Posts

Posted on

Solid Foundation – Part 2

Ten days ago, The Lord highlighted the restoration of ruined cities to me (Is 61:4).

Three times. 

He then led me to Psalm 118:14-15 AMPC, which says, “The Lord is my Strength and Song; and He has become my Salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents and private dwellings of the [uncompromisingly] righteous: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly and achieves strength!”

Psalm 118:15 TPT says, “…My loud shouts of victory will echo throughout the land. For Yahweh’s right hand conquers valiantly!”

Holy Spirit also reminded me of Isaiah 9:6-7 TPT, which says…

The responsibility of complete dominion will rest on his shoulders, and his name will be: The Wonderful One! The Extraordinary Strategist! The Mighty God…Great and vast is his dominion. He will bring immeasurable peace and prosperity. He will rule on David’s throne and over David’s kingdom to establish and uphold it by promoting justice and righteousness from this time forward and forevermore.

Friends, God is a finisher.

Even when circumstances look scattered, chaotic and impossible, God is sovereign and is still working to give ravaged places and even personal projects new life and bring them to a good, highly-purposed completion. 

He is never without a victory-strategy to bring greater restoration, making things better than before.

Even if we need an overhaul, it just means that our God is patient and will draw us nearer to make us more solid in Him. 

More solid like Him, the Foundation who laid His life down for us to live as “immoveable,” which means “will not budge.” And “stable,” which means unchangeable. And “steadfast,” which means “standing fast without buckling or giving way” (HELPS Word-studies).

“Mighty God” in Isaiah 9:7 means “the God of battle” and “Champion God” (TPT Bible study notes).

He will fight for us and never lose!

When God is in something, we can always trust Him to ultimately prove it to be victorious as we obey Him.

We must keep our faith in Him always, as He is seated in what He establishes and has a commitment to see us through.

What exactly is God igniting in you in this hour?

What is He leading you into?

How are you seeing Him touch your efforts?

What wonderful thing is The Wonderful One birthing through you for His Kingdom?

Verse 7 continues on, saying that God rules on the throne and over the kingdom “to establish and uphold it by promoting justice and righteousness.”

To “establish” here means to be set up, fixed, fitted, firm, made secure and enduring as we determine, with God, to be faithful.

As we rule and reign with Him, He sustains us, comforts us, refreshes us, strengthens us and stays our hearts with determination, truthfulness, right discretion and vindication that doesn’t quit. 

This is the God we serve. 

Never give up on His appointed times for justice.

They are solid ground that we can trust. 

God will not forget. 

Psalm 89:14 TPT assures us by saying, “Your glorious throne rests on a foundation of righteousness and just verdicts. Grace and truth are the attendants who go before you.”

Have you ever had an encounter with The Lord, where He reveals an important event up ahead for you that you know would be impossible without His intervention? Then He, not only confirms the event through two or three witnesses, but He consistently encourages you over time by revealing more and more bits until the event occurs?

By leading us in this “treasure hunt” style, God not only refreshes our hope, He awakens us more and more until the fullness of time for the event, where we fully mature to receive. 

We come to realize that The Lord had to go before us to set it up well in advance, because so many elements have to come into place over time in, not only our lives, but others.

All along, He leads us along a solid foundation of righteous character and conduct, further into vindication, as He sees it—justifiable.

This is a journey where we can trust Him implicitly as He leads us into His plan for righting wrongs.

Exponentially.

The Lord gave me a Word of wisdom in this regard, which is…

When we get honest and grow to a place of knowing better and fully forgiving, we receive better than what would have been.

This is a divine re-set as in Isaiah 22:20-23 by His grace and truth.

This is what is meant as surpassing victory, and it begins by believing the victorious work of the cross, our secure place.

Romans 8:37 AMPC tells us, “Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.”

Surpassing means “a large amount or high degree; exceeding, excelling, or extraordinary” (Dictionary.com). 

“Surpassing victory” means to “prevail mightily (Strong’s #5245) and to be “beyond conquer,” to the extent that we are “completely and overwhelmingly victorious” (HELPS Word-Studies).

I believe God, in His rich mercy and amazing grace, will do for the people and cities that turn to Him and prove to be uncompromising.

Revelation 3:21 AMPC assures us that “He who overcomes (is victorious), I will grant him to sit beside Me on My throne, as I Myself overcame (was victorious) and sat down beside My Father on His throne.”

“…Thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ’s victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere,  For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God…” (2 Co 2:14-15 AMPC).

To Him be the glory. 

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

Posted on

Solid Foundation – Part 1

The title of a sermon, I heard nearly two decades ago, has always stuck with me: It was Keep Your Tent Pegs Light.

While I don’t remember the sermon, I realize God has highlighted this title to me recently to remind me of an important message for this hour: 

That we are to continue to walk in holiness as we move forward with God and grow in His promises.

First, we must believe that we have one solid foundation, which is Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth and Christ’s resurrection life within us (Jn 14:17, 1 Tim 3:15).

1 Corinthians 3:11 AMPC tells us, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).”

Acts 17:28 says, “For in Him we live and move and have our being…”

We know that Christ, as our firm foundation, doesn’t change; but He changes us. 

In this, we get to trust Him as we walk through the process of transformation to greater promise, which is God instilling His higher standard as He defines our path and delineates our boundaries—first inwardly, then outwardly.

Like Abraham and the Israelites, who moved with God into the unknown-to-them, we are to grow in the grace of pulling up stakes, departing from our past and moving from glory to glory as God continues to pour into us and out of us. 

We are to continually acknowledge Him and rely on Him during increase, as graciously held pegs re-set into holy ground (Is 22:23).

Move by move, every time the ancients of faith pierced the ground with their pegs of identity, purpose and commitment, their faith had an opportunity to grow; and their houses became increasingly established in a secure foundation of glorious new dominion with The Lord.

Like them, we are to go from Him to more of Him in our soul.

From more of Him to much more of Him.

And from much more of Him to much, much more. 

Psalms 18:31 TPT asks, “Could there be any other god like you? You are the only God to be worshiped, for there is not a more secure foundation to build my life upon than you.”

So, in this journey of consecration and fruit production, we are to keep our fierce focus on God and live in the honor of worship to Him alone, turning from all wickedness (Is 26:13, Pr 3:6, Is 19:13). 

As we align with our Chief Cornerstone, He will strengthen us, reveal what we need to know and ultimately deliver us into an expansive reward to make His Name great (Ps 119:38). 

Our full dependence on God invites His fulfillment of promise (Jn 1:16).

Just like Joshua, who was known to be carefully obedient, and Caleb, who was known to be wholehearted, our reality-walk will expand and go long from believing God’s promises; to acting on them; then to experiencing the manifest heart of God, which is to have and to hold Him in the possession of good, exponential fruit. For His glory.

It is a walk where we experience all the pieces come together.

We can be encouraged in this process by Ephesians 2:20-22 TPT, which say: 

You are rising like the perfectly fitted stones of the temple; and your lives are being built up together upon the ideal foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, and best of all, you are connected to the Head Cornerstone of the building, the Anointed One, Jesus Christ himself! This entire building is under construction and is continually growing under his supervision until it rises up completed as the holy temple of the Lord himself. This means that God is transforming each one of you into the Holy of Holies, his dwelling place, through the power of the Holy Spirit living in you!

So, in order for our reality to change for the better, we have to embrace The Lord’s higher ways and keep Him first and center as He reveals Himself and delivers us. 

We must believe God at His Word beyond our circumstances and trust that He sees us as deserving such an inheritance through Christ, our Savior, who makes a way by grace where we could not go otherwise.

We must willingly come to operate in the kind of balance that excels in both God’s Spirit and applied wisdom to the practical—remaining on solid ground.

This balance is the key to, and the fruit of, a life built on a firm foundation that is stable and, therefore, does not waffle or waver but produces what God intended.

For those who are not there yet, there’s hope for those who remember Him—the repentant and the willing.

He offers us an example in Isaiah 19:18-23, where we see people in five Egyptian (worldly) cities turn and commit themselves to God in worship and intimately knowing Him as their Lord. As a result, God revealed Himself as a promise keeper: He healed and restored them, and He called them His people. 

So, friends, how about you?

Are you ready to faithfully walk on the solid ground of wholeness, where you will see your life come together in purposeful ways?

Are you ready to trust God more in a greater role? To establish His Kingdom even more in the earth through you as you abide in Him? 

There is no need to fear; but there is a need for faith, as God raises a standard, does a new thing and helps us move past our past in His overcoming grace (Is 43:18-19).

Join me next week for Part 2 of Solid Foundation. 

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

Posted on

Magnificent Multiplicity – Part 2

Two weeks ago, on June 29, during quiet time, I heard the melody Canon in D (Pachelbel) in my head. 

It looped and looped until, finally, I paid attention.

I realized Holy Spirit was revealing something to me. 

This was the bridal march tune at my wedding many years ago and the favorite of many other brides.

So, I asked The Lord what He desired I know. 

I believe He impressed upon my heart an invitation to those who are willing and ready to walk in greater holiness: to meet true majesty (Christ’s character and nature) to receive a greater exchange of intimacy, power and authority (Ep 2:22).

Holy Spirit also brought to mind that a bride doesn’t look back when she walks down the aisle toward greater sanctum. Rather, she looks forward with anticipation and captivation, not giving thought to anything God finished behind her. 

I believe this action is purposed and necessary for building God’s Kingdom inside of us as He sends us out on more complex exploits to minister to the scattered ones.

In Holy Scripture, “Scattered” is the opposite of “spread.”

In Webster’s, “spread” is another word for “multiplicity.”

Two synonyms of “multiplicity” are “abundant” and “harvest” (Thesaurus.com).

In Part 1 of this series, we saw how the Israelites spread in number to the extent that their enemy of worldliness (Egyptians) could not stand them and that, with God’s help, worldliness could not even stand against them any longer.

I believe that, as God spreads His Kingdom on new levels and layers, His made-ready bride, who is obedient to “have” and “to hold” God’s victory-hand of intimacy, power and authority, will be the great harvesters and reapers among the crowd.

God is gathering and preparing His ekklēsia, which is Greek for His called out ones, even higher to bring deliverance, by His Spirit, to the ochlos, which is Greek for “crowd, mob, or multitude.”

The example Holy Spirit highlighted to me is in Matthew chapters 9 and 10.

In Matthew 9:36, the King James Version says, “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”

“Multitudes” in this verse is derived from the Greek word, ” echó,” which is spelled like the English word “echo.”

“Echó” means to have, hold and possess.

We know that to faint means to lose heart, give up, grow weary, become exhausted and lose inner strength (2 Co 4:16 Ga 6:9). Without Jesus, the crowd in Matthew 9:36 could not go the distance in their race or destiny on earth. 

Jesus heard this crowd echo a desperate cry. He knew they needed a touch of His majesty to overcome the false power that held them and possessed them.

This crowd needed to be loosed from the grim reaper. They needed the life-blood of Jesus—His strength and protection. They needed Jesus’ harvest reapers to help them.

So, Jesus, in His great compassion, turned to His harvesters and reapers, which were His disciples at the time, and said to them in Matthew 9:37-38: “The harvest is huge and ripe! But there are not enough harvesters to bring it all in. As you go, plead with the Owner of the Harvest to thrust out many more reapers to harvest his grain!”

I believe this is both our prayer and our answer for this hour.

I believe God has highlighted this crowd in scripture to move our hearts with compassion, like His, to echo His calling to us, as His bride, as an invitation to reach out to help the scattered ones know His truth and love.  

The Lord’s strategy involves spiritual reproduction and collaboration—the backbone of reaching multitudes, which is illustrated in Matthew 10:1.

It says, “Jesus gathered his twelve disciples and imparted to them authority to cast out demons and to heal every sickness and every disease.”

Here, we see the sovereign grace-power of God’s Kingdom at work through His people. 

We see resurrection life on earth as it is in Heaven. We see solidarity, salvation. 

And invitation.

It’s what The Lord empowers us to do when our confidence is fully in Him, when we know Him as able and we are willing and equipped to go in faith and be sustained by Him. 

In Matthew 10:5-8, Jesus commissioned His disciples “to go out into the ripened harvest fields” to “find the lost sheep” and preach the message that “Heaven’s kingdom realm is accessible, close enough to touch.” Jesus tells them that freely they “have received the power of the kingdom, so freely release it to others” to heal the sick, deliver people from demons and “raise the dead back to life.” 

So, are you ready to collaborate with God for the Kingdom in fellowship, power and authority?

As we submit to Jesus to be His hands and feet in a greater way, we can expect to be strengthened in Him, too. We can expect to receive power from on high that will cause our spiritual enemies to respond, according to His Word through us.

We can expect Holy Spirit to flow like a river.

When The Lord revealed this Word to me, He also issued a warning… 

Remain on course with God no matter what. 

Turn from all foolishness, choose wisdom and enter into The Lord’s banquet (with Him) to feast on all He offers.

Jesus and you make for a perfectly-synchronized double (wide) door of invitation. You are a light, fueled by His oil as you carry His Spirit of Glory.

So, be strong in Him, full of Him and do not let others provoke you to compromise by taking advantage of your compassion. Do not let the enemy provoke you away from Holy Spirit and His anointing. 

Ephesians 6:10 affirms this by saying, “Now my beloved ones, I have saved these most important truths for last: Be supernaturally infused with strength through your life-union with the Lord Jesus. Stand victorious with the force of his explosive power flowing in and through you.”

To God be the glory!

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

Posted on

Magnificent Multiplicity – Part 1

We are in a fitting time that will bring great change in our lives for the better—an expanded season for God’s sons and daughters who continue to follow Holy Spirit’s lead and make Godly decisions.

It is a time when God’s Name will be great in the earth, and we will see the exponential multiplicity of His goodness manifest—a great harvest (Jn 15:8).

This kind of increase honors God and builds His Kingdom on earth.

For many who have come out of a season of long-suffering, know that God is fitting you into a season of longstanding. 

God’s sons and daughters, who have adjusted their lens to see what God sees for them and who continue to align with and magnify The Lord, will experience His magnificent manifest opportunities.

The increase of faith in our made-whole heart will now begin to fit into these greater opportunities, which are promised roles and specific assignments God has reserved for each of us. 

This is banquet-level intimacy and honor, where as we continue to trust and rely on God, He will extend His favor for the completion of longtime promises through revealed mysteries and strategies, divine connections, contracts, etc.

This is a time, and these are places where our enemies will not be able to stand against our solidity in Christ, as we step farther along our firm foundation into new roles of authority to rule and reign with God and take greater dominion. 

False shields, such as city walls of unholiness and giants of unbelief, will not stand against God’s power.

We will be exponentially ahead of those obstacles in supernatural power and authority.

As we carefully obey God, none of that will be able to hold us back or prevent God’s will from coming forth. 

We and God make for a double door that fits perfectly together and operates in synchronicity in this wide-open space (Ps 24:7, 18:19).

This special collaboration (or co-labor) requires us to hold God’s hand of authority in glory-to-glory levels of decision-making and follow-through. For every element of promise forward. 

Done right, we will go long and experience Psalm 92:12-15 AMPC, which says, 

The [uncompromisingly] righteous shall flourish like the palm tree [be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful]; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible]. Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God. [Growing in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap [of spiritual vitality] and [rich in the] verdure [of trust, love, and contentment]. [They are living memorials] to show that the Lord is upright and faithful to His promises; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. [Rom. 9:14.]

As we take a closer look, there are some key elements that we can learn and understand from the Israelites in their journey:

Exodus 1:12 AMP tells us, “But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and expanded, so that the Egyptians dreaded and were exasperated by the Israelites.”

In the Bible, Egypt represents worldliness.

So, in this particular scripture, when the oppression of the world came against the captive Israelites, the Israelites broke through and grew more fruitful in number. They spread to the point that their captors grieved, dreaded and feared them. 

Note that their spreading is a Godly principle, as opposed to scattering, which is ungodly. 

So, as they came together in Godliness, or God’s way, the worldliness that surrounded them literally “could not stand” them (God’s Word Translation).

God made a way through the Israelites and for them when there appeared, otherwise, to be no way. 

As the Israelites turned to God, He broke open their turnaround. And He will do the same for you and me.

King David understood this breakthrough.

He says in Psalm 18:19 TPT, “His love broke open the way and he brought me into a beautiful broad place. He rescued me—because his delight is in me!”

We know that, where there is brokenness, miracles of multiplicity occur when we hand our pieces over to The Lord (Mk 6:41-44) 

God receives those pieces and provides for our needs supernaturally, making us and our circumstances better than before. 

Now that God has strengthen us, and will continue to do so as we progress with Him into our Promised Land battles and blessings, we will, increasingly, be able to stand stronger and longer against worldly attacks.

In this way, God has made us stronger for victory-battle forward as we take courage and carefully obey Him, like Joshua’s army, which was empowered and favored by The God of Angel Armies.

Since God has healed our hearts in the secret place, what once wounded us will not stop us any longer. 

We are wiser, freer and more in tune with God as Lord of our lives. 

We now trust God more to reveal His mystery strategies, giving us specific directions and tactics that we need, when we need them, for each mission forward. 

We can now go forth in confidence. To make His Name great.

So, pray with me if you will…

Dear Lord, 

Thank You for positioning me for Your multiplication. I repent of all compromise in my life that has adversely affected Your Kingdom-building in and through me. I’m sorry, Lord. I release all deficit to You. And I choose to receive Your forgiveness. I now choose to be committed to your principles and follow You entirely. I choose to receive Your blessings of multiplicity in every area of my life for Your glory. Thank You for Your extravagant love, favor and reward. 

In Jesus’ Mighty Name. 

Amen.

Join me next week for Part 2 of Magnificent Multiplicity. 

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

Posted on

Doors of Opportunity – Part 2

We know that Jesus is the Door, who stands in the gap (doorway) on our behalf. He alone holds the key and is the One who rules sovereignly over our entrance. 

Isaiah 22:22 AMPC tells us, “And the key of the house of David I will lay upon his shoulder; he shall open and no one shall shut, he shall shut and no one shall open.”

One meaning of the Word “doorway” is “opportunity,” which is a means of access or participation (Webster’s), “a means of achieving or escaping something” (Encarta).

As the bride of Christ, we have just entered into our Promised Land, escaping that which was behind us. We are now able to achieve God’s purpose forward in submission to Him.

Jesus has opened the door. 

But not all opportunities are of God. 

We must be led by Holy Spirit and carefully obey as Joshua did in his Promised Land.

In Philippians 3:13 TPT Paul shares wise strategy, by saying, “I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however, I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead.”

Friends, it’s time to lay down what God is finished with in former seasons. Let it go and fiercely focus on Him and what’s before us.  

It’s time to step into more of our God-given manifest inheritance.

2 Samuel 22:2 AMPC reveals a three-phase strategy that King David walked through on his way to his coronation. It says, “…The Lord is my Rock [of escape from Saul] and my Fortress [in the wilderness] and my Deliverer; [I Sam. 23:14, 25, 28.]”

This is also the process that the Israelites walked through from Egypt (Saul), through the Desert (Wilderness) and into their Promised Land (Delivered).)

It’s the same three-phase process of enthronement that we walk through along our journey to greater power and authority to rule and reign with God on earth as it is in Heaven.

The Lord has brought us through the first two phases, which was about coming to know Him as:

  1. Our escape from Saul (salvation).
  2. Our fortress in the wilderness (sanctification).

And now that we have entered into the third and final phase with The Lord, He is revealing Himself to us as:

3. Our deliverer (into and through our Promised Land), which is the fulfillment stage of promise for our inheritance-reward and much fruit (harvest).

With every step forward in this Promised Land, God will honor us as we honor Him to establish His reign on the earth by His Spirit. He will enable us to rule with Him in greater authority to impact nations. While evil self-destructs by its own sword, like Saul.

Just like King David stepped into his Kingdom inheritance of rulership, we, too, will receive promises fulfilled for Kingdom impact when we stay the course and obey God (Jos 1:7).

We will need a constant flow of living water from the Word and Spirit of God to sustain our position of enthronement here on earth (Re 22:1).

As God’s sons and daughters, we are to remain in the Vine, guard our hearts and be led by Holy Spirit for fruit production in this new season (Re 22:2).

We need to sync with God’s vision as He continues to open up the doorways to new life. 

We can acknowledge God as David did and thank Him as Daniel did when he saw and heard from The Lord.

Daniel 2:20-23 says:

Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king.

As we worship God and follow His lead, we can declare Psalm 24:7 TPT, which says, “So wake up, you living gateways! Lift up your heads, you ageless doors of destiny! Welcome the King of Glory, for he is about to come through you.”

As we progress in this new cycle of the transfer of power, wealth and authority to God’s sons and daughters, we will witness God unseat evil and deliver territory from darkness to light for Kingdom impact (Is 22:19-22). 

God will grow His Kingdom, and we get to participate. 

Just as He did for King David and Daniel and Joshua, God will show us the way and protect us.

He will reveal His vision to us and give us strategy as we go with His Presence. 

As we remain in Him and continue to trust Him along this exciting journey, we will taste and see that He is good in all things. We will have eyes to see and ears to hear. 

So, my questions to you are:

  1. Have you had a Saul in your past that chased you closer to God (deeper, higher)?
  2. Have you found yourself in a wilderness (intimacy) season that prepped you for greater promises forward?
  3. Are you ready to experience your deliverance into those greater promises as your destiny continues to be revealed to you?

If your answers are “yes,” then you are well on your way to greater dominion His way. 

To God be the glory. 

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.