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Fence sitters cannot see a demarcation between the righteous and the wicked. The reason being, as they sit on the fence they see the benefits of both people. Fence sitters desire the wealth of the wicked and the future of the righteous. When you straddle the fence it can feel like you are experiencing the best of both worlds, the challenge is they are actually not experiencing either world.

Elijah climbed a mountain called Carmel, built an altar to Yahweh, prepared it and then called the prophets of Baal to build an altar to Molech/Chemosh or whatever god they chose and the prepared their altar as well. One was an altar to a righteous God, the other other was an altar to an idol or demon god. Elijah had made his decision as to who he was, the prophets of Baal and Jezebel had made their decision as to who they were, but the nation of Israel could not decide which God/god they wanted to serve. Elijah said it this way, “How long will you waver between two opinions, if Yahweh is God serve Him; if Baal is god, serve him.” (1 Kings 18)

We are living in a culture in which fence sitting seems to be desirable to many. The challenge is, those who are wavering in the valley of decision as to who is God/god only see the benefits of both sides, they do not see the destruction that is taking place in our nations as the wicked are destroying the foundations. Psalm 11 says, “If the foundations are destroyed,

What can the righteous do?” Foundations in Hebrew is stay of society, political or moral support. Destroyed in Hebrew is to throw down, overthrow, tear down, ruin. The wicked are after the foundations of the nations for if they can destroy the foundation, they can destroy the nation.

The wicked are on a mission of destruction but fence sitters cannot see it. Until those who have called on the name of Jesus, get off the fence and take a stand for righteousness, the wicked will prevail and there will be a showdown shaking to get the fence sitters to pick a side. This is not a battle in which you don’t have to choose. You must choose this day whom you will serve!

In September 1999 I stepped foot in a little country church in Smithton, MO a town of 532 people. I was a big city girl, who had a bible school degree and was working as a full time youth pastor in Seattle, WA. I was a tongue talking, hand raising, bible believing youth group growing believer. In my Lutheran Church I was considered radical, charismatic, and to some of those choir robe wearing friends of mine, probably a little bit crazy. So, when I walked into that little country church, I thought I knew all about God. Little did I know, how little I actually knew. I walked through that door with a big spiritual attitude, minutes into that first service I realized, these people knew something about God I did not know.

I saw things in that building I had never seen before, I heard things from that preacher I had never heard before and I, honestly, was afraid of God’s power that I witnessed in that place. It wasn’t scary like I was going to get hurt, it was scary like, there is a power greater than me that I did not know existed until that day in September 1999. I went home that night shaking on the inside. I was there for the weekend to attend a pastors and leaders conference, but this youth pastor was not returning to that place ever again, at least that is what I said. The next morning, I was in line with the other hundreds of people waiting to get inside, but the day sessions were not as scary to me, so the Lord was gracious to me. But Friday night was power like I had never seen before, heard before, experienced before and though I still had the fear of the Lord, I no longer resisted it, now I wanted it.

I tell you that story because we think we know God more than we really do. We as humans have a tendency in our short term earth existence to think we are so powerful, but when we encounter the God of power it puts us and all who think they know so much in place. The fear of the Lord is a good thing, for it reminds us that we are not God, there is only one God, one Way, one Truth, one Life, one King of kings, one Messiah and when He arises, we will all fall down. Our world and church is in need of an arising God and a falling down people.

My dear friend Carmen Howard has been on the theme of “WIND” as a word from the Lord for a while now. Because of her passionate pursuit of this word and what God is speaking to us through it, whenever I see the word wind, I pause and ask the Lord what is it you are saying about the wind to us? This morning, I was reading in James 1 and the word wind showed up and I immediately thought of Carmen, but it was way to early to call her and share some thoughts with her about this word. Therefore, I decided to write this mornings post with my thoughts on what the wind is saying in James 1.

James 1:5-6 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.”

Doubt drives us and tosses us with the wind. Immediately as I read this I realized if we feel driven or tossed to and fro by a wind, which can be words, circumstances, people’s expectations, etc. then the wind we are being driven and tossed by is not the wind of God. The wind of God doesn’t drive us or toss us, it lead us and guides us. Romans 8:14 says, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God;” and Galatians 5:16 says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” The wind of God does not drive us or toss us here and there, it leads us and guides us in the way we should go.

Two winds, both seeking to determine the direction our life takes. One wind drives us, tosses us and seeks to destroy us, the other wind, leads us, guides us and seeks to bless us abundantly with the fruit of the spirit. My friends, catch the wind of the Spirit of God and resist the wind of striving, It takes discernment to know what wind you are in, but the fruit of the wind will be obvious, for one produces the fruit of the flesh, the other produces the fruit of the Spirit. Thank you Carmen for loving the wind of God!!!

There is a song in my spirit, an anthem which rings inside of me, it is a clarion call from heaven, and announcement coming from the throne room. The message of the Lord is, “The kingdom of God is here! The kingdom of God is here!” It’s a song, a sound, a shout of praise, the kingdom of God is here, the kingdom of God is here. This is not a future coming event, this is a now time reality. It is a decree we will see. The kingdom of God is here, the kingdom of God is here. We will hear it, we will see it, we will know it to be true. The kingdom of God is here, the kingdom of God is here!

This message is singing, ringing in my spirit, it has such joy attached to it. As I was praying and hearing this inside of me, I got the sense from the Lord, the enemy has been cast down, the workers of iniquity have been captured and the lingering minions will flee as the church rises up in rejoicing at the revelation of the kingdom of God that is here. I saw in my spirit a time of great rejoicing of the likes we have never seen before. There were celebrations in the streets, music, singing, laughing, dancing, it was a all nations rejoicing in the kingdom of God that is here. The atmosphere was rich with praise.

I saw the church stand up, speak up, reach up in prayer and the Lord has answered, the enemy has been cast down from over our nation. The days of battle have ended and the days of rejoicing in the victory of the Lord are beginning. The joy will be unspeakable, the laughter will be audible, and the righteousness will be noticeable. Oh my friends, we are in a Psalm 5 moment, “Let all who take refuge in You be glad, Let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may exult in You. For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD, You surround him with favor as with a shield.” The kingdom of God is here!!!

The gospel of salvation is a message of the cross which invites sinners into the gate of salvation. This message is heard on the radio through songs that are sung, on stickers that declare God loves you, from pulpits all around the world. It is truly the greatest love story we have ever been told. This story of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for the salvation of my soul radically changed my life 34 years ago and is still changing my life today. The message of the cross is not a one sided message though, it is a message of what Jesus did for me, but it is also a message about how I am called to live for Him.

When only one side of a story is told, we do not get the whole picture, we do not experience all the benefits, we do not understand the why behind the what. The story of the cross has been told over and over again about all that Jesus did for us, but He did not do all that for us so we can just sit and reap all the benefits of His death, burial and resurrection. He did it so we could do something in return for Him. Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 5 what our responsibility is, Paul actually gives the whole picture of the cross. “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”

Jesus died for all, so that they (we) who live might no longer live for ourselves. The work on the cross that Jesus did is so that we will no longer live for ourselves. This message of the cross is not preached much at all, so we wonder why the power of the gospel does not manifest in our lives, it is highly possible, because we never stopped living for ourselves. Jesus modeled what it looks like to live for Yahweh even unto death, it was a model He set so we would live the same way. You can’t do what Jesus did if you don’t want to live how Jesus lived. The message of the cross is about living for someone other than yourself. Oh the liberty of living for another. Oh the freedom of living for God. Oh that we would hear and obey the message of the cross as a Church!

If you could take out one aspect of the enemy which one would you take out? Many would say they would take out the hand of the enemy; others would say they would take out the feet of the enemy; still others would want to take off the head of the enemy, like David did to Goliath. Before my prayer time this morning, I would have said one of the above three things as well, but God, who is all knowing, taught the psalmist in Psalm 3, to pray, “Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God! For You have smitten all my enemies on the cheek; You have shattered the teeth of the wicked.” Take out the enemies cheek and teeth? On first glance that doesn’t sound very powerful, but in true God fashion, He invites us to look again.

For God to smite the cheek of the enemy is not to slap him across the face, it is actually to break his jaw. Then for God to shatter the teeth of the enemy sounds like it makes him toothless, and many believers would say the enemy is a toothless lion, but it is so much more powerful than that. When the psalmist asked God to smite the cheek and shatter the teeth, the psalmist understood the greatest weapon of the enemy is his mouth. Selah! The weapon of the enemy used against us the most, is not his hand, not his foot, not his head, but his mouth. His voice utters lies, destruction, division, torment, you name it, the number one issue we deal with is the voice of the enemy. Everyone of us battles the voice of the enemy.

Therefore, to pray God smite the cheek of the enemy is to break the jaw of the enemy so he cannot open his mouth, and to shatter the teeth of the enemy is so the enemy cannot release sounds or cannot consume us with his mouth. Oh my friends, this is a powerful prayer not just for ourselves personally, but for our nation. We need God to arise and smite the cheek of the enemy in our families, media, businesses; shatter the teeth of the enemy in our schools, churches, government. God has a strategic strike against His enemy who is our enemy and it is to smite the cheek and shatter the teeth.

Church culture is set by the narrative of the pulpits that gain influence over a nation. Hillsong Music set church culture worship in America even though they were located in Australia. Church culture shifts and turns more often than we realize, we very rarely know when it starts, but we see its affects on sermons, songs and the speech of Christians. A church culture theme has been identity, which is why it is not surprising to me that we have an identity crisis in American culture. If believers knew their identity, we could take authority over the identity crisis facing people in America. Notice how God sent the solution about identity even before the major push of the identity issue in America became a problem.

Jonathan Cahn wrote a book called Return of the Gods, this book I believe is the narrative the church needs to understand, for we are in a war with spirits who want to be the gods of our nation. While the “gods” of history have sought access into our current reality, the narrative of the church has been to see God as casual. The Lord spoke to me this morning very clearly and said, we, as believers, need to repent for viewing Jesus the Christ as causal rather than as King. When we have a causal view of Jesus the Christ, we don’t have the authority to be engaged in the war of the gods we are in as a nation. Psalm 2 says, “I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.” Jesus the Christ is not to be treated as casual but as King.

We have a nation of believers who are 1 Kings 18 wavering between two opinions, but the LORD would say, if Yahweh is God worship Him, if Baal is god worship him. Silence is an answer. For Elijah fire fell from heaven and proved who was King and it brought the fear of the Lord so Israel would not treat God casually. My friends, we serve a King, we are not to treat Jesus the Christ casually, we are to obey His voice, worship at His feet and stand ready to do His commands. We are long overdue to repent of treating Jesus the Christ as casual and to return to Him being our King. This is how we fight this battle.