Hit It!!!

What we meditate on is what we find. Some call it the law of attraction, the Bible calls it sowing and reaping. We may not realize we are sowing negativity in ourselves, but when seeds of the negative get in us, those seeds produce a harvest through us.

Everyone has a past of hurts, trauma, and negative words spoken over them. No one is unique in this history, but the mystery is how we manifest what we have been through. I was listening to Johnny Enlow yesterday and he just returned from a conference of reformers in Europe and he said this, “Survivors identify with their trauma, restorers identify with their assignment.” The whole message is on Elijah Streams, it’s worth a listen.

I have been thinking about that all day long and then when a friend came over yesterday to do my hair, she pulled beauty out of me I did not know was there. She said, it has always been there you just needed someone to bring it out of you. Then when I sent the photo to a friend, she responded, Bee-YOOOO-tiful!!!!

Why does this matter? Because anyone can see the trauma of our history, can hear the stories of our pain, can listen to us share our troubles and many can see where we are still a hot mess. However, we need to surround ourselves with people who can see the beauty in us and pull it out of us. Our assignment as restorers of people is to see the beauty in others and bring it out.

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.”

I am so thankful I have friends who see past the fruit of the trauma and are pulling me into the beauty that has been hidden there all along. I see in the spirit a speedboat pulling people up and out like a water skier so they can enjoy the ride called life abundantly. I hear people telling the boat driver to “Hit It!” For they are ready to come out of their trauma and get into their assignment. Let’s go!!!!!

Oh How He Loves Us

Have you ever asked yourself, why do I, why do people, struggle to receive good news? Who programmed us to be bad news magnets, that can handle the worst, but don’t believe the best? We do this with people, with places, with situations, with prophesy, with even the word of God. If something bad is spoken of, we believe it is possible, but if something good is said, we are reluctant to lean into it. Why is this?

I do not know that there is one answer to fit such a big question for a Monday morning, but what I do know is that we have space for information that fits our internal infrastructure. If we are accustomed to abuse, negativity, bad reports, unanswered prayers, struggles, poverty, whatever it is, when we hear bad news it just reinforces what we have already experienced. But God wants to remind us of something today.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only begotten Son…” Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” So…what if I told you the word of the Lord for right now is Isaiah 62:11-12 “Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion, “Lo, your salvation comes; Behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.” And they will call them, “The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD”; And you will be called, “Sought out, a city not forsaken.”

Friends, the Lord is not waiting for you to get your act together, He is wanting you to realize you are His son, His daughter and He does not enjoy distance between us and Him. He says in Romans 2:4 “Can’t you see His kindness is intended to turn you from sin?” He is awakening us to His kindness, His goodness, His love for us. It is time to receive the good news, for He is pouring out His love so lavishly on us right now. All you have to do is believe the good news, lean into the nudge of His spirit and watch the shame wash off you in an instant. I hear the song, Oh, how He loves us!

In Hot Pursuit

Is anyone familiar with being hotly pursued by enemy voices, enemy circumstances, enemy diagnosis’s? You name the enemy, are you familiar with how it feels like they are in hot pursuit of you daily, weekly, monthly or even yearly? Most people are very familiar with the patterns of the enemy as we feel surrounded by them in a variety of ways.

I was praying Psalm 23 this morning and the Lord spoke to me and said, “I am reversing the roles of who pursues my people from this day on.” I literally heard the words, “Reverse the curse!” The curse of being pursued by the enemy is being reversed to be pursued by the goodness and mercy of God.

Psalm 23:6 says, “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” I paused to look up the word follow. Follow means, “pursue, chase, hunt down, harass.” It’s the Hebrew word radaph.

We have experienced being negatively pursued by voices, memories, words, experiences, reports, etc. but the Holy Spirit said, “Today, I am reversing the curse.” We are now being pursued hotly, chased, hunted down by goodness and lovingkindness.

We are so familiar with being chased by negative enemies, we have learned to stay one step ahead of them in order to not be completely consumed by them. Now we need to let ourselves be caught by the pursuer, because goodness is trying to catch us, lovingkindness is trying to hunt us down. It’s time to be caught by the Lord who is in hot pursuit of us.

The Signs Of Awakening

For multiple days I have been lingering in 1 Samuel 17. When a story is familiar, I want to slow down and mine the truths that get missed in the cursory glance because the story is so well known. The Holy Spirit has been hovering over this chapter for days now with me and today another revelation has arisen from this childhood to adulthood story.

The army of Israel went from shouting to standby as David came on the scene with a sling and a stone. The Philistine has fallen face down, not by a sword, but by one smooth stone and one simple sling. David now runs over to the giant who is laying on the ground and secures the victory. Now that the victory is secure and the enemy has been defeated, an army awakens.

The Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, the American army is arising, the armies of nations are standing up. People are going to see a dead, defeated enemy and when they do, dry bones will come alive (Ezekiel 37). An army of people who were once timid, shy, shouting but not pursuing are about to see evidence of the enemies defeat and when they do they will arise, pursue and recover all.

1 Samuel 17 says, “The men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines as far as the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. The sons of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines and plundered their camps.”

The awakening has begun, for the giant has a David who is in the valley, the army is watching. Watching is the first sign of an awakening. But when the army sees the enemy get his head cut off, his voice removed, his narrative killed, the army will arise. Arising is the second sign of an awakening. After arising, the enemy will flee and the army of nations will pursue and plunder. Pursuing and plundering is the third sign of the awakening.

Can you see the signs of the awakening in action in your nation? Friends, we are in the middle of another awakening and we are about to see 1 Samuel 30:8 “And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.”

How To Win the Words War

If you have never been in the promised land you may not know how to fight the giants in the land. Promised land giants are very different than wilderness wandering or even Egyptian slavery, but the ways of God are the same.

Yahweh used blood on the doorposts to get Israel out of Egypt. Yahweh used manna from heaven and water from a rock to sustain Israel in the desert. These two ways of God were to be remembered as they came into the promised land. If they forget this, they will not be able to deal with the giants in this new land.

Jericho was the first promised land battle they fought and they won it by marching around a wall and blowing a shofar. David encountered a giant named Goliath and he used a sling and a smooth stone to defeat the giant. 1 Samuel 17 even says, “David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand.” No sword in his hand, remember this.

Proverbs 21:31 says, “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.” While 1 Samuel 17:47 says, “All this assembly will know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hand.” It is pretty clear how we are to fight.

Finally, Zechariah 4:6 says, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbable (governor of the city): Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit says the Lord of hosts.” We are in a spiritual battle and the church is called to use spiritual weapons to fight. Paul said, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God.”

Friends, we may face different enemies, but the way we fight does not change. Put your sword down and ascend into the spirit in prayer, remember a decree does more than a discussion if we let the Lord fight the battle for us. Our sword is our tongue that we use to defend ourselves, lay it down and pick it up praise and pray, do not defend yourself. I promise the Lord knows how to win word wars.

Help Is Here

1 Samuel 17 has a story that has been preached, taught, acted out on so many stages from flannel boards to platforms. It is the story about David and Goliath. Everybody loves to read about a hero, who defeats an enemy, but how many people rightly estimate who they are in this story?

It says, “Saul and the men of Israel gathered, camped and drew up battle array to encounter the Philistines.” This is what the church does every week all over the world. We gather, we camp and we draw up battle array ready to encounter the enemy. However, just like Israel, if we can be shook by a sound, the question is how will we be able to take ground?

We know the story, Goliath comes out, looking all intimidating with bronze from head to toe, but what he said is what greatly terrified them. “I defy the ranks of Israel this day, give me a man that we may fight together.” Israel was shaken by the sound of his voice as it says, “When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.”

Many people are living afraid of voices they are hearing. They are being shook by a sound, that is why they cannot take ground. This is not new news, but what is also happening is when someone does not get moved by the sound, rather is there to help the team take ground, those who are fearful attack the ones who are not afraid.

David said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that should taunt the armies of the living God?” David was on team Israel, team Saul, but he was not afraid. David’s courage exposed his older brothers who were afraid.

Friends, people are arising who are not afraid, they are on our team, they are not coming to shame us or expose our fear, but to eradicate the Goliath that keeps drawing near. We must stop attacking each other, because when Goliath falls, the whole army rushes in and takes ground together. Guard your heart, so you don’t speak against those who are coming with a different spirit than you have been around, they are for you and not against you. They see Goliath for who he is and they are not spooked by his sound, they are there to help us all take ground.

Government Invasion

While in prayer this morning, this is what I heard…”The government of God is invading the government of earth to create a structure that cannot be shaken, subdued or stolen.” Immediately I knew God was saying it is Matthew 16:18 time.

The kingdom of God is a government, it is simplistic in nature and powerful in expression. This government is altar driven, we will be invited to lay down everything that so easily entangles in order to operate by design. Confusion, complexities, contentions none of this is getting past the gate that opens into the kingdom reality. Perversion is not permitted nor permissible in His kingdom. All must be laid on the altar.

The altar is like having your bags checked before you go into a concert or before you can enter the gates in an airport. There are things that are not allowed past certain points and this is where we are right now in the spirit. People who want to keep certain things will not be allowed to enter into the kingdom of God, for the kingdom is such a safe place, we must have the innocence of children to enter.

The invasion is for our benefit not our demise. The kingdom is coming down per Matthew 6, we are not going up as many have taught. It is an on earth as it is in heaven government takeover that we are witnessing right now. Righteousness is exalting nations. Healing is flowing like rivers. Mercy is triumphing over judgment. Mourning is turning into joy. Welcome to the gate of the kingdom of God, where the government of God is established and being built for such a time as this.

Source Of Safety

The desire to feel safe is a human need placed in us by the Lord Himself who created us. Our need to feel safe does not change the older we get, but how we find safety does. When we were children we found safety in our father or mother’s arms. In our teenage years we found safety in our friendships. In our young adult years we found safety in a spouse or close intimate friends. In our adult years we find safety in our money.

It should not surprise us that both relationships and money are the two places we find safety, because everyone looks for safety in these two places. The challenge is neither of these two places are the source of our safety, henceforth why so many people struggle to trust other people. Relationships that were supposed to be safe proved not to be. When money wains we feel insecure. All because we put our trust in that which is not the source of safety.

Proverbs 18 says, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe. A rich man’s wealth is his strong city, And like a high wall in his own imagination.” Matthew 6 says, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

The source of our safety must be the name of the Lord. Yeshua, Yahweh, Jesus, Father, Holy Spirit, His name is the only source of safety that will never be shaken. When we are anchored in this as our safe place, then He will give us safe relationships and safe finances. Most people are shaken because their safety source is in something other than the name of the Lord.

Tuck this truth away, because we have entered into justice and justice has drawn a line in the sand. Some are graduating and being deployed, while others are going to be trained by fire in this next season. Everyone is redeemable but not everyone made the same choices in the last season. The goal is always to bring us to the source of safety, the name of the Lord.

Air Warfare

The devil is a defeated foe, but the seeds of his influence are still growing in the hearts of those who listen to his voice. It is no wonder Paul said, our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against powers, rulers principalities in the heavenly realms (Eph. 6). It is a words war we are in.

Trying to fight a battle in the flesh or in your own strenght will not profit you anything, but it will cause you more problems. Everyone of us is susceptible to wanting to engage in a flesh battle, but this battle is not fleshly, it is spiritual. Paul said, “And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:13-14)

What if the natural has been prophesying to us what we are invited to do in the spiritual? What if the creation of Space Force was a reminder that we are to do air warfare? If you have tried to war in the flesh to no avail, you are in a battle that is spiritual not natural. You must do air warfare and it takes a different approach and posture.

There is a story about Jonathan, Saul’s son, defeating the Philistines, by going after them on his hands and knees. Not exactly the posture of a warrior fighting in the flesh. 1 Samuel 14:13 says “Jonathan said to his armor bearer, Come up after me, for the LORD has given them into the hands of Israel. Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor bearer behind him; and they fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer.”

Air warfare is where we fight not with power, not with might, but with the spirit of God (Zechariah 4:16). God is winning battles everyday, because air warfare is happening. Come up higher, you will find a decree does more than a discussion.