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1 Corinthians 14 tells us to prophesy is to edify. Joel 2 and Acts 2 tell us both sons and daughters can prophesy. This means everyone can edify when they prophesy. Edify is the word meaning to build up. It is where we get the architectural term edifice from. As believers in the body of Christ we are called, commanded to edify the body, build up the body. The Lord spoke to Jeremiah in chapter one and said, I am calling you to uproot, tear down, destroy, build (Edify) and plant. Our job as New Testament ones who prophesy is to edify, at least that is what Paul says. Therefore, my words prophetically are for the edification of the church, the body of Christ, not for it’s destruction. Even words of correction are to correct us up, not tear us down. God told Moses, oh that all of My people would prophesy (edify). Paul repeats this theme of edification in Ephesians 4 when he says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only that which builds up (Edifies) the hearer.” With all that being said, I have some prophetic news for you today.

The Biblical narrative the Lord has had me following is that of Babylon. Israel was put into Babylonian captivity for their departure from God as a nation. This Biblical narrative has been prophetically what the Lord has been showing me for over 5 years now, when He told me to call for the fall of the iron and clay kingdom once and for all (Daniel 2). I realize, I see things differently than others, because this is the narrative for the nation the Lord has given me. I also have been told some do not understand what I am talking about. For that I apologize if I have not been clear. Babylon is a system of control that has been over the nations and God Himself is removing its control off of us. I see this in the spirit, then when the news unlocks the truth God has been saying, I just point it out.

All I can say right now is rejoice my friends rejoice, for Fallen, Fallen, Babylon has fallen.

Have you ever wondered why only certain news stories make the news? There must be more than just the few stories they are telling us going on. Why then do they only tell us certain stories? Because it fits the narrative they want us to believe. They know people are to busy to do their own research, so they feed us with the stories they want us to hear, so we are only informed about what they want us to know. Twitter, Telegram, Truth Social, Facebook, You Tube, Rumble, Gab, they all changed the news narrative. Now everyday people who hear or see something that does not make the mainstream news get to share it so others can hear about it. Yes it has inundated us with more information, but it has also unlocked for us other narratives we did not know.

The same is true in Christianity, there is a mainstream narrative that is preached and it is the only narrative that people know. The gospel of salvation is a mainstream narrative, so most believers never grow up in their faith and very few know what Matthew 24:14 means, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” The gospel of the kingdom is not the gospel of salvation. But it is not mainstream narrative because it does not fit the mainstream agenda. The kingdom of God is not a mainstream message, at least not yet. Just like with the rise of social media so there is a rise of gospel of the kingdom preachers. The message is about to change and the church is about to become strong and do great exploits. We are not going to be raptured out of here, we are going to learn to be overcomers.

Listen to what Paul says about the end times in 1 Corinthians 15 “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” The gospel of the kingdom is about overcoming the enemy not escaping, hiding or being raptured from him. A new narrative is arising and it is going to transform the landscape of Christendom yet again.

The Lord is not Blake Shelton, someone you love to listen to but will never know personally. The Lord is not Kanye West, someone you hear but will never be able to to draw near to. No, the Lord is Creator of heaven and earth; He is El Shaddai, God Most High, Adonai; He is Jehovah Rapha; He is Jehovah Jireh; He is an ever present help in time of trouble. Our God is approachable, He is audible, He is visual, He is available. Hebrews 10:19-22 “Since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

This is what I heard the minute I was about to pray this morning. It came in like a flood, “I am near, I am here, I am not far away.” It was the heart of the Lord declaring, “My people do not need to live off of someone else’s voice sharing my voice, they can hear my voice for themselves, they can draw near to me.” Can I tell you a secret, the voice of God when heard in your ear is the greatest gift God gives us, because His voice is is heart and His heart is for you not against you. When you hear the voice of God, it builds you up in a way that no other voice can. Other voices then become the echo that establishes what you are hearing, until you become a voice yourself for God and an echo for someone else. It is how the body of Christ works. We all can hear and speak the voice of God.

I am over here smiling this morning at the thought of how much the Lord speaks, it is like a flood coming in this month. It has been refreshing, exuberant, enjoyable and I am loving every minute of it. That’s why I share what I hear everyday, but more than anything I want to be an echo that confirms what you are hearing God say, my greatest desire is that you would hear Him personally. There is no greater voice to hear than the voice of God for it waters us in ways that cause us to lose our thirst for all the other voices vying for our attention. I want to hear the Lord and I know you do to. Listen my friends, for the Lord God Almighty is speaking!

Worship on Sunday mornings at Hope UC Nashville creates an atmosphere in which the ability to “see” is unlocked for me. This Sunday we were singing the words, “Put off the spirit of heaviness and put on the garment of praise”. While Nat Clubb was leading us in this song, I saw a multi-colored coat being placed on the congregation. I immediately thought that looks like Joseph’s coat of many colors (Genesis 37). The Lord said, “The coat of many colors is the garment of praise.” Then the service continues and James Galbraith is preaching on the Power of Praise, at one point he said, “praise is vibrant, it is colorful, it is bright.” The Lord whispered, “The coat of many colors is the garment of praise.”

Now two days later I am praying Psalm 96 and verse 9 says, “Worship the Lord in holy atttire”, and the Holy Spirit says, “This is the garment of praise, the holy attire is the garment of praise, my people are to worship me in.” Praise is not fast, upbeat songs which are the prelude to the heaviness of worship, James told us, but praise is a weapon, because praise is knowing who our God is. This morning, the Lord added to James’ thoughts by saying, praise is Daniel 11:32 “The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” The people who are wearing the garment of praise, the multicolored coat, will do great exploits. What coat are you wearing, the spirit of heaviness or the garment of praise?

We get to choose what we wear. The spirit of heaviness is likened to the sackcloth and ashes that were worn when people were grieving, but the garment of praise is multicolored, it is vibrant, it is joy, and it makes people jealous. But we must wear it anyway, because it speaks of whose we are. After Isaiah prophesies what Jesus quotes in Luke 4:18 about captives going free, Isaiah 61:3 says about those free people, God is going, “To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.” It’s time to wear our coat our Father gave us, for the garment of praise is what freedom looks like.

The way you walk will determine what you hear. If you walk by the flesh you will hear what flesh has to say; if you walk by the spirit, you will hear what the spirit has to say. Can I tell you a secret, the spirit is a lot more interesting to listen to then flesh is. The spirit tells you things in parables, in riddles, in revelations that man knows nothing about. It is like you hear a whole new language and it is truly fascinating, awe inspiring and enjoyable in a way that is hard to describe. If believers all walked by the spirit, we would not have confusion amongst us, because right now we hear the flesh and the spirit and many people don’t know what to believe. But if you walk by the spirit, you hear it when the spirit is speaking.

This morning, I was out on the back porch praying and reading my bible and there was a sound of crows having a conference in the trees right outside. It was loud, it was long and it caught my attention. This conference of crows went on for literally 15 minutes. The sound was hard on the ears, for one crow is loud but imagine close to 50 or more crows gathering and they were all talking. I pulled out my recorder and recorded it for one minute, just to have it and then I asked the Lord, what is this conference of crows happening in the backyard all about? It was not a normal occurrence in this ever so quiet backyard. Immediately I heard the Holy Spirit say, “It’s the sound of marching in the top of the mulberry trees.” I knew this was a scripture, so I open my bible to see what the Lord is saying.

1 Chronicles 14:13-17 says, “The Philistines raided the valley again. Again David asked for God’s counsel. This time do not attack them directly. Circle behind their forces and attack from their rear coming out from the balsam trees. When you hear marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then go out to fight. I will have already attacked the Philistine army before you arrive.” Immediately the presence of God flooded me and the Lord said, “The battle is mine!” I knew he was talking about the battle for the nations we are in.

Friends, the Lord Himeself is dealing with our enemies, I know this is hard for us to just stand and see the salvation of our God. We are not called to fight we are called to stand, watch, listen, see, hear, for the Lord of Hosts, the God of Angel Armies is fighting our enemies and winning in ways we have yet to see, but when the victory is revealed we are going to shout for joy. How do I know, because I heard it in the conference of the crows this morning.

The Lord does not delight in the death of anyone and my heart is grieved over this man’s death. His wife was in the apartment when he jumped to his death at 52 years old and he left behind two daughters. Lord have mercy!

Prophetically this story caught my attention because when we were at the Jekyll Island Club on August 9, 2022, we were having lunch and a memory popped up on my timeline in which I spoke about Jenga, two years earlier on that very date. We then go into the mens lounge and there is a Jenga game on the shelf. Breadcrumbs telling us we are on the right trail, right there on Jekyll Island in GA.

Now this man jumps from the Jenga Building in NYC and it’s from the 18th floor. We were there to decree Babylon has fallen and that verse is in Revelation 18. You can’t make this stuff up!

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I woke up early this morning to an image of my friend who is an architect, his office. In his office there is a bucket of rolled up blueprints. As I saw this bucket of rolled up blueprints the Lord immediately said to me “The scrolls are blueprints.” I came downstairs to my sanctuary and immediately Luke 4:17 comes into my spirit, “The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:” The scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

I look up the definition of scroll in both the dictionary, the Greek and the Hebrew and I learn, scrolls were used for manuscript administration documents intended for various uses including accounting, rent-rolls, legal agreements and inventories. (Wikipedia) Blueprints serve as a model or provide guidance; they are detailed plans or programs of action. Synonyms for blueprint are master plan, strategy, road map, scheme or system. Words are powerful and their definitions give us insight into what God is saying.

I go outside to pray with these thoughts in my mind and today I am praying with Psalm 94. When I complete my prayer time with Psalm 94, knowing the scrolls are blueprints and Psalms is a scroll, the Lord speaks to me and says, “Psalm 94 is a psalm of salvation for your nation.” I say back to the Lord, then Psalm 94 is my salvation declaration for this nation!

Here are just a few decrees you can make from this Psalm…

V.11 – The LORD knows all human plans; he knows that they are futile.

V.20 – Can a corrupt throne be allied with you— a throne that brings on misery by its decrees?

V. 22 – He will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness; the LORD our God will destroy them.

The scrolls are the blueprints says the Lord, now take the scroll, make a salvation declaration over your nation and eat the scroll for it is God’s strategy for our deliverance. Have a great Sunday!

To all the carriers of cares, I have a word from the Lord for you. “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” (Psalm 55:2)

The enemy is subtle, slow maneuvering and cunning in the way he convinces us. People share their heart with us, God shares prophetic promises with us, others flat out attack us and still others silently accuse us. Family goes through challenges, prayers go unanswered, the narrative of the nation seeds us, and the inflation affects us. It is how the enemy uses the cares of the world to weigh us down. It is slow it is subtle, but it is heavy.

We wonder why do I feel so tired, why am I not responding in love, what is the attitude I am displaying or this silence I am speaking. You know you are not yourself, but you can’t put your finger on it. Promises spoken to you by God but not yet fulfilled. All the cares that we carry.

This morning in prayer the Lord invited me to cast all my cares upon Him. When I did, I was surprised by how much I was carrying, try it you will find the same is true for you. Once I cast them all onto Him, I felt lighter on the inside, it was a noticeable difference and the Lord began to speak to me, “You (all) are not to carry cares of others, the world, or even prophecy. You (all) are to listen, love, pray for, but not carry these things. And as it pertains to prophecy, it is not you (all’s) responposiblity to fulfill it. All I want you to do is speak it. I carry all these things says the Lord, I share things and people with you not to carry them, but walk with them. I never made you to carry any of this, so cast all your cares upon Me for I care for you.” It was so liberating to hear the Lord speak this today. I hope it blesses you and you cast all cares upon Him for He is strong enough to carry them because He cares for you!

The GPS took us on a loop, to avoid traffic, I had never been on before. As the roads wound through beautiful Tennessee countryside, parallel to the congested highway, at one point I thought where are we. It “felt” so far off the beaten track, not even on the right side of the highway, and yet since I had never gone that way before, I had to trust the GPS and keep driving.

The music was blaring on the radio and I was singing out loud “There’s honey in the rock, water in the stone, manna on the ground, no matter where I go. I don’t need to worry, now that I know, everything I need You’ve got. There’s honey in the rock!” (Brooke Ligertwood) The skies were blue, it was a gorgeous day. Then I came around a bend and there was a clearing with only farmland and one old barn. I saw it in the distance but as I got closer the more I appreciated it.

You see I am a city girl from Minneapolis, MN. We had houses right next to each other. We grew up with street lights, BMX bikes and lots of concrete. Oh we had a little yard, but nothing like the farmlands of Kansas, Montana or Oklahoma. I did live in Seattle, WA for six years, and the mountains, the trees and the windy roads made me never want to leave there. I actually used to say, that was the best place I ever lived. But my dad said to me years ago, Lisa, your best is in front of you not behind you. I never forgot that.

Now on a windy Tennessee road, not sure where I am, we come around the bend and there is this old barn, with a faded American flag and an old car. I slow down so I can save this moment in a picture. My heart was struck by the beauty of this land I call home. America the beautiful, God shed your grace on thee. We are not perfect people, but I love this land of the brave and the home of the free. America is still my favorite place to be and now Tennessee is where I want to be.

“We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.” (1 Corinthians 8:1)

Love trumps knowledge. If you have ever played cards, you know that there is a card called the trump card. It is a card that makes all other cards which once looked powerful, bow to the trump card. Depending on the card game you are playing, the trump card can be an ace of spades, an ace of hearts, a queen of spades, or a joker. When you have the trump card, you have the power to change the game.

Life is not a game, so the trump card is just an analogy, but it applies to this verse in 1 Corinthians 8: 1. As believers we have experienced the church of knowledge, where people are trying to be the one seen, the one heard, the one honored, the one titled, but knowledge only sounds good and looks like it is the most powerful, until God plays His trump card. God’s trump card is love. Love is the most powerful card we can play.

Paul says, love edifies. That word edifies is an architectural term, it is where we get the word edifice from. Edifies means to build up. Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” Love edifies, love builds up.

Love trumps knowledge. God has been revealing his trump card since Jesus came to earth, and it is about to manifest in an even greater way. His love for us is going to surprise us, because we know the church as knowledge, but we have yet to know it as love. Love builds and God is about to manifest the builders in the church, for we have been destroyed for too long by the arrogance of people’s knowledge, it is time to be built up in love!