It's been an emotional couple weeks. I've been feeling drained mentally, emotionally and even physically at times. I have slipped in my daily time spent in the word, not gonna lie, and for a while there I could feel the Lord pulling at my heart strings. Trying to get me to maintain focus on spending time with Him, looking to the future and letting go of a thousand things that I keep wanting to hold onto. Let it go Ash. I'd hear. Yet there is this part of me that feels like there has to be some type of hope. That's the part that never wants to really let go of anything. I posted that pretty emotional video on Father's Day. It felt good to finally feel that release of letting go of the expectation that one day things will be different. Low and behold the enemy is right there over my shoulder whispering the "what if's". What if this, what if that. Well, devil, what if Jesus comes back tomorrow? Get outta my face for real. It's time to shut down the "what if's". It's time to realize that the Lord controls the what if's and to rest assured that even when you don't "got this"; He does.
Matthew 14:31
31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
It was really fun traveling up to Augusta WV and meeting up with the Freedom house guys to hit the streets in Romney WV last Saturday. We basically took flyers and just walked around town inviting people to the meeting. I like getting out in the public and meeting folks that need prayer. That's where you'll find the folks that need a dose of Jesus, in the streets. They're the ones that don't feel welcome in the church. They're the ones that will never come to your Sunday service in a nice outfit with their hair combed and shirt tucked in. They're the ones that need to know that Jesus loves them just the way they are. My spirit comes alive when I get to help people understand how real and relatable this entire experience can be.
Romans 15:7
7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Luke 9:48
48 and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”
There were a group of ladies that came up to see Rob for prayer because they couldn't make the service that evening. When they pulled in the lady asking for prayer couldn't get out of the car. Her face looked grim and she was shaky. She could barely catch her breath. She said that she had been to multiple doctors for testing and all results on her lungs and nerves had come back fine. Clearly anyone could see that this woman was not fine. As Rob began to pray for her, the Spirit of the Lord rested upon her. Slowly she began to shake less. Slowly she began to breathe easier. She had been carrying the weight of losing her husband when he passed away and losing foster children that were in her care. She had been carrying the weight of feeling like she could have done more. Rob led her in some prayers, helped to break her free from some bondage and the Lord touched her, healed her and brought her peace right there in McDonalds parking lot over the course of 15 mins or so. She stepped out of the car and her whole disposition had changed. Her eyes weren't dark anymore, they were a bright green. Her face looked entirely different. That is what can happen when you practice biblical power evangelism. It's not about followers, it's not about how many likes or comments. It's about helping people understand that the Lord is here and now. He said "I am". Not I will be one day, not I can be sometimes. He said to us "I AM". I define that as now and always.
Exodus 3:14
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am." And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you'."
Luke 17:20-21 The Coming of the Kingdom
20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
We headed to the service and a wonderful lady was leading worship. It was just her, a piano, and a microphone but it was some of the most powerful worship I have ever experienced. Wave after wave of the Holy Spirit breaking me down and healing me up. At one point when I looked up, I saw His face through the tears. There He was, like always, ready to spend time with us, to love us, to pour into us and to help us heal others. I couldn't take my eyes off of Him. His hair and beard flowing, His eyes, so intense that you feel completely transparent. Every hidden part of you revealed, loved and accepted. With the best part of that being that it's freely given to all that come to Him.
You don't have to be qualified. You don't have to be in bible college. You don't have to be anything other than willing to humble yourself and fully surrender to the Lord in order to become who you were created to be. That's were I was in my life. Nothing else was working, nothing stopped the depression, the anxiety, the pain, the suicidal thoughts. Not this new job, or that new car, not buying a new house, or having a swimming pool. Not taking Leah shopping and buying her whatever she wanted. None of it gave me peace. Happiness that would eventually fade, sure yeah. Peace, no. The enemy takes years of our lives chiseling away at our identities piece by piece. The Lord has come to restore every piece of you that the enemy has taken away.
2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new
As small children when we are hurting, we reach up for our parents with the expectation that they will reach down to us and lift us up, comfort us, and help restore us to the emotional state that we are in prior to that hurt. As we grow up, when we don't have parents who reach back down to lift us up, eventually we just stop reaching up and start finding ways to comfort ourselves. This is why we lift our hands in worship to our king. This is why when I am in church my hands go up and I don't often take them down. He is always reaching down, waiting for us to regain a tiny bit of hope and reach up.
Romans 8:14-15
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Proverbs 8:17 - I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
As I fixed my gaze on His eyes, I began to see His face change. It reminded me of those old 1970's olan mills photographs with the special affects where you can have once face behind another, or one face almost projected over top of another. Or those pictures that hang on the walls in nail salons that look like running water but they are just a picture you plug in. I could see His eyes unchanging, His hair and beard flowing into this majestic mane of a Lion. His face would alternate between that of a Lion and that of the King. The Lord then put it in my heart that it is time to be the Lion. It's time to be bold against adversary in the name of Jesus.
Proverbs 28:1 - The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.
The Lord is calling for the separation from the true lambs of God and the wolves in sheeps clothing. The church members and the disciples. The assembling of the saints over the assembling of the fakes.
Matthew 23:27-28
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness
The enemy is running rampant on this earth, as expected, if you have read your Bible. Everyone knows that it is going to get worse before it get's better. When, though, will it be enough for the world to turn back to the Lord? Fires in Australia and holding back the rain wasn't enough, Locusts in Africa weren't enough, Earthquakes weren't enough, volcanoes popping off weren't enough, a virus scare wasn't enough. Lawlessness, that's in that bible book I read too. Nope, still not enough, still won't realize this is the Lord. Wait till there are tsunami's and the sky grows dark with ash from more eruptions. Come on people. Please realize that this is a spiritual battle because the enemy knows that his time is up and he is throwing a hissy fit with his demons all over the place. This stuff is real. This stuff is happening now.
Matthew 24:12-15
12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
It is time to be bold as the Lion. It's time to be more than the white washed tomb you portray every Sunday morning as you yell at your kids on the way to church. (trust me, I've been there, I was that fake white washed tomb last year in church. I see you because I was you)
As I was on my way to work this morning I was traveling down 857 toward Morgantown. In usually Holy Spirit fashion, suddenly my surroundings completely changed. I could still see the road I was driving on, but the surroundings were entirely different. The ground was smoldering. The grass singed to bits. Houses abandoned and burned. It looked like it hadn't rained in decades. It was all very similar to what I had saw driving through Smithfield that one day (aside from the rain there). This time though, I could see the battle. The army of the Lord against the evil that has been unleashed on this earth. I am having a hard time putting words to this because it was incredibly intense. It is coming so fast, and no one realizes it. On some level it's already here. It makes my chest hurt to think that so many people are blinded. That is what my words are for. To open the eyes of the blind. To help those understand the word and what a true relationship with the Lord can be. But, I am also here to warn you that the supernatural spiritual battle of The Lord vs the devil is very real and very here and now.
It is time to rise up out of the ashes, to recognize your stance in battle and to kick the enemy out of every area you can. Not only in your life, but in the lives of others. Love as a Lamb and be bold in righteousness as a Lion. Leave the wrath to the Lord.
Jeremiah 30:17-24 ESV
17 For I will restore health to you,
and your wounds I will heal,
declares the Lord,
because they have called you an outcast:
‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’
18 “Thus says the Lord:
Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob
and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city shall be rebuilt on its mound,
and the palace shall stand where it used to be.
19 Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,
and the voices of those who celebrate.
I will multiply them, and they shall not be few;
I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.
20 Their children shall be as they were of old,
and their congregation shall be established before me,
and I will punish all who oppress them.
21 Their prince shall be one of themselves;
their ruler shall come out from their midst;
I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me,
for who would dare of himself to approach me?
declares the Lord.
22 And you shall be my people,
and I will be your God.”
23 Behold the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intentions of his mind.
In the latter days you will understand this.
Comments
Post a Comment