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Giving our life to Jesus is not a prayer we pray and then go back to doing our own thing, it is a surrendering of our whole life, so we can now live for someone else. I had a vision many years ago, of an altar filled with gold rings sitting on it. The person who gave the altar call didn’t invite people to say a prayer but to enter into a covenant relationship with the living God. It was an altar for a wedding, where people agreed to forsake all others in order to follow this man Jesus. I will never forget that vision and one day I believe it will be not a vision but an actual altar call that is done. As the few people who agreed to the terms of the covenant came forward they were given a rain to signify the covenant between them and the Lord. They went from living as a single person who made their own decisions to being a married person in the spirit who now submitted their whole life to take on His name, to live by His covenant standard and to live with Him as He lived in them.

I was reminded of this vision this morning as I read in Amos 2:4 where it speaks to the people of God saying, “Thus says the LORD, For three transgressions of Judah and for four I will not revoke its punishment, Because they rejected the law of the LORD And have not kept His statutes; Their lies also have led them astray, Those after which their fathers walked.” When we agree to walk with Jesus, we agree to do what He says. The issue with Christianity is we want to live our own life but say we are believers. I hear the voice of God crying out asking, do you agree with My word? Do you do what I say? Do you really want to be in a relationship with Me? I want to do life with you, but do you want to do life with Me?

Amos 3:3 says, “Do two walk together unless they agree to do so?” I hear the Lord asking us to agree with Him on earth for what He has spoken to us from heaven. He is looking for people to walk with, but to walk with Him you must agree with Him, not only on what you think is right, but on all He says, for He is God and we are not. Today is a great day to renew your yes, establish your agreement and come back to that altar not to say a prayer but to accept a ring, that says I want to do life with you, I want to agree with you. There is no greater honor than being invited to walk with God while we live on earth. Happy wedding day friends!

It has been prophesied there is a change of leadership coming in many spheres of influence. When you have been under harsh leaders, oppressive leaders, or even task master leaders, a leadership change is desired, but until it happens, it can be hard to believe. Not only is it hard to believe, but when a new leadership is established it takes time to adjust to. The Lord has made us so adaptable that we literally conform to what we are placed in or under. Have you ever lived in a small house, drove a small car or went to a small church and became so adapted to it when you moved into a bigger house, bought a bigger car of went to a bigger church it took you some time to adjust to it. But once adjusted you were fine. This is the beauty of the way the Lord made us, we are very adaptable.

With this leadership change will come the need to adapt, for we are moving out of harsh, task master oppressive leadership in many areas of society to a new leadership style. There will be a time of transition so we can adapt to the new, for it may in many ways be too good to be true, but that is because it is new. You will adapt, you will thrive, you will adjust. But here is what I see coming and what we are going to have to adapt to. It is found in 2 Kings 25:29 “Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and had his meals in the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life; and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.” We are moving from prison to presence and it will take adjustment of environment and a change of clothes.

The prison clothes of sin, sickness and oppression will be changed with robes of righteousness garments of praise, and sandals of the gospel fo peace. We will have to learn how to eat in the presence of the King of kings, how to dine with royalty and live in abundance. The prison doors are opening, the earth is shaking us free, it is going to change how we see. Everything is going to change, but don’t worry God made you with the ability to adapt.

The war we are in is not one of flying bullets, barreling tanks, or invading armies in combat boots, but it is no less a war than a physical war and may even be a more dangerous war for it is a war of words. This war of words is no respecter of gender, age or socioeconomic status. Jesus said, the devil is a liar and has been a liar from the beginning, Jesus even called him the father of lies. When Jesus encountered the war head on with Satan in Luke 4 it was a war of words, where Satan invited Jesus to bow down to him and then offered him the whole world. Jesus won the war of words with the enemy when He was living on earth and we must do the same. This is not a war someone else can win for you, this is a war others can support you in but you must win this one yourself.

In 2 Kings 18 this was on full display, when an enemy by the name Rabshakeh came and sought to intimidate God’s people with words, listen to what this enemy says, “Do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’”

When winnning a war of words you must realize the facts Rabshekah was sharing, it was true none of the other “gods” had defeated the “gods” of Assyria, but what Rabshekah didn’t know and what we must know is that Yahweh is not just one of the other “gods” He is the Creator of heaven and earth; He is the King of kings; He is the great I AM; He is Commander of angel armies; He is GOD alone! So, there is no competition for Him. When the “gods” of the nations fight Rabshakeh, he was winning, but he had never gone to war with YAHWEH, so his words were true, but they had not been tested with the God of Israel, who never loses a war He engages in. My friends, win the war against the intimidator by getting to know the God of all Creation. There is no comparison, Yahweh always wins, that is why we can trust Him.

I did not get married until I was 37 and I did not have my first and only child until I was 38, so it took me a while to learn some lessons that can only come once you have children, unless you are a teacher. One of the lessons I learned, is how important it is to me that my son obeys my voice. When He was much younger his obedience was for his safety. I would tell him not to touch this or not to go over there, not because I was keeping something from him, but because I was protecting him from something that would harm him. Then the older he got, the more he learned to not do those things, so now obeying my voice was not as much for physical concerns, but emotional for him or for someone else.

My son is 15 now and we have talks about what I expect and want from him as it pertains to his education, playing his piano, or dating. I have stopped saying don’t touch the stove because it is hot to now saying, this is how we treat a woman and why it is important. I am expecting him to obey me not because I want to be right, but because I don’t want him to hurt someone else and I am praying her parents are doing the same so she does not hurt my son. I know he will do things to disobey me, and those choices will hurt him because my desire for him to obey me is not to control him but to lead him into a successful life as a man, a husband and one day a father.

If I am this passionate about this subject of obedience it is because God is even more passionate about the subject than I am. 2 Kings 18:11-12 says, “Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed His covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.” Many adults are living in exile because they do not obey the voice of God. Exile can be financial, spiritual, emotional, and even physical, all because we do not obey what God commands us. It may be a hard pill to swallow, but no matter our age, we will always be children of God and He expects us to obey Him because He loves us and wants to protect us from exile. Obedience is the the key to the abundant life.

Do you ever find yourself asking for forgiveness for the same thing over and over again? I asked my son for forgiveness yesterday for something I did, and this morning, the Lord revealed to me I ask him for forgiveness for this same thing over and over again. It is not that I am not forgiven by him or by God, but what I wanted to know is why is that same reaction coming out of me year after year, week after week, so that I am having to ask for forgiveness over and over again. Can you relate?

While I was out walking the dog this morning, the Lord and I were discussing this and what He showed me I want to share with you. 1 John 1:8-9 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” There is a three step process here and I was missing the third step.

First we must acknowledge our sin, many people hurt others with their reactions, their words, their whatever and do not see it is as sin so move on and the person is left in their room crying alone from what we did. Thank God for people that share with us when what we said hurt them, but for those that don’t we need to be more self-aware to see when we are hurting someone else, for this is sin. Secondly, we must confess our sin. You can’t or won’t confess what you do not think you did wrong, even when confronted by someone, who had great courage to share you hurt them. Confession is more often specific than it is general. Thirdly, we need to be cleansed from ALL unrighteousness. This is the step I needed. Unrighteousness is anything that is out of alignment.

I saw what I did and was doing, I confessed, but I wanted to not do it again, and the Lord said, “You need to be cleansed from all unrighteousness.” I agreed and asked for the Lord to cleanse me from all unrighteousness; set me free from anything in me that is out alignment for my reaction is not right and I need God’s help to fix it. Oh the freedom of acknowledging sin, confessing sin and being cleansed from all unrighteousness. We need all three to truly be free. This helped me so much and I hope it helps you.

History is not a subject many people enjoy, but history is where we find the mystery of our current reality. I sense the Lord saying to us, “Remember history.” There is National history, International history; and there is Biblical history. Honestly, the Bible is a history book, that is alive, so it not only shares history, it actually speaks in current reality. When the God of the Bible is the was and is and is to come God, the great I AM, it has the power to speak about what was, what is and what will be. Just another reason why reading the Bible is so relevant for today and everyday. I believe we are to remember all history, but I am going to highlight some Biblical history for just a minute because I believe we need to remember it for the days in front of us.

Remember how God released 10 plagues through Moses on Egypt, where Israel lived, in order to rescue Israel from the hand of Pharoh through the Red Sea crossing.

Remember Noah spent years building a boat in plain sight, then entered that boat while people were watching, but the people were more concerned about eating and drinking so didn’t care what Noah was doing. Remember how God started over with Noah in Genesis 8.

Remember Ezekiel 37 said, “I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.” Did you know to rattle means earthquake, shaking, commotion, trembling? Remember the shaking made an army.

Remember Jesus spoke a parable about 10 virgins, calling 5 wise and 5 foolish? (Matthew 25)

My friends, remembering is not for the sake of knowledge, it is for the sake of knowing the times in which we live. We need history in order to understand current reality and mystery. We need to remember the stories, so we can see, hear and respond to the voice of God. If you don’t have your own history with God then it is important to remember other people’s history with God. History builds trust and trust is what we need as we go through a major worldwide deliverance of the likes we have never gone through before. The rattling is for the making of an army; the plagues were for the deliverance of a nation; the building was for the dry land; the oil was so they were ready to enter in. Remember!

“THE FAMINE IS OVER!” The Lord says, the famine is over. I can hear people saying, what famine? This was not a financial famine, this was not a food famine, we have been in a famine of hearing the word of God. Amos 8:11-12 says, “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD. People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it.” There has been a famine in the nations of the unadulterated word of God. There has been a famine for more years than we realize of gospel of the kingdom. There has been a famine of the truth that can set us free, but the Lord says, “The famine is over!”

Preachers of righteousness will be heard; prophets with the word of the Lord will be heard; songs and sounds from heaven will be heard; teachings about the kingdom of God will be heard; truth that will set you free will be heard; the famine is over. Many will not be shouting amen, because they are going to hear things they had never heard before. A new wave of awe that makes you wonder is about to be heard in the church, at conferences, in boardrooms, classrooms, and in stadiums. The same old message you have always heard was elementary and God has graduated us all to a new grade level, so the learning is commencing. We want our kids to continue to learn, but somewhere along the line we stopped, but God says, the famine is over and the learning has returned.

The famine has been long, it has been arduous and it has caused many issues in the body of Christ. The Bride of Christ is seriously malnourished, unproductive and lacking authority, but the famine is over. Strength is about to be restored, vitality is returning, and passion for God will be seen and heard. The famine is over! Food is being served in abundance, I see the waiters coming out of the kitchen of God even now with hot, fresh food for those who have been famished from a lack of meat to eat. THE FAMINE IS OVER!!!

No one likes to be lied to. When someone finds out they have been lied to it is a betrayal of the likes that takes time, forgiveness and more time to get over. Now on the flip side, many people can’t handle the truth, don’t want to hear the truth, or do not even believe the truth when they do hear it, but truth has a way of revealing itself as truth, but it must be spoken. If your have to err to one side or the other, I suggest erring on the side of speaking the truth, for if or when they find out you lied to them, it is going to be perceived as betrayal, for they would have rather you told them the truth and they rejected it, than you lying to them.

Life has a way of swinging the pendulum, we went from hell fire and brimstone preaching to tolerance of the likes you cannot even call it the Bible things people say to justify behavior. But neither swing of this pendulum is Biblical. We are not called to beat people with the Truth, we are not instructed to push so much fear they say a prayer, but we are also not told to ignore the Truth in order to not hurt their feelings. We must be people that Solomon speaks of in Proverbs 3:3-4 “Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute In the sight of God and man.”

When I wasn’t saved, I heard the Truth, but was not ready to change my life to conform to it. Sin had me in so much slavery, I could not even comprehend the freedom I was being presented with, so I rejected it. But once I was able to say yes to the Truth and follow the Lord, I remembered those people who tried to share with me and I rejected them and I thanked them for sharing truth with me even when I couldn’t hear it. We must be people who are kind, yes, but also speak the truth, for Solomon says this is how we find favor in the sight of God and man. We must be Truth speakers, for if we aren’t they will feel betrayed that we lied to them, when we knew the Truth and didn’t speak it.

My friends, my friends, oh my goodness, the Lord is so good. I was reading Proverbs 1 this morning and the Holy Spirit said, “What if the unlocking of the word of God is the master key to unlocking every other mystery?” When God asks you a question you do not act like you know the answer, you join all the other prophets in scripture and say, “Only you know Lord!” As I sat there, the Lord showed me that the word of God is the master key to unlocking every other mystery. With this truth, it is no wonder the enemy gives us a desire to study everything but the word of God, but what we don’t realize is that all the “comms” and “symbolism” was all learned by God. My mind is exploding as I type.

Let me unpack this thought for a minute then let me know what you think. Proverbs 1 says, “A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Many of us are in the dark about so many things because many things amongst the “elite” are spoken in riddles, so the average person cannot understand them. Then when someone is on their trail, they call you a conspiracy theorist so people think you are crazy. Truly prophetic people who hear the voice of God speaking about something that has not happened yet, get looked at funny too, like where did you get that from.

The fear of the Lord is needed because we cannot be operating in the “sin” they do to obtain their knowledge, so we must have clean hands and a pure heart, if we want “To understand a proverb and a figure. The words of the wise and their riddles.” Purity gives you access to mystery, henceforth, the enemies goal to keep you living in “sin”. Purity gives you clarity of sight, clarity of thought, and discernment. This is huge, when we make the word of God our subject of choice and highest priority, we actually receive the master key to unlock all other mysteries. No wonder Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and ALL these things would be ADDED unto you.”

My son took piano lessons for many years and the first tool we were told to buy when he started lessons was a metronome. A metronome was set at different paces depending on the tempo of the song he was practicing. The metronome is a clicking sound that would align my sons tempo with the tempo of the metronome. Some of his practice included a faster pace, while others included a slower pace. Both paces were challenging to him during practice time, for he either was not able to maintain the faster pace due to finger flexibility or knowledge of the keys; or he was not enjoying the slower pace because he considered it boring. But that metronome taught him how to play a variety of songs, so whatever tempo the song demanded, he was able to be in time with the tempo of the song, because he was trained with the metronome in practice.

The Lord reminded me of this metronome today, for the Lord does not have one speed at which He operates, but He does have one song He is playing and He is wanting us all as His body to be singing the same song. Unity in the body of Christ is only possible if we all know what song God is playing at any given time. We must know the tempo of the song and the key it is being played in for us all to be playing or singing the same song. Some of us are playing an instrument, some of us are singing along, but all of us need to be on the same song at the same time at the same tempo and in same key if we want to hear the song of heaven for earth right now.

For this dream of God to be a reality in His body, we must quit wanting to live by the beat of own drum. This is hardest for Americans because we value individualism over corporate. The kingdom of God is not invidualistic it is a kingdom, that has a king. I would love to hear even one church singing the same song of heaven, one city, one state, one nation, but it starts with one family singing the same song of heaven. The enemy loves to tell us we can do our own thing and be successful, but the kingdom says, it is a we thing not a me thing if we are going to be successful in the kingdom.

Individually we need to die to ourself, so we can live in this kingdom. We must know what time it is in the spirit and what song is being sung. Solomon said, “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—“. The church is living in so many different time zones, it is no wonder unity is hard for us. But I believe God is teaching us kingdom and one of the classes we are going to take is called Kingdom Time. Get ready to learn how to work with the metronome of heaven, it is a required tool for the class we are about to take. God is setting our pace, so we can all sing the same song, at the same tempo and when He does this the sound that comes out of the body of Christ is going to bless the nations.