As we were worshiping today in church I saw a vision. The sky was dark and red. There were black clouds signaling the appearance of a storm. To me it felt as if I was in the middle of the storm already. There was no rain, but the wind, the thunder and the hint of lightening shifted the atmosphere to a darker place. The land I was standing on was dry, dusty and rocky terrain. As I looked out, I realized that I was on a hill about half way up. I blinked my eyes and as they opened I saw a war. There were soldiers in full armor at battle. There was fire all around me. I heard swords clanging, screams of rage, anger, pain, death and destruction.
There were bodies laying on the ground. The air was filled with hatred, greed and the stench of burned flesh. As I looked down the hill I could see that it was charred to black sand. There was nothing left behind me. Nothing at all.
I heard the Lord calmly say “take the hill, Ash” as if I was playing a game of capture the flag. As I began to take a step forward I saw myself. My color wasn’t red like the rest of what I saw. It was this vibrant, colorful version of myself in the midst of the destruction surrounding me on all sides. While the entire atmosphere around me was viewed in same reddish pigments from the sun and sky, I was not affected by the atmosphere. I was set apart, I was standing out.
The second I moved to take that first step it was like the war went from being fought around me, to being fought for me. Immediately the evil set it’s eyes upon me and began to swarm. It was like I was suddenly visible and not only visible, but targeted as prey. The hatred I felt in that moment, the nakedness of taking that first step and the immediate response of the enemy to attack attempted to strike a fear in me to get me to stand still. I heard the Lord again. “Take the hill, Ash”.
As the army of darkness targeted me, the warriors in their suits of armor defended me. They surrounded me. Fighting for me. Protecting me. Never once letting evil win the battle. Never even letting a scratch come upon me. With each step up that hill they moved with me. The attack and the defense moving with me up the hill with every step. The fire was raging around us, the darkness in the sky never lifted. There was a war, for my soul, that was with me, every single step of the way. The battle never lifted, never stopped. With each step up the hill, in fact, it intensified. Every time I’d look back, I’d see nothing but that charred black sand. The only way to go was up. “Take the hill, Ash”.
A few times I stopped, and as I stood still, looking around, the battle would die down. The demonic forces would get distracted, they would begin to back away; yet as soon as I took another step, the attack would intensify again. What I noticed though, was no matter how intense the battle was, the warriors with the armor fought defending me with the same strength. They didn’t back down, they didn’t take rests, they continued fighting for me, with all they had, every single step of the way.
As I continued going up the hill, safely, my confidence grew, I began to move faster, focusing more on where I was going, and not what was going on around me. There was a safety in the midst of this war. They could come against me, but they couldn’t harm me. I had an army covering me from every angle. I had determination and peace in my steps. I had rest in the middle of the fire all around me. All thanks to these warriors, fighting for me, with each and every step I took.
As I crested the top of the hill, I fell to my knees. I laid my head down in my hands and I prayed. I thanked the Lord for the protection. I thanked the Lord for His voice and his direction. As I did, the noise of the war around me died down to complete silence.
I lifted my head from my hands and as I did, the entire atmosphere changed. The sky parted to this magnificent blue. The fire was gone, there was a slight rain that brought nourishment to the ground. I felt the rain on my face as I looked to the sky, down on my knees, arms stretched out wide in humble surrender.
As I turned my gaze, I saw the warriors kneeling at rest, I saw green grass, I saw flowers. I heard birds and the sound of waves crashing.
I looked out over the other side of the hill to see an ocean. I saw a beach with beautiful sand. I heard the waves continuously crashing, I felt the entire atmosphere clear out to become filled with peace, with love, acceptance and rest. I took the hill and I’m so glad that I did.
The Lord put on my heart that this life will always be a war. It’s spiritual, it’s political, it’s societal, it’s everything the enemy wants it to be. It’s discord sown with threads of offense, sin, anger, blindness, pride and ignorance. But what it’s not, is ours to fight alone. We don’t realize what we have in Jesus. We don’t realize the way we are protected. The way prayer can change the entire atmosphere. There will always be attack but we no longer fight alone when we have Christ.
As soon as you step out to do the will or the work of the Lord, you are stepping into battle. You are targeted by the enemy. What we don’t realize, is the visual of the Lords army that’s fighting these battles along side you, every step of the way. You may feel alone, you may feel like it’s safer to stand still. The enemy will do everything he can to attack you with fear, anxiety and insecurity to prevent you from taking your hill, whatever that may be at this point in your life. Don’t stand still. Take your step.
Heed the call of the Lord. Take your hill.
Philippians 3:12-14
Straining Toward the Goal
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
John 16:13 - Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Isaiah 43:18 - Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
Psalms 32:8 - I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Isaiah 55:8-9
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts
Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
1 John 3:22 - And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
1 Timothy 2:5 - For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
John 10:27 - My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Romans 10:17 - So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Jeremiah 33:3 - Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Mark 11:24 - Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Isaiah 43
Israel's Only Savior
43 But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes,and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.
5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.
6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth,
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
8 Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears!
9 All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true.
10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
11 I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.
12 I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.
13 Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?”
14 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”
16 Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters,
17 who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
18 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
20 The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.
22 “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
23 You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense.
24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.
25 “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and I will not remember your sins.
26 Put me in remembrance; let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
27 Your first father sinned, and your mediators transgressed against me.
28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary, and deliver Jacob to utter destruction and Israel to reviling.
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