God is raising up an army. There is a shift begining within the body of those who are wanting more from Church, life, family, and God. Jesus said to pray "on earth as it is in heaven" - establish the Kingdom! Peter said a shaking would come, first to the household of faith. I believe we are seeing that today. As a result, a people will be and are being prepared to bring in the Kingdom of God on earth. The coming kingdom is actually already at hand, but we aren't walking out in it:
"Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
Then He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Some things to point out here - Are we not living in the days of Noah? It seems as though we live in a lost and dying world with no regard to God. People are eating and drinking and being marry - even within the church! It is time to press in to the things of God - to gather around Jesus, not just talk about Him. Church should be a way of life, not an event. It is something we are to participate in, not just spectate on Sunday mornings. And as we move into these things, Jesus says above, "Do not go running after them!" We could debate what He is referring to here, but besides the occult, I think there is another meaning here. The kingdom of God is within us. When we hear of good reports in far off places - praise God! But it doesn't mean we need to hop on a plane or drive off to see the Lord. Obviously if He tells us to, we must go, but the King of kings lives within us. If we yield to Him and are willing to be purified and sanctified by Jesus, and to allow Him to work through us, the Kingdom will manifest. Jesus said He came to "give us the fullness of life." Normal Christianity should be the blind see, the deaf here, the lame walk and the sick are made well.
A friend and brother in the Lord said to me, "It is all about gathering around Jesus. I just want to gather around Jesus." I've been pondering that point for some time now - I want to talk less about the things of the Lord, and start seeing it manifest in myself, my family, and my community!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
Strategy for Battle for Our Cities
There seems to be a stirring in the body of Christ. We are begining to thirst for more of the Lord and desiring to be in His presence more and more. As part of that, we are begining to press in more to heavenly places to discover what is keeping us from that open line of communication with the Father.
2 Chronicles 20:1-20 shows us a battle that was about to ensue against Judah. "It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat." The people of Mount Seir made their homes by chiseling away at the rock in the mountain sides, and then the people of Moab would make their homes their. The Ammonites and the Moabites represent sin and perversion. They originated from Lot's daughters who conceived their children with their father while he was drunk. The same thing is happening today - there are so many things that try to chip away at our rock of salvation, and then tempt us or distract us. Once we are distracted, sin sets in. We live in a day where many things chip away at our rock - TV, magazines, work, entertainment, activities, even church. It is coming at us from all sides it seems, but I believe the Lord is allowing this to give us spiritual eyes to see the battle at hand, and to teach us to fight. We see in verse 2 that "some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, 'A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria and they are in Hazazon Tamar' (which is En Gedi)." They were keeping watch and saw the enemy coming. The watchman were on the walls and awake to see the vast army coming. We, too, need to watch, but also heed to others as they watch and share what they are seeing in the spirit. Jesus said,
"Watch therefore, for you do not know what day or hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." Matthew 24:42-44 NKJV
We must be watching for the Lord and ultimately keep our eyes on Him, but we must also know the battle that lies before us.
"How can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house." Matthew 12: 29 NKLV
We must keep watch and pray in order to identify and bind the strong man. We see in 2 Chronicles 20:3, this is what Jehoshaphat did - he inquired of the Lord and proclaimed a fast. Through this, "the people came together from every town to seek him" (verse 4). There was a coming together of the body - they recognized the reality of the onslaught of the enemy, and realized the only victory over this vast army was through God giving the enemy over to them. These were overcomers - Jesus said we are more than conquorers in Him, and we are overcomers through Him. After they prayed (verses 6-12), it says all stood before the Lord - children included. I don't want to veer too much here, but children were included in this as well - our children have the same Holy Spirit as we do - they need to be included in prayer, worship, and the like. In verse 15, a Levite (worship leader) stood before the group and prophesied not to be afraid or discouraged, but that the vast army would be defeated at the hand of the Lord! He said to stand firm and to take up their positions, but that the battle was the Lord's, and the Lord would deliver them. Even in the midst of the battle, we must be steadfast in our faith. It is by our faith that we overcome. As they set out for the battle the next day, they stood and worshipped the Lord with Thanksgiving as if the battle was already won! For many reasons, I see too many intercessors downtrodded and beaten up. I, too, was feeling like I was in a bunker for many months, even years - never advancing; feeling like everything around me was falling apart or blowing up. We must never lose focus on Him - many times we focus on the battle, or our wounds, or our circumstance or any number of things that distract our focus from Him. After they gave thanks and praised the Lord, the Lord sent confusion into the enemies' camp (v22) and they destroyed one another. "When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it." This is amazing! We will see and are begining to see this plunder. Obviously today we aren't doing this by natural means, but rather in the heavenlies through our prayer, intercession, and worship. As we begin to win these battles, we too are going to see a plunder. Paul said we are to "wrestle principalities", but as we gain victory, needed resources will be released into the church for the good of His people. It also says that "the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel." People will see the Lord in us and see our peace in the midst of trials, and see the fear of God as we fight. It goes on to say, "Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around." I could go on and on about the "rest of the Lord", but I'll just say this - we are coming to an age where we will have to battle to find rest - we will no longer be able to continue to avoid battles to find a counterfeit peace - the peace will elude us unless we take the yoke of the Lord and overcome. It is through the overcoming life that we will move from victory to victory, and rest in Him.
In summary, we see here a picture of what the church should look like in these last days. As the vast spiritual army comes on all sides, the Lord will reveal strategies to overcome. He will reveal Himself through however He chooses - we must be in tune with the Father to see what he is saying and doing. Jesus said He only did what He saw His Father in heaven doing. As we do that, we will see the enemy brought down as the "God of peace will soon crush satan under our feet." Not only do we need to be in tune with the Father, but we need one another in the body of Christ. As we see in this story, the Lord used many people to reveal what He was doing for His people. Likewise, in these last days, we will be laboring together, building upon one another's work rather than doing seperate works or our own thing or treading over the same ground over and over again. This collaboration will be necessary in order to forcefully advance the kingdom of God. Keep soldiering on!
2 Chronicles 20:1-20 shows us a battle that was about to ensue against Judah. "It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat." The people of Mount Seir made their homes by chiseling away at the rock in the mountain sides, and then the people of Moab would make their homes their. The Ammonites and the Moabites represent sin and perversion. They originated from Lot's daughters who conceived their children with their father while he was drunk. The same thing is happening today - there are so many things that try to chip away at our rock of salvation, and then tempt us or distract us. Once we are distracted, sin sets in. We live in a day where many things chip away at our rock - TV, magazines, work, entertainment, activities, even church. It is coming at us from all sides it seems, but I believe the Lord is allowing this to give us spiritual eyes to see the battle at hand, and to teach us to fight. We see in verse 2 that "some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, 'A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria and they are in Hazazon Tamar' (which is En Gedi)." They were keeping watch and saw the enemy coming. The watchman were on the walls and awake to see the vast army coming. We, too, need to watch, but also heed to others as they watch and share what they are seeing in the spirit. Jesus said,
"Watch therefore, for you do not know what day or hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." Matthew 24:42-44 NKJV
We must be watching for the Lord and ultimately keep our eyes on Him, but we must also know the battle that lies before us.
"How can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house." Matthew 12: 29 NKLV
We must keep watch and pray in order to identify and bind the strong man. We see in 2 Chronicles 20:3, this is what Jehoshaphat did - he inquired of the Lord and proclaimed a fast. Through this, "the people came together from every town to seek him" (verse 4). There was a coming together of the body - they recognized the reality of the onslaught of the enemy, and realized the only victory over this vast army was through God giving the enemy over to them. These were overcomers - Jesus said we are more than conquorers in Him, and we are overcomers through Him. After they prayed (verses 6-12), it says all stood before the Lord - children included. I don't want to veer too much here, but children were included in this as well - our children have the same Holy Spirit as we do - they need to be included in prayer, worship, and the like. In verse 15, a Levite (worship leader) stood before the group and prophesied not to be afraid or discouraged, but that the vast army would be defeated at the hand of the Lord! He said to stand firm and to take up their positions, but that the battle was the Lord's, and the Lord would deliver them. Even in the midst of the battle, we must be steadfast in our faith. It is by our faith that we overcome. As they set out for the battle the next day, they stood and worshipped the Lord with Thanksgiving as if the battle was already won! For many reasons, I see too many intercessors downtrodded and beaten up. I, too, was feeling like I was in a bunker for many months, even years - never advancing; feeling like everything around me was falling apart or blowing up. We must never lose focus on Him - many times we focus on the battle, or our wounds, or our circumstance or any number of things that distract our focus from Him. After they gave thanks and praised the Lord, the Lord sent confusion into the enemies' camp (v22) and they destroyed one another. "When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it." This is amazing! We will see and are begining to see this plunder. Obviously today we aren't doing this by natural means, but rather in the heavenlies through our prayer, intercession, and worship. As we begin to win these battles, we too are going to see a plunder. Paul said we are to "wrestle principalities", but as we gain victory, needed resources will be released into the church for the good of His people. It also says that "the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel." People will see the Lord in us and see our peace in the midst of trials, and see the fear of God as we fight. It goes on to say, "Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around." I could go on and on about the "rest of the Lord", but I'll just say this - we are coming to an age where we will have to battle to find rest - we will no longer be able to continue to avoid battles to find a counterfeit peace - the peace will elude us unless we take the yoke of the Lord and overcome. It is through the overcoming life that we will move from victory to victory, and rest in Him.
In summary, we see here a picture of what the church should look like in these last days. As the vast spiritual army comes on all sides, the Lord will reveal strategies to overcome. He will reveal Himself through however He chooses - we must be in tune with the Father to see what he is saying and doing. Jesus said He only did what He saw His Father in heaven doing. As we do that, we will see the enemy brought down as the "God of peace will soon crush satan under our feet." Not only do we need to be in tune with the Father, but we need one another in the body of Christ. As we see in this story, the Lord used many people to reveal what He was doing for His people. Likewise, in these last days, we will be laboring together, building upon one another's work rather than doing seperate works or our own thing or treading over the same ground over and over again. This collaboration will be necessary in order to forcefully advance the kingdom of God. Keep soldiering on!
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