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Beliefs are a powerful tool in our hearts and minds. When what we believe is working to our advantage, we love our beliefs, but when those beliefs do not work to our advantage how quickly we dump them as not believable. Think of it in the realm of healing, we can say we believe in healing, but if we or someone we love doesn’t get healed we question whether or not God heals today. We will never say it out loud, but we question it in our hearts and minds.

Beliefs are established with evidence externally. Little to no external evidence erodes our belief about whatever subject we are believing. Is it any wonder the minute something we are believing for doesn’t happen the way we think it should, we question our belief about it.

Today is traditionally, on the church calendar, the day after Jesus rose from the dead. The Pharisees, the ones who believe in the resurrection from the dead, are the very ones who created a narrative to deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 27:62-64 says, “The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.”

The very people who believe in resurrection created a narrative that said “Jesus can’t be raised from the dead.” It never ceases to amaze me how we shift the narrative in order to benefit us in some way or the other. Church, this is religion at its best. Religion alters the truth to fit their narrative, rather than stepping into the narrative of God, even if it means they must pivot.

Matthew 28:12-13 continues after the verifiable resurrection from the dead saying, “And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.”

This is an example of paying people off to create a narrative for the masses to believe, but truth has a way of coming out, for Jesus is risen from the dead and no other narrative can change that reality. Truth is coming from heaven to earth in the form of a drill that is piercing our faulty narratives with truth that will set us free. Receive it or reject it, the truth will never cease to be the truth about Jesus or any other truth Jesus has spoken. He is risen!!!

Today is a day of erie silence in history. Imagine the man you thought was going to be the king of Israel who would conquer your oppressors and promised to set you free, just died last night. You saw his bloody, dead body being taken down from the cross on which he hung. You heard the words he spoke, “It is finished!” What was finished? Your hope of a future kingdom ruling and reigning with him on earth? Your friend, master and God? What exactly was finished.

Saturday was a hard hard hard day for those boys, those women, those people. So many questions, so few answers. So many words He spoke and now He is dead. They questioned everything they thought they knew about Him, because He is now dead, He declared it is finished and then was no more on earth with us. I call it Silent Saturday.

How many of us have had Silent Saturday’s in our life, when our expectations were not met; when our dreams did not come true; when our desires did not come to pass; when things took a turn in a direction we did not see coming? We all have silent Saturday’s where we question everything we thought we knew. It is a hard day to navigate. Job endured some Silent Saturday’s as he wrestled with God concerning how he went from abundance to cutting himself with clay pieces in the dust.

When we are in a silent Saturday season, it feels like it will never end. The thoughts that torment us seem so truthful in the moment. The earthquake that happens in our soul is loud and the gap it creates is real. Silent Saturday Seaons are painful, difficult and revealing on a very deep level. Don’t rush the Silent Saturday, don’t medicate the pain of it, don’t ignore the reality of it. Silent Saturdays are needed for they are where we recalibrate.

On this Silent Saturday, for the boys that walked with Jesus it was a rough day, so they went back to fishing. But little did they know the Silent Saturday was going to give way to Resurrection Sunday. If you are in a Silent Saturday season, fear not, be still, listen to what comes out of you, the Silent Saturday is detoxing what is not coming with you as you enter the season called Resurrection Sunday. I know it is a hard season, but what is finished is needed for abundant life in your next season.

Remembering history is crucial to knowing who we are, who we serve and what we have been given and who we are called to be. On this day in history, according to the church calendar, we remember the death of Jesus the Christ, the King of the Jews. We call it Good Friday, but how often to we recall what was so good about it. Let me share with you a few verses that remind us why this day in history was such a good day.

Matthew 27:50-55 “Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!””

1. No one killed Jesus, He yielded up His spirit, He gave Himself completely to His Father’s will, withholding nothing. What an example He is of obedience even unto death.
2. The curtain of the temple tore, which gave the Jews and Gentiles access to the Holy Place, which is why 1 Peter 2:9 says, we are kings and priests to our God. Now it is not just the Levites who are priests, but all of us.
3. The earth shook and the rocks split. This is a nod to the water that came from the rock, the provision of God in the wilderness and a reminder that He still provides for us in desert places.
4. The tombs were opened. Remember Lazarus in John 11, Jesus’ death reminds us that He is still calling us out of our tombs of unbelief, so we can live the abundant life.
5. The sleeping saints were awakened. Jesus is still waking up the sleeping church, the sleeping nations, the sleepers are waking up even now at a pace we don’t even understand.
6. Centurions (Romans, Gentiles and Jews) are seeing Jesus as the Messiah and declaring, Trully this was, this is and this will always be the Son of God.

These are just a few of the reasons why today in history we remember it was a really really Good Friday.

Church we need to be delivered from short term memory loss. We live in such a fast paced world, we do not stop, ponder, meditate on all that God does in just one day, so it literally goes in one ear and out the other. God is doing amazing things in our lives and in the lives of other people around us everyday, but when the winds of adversity blow, we start complaining, doubting and fearing the God who still does miracles.

The world has us on this roller coaster of emotions, so that if we hit a speed bump we feel like God has left us, does not love us and is not for us. This is not biblical faith, these are worldly emotions. Faith is solid, it is stable, it is consistent, it is trustworthy. In the world, we get tossed to and fro, thrown between this and that, whatever comes up we do it. We cancel commitments or see them as no longer important when something new and flashy or more fun comes up. We must stop this.

Our running to and fro is causing us to miss the goodness of God in everyday, so when the winds of adversity blow, we can lean on our history with God to stand in the midst of a storm, a breeze or even an invitation to self-indulge in anyway we like.

Reading Psalm 77 made me realize again, God must be remembered if we are going to prevail over culture that calls us to conform to its whims. We must remember the Lord. “I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. You with your arm redeemed your people.”

Make time to remember, write down what God does so you have a record of rememberance. Your memory is your history with God that keeps you walking on water when the wind begins to blow. He is faithful always. It is time to remember what He has done for He will do it again.

When you preach to humanity they can accept or reject the word of the Lord. Jesus said, the Pharisees rejected the plan of God for them and missed His visitation (Luke 7:30). We as people miss much of God wants to do in our lives because we reject the truth that can set us free. But creation does not reject the word of God. When creation hears the voice of God coming out of the sons and daughters of God it responds to the word of God gladly.

Creation knows God is good; creation knows God is a liberator; creation knows God wants to set it free from its bondage (Romans 8:22-24). Some people wonder why I blow the shofar; why I salt rivers; why I pour oil on the soil; and why I go to destination locations to make decrees. The reason is because the Lord spoke to me in 2015 and said, “I have enough people above ground but very few underground, will you go underground and heal the land with Me?” I gave a resounding yes and the Lord has shown me how to liberate the land.

A healed land is a healed people, then a healed people will speak life over the land and each other. Israel and the Jews understand the connection between people and the land, why do you think they fight so hard for their land? With all this said, “While I was in Dry Ridge, KY yesterday the Lord told me to put an arrow in the ground and decree the opening of the wells of healing for our nation. This city is known for its mineral springs that had healing properties.

I believe God wants to release the wells of healing in our land. Healing of so many issues that will set us free. I see healing springing up in city after city all over the world. Physical healings, emotional healings, national healings, gender healings, marriage healings, financial healings, church healings, it is going to be a healing spring in which when you dip in it you will be healed. I decree to the wells of healing in our nation, spring up oh well!!!!!

In America we call April 15th, “Tax Day”. A day people dread, a day people say we will have every year of our adult life. A day of remembering what we have had taken out of our work wages, but today is remembered differently in history.

On this 17th day of Nisan in 33AD, on this day, Jesus Christ was risen from the dead. Two women went to a gravesite only to find an empty tomb. They thought it was a day to mourn, little did they know it would be the first day of a new life.

I do not know what is dying in your life. I do not know what battles you are facing. I do not know what price you have paid, but what I do know is that on God’s calendar, today is resurrection day. Today is the day the stone was rolled away. Today is the day the linen wrappings were folded nicely in the tomb, but there was no body in there. Today is resurrection day.

Today may be a day when the enemy was to scream in your ear, “I am going to finish you.” But the truth is, today was the day he was defeated once and for all. Today, marks the day of dead things coming out of their graves and being fully alive.

Matthew 27 says, “The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.” Today is a tomb shaking, tomb breaking, tomb opening day.

I know it has been a long three days, I know dreams died, I know hope has waned, I know disappointment fatigue has set in, but friends, today is resurrection day, the day in history when Jesus Christ the savior of the world, rose from the dead and we are alive just as He is alive. Wave good bye to that tomb, everything is coming alive right now, on this resurrection rememberance day. He walked out of the tomb and so can we. Get up, He is calling you, we got things to do. Let’s go!!!!!

I keep hearing the Holy Spirit say the next move of God is going to be…

EVERYBODY

EVERYWHERE

EVERYDAY

This is not going to be a church revival.
This is not going to be a national awakening.
This is not gonna be anything we’ve ever seen before.

We are about to experience a visitation of the likes that Noah experienced when he got out of the ARK; that Abraham experienced with the ram in the thicket; that Israel experienced in the crossing of the Red Sea; that Daniel experienced in the lion’s den; that Esther experienced in going before the king and having the golden scepter extended; that Elijah experienced on Mount Carmel; that Elizabeth experienced when Mary entered the room and John lept in her womb; that Peter experienced when he walked on water; that John experienced on the Isle of Patmos. We are about to have a holy visitation.

This holy visitation is going to demand everyone everywhere, every day be unlocked with the gifts inside of them, and the presence of God in them being activated, so you can lay hands on the sick and watch them recover; so you can speak truth to power and they bow their knee to Jesus; so you can declare peace in the midst of chaos and it responds immediately; and if you need something financially, you will find a coin in the mouth of a fish.

This holy visitation is gonna unlock believers in Jesus Christ to finally do the work of the Ministry and the joy is gonna be so comfortable. It’s gonna spread out into the streets and people are gonna grab you and say, tell me who is your God. Ready or not here it comes a holy visitation of biblical proportion.

Have you ever felt like people who do nefarious things always have enough or more than enough money, opportunity, authority? Have you ever tried to understand, why the word of God says those who pursue wisdom will prosper, but the wise don’t seem to be leading the way, the wicked are?

I love how real and raw the Bible is. It is does not cover up people’s mistakes, it does not tip toe around who people really are, it is not a politically correct book. It uses words like fool, wicked, evil, and that is describing people. It speaks of even Jesus calling the religious leaders a brood of vipers, white washed tombs and open graves. No mincing of words in the Bible that is for sure.

I was reading Psalm 73 this morning and the Psalmist is grappling with how the wicked can prosper when the Torah is so clear they are to be cursed not blessed. “Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.” This may be too raw of truth for you, but the Psalmist is pouring out his heart to God saying, I keep your word, they don’t but their blessed and I don’t understand.

I love how real we can be with God with our thoughts, our questions, our I just don’t understand God comments. But I also love how God answers. The Psalmist goes on to say, “But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.” God revealed His holiness in the sanctuary and it brought all those questions into context.

Friends, God is holy, He does not change. No matter what we see and how we perceive it, God has not changed. The wages of sin is still death, the gift of God is still eternal life and as we go into the sanctuary of God today, this is just one of the many reasons to thank God that He saved us. But remember, He does not delight in the death of anyone, so our job is to access glory and then go out and tell His story, because honestly, we were wicked once before and apart from Jesus we cannot be called righteous. I thank God!

As a pastor, counselor and friend, I hear a lot of people’s stories and many of them are heartbreaking. Listening to people is a needed art form in our world, for many people are suffering in silence and we don’t know it for they look so polished behind the pulpit; so professional in their suit and tie; so beautiful in their make up and cute outfit; so fresh in their youthful zeal. However the truth is, many people are struggling and they need people who will not just hear, but will give them a hand up.

Our culture has become one of counseling language which sounds right, but is not helping as much as we may think. Talk shows do group therapy sessions; Instagram has mini videos telling us how to set boundaries; churches have become life coaching sessions; and companies are doing trainings in diversity and community. But people are learning but not being transformed. We have a lot of knowledge but very little identifiable change.

The reason for this is because the word of God is the only thing that can transform us. Knowledge puffs up, but only love builds up. We have so much knowledge and so little love, which is why we are still hurting so badly. The word of God is a love letter not a theological thesis. For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son. Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth and the life. John 1:1 says, “The word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Jesus is the word, He is not a doctrine. He is love, He is alive, and He is the only one who can heal us internally and externally.

Friends, we have love available to us in the word of God. Open the love letter and read. The word of God is medicine, it heals you in ways nothing else can. It still transforms us from the inside out. It is still powerful; identifiable; and accessible. Jesus is the word, He is not a doctrine, He is a person and He wants a relationship with you. Stop chasing people’s ideas, thoughts and self-help narratives, read the truth and the truth will set you free. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. He is God and He is the best soul food.

Everyone is looking for their breakthrough. Many are waiting for the dam to break and the river to begin to flow freely. Much waiting has created a sense of hope deferred that has made the heart sick. Oh how time can be such an enemy for those who use the clock rather than the prophetic word as their barometer for what God is doing right now.

Prophetic words are like time capsules, the challenge is there is not date nor time stamp on them. This is because we are called to trust the giver of the word, not the timing of the word. The duration called time between the delivery of the prophetic word and the manifestation of the prophetic word is what reveals to us who we really are not who we think we are.

When the stock market is rising, when the marriage is thriving, when the kids are in alignment, when we are in our assignment, all is well and we believe we are trusting, loving, giving, serving and living our best life. But character is seen in the challenges of life as much as in the prosperity of life. For most people character is hard to see when someone is prospering and easy to identify when life is challenging.

The truth about our character is that it does not change no matter what season we are walking through. There are two women in the Old Testament, one is a widow of Zarephath found in 1 Kings 17 and the other is the wife of Manoah in Judges 13. Neither woman is named, but both exemplify incredible character. The widow was on literally her final loaf of bread before death, due to a famine, yet she believed the voice of Elijah as he prophesied to her if she baked him a cake first, the oil and flour would not run out until the famine lifted. The wife was barren, for how long we don’t know, but when the prophetic word came and declared she would bear a son, but she needed to not drink wine, nor eat anything unclean, she believed the prophetic word and did as she was instructed.

Two unnamed women, both in really hard situations, and both revealed stellar character through their obedience to the voice of God through the prophets they encountered. Friends, it’s not your name that will be remembered, but your character which is seen in your obedience to the voice of God no matter the circumstances you are facing. Who you are in character is more valuable than you realize. Make character a priority and you will not be moved in any season you find yourself in.