Tag: strongholds

SILENT NO LONGER

Where are the watchmen?  Where are the gatekeepers that protect the city from the enemy?  For far too long, the city of God has been in ruins because we allowed the enemy to get inside the church.  We set satan up in our pulpits to preach prosperity doctrine and things that are not of God.  Then we wonder where the power went that used to be in the church.  We traded it for silver and gold.  It was traded for houses, cars and alligator shoes. The ones that were not guilty of teaching such nonsense are just as guilty for keeping silent. Is our silence a sin? Should we have stood boldly and cried out against wrong?

James 4:17 -17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

But God has a remnant of people that have not bowed to the idols of this world.  Just like in Elijah’s day, he felt like he was the only one that had not bowed to baal, but God had people that were standing strong. We, too can stand strong against the evil of this world.

Isaiah 62:6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence,

My biggest mistake and shortcomings are that I have sat quietly by because I didn’t want to have conflict with anyone.  I have not been as bold as I should have been to stand up and declare the word of the Lord.  Preachers and teachers are not the only ones who are called to go make disciples.  We are all sent out to love people and show them Jesus.

God has set watchmen on the walls to keep an eye out for the enemy. These watchmen were supposed to warn us to prepare for battle.  The gatekeepers were supposed to check identities and not allow the enemy to enter the city.  Where are the gatekeepers and watchmen? It is up to us each, in our own way, to guard the territory we have been given. 

Parents need to loudly declare the word of the Lord that satan will not get their children.  It is promised that He will bless your children.  Jacob was blessed because of Issac and Abraham.  I am blessed because I have generations of God-fearing people in my lineage.

We need to take back the territory that we have quietly let the enemy come in and steal.  Where are the warriors of God?  It is time for the “dry bones” to arise and go on the march to take back our homes, our schools, our cities, our churches and our government. 

How do we fight these battles? Not with weapons like most would think of as weapons. We fight with our words; we declare the Word of the Lord. We pray boldly that territories will be restored to the people of God.

2 COR 10:3-5  3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:  4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)  5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

We are flesh but do not war with other people. We war with spirits and demons sent out to destroy. The things we fight are not carnal or natural but we are in the biggest spiritual battle of our lives.  We do not battle alone; God sent mighty warring angels to battle things we cannot see.  Casting down ideas of evil that try to take over the place that God is meant to be, we are to arrest every thought that is not godly. We can conform it to be obedient to Christ. In other words, we cannot keep ideas from going through our minds. That is the way the enemy enters our lives through our thoughts. But when things that are contrary to the word of God pass through our minds, we need to not dwell on it but tell it to leave in Jesus’ name.

This is why it is so very important to have the Word on the inside of us. How can we fight against evil if we do not know the definition of evil according to the word of God? It is time for us to get outside the walls of the church building and “BE” the church.  We cannot win the lost sitting in a pew.

Luke 4:23- And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  The word compel means to strongly suggest, talk until they quit resisting, to coerce. If we keep quiet, we cannot compel them to come into the family of God. It is time we were silent no longer.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

SERVANT’S HEART

Where you start is not where you will end if you run this race with a servant’s heart. Many of us have God destinies that we have yet to discover.  He is going to use us in ways that we never dreamed of. As a matter of fact, if we knew where we were going to finish this race, it would probably scare us.  That is why God moves us up a new level every so often when He feels we are ready.

II Cor 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

We are changing from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord.  God elevates us as we spiritually grow and mature so that we can handle the new level.

Look at David, the shepherd boy; no one believed he would be King David. God knew his potential. David worshipped God with his whole heart.  Even when he fell into sin, God loved him and forgave him.  But notice how David was obedient to his earthly father and watched over the flock.  He learned many lessons being a shepherd.

His obedience took him to one of the greatest moments he would walk out in his life. He came face to face with the enemy, Goliath. We always will find our destiny by serving and helping others fight their battles. Even after he had been anointed king by Samuel.  He didn’t start acting like he was something great.  He didn’t let pride overtake him.  If that was some of us today, he would have said, “You need to get someone to watch the sheep.  I am going to be king.  I don’t want to do that any longer.  I am better than that; I am going to be king.” But David didn’t get prideful; he had a servant’s heart. He continued to serve as he was waiting for God’s timing. He trusted God to bring to pass what was spoken over him.

God allowed him to kill a lion. This gave him confidence when he came up against the bear. Which was bigger.  When he came up against Goliath, he had confidence that God would not let him down. Even though David was destined for great things, he served God where he was at the present time.

Facing Goliath was his destiny.  He met that destiny by being a servant.  His father Jesse sent David to take food and drink to his brothers, who were in a standoff with the Philistines. He had already been anointed by the prophet and told he would be king.  But he occupied where he was and waited for God to bring to pass that which was spoken over him.

How often do we feel like God is going to do something in our lives?  We feel he has a destiny for us that is greater than where we are currently walking.  But we get frustrated when things don’t come to pass as quickly as we feel they should happen. God’s timing is perfect. God cannot trust us with our Goliath yet.  We are not equipped to handle facing the giant. First, we have to kill the lion and the bear. Because the experience we gain facing those things will prepare us for our Goliath.

David was anointed three times to be King.  First was by the prophet Samuel. (I Sam. 16:13) This happened in front of his family. So only a few knew of God’s calling for his life. Often those closest to us will see what God is doing long before we do. 

The second anointing took place before the tribe of Judah by the elders of that tribe. This occurred in Hebron after the death of King Saul. (II Sam 2:4) Then he had to walk in his anointing in order for it to grow into God’s place for him.

The third time David was anointed to be king was not just to be king over Judah, but over Israel also. (I Chr. 11:3) This was in front of many in the nation of Israel.

This is another example of how God elevates us.  First, it was in front of his family, then it was before the tribe of Judah. The third was before the nation of Israel.  Each level of anointing gave him more responsibility. With each level, more people recognized he was called by God to be King. But do not forget he was once a shepherd boy.

The parable Jesus spoke in Matthew 25:21 speaks of a man that gave his servants talents and left for a long journey.  It goes on to explain that some took those talents and invested them and created more talents.  While one buried his talent because he didn’t want to lose it. When the man returned, a couple of them had doubled what they had been given. The master said Matt 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

This parable is a good example for us.  God gives us things and he expects us to use them to give an increase to the Kingdom of the Lord. But if we do not desire to increase what he has given us, we will never reach our destiny. We will never have that defining moment when we stand boldly before our Goliath and say, “I come to you in the name of this Lord” That word said the giant was going to fall.

Keep doing the small stuff, the God who sees in secret will reward us openly.  We just have to defeat our giant. The lesson that we need to take from this is we all have a place God wants to take us.  God has things for us to do and the way we end this life will be greater than we began if we fully trust God.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

BELIEVE GOD

There is a story in 2 Kings 7 – Samaria was in a bad famine. The Lord spoke to Elisha to tell the people that the famine was ending.

7:1 Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.   2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

The king’s assistant didn’t believe Elisha and went on to speak negatively out of his mouth. (Our words are serious business.) Elisha told him he would see the fine flour to be sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, but he would not eat of it. 

There are lessons about the lepers that are in this story. But I am going to skip over them for now except to say.  God used them to scare off an army.  They went back to Samaria and told them their enemy had left their camp and there were a lot of spoils. This is how that flour came to be at the gate for sale.

2 Kings 7:17 And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him.   (18) And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria: (19) And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.  (20) And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.

The man died because of his unbelief and the words in his mouth.  Pause a moment and think about that…he died because he didn’t believe the one God sent and he spoke against what the prophet of God had said.

Any time God does something the enemy has to counterfeit it.  God has prophets, the enemy created fortune tellers and psychics.  The difference is a prophet of God gets their words from God.  Psychics and fortune tellers get information from evil spirits or witchcraft.

The seriousness of the man’s words cost him his life. We are living in serious times.  We are on the edge of a breakthrough.  Many people are saying that God told them things that are going to come to pass.  One being a great harvest of souls. Another is that God is going to give his children back our nation. The one I pray about everyday is for God to set free the children that are enslaved in human trafficking. All of these things sound amazing.  But before we get negative, remember how serious it is to doubt God.  When someone tells you God said, first of all check your bible, does it line up with the word of God.

 GAL 1:8-9 (8) But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. (9) As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

If it does not go against the Bible, pray about it.  Ask God to show you.  Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed.  God will give you confirmation if you are humble before God and ask him. Never just assume that they are wrong and speak negatively out of your mouth against it.

It is easy to get wrapped up in our ideas, theologies, and religion. It is easy to dismiss things we do not fully understand. God did not create a body of believers for us to not be in unison. Denominations and man’s organizations have divided the body for too long.  We have warred with each other over ideas and doctrines that mean very little in the grand scheme of things.

It is time for God’s people to unite and seek him to give us the answers.  If we seek him with our whole hearts, He will reveal Himself to us.  He will show us His plan. Set a guard over your mouth and watch your words and ask him for a revelation.

Strongholds

2 Cor. 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds)

How often do we have a place where the enemy has dug in and will not let go? This is referred to as a stronghold. Then we try to fight the enemy with our willpower and our strength.

No one has ever overcome Satan’s strongholds by sheer will and strength. It takes God to help us.

Strongholds are lies we tell ourselves that keep us bound. Until we accept God’s truth about the situation we will stay bound. It is when we quit telling ourselves we are stuck that we truly find freedom.

If Christians could learn to not listen to the lies of the enemy, we would be free from ever falling into a situation that is a stronghold in the first place.

So, identify the strongholds and ask God to help you to tear down the strongholds of the enemy.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS.