Lisa Great

With so many things to pay attention to, how do you prioritize what is most important? We only have so many hours in a day, so much capacity to contain information, or process situations. Do you realize how much you consume in the way of information, emotions, and even atmospheres in a day? Our ability to consume is greater than our ability to assimilate what we have consumed. If we do not make space, take time, to assimilate what we have absorbed, we will react rather than respond; we will attack rather than seek to understand; we will hurt others rather than help be one that heals others. We must slow down and assimiliate what we are consuming.

The Passion Translation says in Proverbs 4:23 “So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life.”

When we are operating in wisdom, we are placing a high priority on our innermost being; we are paying attention to where our affections are going; we are guarding what our heart is being drawn to and why. The Holy Spirit has taught me that self-control is a full time job, that is why I do not have time to micromanage or control anyone else. Now we all can advise, counsel, direct, and walk with other people, but we have no ability or authority to control anyone else, for we do not even have time to assimilate and control all we are consuming, let alone what someone else is.

Church, it is time for a priority shift. We must prioritize guarding our own hearts, assimiliating our own atmosphers and affections, and making sure our wellspring is producing fresh, pure, clean water so when others come into our lives they are refreshed not contaminated by what is coming out of us. Make time, take space, don’t fear the exploration of what you find in your own innermost being, you are your first priority and responsibility. Then when you are faithful with you, you will be entrusted to walk with others.

Hearing the voice of God is not hard if you are able to live in the moment. Yahweh is a now time God. He does not dwell on the past, He is not afraid of the future, so He is a continual ever present help in times of trouble. He is a now time God. Since Christ is in us and we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, that means we must calibrate our cadence to that of the God who lives in now time. This takes a dying to ourself, a trusting in God, and a realization that He alone holds everything in His hands. Once you access the “now” in time, it changes everything as it pertains to hearing God’s voice. He speaks in now moments, no matter where you are or what you may be doing. We miss His voice not because we can’t hear it, but because we are living in a different time zone than He is. Come out of the time zone called past, come out of the time zone called future and come into the time zone called now and you will hear the voice of God in now time.

This morning I was walking my dog and his name is Hunter and he is a Dachshund. We walk every morning and today the Holy Spirit had me pause and watch him as he had his nose to the ground, then in a hole, tail straight in the air, waving it so I knew he found something. Next thing you know he is digging, snorting and is in pursuit of the mole in that hole. As I stood there smiling at my dog, the Holy Spirit said, “This is how you enter into another’s joy.” I pondered that for the rest of my walk.

We enter into other people’s joy, sorrow, victories, challenges, by living in the moment with them. It was not about me doing the digging or snorting or wagging of the tail, but knowing Hunter was having the time of his little doggie life, made me smile. Then the Holy Spirit said, “This is how you enter in!” Friends, we are being invited to enter in to other people’s joy, sorrow, challenges, victories. Enter in with them and know we can also enter into the Lord’s joy. Matthew says it best in chapter 25 “He who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

Friends the invitation is to enter in!

We have been trained to believe we are to fear darkness, evil, wickedness, and being under that spirit of fear has done great damage to so many of us. This spirit robs us of time, energy, relationships, finances, and even our health. But what we do not realize is this spirit is deceiving us, because that is the only weapon it has against us.

I was reading Philippians 1 last night and as I did the Holy Spirit opened up my eyes to read something I had never seen before in that way. Listen to these verses Paul penned, “Stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.” Do you hear what Paul is telling us?

When we the church stand firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side, not frightened in anything, this is a clear sign to them (our enemies) of their destruction. The one who seeks to destroy you, us, is destroyed when we stand together, when we think like Christ, when we work together. Come on!!!!!

Friends, our enemy is destroying us with deception, for that spirit knows when we come together it is a sign to it that this system of control and destruction is going down. We are the sign that says you, Babylon are being destroyed, we are not. God is not out to destroy us, He loves us, He just needs us to believe it, so we can stand together and be the sign that says, Babylon you are falling, you are being destroyed, and we are being saved!!!!!! Now that is some really good news!

Have you ever heard the phrase, “The body keeps the score?” It is a statement similar in meaning to what the Bible says, “As a man thinks so he is.” The body keeps the score is the idea that your body remembers the trauma you have gone through, the abuse you have endured, the attitudes and mindsets that govern your life. We may try to hide it so others don’t know what we are thinking or feeling, believing or receiving but the body keeps the score. This is why physicians are being trained in mental disorders for the connections between things like Alzheimer’s and unforgiveness are being linked together.

The reason I bring this up is because the Holy Spirit spoke to me this morning and said, “The church needs to repent for having man as its head rather than having Jesus as the head of the body.” Church, we have bought into the lie that man is our head. This lie has caused the body of Christ to be more like a man than Iike God. So goes the head, so goes the body. Colossians 1 says, “He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

When the body comes back into alignment with Christ as the head, we will find healing flowing freely; truth running rampant; freedom being our frequency; love being our culture; joy being our expression; the body of Christ will operate in authority, will have the mind of Christ and will flourish on earth as it is in heaven. But we must repent of aligning the body of Christ, micro and macro with the head of man, rather than with Christ as our head. When this switch happens, we will see miracles manifest effortlessly, the body heal naturally, and the kingdom advance significantly, but it starts with getting the right head on this body called the church.

Our personal history is the filter through which we perceive realities in now time. Our filter is not conscious, but it is there and it does cause us to view things in a way that may or may not be accurate. When the enemy attacks us he does it through the filter of our personal history. Then the person in our current reality has no clue what happened, but usually neither do we, so we push back in order to emote, evaluate and identify the issue. If we are honest, the issue is our personal history filter, not the current reality person.

I say this because, personally, nationally and internationally, we have had people use their strength against us not for us. Therefore, when strength shows up, our filter screams danger, but the current reality is coming to rescue not harm. Then add being a woman into this and it is challenging, for strong women are not identified as safe in the eyes of many. How do I know, they get labeled a Jezebel, which is not an apt title for a Christian woman, because Jezebel was a Canaanite queen, who married the king of Israel (Ahab) as a political alliance. But, this name gets thrown around if a woman is strong.

Then you flip the strong woman coin and you find this in Proverbs 31:17 “She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.” And verse 25 says, “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.” So we want a strong Proverbs 31 woman but we call her a Jezebel, church this should not be. We must deal with our personal history filter, for strong men and strong women are arising and they will not go back into their cave. They are coming out in strength, not to harm you, but to help you, for the Lord is a mighty warrior and they have learned how to love deep, hang on long, and pray, praise and prophesy strong for the sake of your rescue not hurt. Change your filter, so you don’t miss the strength God is sending you in both male and female packaging.

When you have coffee with the man who has a message on identity, it sparks conversations that lead to messages we all need to hear. This morning I was talking to my friend Daron and he was talking about identity. As we talked the Holy dropped in my heart that we as believers are working for the validation at the end of our life that says, “Well done good and faithful servant.” However, Jesus operated from the identity inauguration which says, “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

We work for a validation from the Father, Jesus worked from a validation from the Father. We view ourselves as servants, the Father views us as sons and daughters. When we are inaugurated in our identity as a son or daughter, we are then sent forth to work as sons and daughters. We are not trying to earn any validation, for we have already been validated. But how many people are working to be validated, to hear the words, well done good and faithful servant and in doing so they miss the reality that they are already a son or daughter of God.

Daron was telling me a story about a book that rocked his world and a vision he had while reading it. In the vision he saw his own reflection in a bar of gold and the Lord spoke to him and said, “You are gold to me, that is why you can see yourself in this gold bar.” Daron was weeping right there. I then said to him, “There is no reflection that can be seen in a brick, yet we build brick and mortar all the time declaring this is the house of God.” We continued our talk and realized, we are gold that is why we are reflectors of Christ who is in us, the hope of glory.

Friend, you are gold, you are the reflection of Christ on the earth. He has declared over you, “You are my son, you are my daughter, with you I am well pleased.” Now go do the works of the kingdom of God on earth from your identity, not for it, for you are already stamped on the gold bar, daughter, son of God!!!!!

Religion loves the way someone looks, the kingdom knows who someone is. While reading 1 Samuel 16 this morning, the Lord revealed to me the hearts of the characters in this chapter. I knew the story, but today the Lord was showing me the hearts of the people. Saul is the anointed king of Israel; Samuel is the prophet to the king; David is the youngest of eight children.

The first persons heart God showed me was Samuel’s when verse one says, “The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul.” If you know the story of Saul, he is an angry king, who likes to kill people and even Samuel says later on in the chapter, if Saul finds out I am going to Bethlehem, he will kill me. But Samuel loved Saul. Samuel was grieved when Saul was removed from being king, so much so God said, when will you stop grieving as we have a new king to anoint. The Lord showed me Daniel loved a wicked king too. Real prophets who are called to speak to kings, will be lovers of the person, who is king.

David, the youngest of eight sons, does not look the part for king like Saul did, but God says to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” David didn’t look like a king, but he had the heart of a king.

Three men, three hearts. We have lived under the voices of kings who want to kill us, but there have been real prophets who love kings and speak truth in love to kings. Now the kings who have wanted to kill us are being removed by God and though many do not look the part, the kings God is raising up have been vetted not by their outward appearance, but by their heart. God has approved the new leaders for the new season and they have the heart of a king, even though they may not look the part of a king. It is the day of God revealing hearts and anointing new kings.

We have been trained to believe that judgment day is something in the future and something to be feared. However, The Bible is timeless and yet is in time. There are times when judgment has happened in history, like when God judged Egypt or Sodom and Gomorrah. There are judgments coming in the future, when everyone will stand before the white throne judgment. And there are judgments in the present which we are about to experience. The challenge is our narrative is so negative when we think of judgement, but we do not know the heart of God and what judgement is truly all about.

We have entered into a time of Isaiah 2 judgment. It is a much needed judgment, and this judgment is going to gift us in ways we are not even aware of, but so desperately need and desire. The Isaiah 2 judgment is this, “He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” The judge on the throne is the Prince of Peace and the judgments He is rending is ones of reconciliation and restoration, so we no longer fight with each other.

Love is breaking the spirit of war in the hearts of people. We are receiving an exchange of our weapon for a harvesting tool if we will receive it. The throne room of God, the judgement seat of Christ has rendered a verdict that the wars, arguments, battles, must end and we are being gifted with love for one another. The war is in our hearts and manifests in our relationships, but the war has been declared over by the Lord. Doctrinal wars will end, ideological wars will end, political wars will end, financial wars will end. We have lived so guarded for so long, it will take some time to know what love is, but love is winning the war, for God is Love and the Prince of Peace is ending the wars, so we can live together in peace not suspicion, love not war.

Welcome to the Isaiah 2 judgment, which is changing the narrative, the landscape of our hearts and nations.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus was willing to let Judas be one of his disciples, eat at His table, and work in His ministry, but when He went into the temple He turned over the tables of the money changers? Me neither, until today when I am reading Zechariah 14 and it says in verse 21 “There shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day.”
As I read this verse this morning the Lord said, “People have valued silver and gold over people as their most valuable assets.” Immediately I heard in my spirit, “But, I value people more than silver and gold.”

I have been driving around this past couple days taking notice of the need in the city around me. As I have been surveying the land, the Lord has been speaking to me about the need for a solution to the spirit of neglect in this city. Businesses are closing, houses are being abandoned, attitudes are flaring, and it did not used to be to this degree before. I was speaking with a friend about it and she was sharing how the city has gone down hill and people are being affected greatly by the inflation, lack of police presence and all around sense of anger rising.

As we started talking about what it would take to help heal this city, we discussed all the resources needed and we began dreaming of neighbors coming together to help repair fences, cut grass, trim bushes and beautify their neighbors yards. We then talked about how often people want silver and gold resources, but how we also need human resources to help people. It was in this context, the Lord spoke and said, “Everyone wants silver and gold for it is considered valuable, but I value people as the most valuable asset on earth.”

Friends, Jesus sat with Judas at His table, but Judas was pursuing silver and gold not Jesus. Jesus turned over the tables of the money changers because He valued people and was fulfilling Zechariah’s prophesy, “There shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day.” If you are sensing your table being turned over, it is probably not a table where people are sitting at but it may be a table where trading has become more valuable than people. Jesus is still turning over tables.

This morning at breakfast a friend of mine showed me her phone and it was a news report that Israel was being attacked by 300 drones. We both looked at each other and said not on our watch. As we got in the car to finish our drive to our destination, we prayed for Israel, for people we love, and for each other. The car became an incubator of intercession as we are done with the attacks of the enemy on nations, families, friendships and finances. Oh it was game on in the spirit this morning and we were not going to let the enemy gain any ground.

Now I am sitting in another friends house, no one is home, the silence is enjoyable, and I am reading Zechariah 12 which says, “On that day the LORD will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the LORD, going before them. And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” Immediately I remember the video of those drones attacking Israel, those words attacking people we love and our prayers to deal with these enemies.

The Lord is not fighting against us, the Lord is not seeking to divide us, the Lord is not speaking negatively about us, the Lord is releasing an army of intercessors who are fighting for the redemption of nations, the redemption of families, the redemption of finances and the redemption of relationships. There are certain battles that counseling, confronting and correcting will not help, there are moments like this that a drone attack has been launched and God is about to destroy our enemies, for when God says enough is enough, you better believe everything is about to change and He will recover us all!!!!