The Lord is vindicator of those who covenant with Him and He does not allow any who accuse, oppress or persecute them to go unpunished. For those awaiting vindication, in the midst of their oppressions, until the cup of the oppressor’s work is full, the Lord strengthens covenant sons and daughters to both speak truth as prophet, and like Issachar, know what to do and when to do it.

“I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist (Luke 21:15).”

Once the principle of God’s vengeance is fully understood, the temptation to ‘get even’ or spitefully repay, loses its power of appeal. And once the outworking of the way in which God goes after an enemy is seen, the spiritual man confidently takes his place beside the Lord, observing from his vested seat “far above” not only the smallness of his enemy, but also the storehouse of great and excellent things God has for those who fear Him. The principle once seen, once believed, and once allowed to work in our lives is our highest vindication. God’s way.

Trust the Lord. If you will trust Him, He will attend to details no one knows, cutting an even wider path of truth through controversy and ills than anyone could imagine. The Lord is the only One who outwits the entire scheme, including the opportunist and the flatterer, the heavy-hand and the selfish heart.

Pity those who trouble His sons and daughters. Pity the one who oppresses, who does not fear the Lord and will not sincerely yield to Him. Pity them as those dwarfed in the contest and blinded by its deception; they cannot even see the horizon or that they have been deceived and trapped. Pity them as a ‘new day’ breaks – suddenly.

Literally, when the Lord rides into the midst of any battle, every hidden thing is sucked from hiding; the threat that seemed a ‘sure thing’ is not. The Lord invites, Come, I will teach you the fear of Me; meaning, a reverential fear and respect for Him. He is possessor of awesome power second to none, and so He is anytime destruction’s cup is full; the presence of His awesome power manifests to deliver those who are HIS, those who for covenant’s sake He cannot neglect to fully, and completely deliver (Psalm 34:11-17).

As for our part, realize when we arrive at what I call “the top of our faith”. It is the place of maximum proving of God’s Word by taking, meditating upon, and applying it to our circumstance. At whatever level we have proven His Word it will produce “a knowing that speaks”; it is spoken force, declaring and insisting upon nothing less than what is promised.

When we reach the top of our developed faith, the time has come that we have no increase of faith with which to respond to the increase of the enemy. Having arrived at this place of maximized faith, our remaining weapon is to stand! Standing, our expectation must either be for the “gift of faith” to flood us, so that we go beyond developed faith, or for a miracle to explode upon our circumstance.

Either way we’re in! – either by a gift of supernatural faith, or by divine intervention of angels or “the strong arm of the Lord,” we first overtake and then plunder the enemy once and for all. Either way a holy, awesome, supernatural demonstration is the next manifestation. Get ready. The supernatural of God is not religious and timid, but rather a troubler of flesh that has chosen philosophies of men rather than choosing to fear and reverence God.

Americans have an expression from the 1880’s. We say “it’s time for a  showdown at the OK Corral,” a reference to the even-sided, face-to-face battle from the history of the Old West… an event which still carries today the idea of standing! For the time to settle the issue has come. Get the visual?

When it is time to settle the issue the Lord as vindicator appears to set things in order and a divine setup for a divine showdown is the result. In every nation, Almighty God delivers His people by taking them out, or through, situations that are too strong for them; either way, they are coming up!- and out! Trust Him.

Romans 12 is our promised provision as we walk in the light of God’s love, establishing boundaries of compassion and building God’s Kingdom to fortress against the darkness of hate. Despising has developed in hearts, the influence of Jezebel in evidence all around. To despise is to murder; there is no long-term gain for the one deceived in this way. Ultimately, what has been sent out against, boomerangs in return; the resulting visit will always be of like kind.

As the people of the Lord we overcome evil with good but also utilize heaven’s wisdom so as not to cower and wait as a trapped animal for cruelty to strike. No, as the people of the Lord we receive insight and revelation as to what to do in advance, before the next strike. The Lord is the cunning one; it is His wisdom to rescue and deliver us, but not in a mist while we do nothing; rather, in the wisdom of both counsel and might.

Amen.

Luke 21:15
Psalm 34:11-17
Romans 12
Romans 12:19-21
Isaiah 34
Isaiah 35:4-5
Isaiah 59:17
Isaiah 61:2
Isaiah 63:4-5
Hebrews 10:30

Anytime there is destruction or loss, two things are a certainty: Satan whose name means Destroyer is the culprit, and God whose name means Creator and Savior is on the scene to deliver and restore.

The Lord gave our ministry a prayer (below) that let us know our faith in matters of life and death was about to be challenged;- perhaps because we take seriously covering prayer for our community and the nation, we realized and appreciated the prophetic aspect of the prayer and consider it part of our regular assignment and during times of particular threat(s).

Since receiving this Word, and the prayer, it has been published in several of our minsitry formats, resulting in significant response from diverese areas of our country and beyond. Therefore, I felt it was fitting we do so again, this time for subscribers of the new “Weekly Message.”

A brief background study of scriptures provides greater understanding. As I prayed, the Lord revealed the spirit and its threat to me; it was only afterward, when I found the biblcial significance of this “force”. Scriptures I believe will be most helpful for your understanding are those below; possibly there will be even more understanding and more scripture references as you study, and pray.

Remember this: there are forces that intend to destroy goodness and good things; that is not a new consideration. But to “establish” your life on the Rock of the Lord Jesus Christ and to “believe His prophets” (2 Ch 20:20) is important for you, me, and for those with whom we have contact. Encourage those around you at every opportunity. Here are the scriptures for your study, and the prayer the Lord gave to us:

• Revelation 20:13 – death and hell (Hades)
Death = The last enemy to be destroyed
Hades = The temporary abode of the dead until the Final Judgment (Heb. Yom-ha-Dim)
Literal meaning is “unseen”, the “unseen realm”

• Revelation 1:18 – hell (Hades) and death
Jesus said: Do not be afraid… I have the keys of Hell and Death
Jesus is now Lord over the realms of life and death. The power of Satanic prerogatives, because of man’s original rebellion, is now curbed

• Revelation 6:8 – Death and Hell (Hades)
Death = The pale horse rider of the 4th Seal of Revelation
Hades = followed “with” him
Power was given over a fourth of the earth

• Revelation 21:4,8 – an open door, connecting to death; and connects to “hell”
The cowardly/ fearful
Unbelieving
Abominable
Murderers
Sexually immoral
Sorcerers
Idolaters
All liars

Prayer: Father, in Jesus’ Name, I verbally enforce my covenant of life and peace with You today – declaring that Jesus is my Peace; declaring that the Spirit of Life is UPON me by virtue of the shed blood of Jesus Christ at Calvary. I prophetically declare that death is ultimately powerless – as much powerless as all other forces of evil, and that in the Wisdom of Almighty God death will be the last enemy totally put under my feet; but already, even today, Jesus has the keys of death and hell and the power of Satan is locked-up! where I am concerned. There will be no death and no devilish activity in my life or in the life of my family, according to the Word of the Lord and the authority of the One who holds the keys to death and hell. I further take authority over the advance of the spirit of the pale horse rider who will be released in the final time of the anti-Christ, because that spirit of the anti-Christ is already in the earth. I declare that the influence of death and hell has no power over me, or over my house, or over the area where God has called me to rule. Therefore, I bind the spirit of death, I bind the spirit of hell, and I bind the spirit of death and hell working together to illegally advance against me, against my family, or against this region where God has given me authority to rule. Now bound, I speak to you, spirit of death and hell, and I cast you out from this region and out from the area of my authority. I release and loose into every region of my authority the Spirit of life, the Spirit of Peace and the Spirit of Life and Peace… working together!

Amen – so be it!

Fathers, I want to challenge you to insure that your children see you “handling God’s Word.” See to it that, from the time they are infants, they see you with your Bible open on your lap, at a set time each day, studying so you can mature personally and praying… for them and their mother; otherwise, how will they be certain you value either, or that your heart is focused on doing it God’s way? and otherwise, why would you expect them to do the right thing in the decisions they face each day? Here is the message: If it is not important enough for Dad to invest his time, then I don’t need it… either.

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord (Eph 6:4). Fathers, do not provoke your children; lest they become discouraged (Col 3:21). A Hebrew reading of the verse in Ephesians might be ”And fathers (patriarchs) do not provoke your children to anger by not nurturing them with teaching that carries an ethical point concerning the Name (God) and His reproof (His Word).”

So fathers, don’t exasperate and provoke your children. Do not expect them to conform to your expectations of them while you refuse God’s requirements of you. Children need definite instruction to learn definite boundaries. They need God’s Word first, directing your words; your words are subject to change depending on the demands placed on you by the culture, or peers, or subtle things like the mood you are in at the moment. By contrast, “God’s Word is forever settled.”  (Ps 119:89*)

Most children want to imitate (and please) their father. They are imitators of such things as your speech – the phrases and terms you use in speaking to them, and have been known to reveal what really goes on in the home by their own version of what they hear you say. They imitate your social behavior; for example, parents as a rule do not want their children to use drugs or participate in drug-related activities but keepfor themselves a fully-stocked cabinet of their own relaxers, enhancers, and spirits … bottled or RX.

Children are imitators. If you teach them your spirituality is a Sunday phenomenon, they will go you one better and not only kick back to YOUR level but hedge on even that. Children are imitators, and children who have NOT been taught God’s Word have no way to protect or defend themselves from the pull of the culture when they are out of your sight, and the culture is definitely pulling away.

The Apostle Paul likened his relationship with those who received his teaching to that of a father, using two different words for father” ‘avot’  and ‘abba.’ He stated the purpose of his teaching was not to harm or shame the people, but rather to encourage them as he would his own children.
• Paul explained that the people may have many teachers, talking to them about spiritual things and offering spiritual guidance, but that they did not have many spiritual fathers (patriarchs, Heb. avot); Teaching and fathering do not necessarily overlap.
• He said that he, through the Good News of Redemption had become a father (Heb. abba) to them, and it was that relationship to them as his children in which he could say: “Be imitators of me.” The word most often associated with our relationship to God, our Father, is ‘Abba.’

A father’s children are the first disciples he makes, and a father is the first spiritual father his children have. Fathers who do not disciple their children spiritually usually do not disciple anyone else either, though making disciples is the primary fruit producing requirement of every believer. Knowing God, of course is the believer’s primary calling.

Relationship. The local church cannot possibly fulfill the task of primary teacher of children, parents are given that responsibility. The church can, however build upon training in Scripture a child receives at home, and the parent charged with ultimate accountability before God to see to, and arrange for instruction and spiritual training (governing) in the home is the father. Fathers lead; families follow.

Nations and peoples are under a righteous judgment right now for abdicating in this area. Spiritually shallow children are the fruit of spiritually absent fathers. Children are spiritually shallow because dad is spiritually shallow.

Start now, before schools begin a new year and you SEND YOUR CHILDREN OUT into a world of philosophies that will destroy them before they are old enough to save themselves. Open your Bible, read aloud to your children; explain the passage from the perspective of God’s nature and His will for His people. Then apply if ethically to your daily situation. Help them do the same.

Make a plan. Same time, same chair, every day. Set it up so that you cannot get out of it. Don’t LET yourself out of it. If you will do this, God will not let you fail. He is present with you, speaking though you. Trust Him. Trust yourself. Just do it.

Let’s Pray:
Father, I recognize the authority of Your Word for my life and the lives of my wife and children. I honor you today with my commitment to meet You at a family altar, demonstrating my dependence upon You and humbling myself before you in the presence of my children. Lord, I ask, in Jesus’ Name for your help. Amen.

Family Altar
I believe this is prophetic word. The Lord is contending with us to establish Him as the center of our homes.  Please don’t put this off. We have been warned, “The secret power of lawlessness is already at work.” (2 Thess 2:7*) Lawlessness in a Christian home can be removed by replacing wrong spirits with God’s Spirit of order and obedience. That must begin with Dad first; then Dad and Mom together, otherwise, Dad is not the spiritual leader; someone else is. The Spirit you lead with flows into the children and outward from the home into the community. Before Christianity is real however, before it can flow outward, God’s Spirit must be the center; in truth, not as pretense. No Christian is exempt. (Dt 6:2*)

Altar
A place of sacrifice
Place of humility
Place of allowing the Lord to be the center
The place we gather as a family
When there are good times – we praise and thank Him
When we are facing a challenge – we bond together and call on Him
The Lord bonds around us
He bonds over us
The three-fold cord of the husband, wife and the Lord is not easily broken.
— Ecclesiastes 4:12
“….And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”(KJV)

Note
Teshuvah is Hebrew, meaning to return; some also apply the concept of repentance to the word, giving a fuller idea of turning, a re-turn, and making things right that are NOT right.On the Jewish calendar, Teshuvah is the 40-day period prior to Yom Kippur, (Day of Atonement) the most sober day on the Jewish calendar marked by repentance and making things right with God and man. In 2007 Yom Kippur falls on September 22 and Teshuvah begins 40 days before, on August 23.

Psalm 119:89
Deuteronomy 6:2
2 Thessalonians 2:7

Important decisions are required of us every day. We decide whether to go or stay, whether to start something new, whether to get involved in situations around us. These are choices that lead to decision-making and while thoughtful decisions do include choices, making them brings an end to the process of considering the facts and brings that process forward to a conclusion; once the process is over and a conclusion obtained, the way is made for everyone involved to realize progress.

Decisions are the fabric of growth, and making decisions allows us to grow and move forward.  Indecision causes us to be impaired and ineffective, which is exactly why some people struggle with decision-making, especially hard ones; they realize they shoulder the consequences that might result, and truly lack the confidence to assume that responsibility.

So, two things. First, remember that leadership on any level requires solid decision-making. Fathers and mothers as leaders in the home make important decisions every day for the family; employers as leaders in the workplace make large and small decisions impacting the lives of everyone under their supervision; and so on.

Secondly, weak leadership is reflected in not making the decision God is asking you to make. Forward movement becomes impossible and there is actually another problem that’s born through indecision. Authority acts like a vacuum; when left unoccupied, the place of authority is filled by the next strongest influence, usually a person. That person now takes over your God-given authority to lead through solid and thoughtful decisions.

This kind of take-over is exactly that, a take-over. The Bible example of one such leader is seen in the petulant King Ahab whose weakness enthroned Jezebel to rule in his place. And did she ever rule! We see the same influence today when a decisive leader is absent; that influence can work in both men and women, is gender-neutral…an equal-opportunity influence.

Today make the decision needed to satisfy the authority God has entrusted to you. You are actually a steward of His authority in that situation and you can do it. If your concern is the potential fall-out resulting from making that hard decision, remember there are more good results than bad; just do it!

By making the decision God is directing, you will actually eliminate many problems which will lighten the load, clear the air, and set you up for decisions ahead. Many of the struggles we face have grown to monster-size because we let another day go by without decisively using our God-given authority. Remember, today is the day of salvation! God’s people are equipped to decisively take the day through the power of His Holy Spirit.

At the heart of this move of the Spirit are those whose voices anchor the region where they live with vibrant faith and insight for the ever-shifting spiritual frontier we face. These voices are the sent ones who make up the grassroots of any move of God; acting simultaneously as both grunt and leader, double-timing-it to lead by example. They  win the heart and gain our trust to train us with passion for prayer and the fresh word of the Lord; not in repetition of what others have said, but in wisdom received first-hand from the Lord. They lead in the spiritual trenches of the day-to-day, for the benefit of all.

>These are our wise men and prophets, who train us to discern the still, small voice; who often are hidden and little-known, though what they carry has been sent, apostle-ed to us by the Lord. Wherever they are, the voice of the Lord comes forth as the steady hand of a parent, launched through their purity and fruitful, godly lives. For these whom God has sent, the latest messages and suddenly discovered truths about God and His Kingdom are not new at all; they are familiar with the newly discovered messages and have been training those they disciple with them for sometime – years. So that by now those trained are effective and equipped with individual vision and prepared for the future, not just for today..

Frequently we find them among those the Church does not acknowledge; not at least  for who they truly are! The Church- have you noticed this?– the Church structure will not  open its door to their wisdom and  will not allow them to function as who they truly are.  Moral and spiritual losses today do, in fact, evidence that someone is asleep at that organized wheel. The question we should ask is, what the organized church would really look like if the world waited for the organized Church model to hear the Lord accurately, and in time to deliver us? But for these whom God has sent and the Church treats as invisible, our hope would be bleak. HE is preparing HIS Church . . .

Joel prophesied a last days move of God’s Spirit whereby the LORD would pour out of His Spirit, into our spirits. As this move thunders into cities and regions captivated by religious structures, there is a different spirit in many who gather in small groups here and there; they gather to be equipped, prepared to receive the promised Spirit-visitation and are eager to be disciple-ed by these agents of the LORD who make up the hinge to doors of deliverance so that all who desire it will hear…the still, small voice!

And we have come to know that hearing alone is not the breakthrough. Rather it is that we hear, and hear again, in order to move forward with discipline in our lives to do the will of God. Thanks to our training and accountability from the spiritual fathers and mothers in our midst, we are prepared not for the moment only, but for the future…and Kingdom’s sake. Paul wrote, “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.”

Will somebody please give the platform to these giants among us?- to train us and teach us truth?-  deliverers, prophets and those whose prayers cut right through; those apostle -ed to reach us, sent to mature us; those who live among us… with fire in their bones.

Ref:
1 Corinthians 4:15
1 Kings 19:10-12
Joel 2:28-29
Matthew 23:34
Lamentations 1:13

Globally there is great shaking. Loss of confidence, fear of what is ahead, and relational distrust are disrupting the flow of unity and consistent faith. Though a global matter, it is not distant from us; rather, we are part of the shaking, and, I believe, we are called to stand despite the confusion all around.

This is a difficult time. Many of you are in unpleasant situations both in a natural and a spiritual sense; outwardly you are following the Lord in every way you know, while inwardly realizing a pitch battle is underway. Your family is affected, being flipped up, and over–again and again. Complicated issues have surfaced involving those who are immature, ignorant, selfish and self-centered. There are also agents of hurt who know exactly what they are doing; evil spirits are involved at the heart and intellect of the matter.

Concerning the latter, I have learned that some people are not teachable, cannot be corrected and listen to no one. Hence their lives become as the javelin thrown by Saul to destroy the life of another, including the future of many and everything else that life represents. Scripture explains we are hurt most by those in natural and spiritual family, those of our own house and friends with whom we shared spiritually at some point. Bottom line, our sadness today is caused by those for whom we have done the most, really; by those we never expected to attack us

Again, understand that what you are experiencing is global. The world setting is a colossal battle in the broadest sense. Without emphasizing the symbolic, realize the storm behind you has moved; the storm of pressures intimidating your pursuit of the Kingdom has moved from behind you to confront you, in your face to humiliate and weaken you in the very role where you should be most honored! The storm’s design is to effectively close in around you on every side to break your body and cause heartache, to sadden and oppress you. Confusion is Babylon, the world system.

The deliverance God has for you is not one that restores you to normalcy, or what was normal at some point. The deliverance the Lord has for you is away from normalcy. . . He is taking you up! The Hebrew word that means to “go up” is aliyah; in our vernacular we could say rapture. The church – we are the church! – is shaking free, getting ready for the launch! The sense I have as I pray is one of you personally moving forward, your pace steady though hard to measure in the midst of all that is happening; you are more focused now and very much humbled and aware that the battle is a spiritual one. Yes, more focused now.

I have a word considering we have been called to stand, and still this vast storm. Keep going. Do not look back . . .you may never know all the details, you may never understand. If there ever was a time to forgive, now is that time. Everything hinges here; you carry the Kingdom. Do not even consider any strategy other than to move forward as much as possible today, and when you awake in the morning begin again to do the same. Forgive everything and everyone around and do not CARRY their sin or your offense even one step. There are defiled and un-teachable people in your family and church. Do not take on their defilement by receiving their offense.

Realize that you have moved to another place with a completely new start. You can tell by how unfamiliar everything seems. You are being broken off from some people, being joined to others. You must not carry the old bodies with you. What was normal yesterday is bizarre today.

But the Lord is with you. You will see the covenant door of the Lord open! I fully expect the Lord to deliver -  fully. He has already begun to deliver you though you are surrounded by the familiar and not used to the new feel of things yet. You will realize His IS the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory – forever! I promise you these matters have changed and are conforming to the Lord’s provision for you already! What was hidden from view, in the heart of the accuser is now in the open where Light has an upper hand. Settle it. The Lord is for you. He loves every person involved. He has a plan for you and one for every enemy. He will handle it.