Be Still and Know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
Again and again, this is what I hear. Again and again this is how I live despite all that is shaking around me. I am in a time of restraint. Restraint as far as holding back in order to free me from my own presumptuous thoughts and declarations to truly enter into His way. His way is a narrow way and we are all learning how difficult it truly is to be set free from US - our thoughts, our ideas, our, our our, me, me, me.
To be still is easy in Christ but impossible in us. We cannot work up being still because in trying to get still, we struggle quieting down and just being. Ever gone to a cabin where you wanted to spend time alone with God? It inevitably takes you hours or days to get still and tone down yourself in order to enter into an atmosphere of stillness where the reality of His presence surrounds you and in that place, you are with Him and peace surpasses all understanding and then you hear, and move in Him, and live in Him. God created this quite easy. We are the ones that make it hard.
Look around. The chaos is increasing and as this increases, those who are hid in Christ will decrease IN HIM. Why? Because to navigate these waters of treachery and uncertainty, it is only the wind of the Spirit that can move you through by the strength and power of the Lord. Instead of searching for a word to prophesy what is happening, I look to Him and He will open my mouth. Instead of trying to understand what is going on, I look to Him and in Him there is the simple understanding that I am hidden under the shadow of His wings and in that place there is safety.
What do I exactly see? The chaos is driving people...................driving people into anxiety. That anxiety manifests in many ways - depression, illness, fear. It also can manifest in an attitude that reflects itself in seeking pleasure at all costs to deny the pain through alcohol, drugs, partying, excessive traveling, spending money. Ah yes, the way I see it is that the world is getting darker by the moment.
I want you to know. I want you to see that you will not and cannot avoid it so to stick our head in the sand and to think that it will bypass us is ludicrous. Remember when Elijah told Ahab that there would be a drought? Well, Elijah was in the midst of what he himself was prophesying. He had to live in the drought and live in the prophesy that was affecting the nation while at the same time being protected and fed by the very hand of God. I don't believe for one moment that suddenly the USA will be all light and avoid earthquakes, floods, famine, disaster.....................we are already in it BUT BUT BUT we are in the world and not of the world. God keeps telling me to be still, be still and be still. To spend times with Him in intimacy so that I know Him so intimately and the sound of His voice that I will be in the right place at the right time.
I believe with all my heart in the light of the Body of Christ increasing but the darkness will also increase. I look around at those in the church that I randomly see and I see so little equipping taking place and much of the same ole' same ole' day by day and in that the people are living without any sense of destiny and purpose. They are building their homes on sand and with that it will all wash away and they will be unprepared.
As we start Rivers of Eden in April, I see that our assignment is to raise up a people who desire personal responsibility and a passionate desire to follow and serve the Lord Jesus Christ with no thought to what it costs them for they love Him wholeheartedly. The simplicity of our call is to draw people into a trust and a faith in Him that they are able to stand in Him and look to Him and know that He will lead and guide them through the coming days. In other words, Marvin and I want to work ourselves out of a job. We don't want people clinging to a form or structure in a building or a ministry.....we want them to grow, be free and stretch in Him. Like Esther, we want them to see that they live for such a time as this and their lives mean nothing to them apart from the Lord.
That is what we believe and that is what we impart. I will continue to sound the alarm that is being raised in my spirit with the simple message of 'Get ready!" Ready for what? Ready to follow Him where He is leading you despite all the roar that is around you. Separate yourself from the current chaos even though we continue to live in it and build your life and your house on the unshakable rock that is Christ Jesus. Seek wisdom to know. Seek peace to pursue. Walk contrary to the prevailing attitude in the world. The world is going to continue to shake with more and more earthquakes, more floods, more disaster, more disease and more and more..........the earth itself is groaning for the manifestation of the sons of God. It can't get any simpler that this....be still and know He is God. Turn off the noise and the voices that speak fear and destruction and know He is on the Throne and will never leave you.
More coming........................
Hebrews 5:14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. NKJV
Discern = To separate thoroughly; discriminate; judge; to distinguish; to conclude
Let us not check our brains at the door. If you are somewhere or with someone and you just feel that something is not right or does not look right or sound right, then give yourself the credit to realize that real eyes realize real lies and know that God is showing you something at that moment by His Holy Spirit. God has given us His Spirit to discern and to walk in wisdom in an age of massive deception. Discernment shows us through separation that which is of the Spirit from that which is empowered and motivated by that which is demonic. God has given us His Spirit to discern and to be at peace with what we discern. Discernment is the God given means by which we separate thoroughly that which does not line up with the Word or with the Spirit. How do we do this? Discernment comes by knowing our Lord in intimacy, through His Word, worshiping Him in Spirit and in Truth that when the false presents itself, we naturally turn aside and discern because it does not line up with what we believe to be God. We have that sensing inside that what we are looking at, or what we are hearing is just not God and we often can't put our finger on it so we may go with the flow and the flow may just not be God. It is not a time for judgement against other brothers or sisters in Christ. It is not a time for suspicion or caution based upon our feelings or emotions. It is a time for discernment and wisdom to arise in the Body of Christ by the Spirit of God within us. When we see and realize that what we are seeing is not of God, we stand in discernment and wait in wisdom. We speak as the Holy Spirit gives us utterance but never to attack or judge in self-righteousness for it is only there by the grace of God that we ourselves walk.
Why is this my topic of the day? Well, as I have been studying and reading this morning I have seen that many many Christians consistently get 'caught up' in a flow of this or a movement of this but take no personal responsibility to mature in Christ. Maturity feeds not on milk but on solid food. It then gives us a diet of a sure foundation in Christ. NOT a religious foundation that speaks without an experiential knowledge but in a foundation that is real in our lives. After walking with Him and talking with Him, through prayer and worship and study, our lives are formed in Christ Jesus and flows in Him and with Him and through Him. In that place we have embarked on a continual journey of maturity that takes us from glory to glory and from faith to faith. Maturity is a process while the immature seem to stay anchored in a current state of flow with whatever the wind brings. I do not want to be like this and pray each day that God gives me discernment and wisdom in each situation that I encounter.
For too long I went to revivals and conferences over the past years and just went with the flow at times and at times felt uncomfortable but what the heck? Everyone seemed okay with it so it must be God. Then something or should I say someone clicked in me with light and life where I discerned that so much of what I saw was rubbish. I did not want to judge but on the other hand neither did I want to enter in anymore. I allow God to deal with what is going on but as for me I am following the Spirit into a path of His way of experience on a sure foundation of the Word of God.
I don't want to proverbially throw the baby out with the bath water but neither do I want to get caught up with a current movement gone astray, or a conference mentality where divine impartation is assured one if they have hands laid on them, or a atmosphere where laughing or jerking or whatever is going on and to feel apart one may even mimic or join in to feel something. I simply can't do that anymore and years of being in the wilderness has heightened my discernment BUT also has allowed me to see that I must not judge. It is a balance achieved only by the Spirit. There is a time to talk and a time to be silent. I am learning the difference.
A pure heart operates in discernment, not suspicion or judgement. I have spent the morning studying many things concerning the false prophetic, demonic deception, false signs and wonders. I have prayed the blood of Jesus over me and have read and watched videos and came to the conclusion that the Body of Christ is in the midst of a massive wave of deception. I am not called to judge BUT I am called to walk in discernment and wisdom.
So where does that leave me today? I am not confused, nor unstable. I am not wishy washy or unclear. I am maturing in Christ beyond that of a babe into a mature daughter of the King and sometime I have to say "Enough is enough." We must press past all the outer props that hold us up and cause us to lean into anything other than the Lord Himself. I am not a little girl anymore but a woman of God and I say no to many things for I want Him and Him alone. Don't you? I say yes, I believe you do.
These are my thoughts for the day and they are still forming. As you can see, I have not arrived nor will I ever arrive I am in process and enjoying the journey of walking in the light as He is in the light. I am without fear or confusion but walking in the clarity of my convictions which are formed on my understanding of His Word while leaning into the experiences that come by way from God alone. I love my life in Christ and maturity feels good for it allows me to be ME while walking in unity with those around me, even when they disagree with me. It is my goal to follow Christ.........He leads the way. I follow. Selah and a smile. :)
John 2:5 His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." NKJV
Breathe. In. Out. Breathe. In. Out. Lord give me the words to express your heart in this blog.
For the past week I have sensed such a disturbance in my spirit that I have been quite irritable and that causes me to withdraw, to focus on Him, and to pray to DISCERN what's up. There are urgencies in the moment that can cause one to lose focus, until you discern what it is that is causing you to feel this way. What is it? An urgency in the spirit can be turned to FEAR or to FAITH. I choose FAITH.
What do I mean? In the coming days, the darkness will increase. Not maybe. Not possibly but will increase. There will come an urgency upon our lives to try to cause us to fear. Each day will present itself with a fear involving our finances, health, family, etc. It will provoke us to see that all is outside of our control and basically it is but that's the point. That is not God and only a ploy of the enemy to cause you to focus on what is outside of you rather than WHO is inside of you - Christ Jesus. This may seem simplistic and I may be quite repetitive but the simplicity of our walk now and in the future depends upon our daily intimacy and dependence on God. We walk contrary to the prevailing norm of the chaotic world we live in. We walk in peace and rest and focus by choosing to walk in faith that He is on the throne and He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.
We must not forget the simple things. Forgo the complex for the simplicity that is found in His presence. WHATEVER HE SAYS TO YOU, DO IT. That whole statement forgoes the urgency of the moment. The tyranny to drive you out of your peace is fostered by fear that comes from the pit of hell. We must rest in His peace so that the God of peace WILL crush satan under our feet. I would have liked to issue you a calm message that says "All will be okay." But I can't for all will not be okay BUT all IS okay in Him and in Him there is no cause for any concern.
God is desiring us to mature and to put our total dependency in Him and in walking in Him and living in Him and moving in Him. The church has truly gotten off of its course but there is a remnant of people that have forsaken all that religion offers to follow Him wherever He goes and wherever He leads each of us. In that place in Him, we are in the eye of the storm. Though all rages around us, we are in peace, in rest, in hope, in love. We will not just talk about it anymore or it will not be a good sermon that one easily forgets. The maturity in Christians must rise up and walk in Him contrary to chaos so that His glory will shine upon us, in us and through us.
The urgency that I sense in my spirit is a prophetic urgency to pray and seek His face while at the same time moving by His Spirit day by day to His rhythm and movement in our lives. We are not guarded and locked away waiting for some ethereal life that exists contrary to the darkness of the world at large. We are IN it but not OF it. We must remember that with all of our hearts. That sounds so simple and yet most of the church does not do it. The Body of Christ is governed by time that presses its agenda and purpose day by day into their lives. This urgency drives us into the moment and out of the eternal reality that Christ is in us, the hope of glory. It should not be so. Breathe. Breathe. Seek His face and rest and joy and peace shall invade your life. When there comes an urgency as I find in my spirit today, I pray it through to see with His eyes and to hear with His ears what is coming upon me and in this, I regain my faith and trust that He is in control of everything. Faith increases clear spiritual sight. Hope increases joy. Trust increases peace. And in the midst of chaos we live in Christ and the world will marvel and stand in awe of Christ in us.
Again, why am I saying this? Because darkness will increase and fear will increase but it will not be with us...................we are people of faith, people of the Spirit. I believe as I am writing this that I am sheerly just expressing my heart in a prophetic way. Prophets see as forerunners and warn the people to prepare and to get ready. That is what I am doing so that we, as a people will be prepared to walk in the increasing darkness as light.
Intimacy brings you into His authority. You are conquerors in Christ in the midst of the battle. The battle is upon us and we are living in a great time, a time like no other and you have been born into this time. When intimately spending time with our Lord, He speaks and in His voice is direction, strategy and purpose so that we face our days willing to do whatever it is He says to do for we know that in that place, we live in Him.
Get the picture.............this is something that must be experienced by each of you. You can't live my life and I can't live yours. Some of you may be experiencing depression, anxiety, fear, health issues, financial issues..........so many different things. Yet we live in ONE who is greater than all of us and we are a people being prepared to carry a greater weight of glory. With that responsibility comes a greater responsibility to decrease so that He may increase in each of us. Now it comes.................the reality of the personal responsibility of our Christian walk......what will we do? The choice is each of ours.
I choose to walk wherever He leads me. I choose to obey Him in whatever way He chooses to ask of me. Are you? I know many of you are.
Song 6:3 I am my beloved's, And my beloved is mine. NKJV
2 Sam 24:24 Then the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing." NKJV
