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Have you ever read a question in scripture and actually answered it? Or do you just read it and keep reading? This morning, I read in Psalm 2:1-3 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” After I read this question in prayer, sensed the Lord wanted me to answer it and to be honest with you, the answer I gave surprised me for I do not recall thinking about it this way before. Here is what my answer was…Lord, people rise up against You and Your Anointed because they refuse to bow down to You and Your Anointed.

Thinking about this Holy Spirit inspired answer, it is actually true. People, whoever they may be, that refuse to bow down to the Lord and His Anointed will rise up against Him and try to take Him out of culture. Think about all the ways those who refuse to bow down to the Lord and His Anointed have tried to rise up against God in our nation? They do marches, they light up houses, they write laws, all trying to rise up against the Lord and His Anointed. Many times we see the rising up, but we don’t realize it’s because they won’t bow down.

God is strong, He is not moved by people’s unwillingness to bow down. He does not complain, criticize or become fearful because they try to cancel Him out of culture or refuse to bow down to Him. You know what God does? Psalm 2:4-6 “He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” Did you hear that, God tells them that Jesus is King and this terrifies those who refuse to bow down. Instead of being afraid of all you are seeing and hearing about those who are rising up, remember they are refusing to bow down, but Jesus is King of the holy mountain and every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, so God has the last laugh!

Hope has always been an elusive word to me, a bit ethereal if you will. I never could put my finger on what it actually meant. I have heard the psychological and biblical definitions of it, but to really understand what it was, how it worked and what distinguished it from faith was hard for me.

Now I am a member of Hope UC Nashville, and we say a blessing type benediction at the end of our service every Sunday morning and of course it is a verse cloaked in hope. I say the verse, but never was able to grasp its significance. Then this morning, I am reading Romans 5 and it says, “having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” I can’t deny this word any longer, so I dig into it and what I found as a Hebrew definition of one of the many words translated hope has unlocked understanding for me.

Hope means to stretch out the mind in a straight direction towards an object of hope or expectation. It means strength; standing firm; trust, wait, refuge; it means to live out God’s call to righteousness; and long-term hope is the sense of the arc of history bending toward justice. Now, I have some bones to hang onto when I hear the word hope.

I end my prayer, study time with communion and today with this fresh understanding of this ancient word, rich in meaning, history and mystery, I look at the bread and the wine and realize, it was hope that allowed Jesus to endure the cross. He never thought the cross was His final destination, His hope pulled him in a straight line through the cross, into the grave and up into glory, so now He is seated at the right hand of His Father in heaven. Hope does not allow you to stop at the cross (the painful things in your life) it pulls you through the cross, into the grave and up and out into glory.

Church, we need to stretch out our mind in a straight direction towards an object of hope or expectation. Jesus expected the glory of God to manifest on earth as it is in heaven and He knew the cross was just one thing He had to go through, the grave was another, but He would not stop until He was manifesting glory for us to see, now 2000 years later, because He had hope in God. Let hope pull you through your cross seasons, through your grave seasons, into your manifestation of God’s glory in your life on earth as it is in heaven. Hope is the cord that pulls you toward the goal of glory manifestion and glory demonstration. This my friends is the power of hope!!!

I can hear the sound of celebration in the air.

It is a sound that will make you want to dance and sing.

I can feel my spirit leaping for joy.

There is nothing that preceded it, nothing around it, it is just a sound of celebration.

The Lord has released a sound of celebration.

It is going to be heard all around.

I can hear the sound!

The days of passive, powerless, apathetic, weak Christianity are being taken over by fierce lovers of God and lovers of people. Love is strong, love is tenacious, love is passionate. It’s about to get loud in the area of love like we have never known before. The love of God for His people will manifest in ways most people have not been taught in church. Jesus’ death on the cross was a death blow to the devil. Jesus literally crushed the enemy and defeated death in His death on the cross. It was not a kum by ya kind of event, it was a cosmic victory on a level very few could see.

The cross was not the beginning, it was the end of an age. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the beginning of a new age. This new age of human history was marked by a resurrected King. John describes Him in Revelation 1 as dressed as a King, having the authority of a King and the site of Him was so powerful, John fell over like a dead man. This is who Jesus Christ is. He is a mighty warrior, a powerful King, a lover on a level we don’t know how to embrace, and He has stored up wrath against His enemies that He is about to release on them.

The minions of Satan do not deal gently with you. Sickness, disease, depression, divorce, discouragement, disappointment, death, immorality, idolatry, alcoholism, abuse, I could go on, but the enemy is not dealing kindly with you, that is why the Lord does not deal kindly with the enemy. Nahum 1:2 says the Lord reserves His wrath for His enemies. My friends, the fierce love of God, the resurrected King, is coming to deal with your enemies and He is not coming to make a peace agreement with them. We must learn what strong love looks like, for His love for us does not tolerate enemies mistreating us the way they do. Enough is enough!

Nahum 1:8-9 “But with an overflowing flood He will make a complete end of its site, And will pursue His enemies into darkness. Whatever you devise against the LORD, He will make a complete end of it. Distress will not rise up twice.”

The Lord and I were talking this morning and He said, “Instead of asking people what is their dream, ask them what is their desire.” He went on to say, ”Knowing our desire, will help us to articulate our dream.” I thought that was a needed correction, for many people can share their dreams, but how many people can actually articulate what they desire? David, king of Israel said, “One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek Him in His temple” (Psalm 27:4). From this one desire, he financed the building of the temple in Jerusalem. The dream came out of desire.

Desire is an issue of the heart, for many our desires are so intimate, so deep inside of us, that we struggle to find words to describe or explain it, and many times those desires are connected to some sort of pain. When pain is attached to desire, it is hard to answer the question, what do you desire. But the psalmist says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). Therefore, if we dig down into the layers of who we are, we find it starts with delight, this identifies desire and then we can share our dream.

The order of questions then is not what is your dream, but where is your delight? What is your desire? Out of that place, share your dream. Just like building a house, we must drill down to bedrock in order to lay the foundation. Today as you pray, let the Lord lead you into the place in your heart where desire is and when you see what you really desire, it may solidify or modify your dream. The question is not what is your dream; the question is who is your delight?

When you are one that carries a sharp sword, it is imperative that you use it for the cutting off of the enemy and the building up of your friends and family. During the wilderness seasons, many had their swords sharpened and they have been taught to wield that sword against the enemy effectively. Now as the door to the wilderness has opened for many to come out and the door to the promised land has opened for those same ones to come in, it is important that the sharp sword you have been given is used for building people up, not tearing them down.

When we are in the wilderness, there is a lot of alone time. Many people learned what real intimacy with the Lord means and in that they learned He is better than we ever realized. But now, we are coming out together, with the Lord, into this new place called the promised land. Yes this new land has giants that need to be slayed but it also has people that need to be saved, healed, and delivered from those giants that have been oppressing them. Use your sword to slay the giant and use your sword to sharpen the sword of those who have been oppressed.

While many were in the wilderness for the last season, many others have been living under the oppression of the giants who are in the land. However, we are together and we need to lift one another up, stand with each other and use our sharp swords to sharpen the swords of our fellow Christians. We all will need a sharp sword in order to remain in this promised land and keep those slayed giants under our feet. It’s a new day and we are moving together in a new way.

Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.”

Much more is happening than the eyes can see and ears can hear. The cosmic war that has been taking place has been felt by many, but understood by few. The apostle Paul said, “Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, powers, authorities in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6). Notice Paul did not say God’s battle, but rather our battle. My friends, there has been a cosmic battle happening in the heavenly places. Intercessors have been waging war from a place in the spirit for the victory to manifest on the earth.

Following the leading of the Holy Spirit people have gone to location destinations to make declarations, this was all part of the cosmic war. Others gathered in small and large groups to pray, prophecy and proclaim the victory God spoke to them about in the secret place. Still others have done daily prayer video blogs to encourage and inform the church about how to fight and keep on fighting in this cosmic war for the nations.

Jesus won the victory on Calvary, Satan was defeated that day, but we as people on earth must continue to maintain what Jesus gained by our prayer, inercession, lifestyles, words, attitudes, and works. This cosmic war has been intense, but the Lord always does the heavy lifting. We have the best Commander and Chief; Advocate and King; Jesus the Christ.

As I was praying Habakkuk 3 this morning, the Lord showed me where we are in this cosmic war, “In indignation You marched through the earth; In anger You trampled the nations. You went forth for the salvation of Your people, For the salvation of Your anointed. You struck the head of the house of the evil To lay him open from thigh to neck.” Selah. God has struck the head of the house of evil and we are about to see some of the exposure, so we never tolerate this evil again. God has yet again won a great victory on our behalf, the head of the house of evil has been struck and is about to be exposed, this is cause for rejoicing!

In 2013 I had a vision that has marked me for life. One of the places I was taken into in the vision was the connection chamber, it is the room behind the throne. As I was taken into that room, I saw a chair with a robe draped over it, but no one was in the seat and no one was wearing the robe. You see the connection chamber is where the King takes off His robe.

Fast forward to yesterday in worship. We were singing the song All Hail King Jesus and as we were worshipping, I saw the Lord Jesus Christ put on His royal robe. It was a dark, deep red robe, almost like a rich red wine color. I did not see His face, I only saw the robe being put on. As I continued to look, I saw Him reach for His crown and I knew He was about to present Himself as King.

As I wondered about what I was seeing, the Lord said, every counterfeit king, that has exalted itself on earth, will be brought low, when I reveal myself as King. I saw sickness, disease and all health issues as counterfeit kings. When Jesus manifests Himself as king, every counterfeit king, who has claimed its rule, will be cast down by the sight of the King in our midst. I also so people who have thought themselves so strong in their sin, bow down before Him as King.

When Jesus reveals Himself to His body, the church as King, we will all fall down and declare All Hail King Jesus. This will be not the end of the world, it will be the start of something powerful as we recognize Him as King and we as one’s invited into His kingdom. Our King is about make His presence known.

Revelation 1:13-17 “I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.”

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man

When I worked as an editor for a local newspaper, I learned that some people are keyboard critics and some are content creators. Most people are just casual observers, reading both the content and the critique. I think it is healthy to critique content others produce, for two reasons, one it helps the content creator solidify what they are producing; two it reminds them why quality content is needed.

Keyboard critics are those who do not write any substantive content, but rather spend their time reading what the content creators are writing, producing, creating and they believe they are called to correct it, critique it or correct it with their opinion. Once you, as a content creator, recognize a keyboard critic, there is no need to keep defending yourself, for the content will speak for itself.

One example in scripture of this is when Paul is addressing prophesy being spoken inside the church. He says, when one prophet speaks, two or three other prophets should judge that prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:29-30). Why did Paul say prophets in the church should judge the prophecy spoken in the church? The answer to this will vary but one reason is because prophets understand prophecy.

When we are critiquing what we have never created, we are doing it out of our outside opinion rather than our insider understanding. People that have planted churches understand church planting; people who are professional athletes understand professional sports; people who have been in management understand managing. We need to stay in our lane, for it is easy to be a critic but it takes time, energy and commitment to be a content creator, no matter the field you create in. May we as the church be creators, builders, edifiers, not critics.

Good morning CHURCH,

Last night I was at a women’s gathering in a smaller city in Tennessee. During worship, I saw right above the raised hands of the women, water. It was still water; it was dark (deep) water; and there was a light mist coming off of the water. My eyes were eye level to the water in this vision, and as I was looking at the water, I heard the voice of the Lord say, “I AM THE GOD WHO HOVERS!” It was not a loud voice, but it was an authoritative voice. I was not scared, but I was brought instantly into the God Who Hovers.

I stood in awe of what I was seeing, but I was awestruck by the voice I heard. No time in my life has God ever declared a name of His to me like this. I know His many names in the word and I have called Him by them many times. But this was different, it was as though He was wanting to be known as this, THE GOD WHO HOVERS. Worship finished and the program moved on, but I was undone, unable to transition out of the experience quickly. I sat down in order not to be a distraction, but I was enraptured in the words of the Lord, I Am the God Who Hovers.

Genesis 1:2 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Hover means, “to hang fluttering in the air or on the wing; to remain suspended over a place or object” (Merriam-Webster dot.com). God is hovering over His people, He is closer than we realize and He is not far from us, He is actually Christ in us. He has a name He is releasing to us, The Lord says, “I AM THE GOD WHO HOVERS!” May you encounter, enter into and engage with, the God Who Hovers.