Disappointment

Last Thursday, I was reminded of an old song by the Imperials. Do you remember the song, He Didn't Lift Us Up to Let Us Down? It was on the album, Heed the Call from 1979. Over the weekend, it kept coming up in my spirit. God was telling me something to prepare me, long before I knew I needed the encouragement.  

Back in the late '70's, this song was one of the great pieces the Lord used to minister to me in my youth, now He is bringing it to me again.  Pay attention when the Lord shows you pieces like this...He is so intentional and so with us.  Here are some of the words from the song:

He didn't bring us this far to leave us

He didn't teach us to swim to let us drown

He didn't build His home in us to move away

He didn't lift us up to let us down

Thursday was a difficult day for me and then Friday night, was really hard. I had a long an painful conversation with a younger man. The meeting was full of confrontation and accusation.  I listened, tried to minister, repented, and went to bed exhausted.

Saturday came and again, a totally NEW discussion with another young person and more to wade through with the Lord.  

Then Sunday came. Well, I totally wasn't ready for the amount of sadness that hit my heart but that wasn't the end because on Monday we read an email that put the cherry on top.  Day-after-day was set back, discouragement, disappointment and that didn't include the information regarding a close friend's husband's medical lab results regarding a mass in his colon and then the follow-up report on Tuesday from the surgeon and he used the word; cancer. 

Sounds like a lot, right, but that is not the end.  Late last night I read a text from a family member about a close-friends daughter who lost her fight with cancer.  She was under the age of 40 with small children still at home.  I mean, come on friends; life seems to be challenging, right?

So now today. Today I started the day with a word from the Lord.  I really had the word from Him on Sunday, but had been chewing on it for a couple of days. You see, when things happen, I don't just land in the place of what I think, or what I think I know; I really try to stop and let the Lord into the conversation.  So what was the word that was ringing in my soul? Disappointment.  

I kept pressing the Lord, asking, What are you saying, Lord? Then I kept hearing from Him, "He who has an ear, let him hear". These words are found over and over in the bible.  You find them in, Matthew 11:15, Revelation 2:29, Revelation 2:7, and several other places in Revelation.  God is trying to tell us something. John 10:27 says, His sheep hear His voice.  We need to be hearing God, and not even leaning on what others are saying.

Now, this morning I got up with the Lord and looked it up that word,

disappointment.  What does it mean. Here is what I found:

noun 1. sadness or displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one's hopes or expectations. 2. a person, event, or thing that causes disappointment.

I did some more research. regarding the emotion of disappointment I read, "as an emotion, researches describe disappointment as a form of sadness - a feeling of loos, an uncomfortable space (or a painful gap) between our expectations and reality. When we believed that there's something we must have to be happy and fulfilled, we can set ourselves up for disappointment."

I wasn't done though, I then found a stronger word for disappointed.  Here is that list, "saddened, upset, let down, disheartened, downhearted, cast down, downcast, depressed, dispirited, discouraged, despondent, dismayed, crestfallen, distressed, chagrined, disenchanted, disillusioned, displeased, discontented, dissatisfied, frustrated, disgruntled." Wow. Ok. There were a couple of words here that hit something deep in me when I read them.  They triggered words from the bible.  The first word was, "cast down", followed by "downcast".  

Upon looking up the word, downcast, I found, 

adjective, 1. (eyes) looking downward 2. feeling despondent.

I then had to open up the bible. The first verse that came to mind was, 2 Corinthians 10:5,

casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and brining into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ.

You all, we need to repent for living from a place of the world, when we should be living from a place heaven.  We should not be living in mixture.

I then went to, 2 Corinthians 4:9-11, 

persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about int he body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

When looking for scriptures about being "downcast" I came across, Psalms 42:5. I read it from The Voice.

"Why am I so overwrought? Why am I so disturbed? Why can't I just hope in God? Despite all my emotions, I will believe and praise the One who save me and is my life."

Then I read on to verse 6, 

"My God, my soul is so traumatized; the only help is remembering You wherever I may be;"

In verse 5 it CLEARLY talks about what we will believe DESPITE all of our emotions.  Then in verse 6 the word says, because our "soul is so traumatized".  See, our pain is real, but it is in our SOUL... our mind, our will, and our emotions.  We, being born-again believers, need to choose to live from our Spirit.  That is where we live from. We choose to crucify our soul. Father, shift me.  I want to live from a place in the Spirit, not my soul, in Jesus' mighty name.  Lord, I repent of being saddened, upset, let down, disheartened, downhearted, cast down, downcast, depressed, dispirited, discouraged, despondent, dismayed, crestfallen, distressed, chagrined, disenchanted, disillusioned, displeased, discontented, dissatisfied, frustrated, disgruntled.

Y'all - when we are discouraged, disappointed, disgruntled, any of these places of being downcast, we need to FIND the Lord.  We fall through all the places we THOUGHT we believed and we land at the feet of Jesus and begin to build there, from what we KNOW we believe.  Make sense?

Here is where I land, my foundation; Father, I know that you are real. I know that you sent your son, Jesus, to die for me. Jesus, I know that you love me. I know that you care for me. I know Father, that you sent your Spirit and that you never leave me or forsake me; you are with me, even to the end of the age. I know that I can trust you, even when I can't see what you are doing. I go through what I believe.  Why do I do this? Because it matters what I believe.  It matters too what YOU believe; because forms your worldview.  We need to start with what God says.  Then we build from there.

For those of you who grew up in a denominational church, you may remember how you would recite the Apostle creeds.  That is what those believers were establishing.  They were putting into their soul, what they believed. We have gotten so far from this foundation.  We need to begin to encounter the Lord again in the places of our foundational beliefs.  There were also two other creeds at the foundation of Christianity. The other two were the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creeds. They are very similar to the Apostle's creed.  

When you are going through a trial; when you are disappointed, you need to KNOW what you believe and you need to tell yourself the truth of that belief; the truth that is found in the Word. See we have to speak to our circumstances because our mind will be telling us all kinds of things to believe when you are discouraged. See, that is why we are disappointed; because we are listening to our minds (our soul - the mind, the will, the emotions) and not listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying.  We have to land in what the Lord says, not our opinions.

Jeremiah 31:3 — I have loved you with an everlasting love; out of faithfulness, I have drawn you close.  We have to remind ourselves of the truth found in the word. 

Psalm 45:1 (Contemporary English Version) — my thoughts are filled with beautiful words for the King, and I will use my voice, as a writer would use pen and ink.  Also read it in the Christian Standard Bible. We write prophesies to the Lord, with our words and we want to land in what God says, not what we think.  This is what Jeremiah was doing.  He was reciting before the Lord.

Zephaniah 3:17 (the Voice) — the Eternal your God is standing right here among you, and He is the champion who will rescue you. He will joyfully celebrate over you; He will rest in His love for you; He will joyfully sing because of you like a new husband.  Think about how happy a new husband is over his new wife.  That is what the Lord feels like about you.  He loves you! He is for you!

II Corinthians 4:8-12 — we are hard-pressed on every side but not crushed, perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not abandoned,  struck down, but not destroyed. We are choosing to live from our spirit because we rendered that soul dead.

AWAKE and ARISE!

 

So my dear friends... see how the Lord is moving? This was just published days ago on October 19, 2020. The Lord is speaking. The Lord is moving. AWAKE and ARISE! BE ENCOURAGED SAINTS.  GOD IS WITH US!

 First, here is the word from Rebecca Shocklee: Judges 7 — I woke up this morning and Holy Spirit lead me to read this chapter in Judges! ! You guys We are the Lord's Army! We Only Fear the Lord and with Fierce Faith, we will Arise and Overcome!

God is raising up His Gideon’s in the earth— some of those who thought they were the least, the weakest, or most insignificant in their tribe. God is saying, “Arise, Arise, Mighty warriors! Those of you who I’ve called by name, those who have been faithful, obedient, and fearless, those who know me, you are significant in my eyes! I’ve watched you press through and this is the time to Shine! I’m calling you forth to the front lines! Take your position of authority and Arise, watch me move through you for this battle is all mine! I will release a sound through you that will make the enemy tremble! My anointing is upon you and you will see a move of my Spirit that will shake the nations to their knees. I will use you in this hour to be Brave and to Believe! Revival is being ignited through the awakening of my presence! My presence will cause many to come to repentance! And You will see my miraculous victories! Not by your might nor by your power by but my Spirit says the Lord! Blow the Trumpet! Raise the Torch! Sound the Alarm! My Army is assembling and I will be your voice! My power will not be found in numbers but in the spirit of your purity and unity! I will breathe on you and you will go wherever I send you! My Glory will be upon you like flames of fire! Nothing will stand in your way! I myself go before you and prepare the way! “- Rebecca Shocklee

Then, here is a song (also authored by her) and posted October 6. Are you AWAKE?

Verse 1: Arise, arise 

Can you feel the fire? 

Rising up higher 

Higher, higher 

Arise, arise 

Darkness can't stand by 

Cause the light is getting brighter 

Brighter, brighter 

Pre Chorus: And when we hear the trumpet sound 

And the four winds blow 

We will be the ones found 

Looking up ready to go 

And in the twinkling of an eye 

We will be raised high 

Every heart beating in time 

With Adonai 

Chorus: Awake, Awake 

Sleeping giant 

Open your eyes, it's time 

To rise and shine 

Awake, Awake 

Sleeping giant 

Open your eyes, it's time 

Dry bones come alive 

Verse 2: Revive, revive 

Breathe the breath of life 

Let it fill you with power 

Power, power 

Revive, revive 

Heed His voice be wise 

Ready for the final hour 

Hour, hour 

Bridge: Holy, holy is the one 

Who was and is and is to come 

Oh, Holy, Holy 

Holy, holy is the one 

Who was and is and is to come 

Oh, Holy, holy 

Chorus: Awake, Awake 

Sleeping giant 

Open your eyes, it's time 

To rise and shine 

Awake, Awake 

Sleeping giant 

Open your eyes, it's time 

Dry bones come alive 

Awake, Awake 

Sleeping giant 

Open your eyes, it's time 

To rise and shine 

Awake, Awake 

And open your eyes 

Dry bones come alive

God is REDEEMING our land.  You can feel the Lord moving in this song - out across our nation for such a time as this. Redemption is in the air. Reformation is coming. AWAKEN!

If You Don't Believe - Fine.

Regarding spirituality and the debate that has magnified in our culture recently on
this topic. 

If you don't believe in the Trinity of God; fine. Why is it so important for many of you to mock those of us that do? If we're wrong, what have we lost when we die? Nothing! But the question is, what have YOU lost if we are right? How does our believing in Jesus bring you any harm?

Many have stated (on late-night talk shows to daytime news and even on my own social media pages) that they think believers are stupid. Gullible. Uneducated. Uninformed. Fill-in-the-blank...fine. How does our believing affect your non-believing? 

We share our faith because we know that If you're wrong (regarding life apart from God after death) that your consequence will be eternal and far worse than you can imagine. We too once believed apart from God. Believers in Christ know that when we live our lives believing Jesus and serving Him, there is a reward - eternal life with Him. We know that after our last breath leaves our body, we all will live somewhere, but our option to choose where will be sealed at our death and it will be too late; our decision will be final.

There's no shame for the follower of Christ even though many want to ridicule the Christian, mock their beliefs, belittle their intelligence, and devalue their choices when it comes to faith! We believe in Jesus Christ. He said...if you deny me in front of your friends and I will deny you in front of my Father (Matthew 10:33). He can't be played and He is COMING BACK for those who believe...

The Greatest man in history had no servants, yet they called Him Master. 

He had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.

He had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer. 

He had no army, yet kings feared Him. 

He won no military battles, yet He conquered death, hell, and the grave and every power and demon in hell fears Him and His name.

He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him. 

He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today. 

His name is Jesus! 

He is the son of God.

He will be coming back for His bride (the church).

Every knee shall bow (Philippians 2: 10-11) and every tongue will confess (Romans 14:11) that Jesus Christ IS Lord. 

Years ago, I found this message from Penn Jillette. He is magician that works in Las Vegas. He posted it on July 8, 2010.  Believer, we need to SHARE what we believe because the world needs to hear what you know.  Penn shared, "If you believe that there is a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell, or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that, ah, well, it's not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward; and atheists who think that people shouldn't apostatize, just leave me alone, keep your religion to yourself,... ah, how much do you have to hate somebody to NOT proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that ever-lasting life is possible and not tell them that?"

Friends, choose this day who you will serve! (Joshua 24: 14-15). I will serve the Lord. Maranatha.

Stand In The Gap

When I heard that the president and the first lady had Covid, like many of you, we began to pray. I have to admit though, I felt there could be something suspicious going on, maybe even foul play involved.

With the releasing of the information that Hillary was behind the Russia hoax, it is clear that some people will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. As corrupt as the FBI and possibly Secret Service has become, I believe our President could have been contaminated on purpose, for that matter, everyone in his inner circle, as we are hearing more and more people now have tested positive who are close to the President. It is the timing... they didn’t expose each other (look at the outbreak timing) to this virus as they were all together – exposed simultaneously apparently at the Rose Garden event.

With that, I want to say, that many people around the nation are increasingly testing positive and many of them never even know they were sick. Testing positive does not mean impending death. In fact, quite the opposite. The more positive tests followed by less deaths means this virus is not of the magnitude we were told it would be at the beginning - when we shut everything down. The numbers are exposing the lies and the agenda! The numbers are also showing us how God is working! Thank you, Father!

We should not be surprised, if this was an attack, as the enemy has tried everything else but has failed. If people paid millions of dollars for a fake dossier, what’s another few millions to a Secret Service or FBI Agent or someone close to the President who can infect him (and those near him) just 30 days before the election with the virus?

Prophetically, we have been warned that things are going to get muddy here; in the days heading to the election. We are seeing that. Let us take this information and always apply it toward how we pray! God is revealing to us the pieces so we will stand in the gap in prayer! Father, we ask for angels to encircle the president, defend those protecting the principles of the Constitution, and intercede for those holding up this great nation. Father, in Jesus name, we need your angel armies to defend the very foundations of this republic! We are in a war with not a single bullet being fired! Awaken your intercessors, your church, believers and followers of Jesus, to take their positions on the wall for battle. We need to hold the line in Jesus’ name!

Father, we put our trust in you! Lord keep the President healthy, safe from harm and effective for your plans to be established. Remind us to keep him in our prayers; day and night. Father, may your children declare a fast and pray for our nation and leaders as we now are voting for the future of this nation! This is a spiritual battle being played out in full sight. 

Y’all, we have been praying for the president to be protected from assassination attempts… but again, I think most of us are of the mindset that the weapon used against him would be in the form of bullets or explosives… not germ warfare or biomedical or who knows what. We need to sharpen our game, expand our influence and take spiritual territory in Jesus’ name! Awaken!

The last administration had access for eight years; and evil doesn’t think like you think. We have to ask the Lord to show us how to pray. To the pure, all things are pure. We don’t know how to pray against sinister if we are not of that mindset. Father, tear down the strongholds, show us what you want us to pray! We need you Lord to show us what we are dealing with. We just don’t think this way. Father, teach us your ways and strategies!

Let us remember, that the enemy (the devil) always overplays his hand. Satan thought, if he could kill Jesus, put him in the grave, then he would win… but as we all know, that wasn’t the case! That was just the beginning of our victory in Christ. The devil always overplays his hand. That is what is going on now. We must pray and seek the Lord. God is with us! I believe this attack (COVID being unleashed on many, now in the inner circles of the President), has even moved on the hearts of many American people who didn’t like Donald Trump. Many are now “praying” for him; even Nancy Pelosi said she is praying for his healing. God will use this to soften hearts.

What I’m saying is this, just because people are twisted in their political beliefs, doesn’t mean they are all sinister. I believe, as people will pray for the healing of

Donald Trump, their hearts will soften. That is why we are to pray for our enemies. God wants to soften our hearts for his kingdom to come… this is not about our agenda. God will use this too, for good; for the saving of many lives!

I have heard of people, who were invited to the White House last week, who are also now Covid positive. I heard of a friend’s pastor who was in Washington DC as a special guest at the White House event and is now COVID positive too. Timing is suspicious and many are using the word, “sabotage”! Let us pray that the Lord will expose and defeat any and all attempts against our president, his administration, and let us pray that the Lord’s kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven, in Jesus mighty name!

We pray also for Melania, Ronna, Kellyanne and several other high level Republicans including all the Senators who will be voting for Amy Coney Barrett. Healing and protection in Jesus mighty name!

Let us be faithful with what we are called to do! Father we ask you for miracles; for the healing of our president, his wife, his cabinet, those close to him, and Father, we pray for healing of our nation! In Jesus’ mighty name! Maranatha.

 

We Are In A Battle

I am up as it is 1:30AM. I had been asleep and then the Lord woke me to pray so I pray.

I am asking the Lord to heal our land. We have heard people say, “wearing a mask says you care” and now we hear our POTUS and his First Lady have tested positive and I hear the same voices gloating. The depravity, hate, unforgiveness, anger, well just plain evil is running deep in our nation... our “Christian” nation. Father, forgive us!!

I am pressed to the altar of the Lord! While sitting with Him; here is what He said to me after reading this (link)... many who were at the Rose Garden ceremony (announcing the Supreme Court nominee last weekend) are now testing positive for COVID. Kellyanne Conway’s own daughter (posted to social media) a disrespectful post against her mother; releasing this news to the public even before Kellyanne addressed it. Her daughter’s vitriol is symptomatic of the breakdown of many things in our nation! We have lost the ability to choose love! This is more alarming to me than the headline of the outbreak of positive test results. (Higher positives don’t equate to higher deaths - just the opposite in fact!)

Jesus, our nation is in desperate need of the Father’s steady hand. Just a couple of headlines pressed me back into the Father’s presence for clarity and direction! 

As I was praying the Lord dropped 2 Timothy 3:1-5 in my spirit — so I looked it up. Here it is in the New International Version:

1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.

2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 

3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 

4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 

5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

Hmmmm - have NOTHING to do with such people. 

As I began to write this out, I heard the Lord say for me to pray through these verses FOR the people I know who are manifesting this behavior. As I read the list again, I actually was reminded of conversations I personally have had (in the last couple of weeks) where almost every one of these attributes was actively in play by the person I was encountering! Jesus! We need you!

I encourage you to slowly read through these 5 verses and then actively pray for the names of the people you hear as you read the list! God is inviting you to intercede for these people; maybe even your own name!

Here is the list again: There will be terrible times and people will be...

• lovers of themselves
• lovers of money
• boastful
• proud
• abusive
• disobedient to their parents
• ungrateful
• unholy
• without love
• unforgiving
• slanderous
• without self-control
• brutal
• not lovers of the good
• treacherous
• rash
• conceited
• lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God
• have a form of godliness but denying its power

        Have NOTHING to do with them.

All these conversations I had were with people who say they are BELIEVERS! I know many of you too have been “butting-up against” this same stuff. What is this? Well, it is stemming from our watered-down beliefs many have renamed Christianity; we have a FORM of godliness... we say we believe... but even the demons can say they believe! Lord, we need a shift!

Y’all, God is calling us to HOLYNESS! Consecration! And even separation from the evil! We can’t have this “mixture” in us!

What does this have to do with the link I shared you may ask? 

Well, today our commander and chief, his wife and several in his closest circles are being attacked! Think of a war scenario; IF the leaders of your army are attacked, there is great danger of the entire army failing! Our leadership in our nation has been attacked and the enemy has breached the walls! WE ARE THE WATCHMAN ON THE WALLS! This has happened right under our noses! It starts with us; with our “effective, fervent prayers” of the saints! We want to see the Lord HEAL OUR LAND but we have more advancement from the enemy... why? Because we have to rid ourselves of the things listed in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 and put on James 5:16. Here is James 5:16 (again in the New International Version) —

Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

We have to CONFESS our junk (like the list in 2 Timothy 3:1-5) and THEN our prayers become effective AND powerful! We can’t have both - mixture!

Let’s take some time to look into the mirror (James 1:23-25) and examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5 and 2 Peter 1:10-11)! This plague is taking ground because many (believers) are not engaging in the battle with clean hands and pure hearts (Psalms 24:4). We have pride, arrogance, unforgivesss... we have mixture and we are double-minded, unstable in all our ways (James 1:8)!

Father, forgive us! Show us what is in us that is not of you so we can turn from our wicked ways; and then you will heal our land! 

2 Chronicles 7:14 King James Version — If MY people, which are called by MY name, shall HUMBLE themselves, and PRAY, and SEEK my face, and TURN from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

We need thee, Father! Jesus Come! Maranatha!