Hold On To What You Have

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  The world around us is in shambles.  Of course, prophecy has already warned us that it would all come down to this:  A world in chaos and none but God can rescue.

Whether we count it a privilege or liability, most of us alive today with our feet on planet earth will see the Day of the Lord and His dramatic return to His world to make the crooked things straight.

As the earth shakes and shivers and the 6 o'clock news blasts out the threats, the Holy One calms me with Truth.   He reminds me, "I will never leave you nor forsake you.  Hold on to what you have."

He takes me to His Word and Rev 3:10, "Since you have kept My commands to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth."

"Endure Patiently" is not how I would characterize my thumping heart, swirling thoughts or drawn sword.  Yet I know I must go beyond the superficial grasp of "endure patiently" to find His point.

Webster defines endure as:

1.  To stand
2.  To tolerate
3.  To last, continue
4.  To bear pain without flinching

Enduring is not easy.  But Jesus knows what He is asking of us from His personal experience on the Cross.  In Rev 3:8, right before the great promise that He will keep us from the hour of trial, Jesus said, "I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my Word and not denied My Name".

Each and every day there comes a temptation to depart from the word of God and join with those who deny His Name.  Each day there is an alternative to standing firm, resisting evil, and declaring the Holy Name of Jesus as the Savior of the world.

With the temperature of the world's sickness heating up all around us, opportunities to compromise our walk and faith come hard and fast.  How do we keep form becoming infected?  Where do we find the strength to "endure"?

The answer is simple yet most will not take the time to figure it out:  Read the Word and claim the promises contained therein, and then stay connected with others to who do the same.

Salvation is meant to be more than fire insurance against a hellish eternity.  Salvation is meant to be the doorway to a love relationship with the God of all Creation.  He has the final word over what happens to His world and the individuals who walk upon it.  The Bible is God's love letter to His Beloved.  Inside it's pages we find the true picture of a Father's love and a Sovereign's authority.

Today the threats loom large and the persecution will only get worse as the final days are played out.  Decisions will get more and more difficult for a mind not stayed on the Word of God.  By His command, we are instructed to endure patiently.

The warnings foretell things to come, and here is a warning but yet with a promise. The "hour of trial" is coming and will test those who live on the earth.  But Jesus says, "I am coming soon.  Hold onto what you have".   What we have are His Word and His promises.  As the world seems to get crazier by the minute, I, for one, am holding onto these.

How about you?

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?     

 

Facing Aloneness in God's Purpose

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  This last year of a new thing called "temporal widowhood" has taught me a lot about my Eternal Bridegroom.  Like the fact that He never leaves me. 

While the carnal heart and mind can press to embrace the aloneness as an excuse for self-pity, the Holy One is always providing the sweet evidence of His Presence:  A phone call at just the right moment, or unexpected fellowship knocking at my door.  My Beloved knows my emotional needs for human contact and always sends someone in the flesh to meet that need.

"You are not the only one who faces aloneness according to My purpose and plan."

When I ponder all the messages over the last year of acclimating  to life without a flesh husband, the Holy One hasn't really talked about His purpose in the aloneness, but rather His comfort.

Ever since the beginning God said, "it is not good for man to be alone"  It seems that His plan has always been in community and in relationship.  First comes the marriage between man and woman. That branches out into a family and family branches out into extended family and society is formed from larger family groups.

Today, He is drawing me back into what seems to be a plan that He had for Adam before there was an Eve.

The salvation/rescue of our souls is a uniquely personal experience.  However, Salvation from "what" seems to be the big question?  We have been programmed to believe that Salvation and Rescue is from the fire of Hell, and from eternal damnation, whatever that means.

Death is the big threat and is the door to what lies beyond termination of life on earth.  It is written that physical death does not end life.  We in "personage" will merely be ushered into another realm called eternity.

There awaits a judgment of the soul of every person ever born.  It is past the place where our flesh can be blamed or credited for the choices and decisions we made in this life.

Back in the garden, God made it very clear to Adam that one tree in the garden issued forth life and another tree brought death.  The death tree created a breech to Divine dependence upon the Creator God as man's source of life.

It is hard to even imagine why the first pair would choose death over life but each and every day people all around us are making the same choice. Before Eve, Adam enjoyed fellowship with the Creator God.  Eve was supposed to be a delightful "add-on",  but Adam was so enamored with his lovely companion that he fell into that place we all have been in:  prioritizing a relationship with a person over our relationship with our God.

God understands our humanity better than anyone. He created us for loving fellowship.  He set us up with emotional needs and dependency upon each other.  So what is His purpose in our aloneness?

Our God is a Three Part Sovereign in the Persons of:

God, the Father
God, the Son,
God the Holy Spirit

God said, "let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness" Gen 1:26

There is a dynamic to our created being that requires our relationship with the Trinity to be complete before we can even begin to be fulfilled as a person.  Through the Salvation process and by the indwelling 3rd Person of the Trinity, we are brought together in a mystical union with God Himself, which is the whole reason behind our Salvation in the first place.  For those who stop at the place of fire insurance from the flames of hell, you have very sadly missed the entire point.

The human temptation is to seek human relational fulfillment without God.  The aloneness that  is part of His plan and purpose is to take us back to  realize our greatest need:  The Sacred love relationship with God Himself.

It is no mistake and no fault of the person who feels the aloneness coming down like a dark suffocating cloud.  Aloneness and rejection tries to point their long ugly fingers at the person rejected as if the fault lies there.   But God is  mercifully giving each one of us a mini picture of the isolation of what that ultimate death will be while there is still time to remedy. 

Our Salvation and Rescue planned by the Creator at the foundation of the world even before the fall, was to draw us back into the unity like unto the Trinity, where all completion in heart-longing relationship begins.

We need to grasp this picture of His love.

Today, if there is a prick to your heart from aloneness or a longing for fellowship beyond your reach, seek Him first.  He is waiting to complete you.  Not to rob you of the human relationship but to introduce you to the Divine.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?  

Another Round on the Potter's Wheel

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  Lately I am making yet another revolution on the "Potter's" wheel.  The symbolism of this picture painted in the Word of God is not lost on me. 

We are clay (literally), formed into shape by the Divine Hand of the Creator and He likens Himself to a "Potter".  References are made throughout scripture in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Romans.

We can mistakenly think that we arrived here on planet earth perfect in design, according to our Creator God, having our DNA pre-set before we are born.  We struggle with our pride for that reason rather than accepting the fact that our flesh is quite a blob of undisciplined thoughts and actions that is constantly re-acting to things and people in this life and earth experience. No offense but we all are in need of change. 

We are not born in the same physical shape we will be in at our temporal death, and the same is true of our spirit.  As our bodies grow and mature so does our Spirit, once the Life of Christ has been breathed onto our being through the Salvation process.

The blob of clay that we are at our Spiritual birth needs to be formed and fashioned as we grow up, thus the image of the Potter, the wheel, and our experience upon it. In the natural we work our bodies and make decisions to hone our temporal "tent".  This would be much like working with a "trainer" in a gym for a like-kind analogy from the natural world. 

In the sense of Spiritual maturity, we in our flesh body, will never arrive at a place where we are perfect and no longer in need of refinement.  We are simply a work-in-progress and our best place for shape change is in surrender to the Hand of the Potter.

In our early morning conference today, as the wheel is spinning, the Holy One wanted to talk about prayer and my place in co-governing His world that touches my life.

Divine prayer strategy has been laid out for me and that is to pray God's Word over the situations I encounter each day.  It is written that we are to keep his commands and Word close:

Deut. 11:18, says, "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds and bind them on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

Jesus said, "If you remain in Me and My Word remains in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you.  This is to my Father's Glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My Disciples."  John 15:7-8

I ask the Holy One for wisdom as I offer up prayers and petitions that await answers.  Delays always seem to bring doubts and doubts give way to fears and fears give way to unbelief.  He gives a gentle but firm answer that defines my calling and restores my faith:

"You do not command Me, I command you!".

His words require me to think, process, and analyze my "prayer" posture.  As I ask for His "opinion" and discernment in self-analysis, I find His word to me is actually quite encouraging.  Rather than a rebuke it turns out to be a sweet affirmation of our unity.  He directs my thoughts and His peace floods my heart and mind.

The Holy One continues to speak, "As you remain in Me and My Word remains in you, we enjoy unity and your prayers are ones I have placed in you and for you to bring back to My Throne.  The burdens you feel are the ones I have formed and placed upon your heart and mind and spirit.  They are Mine as well."

The revelation of today is profound.  He is commanding my prayers and burdens.  He is forming them and passing them to and through me from His heart and Mind.  The fact that my prayers are not mine but His, leaves no room for doubt even if there is a delay in answers.

My sense of burdens are ones He has placed upon me to bear at His Throne and to keep there until I see resolutions and the answers He has already provided in the Heavenly Realm.   Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done on earth as it is (done) in Heaven is not without understanding of what His Will is.

God's Word is His will!  The promises He has written and willed for me and others who call upon His Name are all yes and amen!  The commands we are to follow in love of our Savior are to be answered, "Yes, Lord, may it be as You have said".  The Spirit within gives us the  ability to say that and mean what we say.

As we remain true to our Lord and His Word, we can be assured that our prayers have answers and that we are in the privileged place of co-governing His created world in the places we inhabit and occupy just like back in the beginning in the garden before the fall.

As the day of the Lord's return to earth in His awesome Power and Glory draws near, our personal relationship with Him is urgently important.  The darkness has already deceived many into a false sense of security and many are rejecting the inerrant quality of the Word of God.  Many are picking and choosing what part of God's Word is relevant to our society today rather than picking and choosing what of society's word is relevant to God's Word today.

There are those offering up prayers and petitions that seem to be commanding God to tolerate and even bless the compromise of His Word that mocks His Grace.

 As we labor under the Divine privilege of  Unity with The Holy One, and the responsibility that goes with it, may we always remember our place on the Potter's wheel and be open to His Hand of refinement.

For me, today, I have read and heard His Word.  As His servant, I must always remember that I do not command the Lord, He commands me.  My prayers and burdens are ones He has given.  I am  a chosen servant and vessel who simply completes the cycle of His government in the world that touches my life. 

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?  

 

Facing Goliath

The Holy One calls me this morning. Goliath has challenged God's people and the Lord is calling some of His "Davids" to find their sling and gather their stones for a confrontation.

My family has many "Davids" drafted by the Lord to go up against the enemy's giants and the best that evil has to offer.  The Holy One calls me this morning to talk about one such David, and one such Goliath and one such evil challenge.

Over the course of my life I have found myself on that battlefield in the position of David facing off with those "Goliaths" and have testimonies of God's great victories as He supernaturally sent the stone into Goliath's brain.  Today with the battle raging against God's people, He has me re-read the Biblical account of David and Goliath as told in 2 Samuel 17.

The battles I fought in my early years of being called to confront evil were deeply personal.  My focus was on the audacity of the enemy to mock my God and King, Jesus the Christ. 

Soon after joining the ranks of the saved, I found what seemed to be the enemy's first line of attack: To discourage God's people through a "big mouthed" Goliath spewing out contempt for my new kingdom and King.  He attempted to assassinate my new faith through an attempt to assassinate my hope in the Lord's  power and authority in my life.

In the beginning it scared me but then as I saw the pattern of evil,  it made me mad.  The initial fear was understandable and natural since I was new to the relationship with the Lord God of all creation and didn't have experiences to draw from.  Trusting Him was a constant theme and life experiences grew out from there.

I found that the Lord my God was always faithful to me just like He was to David who got to know Him on a hillside, under the stars,  among some lowly sheep.  David grew in a personal knowledge of the Holy One as he confronted the threats that went with his assignment:  To protect the sheep. 

I have walked through impossible situations with incredible resolutions.  Each test became a testimony and I know why the Lord had the nation of Israel build altars at places where God gave them amazing victories as He moved among them.  These altars were an ever present reminder of a past victory where God moved in their behalf. 

While every challenge we face may be something new for us, the One who delivers is ancient and without number of days...always faithful...never changing.

David had no idea in those days what his ultimate future would look like.  But as the youngest in his clan, he took his job in the family seriously and used the time he had while tending the sheep, to search for and learn more about the God of all Creation.

God honors a searching heart and He honored David.

Fast forward to the day on the calendar where David, who had been living in the shadows, was thrust onto the bigger stage of life and death, honor and humiliation. The story of his victory over Goliath is epic.  One that we all can relate to.  It is the classic tale of our humanity and a "hero" complex that lies deep within every heart.

The Holy One speaks to me and offers another perspective of that story He wants me to see.  David walked out onto that field to defend the reputation of His God;  the One True God;  the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob:  the God he knew personally.

This contest with Goliath was ordained for him.  David had been prepared for this day.  Through out his young life trials, David gave credit where credit was due.  When David was questioned by King Saul, who was looking for someone with the courage to represent Israel and face the giant, Saul saw only the "boy".  But David's answer revealed the true heart of manly courage and the source of his strength.

He declared, "Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear;  this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them because he has defied the armies of the living God.  The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine".

The Holy One speaks to my mother heart and confirms how well He knows the unspoken fears that lie within.  "You are the mother of 2nd generation "Davids".  Your children are facing their own Goliaths but I am the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  They will have victory just as I gave it to you".

The Lord is calling many Davids in this generation of the Body of Christ to fight the enemies of our Kingdom and our King.  Those enemies who are mocking the One True God.  Those enemies who, like this Philistine, are trying to take God's people captive and rule over The Lord's chosen ones.

Today the Holy One is showing me how important David's personal victory was for the entire nation of Israel.  While David's family (AKA his mom) may have had the most vested interest in him winning the fight with this giant, the Lord had a much bigger purpose in mind. 

Were it not for David's courage and strength and knowledge of His God to deliver, the entire nation of Israel would have been taken captive that day.  I look around and see how at every corner and every turn our faith in and knowledge of God is being mocked and challenged. Does it ever occur to you that your courage to face your Goliath may save others from captivity?

When evil mocks and we cower, darkness covers the land, and the knowledge of the one True God is lost to the next generation.  Many will refuse to confront the wickedness.  But victory is promised to the servants of the Holy One. 

The Lord reminds me that He works through the lives of His people.  If  David had not stepped onto that battlefield to confront the enemy, the Lord would not have been able to direct that "kill shot" to the brain of Israel's foe.  The battle truly does belong to the Lord but he expects His people to stand up for the Principles of His Word.  As we do that in a lost and dying world, The Lord's Name and renown can be Glorified.

In our modern world today, there are many opportunities to stand and fight against the enemies of our God.  To "pick" our battles does not mean that we never go to war.  This is a day on earth for raising up the banner of our Kingdom and our King.  This is the day for courage.  The truth of His Sovereignty must be told and unto that end we may find ourselves at risk. 

But Isaiah 35:3-4 promises, "Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way, say to those withe fearful hearts, be strong, do not fear; your God will come, He will come with vengeance and with Divine retribution, He will come to save you."

The question remains, "will we take the challenge and confront that "Goliath" for our Kingdom and our King?"

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

      

Marriage, Prayer and the Power of Unity

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  Life with my Lord is never dull.  While deep trials mark my pathway, I know He is taking me to places of greater wisdom and understanding as we traverse this "Highway of Holiness" together.

The time in His Presence is so amazing to me.  The world around me may be swirling out of control but in His Presence there is peace. 

Today He talks to me about our unity and the importance of community.  This has been the topic of our early morning conferences over the last few months. He speaks without words to my heart and mind about unity with Him.  With the Holy Spirit, there is a communication beyond words, and many question just how the God of all creation might "speak" to a mortal. 

"Without words" is about all I can say.  When I surrender my thoughts and mind to Him, I am taken into a higher order of thoughts.  When I commit my dilemmas to Him, He opens my mind to see things from a different perspective.

God also speaks through His written Word.  Early in my walk, I decided that I wanted to know His Word and become a "Master" of His Word in my own life.  I didn't enter into a seminary or school because I was a wife, a mother and business partner to my late husband.  Time and responsibilities didn't permit an outside education, but I sat at the feet of My Jesus and by His Spirit, I learned.

I am still in His institution of "higher education", where the simple Truth is found amid all the chaos of life and the confusion set up by the enemy of my soul.  Today, as we talk about unity, the Holy One takes me to Matt 18:19 yet again.  Jesus said, "Again, I tell you that if 2 of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in Heaven".

This is just one of His endless promises that belong to His Beloved.   It is important to note the "context" of this promise.  Jesus was speaking to His Disciples, not the general population, and not the Pharisees.  His Disciples were men who embraced His teaching, and surrendered to His authority as they called Him, "Teacher", "Master" and "Lord".  This is important to understand because of the trust that "whatever you agree" to ask for,  comes out of a common bond of love for the Lord and the Promise Keeper.

If 2 agree to build a tower like "babel" unto the heavens, for a self-exalted empire, even if it is shaped like a "church", the "agreement" most likely will not receive the promise.  So, how do we know what to ask?  How do we know what to agree to?

God's written Word is His Will.  God's Will is always an appropriate place to start in agreement.

By way of example, Jeremiah 29:11 is a place where many believers can agree and often quote to each other.  But that verse follows Jeremiah 29:4-7.  This verse is a directive and very much a part of his written Will for us.  We are told to "pray for the peace and prosperity of the land of exile, "for if it prospers so will you". 

Can we first agree that the world is not our home and we are just passing through this earth realm which is for us a land of exile?  If we agree as to our current placement, we can move on to agree to ask the Lord for the peace and prosperity to flow out over the land of exile.  We can look forward to that being answered.  This is not "name it and claim it" for lustful fulfillment of things that would become idols.  The earth's greatest need is peace. (with God and each other) ...followed by provision to live life here.

For those who do not agree that the Bible is our life manual and a living Word for every life and generation , they will be stuck with just a historical view of God's Word, not applicable to today and therefore relegating them to a life of no hope.

However, if we agree that the promises are all ours in Christ Jesus, then we can go past the model prayer that says:

"Thy Kingdom come

Thy will be done

   On Earth as it is in Heaven".

and on to live that reality here, now, today, and so long as our feet are planted on this Earth.

As I ponder that great promise of power in unity, to ask and receive,  I am compelled to look at relationships where that can be most effective. When I read that promise, I have always seen it for "prayer partners" who are mostly unrelated saints, and those who come together for fellowship in community.

Today the Lord blows open the limited understanding I have had and points out to me, the place of greatest relational impact of that promise in the world.  That place is the basic relationship of two people upon which all society rests: the marriage of 1 man, and 1 woman under the Lordship of Christ.  The original benediction over the orignal pair was that they go forth and take dominion...rule...together...  to co-govern with God and each other.  Jesus' Word and promise reinstates that benediction.

 

I think about what might be accomplished according to God's Word and His Will if married people could come together in agreement over their relationships, their families, their ministries and more.  How much power could be wielded against the darkness in the world,  if the "marrieds" would come into agreement to declare God's Word over what is out of God's order.  How much healing would take place?  How much of God's great government would come to our churches and communities?  How much rebellion would be quenched,  poverty ended and divorces over ruled?

Evil orchestrates marital division because Satan knows the power of unity. 

We have the promise and the plan.  The power of unity is ours. The question is: will we wield it?

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him? 

 



The Victory Strategy for Answered Prayer

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  There is a "feel" of victory in the atmosphere.  After long months of praying, with not much change in the natural, this new sensation is a welcome sign like sunshine after weeks of a torrential rain.

The warmth of His Presence is now more like a guiding light than the blanket of protection against the storm.  While I have been agonizing in one of many trials, He has been waiting for me to ask the right questions and pray the right prayers.

He hears the question in my heart, "Are there any wrong prayers?'  I answer myself, "No, not really", but there are prayers that seem to "not" get answers, and I want to know why?  His explanation is so simple that I am stunned at my own ignorance.

For a while now, I have changed my petition and begun asking my Counselor to give me "Heaven's strategy" for victory in all I have been praying specifically.

He takes me back to His Word and John 15:7 where Jesus said, "If you remain in Me and My word remains in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given.  This is to my Father's Glory that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be My disciples."  Victory on earth is bound up in that verse.

Jesus said, "If you remain in Me".  Jesus is the personified Word of God; the "Walking Word" as He has been described. To remain in Him is to remain in the Word.  IE  Read your Bible!

"And My word remains in you".  From out of our hearts and minds flow all that we put into our hearts and minds.  It is essential to have His Word remain in our heart and mind.

"Ask whatever you wish and it will be given you".  If I am in Him, and His Word is in me,  His will and my desires actually merge to become one and the same.  We will have that for which we ask.

The "Heavenly strategy"  for victory on earth is to pray His Word down in every situation.  "Pray and say", was what Jesus taught.  "When you pray, say", and then He went on to outline a prayer model we call, the "Lord's prayer".

Looking at His encounter with the devil in the wilderness, I see His inward confidence and outward authority that the Word of God stands, for He said,  "it is written".  The spoken Word of God was the one-two punch that gave Him the victory back then. 

It bears mentioning that evil always plays a role in our trials (see Job's life).  And that whatever strategy we use, we must take that into account.  In co-government of our world, we must look around at what is out of God's Divine order and try to find a method of action we hope will change what we "see".

We can judge, we can cry, we can negotiate, we can yell, we can repent, we can compromise God's Word to fit our experience, but in all of that, our prayers can seem like gumballs thrown at a wall while we wonder which (if any ) will stick and be answered".

Today the Holy One speaks to provide that critical element so often overlooked when we face the impossible trials of life while praying for relief and rescue and deliverance.

"Speak God's Word and He will honor it.  God wants His children to succeed His way".

God's Word is His Will. "Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven". As we speak out God's promises (already given) to His people, to meet our prayers and petitions,  He already knows we have, The Father is glorified by the fruit of the answers being made visible in our lives.

Our legacy is Christ's authority in the co-government of our world.  We are placed here to shine like starts in the universe not to just claim to be like Christ and then wallow in the mud like the rest of the world.

There are promises in the Word of God, written to cover every human need and every human threat. There are promises written that deal with the inhabitants who dwell beyond the realm of our human senses as well as promises that involve our eternal destination point after leaving planet earth.

The "key" is to start living in the Word of God, and find the promise that fits the need.  We then declare what "is written" and therefore must come to pass, with a Holy confidence.

At the spoken Word of God, all things that exist were created.  Heb 11:3, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command (spoken word).

Somehow our faith is affirmed by what we speak.  To declare God's Word reveals faith in His Word.  Faith in His Word brings manifestations whereby:

mountains are removed
storms are calmed
sickness and diseases flee
the impossible happens

God gets the Glory and we, His people, get the victory.  Speaking His word forever ends the argument so many use for deafeat:  You just do not have enough faith.  Speaking the word is all the faith required to claim the answers.  End of discussion.  Liar is silenced.

Finally I understand, there is a victory strategy for answered prayers. It hasn't changed since the foundation of the world  It remains and always will be:  GOD'S SPOKEN WORD!

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?



      

The Power Over Evil

The Holy One calls to me this morning. I confess I want to understand and know more about the mystery of My Creator God.  When things vex my mind, I cry out for His wisdom and rarely does He turn me away without the answer that I seek. 

I have learned not to put a timetable to His answer.  I have learned that He brings His wisdom in His timing, in His own unique way to fit perfectly inside my human mind.  Sometimes the wisdom I seek connects in unusual ways to the bigger picture. While I search for the smaller details of life to be made clear, He is calling me to war on a different level.

On the personal natural level, there is a hard battle being fought in defense of covenant marriage against the backdrop of divorce, and for the role of the father that has been denigrated and almost destroyed. 

On a personal level, the pain of divorce and the impact on children forced to live with the consequences is heartbreaking and almost unbearable.  The ordeal has put the covenant family in the gears of society's distorted world view of marriage and under the corrupt jurisdiction of the "courts of men". 

God's Divine Government has no bearing on the decisions that are being carried out when children become "wards of the state".  Abortion rights is yet another example of a war on children executed at the highest level of evil power passed to  the lowest level of depraved human indifference.  The Sanctity of Life and the value that God places on every human being conceived is being rejected and denied.

As the saga unfolds, many many times I hear the questions of the hurting hearts, "God, where are You?"  "Do You care?"  "When will the nightmare end?"

In the bigger picture,  I can see how the Lord is using the personal to help me understand the corporate. Others are suffering in similar ways and need encouragement and wisdom to escape the treachery that I have just been through. 

The Holy One calls me this morning out of my slumber and into my armour with the stark reminder that I do have a role in this battle even as "The battle belongs to the Lord".

The Lord calls me to look hard at Matt 18:18-19. He calls me to address my place on the battlefield and my assignment in the war.  He calls me to the place of my delegated authority to "co-govern" the world that touches my life.

Pursuit of the "American Dream", and all the energy it takes to acquire it, leaves the Church of the living God, with precious few warriors on the battlefield who have a heart to fight for the principles of Godly Government over our earth-bound lives. 

Looking back at the original garden and the original relationship between the Creator and His created, the "man" was given the Divine benediction and command to "take care of" as in "have dominion over"  the place of his habitation and not just live off the blessings of the land.

As a farmer works with the natural soil, we must work with the "Spiritual" soil we have been given.  We must sow and reap, but today the Spirit tells me, I must not forget to bind and loose.

The Holy One knows I have been frustrated, to say the least, with the appearance that evil is in charge of my world.  The wicked "seem" to flourish, while the righteous languish in circumstances that "seem" to have been formed and forged in the pit of hell.

I refuse to slip into despair,  so I have been asking my Counselor to speak to me about where I might be missing something important in the government of my world. His answers always come in response to my cries, not at the moment my questions are articulated, but according to His time and my ability to track with His answers.

Today is an answer day.  While I primarily view life as a battle, it can still be a puzzle that Divine pieces are being placed into as I journey with Jesus.  Where does each piece fit and how does it impact the battle I am in, forms the basis of my servant hood as Ambassador of my King and warrior for my Kingdom.

The Lord has helped me to see that, although I am just an older woman, or just a widow or just a__________ whatever the enemy may use to point out my weakness, I am still a beloved child of the Sovereign God who created everything and everyone, including the angel turned traitor. While in and of my flesh I am no match for the supernatural enemy of my soul, my Lord did not leave me defenseless or powerless.

God's government of the world is my business, because I am His servant and the officially delegated authority over my corner of His world.  In God's Divine Government and the Body of Christ on earth, the prayers of the saints are mightier than the powers of the evil one.

In Matt 18:18 Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven and whatever you loose on earth, will be loosed in Heaven."  In Matt 12:29, speaking of the evil one, Jesus said, "or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off  his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man, then he can rob his house"

The only way the enemy can enforce any form of his will is if we refuse or fail to pray....OR...and this is huge, if we agree with what we see him doing by speaking his agenda out over our circumstances through complaining rather than reclaiming our authority.  We must, by the spoken word, bind him and refrain, by the same spoken word, from agreeing with his power.

We must bind enemy forces and the activities we see him engaged in and then release or loose by the spoken word the Holy Spirit of Christ's authority over the situations we see. Looking at the life of Christ, Who is our model, we see him driving out the darkness and replacing it with His Light.

God's Word is His Will and His Government is plainly laid out in Scripture.  As we look around what do we see at cross purpose with God's Government in our "world"?  Everything, from inner family issues of division and childhood rebellion to the corrupt systems of the courts of men, is subject to our delegated authority should we choose to execute it.

While it is true that Jesus came to change hearts not the laws that govern society, when laws and rulings violate our Godly conscience and we still claim to be residents living in the land of the free we have a responsibility and then privilege to occupy our world that still belongs to the Lord, by and through His Holy Spirit, until He returns to rule and reign Himself.

As if to make sure that I do not miss His point, the Holy One takes me to yet another scripture in the book of Nehemiah, where the "workers" who were in charge of rebuilding the walls of protection around the Holy City...(hmmm...could that be our assignment as well?) were told in Nehemiah 4:14, "To remember the Lord and to fight for your brothers, yours sons, your daughters and your homes."  Verse 17 says, "those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each one of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked."

This is a  very poignant picture of how we are to live as builders and warriors for our Kingdom and our King.  Today the Holy Spirit has helped me see that wringing my hands is never an option.  Folding my hands in prayer, while gripping the sword in authority is required for the victory.

Binding the evil I see while loosing the power of the Spirit will cause victory to come from God's government in Heaven to our government on earth. Refusing to fight is the surest way to live in defeat. 

In your corner of God's world, what evil thing needs to be bound in the name of Jesus, and what situation needs to be changed through the intervention by His Spirit?  We are called to co-govern with our God.  The power over evil is yours to wield.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?