Scripture: "Arise, shine! For your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness- the people; but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you, and nations will come to your light. And kings to the brightness of your rising." (Isaiah 60:1-3)
Scripture: "Joshua, Moses, My servant is dead. Therefore rise, cross the Jordan, you and all the people, to the land I am giving to them. And every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you...No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous....This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you make your way prosperous and you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous!! Do no tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua: 1:2-3, 5-6, 8-9)
Good morning, God's mighty army! The Lord is with you. Let's invite the Holy Spirit into this moment. Come Holy Spirit and break open the Word of God for us that we may be changed, encouraged, inspired and transformed into living words of Jesus, our Lord.
Day 9! Thank you for staying the course and finishing 9 days of Ballistic Breakthrough. I have a feeling it's just the beginning. Please go to themissiononthemountain.com. Find out more about “Mission on the Mountain” and what we are working on for YOU! It's definitely a work in progress. We will be updating as we work around Corona virus. It WILL happen, whether in person or online. There's a space to give us your contact info so we can stay in touch and tell you what's NEXT! You can also find us on our Facebook page by the same name and on Instagram. Thank you, Jen Bedison, who has picked up the slack for my lack of techno savvy! The Scripture, Psalm 119:105 says, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." When we read this, we often think FLOODLIGHT, and Jesus is thinking MATCHSTICK. And this is where we are! We are being given the light for the inches right in front of us with “Mission on the Mountain”. It's a 20-year dream. We believe It's time is now. We are walking it one step at a time.
So, where do we go from here with this group? YOU are going to tell ME. And I am sensing that the Lord is just beginning. There's so much more to talk about; so much more the Lord wants to teach us. After our 9 days of reflections we'd love to hear from YOU. Where are you, what struck you, what more are you needing? YOU have so much for the building of the Body of Christ, and specifically THIS Body of Christ.
So here we are. Take a moment to read the two Scriptures for today. The Isaiah verse looks like it was written for this moment. Darkness has fallen over the world, but this is your time of rising. His glory (His unfathomable kindness, mercy, graciousness, unlimited supply of ALL that is holy and good and powerful) is on YOU, and nations will come to YOU because they are drawn to that, to the Jesus in you, like a needle to a magnet.
The second verse is equally powerful. When God is on the move, He “don't” play! Imagine the conversation. "Hey Josh. Moses is dead. Boom. And I've chosen you so it's time to herd the squirrels, millions of them, and cross the Jordan to go get the land I've promised you." OK. first, it's important to know that this was the second generation of desert wanderers. The first crew were almost all dead now, having not received the promise because they simply refused to believe God and His promise to them. AND they refused to obey when He told them it was time to MOVE and go get it. They let what they saw in the natural, really, REALLY big people, (giants...Goliath's people) catapult them into such fear that they were paralyzed. Joshua and Caleb were the only two who took God at his word. But because of their disobedience, they had to wander for another long period of time. Poor Joshua. This is the crew he's inheriting. These people had forgotten WHY they were even wandering! So, when God told Joshua to tell them to prepare, because in 3 days they were going to consecrate themselves and cross the Jordan river and take possession of the promised land, they had to muster up some courage and some memories! They must have been thinking, "Oh THIS is why our parents and elders were out here in the first place!"
And if that wasn't bad enough, I've found in my life that if the Lord says, "BE strong and courageous. Do not be afraid..." there is clearly something to be afraid OF! Sometimes we think that we're going to become super Christians and never feel fear or like big, fat cowards. Let me know when you get there! A more realistic view is that when we begin to put our focus on the NATURE of God (who is HE and what He's like), begin with praise and thanksgiving, learn to ABIDE, (to stop, to remember his faithfulness in the past, to rest in who He is,) to "take every thought captive in obedience to Christ(2 Corinthians 10:5), to guard our hearts and minds in Christ (Phil 4:7), THEN we begin to have a very effective strategy to go to battle with the poison arrows of the enemy, whether it's fear, discouragement, self-hate, shame, etc
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Interestingly, God told Joshua that "every place the sole of his foot tread" He would give him. The Hebrew word for "tread" is DARAK. What it does NOT mean is that wherever Josh took a casual stroll the Lord would hand him that land. The word "darak" means whatever we go to battle for, whatever we are willing to trample down, to pull back your bow and fight for, whatever Joshua was willing to DARAK for--THAT land will be given to him. In other words, "Ok people, the anointing is on YOU for this victory and the time is NOW. The victory is sure, BUT you have to fight for it. Be courageous. It will look scary. It may even look impossible. But if God makes a promise, it's a done deal. The only piece that is NOT a sure thing is whether or not we will cooperate.
In this case, God gave Joshua a clear directive. Get 12 priests to carry the Ark of the Covenant into the Jordan. The water will part and all gazillion people will walk through to the other side. And make sure the priests stand in the middle with the Ark the whole time while the ENTIRE population passes through. Then you'll get to the other side, there will be a big battle, you will fight for and win the land and yay God! Doesn't that sound thrilling? No! Especially since it was harvest time. And the Jordan river was raging. The priests were probably fighting for who would NOT be in the front! Years ago, I was awakened in a hotel room by a message coming in on my phone. At that time, I had 3 children living all over the world. This particular little charming video was one of my son's going off a 30+ foot waterfall in a kayak (in New Zealand.) Another video later was the same son and his friend carrying their kayaks by huge, raging water, to show their moms they had some sense and they would NOT try to paddle water this big. Hmmm. Enter Joshua and the 12 priests. Joshua assembled the crowd, prayed, gave the instructions, and told the priests to move forward. He told them that God had said that as soon as their feet hit the water it would recede. The whole process began with them getting their feet wet. They must have felt terror, because they DID get their feet wet and NOTHING happened with the water. As Joshua encouraged them to believe and keep walking, their terror must have grown. Was Joshua SURE He heard from God? In the natural, these directives were overwhelmingly crazy! The current was huge, the Ark was heavy and with what they could see, nothing was happening. Amazingly, Joshua had unwavering trust in the character and the faithfulness of God. If God said it, Joshua believed it. So, he stood at the shore praising God and encouraging his people to keep going and to believe.
Of course, God IS faithful. ALL THE TIME. And His Word is a binding oath to His people. All of these Scriptures that I've been sharing are not his "what ifs" or "maybes" to you. They are His solemn oath to YOU. And not IF you're living right or if you are faithful and good, but because HE is. The Israelites couldn't earn the Promised Land. They could only obey and then choose to receive it. And what the Israelites did not know was that the water DID stop as soon as the priests' feet touched the water. But it started receding 19 miles up the road in the town of Adam. (Interestingly that's the name of my son of the whitewater antics!) And though they were frightened and unsure, they DID get their feet wet and they did keep moving forward. Probably about the time the water was up to their necks there was a sudden reversal, and it quickly receded, to their utter astonishment. This time, the people obeyed God, they "daraked" for the land, won it, as God had promised, and they set a memorial of stones in place so that they would never forget the miracle of God's faithfulness.
We are in the same place today. We are praying to be people of Ballistic Breakthrough. In the west, we've had the option of living on periphery of faith for most of our lives. We have, many of us, lived within the safety of our comfort zones with very little interruption. This is NOT that time. Each of us is standing at the water's edge, trembling at the size of the waves, hearing God say, "Don't be afraid", but when you ARE afraid, that's a flat-out wrestling match! If we want to be growing as people who pray for AND SEE Ballistic Breakthrough, then we must decide to wrestle! We are all going to have faith in something. Let's make sure we're not putting our faith in the wrong kingdom. Most of us feast on faith or fear. There is no fear in heaven. Only peace. There is no frenzy, no unbelief, no panic, no doubt. In heaven there is a seeing, a knowing with absolute certainty that the Promiser, who is ALL love, keeps His promises. The atmosphere of heaven is joy, peace, love and total trust. Because we are children of God and co-heirs with Christ, EVERYTHING that was available to Jesus in the storehouse of heaven, is also available to us. And in this moment in history we need to rise as people of courage.
Take hold of these promises: Psalm 56:3-4, Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 41:13, Matthew 10:28, 1 Corinthians 16:13, Philippians 1:12-14, Hebrews 13:5-6, Deuteronomy 31:6, Psalm 27:1, 2 Timothy 1:7, and 1 John 4:18.
Do you need peace in this storm? Soak in these Scriptures: Psalm 91: 9-10, Luke 1:78-79, Job:21-22, Psalm 4:8, Psalm 34:13-15, Psalm 119:165, John 14:27.
God's Words actually contain the grace to bring forth what is IN the Word. Learn to speak His Words out loud. The enemy needs to know where you stand. Proverbs 18:21 says, "The power of life and death are in the tongue." Speak LIFE. Speak HOPE. Speak ENCOURAGEMENT. Speak PEACE. Speak LOVE. The Word of God is our weapon against ALL that comes against us. It's the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). Learn your Ephesian 6:10 weapons and learn to use them. Remember when I told you about the 3 paneled dream or vision? I told you about the first panel, the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The third panel is a NOW word for us. I was about 6 feet underwater. I could see light above and the boat that I must have been somehow connected. I was aware that the temperature was lovely, I was somehow breathing under water with no problem(?) and I was standing on nothing but being fully supported in place. Next to me was a huge, BEAUTIFUL sword. IT was gold and silver and embedded with radiant jewels. I remember thinking, "Wow, that is gorgeous. But even under water I bet it's too heavy to pick up." In the next moment I heard God say, "Now it's time to learn to fight the dark IN the dark, with only My Word to stand on. Pick up the sword."
People of God, we stand anointed for such a time as this. Like Joshua, Gideon, Jehoshaphat, Mary, and countless other heroes of the faith, it's OUR turn to get our feet wet, to "darak" for the promises God has given, and to be willing to fight the dark IN the dark, standing on His Word. Because what's coming is His light and His glory shining on us, even in a time where the world is covered in darkness. In Isaiah 60:1 He calls us to arise. My beloved Joan of Arc said it best, "I am not afraid. I was born for this!" And so are we. Today, this is not the ending. This is a fresh beginning. What ELSE does the Lord want to teach us? Challenging times are always the stepping stones to breakthrough. Stay the course. Remember, we only need a little faith, but we have to keep it in the game.
"Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, "Abba, as far as I can, I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?" The old man stood up and stretched his hands toward heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and said to him, "If you will, you can become all flame." The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
Declaration: We praise You, Lord, and thank You that day by day we are overcomers becoming more than conquerors. We praise and thank You that we are becoming all flame! We praise You for shining Your light and Your glory on us. We want to make You easy to see. Do that in us, Jesus! And we will give You our YES as You are filling us with supernatural courage and hope. We believe, Lord. Help our unbelief. Holy Spirit we thank You that You are making us saints, lights in the darkness and those who carry the Heart of Jesus. Make Your love and life in us more contagious than any virus. Turn our world upside down, Lord. And use us! We give You our Yes and Amen!
All glory to the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. May every grace and blessing be multiplied to you.
Can't wait to see where God is taking us. Let's keep each other in prayer.