Hope

Prepare the way of the Lord.  Prepare your hearts to receive from the Lord.  The Lord is not slack concerning His promises to  you as some count slackness, but there is an appointed time for everything.  Those promises and visions that have been sown into your spirit long ago, that have grown dim will surely come, though they tarry.  I AM not a dilly-dallying God.  There is purpose in everything that I do.  It is impossible for God to lie.  You are heirs of promise.

Lay hold of your hope as an anchor of your soul.  Your hope is not in your circumstances.  Your hope is not even in the promises.  I AM your consolation and your hope.  Take refuge in Me because I AM present with you in the waiting and I AM your reward.  I AM with you and in you as the hope of glory.

Isaiah 40:3-5; 2 Peter 3:9; Habakkuk 2:3; Hebrews 6:17-20 

JOY!

I love a cheerful giver!  Give a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over out of your own substance.  Seeing My children graciously, generously and joyfully sharing your blessings brings delight to My heart.  With the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.  You may feel that you don’t have much to bring to the table.  You may feel that what you have to offer is just a pittance, but I delighted in the widow’s mite because I saw that she gave what she had.  That is all that I ask of you ...to give out of what I have given to you, knowing that I AM your Provider.
I have given gifts to each one and as you give your pittance, your mite, it becomes worship to Me.  Giving what little you have shows that you know and trust Me as the One who is the Giver of all.  It shows that you believe that every good and perfect gift comes from Me.  You become like Me as you give as I have given.

Bring your pittance, your mite and offer it joyfully, cheerfully knowing that I AM the one who multiples the seed that is sown.  Cheerfully, graciously, generously and joyfully give your mite of talent, time, energy, finances and resources.  You have a rich inheritance and can afford to be generous! 

2 Corinthians 9:7; Luke 6:38, 21:1-4; James 1:17  

The Gift Of Grace

You have been freely given all things through the gift of My grace.  It is the gift of God to you.  It costs you nothing, but it cost Me everything.  I give to you freely, lavishly, abundantly all things because I love you to infinity and beyond.  I loved you that much before you even knew Me because you are My creation, My workmanship, My masterpiece.  When you were ungodly and still without strength, I gave you Myself.  I gave you God, the One who is all in all, so that forever and ever I might show the excellent riches of My grace toward you in Christ Jesus.  I breathed life into your lungs and then, when you were dead in your sins, I breathed life into your spirit and raised you up again to sit with Me in the heavenly places.

So do you get it yet?  Do you see the great lengths that I will go to in order to have peace with you, in order to have you with Me, in order to make you one with Me?

In giving you this grace, I give you My pleasure, My beauty, My favor, and My joy as well as My riches, My strength, My power, and My glory.  I have given you all things that pertain to life and godliness through the intimate knowledge of Me, the One who has called you by the revelation of Myself and My excellent nature.  Freely you have received, freely give.

Rest in the contentment of My gracious love for you.  Be still and know that I AM God!  Stir up your faith to access this grace in which you stand so that you rejoice in the hope of seeing the glory of God.  I will be exalted in the earth; I will be exalted in your life.

Romans 5:1-2,15; Ephesians 2:5-8; Psalm 46:10; 2 Peter 1:3; Matthew 10:8

Faith To Finish

You have each been called to run a race of faith, to fight the good fight and to obtain a crown of righteousness.  The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor favor to men of skill.  Falling does not cause you to lose your race; failing to finish will cause you to lose your race.  The race requires endurance against weariness in order to finish.  The battle is against discouragement and condemnation.  The victory is solely by faith in the finished work of MY race and the strength of MY resurrection power in you to finish your race.  It is MY righteousness that will cause you to obtain your crown, not your own efforts. 

Today, I speak to those who have fallen, who are discouraged and weary in your soul to remind you that you have been made righteous by MY blood which flows through your veins.  A righteous man may fall seven times and rise again.  Seven is not a number of limitation.  It is the number of perfection and completion.  It represents however many times you rise again in order to complete your race of faith, to fight the good fight and to obtain a victor’s crown.  Do not allow your weakness to cause you condemnation, but rather allow it to bring you to the place of humbly receiving My grace so that the power of My strength can rest upon you to rise again. You are loved completely; cast off fear.  Receive My strength and courage to get up again, persevering to the end, believing that I AM the Author and Perfecter (Completer, Finisher) of your faith.  Arise and let’s go on from here.  

2 Timothy 4:7-8; Ecclesiastes 9:11; Hebrews 12:1-3; Proverbs 24:16; 2 Corinthians 12:9

RELEASE AND CLING

This is a transitional season where many of the things that have had the lifeblood of the Spirit in the past are beginning to fade.  Although the beauty and attractiveness of these things may remain for a time, the life-giving properties of them do not.  The temptation will be to try to clutch them tightly so that they don’t fall away from your grasp; but, I tell you now to let them go because they will no longer be beneficial for you or others.  I’m telling you once again that the former things are passing away and I AM declaring new things to spring forth.  That which has been life-giving in the past season can not sustain you in the new season.

You must cling only to Me and hold everything else loosely.  Do not spend time and energy wondering what things to hold on to and what things to release because they are not understood by the natural mind, rather they are spiritually discerned.  My Word is Spirit and it is life.  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  I AM the way, the truth and the life.  Cling only to Me and you will stay in the flow of all that is life-giving.

Isaiah 64:6b, 42:9; 1 Peter 1:3-8; 1 Corinthians 2:14; John 6:63

Be Clothed And Stand

Awaken out of your sleep and slumber!  This is not the time for PJs.  I have given My Bride clothes to wear.  Arise and put on your Kingdom garments.  Put on your shoes of peace that you received in Christ, Who is your peace.  In Me you have peace with God.  I have given you ruby slippers, bought with My blood.  Keep them on your feet to remind you that “There is no place like home.”  This world is not your home.  You have been seated with Me in the heavenly places just as I AM seated at the right hand of the Father since My work on the cross was finished.  Didn’t I say, “It is finished!”?  Stand in the finished work of Christ for your salvation through faith and by grace.  I have saved you completely from sin, sickness, disease and infirmity.  

Wrap that truth around you and firmly tighten it as a belt that will not slip.  Hold fast to the One Who is Truth just as I AM holding fast to you.

Cover your mind with these truths of your salvation so that you do not even entertain the lies of the evil one when he comes to try to condemn you to perpetuating cycles of sin, sickness, disease or infirmity.  Do not come into agreement with, but rather, refute these condemnations and any lying wonders he produces, for this is your inheritance in Me.

Keep the covering of My righteousness over your heart and wear it always so that even the unbelievers are dazzled by the brilliance of My righteousness through you and are drawn to Me.  You have been made the righteousness of Christ in the earth for My namesake and glory.  Let your righteousness shine continually.

Lift up your shield of faith and extinguish every fiery dart of the enemy.  Take your stance in the wholeness and completed work of Christ.  Raise that shield high by faith and say, “NO in Jesus’ name!”.  My Kingdom within you suffers violence.  I AM calling My people to be the violent ones who take it (back) by force.  Let God arise and the enemy be scattered. It is not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit that is within you that you overcome the evil one. 

Take up your two-edged sword of My Word and Spirit.  Hold it high so that its light and power cut away the entanglements of the enemy forces against you.  When you do this, the worldly things will fall away and My Kingdom in you will rise up in strength.  Hold your ground!  Be clothed with the righteous garments that I have given to you.  Be clothed with My power and stand in My grace. (Ephesians 6:10-19)

Drought and Destiny

Are you dry and thirsty?  Do you wonder at the desert landscape that you have found yourself in as you walk on parched ground that once was lush with life?  You have been called to abundance.  Do you question My leading and the reality of the Land of Promise with its abundance?  The dry lakebed can be a place of revelation and resurrected destiny if you will have eyes to see and ears to hear.  Take a look at what has been below the surface covering of the waters.  Observe the skeletal remains of what was once living and the rubbished remnants of what was once religious works, worldly pursuits or distracting entertainment.  What value is there in these things now?  I AM the Fountain of Living Waters.  Have I not said that I will never leave you or forsake you?  If you find that your land of abundance has become a desert, it is not because I have abandoned YOU.  See, hear, and consider whether the pursuit of your own agendas has distracted you from the pursuit of Me. 

Your own works will bring you to the place of desolation because dead works cannot hold Living Water.  I AM with you and I AM for you, but you must drink from the Fountain of Living Waters and not from your own broken cisterns that can hold no water.  Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.  I will comfort your waste places and make your desert like the garden of Eden.  In the lushness of My Presence you will sing with joy and thanksgiving.  Why would you wander in the desert when you are destined for abundance in the Land of Promise?  Come to the Fountain of Living Waters and drink freely, drink deeply of My abundance! This is your inheritance in Christ.   

     

Jeremiah 2:11-13, 33:3; Haggai 1:10-11; Hebrews 13:5; Isaiah 51:3

A New Season

You have entered into a new season which is a time to experience new beginnings and new things, both in the natural and the spiritual realms.  Now is a good time to re-evaluate what you will carry with you into this new season.  I encourage you to travel light as you will be moving forward at an accelerated speed and will need to step with precision and agility in order to keep pace with My Spirit.

Now is the time to leave behind the ways of the past as well as the burdensome baggage of disappointments, failures, and pain of previous seasons.  These things do not become you, they do not define you, and they will not serve you well in the new season.  Look to the example of Esther as you take with you nothing but what the Holy Spirit advises you to carry into this New Year of the King.

Stir up expectancy, excitement, and excellence because you are stepping into a season of Kingdom power that will release joy and eternity on the earth as it is in Heaven. The importance of worldly things will fall away as you catch a clearer vision of My Kingdom purposes.  Do not be focused on the destination, but look to Me and know that I love the journey with you.  Watch as the landscape changes from desert and wilderness to rivers and highways.  Rejoice with heaven as the people that I have formed for Myself rise up and declare My praise!

Ephesians 5:22-24; Esther 2:15; Matthew 6:9; Isaiah 43:18-21

Hide-N-Seek

“Come out, come out wherever you are!”  

Many of you are playing children’s games in My House when I have called you to cooperate with me in the sanctification work of maturity.  Instead, you are hiding behind things like good deeds, the outer appearance of respectability, the approval of man, and many other worldly things.  These are only religious shells full of dry bones.      

I don’t play Hide-N-Seek.  I play SARDINES!  Where you are, there I AM with you!  I AM patient and longsuffering in My kindness toward you so that you may come to repentance on your own.  I AM also Light and Truth.  Your hidden place of darkness will be exposed in My light and truth, so come out of your hiding place while you are able to repent before Me freely before those hidden things of darkness become revealed to others who find you in that hiding place...and before you carry the responsibility and consequences of bringing others into the place of your darkness.  

Prophesy the breath of My Holy Spirit on these dry bones to revive them and bring new life into the place of dead works.  I will provide that new life in the Spirit with muscles and tendons to strengthen and reconnect you so that My Bride can go forth in the power of My Kingdom.  Be free of the empty shell of religious works and let your inner reality come into alignment with My Word of Truth.

“All ye, all ye, in come free!”

Isaiah 58:7; Matthew 23:27; John 3:19-21; Ezekiel 37:4-6

   

THE WASHING OF MY WORD

Many of My people have been hit and wounded by “friendly fire” because of the schemes of the enemy.  Where he has not been successful in “direct hits”, he has used the “fog of war” (uncertainty in situational awareness experienced by participants in conflict) to take strategic advantage against My people from within My Body, My Family.

I AM Jehovah Rapha, “God Your Healer”.  I AM increasing the anointing on My Word, My Truth to cleanse My Bride through the washing of My Word, My Truth, My Presence.  This washing will remove the fog of war to bring clarity and healing to My people.  I will have a glorious Bride without spot, blemish, wrinkle, scar or any such thing.

I have called My people to be holy and set apart to Me.  I AM building a unified and victorious Church in the earth.  Each one of you has a part in that glorious wholeness and victory.  Come near to Me, the One Who is your Truth, your Healer and allow Me to pour over you My Living Word to wash you and cleanse you from the fog of war; healing you and making you whole.

Ephesians 5:25-27

PURSUING SHADOWS?

The enemy is trying his very best to convince some of you that pursuing Me is like chasing shadows, like trying to catch the wind.  He is a liar and the father of lies.  The truth is that I AM here with open arms and a heart full of love for you.  Draw near to Me and I will draw near to you.  Just one glance from My Bride ravishes My heart. The moment you turn your eyes back toward Me, I RUN to meet you even as the prodigal son’s father ran to meet him while he was still far off in the distance.  Even when you still can’t see Me, if you seek Me with all of your heart you will find Me.

Keep moving toward Me, keep turning in My direction and you will be met with the overflow of My heart.  I love you with an everlasting love.  Nothing can separate you from My love...nothing.  The light of My Presence will enlighten your darkness and chase away every shadow of doubt.  Turn your eyes upon Me and look fully into the unquenchable flames of love burning deeply for you.

Ecclesiastes 6:12; James 1:17, 4:8; Deuteronomy 4:29; Song of Songs 4:9, 8:6-7   

HUMILITY AND HONOR

I speak to those who have become weary and discouraged in your souls.  I have chosen you to be holy and set apart to Me as a special treasure.  You are My precious sons and daughters and as a loving Father I discipline those that I love.  I AM with you in these wilderness places.  I lead you through them to humble you, to test you, and to show you what is in your heart so that you will learn to obey My Word, to walk in My ways and to fear Me.  I have chosen you in order to bless you to possess and to rule over your Kingdom inheritance in the earth.  I discipline you to do you good in the end.  The riches of your inheritance in Christ are godliness and honor and life, but these come by humility and the fear of the Lord.
Do not shrink back from this work of humility that I AM doing in your life.  It is My grace which gives you the power to get the wealth and substance of your inheritance.  I resist the proud and give My grace to those who are broken in heart and humble in the spirit of their minds, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the broken ones. The tears, the trials, and the suffering are instruments of discipline which produce the desired humility necessary to rule well in My Kingdom.  You have been justified by grace to become heirs of grace.  That grace is My power and those who hold power must be humble in spirit in order to rule righteously.  You are My sons and daughters whom I love and I AM raising you up according to My timing and purposes for My glory.  It is by My glory and goodness that you are called to know Me and to know My ways so that you can rule well. My divine power gives to you all things that are appropriate for the riches of godliness, honor, and life.
Put aside weariness and discouragement and receive the humility that comes through My loving discipline in this season.  You will soon see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!          

Hebrews 12:3-6; Deuteronomy 7:6, 8:2-6,18; Proverbs 15:33, 22:4; 2 Peter 1:3 

Choose Life

I AM the Life and the source of all life.  My words are life and in turning to Me you find life.  As you take My words of life into yourself, you are nourished with My life.  I AM Light and My words are light.  As you take My light into yourself, I enlighten your darkness so that you are not overcome by the darkness.  My light and life become your light and life as you choose Me.

This very act of choosing Me, moment by moment, entails a forsaking of other things.  This “forsaking” is a turning away from other things...lesser things.  It is a choosing of life and a forsaking of all else because all else eventually leads to death.  These “lesser things” do not all have the appearance of evil; some even have the appearance of “good”.  However, eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil leads to death.  It is only as you choose to eat from the Tree of Life that the blessings of My Kingdom remain.

There is an order of things in this “choosing” if you are to continue successfully.  This order involves counting the cost.  Listen carefully, for I AM giving you a key of truth that will set you free from your cycles of failure.  Counting the cost does not begin with looking at the price to be paid.  Counting the cost BEGINS with first knowing what assets you have.  These assets are the wealth and substance of resources at your disposal that can be used as a medium of exchanged value.  As you turn to look at Me and realize the abundance of the wealth of your heavenly inheritance, you receive My grace and the lesser things of the world loose their power to hold you. Forsaking darkness for light is as easy as turning on the light, forsaking good for best is as easy as wanting what is MORE desirable, and forsaking death for life is the end result.  Come to Me,  precious ones!  Come and buy and eat.  Only I will satisfy you.  Let your soul delight itself in My abundance.  Listen carefully to Me, and come to Me.  Take My words of light and life into you and your soul will live in My abundance.   

John 1:4-5; Luke 14:28-33; Isaiah 7:15, 55:1-3; Deuteronomy 30:19-20    

STEP INTO MY REST

All of the Father’s works have been finished since the foundation of the world.  “And God rested on the seventh day from ALL His works.”   He sat down in Heaven and rested. My work was finished at the cross and then I sat down at His right hand.  I have given to you My Holy Spirit to help you enter into the finished work of God and into the rest of God.  You enter Our rest through obedience to the Word of God.  You step into obedience through faith, becoming a partaker WITH God in the work OF God.

You have been given a high calling in Christ Jesus.  Walk worthy of that high calling.  Step into it by faith.  Let faith arise and step into the honor you have been given as a child of the Most High God.  Step into obedience to My Word through faith in the One who is sufficient for you.  It is time to lay hold of all that Christ has laid hold of for you.  Forget those things which are behind you and reach forward to those things which are ahead.  Press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  The way has already been finished...enter into the rest of Our work for you.

Hebrews 4:1-13; John 19:30; Ephesians 4:1; Philippians 3:12

FAMILY FIRST

From the very beginning, I have designed that the order of all things begins with family first. In this season I AM bringing redemption, reconciliation, and restoration to individual households, individual families and from there to My Household, My Family and beyond.

Healthy individuals in strong, united, loving families make for a healthy, strong, united, and loving community, society, nation, or kingdom.  This is why the enemy has targeted individuals and the family unit for destruction.  The education system, the government, and even the mainstream church have all partnered with him in separating family units and making place for the weakening of Divine Design.

I AM the One who sets people in families.  I AM the One Who has adopted you into My family and made you members of the household of God.  I have called you according to your families so that in you all of the families of the earth may be blessed.  It is time to get your families in order.  It is time to begin with your own household.  It is time to bring health, strength, unity, and love back into your homes, thwarting the divisive plans of the enemy, bearing witness and giving testimony to the power of the Kingdom in your own lives FIRST and THEN into your own neighborhoods, communities, and beyond.

Look to your own households first and then also to the interests of others.  Put feet to your faith with those whom you say that you love. 

I have come to seek and save that which was lost.  I have released a redemptive grace for restoring all things that concern you.  All government begins with self-government.  Bringing your own household under the rule and authority of My Kingdom will make the way for you to come into wholeness and enter into the place of greater authority and power in Me.

Genesis 12:3; Ephesians 2:19; Luke 19:10; 1 Timothy 3:1-13

FAITH OR PRESUMPTION?

I AM removing presumption from my church so that true faith can flourish.  Much of what you have called “faith” is actually “presumption”.

Presumption acts on a faulty premise that the absence of resistance is agreement.  It takes unwarrantable and inappropriate boldness with My authority in matters that do not bear relevance to My purposes in the situation at hand.  Presumption can be a sin of commission (willfully rebelling against My revealed word) or of omission (not humbling yourselves to seek Me on the matter before acting).  Both are rooted in the pride of taking something upon oneself without right or permission.  Many are led by the dictates of their own hearts without understanding their secret faults.  Past experiences can bolster presumptuous acts of boldness falsely called acts of “faith”.  Moses at one time was told to strike the rock and water came forth. In a similar situation he was told to SPEAK to the rock, but presumed to do it the way that he had known in the past. Presumption mishandles My Word by assuming as true something that has not been proven as true for that particular matter at hand by the One Who is Truth.  Presumption is seed that is born of the flesh, empowered by the flesh, and produces fruit of the flesh leading to death.

Faith is seed that is born of the Spirit, empowered by the Spirit, and produces fruit of the Spirit leading to life. It is always initiated by Me, directed towards Me, and submitted to My revealed will and purpose in any particular situation.  It takes its purpose from Me, is positioned under My authority as Lord, and empowered by My Spirit of Grace in every situation.  Faith requires a continual seeking of Me, the One Who is the LIVING Word.  It is in seeking Me by faith that you will find the Way, Truth, and Life of a matter.  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” 

Psalm 19:12-14; Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11; Luke 11:9 

Is Your Seed Still In The Barn?

The principles of sowing and reaping are true in the natural realm and in the spiritual realm.  I AM the One who gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater.  I have given to you lavishly.  And yet, isn’t there still seed in the barn?

He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly and he who sows lavishly will reap lavishly.

The cold, harshness of winter is over.  Spring is coming and it is time to bring all of your seed out of the barn and sow lavishly.  I give many different kinds of seed...seeds of faith, seeds of love...seeds of blessing and provision.  However, you first have to sow the seed into the ground before you will reap a harvest and have bread to eat.  With the same measure that you give it will be given back to you.  Give a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing then you shall receive a full measure in return.

I love you lavishly, having withheld nothing from you.  Love lavishly out of the seed of My love...with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind.  Sow lavishly and reap the fullness of the abundance that I have for you.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8; Haggai 2:19; Isaiah 55:10; Matthew 22:37    

The Gift of Delayed Gratification

God intends good where the enemy has intended evil.  Where the enemy has brought disappointment through delayed gratification, God intends to bring the strength of discipline through that same delayed gratification.

I AM raising up My people into a great and powerful army for My name’s sake and the sake of My Kingdom.  I AM breathing the life of My Holy Spirit on those who are dry, who have lost hope, and who have felt disconnected.  You have been through Boot Camp where each man has had to yield to the rigorous training and preparation of himself through various trials.  These have helped to ready you for the battles that are ahead, battles that will be fought with your brothers by your side.  This “Band Of Brothers” is My glorious army that is taking back ground that has been lost to enemy forces.  Ground that has become hard, barren, or thorny under the hand of the enemy will once again become fertile and fruitful.  

This great army is My instrument of redemption in the earth, extending the eternal effects of the cross of Christ into the temporal realm through the same disciplines of love and sacrifice that Jesus displayed.  These merciful acts of love and sacrifice are the seeds that bear the lasting fruit of righteousness, peace, and joy in My Kingdom rule.  As you do this, trusting Me with the rest, the soil of faith is prepared, making a place for love and sacrifice to bring forth an abundant harvest; taking back the hard, barren, thorny ground of the enemy’s sowing and making it fruitful for My Kingdom.   Allow the strength of My discipline to uproot any weeds of bitterness and disappointment.

This is your “Call of Duty” to arise to the strength and discipline of a higher service.  Activate your faith for the rank and file of a Kingdom soldier.  Cultivate the patience of the diligent farmer.  Fix your gaze, as a well disciplined athlete, on a greater reward than your temporary comfort.  Set yourselves to seek first the Kingdom of God and My righteousness and I will take care of those things that have concerned you.  

Ezekiel 37:10; Luke 8:11-15; Romans 14:17; 2 Timothy 2:4-6

The Age Of Maturity

This is a Bar Mitzvah year for My modern day church.  It is a “coming of age” season when the sons of God will be revealed.  It is also a season when the sons of God will be required to begin to take responsibility for their words, attitudes, actions, behaviors, and choices.

I, as your Heavenly Father, have covered your weaknesses in the past as a parent covers and protects a very young child.  I have used this covering time as a time of training you to know how to refuse the evil and to choose the good.  Now is the time of maturity when you are required to own your weaknesses, bringing them to Me in faith and believing that I AM able to work in you both to will and to do what is good and right.

Through Christ, I AM with you in your weakness to help you work out your own salvation...even when it is with fear and trembling.  My grace is sufficient for you and My strength is made perfect in weakness.  Do not rely on human wisdom, but rather on the power of My Holy Spirit within you.  You will bear witness of the Kingdom and the power of God for salvation.  Your faith and obedience bring Me great pleasure.  Even when you don’t see or sense My protective covering, know that My presence is with you in power.  My pleasure smiles over you as mature sons of the Living God!

Romans 8:19; Isaiah 7:15; Philippians 2:12-13; 2 Corinthians 12:9

2013 A Baker's Dozen Year of Increased Measure

2013 is a year of the “baker’s dozen”, a year of the increased measure of what the heart has ordered.  For those whose hearts are turned toward Christ, it is a season of unprecedented boldness for increased fruit of righteousness and power of the Spirit.  For those whose hearts are turned from Christ, it is a season of unprecedented fruit of unrighteousness and power of sin.

There will be liberty and liberality for all; the releasing of the captives into the liberty of Christ.  This “liberty of Christ” is the freedom to be all that you choose to be.  For some, there will be the breaking off of the chains of the flesh and sin as they choose to embrace Christ not only as
“Savior”, but also as “Lord”.  For others, there will be the breaking off of the chains of pretense and religious hypocrisy as they choose to embrace the desires of the flesh and sin.  Those who are of the world will live in such as way as to openly resist the government, rule, and authority of My Kingdom in their hearts; while those who are Mine will live in such a way as to openly resist the government, rule, and authority of worldliness in their hearts.

There will continue to be an increase of My government and My peace to order and establish My Kingdom with righteous judgment and justice.  My zeal is being stirred up and increased in the earth to make a clear distinction between righteousness and unrighteousness, between good and evil.  I AM raising up an army of those whose senses have been trained to refuse the evil and to choose the good.

It is for freedom that Christ came to make you free.  You have been called to liberty and liberality; only do not use your liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another with liberality.

Jeremiah 29:11-14; Isaiah 7:15, 9:7, 61:1-7; Galatians 5:1   

PROGRESS OR PRESENCE?

OH PILGRIM, WHEN PROGRESS IS BOUND

BY DISAPPOINTMENTS YOU HAVE FOUND

WITH COURAGE WANT AND FAITH DEPLETE

EVERY DAY SMACKS BITTERSWEET

HARSH MORSELS OF THE CONSTANT PAIN

THAT HINDER WALK AND STYMIE GAIN

AND BRINGS IN EBB AND FLOW OF GRIEF

THAT CAUSES HOPE TO EVER CEASE

THE WONDERS OF HIS LOVE ERASE

DISMISSING CRIMSON BLOTCH WITH GRACE

AND MAKING SMOOTH THE CREASE OF SCAR

YOU’LL FIND THE PATH OF JOY NOT FAR

SO JOURNEY ONWARD WITHOUT FAIL

HIS PRESENCE GOES BEHIND THE VEIL

THE DARKNESS THAT ONCE SEEMED SO BLEAK

BREAKS DAWN WITH MORNING AT HIS FEET

NO DARK NIGHT OF SOUL WILL WIN

FOR GREATER IS HE WHO IS WITHIN

NOW, SET A WATCH AND KNOW HE’S NEAR

WITH ARMS TO HOLD AND EAR TO HEAR

HIS GENTLE WHISPER IN YOUR HEART

REMINDS THAT HE WILL NEVER PART

HIS LOVE IS STEADFAST, STRONG, AND TRUE

THE HOPE OF GLORY, CHRIST IN YOU!