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When we pray without an agenda, a list, or a problem, the Lord will begin to show us things we could not know about Himself, us and others. The Lord never speaks to us in a way that tears us down, He is always correcting us up. The enemy wants to push our face in the mud, criticize us for our mistakes and have us sit in the muck and mire of madness. Knowing whose voice is speaking to us will help us resist the voice or submit to the voice. The voice we resist is to be the voice of the enemy that is out to destroy us, the voice we should submit to is the voice that is out to build us. When both voices are vying for our attention, it is important to slow down, be still and let God sift out the truth from the lies, so we can move forward not sink back into half-truths, or bold faced lies.

In light of this, the Lord went on to speak to me about us being the temple of the Holy Spirit and how just Iike Nehemiah 3 said, there are twelve gates around our temple. The Lord highlighted two of those gates to me today. One is the dung gate. This is not a popular gate for people to discuss, but it is a needed gate in our lives. The dung gate was a place of waste disposal and it was located in a concealed location. This gate is where we take out the trash in our lives. We dispose of the lies spoken over us, about us. But we don’t do it publicly we do it privately. Everyone has a dung gate, everyone has trash that needs to be taken out of their temple. When we are privy to other people’s trash we need to help them find the dung gate so they can get rid of it, for it is stinking up their temple.

The second gate the Lord highlighted to me is the East gate. This is the gate we need to open in our lives and in other people’s lives. This is the gate where the king of glory comes in. This is also known as the Gate Beautiful where the lame man was healed in Acts 4. This is the gate where the presence and glory of God comes into our lives. We need to open the east gate of our life, so the presence of God can fill the temple of our Iives with glory. We need to pray this gate open in the lives of people we love, for only the presence of God can heal us. It is time to open up the gates so the waste can be taken out and the glory can come in.

Walking the dog in our neighborhood park this morning yielded a truth I had not considered before. It rained last night, not just a mist or a drizzle but a lot of water fell from the sky. The sound of the wind blowing, the tree branches snapping and the drops hitting the window made it clear this was not a gentle spring rain. When the night ended and the sun began to rise, the evidence of the night before was on the ground all around us at the park. Puddles on the path and in the pasture both yielded an understanding of how much it actually rained. The sound of the creek to my right, which is normally a trickle was rushing water heard even though not seen.

The birds were singing, the squirrels were scampering, the sun was rising and the dog and I were just absorbing all that was around us in great delight. It is the simple things of creation that calibrate the soul to a reality that is not seen. Creation does not sin, so the pace it keeps and the consistency it demonstrates is identifiable. The reason humanity is chaotic, inconsistent and in conflict rather than rest is because of sin. Sin distorts our view of others, sin strangles us in the grip of fear, sin causes us to miss truth in order to hang on to a lie. Sin is exhausting.

Psalm 19 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.” The truth is, when we let creation recalibrate us, we find rest we long for, we hear sounds that bring us back to truth that sets us free, and we are invited into the consistency and vibrancy that creation is declaring all around us. What we need is a walk in the park alone in order to recalibrate who we are in Christ, the sinless Lamb of God.

The Bible is like a treasure hunt, you read and read and read, then all of the sudden a jewel begins to shine and as you lean into the shining, it opens up a revelation that brings clarification to a situation. Bill Johnson says it this way, “I read until I get a revelation.” I think we as people limit our reading to how long a devotional says we should read, a bible plan says we should read, or even our schedule says we should read. Unfortunately, these do not produce the fruit that revelation produces in us and then eventually we lose the desire to read our bibles. What if we tried to read until we got a revelation? I wonder how that would change our love for the word of God.

This morning I was reading 1 Samuel 5 and it speaks of how the ark of God was captured by the enemies of God and taken into the house of their god. It says, “The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place.” While reading this the Holy Spirit showed me, one how there is no competition between the living God and the dead idols. No matter where the ark was placed, it remained superior to any other idol, even in that idols own temple. Yahweh is alive and He is powerful.

The second thought the Holy Spirit shared with me is how when we worship idols, dead things, we must serve them, maintain them, pick them up, put them back in their place. Living people serving dead idols sounds absurd, but we do this all the time. We realize Yahweh is knocking over our idols, but we pick them up and put them right back in the place they fell from and continue to serve them. Idols can’t serve us, they can’t love us, they can’t help us, yet we continue to pick them up and put them back in their place.

God is knocking over idols in our hearts, churches, cities, and nation. From household idols to national idols, God is knocking them over. Our job is to recognize what God is doing and not go in behind God and set back in place what God is knocking down, because if we set it back up, God will knock it down again but this time it is going to be broken beyond repair. “So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.”

May we not pick up the idols God is knocking over. May we recognize what God is knocking over and realize that God is raising up the living and dealing with the dead things in our lives, so we can truly live. He is the God of the living not the dead and He is offering us life and life abundantly.

Maybe it’s because it was 18 degrees outside this morning when the crisp cool air hit my face, my dog who was in his hoodie ready as we went for our daily walk. Maybe it’s because the theme of the fire of God has been so prevelant in the charismatic church. Maybe it’s because I love the sound of fire crackling in a fireplace or at a fire pit. Maybe it is because fire both purifies and consumes. Or maybe it is because I love the imagery of the fire of God that fell on Pentecost. Whatever the maybe is for me or the maybe is for you, the truth is today, Psalm 97 says “Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around.” And I just love this truth!

We know from biblical history that when Israel inquired of God about who should go first in battle, the answer was Judah. Judah was the tribe that would lead the way in battle, not with swords, but with praise. They would lead the army into battle with songs of praise, declaring who Yahweh was, is and will be for them. Praise is a weapon that exalts the character qualities of our God; praise declares who He is to us, who He has been for us and who He will be to us. Praise makes it known we are not self-sufficient but God dependent.

Now putting Psalm 97’s fire that goes before, goes first and consumes all His enemies with Judah as praise going first, the Holy Spirit said, “Praise is the fire that consumes the adversaries of God.” I immediately saw Gideon with his army of 300 carrying torches and shofars into battle; I saw Moses at the burning bush before going to Pharoh; I saw Elijah on Mount Carmel with one altar soaked in water calling down fire. Fire goes before the Lord and consumes His adversaries. Praise is the fire of God that defeats the enemy before we even set foot on the battlefield.

I pray you can see the fire of God coming out of your mouth as you praise the Lord. I pray you can hear the crackling of fire as you sing of the goodness of God. I pray you open wide your mouth, lift high your hands and fling wide your heart as you shout praise to the Lord. For there is fire in your praise and the adversaries of God are being consumed with every word of praise you speak, sing, shout, declare or whisper. Praise is the fire of God that consumes the enemy on every side.

When I lived in Kansas City, I would pray outside in my backyard every morning. I remember the day when I was in prayer and the all of creation came alive to me. I felt like I was in a fairy tale, for the trees came alive, the birds and their songs came alive, the grass was alive, the creek was speaking life, all in unison, all of creation. I thought at that time if I tell anyone what I am seeing, hearing and feeling they will think I am new age or crazy. I kept it to myself, but will never forget that day when everything was alive in a way that I could not explain but I saw, heard and felt.

I am reading Psalm 96 and creation is rejoicing in the idea of God coming to earth to judge His people in righteousness and the question rises in my spirit, what does creation know that people don’t? What does creation hear that people can’t? What does creation see that people are blind to? We know dogs can hear sounds people can’t; we know birds can see things people can’t; we know water retains memories; creation is powerful and so when creation speaks, I am learning to listen.

Here is what creation hears in Psalm 95 “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.” Creation knows the judgment of God is a time to rejoice, not be afraid.

As all of this is happening in my spirit, the song Joy To The World starts going off inside of me and it echoes Psalm 95 in a way I never knew it could.

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room

Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love.

When we see the judgment of God happening it is not a time to fear, it is a time to rejoice, for creation is not afraid of God’s judgment, creation actually welcomes it. Creation knows something we don’t about God and about us. It is long past time we listen to creation (nature) for it is telling us “The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” (Romans 8:20-21). We are in a season of rejoicing, let us rejoice for all of creation is being liberated from corruption, us along with creation together.

1 Corinthians 13 says, “If you have not love, it profits you nothing.” Have you ever wondered why you give more than you receive? Profit is a financial term, but it does not always equate to money. We can profit in many ways. When we receive honor we are profitting; when we are blessed with a relationship that adds value to our life, we are profitting; when we have a community that supports us, we are profitable. Expand the word profit from money to anything that adds value to your life.

I was reading 1 Samuel 1:4-5 this morning, “On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb.” As I read it the words “He gave a double portion, because he loved her…” jumped off the page at me. When we love someone or something, our natural response is to give to them. We were created to respond when we love. You don’t have to tell a lover to be a giver, it is a natural response to those who love.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world…He gave….” God’s natural response to loving the world was to give His best gift, His son, to the world. He gave Jesus because He loved the world and that love profited God, for you and I are the value added people God has received from His giving out of love.

Pay attention to what you love, for what you love you will give to. When you give because you love, no one will have to ask you to give, tell you to give, convince you to give, for when you love, giving comes naturally. If we would stop giving out of obligation to places or people we feel like we are supposed to give to or have to give to and started giving to people and places we love, we would find ourselves profitting and all lack will leave us. Love gives and it gives double because giving is the natural response of love.

1 John 4 tells us to test the spirits. We test the spirits by knowing what spirit is upon someone when they are speaking to us. Most people find it easier to test the spirits upon someone else, but what if our first call was to test the spirit upon us? Have you ever asked yourself what spirit am I of? This can be a challenging question, because if we were honest with ourselves we might not want to hear the truth from ourselves about ourselves.

Jesus said in Luke 4:18-19 ““The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Jesus knew what spirit He was of, what spirit was upon Him and He declared in right here with absolute confidence. Then Luke reitterated this truth in Acts 10:38 when he said “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”

Now with this is what it looks and sounds like when the spirit of the Lord is upon you, so what spirit are you of? Are you preaching good news or doom and gloom? Are you manifesting freedom or bondage? Are you seeing this as a year of God’s favor or the devil’s playground? The spirit of religion preaches bad news, the spirit of the Lord preaches good news; the spirit of the world preaches Burger King news (have it your way), the spirit of the kingdom of God preaches die to yourself and live for others. What spirit are you of?

The church is funny, why are we good new averse? We hear good news but don’t believe it, for our reality is not always manifesting good news. We need the spirit of the Lord upon us, in us and coming through us and we must stop resisting the good news. For the world and religion are not preaching good news, but we are if we are of the spirit of God, not the spirit of the world or the spirit of religion. What spirit are you of? If you don’t Iike your answer, switch over to the spirit of the Lord, for it is a preacher of good news. There is a huge harvest ready but we need people who are preachers of good news to bring it in.

From Genesis to Revelation the Bible is very clear that the earth is the Lords and the fullness there of. The Lord has been and continues to purge evil from the earth not the righteous. From the days of Noah when the wicked were swept away in the flood of Genesis 7 and the righteous man Noah was left behind with his family in Genesis 8, to Solomon who says over and over again in the Proverbs that the wicked will be removed and the people will rejoice to Jesus in Matthew 24 saying, it will be in the days of the son of man just like it was in the days of Noah. Yes even Jesus knew the wicked were being removed and the righteous were remaining. It is well documented scripturally, so why do we believe we are being raptured out of here?

The reason is because there is a deep state in the church that has lied to us in order to control us and they have been very successful. They have amplified their voices in order to create a narrative that held the people of God in bondage to a narrative that never invited us to be overcomers, more than conquerors, free to follow Jesus. Their narrative was control, coercion and compromise so we never really became victorious. For they know better than we do that the victory of the righteous is the defeat of the wicked.

But God….

God has said and people have caught on and began declaring it for years now that Babylon is falling. Babylon is a system of control, which has an underbelly of nefarious activity in every mountain of society including the church. Well, God has decicided it is time for another flood to clean out the earth realm. This is not a flood of water, it is a flood of exposure that will lead to justice. Many are literally fleeing the country, others are singing like a bird, and still others are obstinate like Pharoah was and will be drowned in the Red Sea.

Friends we are watching Babylon fall in our generation. Everything we have known up to this point in so many areas are being purified in ways we did not even know they were wicked. Many things we will not be privy to informationally, but that is for our safety cognitively. We do not need national or international PTSD. But what a day to be alive, to see the fall of Babylon. Our kids will live in a world we never did and they will be free for righteousness is exalting the nations and Jesus is revealing He has been given the nations as His inheritance. Next we will learn how to occupy until He comes!!!!

The Biblical calendar carries with it instructions for each month, with names that prophecy, events that remind us of God’s faithfulness and numbers that we can study to learn what God is saying about this new month biblically. Zechariah 7:1 says, “In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev.” Today is a new moon, which means it is a new biblical month and it is the ninth month of the biblical calendar, the month of Kislev. Why is this important?

The Lord is showing me that we do not speak what we want to see in now time. The Jews are the most prosperous people on the planet and they are the covenant people of God. This is important to remember. However, according to John 15, we who believe in Yeshua are grafted into Israel and we too are now covenant people of God so can experience the covenant promises if we live a covenant life.

Part of this covenant life is knowing the biblical calendar which includes weekly Sabbaths, monthly new moons and three yearly feasts. This is called the cycle of blessing. Well today is the new moon or a new month, the month of Kislev and this is a month of multiplication and manifestion. We know it takes 9 months to give birth, this is the month where what has been planted in us manifests through us. There are 9 fruits of the spirit and Galatians is the 9th book of the New Testament. Fruit is a manifestation of the spirit of God in us.

On this first day of a new month, I blew my shofar 9 times and prophesied to this month of multiplication and manifestation. I have spent too many years speaking words of death, I am breaking cycles this month and prophesying seeds of life that will manifest and multiply in my life and I wanted to invite you to join me. It has been tried and true for the Jews, and I am done trying to reinvent the wheel, when my biblical heritage makes it clear what I am called to do and who I am called to be. I hope you join me for this month we prophesy, multiply and manifest!!!!

The phrase “Watch the Water” has taken on new significance for me this past four days in Florida. Growing up in MN where we had lakes made me appreciate water, but being in Florida as an adult has taught me to “Watch the Water”. Little did I know the water had so many things to say.

This morning, I awoke very early, the sun had not yet begun to rise, but once it did the sights that it revealed spoke things to me I had not thought of before. There is no wind this morning, not one wave even landing on the seashore, the calm is palatable on the gulf this morning. The sun rising behind me has cast a beautiful color scheme in front of me. The water is what has my attention this morning.

I look out and it is so calm I can see a pod of dolphins pursuing their morning feast, dipping above the water line so I can see their fin sticking out. Then the pelicans are nose diving in head first for their breakfast. As I watch these beautiful animals in their natural habitat the Holy Spirt begins to speak to me.

Seeing dolphins live by design in this large body of water makes me realize our stress as people, comes from being in unfamiliar places, we were never designed for. Some may call it greedy, but we were made for more. We are designed for freedom; we were created for abundance; we have bodies that long to rest not rush; and all the arificial supply is not satisfying us because we are not living by design.

Like dolphins doing tricks in a pool at the zoo, we are doing what we have been trained to do not what we are designed to do. We wonder why we can’t enjoy life; why we don’t know how to love God and love people; it is because we are performing in a pool at the zoo rather than operating by design in wide open spaces that are holy places. Watch the water, it has many lessons for us to learn. I may be coming home, but not to a pool, for my heart is staying in abundance of truth the gulf has taught me.