2021, Find yourself at the feet of the King

     As I sought the Lord for a word for 2021,  this nation and for the world I received a word that in my spirit I feel needs to be heard.   It will not be popular but I believe God is asking me to make it public for all who wish to hear.   I asked the Lord to speak to me and show me concerning this next year in 2021 and this is what I believe He said.  

     The Lord said to me that man kind has refused to turn to Him in these days of crisis, sickness and division.   He said that man kind continually and intentionally has refused to seek Him for answers and has insisted that they can solve this themselves.   

     As I reflected on this word I began thinking of all of man’s answers to this past year of 2020.   We have mandated mask wearing, social distancing, self quarantining and rushed vaccines.   We have marched in protest, rioted, pursued legislation, sought out answers online, argued online and followed the whim of every person whom we believe may have the answer.   What I have not seen very much of is leaders of families, churches, community or government on their knees before the King of Kings.   There have been pockets of God’s people seeking His face about all of this but I believe He is not just looking for just the remnant to respond on their knees but rather for mankind to turn back toward Him.   The Lord then spoke to me again and said that 2021 will be no different for many if man kind does not relent their stubborn pride of having all the answers and instead seek His face.   He spoke to my spirit that all of this chaos and turmoil in the world as well as the hearts of man have but one answer.  Him.   

     I believe that the rough year of 2020 will carry into the year of 2021 if we individually and corporately do not get on our faces before God and seek His answers.   We have struggled to answer 2020 with mans way of doing things and refused God in many ways.   There is an answer to Covid.   There is an answer to racism.   There is an answer to political clashing and abuse of power.   There is an answer to injustice and hatred.   His name is Jesus.   

     I have said it before but it needs to be heard again.   At the feet of God I can not hate my brother or sister.  At the feet of God there is no sickness that can overthrow Him.   At the feet of God there is no power struggle.   This is because He is the King of Kings and He reigns over all.  It is time that we lead mankind to the feet of the one who holds the world in His hands.   The one who designed and created us.   It is time that we lay down our pride and arrogance and relent to the fact that He is Lord over us and has the answers that we seek.

“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭7:14‬ ‭

How to defeat fear

      Are you experiencing fear Son/Daughter of Christ?   Did you know that fighting fear is in a large part a spiritual battle?   Did you know there is a biblical path to defeat fear?   I want to share with you what I stand on in the word when fear has attempted to enter my life. 

      During this time and season the entire world has been suffering from a pandemic of corona virus.   I believe, however, that greater than this pandemic in  the flesh (the virus) is the overwhelming pandemic of fear (in the spirit).   I have spoken before about fear and it’s grip on people.   I have spoken about how this virus has revealed a spirit of fear that has overtaken many throughout the world.    You see, this is not only a fight against things in the physical but against principalities and things of a spiritual nature.   “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  Ephesians‬ ‭6:12‬ .   

      The fear I speak of is not the common sense warnings in your body that we all have experienced that tells us to step back when we are standing at the edge of a cliff.   That is a natural physical response that we all have, given by God, to keep us from numbly walking off the edge to our death.   This is not the fear I speak of.   The fear I speak of grips you and causes panic and dread.   This fear I speak of causes people to alter their lives to avoid situations and panic as they can not shake it.   This fear I speak of is not of God.   “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

‭‭II Timothy‬ ‭1:7‬ 

     In combating this fear we must first understand that we are children of God and that we are in His hands.   We must intentionally place ourselves there in His hands and rest in knowing that He is our source and provider.   We must be confident in this and not shaken from this truth.     

    There have been many times that the enemy has sent fear to attack my mind.  Fear has spoken in my mind that I was going to die.   It has spoken that my family was going to get sick and die.   These and other such things have come directly from a spirit of fear.   The following are the biblical modeled steps that I take to overcome the spirit of fear.  It must be noted that it is not through my ability or steps that fear is defeated.  It is through the power of God.   First before any of this we must make sure that we are in right standing with Christ.

1. I shut my mouth.   I refused to repeat the lies being spoken to me in my mind.   I refused to say that I or my family will get sick or die.   This is where for many years I as well as many in the body of Christ have missed it.  We often just blurt out things without understanding that there is indeed the power of life and death in the tongue.  “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”  Proverbs‬ ‭18:21‬.   I am not saying that we should not be real about what is going on but rather that we should not always speak death and destruction over a situation before we even invite God into the middle of it.  Concerning the words we speak it might be wise to consider Samuel.   The Bible says in 1 Samuel 3:19 that the Lord did not let any of his words fall to the ground.  This means that what Samuel spoke came to pass and God let every word he spoke come into being.  Scripture did not say if those words were good or bad in intent.   It simply says that God did not let Samuels words fall to the ground.  So I shut my mouth and refuse to repeat the lies the enemy tells me.
2. I began to speak truth to each lie.   The enemy tells me that I will die and out of my mouth I say “I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done.” Psalms‬ ‭118:17‬.   The enemy tells me I will get sick and I say out of my mouth “the Lord is my healer, portion and provider”.   Exodus 15:26, Lamentations 3:24, Philippines 4:18.  The key here is that you have to know scripture before the battle comes about.   You can’t go into battle while attempting to figure out if you have a sward or a pocket knife let alone realize that it is not sharp.  You as a child of God need to know what His word says and need to have it written on your heart so that you are found ready when the enemy attempts to pick a fight.    I also began pleading the blood that was shed on the cross over myself and my family and then headed spiritually into battle.
3. I rebuke the enemy and go to war spiritually.   Again this requires that scripture be in you and that you understand the authority of God who is in you.   “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James‬ ‭4:7‬.  Another thing at this point that I find helpful is I go on the offensive.  I began praying for not just myself but every person who is sick or afraid.   Praying that God touch each of them.   I pray that God heals each of them and brings each peace.   I begin praying for the salvation of all who do not know the Lord.   All of them.  As a side note I do this often, not just when going to battle spiritually.   It is a tactic I use that works but I deploy it on the offensive as well as the defensive.   
4. I opened the Bible and read the scripture.  “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  Romans‬ ‭10:17‬ .   This renews my mind and seals in the truth that God has spoken and seals out the lies the enemy speaks.   (Read Isaiah 55).   Many people who are currently living in fear also seam to be living without the word in them.   If you struggle here, put your nose in the word.   Begin reading it and studying it. 
5. I began playing worship music.     This sets my spirit in the right place.   My thoughts now on God I begin to stand in the presence of the King.   In His presence fear is not allowed.   At this place peace and rest enter.   I am fully surrendered before the King and have placed my life in His hands.    “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians‬ ‭4:6-7‬. ‭

     I can tell you that this works in defeating fear and many other spiritual attack that you may come under.   In these kinds of situations in facing fear it has only been through the word that I have been successful in overcoming it.   “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”  Revelation‬ ‭12:11‬.  I hope that in this pandemic of fear that this helps some believers to begin to anchor themselves in the word and take a stand against this spirit of fear.  “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” Ephesians‬ ‭6:13‬ .

A shift is occurring in the spirit.

      There is a change coming, yet has already begun.   The Lord is working and moving in a way that many have not or do not see or understand.   There is a spiritual shift occurring and things are moving in preparation for what is to come.   Many spiritual leaders have been asked by God to step out of their current assignment and to step into a season of unknowing as to where the next foot will be planted.   These leaders have stepped out and left for a moment an open vacancy in the perceived leadership.   People do not understand or comprehend.   The leaders themselves do not understand but are and will be obedient to the Lord.   There are other leaders who have refused to set down sin and the Lord has found them detestable.   The Lord is and will be removing these individuals from office and removing the anointing from their heads.   They have become bitter to Him and He will no longer let them stand.   

     Again I tell you a shift is occurring and has already begun.   Those obedient to the Lord will soon be given a new assignment and will take steps into those places.   In other locations new leadership will be raised up by the Lord and He soon will pour out His anointing on those individuals for that season.   The Lord says that He is preparing to establish His order and it must begin with His bride, with the “Church”.  With His children.   First they will come into alignment then the world will see the standard set before them and begin to move into place as well.  Head the warning my brothers and sisters.   If the Lord has said to move then move.  If He has said to stay then stay.  If you are holding onto sin and refusing to bow before the Lord then get on your knees and repent.   For the next tick of the clock will leave you out of place and the enemy will soon devour what the Lord was once blessing in your life.

     A shift is occurring.  The clock is ticking.  Things set in motion will come to pass.   No matter what you do and n the flesh to prevent it the Lord has ordained this shift to occur.   Do not be so blind and deceived as to think you are more than you are.   Do not be so blind and deceived as to believe that you are less than you are.   The Lord will establish a standard and hold it up for all to see.

Did you just use what God gave to you to build a golden calf?

     Just something to think about.  When Moses presented to Israel the needs required to build the tabernacle and all of its contents including the arc of the covenant God placed it upon the people’s heart to give.   The people gave daily.  They gave so much gold, silver, wood, gems and other needed things that the workers came to Moses and said that they already had more than enough to finish the work.  Scripture says that Moses then asked the people to stop giving and the people of Israel were restricted from giving to the Lord.   Exodus 36:2-6.

     Where did all of this wealth and materials come from?   If you go back to the exodus of Israel from Egypt you will find that they were told to ask their Egyptian neighbors for their wealth and it was given to them.  You see...God had already placed into the hands of His people the provision needed to accomplish all that He had in mind for them to do.   I could stop and preach here for a while but I actually want to go in a different direction.  Before Israel knew what the material (gold, silver, cloth and precious gems) were for what did they do with it?  What did they do out of their own flesh and desire?

     In Exodus 32 we read that while Moses was on the mountain talking with God that the Israelites asked Aaron (the priest) to make a god to lead them.  Because Moses was taking so long and they did not know what had happened to him they became impatient.  Aaron said to break off the gold that hung on their earnings and he fashioned a large golden calf out of that for them to worship.   Earnings and jewelry of this type were something that the Israelites would have obtained while in Egypt or gotten from the Egyptians as they exited.   So while waiting for God to lead them they were reveling in the things of Egypt and created a golden calf to worship.  It should also be noted that in Egypt the livestock and animals were worshiped.  I also want to point out that in some rabbinical studies we find that throughout history the Jewish people saw a cow as a symbol of power.  So while waiting for God they became impatient and returned to the lifestyle of the ungodly from whom they had been delivered and built for themselves an image of power to follow.

     All to often when God brings increase into our lives we immediately look to see how we can increase ourselves.  We are almost immediately tempted to go out and buy useless objects that we suddenly feel that we will die without.   I am not saying that it is wrong to increase yourself or that God does not want to increase you.  What I am suggesting is that when God brings increase we should seek Him and find out if there is a greater purpose or need in the distance that He is preparing us to provide for.   Might it be possible that at times God is placing the wealth of the world into our hands to then further His kingdom and instead we are wanting to buy a new shinny object to hold and worship?  Like I said, just something to think on.

God is not bound by man’s time

     This teaching will go very deep very quick and might possibly make you reconsider everything you thought that you knew about the order of how things occur.   Please take your “time” to let this sink in and see what the Lord would say through it.   I encourage you to seek God about His timing in everything.

     The timing of God is an interesting thing indeed.   The Greeks had 2 words for time.   There was chronos which refers to the chronological sequence of time.  They also used kairos which is best described as referring to the time between time.     Man kind (the human race) has always operated on chronos time.   We hold to the sequence that 1 comes first and then 2 followed by 3.   God however often at times will operate on chronos time but equally will operate in the Kairos moment.  This has the potential to completely mess with our minds and upset everything that we know and believe about time.   It is hard to wrap our mind around the idea that 1..2..3 could be the order but so could 1..3..2 or even 3..1..2 all depending on how God worked through it.   This is where we start to get deep and your brain starts to hurt.  Hang in there.  It’s worth it...lol.

     God does not operate in man’s (human) chronological order.   He does not operate in mans idea of time and often operates outside of the confinement of time.  In Revelations 1:8 we read ““I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.””  In Revelations 22:13 God says “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”  In these scriptures we read that God is both the beginning and the end at the exact same time.   Both the beginning and the end are occurring and existing and happening at the exact same chronological moment.   And to go even deeper, this is continually occurring.  When God shows up in a church service, personal prayer time or any other time of your life you are confronted with the beginning and the end both contained and working at the same moment in our chronological time.   Did you catch that?   The beginning and end of all things are occurring at the same moment within God.   Yesterday the beginning and end and all that is in between were occurring at the same time.   At this very moment all of time is actively occurring and in the future the same is and will occur.

     Look at it this way.  Through every generation there have been movies about time travel.   They are a flesh oriented attempt to address the idea of traveling through time and the consequences of changing the past and the benefit of knowing of things to come.   One such shinning example of this is the Back To The Future Trilogy.  In these movies they travel to the past and future thus altering the present.   From our human mind set we process understanding things of the past and future to be much like these movies depict.  Mankind has always addressed time from the confines of the chronos.  All of that being said the point I am getting to is this.   God does not need a time machine.   At this very moment He is present here in the now and He is at the same time present in the past and in the future.  God is everywhere and at every time at the same time.  If we could only grasp the concept that God is in our past, in our future and in the present all at the same together here at this very moment it would adjust how we pray and respond to things going on both around us physically and spiritually.  A new Light is shed on God and our interaction in the spirit world as we begin to understand that like man spirits are not omnipresent and thus can not be at every place every time but God is not bound by that same time.  To go a little deeper consider that this same God lives inside us once we have accepted Him into our hearts as Lord and savior.  Yes the God of the universe who is not confined by chronos time resides inside of us.   

     Another example of God operating outside of the confines of mans time is found in Mathew 8 as we read of Jesus’s fulfillment of Isaiah 53.  “When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.””

Matthew 8:16-17.  This was in reference to Isaiah 53:4-5 which reads...“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”  Let’s pause here for a moment and look at this.   Isaiah 53 is prophesying to the crucifixion of Christ on the cross and what was to come through that act.   Yet in Mathew 8 it says that Jesus (who was very much alive) did those things to fulfill that prophesy.  So Christ fulfilled what was prophesied to come through His death on the cross before He died on the cross.   In chronological order it would be 1. Isaiah prophesied of the crucifixion of Christ.  2. Christ is crucified and 3. That which was accomplished on the cross and was prophesied about was fulfilled.   Yet in Gods timing the order went 1. Prophesy(beginning), 3. Fulfillment (end), and then 2. Crucifixion (middle).    

     When we look at Christ dying on the cross we know that he bore the weight and judgement of every sin that had been or ever would be committed.   This takes on a whole new light if we consider that He was in the past, present  and future all at that very moment and thus He truly bore every sin to be committed.  When you come and repent before the Lord and plead His blood over the wrongs you have committed it is not an old blood sacrifice that you are calling on.  We often take this sacrifice for granted and think it was done and so when we feel convicted it will always be there to fall on to repent.  The sacrifice of Christ on the cross is big enough to cover us when we miss the mark.  We begin to see that the moment of the cross, the moment of sin and the moment of repentance are occurring simultaneously in the Lord at that very moment.   In a sense looking at it this way moves the cross from something that happened way off in the past to a place of being something that is occurring here and now.   I wonder if the body of Christ truly grasped ahold of this concept if there might be a lessening of the choices that were made to fulfill petty fleshly desires because they may begin to realize that in the act of sin they are actively putting spikes in His hands.  Likewise it is equally as powerful to realize that while we were sinning He was providing the payment for that sin.

     When we go into spiritual battle we don’t fight to a place of victory, we fight from a place of victory.  How is this possible? To fight from a place of victory?  It works like this.   We are fighting in a spiritual battle in a spiritual world.  Being that we are human God resides in us once we have asked Him in.   The God who is in us is currently in this battle and in the time of victory at the same time.   Therefore we have the victory (in Christ) that is in the future occurring at the same time as we are fighting the battle.  That victory is ours so we are fighting this spiritual battle with the strength and vigor of victors and from that place we fight the battle.

     The prophetic is greatly effected by this as well.  Because God is actively in every possible future He knows what is to come or what might possibly come if action is or is not taken.   When the Lord reveals to us concerning things of the past present or future It is awesome to think that He is actively in that moment and revealing it to us.   To say it another way.  God is at this moment in the future and comes to this moment to tell us about it.  To us in the flesh it blows our mind when God speaks to us concerning future events and let’s us discern things from the past.   Remember however that God is not confined to man’s time line and order.  He does not need a time machine.  He is actively in the past present and future at this moment.  So in His grace and mercy He will take what Is going on in the future (that for Him is now) and drop it onto our chronological time line in a time that is in advanced so that we have time to prepare or pray and intercede.   Once again we find that God steps out of His realm and applies Himself to mans realm for the sake of His creation.  Much like He did on the cross.

    Another area that we see the Kairos moment take effect is in miraculous healings.  How is it that a person with a missing eyeball can be moved on by God and a new eyeball created in the empty socket in that very moment?  This is an example of a healing that has happened many times in different ministries and yet how does it occur?   In the womb the eye ball and development of the eye sight of a baby takes nearly the entire 9 months.   So how does God make it occur in a moment?  It’s a miracle.  Yes absolutely it is.   These kind of miracles are often described and viewed as God accelerated time of something occurring.  Understanding that the eyeball can even be recreated by God is a miracle and act of God that I do not want to take away from.  God is amazing.  The eyeball in this situation goes through the process of fully growing and developing but in a God accelerated  time frame.   God being present in the future where the eye is already developed brings it to this moment and time thus causing instant healing.     

     I know that these concepts are not easy to wrap our brain around.  We are conditioned to continue to look at things from a chronos point of view (being we are human and live in a human world) and so the Kairos moment truly makes our brain freeze up and hurt.  I would encourage each of us to seek God concerning the kairos moment and see what He may want to do through you in the moment.

False Prophet...or is he?

     Today particularly in America the standard is instant result.  We have fast food restaurants that that take less than 3 min from the time you order to the time your food is handed (hot) to you.  We have remote starters that start our car and warm them so they are thawed out by the time we actually walk outside to leave.   We have the ability to have hundreds of TV channels at our finger tips instantly.   We can search practically anything and find a wealth of knowledge concerning that subject in a matter of seconds.   We have frozen (fully prepared) dinners that we can microwave and within minutes are ready to be eaten.   So the question is, how has this microwave mentality effected our view of prophesy.
     It is very common that a prophet will give a prophesy and if it does not happen within the next day or 2 then he (the so called prophet) must have missed it.   Some of us who are more "patient" in the Lord will give a gracing time span of a whole year.   If by then it has not come to pass we declare the "so called prophet" a false prophet.   We pass their name around and declare from the stage saying "don't trust this guy because he obviously does not hear from the Lord and must be a false prophet."
...or is he?...
     I ask you at this time to consider Isaiah.  He gave many prophesies.  One of these prophesies was about the virgin birth of Jesus.  The fulfillment of this prophesy did not occur until nearly 700 years later.  Like Isaiah many true prophets of God see way into the future and see things that may not even be able to be comprehended by others at the time they are seen.  By today's microwave standard Isaiah would have been labeled a false prophet.
     Understand that I am not trying to in some way say that there are not false prophets.   The truth is that there are a bunch of false prophets.  In fact the majority of people claiming to be "prophets"are false prophets or simply don't understand who and what a prophet is.   What I am hinting at here is that we should not judge the legitimacy of someone who declares a prophesy based simply on if it comes true in a short span of time.   What we should be judging the word, that was delivered, on is the word of God.  1 John 4:1 says this.  “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
‭So if the prophetic word delivered lines up with Gods word but has not come to pass yet then hold onto it and remain open to it until the Lord brings it to pass.  Don't reject it and void your ability to receive it because it did not come to pass that moment.   Again remember how long it took for the prophesy of Jesus birth to come to pass.  Also keep in mind that the word may come to pass but not in the way that you had conjured it up in your mind.
     A small but sad bunny rabbit trail here.  Out of curiosity of the results I Googled "how to test the validity of a prophesy?" And the top 10 hits did not even remotely mention that we should test the spirit of the word given with the word of God.   In fact surprisingly many gave scriptural references to judging the prophet (individual giving the word).  The entire reason for this is to make sure that wolves in sheep clothing are not speaking to the flock.   That being said, it is God who reserves the right to judge and condemn or lift up individuals in the five fold ministry.   If you find the prophesy to not line up with the word you reject the word.  If the words given continue to be contrary to the word of God then stop listening.  Stop asking the individual for personal words.   Stop inviting them to prophesy to your congregation.   Stop giving them a voice in your life.   Also remember though that it is not your place to bring a verdict of condemnation to that  person publicly.   As scripture says first go to them in private.   If they won't listen take a brother.  If they still will not listen take them to the leadership of the body then if still no result remove them for the safety of the flock.   What it does not say is stand on the stage and declare to the tv camera your opinion of the proclaimed prophet.  This is out of order and it may just be that you are passing judgement based on your microwave mentality.
     I encourage each of you to judge prophesy based on Gods way which is to judge the spirit of the word given.  I also encourage you, that if the prophesy lines up with scripture, to give God time to bring it to pass.  This will help you receive things God is speaking to you and reject that which is false.

It is time to speak

The Lord has been speaking to me lately concerning the prophetic voice.   As of late it has been very quiet concerning the prophetic.   Many of the older prophets have have passed away or are no longer speaking for some reason.   The new generation of prophets has been afraid to speak.   There can be many reasons for this.   Anything from being afraid to be wrong to being unsure of their calling and giftings.    God has begun asking me to call out to the future prophets.   He keeps speaking to me that now is the time for this generation of prophets to find their voice.  God chooses to speak and move through man.   When you speak propheticly it releases the words in the air and gives them the ability to come to pass.   It is time to speak things into existence.  Scripture tells us that there is the power of life and death in the tongue.  God is calling us to begin to verbally speak life into this current generation.   He is calling us to speak to the future of this generation and to begin to call forth the men and women of God who are to rise and lead this generation.  I encourage the prophetic voices out there to join me and begin giving voice to Gods calling out of this generation.   It is time to stand up and speak.  It is time to speak into existence that which as of yet has not come to be.   It is time to find your voice in God.  It is time for this generation to shift toward the King of Kings.   It is time.