Marching Orders
I was having a conversation with God reading through the scriptures when the words “marching orders” came into my spirit. The words were actually, “obey your marching orders.” I also heard him say, “This what you are to write about for the week.” All kinds of scenarios came to mind, but I felt like God was saying something different. Then it hit me, he had given me some instructions on how to move with an assignment. I kept saying, “okay,” but I was not following the instructions. I actually forgot the instructions and was doing the assignment the best way I could. Here’s the best part; I thought I was perfectly aligned with God!
But just like God sent a prophet to Israel when they were disobedient, He does the same to us today. Hebrews 13:8 says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. I received a phone call from an ambassador of Christ with a “one minute” word. She said, “God told me to give you this one minute word.”
The message in part said when we are disobedient, we make way for evil to be established against us. When we are delayed in our obedience, it does not mean something is not happening. Partial obedience is still disobedience. The Roman Empire became empowered when there was no prophet or king in Israel. The Israelites had chosen not to follow the commandments God had given them and God did not speak. It was 450 years between the Old and New Testaments. During that time of disobedience something was still happening.
I immediately asked God, “Is there something that I am not being obedient in?” He immediately showed me and I repented instantly! Family, God is not playing. He is serious and means what he says. We are just so blessed that he is gracious and kind. I encourage you to take a moment and ask God if there are any areas of your life that he has given you instructions and you have disobeyed. When he brings revelation to you, repent and turn back to him in full obedience!
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14, ESV
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Stand in the Rest
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic power over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12, ESV
God has given me this new way of writing and how he wants these messages to be completed. He had me writing on the subject of rest, but I found myself wrestling with how to get the assignment finished. I was so frustrated and upset about not hearing the Holy Spirit speak to me with what to write. I had myself all worked up trying to figure everything out!
While in the midst of all of that emotional drama, my alarm went off reminding me that it was time to meet with God. I was tempted to try and push through the writings, but I stopped, shut the computer down and walked outside with my writing pad and pens. I sat for awhile in quietness and then begin speaking to the Holy Spirit about all my emotions and trying to get this project finished. He let me talk for a while and then my words just supernaturally went off to praying in the spirit!
All of a sudden, I was full of joy and praising God! My hands were lifted and tears were running down my eyes. There was a relief in my spirit. I could literally feel God lifting that heavenliness that was on my heart. He brought me words of comfort and gave me assurance that I was on the right path. He said, you just have to rest and be still. Stand on my word, what I said I will do, trust my word. If you feel that you have not received what you need ask me and move on in faith. He reminded me that trust in him is how I rest. The rest was so peaceful and joyful that I went out and took a walk! He gave me some instructions during the walk and I came back writing.
God has not called us to wrestle with our emotions, but to stand in his word. The emotional wrestling removes you from your rightful position of standing. When you are standing in the word, you will find peace in your soul and a joy knowing that God is handling whatever you are facing.
Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand. What is God telling us to withstand? The wrestling with flesh and blood.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Rest
…At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat Genesis 8:3-4, ESV
In Hebrew: nuwach means to rest, to remain, to be quiet. God brought the ark to a place of rest. There are seasons in our lives when God will bring us to a place of rest. He will remove us from everything. I remember that Joyce Myer once told a story about a tea cup that was put in the furnace, then taken out and put on a shelf for a while before it was painted. Later it was put back into the furnace and then on the shelf to rest. Her story was like a parable of our own lives.
I remember when God told me to remove myself from everything I was doing at the church. He had me remove myself from Bible study and prayer groups. He literally sat me down and took me to a place of rest. He would not let me do anything. Everything became so quiet. I did not even know what to do with myself. When I think about the ark the water had abated and it had come to rest on a rock. I could not understand why God had brought me to that place of stillness. But just like the ark had another assignment, so did I. The ark could not fulfill its next assignment until it was completely still. Everything that was in the ark had to unloaded, but to do that the ark had to be at rest.
I could not hear from God and get to the place where he wanted without being still. I needed to be quiet in my spirit, but there were activities that were taking me away from what God wanted most for me. He needed to pour into me and it could not happen with me consistently moving.
Quietness came over me. He blocked all my friends and would not let me call or talk to anyone without his permission. As a matter of fact I still do that now and I love it! It was a time for me to learn how to sit and not just hear God, but to listen to God. I believe when God sits us down for a rest there is more going on in our souls than we could ever imagine. It is a special kind of rest that we cannot give ourselves. The ark could not rest until God removed all the water. Remember that when God removes everything from you, he is not trying to take something from you, but give something to you. Enjoy the season of rest that he puts you in!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Stand in Victory
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Ephesians 6:11, ESV
You can read a scripture and hear it taught so many times and then all of a sudden you get what God is saying. I had read the verse above so many times, but never really understood that I was supposed to stand in the word of God when Satan throws his schemes my way.
The verse above says to stand in victory. It does not say fight. It does not say wrestle. It says to stand. When you read further in the chapter it says, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Ephesians 6:12-13, My focus has always been on the fact that we are not wrestling with flesh and blood, but the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. I completely missed the message again to stand!
God is not telling us that we have to fight and wrestle, when we do those things we have moved out of our position of standing on the word of God. The enemy will use anything to tempt us to move from our position. That is his goal to get us to wrestle and fight, but the word says we have victory by standing on the word of God. When we find ourselves worked up we have succumbed to Satan’s schemes because with God our position is joy, peace, calmness in the Holy Ghost.
When we are in our armor every response is with the word and then we stand in victory. I have been in a season where God is making me keenly aware of every emotional feeling that I have. I hear him say to me, “What is this that you feel? Don’t react to those feelings, but lay them down with the word of God.” I know that I am in battle training and as long as I stay in the word I keep my peace and therefore I am in the correct position.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:8, ESV
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Our Prayers are Heard
Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. Daniel 10:12, ESV
Daniel had been fasting and praying because his heart was heavy for his people because of the treachery that the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel had committed against God. It brought great calamity on the people. Daniel was seeking God for his great mercy on them.
In Daniel’s prayer he address all the wrong Israel had done to God. We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Daniel 9:5-10, ESV
Israel had sinned greatly against God and all the calamities that God told them would happen if they disobeyed, came upon them. Even though Daniel knew that the punishment was just and his people were wrong; he still sought God for mercy.
This story gives me so much hope and confidence in our God because it says in Daniel 10:12 that Daniel’s prayer was heard from the moment he set his heart to seek God. Daniel had fasted and prayed for 21 days, but the angel said the first day they heard his prayer God moved them to bring answers to Daniel’s request.
It does not matter where we find ourselves, or what situations we bring upon ourselves, it is never so terrible that we cannot turn to God with a repented heart and he not hear us. Psalm 66:19-20 says, “But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.” Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer, or removed his steadfast love from me!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Voice Activated
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Genesis 1:3, ESV
Everything that was created in the earth came through the power of the voice of God. Scripture teaches us that when God spoke it was so. We have to understand that we have that same power. Scripture says, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realm…” Ephesians 1:18-20 When we use our voice with the faith that God has given us things happen in the spiritual realm and is manifested on earth.
“…whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.” Mark 11:23, ESV
Anything that we try to get accomplished on earth requires us to use our voice. Even to put on the full armor of God we have to use our voice. The “belt of truth” is the word of God. We use our voice to speak the truth. The “breastplate of righteousness” is of God, so we must use our voice to speak what is right. The “readiness for our feet” is the gospel of peace. Peace comes from God which is his word and we speak the word. The “shield of faith,” the “helmet of salvation,” the ‘sword of the Sprit” is all the word of God. To put on the full armor of God and stand in this world we must use our voice!
When we speak the word of God out loud, the angels hear and movement happens. Scripture says, For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11, ESV God, himself, stands over and watches over his own word, making sure it is fulfilled. Jeremiah 1:12
I prayed the word of God over my father when he had cancer. Although he had to go through the chemo process and other treatments, five years later God healed him! When you take your requests to God, make sure that you are speaking his word. Because he listens and moves when the word is spoken! Amen
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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His Weapon for Battle
“You are my war club, my weapon for battle—with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms, Jeremiah 51:20, NIV
Why does God need weapons to fight in the battle with Satan? When Adam and Eve turned the earth over to Satan, they put their lineage (us) against God and there was nothing anyone in the world could do to change it. The earth and everything in it belongs to God. Those who have accepted Jesus Christ are his agents to bring the message of salvation to those who do not know him.
I was listening to a pastor speak and he said that we are God’s weapons of war. We are not only here for worship, but for war. That statement reminded me of when I was younger. My parents had put me and my siblings in our church’s little children’s choir. One of the songs we used to sing was, “We are Soldiers in the Army of God.”
At that time I did not understand why we would had to fight in God’s army if he had already won the war. I did not understand that everyday there are battles to save the souls of lost individuals. We are God’s weapon against Satan and our fight is to stand in the word and offer love to the world.
The challenge comes when Satan tries to tempt us to step out of our position. How does he do that? I remember one time I had bought a beautiful dress for church and work. I was so excited about it and on this particular day I wore it to work. On break one of my coworkers and I decided to go pick up shaved ice for everyone at work. We were at the shop and on our way into the building this lady honked at me and told me to move my car. We just looked at her like, “what?” There were plenty of parking spaces for her and we went inside the building.
There were a lot of people inside the building waiting for their orders. When the lady who honked at me got inside the building she asked them if she could purchase a certain type of soda, but they did not carry it. So instead she asked for a cup of water. Now mind you this place is packed with people and everyone could see and hear her. When they gave her the cup of water, she took it and threw it at my dress. All down the front of the dress was wet and then she said, “Oh, I’m sorry.” I was in such shock that I could not move.
The owner of the store and everyone around started to try and help me get the water dried up off my dress. My coworker kept saying, “Are you alright? Do we need to get this chick?” Listen Satan’s move was to get me out of position, but instead God held me. I was shocked at myself because I just kept telling everyone that I was good. It was only by the grace of God that I was kept as a weapon for him. I did not move and his love was displayed for all those in that shop to see his glory!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Misuse of the Blessing
And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him! Genesis 24:60, ESV
The passage above is a blessing that Laban and his mother prayed over his sister Rebekah. She was leaving her family to become the wife of Isaac. When Rebekah left, she knew that her husband was very wealthy. Her brother Laban also knew that Isaac was extremely wealthy because the servant of Abraham (Isaac’s father) who came to seek out Rebekah told them about Abraham’s wealth and that all of it would be going to Isaac. The servant also had brought expensive gifts to give to Rebekah and her family before they left.
Years passed and Rebekah had twin sons Esau and Jacob. Laban, her brother had two daughters Rachel and Leah and some sons. Because of the discord that had occurred with Rebekah’s twin sons, one had planed to kill his brother as soon as his father died. So Rebekah requested that her husband Isaac send their son Jacob back to Paddan-aram to her brother Laban to get a wife.
Jacob left and God directed him to his uncle Laban’s home. When Jacob arrived, Laban was happy to see him. Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. Genesis 29:15-20, ESV
But Laban tricked Jacob and gave him his daughter Leah. Jacob was angry and confronted Laban about the deception. Laban told Jacob that in their country they do not marry off the younger daughter before the older one. Laban told Jacob that he could work another seven years for his daughter Rachel. Because Jacob loved Rachel he agreed to another seven years. While Jacob was working for Laban, he amassed a great amount of wealth. But he did not give any of this wealth to Jacob. Jacob had worked for Laban for 14 years and had not amassed any wealth. When Jacob decided to leave, Laban offered him the opportunity to gain wealth and they agreed on the wages. But Laban changed the wage ten times! God eventually removed the wealth from Laban and gave it all to Jacob because of the way Laban had treated Jacob.
Laban prayed and blessed his daughter before she left to marry Isaac. God sent the blessing back to Laban through her son for a season and Laban abused the blessing and did not recognize the gift God had sent to him.
I think that because Jacob did not show up with a large amount of wealth, Laban did not recognize the gift before him. He took advantage of Jacob and misused him. We must be very careful about how we treat what God brings before us. He always has a purpose of goodness for those who love the Lord; even when we cannot see the blessing at the moment! Amen!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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An Overnight Change
The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.” Genesis 24:16-17, ESV
The passage above is about Rebekah, who became Isaac’s wife. She was a maiden in her family’s home. She was carrying out her responsibilities of getting water to take back to her family’s house. Rebekah had no idea that her life was about to change. She had no idea that God had ordained for her to be a wealthy woman with servants and beautiful pieces of gold, silver and jewels. Whatever she desired was waiting for her.
Abraham, Isaac’s father whom God had made very wealthy was giving all of his wealth to his son Isaac. But because Abraham was older, he sent the master of his household on a journey to his relatives home to find a wife for his son Isaac. Rebekah had no idea when she woke up that morning that her life would never be the same again.
When we stay in position and do as God instructs, we do not miss our blessing. When I look back at my dating life, I could have saved myself so many headaches and trouble if I had just trusted God completely with my life. So many times we try to make things work and manipulate situations to get what we think we want, however, God already has our desires mapped out.
When God moves it is usually totally unexpected and an overnight change. We just don’t see it coming. Rebekah did not see Isaac coming and didn’t realize that she would later become a wife. Mary did not see becoming the mother of Jesus Christ. David did not see himself becoming the King of Israel and Moses certainly did not see himself leading the people of Israel out of Egypt. What am I saying? You cannot always see God’s hand moving, but he is always working on our behalf. He does what seems to us like an overnight change, but for him it was always in the plan. I want to encourage you, to stay the course and get ready for an overnight change!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Marching Orders
Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran. Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, “Come what may, let me also run after the Cushite.” And Joab said, “Why will you run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for the news?” “Come what may,” he said, “I will run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and outran the Cushite. 2 Samuel 18:21-23, ESV
Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king, “All is well.” And he bowed before the king with his face to the earth and said, “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king.” And the king said, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king's servant, your servant, I saw a great commotion, but I do not know what it was.” And the king said, “Turn aside and stand here.” So he turned aside and stood still. And behold, the Cushite came, and the Cushite said, “Good news for my lord the king! For the Lord has delivered you this day from the hand of all who rose up against you.” The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” And the Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you for evil be like that young man.” 2 Samuel 18:28-31, ESV
When we receive our marching orders from God it will come with opposition. The opposition can be from within our own mind, or from outside sources. In the scriptures above, King David’s son Absalom had gone up against him in war. He was literally fighting to take over his father’s throne and destroy him. This reminded me of Satan, who tried to take over heaven, with God being his father. King David had given instructions about his son Absalom. He asked his soldiers to deal gently with the young man Absalom for his sake. The people had heard that the king had given this order, but regardless his son was murdered in the battle.
Joab was one of the commanders in charge of David’s army. After killing Absalom and gaining victory in the war, he told a Cushite to go and tell the king what he had seen. Even before Joab had given the instruction to the Cushite, a soldier named Ahimaaz asked Joab if he could run and tell the king the news. Joab told Ahimaaz, “no,” but sent the Cushite instead. The Cushite started running to deliver the message, but Ahimaaz once again asked Joab if he could go to the king. Joab finally relented and Ahimaaz took off. When Ahimaaz left, he took a different path than the Cushite and arrived earlier to the king.
Although Ahimaaz arrived before the Cushite and gave the king the news, he could not answer his question because he did not have all the information. The king put Ahimaaz aside and waited for the Cushite to arrive. When he spoke to the Cushite, he had all the information he needed.
When given an assignment you may not feel as qualified to handle it in comparison to someone else. One of our ministers at church said, “Comparison is a thief of joy.” Ahimaaz was the messenger who was regularly assigned to run and provide information to the king. The Cushite had no idea why he was chosen to run to the king instead of Ahimaaz. He was given one assignment: go to the king and tell him what he had witnessed. Ahimaaz had not seen what the Cushite witnessed so he lacked the adequate knowledge to go before the king.
Listen! God gives us assignments every day that may appear that we can’t handle! For example, I have several social media accounts and God told me to give the people the message he had put into my spirit on each one of the accounts. I can tell you for the longest time I did not follow that assignment! I felt like there were already too many other people on social media who were better qualified than me in giving God’s word. They had more education and knowledge of the word. But when God says to do something, he does not need us to give him an account of what the circumstances may look like. He only needs us to obey the order that was given! I found this out quickly when God had sent a personal message to me telling me that I was in disobedience to him. I quickly repented and started doing exactly what he said. I had no idea what God put into my spirit, but I know it is was a message from him and he wanted me to give it to the people.
I loved the story about the Cushite because it showed how God expects us to move no matter what we think. The Cushite never wavered from his assignment. He may have had doubts in his mind, the scripture does not say, but he obeyed the instructions that he was given. When he arrived to King David, he was the only one who could answer the king’s question. Stay the course of your marching orders!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Provision
“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. Deuteronomy 28
When I was growing up, I was not a fan of all my parent’s rules, so I disobeyed them. I thought my mom was crazy and I disliked being a pastor’s kid. By the time I was a teenager, needless to say, many of the people at our church were not a fan of me. My parents were consistently taking away privileges and disciplining me to get me to obey. When I think back about my behavior I wanted to be obedient on my terms. I did not enjoy getting in trouble and missing out on the opportunities that were there for me. It was a battle of surrendering my soul. I felt like I was giving up apart of myself when I surrendered. I did not realize that my soul needed to be surrendered.
I believe that it is the same way when it comes to serving God. He promises all these provisions if we obey his instructions and the opposite if we choose to disobey his commandments. Because we live in a world full of sin and we were born with a sinful nature, the battle to have our own identity and do our own thing gives us a false sense that we are losing our identity if we surrender to God.
Many people don’t know that they have been robbed of their true identity. In addition, for many individuals it is not until there is hopelessness, or something worse in their life that they would even begin to consider God. Our true identity is found in Genesis 1:27, “so God create man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them…” Genesis 1:27-28, ESV When man knows and accepts who they are and their purpose they will never feel like they are losing their identity, or losing control of themselves. They will find that it is a joy to surrender to God, obey his instructions and enjoy all his provisions!
Lord, God!
How awesome you are to create man in your image! Thank you! Thank you for all your blessings! I pray that you will bless mankind so that they will begin to: understand how wide, long, high and deep your love is and to know that this love surpasses all knowledge; that they may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God; so that they will surrender their souls and be able to receive all the blessing you have waiting for every believer who obeys your word! This I pray in Jesus’ name amen!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Lack
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9
Lack: the state of being without or not having enough of something.
Chacer(Hebrew): fail, want, lessen
Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. John 6:5-13, ESV
The disciples had been with Jesus for sometime now and they had seen him do miracles before, but they still did not realize who was before them. We can all be that way in our own lives. We pray and ask God for something, he answers our prayers and we soon forget how he brought us out of our difficult situations. For example your car breaks down and you get hit with a huge car repair bill and there is no money in your budget to cover it. We can easily forget that God is standing right there waiting to help us. Just like the disciples, they didn’t realize that the resource they needed was standing right in front of them.
The scripture above says that our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich became poor, so that we who are in poverty could become rich. This Bible verse is telling us that once you accept Jesus Christ as our personal savior, you have become rich. You receive all that Jesus received. You have his inheritance. Immediately, you receive a direct deposit into your account as an heir of his. The reason the inheritance comes immediately is because Jesus already died. We all have to wait for our relatives to die to receive their inheritance. But that is not so with Jesus because he has already done the work necessary for us to just receive.
Scripture teaches that we are not to look at the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. We are to keep looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. He who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. No matter what we face, God has already prepared the answer!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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The Phone
…everyone should be quick to listen…, James 1:19, NIV
When I was growing up, the phone either hung on the wall, or it was attached to a cord that was attached to the wall in our home. You would have never seen anyone with a phone in their pocket. If someone had told me back then that I would be carrying a phone around in my purse I never would have believed them! But here we are today with this amazing technology!
I am grateful to be apart of this amazing technology, but we have to be very careful about how we use it. I remember that if I was not at home and someone called, they would have had to leave a message. They would never have been able to instantly get in touch with me. But now all that has changed. While on vacation, my hubby and I were at a coffee shop ordering a hot tea when my phone rang. I looked down and I was tempted to pick up the call, but at the same time I was interacting with the sales clerk. I felt the Holy Spirit in that moment say, “Pause,” so I continued with my order. Later in the day, the Holy Spirit prompted me to see if the caller had left me a message and there was one.
The message was from a dear friend. God had sent her to give me a one minuet word! The word was so powerful that I had to replay it multiple times and write it down. While I was sitting reflecting on the message, the Holy Spirit said, “I did that on purpose. I had the call come when you were busy because I did not want you to answer it. I wanted you to have the message saved on your phone.” If I had taken the call I would not have been able to save it for future reflection. I would have only heard it once.
He reminded me how important it is was to quickly listen to him. We are so accustomed to picking up the phone when it rings that we do not hear him telling us to pause. Many times the call is not for us at that moment. When we are engaged with someone else, or doing some work, we need to pause before we answer and check in with God. He has ordained every step of our life. He knows exactly what is coming and when we need to access the information. Scripture says, “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. Psalm 139:16, NAS So, the next time your phone rings make sure that you pause and check in with your most trusted advisor; the Holy Spirit. It could be that the call is not for you to answer at that moment. Amen!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Sow Goodness
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. Galatians 6:7, ESV
I was out in my garden admiring all the wonderful vegetation that had come up. It was my first time planting cabbage and broccoli so I was excited to see them grow up from a small seed to produce so much fruit. I remember touching the top of the broccoli so very carefully as I stood back and admired it. I was so excited to harvest the first batch!
Weeks later the Holy Spirit said to me, “You have received what you planted, but this principle works throughout all the earth.” When the scripture says that there will be a time to sow seed and a time to harvest, he is not only speaking about planting physically, but planting spiritually.
He began to show me in the spirit that if you sow evil to others that is what will produce for yourself in your life. He said, “You are only going to receive what you have sown in the earth.” He showed me that what we speak and do to others is like planting seeds and eventually just like my cabbage and broccoli produced fruit, so will our actions. I immediately began to repent and asked God for forgiveness because I have not always treated people with kindness.
I have been blessed to be around some spirit filled people who I have witnessed consistently sowing into others. They made such a sacrifice with their own income, time and work to sow goodness into other individuals lives. Do you know what I see happen to them time and time again? God sows back into their lives abundantly! It is not just them who receives blessings, but their families and friends are also blessed because of what they have done for others! It reminds me of my garden: I planted the seeds and did the work so the plants could produce their fruit, but when the fruit came up it was so much that I gave some to my family and friends. The abundance was so much I could not eat it all! I had to share with others!
It is so important that you pay attention to what kind of seeds you are sowing because whatever you sow, you will produce fruit and impact all those around you. Jesus says that we are to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. And we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. When we do this we are guaranteeing abundance of goodness back into our lives and those connected to us!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Embrace
Normally when I write I sit down with the Holy Spirit and I just start writing. I usually never know what I am going to write about, I hear the Holy Spirit speaking and I write. So when the Holy Spirit said to me, “Go get your notes from our quiet time together and write.” I became a bit anxious and nervous about writing. You would think that just writing from my notes would be easier, but I had become so reliant on the Holy Spirit. That is a good thing, but he was teaching me a new way of writing. It was like taking a bottle from a baby!
It was so funny! I had no idea that I was being hand fed by him. I thought that I was in this great space, hearing from God and writing, but now he was graduating me. I had learned how to depend on him and hear his voice, but now he was teaching me how to use my strength with him. I can tell you, I did not like the change because I had become comfortable with the way things were!
Every time I felt the prompt to look at my notes, I would try and write something else. My notes were not in any kind of order and it was going to be more work for me to get things written. Look at God! He was putting me to work for the kingdom, which is what I asked for, but I did not want to do it that way. God is always maturing us so that we can become all that he called us to be.
Many times when change comes we don’t like it because we are usually comfortable with the how things are going. I remember every time my son would have a birthday I would ask him, “Are you excited to turn this new age?” He would say, “No, I like the age I am. I don’t want to get older.” Although he was happy with the way his life was, God was not going to let him stay that way. Every year he got older, whether he liked it or not, and the responsibilities increased.
It is the same with us, as servants of the most high God, he does not let us stay the same. He is consistently growing us into becoming all that he ordained us to be from the beginning. Remember Moses started out in a palace, then as a shepherd and finally was the leader of millions. Every stage of our life has purpose and we have to embrace the changes knowing that God has the ultimate plan in mind and it is for our good! I want to encourage you to embrace the change that is coming your way because God is not going to change his mind!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Hear God
Call to Me and I will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish. Jeremiah 33:3 Amplified Bible (AMP)
I was sitting in my quiet time just listening before the Lord. I had my journal and I was prepared to write whatever instructions he had for me. It had gotten so quiet that I was beginning to think that I was not hearing God. Then all of a sudden I heard him say, I want you to write these topics down for the week and these will be your topics for your daily tapings. I mean just like that! God gave me the topics I needed!
Later that day, God told me to tell the people how they can hear from him. I thought, well, I hear from you all the time. I have gotten accustom to your voice. If you are seeking God, then you need to go to a place where you can quiet your mind and wait on him. You have to give him your undivided attention and be ready to listen. Many times we hear God, but are we “actively” listening to do what he is instructing us to do? I remember when I first started to really seek God. I cleaned out a closet that was full of clothes and I put a pillow, blanket, writing pen and journal in the closet. I prayed over the closet and I asked God to meet me in there. When I would go to the closet, it was usually in the evening and I would knock on the door. I would wait to hear God give me permission to come in. At the time I did not realize, he was teaching me how to hear from him.
As I was writing this, my thoughts went to Daniel and how he sought God through prayer and fasting. When he needed to interpret the King’s dream God answered his prayer. Moses always went up to the mountain and he heard from God. Abraham would hear him in his thoughts through the night.
In all of these situations it required positioning of the heart and giving attention to listening. When we want to hear from someone, we give them our undivided attention. It is the same with God. When you want to hear God speak to you, you must seek him with all of your heart. The word says that those who seek him will find him. If we knock, he will answer. I am reminded of Job. He sought God to understand what was happening to him. Although he had to wait for sometime, God came to him and answered him. I love that God answered Job with questions that Job could not answer. Many times we think that we have a justified reason to complain about the bad things going on in our lives, but God always has the right answer for it that we could never have imagined!
I remember when I was complaining to God about something my husband did. I can’t even remember what the complaint was about, but I remember God answering me with a question. He said to me, “Which one of your husband’s good attributes would you like me to remove to replace it with the issue you are complaining about?” Yeah, I was like, “Never mind God. Perhaps you are just working on me!”
To truly hear God it requires that you to do something. It requires active listening!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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The Church
My husband and I were in Carmel during Holy Week celebrating my birthday. One morning I was up praying for all those that would attend church on Easter Sunday. I was asking for the presence of God to touch people’s lives and that there would be a change in their hearts.
In the midst of my prayer, God started to show me people in all these different locations on Easter Sunday. Some people were at the beach, some visiting friends, some at a gas stations, others at the park, and in hotels. People were everywhere. Almost immediately after I saw that vision, the people who had Christ living inside of them were meeting with those who were in all those locations on Easter Sunday. He reminded me that every individual who had accepted him were the temple of God, they were the church!
He said, all those you prayed for will now be in church. It does not matter where they are. I have assigned them to meet me! My heart became overjoyed because I knew what that meant. All those individuals I prayed for will run into someone who will give them a word of encouragement, or the word they need that would minister to their hearts. God knows what each individual needs and he knows who to send to them to meet the hearts of those who are lost.
As believers we are the church, we do not have to carry a Bible around, or have tattoos on our arms to let others know we are of Christ. Jesus lives inside of us and when we are just being ourselves, he will shine through. Because we have surrendered ourselves to Christ his presence comes through. So we need to stop beating the unbeliever up with trying to save them. That is not our job. One person sows, another waters, but only God makes it grow. As believers our job is to love, this is what Christ requires of the church; to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul and to love our neighbors as ourself.
Oh praise God for the church! Amen
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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You Have Time!
I had taken an afternoon nap and I remember being asleep, but as I was waking up I was telling myself, “I don’t have time to meet with God.” I had a large list of things to get completed. This nap was longer than what I wanted it to be and I had a list of things that I wanted to get completed.
First, a little background about my meetings with God. One Sunday afternoon, many years ago, I was sitting in my room just reading and spending time with God. I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me in my heart and tell me that he wanted me to meet with him at 5:00 pm everyday. I said, “Okay,” but at that time I was working full-time and my husband and I rode to work together each day. I got off work at 4:00 pm and my husband was off at 5:00 pm, so I would wait for him and then we would drive home together. I decided that if God wanted to meet with me I would just open my Bible while riding home and listen to what he wanted to tell me.
I never told my husband what the Holy Spirit had spoken in my heart. I just felt like God would deal with that. The following week, my husband came to me and said that his hours at work had been changed and he would now be getting off work at 4:00 pm. I knew God had made that arrangement so that I could meet with him. I’ve worked hard to continue this 5:00 pm appointment ever since! But on that particular day when I heard myself saying that I did not have time to meet with God; I was referring to my 5:00 pm appointment. When I finally opened my eyes and realized what I was saying, God had awakened me from my nap at 5:00 pm!
When I noticed the time and that it was 5:00 pm I knew that the enemy was trying to keep me from the appointment. As I sat with God, he let me see that. He did not even have to wake me. I could have died in my sleep. As those thoughts filled my mind, I started thanking him for all of his goodness, kindness, love, grace, mercy and forgiveness. My heart started to overflow with gratitude. The more I thanked him the more revelation he kept bringing; showing me that everything I was doing was because of him. I was so ashamed of the feeling that I had previously. Here God had given me an open invitation to join him and my thoughts were that I did not have time!
I remember praying asking God for forgiveness, but more than that, just being overwhelmed by the love he has for all of us! We do have time because time is a gift and that gift was given to us by him!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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The Filthy House
…because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9, ESV
There was a house down the street from us where we saw a lot of people moving things out. We knew that there was an elderly couple and their older son living in the house. Because we were concerned, my husband stopped by to inquire about their family. We learned that the son who lived there had passed away. When his father got really sick he moved his parents in with him and took care of them. His father had already passed away and now it was just his mother left living there. The mother’s daughter and her relatives were getting rid of items in the house because they were going to sell the house.
My husband and I gave our condolences and while we were there, they offered to show us the inside of the house. We later thought about buying the house, but we talked about how much work we would have to do to get it to look the way we wanted it to. We knew it would take lots of work to get the house ready for us to live in.
Later that evening I was just thinking about all the things we would have to do and I remember telling my husband that I would not even want to live in there until we got the basic work done. Instantly, the Holy Spirit gave me this vision: I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior and he came in and sat in my filthy temple. My temple was so filthy that I wouldn’t even have wanted to sit in there. It smelled so bad. He showed me how when I accepted him, Satan left the residence, but all of his trash was left behind! The walls had to be scrubbed, the foundation had to be ripped up and relayed, pipes had to be replaced, nothing in my temple could stay.
He then began to show me that all those difficult hard times amounted to “cleaning”out my temple and replacing things so that I reflected him. He said just like you wanted to clean that house, I had to do the same thing with you, but your filth did not stop me from coming in because I knew the return on my investment would be outstanding! Hallelujah!
Every step in our life has purpose and it brings a mighty high return on Jesus’ investment!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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Our Father
Pray like this: Our Father in heaven…Matthew 6:9, ESV
The disciples had asked Jesus to teach them how to pray and we read in Matthew the instructions that he gave them. I love that he started the prayer with, “Our Father”! He is telling us to acknowledge him and to communicate with him like a child communicates to their parents.
There is no big fan fare or prestigious way to come to God. He requires us to come to him as a child with a pure heart. Recently I had been starting my prayers with the words “our Father” and it seems that I could not get past those words in my prayers. God would start to show me where he had been not just my Father, but Father to anyone who calls him Father.
I had the opportunity to visit a dear friend in a assisted living facility. She had been in the hospital for two months because of an illness in her body and she was now in this place to receive physical therapy. When I visited her she had been in that facility for two months. She was told that she would never walk again, but we know that God is a healer. She told me that she sees herself walking. We agreed on that and prayed together.
I sat beside her while she was in one of her physical therapy sessions and she was so happy. She was kind to all of the staff and there was just joy in her soul. God showed me how she has all these ailments going on in her body, yet he had put joy and peace in her soul. She would be heading home in a couple of days, and all she could talk about was how thankful she was to be going home. She did not complain about her illness, or about being in a wheelchair. She was just so happy! I told her, I had come to lift her up, but she had lifted my soul! She told me about some of the opportunities God had given her to travel. She had worked in politics for many years which gave her the opportunity to live in Washington D.C. For some years she had also worked at the Pentagon, but she was glad to be back in California. What I did not tell you is my dear sister is blind and as she shared some of her life with me. God kept showing me how he had been her Father.
After I prayed with my friend and left, I saw this gentleman sitting in a wheelchair outside. He had lit up a cigarette and in joking as I passed by him I said, “That is not good for you.” He said, “I know, I am trying to quit.” As I headed to my car the Holy Spirit prompted me to pray for him. I went back to him and asked if I could pray for him. He said, “Yes.” In our conversation he asked if I could pray for his mother. He said that she was aging and needed prayer. I thought wow, he is in this facility, but his heart is on someone else getting better. God showed me how this man could have joy and peace in his spirit and could be thinking of others rather than himself because he knew his Father was taking care of him.
When Jesus said to pray “our Father” He was telling us that God is our Father and no matter what situation we find ourselves in “our Father” will take care of us. Our situation may not be the way we want it, but our Father is there and He is taking care of us! Hallelujah!
Our Father, there is nothing more to be said, but thank you! Thank you that you are our Father! Amen.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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