I believe this message is so important for the
time we are in. It really does speak to
what is presently the spiritual climate that we see all around us. I pray that you will hear what the Spirit is
saying to you personally, but also to the Church in general.
We are going to start by reading 2 Corinthians
10, saying that we walk in the flesh, but do not war after the flesh. We need to have context of this
scripture. Very often to find context to
a chapter, you have to read the chapters before and after. Paul was addressing the Corinthians with
regard to supporting those in ministry, specifically supporting him. He was saying that he was not being
burdensome to them in wanting support.
They were negative about Paul, judging him by his looks, saying his
letters are bold, but in person he was unimpressive. Paul was talking to them about judging others
with what they see. He is talking to
them about the fact that our warfare is not after the flesh, but we only walk
in the flesh.
2 CORINTHIANS 10
3 For
though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 (For
the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the
pulling down of strongholds;)
5 Casting
down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
6
And having in a
readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
When read here the description of what our
weapons of warfare do, it pulls down strongholds, cast down imaginations, every
high thing that exalt itself against the knowledge of God and it is also used
to take thoughts captive. Clearly you can see here that Paul is saying, “You
are judging me according to the flesh, but the problem lies within your
mind. The way you think and this is
where you warfare lies, the way you think.
Thoughts are individual and we can see them as bricks, but a stronghold
is made of a lot of thoughts (bricks) that makes up a fortress. You can look at thoughts not being taken
captive as those very bricks that build up a stronghold in your mind. There you become a prisoner in the way you
think. This is why we are called not to
be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds
(Romans 12: 1 – 2).
Paul is not addressing binding or loosing of
demons, but he is addressing the mind.
This is not just about individuals.
A lot of what I will be speaking about, though applicable to us
individually in the micro, the focus is the macro, the eternal purposes of God
for the Church. We need to understand
that people have strongholds, a way of thinking that affects eternity. He wants us to have a corporate disposition
of understanding that our warfare has to do with the way people think.
The most important verse, is verse 6.
6
And having in a
readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
Disobedience is rebellion. Paul is saying, “You can look at everybody
with regard to how they think, how wrong they think, wanting to bring strongholds
down and address these issues, but before you do that, you first have to deal
with your own disobedience or rebellion.”
These thoughts all relate to a disobedience of heart. As you think in your heart, so you are. We have to address our own disobedience,
before you address any other disobedience.
Talking about strongholds, my mind went to
Joshua and the Israelites facing Jericho.
Jericho was most definitely a fortress or a stronghold. It is said that the walls were double, 30
feet high. The inner-walls were double
the width than the outer-walls. You can
only imagine what this mighty fortress had to look like to them. In Joshua 1, just after they crossed over the
Jordan, the Lord speaks to Joshua saying that Moses had died, now he is to go
over. Just like He was with Moses, so He
will be with Joshua and no man will be able to stand before him. Then He tells them that every place that they
place their feet, that He has given them.
Remember, the wilderness is the time of testing of our faith and our
devotion, proving us and bringing us to the Jordan. The Jordan means “to go down”, into death. We are baptized into His death and then raised
up in newness of life. They have come
through the Jordan, through death. We
are co-heirs with Christ, and in order to be co-heirs there has to be death for
us to inherit. We walk as He walked,
carrying our cross, dying to self daily. We then come to a point where you
reach the Jordan where you are impotent like Abraham and barren like
Sarah. There is nothing in you
anymore. You have been cut off. You are now dead and can enter into Canaan,
which is the land of inheritance. Joshua
is told the land is his inheritance.
This sounds great! But, He tells Joshua then to be bold and
courageous. Why must they be bold and
courageous when they were just told that the land is theirs? That speaks of the dependence that is needed
upon the Lord to take the land. This
promise is not independent of who Joshua is in himself, weak and barren. Even though he is raised up from the dead
(the Jordan), he no longer lives. That
“he no longer lives” means that he is still in a place of weakness where he is
required to be bold and courageous, even though through his death, he has received
an inheritance. He will be facing strongholds
and giants in Canaan. That means coming
into your inheritance requires a fight.
A lot of us think that when we cross the Jordan, into Canaan, that
represents rest, that the battle is over.
No. That is actually when the
real battle starts. All your subsequent
experiences before your Jericho, before you enter into Canaan, has prepared you
for Canaan, which is the time to face the giants and take the land. It has everything to do with warfare. What is the rest of Canaan then? This rest is resting from your own
self-effort. You are in weakness and in
poverty. You are impotent and barren and
there is nothing you can do in yourself.
All you have to do is rest, which is to live by faith. When we are in the wilderness, every step we
take, we WALK by faith, but when we come into Canaan, you LIVE by faith. This is why Paul said in Galatians 2…
GALATIANS 2: 20
No longer my own faith, no longer mixed with
anything that I could possibly bring to the table, but I am dead. Therefore, I am in a rest, so that Christ is
made manifest and lives His life through me, so that I can face those
giants. Before the Israelites could face
Jericho, they were given instructions.
JOSHUA 5: 2 – 4
2 At
that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise
again the children of Israel the second time.
3 And
Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the
hill of the foreskins.
4 And
this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of
Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.
The wilderness is that experience that we come to the point that
we die in the way, and yet after they went through, they had to be
circumcised. Practically what this meant
was that a generation passed that went through the wilderness that had not yet
been circumcised. Before they could go
into Canaan, the new generation had to be circumcised. Seeing this from a spiritual perspective,
they had to die in faith. The Moses
generation is in the wilderness and the Joshua generation is in Canaan. Canaan has everything to do with warfare, but
before that, they had to be circumcised. We can only imagine these poor men,
men of war that had to be circumcised.
It was called the hill of foreskins.
We do not know whether this was a mole hill or much bigger, enough for
it to be called a hill. That must have
been very painful.
JOSHUA 6:10
10 And Joshua had
commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your
voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid
you shout; then shall ye shout.
Here the instructions come with regard to how
they will overtake Jericho, this mighty fortress. They were probably overwhelmed by the
magnitude of Jericho. They received
their instructions. These are mighty men
of war and if we in today’s military had to receive our orders from the
Commander or General, and they tell us, “No, we are not going to send our navy
ships, or submarines, or press any buttons, not going to send our drones. No, what we are going to do is walk around
the city.” You can only imagine what
these men of war thought. It must have
been something like, “Huh? Come
again. You want us to what? Are you sure you heard right? A shout is going to bring it down? We are not allowed to talk? You really want us to walk around 6 days and
the 7th day, 7 times around the city? Really?”
It is interesting how this 6 days had to have
a purpose. It must have been
intimidating for the men of Jericho standing on the wall, looking at them
walking around the city in silence.
However, I do not think it was only for that purpose, but for the
Israelites to come to the end of themselves.
When we walk and live by the Spirit, it will often contradict logic or
reasoning. It is very important that you
understand or hear what I am saying. The
wisdom of God is contrary to the wisdom of this world. It will not comply to our logic and reasoning
and will require of us a faith that is absolutely rooted in trust, because we
have gone through a wilderness experience, the 6 days a representation of
this. The number 6 is the number of man
and the number 7 means completion. In
affect it was saying that once you have passed around your Jericho, your
strongholds, or this world, the system of this world, and you have come to the
end of yourself, and it has been brought to completion, when I say you must
speak or shout, it is only then that you can.
Only then will it constitute an event that will bring the walls
down. That is a whole different way of
looking at “we do not war after the flesh.”
The same type and shadow we find of Moses waiting on the mountain for 6
days and on the 7th day the Lord God spoke to him. He was waiting in thick darkness, in fear and
trembling. This waiting, this being
quiet, going around the city, waiting upon Him, does something to us to endure
whatever comes our way, to bring us to the end of ourselves, so that when we
speak, it will not be our speaking, but He speaks. We find the same with same with the Levites
that had to wait 7 days outside of the tabernacle, and after 7 days, the Lord
appeared unto them in a cloud. Waiting
is warfare. We have to learn to
wait. Once again, verse 6 tells us that
we can take revenge on disobedience, ONCE our own obedience has been
fulfilled. That obedience is those 6
days. This is not literal. Some people’s 6 days can be 40 years, 25
years, 10 or 5 years. He knows how long
that season is to keep you in waiting so that when you have truly come to the
end of speaking out of yourself, with no more speaking out of your own wisdom,
logic, reasoning and strength, then you can speak. Once your heart has been circumcised, then
you can speak. This is why the
Israelites had to be circumcised. The
instructions they received were directly connected to the circumcision, because
we speak out of the abundance of our heart.
We receive the circumcision of the heart. Whatever we still have in our heart, whether
a need for validation, significance, applause, or to be right or loved,
whatever it may be having that guile in our heart, if that is not silenced in
those “6 days”, then when we speak, we speak through those filters and His word
will then be mixed, adulterated. This is
why the Word of God is a sharp two-edged sword piercing asunder between bone
and marrow, dividing between soul and spirit and discerning the intents and
motives of our heart. It is the Word of
God that circumcised the flesh of our heart so that when we speak a word of
authority that is authentic comes forth, because we have silenced every other
voice within ourselves. Those voices
have to be silenced in order that only His voice can be heard. When that shout comes, it is authentic. This is what He requires of us. All other voices have to be silenced before
He can speak, because He wants to speak.
Unless we do that, when we speak, our shout will bounce off the wall and
the walls will not come down. It will be
a case of the two men that wanted to drive out the demons out of these men in
the book of Acts. They used the name of
Yeshua, but was told, “Jesus we know, and Paul we know, but who are you?” and
they were attacked and had to run away.
Did they then not use the Name of Yeshua? Yes, they did. But, the powers of the air recognize
authenticity. They know when words have
weight and when it is found to be wanting.
In the time to come, He will give us the words
to speak. He told the disciples that
they would be brought before magistrates and that they are not to prepare what
they will say beforehand, because in that moment He will give them the words to
speak. Why did He not tell them, “Listen, it is important that you prepare
beforehand. It is important that you set
up a PowerPoint presentation when you come into a court of law and have all
your legal rights before them and know your scripture. You need to be ready in season and out of
season to give a testimony of the hope that you have in you”? No, rather He
specifically says, I do not want you to prepare, because in that moment you
will have to be so dependent upon My Spirit to say what I need you to say.
Someone once said that the greatest miracle
about Jericho was not that the walls came down, but that the Israelites were
silent. Not speaking one word, not being
able to pass a note, but to be dead quiet.
There are times that He calls us into His presence, requiring us to be
silent. I have had this experience twice
where I had to be silent for 7 days.
What happens in that silence is that you become immensely aware of His
presence and you become aware of your absolute “nothingness” and that you are
just dust. In fact, you feel that you
want to die because your sense of your true worth in the light of who He is
increases. However, this is what He
brings out in us during our sanctification process, which is to bring us to
nothing, where He can be our everything.
I told Him once in love that He is my everything. At this He replied, “I am only your
everything, when I am all you have.”
This scared me a bit.
What you are and the way you react will be in
direct proportion of how you behold Him even when facing your Jericho. These men of war had to have the LORD God in their
sight. They were looking unto Him and
not Jericho or the stronghold. One can
imagine that when they were told to be circumcised that they were probably
saying, “Woa, woa, woa! You want to what?
No, you can’t!” This is the
equivalent to someone telling us, “You need to be quiet. You need to have a meek spirit and lay your
life down.” To this we say, “Do not tell
me I cannot address these people that slander me. Do not tell me to keep quiet in the face of
my accuser. Do not tell me that I do not
have a right to stand up for these things. I refuse to do any of that!” That is the very thing that He wants to
circumcise. We often think that when we
hear these things that it means that we are never allowed to speak, but as in
the case of Jericho, He wants us first to get to the end of ourselves before we
speak, because the speaking cannot be our own.
Our mouth has to be circumcised.
JAMES 3
2 For in many
things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man,
and able also to bridle the whole body.
PROVERBS 25
28 He that hath no
rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
Your tongue has the ability to break down the
walls of protection around you. If you
do not have rule over your spirit, you become an open target for the
enemy. This is why He wants to
circumcise our heart and that we deal with those things in our heart that
demands validation, approval, love, acceptance, self-preservation and the need
to be right. We have to lay it all down
and become a bondservant unto Him. “I will speak through you. Allow Me to deal with these things and
sanctify you. Only then, once your own
obedience has been fulfilled, then you can avenge their disobedience. Then you can address the vain imaginations,
then you can address the strongholds and everything that exalts itself against
the knowledge of God.” Exalting talks
about pride and vain imaginations talks about pride. But pride against what? Against the knowledge of God, against who He
is. How He works, the person of
God. They err, because they do not know
His ways.
REMEMBER:
·
STRONGHOLDS HAVE
TO DO WITH LIES, DECEPTION AND IMAGINATIONS AND IT IS WITHIN THE SPIRITUAL
KEEPING PEOPLE CAPTIVE. It is a
disposition of mind and is presently in this world and in the Church.
·
Verse 6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your
obedience is fulfilled.
WAITING
IS WARFARE…TIMING IS EVERYTHING IN WAR. Our silence has to be absent of anything in us
that raises up in us offense, thinking, “Who gives this person the right; I
will get you back, or you just wait”, of defending ourselves. Numerous occasions I have found myself in
this position where He has prepared me beforehand and told me, “You will only
speak this one thing.” He says, “Leave
room for vengeance, for vengeance is Mine.”
He sees everything. He requires
of us to keep quiet before He speaks through us. To be able to keep quiet in such circumstances,
year in and year out, to endure it, is what He is using the wilderness
experiences for. In the end it is not
about saving your butt and getting you out of weakness or out of suffering, as
much as He at times do help us. In the
end, it is about the glory and wisdom of God to be made manifest. This is what it is all about. Not about self-preservation, but embracing
weakness, so that His strength can be made perfect in us.
ECCLESIASTES 3
1To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose
under the heaven:
7 A
time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A
time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Do we really think that He wants us to speak
unless we have learned first to be silent?
To be so dependent upon Him and not prepare beforehand what you will
speak and speak from the life that is in you, because He has brought you to
that complete death. When Father spoke
to me about pillars a few years ago, He told me, ‘Your strength is in direct
proportion to your dependence upon Me.”
Our silence can still be from out of a
rebellious heart. You can grind your
teeth, not saying anything, looking all pious, but in your heart not. This speaks so much to Him and in Jeremiah 17
He says our heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things. Who can know it? He searches our heart, our reins. He seeks those whose heart is perfect before
Him and have become silent. They do not
scream for release and in bitterness. What
is God after? He is after impotence,
barrenness, absolute weakness and dependence upon Him. He is seeking those vessels through which He
can manifest His life. Manifesting His
life will pierce the hearts of those who accuse us, and if not, it will pierce
the hearts of others who look, and it will glorify Him. It is all about whether He is being
glorified. Listen to Paul’s disposition
with regard to weakness.
1 CORINTHIANS 2
1And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of
speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For
I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him
crucified.
3 And
I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And
my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Paul is here talking about the wisdom of men
verses the wisdom of God, and also about weakness and the power of God that
needs to be made manifest. We see the
conjunction between all these. Paul, who
was the Pharisee of all Pharisees with great knowledge of the Torah, impeccable
in upholding it and he says here to the Corinthians, “I do not come in my
knowledge or understanding of the Word, or anything I have experienced, but I
come in utter dependence upon God, in great weakness, in fear and much trembling. In this way I come to speak to you.” It will be no different for us when we need
to speak.
What is our disposition towards
suffering? Please understand that I am
not downplaying anyone’s suffering.
Sometimes our disposition towards weakness is that we are ashamed of
it. We want to get it over with,
murmuring within our hearts thinking, “When is He coming? I have suffered so much for so long and He is
not answering me. How long must this
still go on?” We murmur and we grow
bitter, without us knowing it, we become offended by the way He deals with us. We do not want people to know that we are
struggling, that we have bouts with depression and are coming loose at the seams. We suffer silently, but within our hearts we
are murmuring and moaning, and become bitter.
These are part of the voices that need to be silent. These voices are saying, “I do not want to do
this anymore. Yes, I have come out of
Egypt, but this wilderness is just too much.”
The wisdom of God is in complete contrast to
the wisdom of this world. The spirit of
this world has everything to do with power, control, manipulation and
intimidation. We get things like a
powernap, power walk, power point, power evangelism. “We, the people, have the power.” Everything about this world is about
reclaiming power. Taking back authority,
the rightful authority that we have as children of God and claiming our right
upon the land. After all, in Genesis we
are told to rule and reign over this earth.
In Joshua we are told that every place we place our feet is given to
us. We employ the Word of God in a lust
for power. At this moment this world and
the Church has a great lust for power when God is calling upon the Church to
embrace weakness, which is the wisdom of God. This is so that the manifest
wisdom of God can be made known not in the wisdom of men, by a demonstration of
the power of God. The wisdom of this
world is in complete contrast to the wisdom of God.
NOT
BY MIGHT, NOT BY POWER, BUT BY MY SPIRIT, SAYS THE LORD
At this moment the “Woke Generation” has
everything to do with taking back power, employing the Word of God to justify
their intents and manipulating the word to justify their actions. And the enemy has purposed it in such a way
that the Church would rise up to fight for that which is good. For instance, abortion, to fight against the
“V”, exposing financial corruption and government. All the conspiracy theories are no longer
conspiracies, but facts. They are
fighting for that which is right, but fighting with a spirit of bitterness,
rebellion, slander, coming against authority, which is directly in opposition
and in contrast with the wisdom of God.
What we find is that the Church and the world is united, which is the spirit
of anti-Christ, preparing the sleeping Church to unite in a false light. The Word says that even Satan comes as an
angel of light. In John 1, John the
Baptist says that he is not the light, but a witness to Him who is the
light. So there is in this time a true
and a false light at the same time.
Our testimony becomes imbalanced when we only
testify of great power and strength and weighs heavier on that one side, but
does not have the element of weakness.
We do not embrace weakness. Jacob
had to prevail and fight against the angel and when the symbolic “6 days”
ended, he was touched on his hip socket.
The hip is where the sword comes, representing his strength. He left there with a limp and a new name. Whenever someone saw Jacob, they would
recognize him by his limp, by the fact that he had overcome. He received a new name, Israel. Israel means “God prevails”. The angel told him he is a prince. He was given authority. That authority was based on overcoming. We are called to overcome in the wilderness,
to be tested and tried. Until He has not
completed that “6 days” in our life, we cannot receive a new name and move into
Canaan, so that we can speak that word to the stronghold, being His word
speaking through us. Because we have a
disposition of wanting suffering to end all the time, not belittling anyone’s
suffering, the cross becomes an offence to us.
Maybe you are thinking, “That is not true about me. I readily apply the cross to my life. I am
open to Him to work in my life.”
However, if you have endured suffering and pain for many years in your
life, offence comes in a very subtle way to your life. The way it manifests is
when a new battle comes in the midst of the suffering you are still in. When you say, “Lord, I am already going through
this, and now you want me to face that?
Is this not enough? When will it
stop?” It is then that the true
disposition of your heart is shown, where you are really at. How you react to those who persecute
you.
1 CORINTHIANS 1
17 For
Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of
words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
18 For
the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us
which are saved it is the power of God.
19 For
it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing
the understanding of the prudent.
20 Where
is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not
God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For
after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
22 For
the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 But
we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the
Greeks foolishness.
The Greeks are referring to the Gentiles and
the Jews wanting a sign speaks of their unbelief. They could not believe that the Messiah would
die on a cross, but rather wanted the Messiah to take over the throne. They were told they will only get the sign of
Jonah.
The Greeks speaks of humanism, philosophies,
vain imaginations, self-improvement, knowledge, technology and AI, enhancing
man, being a god unto ourselves and be god.
The cross is foolishness to this world.
It speaks of dying to self and becoming nothing so that Christ can be
everything. This is the very thing we
are to preach…THE CROSS, WHICH IS THE WISDOM OF GOD. This “Woke Generation” is not preaching the
cross, they are in agreement with this world, a false light.
COLOSSIANS 2
8 Beware
lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition
of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Think
of Mars Hill where Paul addressed the philosophers in Athens. Paul was led there by the Spirit on his way
to Macedonia. The Word says that when
Paul looked at the city, he was grieved in his spirit. The Spirit of God was grieved within
him. Paul notices that they have an
Unknown God. Paul downright insults them
and tells them that they are all superstitious and that he knows this “unknown
God”. They are indignant and we know
what happens after that. What kind of
person did Paul have to be to be able to speak that word to them with such
authority and boldness in the midst of them?
Confronting their wisdom?
9 For
in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And
ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
11 In
whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in
putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
12 Buried
with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of
the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
13 And
you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he
quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to
us, and took it out of the way, NAILING IT TO HIS CROSS;
15 And
having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly,
triumphing over them in it.
He is referring to living by grace THROUGH
FAITH. There is no use talking about
being saved by grace, but you do not understand the principal of faith. The principal of faith is vitally connected
to no longer living out of your own strength, which is done through the process
of sanctification.
How did He triumph over the enemy and make an
open spectacle of them? Through the
cross. Our triumph over the enemy, over
the rulers of the air and the principalities is through the cross, not in our
own wisdom, the wisdom of men, taking back our power or manipulating the Word
of God in order to have a “Kingdom Now” mentality of wanting to infiltrate
governmental positions so that we have a voice.
It is through the cross alone.
Isaiah 53
7 He was oppressed, and he was
afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his
mouth.
When sheep are slaughtered, they do not make
one sound. We find this in the case of
where Yeshua was standing in front of Pontius Pilot. Yeshua had every right to speak. Pontius Pilot wanted to know whether Yeshua
is a king. He told him that He is, but
not of this world. Due to Yeshua’s
silence, Pilot asked Him whether He knew that he has power to save Him. Yeshua told him that he has no power over
Him, except that which is given from the Father above. He was basically saying, “I die, when My Father
tells me I will die. You might think it is through you, but nothing can happen
to me unless My Father ordains it. I
have no self-preservation. There is no
voice in My heart that cries out for validation, to be heard, crying out to
stand up for My rights, even though I know that I have every right and
authority to take it up. Because all
authority has been given unto Me to take up My life or to lay it down. Nobody makes me lay My life down, but I lay
My life down on My own accord.” John 10.
The spirit of this world is now all about
saving their lives. Yeshua said that
whosoever wants to save his life, will lose it, and he who gives up his life,
will save it. Even though Father uses
the exposing of corruption to save many lives and using it for good, He is not
pleased with the spirit that is rising up in the Church and in this world. The disposition that Yeshua had on the cross,
not the one after He was raised from the dead in strength, power and glory, but
hanging in threads on the cross said, “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” Those were His words and He was worried about
His disciples. Not thinking, “Father,
when will it end? Father, please make it
stop. How much more must I suffer? Do I really have to go through it?” There was not a murmur on His lips. There was consideration for the lost.
It is not a question of meekness meeting
malignity, or weakness meeting strength.
Rather, it has everything to do with those who do not love their lives
unto death. At the end of the age, the
enemy knows those who will fight for their lives. If the enemy sees that there is no desire in
us to save our own lives, he has “no game”.
If we do not even fear our own death, just like Yeshua that knows that
the only authority they have, is the authority given by the Father, because we
have dealt with all the voices within, our heart has been circumcised, then he
knows he has “no game.” This is the
wisdom of God displayed in a glorious way.
That we are willing to suffer joyfully and not with murmuring. Knowing that God will have His moment of
vengeance and that we are okay with when that will happen. Only willing to speak that which He gives us
and not because we are fighting for our rights.
It has everything to do with Him being glorified. There is no self-awareness, self-preservation
or self-consideration, only the will of God.
1 CORINTHIANS 2
6 Howbeit
we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world,
nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
7 But
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God
ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which
none of the PRINCES
OF THIS WORLD knew: for had they known it, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory.
The princes of this world can be the rulers
and those in government. However, this
also refers to principalities. We are
speaking mysteries, hidden wisdom.
People do not understand this because they are veiled. They look upon those who are of “THE WAY OF
THE CROSS” as pathetic, laying their lives down and it does not make sense to
this world. But what a glory unto
God!
When Yeshua came here to this earth and placed
His feet on this earth, it was a declaration of war. Remember, Joshua is a type and shadow of
Yeshua. Joshua was told that every place he places his feet, that ground has
been given to him. Where Yeshua walked,
that ground was His. But on what basis? On the basis that His heart was circumcised
in complete dependence upon the Father.
He said, “I CAN DO NOTHING. I can
do nothing except that which He shows Me.
Whatever I speak I have heard from Him and whatever works I do, I have
seen the Father do. He does it through
Me.” In John 15 He tells us, “Remember,
you can do nothing without Me…just like I could do nothing without the
Father.” The enemy knew that it was a
declaration of war and this is why the demons in the men of Gadara cried out
saying, “Are you here to torment us before our time?” They knew exactly who He was and this is why
they wanted to kill Him on the cross and do their very best. But, God allowed it and Isaiah 53 it says
that it pleased the Lord to bruise Him and to make Him sick. The wisdom of God was being made manifest
through a man on a cross, so that the resurrection life could be made manifest. We are the manifestation of the wisdom of God
by the life we live, by how we lay our lives down.
PSALM 2
1Why
do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The
kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,
3 Let
us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
EPHESIANS 6
12 For we wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places.
We have to remember that this is a cosmic
setting. It is not just about our
individual lives, but collectively, through the strongholds and vain
imaginations of all, there is a “hive-mind” created through this “Woke
Generation” through manipulation and control by the principalities and powers
of the air. Everybody collectively form
this beast system. The rulers are coming
against the children of God. The thought
is, “Do not tell me that I must lay my life down. Do not tell me that I must be silent and walk
around these walls. Don’t tell me that I
must keep on suffering and that I am not allowed to put them in their
place.” It is a spirit of
rebellion. The Church is thinking, “Let
us break their bands asunder”, thinking they are doing the will of God.
We have to have an eternal perspective in our
own suffering and why we need to come to the end of ourselves. Collectively the Church is called to manifest
the wisdom of God and we can only manifest this, the Cross, by allowing the
cross to have its way in us. In
Ephesians 3 Paul talks about receiving the grace to receive the mysteries of
God.
EPHESIANS 3
3 How
that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few
words,
4 Whereby,
when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
5 Which
in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed
unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
6 That
the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his
promise in Christ by the gospel:
7 Whereof
I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me
by the effectual working of his power.
7
Unto
me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I
should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Here we see the disposition in Paul. Paul also called himself the Chief of all apostles. This is not false modesty, but clearly
showing us that Paul was brought into the reality and authenticity of living in
utter weakness in order that the wisdom of God can be made manifest, through
the revelations that he received. This is not false modesty, but him having
been brought into that place of seeing himself as the least of all saints. He knew it, he lived it and he was it. Can these revelations be given to Paul, those
also that we read about in 2 Corinthians 12, those outer body experiences where
he said that they could not be uttered? Can it be given to him unless he knew
that he is the least of all saints? In
order to not exalt himself a thorn in his flesh was given to keep him
humble. He asked the Lord three times to
take it away. Is this not what we are
asking? “Please Lord, let this suffering
go away.” He is saying, ‘My ways is that
I need to keep you humble if I am going to use you in greater authority and in
greater revelations. You need to embrace
your suffering.” This does not mean that
He never wants to bring us out of suffering, heal or restore us. However, we have to have the right
disposition when He wants to use us in greater authority. It goes hand in hand. We have to endure suffering in order to
receive a crown. The crown speaks of
authority. We all want the unsearchable
riches of Christ, the revelations, but He is saying there is a price to pay.
9 And
to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus
Christ:
10 TO
THE INTENT that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might
be known by THE CHURCH the manifold wisdom of God,
11 According
to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
We as His body and He our Head, is expressing
this eternal purpose of God, which is to make manifest the wisdom of God unto
the principalities and powers. Through
the Church they are made into an open spectacle. Through dust, through those who are the least
of the saints, who are weak, that is a foolishness to this world, saying,
“Through these, the “Game of Thrones” I will take the ground. It is all about who will reign in His
Kingdom. They are fighting for the
thrones of this earth, to take control through vessels of their choice to
establish their rule and reign on this earth.
Yeshua is saying, ‘I will have the last say through weak vessels that
are dust. I will raise them up to make an open spectacle of the principalities
and powers that are now in office, manipulating and jerking the nations for
their purposes. I will overthrow them with these little ones.”
In Matthew 6 we read of the beatitudes where
Yeshua says that the pure in heart will see God. They will see God and the things of God. The deep secrets, mysteries and
revelations. He wants to reveal these
things to us, but knows that He has to prepare our hearts and keep us in
weakness. He is seeking impotence,
dependence and humility.
JAMES 3
13 Who
is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good
conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14 But
if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not
against the truth.
15 This
wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For
where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But
the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy
to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without
hypocrisy.
18 And
the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
The world and the Church is being set up and
prepared for the anti-Christ. We know
that in the account with Noah that the dove and the raven were released. The dove speaks of the Holy Spirit. The raven speaks of the anti-Christ. It is an unclean bird. In the Strong’s Concordance, the pronunciation
of this word “raven” is pronounced “arab”.
Of late the numbers 111 has come numerous times on my path. It has different meanings to me, but it
means:
G111 = LAWLESS, CRIMINAL, ILLEGAL (This is
what we are seeing now rising up, a lawless spirit) Once again, I am not saying
that it is wrong to have a stance against abortion and corruption etc. We need to understand that behind the scenes
a spirit is working, the spirit of anti-Christ.
H111 = ADAD (EDOMITE) FROM HADAD OR CHADAD
(H2301) = SON OF ISHMAEL
GENESIS 11:1
And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
The whole world is speaking in one language,
one speech, rebelling against God, whilst thinking they are fighting for
truth. They are actually fighting
against THE TRUTH. It is the spirit of
anti-Christ working in the children of disobedience.
HEBREWS 3
7 Wherefore
(as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden
not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the
wilderness:
9 When
your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
10 Wherefore
I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart;
and they have not known my ways.
11 So I
sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
12 Take
heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in
departing from the living God.
13 But
exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened
through the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For
we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence
steadfast unto the end;
15 While
it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the
provocation. (Provocation means an irritation because of rebelliousness.)
16 For
some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt
by Moses.
17 But
with whom was he GRIEVED forty
years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the
wilderness?
18 And
to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that
believed not?
19 So we
see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
The Word says in Hebrews 3 that they were
murmuring, complaining and bitter. They
were not happy that they were suffering and that they had to endure all that
before they could enter into Canaan.
I was not sure how the Lord wanted me to end
this devotional, because I usually give a word from Him. Just before I did this devotional, I had an
experience that is actually not new to me.
My window of my bathroom was slightly open and I saw that a dove flew
in. He was confused because both sides
of my bathroom has a mirror and the dove thought he can fly into what he sees.
I felt so sorry for it. Father uses
doves a lot to speak to me and I immediately knew that something is up. I took a towel and threw it over the
dove. As I picked it up it flew away,
whilst I still had a grasp on it. I
pulled out almost all its tail feathers.
This broke my heart and there were just feathers everywhere. I knew Father was speaking to me about the
Holy Spirit. As I lay on the bed, dozing
off, the Spirit told me to get up and count the feathers. It was a total of 23 feathers. The Spirit also reminded me of a movie that I
watched of a man that had this dove outside his bedroom window that kept him awake. He was irritated with this dove, trying to
chase it away. The dove did not want to
go away. Eventually this dove gets into his
bedroom and this man became angry. He
closed the door and slept in his lounge.
The Spirit started speaking to me about how our bedroom represents the
most intimate place of our lives, our heart and the bathroom speaks of
sanctification, where we are cleansed.
The Holy Spirit is saying, “Do not harden your heart. Allow me to sanctify you completely. Do not
grieve me. I am asking you to not harden
your heart. I am speaking to you about
the suffering you are going through.
Allow me to sanctify you, to circumcise the foreskin of your heart. Allow Me to abide in your heart.” It did not
surprise me at all when I looked up the number 23 in the Strong’s Concordance. It means to grieve, indignation, an arm, a
burden to ache. He was saying to me,
“Pietra, tell My Church that is standing up under this wisdom of this world,
that they are grieving My Spirit and that they are operating under the wisdom
of this world.” In Proverbs 8 the last
verse, it says that wisdom was with Him and was daily His delight. The Bride walks by the Spirit. Wisdom is here an architect, a master builder
or mason working with Yeshua. The Bride
walks in wisdom by the Spirit and when they persecute us, they persecute the
Spirit of God. They grieve the Spirit of
God.
It is clear that the LORD God wants to say
that the Spirit is grieved by the spirit of this age, of how the Church is in
agreement with this world.
Word received on the 5th January
2022
BY THE
SPIRIT
It is by
this Spirit, My Spirit resting on you that you are to govern. Not you from out of yourself, but My Spirit
resting on you, and you submitting to the promptings of My Spirit.
I have given
you the mind of the Spirit and My Spirit also knows My mind and He intercedes
for you with groanings that cannot be uttered.
Therefore, you have to be led by My Spirit and submit yourself to His promptings.
LISTEN AND
OBEY
You can no
longer do your own thing, just like a king or ruler cannot do their own
thing. You are responsible for others
and to uphold a standard, the very one you proclaim. This can only be done by My Spirit, so listen
and obey. Your governing is directly
related to your submission to My Spirit, for it is My Spirit that governs
through you.
Therefore,
be zealous to obey Him for He will guide you in all truth. Have I not said that He will remind you of
everything I said? For it is My Spirit
that will work out My purposes in you as you yield to Him. Be zealous to obey for much depends on
it. I told you that your strength is
only as much as your dependence upon Me.
Be zealous to depend on Me in all matters. Walk circumspectly as one of whom much is
required and I will make your ways prosperous.
For you are
in My service and there is no higher authority than Me. You walk before Me alone to answer before Me
alone concerning that which I have given you.
You will be held accountable for that which I have entrusted you,
including My Spirit.
Therefore,
do not look lightly on the authority I have given you. Do not look lightly on your purpose and
calling. But more than anything, do not
look lightly on My Spirit. My Spirit is
your provision and your seal. I have
sealed you with My Spirit and you are Mine.
Therefore,
walk by the Spirit.
