Lisa Great

The Bible tells us to study the birds, what amazes me about birds is that no matter the season they are the same. It’s -8 degrees outside and once I shoveled and put food in the feeder they were there immediately for breakfast was served. They didn’t pound on the window demanding food, they waited in the tree as I shoveled and watched as I went in to warm up and continued to wait as I poured the seed in their feeder. Now as you can see they are enjoying what they’ve been given.

Soon it will be 80 degrees outside and they will still be there. The seasons don’t change them, they remain the same through every season of creation. As I study the birds I am built in my faith because Gid provides for me daily just as I provide for the birds. The Lord invites me to wait patiently for Him and to not be moved by the changing seasons for He is always faithful in every season.

I’m a city girl, when I was younger the only thing I knew about birds is that when the robins come out spring is near. But God uses the simple things like birds to communicate a big message that He is faithful and brings the Bible to life yet again. Study the birds, there is a lot to learn from them.

Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

When what you planned for doesn’t happen as you planned; when what you hoped for doesn’t manifest; when what you prayed doesn’t get answered; when what you were told isn’t coming true; what do you do?

Psalm 77 started asking questions of God when these things happened to him… “I will meditate with my heart, And my spirit ponders: Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again? Has His lovingkindness ceased forever? Has His promise come to an end forever? Has God forgotten to be gracious, Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion? Selah.”

Your language may be different but your thoughts are very much the same. When this happens to you, do you give up, get depressed, become discouraged and stop believing or do you encourage yourself in the Lord, pray, fast, seek His face to find out what He sees that you don’t?

The Psalmist came to a stunning discovery, that we need to learn. Here’s what he said in Psalm 77:10 “Then I said, It is my grief, that the right hand of the Most High has changed.” He recognized his grief, disappointment, discouragement altered his perspective on God. This is what has happened to us as well. Our view of God changed because the winds of grief, discouragement and disappointments have blown. Powerful truth!

When this revelation grips you, shaking off the grief, the discouragement, the disappointments will happen because you realize these winds are thief’s that try to steal our perspective about our God.

Let’s end with the Psalmists response to this revelation…”I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds. Your way, O God, is holy; What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders!”

The corporate church is a collection of individual people coming together, just as the Temple in Jerusalem was the corporate expression of the many synagogues around Israel and Judah. When Jesus came into the Temple to cleanse the corporate, it was actually a sign He was cleansing the ones who were there and they ALL were there for it was Passover.

Mark 11:15-17 “Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple grounds. And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”

There are “temple” names we know who are being cleansed and it is being made visible the corruption they were/are doing in their temple. Hearing about their corruption is a call not to throw stones at them as though there is no corruption in our temple. However, it is like a trumpet call warning us, Jesus has not changed, He still does not tolerate corruption in our temple. Remember we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and it’s time to deep clean our house of all corruption, not cast stones at those whose corruption is on Front Street.

Every cleansing that goes public is to send a message to the masses, Jesus still expects, purity from His people. He is the same yesterday, today and forever, He is God, He sets the bar.

As I was waking up this morning, the Lord spoke to me and said, “There are those in the nation who have taken the bait of Satan.” I knew immediately the Lord was talking about the spirit of offense, because John Bevere wrote a book called The Bait of Satan and it addresses the issue of taking offense. Then the first verse that came to my spirit was Proverbs 18:19 which says, “An offended brother is harder to be won than a stong city, and contentions are like the bars of a castle.” I agreed with God instantly because it is obvious that people have taken offense toward leaders and each other in our nation. The visceral hatred that is consistently pumped over the airwaves of our media, televisions, newspapers and the internet is obvious. The images and language are one of obvious offense and they have seeded the nation with their offense. Not everyone took the bait, but many did.  

The bait of Satan has blinded the eyes of the offended and created a stark demarcation not between political parties, races, genders or religions, but between the wicked and the righteous. You see the separation of the wicked and the righteous was not obvious before the bait was taken, because we had learned to live comfortably with the mixture of the righteous and the wicked. We called mixture unity and thought we were being so righteous, not knowing mixture is actually wickedness not righteousness. This did not happen overnight, it happened over time and now wickedness has gone from accepted, to shameless to mocking the righteous. The bait revealed who was wicked and who was righteous.  

Understanding what the bible calls wicked and righteous is critical, because the mixture gave us a cultural understanding not a biblical one. Synonyms for biblical wickedness are lawlessness, violence, sexual immorality, deceit, bitterness, sorcery, witchcraft, mocking, greed, hatred, murder, and many other things which can be found in Proverbs and Paul’s letters. Biblical righteousness can be seen in law, order, justice, forgiveness, integrity, purity, holiness, love, mercy, truth, grace, kindness, and many other manifestations. The contrast between the two is stark and easily identifiable.  

After the Lord showed me the separation that has taken place and has become obvious, I was transitioned in prayer to my prayer partner for the day Psalm 75. I did not know it would be a seamless transition, but God wanted to make it clear what He was saying and every step I took established His narrative very clearly to me. Psalm 75:2 says, “When I (God) select an appointed time, it is I who judge with equity” and verse 7 continues by saying, “God is the Judge; He puts down one and exalts another.” It was coming clear to me very quickly, that the separation that has been made is for judgment. Not a final judgment, but a now judgment for the Lord is about to put down some and lift up others. Some are about to drink the cup of discipline, while others are about to receive the horn (authority) of God to declare righteousness in the nation. Psalm 75:10 says, “And all the horns (authority) of the wicked He will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”  

From separation to judgment, we go. The cup of discipline the wicked are going to drink is not for their destruction, if they receive the cup, it is to cure them of their wickedness, but if they reject the cup, the affect will be null and void and they will have chosen to remain in wickedness. The judgement phase we are entering is for the putting down of the wicked and the raising up of the righteous. Many will be brought down from positions; their voice will no longer carry authority in the nations and others will be given the horn of authority to announce the narrative of righteousness over the nations.  

I stood there listening to the Lord speak to me about these things and I was watching the scenes play out before me as these two groups of people stood before the Judge of all the earth. I did not make any assumptions about who would be exalted and given the horn of authority to declare righteousness nor did I know who would have their horn removed from them because of wickedness. I knew in that moment that watching, waiting and wondering was the correct posture.  

One last scene unfolds during this multi-image event I was watching and it came as I turned to Proverbs 11 for my daily reading as today is February 11, 2021. The heading in my bible for this chapter said, Contrast the Upright and the Wicked. I knew yet again, God was not changing the subject. The whole chapter of Proverbs 11 is a clear picture of what the righteous do and say, and what the wicked do and speak. It cannot be any clearer if only we would read the words of God through Solomon.  

Whether we are on the side of wickedness or righteousness is based on our words, our deeds, our decisions, not God’s. The Lord lets us decide if we are going to be righteous or wicked, it is not a predetermined outcome. The truth train came down the tracks of mercy and grace this year and it brought the separation of the wicked and the righteous. Each one of us made a decision as to whether or not we were going to take the bait of Satan that came through the narrative creators of the nations or if we were going to cling to the words of God. Many even to this day believe they are righteous, even though it is clear by what they say and do they are wicked.  

The bait of Satan revealed to us what was in our heart. Jesus spoke a parable about trees and fruit they produce in Luke 6:39-45 and He ends it by saying, “The good man out of the good treasure in his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks that which fills his heart.” If you want to know what is in your heart, listen to what comes out of your mouth. Others know what’s in you by what you say and God knows what’s in you, but do you know what’s in you? Jeremiah 17:9-10 says, “The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But, I, God, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be.” The bait was not a trap against you, it was a trap for you to see what is really in you. God wants to heal you, but you have to drink the cup of discipline so He can weed out the wickedness and establish righteousness.  

The separation is for demarcation in order to remove authority from the wicked and give authority to the righteous. The narrative of the nations is about to change dramatically. The sound of righteousness will shake the earth free from the bands of wickedness that have surrounded us. 2 Chronicles 7:14 gave multiple instructions for the healing of the land, one was to humble ourselves, two was to pray, and three was to turn from our wicked ways. We must fulfill all three in order to see our lives, which is the land, healed. Righteousness is about to exalt the nations for we are the tribe of His inheritance (Psalm 74:2) and He is going to rule the nations (Psalm 2) on earth in our generation with righteousness as our declaration.  

I was in prayer yesterday and I saw on the horizon a “revival” not of show, nor circus but of substance. It was made of strong material that built people into strong human beings on the inside. It wasn’t flashy, nor dressed to impressed, but it came with the weight of God’s glory to transform people who transform culture. This move of God was generational, it was passed on to our children, grandchildren and beyond.

As I kept looking and listening a scene from Extreme Makeover Home Edition flashed in my spirit. The scene I saw was when the truck or doors are in front of the newly renovated house. When the word was given the truck moved and the doors opened and the whole neighborhood rejoiced. I see God doing extreme makeovers in peoples lives out of sight, in order to display the work He did for the neighborhood to see. There is going to be community rejoicing at the revealing.

Finally, this move of God is going to be an internal, substantive work. It’s going to build families, communities, cities and countries. We have heard the gospel of salvation, which was needed, but Jesus and the Apostles preached the gospel of the kingdom. When the sound of the kingdom is heard, Jesus will be lifted high and all men will be drawn to Him.

We are not going to learn how to do ministry, we are going to be taught how to represent Jesus and His kingdom for the kingdom of God is already within us. This move of God is coming to activate what’s already in us, so we can be the kingdom on earth to those around us. We are about to get a corporate extreme home makeover, for we are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Proverbs 9:1-5 “Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars; She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine; She has also set her table; She has sent out her maidens, she calls from the tops of the heights of the city: Whoever is naive, let him turn in here! To him who lacks understanding she says, Come, eat of my food and drink of the wine I have mixed. Forsake your folly and live, and proceed in the way of understanding.”

Dogs eat crumbs from the Master’s table, but sons and daughters sit at the table with the Master and dine. In a day when certain people weren’t invited to come and dine, faith said, even the dogs eat the crumbs from the Master’s table. We don’t live in that day, we have access to the chairs at the table.

We are invited to come and dine with him. Unfortunately most don’t value the King, nor his table so they make every excuse why they can’t make it to the feast wisdom has prepared. It’s no wonder collectively we don’t have the mind of Christ because most are getting their information from the streets rather than from the table.

In the kingdom of God wisdom is served at the table; the mind of Christ is gained at the table; celebration happens at the table; and everyone who sits at the table recognizes the value of the King who sits at the head of the table. Clearing your schedule in order to never miss a meal at the King’s table is easy for those who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. The invitation still stands for anyone who hears the call to come to the table.

Thoughts after praying Psalm 73

Sin is a two pronged fork…one minute it is feeding you pleasures, plenty, and promises. Then one day sin matures and it serves you death. Sin can’t be trusted for It camouflages itself to lure you in, but in the end it destroys you.

The Word of God on the other hand is likened to a double-edged sword. One moment it is cutting out cancerous tumors that have attached themselves to your soul. The next minute it is defeating enemies you may or may not know are pursing you. All the while it’s building inside of you a kingdom that cannot be shaken or moved.

The choice looks obvious but for many application is difficult.

Psalm 73:25-26 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

I keep hearing in my spirit, “Light CRUSHES Darkness!” That phrase is playing over and over again inside of me during prayer this morning and with every time I hear it another verse rises from my spirit. “Light CRUSHES Darkness; Light CRUSHES Darkness! Declare with me over every database hidden under ground concealing truth; every meeting happening or has happened in secret locations; every hidden thing that is hindering our God given, blood bought freedom; declare “Light CRUSHES Darkness!”

Luke 12:1:1-3 ““Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.”

This morning I was praying Psalm 71 and verse two opened up a well of truth that turned into an open vision about the United States of America. Psalm 71:2 says, “In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me.” As I am praying this verse the Lord first shows me that righteousness is a deliverer. He then reveals to me that Jesus Christ, while on earth in the flesh, was the personification of righteousness. He looked like righteousness; He sounded like righteousness; He felt like righteousness; He tasted like righteousness; and He operated like righteousness in healing the sick and confronting the religious system. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of righteousness.  

Next, the Holy Spirit says to me, “Righteousness exalts the nation” (Proverbs 14:34). Immediately after hearing the Holy Spirit speak these words, I have a vision of a large tent (like a revival tent) laying on the ground over the whole nation. As I am speaking the words RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTS THE NATION, I see millions of people together getting under this tent called righteousness and we are all lifting it up with our hands high above our heads. I then see four tent poles on the four corners of the nation holding up this tent and one tent pole in the middle of nation holding up this tent called righteousness.  

As the people and the five tent poles lifted up this tent called righteousness, who is Jesus Christ, as we did this together, righteousness exalted the nation. I then saw this tent over the whole nation and the Holy Spirit said, “There is going to be one national tent revival.” The picture was so vivid, the imagery easily identifiable, millions of people, lifting up together righteousness over the nation. As I looked at this tent over the nation, I began to weep, for righteousness is what exalted the nation. The scene I saw was vivid and the reality of it is coming. We are going to see a national tent revival for righteousness is going to exalt the nation.  

Disobedience to the voice of God brings desolations, but obedience unlocks pleasant places. The Lord doesn’t invite us to follow Him unless He’s leading us into pleasant places. Now what we see as pleasant and what He calls pleasant in the beginning may not look, sound or feel the same, however if you keep following you will find the journey with Him very pleasant.

He loves to walk with us through a variety of landscapes in order for our hearts to learn that He is our delight not the location or the landscape. When I was engaged my now husband asked me, if its you, me and a bowl of rice is that enough for you? I said in response, yes because if its me and you that’s enough for me. The Lord wants to know the same thing, “Am I enough for you?” If the answer of your heart is yes, obedience to Him comes easy, for He is the reward.

Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”