of a move of God we do not even fully understand, at least not yet.

Ephesians 6 says, our battle is not against flesh and blood but against, powers, rulers, principalities and spirtual forces in the heavenly realms. The challenge is, spirits are winds, they are words, they are invisible but the manifest through visible flesh and blood. Being able to discern the spirt from the person it is manifesting through is compulsory in this battle we are in.

I was thinking about this Ephesians 6 battle this morning and the Lord reminded me of my high school years. In High School when we would go to our football games, we had a lot of team spirit. I was the school mascot, so I would get the crowd raring to go for the game. The cheerleaders and I would have the crowd cheering, shouting, supporting our boys on the field. Many people wore clothes to match the team spirit occasion. What a great memory the Lord gave me this morning from back in the day when I lived in North Minneapolis.

The Holy Spirit said there are two teams in the spirit and both are wanting you to join their team. The two teams are Team Righteousness, Peace and Joy or Team Stress, Worry, Anxiety and Fear. We lean into being on one team or the other, some people even jump between the two teams depending on what they see playing out in their lives, in the world or in the church. The truth is we pick a team all the time and the team we pick manifests when we speak.

The Ephesians 6 battle is about getting you to pick a team. Will you join Team RPJ or Team SWAF? Both teams are spirits, both teams are in operation and everyone is on one or the other teams, even if they switch between teams based on circumstances. The team you are on will determine what you see and what you do. Team RPJ operates from rest knowing they have the victory. Team SWAF is exhausting because it demands you using your own strength. I pray you join Team RPJ for this is the winning team.

How do you view you? Honestly, who do you say you are? What do you believe you deserve? If people were honest, they view themselves very poorly and their view of themselves is how they tend to see others as well. If someone views themselves in a way that someone who views themselves poorly hears I view myself as blessed and highly favored, it can sound arrogant to the one who views themselves as broke, busted and a burden.

Identity is a big deal in our culture. Knowing your identity is a matter of knowing who you are. Everyone of us is filled with voices that have created infrastructure about who we are. Those voices are so established in us, they have become a stronghold in which we live. We have been told by valuable voices in both family at home and family at church that we are __. When someone of influence, authority or value in your life now comes and says something different, most people reject it, because they believe they are something else.

King David came to show kindness to someone but they thought he was coming to punish them. Listen to 2 Samuel 9 “Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson.”

The king was coming to give him more than he could imagine, but he viewed himself as a dog, so was afraid when the king called for him. If you view yourself as a dog, you will not believe the King (Jesus) is coming to bless you, to restore what is yours, to heal you, because you view yourself like a dog, you will think He is coming to harm you. Friends, we need to repent of viewing ourselves as dogs, when Jesus died for us to make us sons and daughters. He is not coming to punish you, He is coming to heal you and restore you in every way.

I was watching the opening ceremony for the summer Olympics happening in Paris, France last night. The commentators continued to say, this was an opening ceremony like no other, because each nation was coming in on a boat parade that ended at the Eiffel Tower. To watch the nations ride in on a boat, with names of nations I had never heard of, was quite the sight to see. The various flags waving, the smiles on everyone’s faces, the variety of cultural clothing on display, it was truly a joy to watch.

Then this morning I open my bible to pray Psalm 117 and it says, “Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.” Nations were celebrating the Olympics last night, the highest level of athletes gathering from around the world to compete for the next 16 days and this morning, the Lord is calling all nations to praise the Lord. Perfect timing as usual.

Color, variety, celebration, beauty, architecture, lights, water, it made the opening ceremony such a pleasure to see from my living room, chair, but to have been on that river bank, standing in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, with crowds of people would have been an experience to remember and one those who were there will never forget.

As I pondered all of this I realized, God wants us to be in the midst of what He is doing. We are not meant to read in a book or watch on television what God is doing. We are called to be in the middle of it, smelling the smells, seeing the sights, hearing the sounds, experiencing the atmosphere. There is nothing like being there when it is happening. I believe God is going to move on such a massive level that we will get to be there when it happens. Where is the where? I do not know, but it is going to be happening everywhere, so we can be there. Once you are there, you will testify to what God has done or said, for you saw it, you heard it, you have pictures on your phone to share about it. Friends, the sideline days are over, this is an everyone one gets to play move of God. Let’s go!!!!

We have been trained from birth with a bit and bridle in our mouths. The Babylonian bit and bridle was never God’s intention for people, we were never meant to be programmed or controlled by a system of slavery. Just like Israel who was born into slavery, as they were in Egypt 430 years, so we were born into Babylon, a slavery that we are just now realizing we have been in for many many decades. But thanks be to God, He has seen our subjecation to the dictates of men and has heard our cries to be free. Just like Israel was released from their long period of captivity in Egypt, so we are about to be released from our long captivity in Babylon.

Many people know Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you, to give you a future and a hope” but very few realize it was a prophetic word to a people who would spend decades in Babylonian captivity. I do not think it coincidental many believers have memorized that verse, for God is setting us, the captives of Babylon, free. Just as Israel endured the ten plagues before they were released, we are about to experience a shaking which is our making, not our breaking. God is making us into a free people, and He alone is decreeing, Babylon, Babylon is falling! (Revelation 18).

I was reading 2 Samuel 8:1 this morning and it says, “After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.” I wondered what Metheg-Ammah was and it is translated as bit and bridle, or control and authority. David defeated the Phillistines control and authority over Israel and broke off the bit and bridle that we placed in their mouths to control them. Psalm 32:9 and James 3:3 speak of the bit and bridle and tools of control. So, for David to defeat and subdue the enemy who had authority and control over Israel was a huge statement and the Lord says, He is removing the bit and bridle of Babylon from His people. Babylon’s authority and control over us is being broken, so we God’s people can be free to follow Him, see Him, hear Him, love Him. Oh friends, we are living in biblically historic days.

Everyone has a measure of faith, but those who excercise their faith increase their measure, while those who do not excercise their faith only maintain their measure. Every measure of faith has the ability to stretch, grow, strengthen and speak, but you must excercise it. The challenge people have with faith is, one you must be able to see the invisible and hear the inaudible; two you must be able to act on something you cannot see and cannot prove you heard. People who are more natural than spiritual will not understand you when you are moving in faith, for they cannot see or hear why you are doing what you are doing.

Our need to see and hear has hindered our obedience to God. Hebrews 13 says, “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Rewards are given to those who seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, knowing full well, all these things will be added unto them (Matthew 6:33). God rewards obedience, which means when you act in faith based on what He says to you, before you or anyone around you can see or hear the result of what you are doing, there is a reward for faith.

Jesus said, when I return to earth will I find faith on earth? He isn’t coming to find gold, silver, houses, cars, or even stadium events. He is coming with one desire, to find faith on earth. When faith is our highest value, we reveal we trust the Lord with all our hearts, we are not leaning on our own understanding, in all our ways we are acknowledging Him and He is directing our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Church we are really good at celebrating what we see, testimonies we hear, but we are weak in cheering people on who are walking by faith and who are not yet able to testify. Faith sees the unseen; faith hears the unhearable; faith moves by what it knows; faith waits longer than most would wait; because faith is a relationship with a person, not an outcome. We are called people of faith, and I will show you my faith by what I do (James 1); how about you, can people see your faith, even if they don’t understand why you do what you do?

It has been hot and dry here in the Nashville area of the United States. The hot, dry weather caused many lawns to go from a lush green to a dreary brownish yellow. Grass that used to be pleasant to walk on in bare feet became prickles under your toes that made it clear with one step you do not want to walk on it without shoes. Some neighbors would water their lawns and their grass was green, while others had this dry brownish yellow look to their yards. Maybe you have a neighborhood that resembles what I just described.

Then for about 5-6 days now it has been raining everyday. Every yard is getting its color back and, the trees are clapping their hands again, the flowers are lifting up their heads and releasing their colors and fragrance. It is amazing what water does to creation, it brings everything to life. Now the neighborhood looks unified, beautified and amply supplied with green yards again.

I was thinking about this and realized, some people individually may water their yard so their grass is green, but when the rest of the neighborhood has yellow burnt grass, the one green grass yard doesn’t carry the beauty it does when the whole neighborhood has green grass. The Lord starting sharing with me, that we love the idea of the one yard, our yard, being green, not realizing we still live in a brownish yellow neighborhood. The Holy Spirit went on to say, “When I water the earth with rain, the whole neighborhood gets green grass. Humans care about their yard, but I care about the whole neighborhood.”

Matthew 5:44-45 says, “I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” God is raining on whole neighborhoods; whole nations; whole continents; even the whole earth. We are about to experience a move of God in which everyone is about to be rained on. Don’t forget His kindness still leads people to repentance.

Have you ever watched boxing? In the practical sense it can cause one to wonder, what is the point of punching another person for points? But in the boxing world, it is considered a sport that exhibits strength and the stronger man wins. When working out in the gym, lifting weights or training, one can feel like they are the strongest person in the room, until they step into the ring, they will not know how strong they really are.

In boxing they have weight classes. There are light weights and there are heavy weights. People box according to their weight class or the fight is not fair. You can be a champion in the light weight class, but if the champion of a light weight class was to fight even the lowest person in the heavy weight class, they would lose, because they are in different classes.

The same is true in the Bible, Jesus said it this way in Luke 7:28 “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” The John company is the light weight class, the kingdom company is the heavy weight class. But they are not in the same class.

This is also true with our voice. Every voice has been given authority, however, not every voice carries the same weight. Some people’s voices are light weights and others peoples voices are heavy weights. We must know what weight class our voice is in or we will engage in a fight that we are not weighty enough to win.

We increase the weight of our voice by our obedience to our trainer, who is Jesus the Christ. His voice is the only voice with all authority, so the more we obey His voice, the more weight we carry. People who obey the voice of God now and then are light weights, but those who obey the voice of God every time they hear it are heavy weights. Our obedience to His voice causes us to carry more weight, because our voice becomes one with His voice. Just a reminder, the enemy is a super lightweight, resist him and he will flee from you.

I see in the spirit a dam, a wall holding back a massive amount of water. On the dam is the name Baal-perazim. The dam is on a timer and will not open until the timer goes off. It won’t be long now, for a flood of justice is about to break out on the earth realm. The timing of its release is from the Lord, not the work of man.

I saw this vision in the spirit as I was reading 2 Samuel 5:20 ““The LORD has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood. Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.” And reading Proverbs 21:15 “When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.” As I looked at the dam with the water behind it, I immediately heard Amos 5:24 “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

If righteousness is going to exalt the nations, then justice will be right there beside it. For righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne. They are the wonder twin powers in the spirit that work in tandem to establish the kingdom of God on earth. Justice is nothing to be feared, it eradicates wickedness and establishes righteousness. Remember we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. God is removing wickedness from our atmosphere and releasing righteousness into the world again.

The dam of justice that is about to break out, will be a time of rejoicing for some and of terror for others. Justice will bring conviction on many and repentance will be seen as the Lord sweeps away the lies which have hindered many from the true knowledge of God. We are about to join Job 42:5-6 in saying, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Many are going to return to their first love and others are going to discover love for the first time. The dam of justice is about to break!!!!