Judah My Bow. Ephraim My Arrow.

Last week in our Church's eNewsletter I sent a Prophetic Word that spoke about Double Portion Acceleration. 

We read it again at our Saturday Morning Prayer gathering and prayed more into it for LifeTree Fellowship and the Congregation. 

As we were praying the Holy Spirit reminded me of a scripture which I looked up and read to the intercessors. 

Zechariah 9:13-14 (NKJV) 

13 For I have bent Judah, My Bow,
Fitted the bow with Ephraim,
And raised up your sons, O Zion,
Against your sons, O Greece,
And made you like the Sword of a Mighty Man.”

14 Then the Lord will be seen Over Them,
And His Arrow will go forth like LIGHTNING.
The Lord God will blow the Trumpet,
And go with Whirlwinds from the south.

Whenever we read the Words of the Old Testament Prophets we must realize, though they had a literal meaning for the people of that day, they also carry Spiritual significance for God's People today! Especially when the Holy Spirit highlights a scripture in a particular Season we are going through.

The Lord gave me an interpretation of this scripture for us to understand what He is saying to us through His Word:

Judah = this name means, PRAISE 

Ephraim = meaning, DOUBLE FRUITFULNESS 

Sword = Word of God 

Mighty Man = Jesus 

Arrow = again, Ephraim (double fruitfulness) 

Lighting = ACCELERATION

Trumpet = His Alarm or Signal for Battle 

Whirlwind = brings God's judgement for the enemy and Blessing for His people

Wow!

Are you getting this?

We are surely in a Time of Battle. There is a Holy Shaking in our World and in many of our Lives. (Hebrews 12:25-29)

The way to Victory is through the Lord's Bow...giving PRAISE to the Lord!

You may want to go for a drive, turn on your favorite Worship Music and Shout HALLELUJAH to the Lord!

This releases His Arrow of DOUBLE FRUITFULNESS in our lives!

The Sword of the Mighty Man is obviously the Power of God's Word in this Season as we War for the Promises of God from a  position of Ownership! Reading...Speaking...and Meditating on the Word of God, the Scriptures, His Promises!

God then sounds the Alarm for Battle against our Enemy, the devil and his cohorts, as the LORD is seen "over us" His people as His Arrow flies against the enemy. 

The Result is a Whirlwind! 

Many times in prophetic language of scripture, the Whirlwind is seen to bring Judgement on the Enemies of God and Blessing or Deliverance to the People of God! (Whirlwind Scriptures)

Heavenly Father, we stand in Faith on Your WORD as we PRAISE YOU to bring us the Victory in this Season of Acceleration and Shaking!

Resistance

Are you feeling any RESISTANCE in your life?

Resistance = opposition, struggle, obstruction, a barrier, something holding you back

Resistance is experienced when there is MOVEMENT.

Have you ever tried to run in water? There is no Resistance until you try to Move. 

The Holy Spirit is always moving. His desire is to Move in our lives and for us to follow where He leads. As we begin to grow in Relationship with Jesus and obey His Word (Scripture) we most certainly will encounter Resistance.

The greater the work the Lord wants to accomplish in you, the greater the Resistance often will be.

The key is to keep our Identity in Christ, not focusing on our own abilities and plans. 

Acts 17:28a

For in Him we live and MOVE and exist.

In Him. 

In Him, in Jesus, we live and Move.

If you are truly in Him, and He is in you, the Resistance is because you are Moving!

Expect it! Look for it!

It is in the Resistance that we are Strengthened!

Have you ever lifted weights before? Muscle and strength is forged through the Resistance!

Now consider this: If God is working in your life through His Word being founded in your heart, and the Holy Spirit has begun Moving in your life, who is causing the Resistance?

1 Peter 5:8

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

We sometimes think, If I am a Christian, no troubles will come my way. This is not what the Bible teaches. We must heed this warning to Stay Alert!

In fact, we are told to turn the Resistance on to the devil as he tries to drag us down!

James 4:7

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

The first key here is to Submit yourself to God. This means to give in, to yield to, to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus in your life. If we are submitted to God, we are choosing to obey His Word, rather than fall into the devil's plan for our lives.

That is how we resist him. Then the scripture promises this will send the devil fleeing from us! Running scared!

An un-submitted, disobedient child of God will not see victory in his life.

So get into the Scriptures today. Stand on His Word and Resist the Enemy. In time, you willsee Victory.

1 John 5:4

For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this Victory through our Faith.

Be Still

The other night as I was lying in bed, the Lord spoke to me about the prophet Elijah.

In 1 Kings 18 Elijah has one of the greatest victories over evil in a spiritual battle and confrontation with the so-called prophets of Baal. 

One Prophet of Yahweh vs. 450 prophets of Baal. 

The CONTEST: Whose God can send Fire from Heaven to burn the Sacrifice?

Victory: Elijah

It is an amazing story as Elijah defeats the prophets of Baal. You should read it today!

If that were not enough, he then prophesies to the king that a 3-1/2 Year drought will now end with a great rain storm.

Victory: Elijah

But Wait! There's more!

He then runs 15 Miles from Mount Carmel to Jezreel FASTER than the king's horse and chariot!!

Victory: Elijah

Then we turn the page...to chapter 19.

The king tells his infamous wife, Queen Jezebel, that all her prophets were defeated and executed by Elijah. She is so furious she issues a Death Warrant on Elijah.

Elijah turns and runs for his life!

He finds himself in the wilderness. The Bible says in 1 Kings 19:4,

He prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!"

Wait a second. Isn't this Mr. Victory we are talking about? He just scored a Hat-trick on the devil! 

Now he's running scared and wants to die?!!

Can you relate? 

We go through times of God's blessing in our lives that can be quite amazing...but eventually challenges do arise. 

I can imagine Elijah's victories, though exhilarating, left him drained and weary. 

The Good News is that God was not going to leave Elijah in that state. He did not bring Elijah that far to leave him now.

An Angel came and ministered to him, feeding him and giving him a drink. This food was supernatural as he did not have to eat or drink again for 40 days! 

He journeyed all the way to Mount Horeb, also known as, Mount Sinai, where Moses had received the 10 Commandments!

There he had another supernatural experience. 

The Lord asked him, "What are you doing here Elijah?"

Elijah replied, "I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life."

When we feel overwhelmed in life, we have a tendency to isolate ourselves from others and paint a picture of reality in our minds that is often exaggerated. 

11 Then God said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord,
but the Lord was not in the wind; 

and after the wind an earthquake,
but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 

12 and after the earthquake a fire,
but the Lord was not in the fire; 

and after the fire, a still small voice.

Again the Lord asks what Elijah is doing there. Elijah answers again with the same words of defeat.

However, God was not finished with Elijah! He gave him new direction and encouraged him that Elijah was NOT ALONE. There were actually 7,000 others still faithful to Yahweh!

Elijah went on to defeat his enemy, Queen Jezebel. 

The Lord wants to bring us to Victory over our enemies as well! (Not people, but spiritual victory over our true enemy, the devil).

King David had written this Psalm; as I was meditating on the story of Elijah, I felt I received a new personal revelation about it.

Psalm 46:10 (NKJV)

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!

What the Holy Spirit showed me was first, what this DOES NOT mean.

• To Be Still does not mean: Give Up
• To Be Still does not mean: God will do whatever He wants so...Que Sera Sera 
• To Be Still does not mean: Stop Engaging your Faith

To Be Still and KNOW that He IS God, is to Still and Quiet your Emotions and Feelings and Thoughts that are contrary to the Promises of God and His Nature.

To quiet your Doubt and to come to the intimate knowledge of your Savior's willingness and plan to deliver and rescue you no matter what problems in life you are up against.

Most of us are not in the situation of an Evil Witch-Queen declaring a death sentence on us.

We cannot Know He is God when we are lead by our feelings. 

Matthew 11:28 (NLT)

Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."

Be still.

Deception

Have you ever considered the topic of Deceit?

As Christians we all know being deceived is the last thing you want to happen to you. We have all seen others that were deceived and the path of destruction in their lives as they pursue something other than the Truth.

The problem is, when you are deceived...you don't know you are deceived...because you are...

Deceived.

It almost seems a deceived person is not responsible for what they do, if they don't realize what they are doing is wrong.

I know this may be a bit philosophical...

I am reminded of the Apostle Paul before his encounter with Jesus on the Road to Damascus. Paul was a Pharisee, a Religious Leader, filled with more Zeal for God than any other...

Yet, he was TOTALLY deceived into thinking that Jesus (the True Messiah and Son of God), was the leader of a false religion.

His deception caused him to pursue arresting and putting Christians to death.

Wow. 

So how do we as Believers keep ourselves from falling into Deception that leads us away from Christ?

Look at this scripture:

Proverbs 12:20 NLT - Deceit fills hearts that are plotting evil; joy fills hearts that are planning peace!

There is a clue here as to one way Deceit enters the heart...through the Plotting of Evil.

This often begins with Jealousy & Envy as we see another person doing well in life.

Here is a Serious Scripture in James to consider:

James 4:1-6 (NLT) - What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don't they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can't get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don't get it because your motives are all wrong-you want only what will give you pleasure. 
4 You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. 5 Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. 6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say,

"God opposes the proud
    but gives grace to the humble."

He is writing this to Christians!

He answers the question: "How does a Christian get to the point of being murderous or adulterous?"

Obviously, one in this state has been greatly Deceived.

Here in these Last Days before the Lord's Return, this is a very serious issue. Scripture teaches clearly the Deceit of these Last Days and the hatred that will fill the hearts of men, causing some Christians to even fall away from the Truth.

Consider this final scripture:

Proverbs 6:12-15 NLT- What are worthless and wicked people like?

They are constant liars, 13 signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers. 14 Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble. 15 But they will be destroyed suddenly, broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.

Serious Stuff!

However, we need not fear if we continue to pursue Jesus and Love Him with all our Hearts, Minds, and Strength! And Love our Neighbor as ourselves!

Lord, we Humble ourselves before You today. We choose to rejoice when others are blessed by You. We thank You for Loving us and caring for us. We pray You make us effective in Your Kingdom as we reflect your Love to others.

Amen!

Human Effort

Do you know the Story of Israel?

Israel was the Grandson of Abraham. His name was originally Jacob, which in the Hebrew means, "Heel," or "Heel-Grabber" or "Supplanter."

He was named this because he was the 2nd born of twins. As his brother Esau was born, Jacob grabbed his heel.

This would become the theme of his life, as later through lies and deception, he stole Esau's position as firstborn and the Spiritual Blessing reserved for the firstborn.

Living as a Liar & Deceiver, things actually seemed to go really well for him for a good while.

So many people are willing to do sinful things to get ahead of others...to gain and promote themselves...to obtain and to enrich them-selves...but in the end, How satisfying is it to Gain through Living a Lie?

That was Jacob's Life.

In the end, living out of his Human Effort was lame...and you also end up...Lame...living this way.

Jacob had an encounter with God one night as he found himself in a wrestling match with an "angel." I believe this was actually Jesus Himself showing up in the Old Testament. You can study that on your own.

It was through this encounter that his hip was made lame, and he walked with a limp the rest of his life. Yet, he realized he had been face to face with God Almighty and no longer had to live the Lies, in his Human Effort.

The Lord gave him a New Identity!

It is so much better to live from Godly Favor than your Human Effort!

Question: are you enjoying what Christ has made you, purely by His Divine Plan for you, rather than your Human Effort?

Colossians 3:1-3 (NLT)

3 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For *YOU DIED TO THIS LIFE, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

*(living by your Human Effort)

We now Identify with Christ's Death and Resurrection! We are a New Creation in Christ Jesus!

Gaining Ground

In my Bible reading this week, I came across an interesting scripture in Exodus 23.

They Lord tells His people that He is sending an Angel before them, to protect and keep them, and deliver them to the Promised Land. 

God tells them if they walk in obedience, the Lord will become an Enemy to Israel's enemies and an Adversary to Israel's adversaries. 

God does this by sending His Angel before them, which causes them to defeat their enemies. It seems this Angel also carries out God's plan to provide food and water and remove sickness and disease from their midst.

He says it like this:

Exodus 23:27 NKJV 

"I will send my terror ahead of you and create panic among all the people whose lands you invade. I will make all your enemies turn and run. 28 I will send terror ahead of you to drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites.

Wow. Now we understand our Enemies are not people. Our true enemy is Satan and all spiritual wickedness. 

Apply, the scriptures here to understand how the Lord fights our battles in the invisible spiritual world for us when we obey and depend on Him!

I found this next verse very interesting:

Exodus 23:29 NKJV 

I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.

In the natural, God is saying, if He removed all of Israel's enemies at once, before they were able to grow into this new land, the lack of people in certain areas would allow the population of dangerous wild animals to proliferate and become a major issue for the Israelites to protect themselves. 

In the spiritual, the Lord does the same thing for us. He knows we must grow and mature in Him. For Him to suddenly remove ALL barriers and enemies, without us growing to place to handle the success and blessing that would rush into our lives, would end up being more harmful than helpful.

Furthermore, the idea here is that of "Possessing the Land" or taking ground for the Kingdom. 

Are we currently taking and holding ground for the Kingdom of God? 

Take our City of Rochester for example. Are you walking in Faith and Action for our City? 

If God suddenly removed EVERY Principality and Spiritual Wickedness from the City of Rochester, would you and I be already working to take Ground for the Kingdom...in particular, are we ministering and sharing the Gospel with the PEOPLE of Rochester?

The Lord could do this, removing all demonic hindrance, but if we are not able, ready or mature enough to reach all the unsaved at once, what would the result be?

Look what Jesus taught about such things:

Luke 11:24 NLT

"When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, 'I will return to the person I came from.' 25 So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. 26 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before."

So imagine, Jesus removes all the Spiritual Wickedness from Rochester...we are unable to reach all the people immediately with the Gospel, so the evil spirits return after a time, and the City ends up 7 times worse off than it started.

I believe that is the idea in verse 29 of Exodus 23, regarding the multiplication of wild animals or "beasts of the field" becoming "too numerous for you."

So, how does the Lord work these things out in our lives?

Exodus 23:30 NKJV 

Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land.

Little by little.

As we grow in spiritual maturity, as we take steps to gain ground in the Kingdom, and show ourselves as faithful stewards in what the Lord has given us, He then defeats more enemies, giving us more ground. In this way, His Kingdom comes and expands.

Luke 16:10 NLT

"If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities.

Faith that Works

Did you ever question the power of your Faith to work?

Most of us can think of someone we feel has Great Faith, perhaps a grandmother, or minister, or Bible teacher.

What about your Faith?

Jesus said:

Luke 17:6 NKJV

"If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

Wow. That sounds like Great Faith to me. 

We often agree with Words like this in Scripture, but do we really believe our Faith could accomplish something like that?

I want to share 2 thoughts today around your Faith and seeing it work for you when you pray. 

Thought #1 - Jesus talks about Faith here as a "seed." The idea of a seed is something that starts very small, but when planted and nurtured, it GROWS into something much greater than its humble beginning. 

Thus, we learn our Faith can grow. It can become greater than it is presently. 

How do we grow our Faith?

I believe the number one way to grow our Faith is found in Romans:

Romans 10:17 NKJV

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

The quickest and most effective way to grow your Faith in any particular area that you are praying for, is to Read, Meditate, and Speak the Word of God, (His Scriptural Promises for what you are believing for).

This will take your seed-sized Faith and turn it into a tree-sized Faith!

Thought #2 - Faith works by Love

In Galatians 5, Paul is contrasting living by the Law of Moses versus Living by Faith in Christ.

In context, some thought that by following all the Old Testament rules of being a Jew would save you. Paul makes very clear, that is not the case. Only Faith in Jesus will save you.

Then he adds a little secret to effective Faith:

Galatians 5:6b KJV

...but faith which worketh by love.

Did you get that?

The Greek word here in the King James Version, "worketh," or works, is the word, energeō.

You can clearly see the English word, Energy in there. Or as a verb, Energize.

It literally means: 

• to be at Work
• to put forth Power
• to be Effective

So this scripture teaches us, for our Faith to Work, to put forth Power, and the be Effective...LOVE must be at the source of our Faith.

The motivator for our Prayers when we use our Faith, must be LOVE. 

Love for God. Love for People.

So, if your Faith seems to be falling short, check up on these two thoughts, and do something about it!!

Get in God's Word, and Love God and People!