As we focus on Spiritual Warfare this month, we should remember warfare is something that we “inherit” as believers. Satan hates God, so because we belong to God, we have an adversary.

I was thinking about hunting season coming up. Because the animals are animals, they will immediately “inherit” an enemy simply because of who they are. The hunter wants what they have (their life) and is out to get it. This is no criticism of hunters and certainly not indicating that hunters are evil, but looking from the “hunted” perspective. The animals were just born into their homeland, the woods, and by virtue of their identity, they will be hunted. But the devil is evil and wants to kill, steal and destroy. (John 10:10)

1 Peter 5:8 tells us a similar thing. Our adversary, the devil, is looking for ways to entrap us and take away the glory of God revealed through our lives. Can you imagine hating someone so much that you would want to destroy anything that belongs to that person? This is our adversary.

The Scripture speaks of the heart and intention of the devil in Isaiah 14 where Lucifer reveals his heart of jealousy and declares he will have a throne above the throne of God in the heavens and declares he will be like God. How foolish. In order to be greater than God he must have followers and that is his attempt against mankind. He wants to gain our allegiance and if he can’t, he will trick and deceive. If that does not work, he seeks to destroy, making the forces of God less than his own.

As we look at what is taking place in our nation and in our own city, we can also be reminded in this same Scripture that Lucifer was defined as the one who “weakened nations.” This passage has reference to Lucifer prophetically and the King of Babylon specifically. The spirit of darkness ruled the King of Babylon and filled his heart with greed and destruction. This is the spirit of the devil today and it transfers the same evil desires and characteristics to those who participate or cooperate with that spirit.

This spirit will weaken individual lives, families, churches, cities, and nations. Jesus was sent to restore our authority so we, as His church, can stop this murderous attempt of darkness to kill, steal, and destroy. Jesus delegated to us His authority so we could win the war against darkness and regain all the enemy has stolen from us.

Our desire can only be to bring glory to God in all we do. Only in complete humility of heart, can we reflect the image of God. As we submit to God, we are then reflecting His character in the earth. We must continually walk in submission to His Will! In this submission, we are more than conquerors! In this submission, we are sons and daughters of God in the earth! In this submission, we glorify Him alone!

This is the victory!

Pastor Donna

Morning Thought: Tolerance Has Its Price

I saw in a recent IFA email that President Trump was going to change the name of the Department of Defense back to the pre-World War 2 era name of the Department of War. At first, I thought that would sound a little aggressive, but then I began to think about something I had just read concerning Mt 16:18 when Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail or conquer the Church/Ekklesia. This always felt a little defensive on the part of the church, as if the church is constantly being bombarded with the assaults of the enemy and is in a perpetual defensive mode. Bruce Barton’s commentary states, “These words may be interpreted, in light of other passages on the power of Satan, as Satan’s domain in the offensive against the church. Christ promises that Satan will not defeat the church; instead, his sphere of operation (death) will be defeated.” In other words, rather than a constant state of defense, the body of Christ will be on the offense, destroying the work of Satan in the earth. In the process, the church will not fear destruction, defeat, or death, but will be the conquering force on earth.

How often do Christians stay in a “defensive” mode against the devil, always fearing we are going to be hit at any minute? We are not told to be defensive, but to be sober, alert, watchful, because the devil is roaming around looking for an opportunity to strike. (1 Peter 5:8) Paul told the church of Ephesus to give no opportunity to the devil, referring to unresolved anger. (Eph 4:27) He tells the church of Corinth a similar thing concerning unforgiveness in 2 Cor. 2:10-11. Ephesians 6:10-18 instructs us on how to prepare ourselves so that we are not always on the defensive, but standing firm against Satan’s strategies, thereby taking the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) and Prayer to advance the Kingdom of God.

According to MWD, the word defensive means “devoted to resisting or preventing aggression or attack.” This is important, but if we are all consumed with defending ourselves from another’s attack, that indicates a constant attitude of fear. We need to be taking the offensive to remove threats, especially ungodly threats against our lives. If we only prepare ourselves for defense, when do we train ourselves for war to advance the Kingdom of God?

While we were sleeping, our city was contaminated with numerous witchcraft businesses. These businesses openly promote fortune telling, spells, demonic symbols, witches, etc. While we were sleeping, the enemy planted weeds in our city. Our war is not with flesh and blood but powers, principalities, and forces of evil in high places. (Eph. 6:12) We do not use fleshly weapons, but divinely empowered weapons of God to destroy strongholds of evil. (2 Cor 10:3-4) A spiritual battle can never be fought with fleshly weapons.

How many Christians would back away from such a battle and only be concerned with defending against such an attack? How many Christians tolerate what the Bible clearly states is destructive sin for a life, family, city, or nation? It is much like tolerating a sickness in our body rather than making the necessary life changes or getting to the true root of our issue to heal.   Or it may be like ignoring the disobedience of our children because it’s just too exhausting to discipline them.  So we endure, not realizing the devastating effects this has on all of our lives. It just doesn’t hurt enough, yet!  What price will we pay?   The Scriptures tell us!

Look! I am about to do a new thing! Now it sprouts! Do you not perceive it? Indeed, I will _⌊make_⌋ a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.  (Isaiah 43:19, LEB)

There is nothing more exciting than the sense of God bringing a new thing into our lives. Can you imagine the sense of excitement that Abraham must have sensed when God told him that He was sending Abraham to a new country, even a country where God would make him a blessing to all the nations of the earth. Yet that new thing had a test and that was offering up his son, his only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. And then God did another new thing. This new thing would be a preview of His own dilemma thousands of years later. God had His own test, when His son, His only son, would be required. With Abraham, God provided a lamb in the thicket. With His own son, there was no other lamb, and God knew it. Just the spotless lamb hanging on the cross for all to see. The lamb who was present as co-creator of all there was. But when He came to his own, they did not recognize nor receive Him and He paid the price necessary for all of mankind.

And then there was Moses who was dealing with his own shame by running away from a reputation as a murderer. Raised in Potiphar’s house with a life of ease, yet now hiding in the desert pastures, tending flocks. His own Hebrew brothers were accusing him and he runs and hides for 40 years. From importance to insignificance, yet God saw something in Moses that caused Him to do another new thing. Can you imagine what Moses must have thought when he saw the “new thing” in the dessert. Burning bushes were really nothing new, but when God is in the midst of our ordinary, suddenly it becomes extraordinary. The bush that was afire from the desert heat was no longer being consumed by the fire, but by God’s Presence. God waited to see Moses’ reaction and when Moses turned to observe the bush, God spoke to Moses, promising him a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8) .

And then there was Deborah, called by God as the prophet and judge of Israel. (Judges 4). A new thing because God did not generally call women for such an important role. But God was doing a new thing and God would bring deliverance to Israel in His own way. It was Deborah who summoned Barak and reminded him of God’s call, and it was another woman, Jael, who placed a tent peg into the temple of Sisera, giving Israel the victory. God did not seek the council of His prophets and priests. God will do a new thing, HIs new thing, when He desires to fulfill His Word to His people.

Many such real life stories are recorded in Scripture, yet we tend to forget that God will do a new thing to advance His purpose and plan for the earth and His creation. God did not need to consult anyone when He chose a young shepherd boy as King. Nor did He get man’s opinion when He chose an orphan named Esther to become queen of a pagan nation to save Israel. God did not need a quorum when He chose ignorant fishermen to become great apostles and the ones who would birth the first church. Neither did God consult with the religious elites when He called Saul, a murdering Jew, to become the great apostle Paul.

Do we ever get in the way of God’s new thing in our lives or in His church. Do we allow our religious attitudes to discount the new thing God wants to do? Do we allow ourselves to become disqualified because we just don’t see it God’s way?.

It has been my experience that God’s new thing will cost us something. Abraham had to leave his father’s house and his familiar nation and culture for the new thing. Moses had to overcome his stuttering problem to be the one to fulfill God’s new thing of deliverance to a nation. Deborah was a woman walking outside of her cultural role model. Interestingly, there does not seem to be opposition to Deborah as Barak told her he would not go unless she went with him. And then God lures the enemy into the tent of an unassuming woman named Jael. Jesus paid the greatest price anyone can pay. He laid down His life for His brothers and sisters.

God’s new thing is not just fun and games. It is an assignment with a price tag. It is a stepping stone to a fulfilled plan of God in the earth and a means to fulfill the destiny assigned to our lives.

I’ll ask again. Do we find ourselves warring against God because His new thing is not packaged as we think it should be? Do we discount what God is doing because it does not fit our religious narrative and we cannot make room in our hearts for how God may want to do things or the ones He chooses to use?

God is not looking for ability, but availability. God is looking for those who will leave their father’s house and their familiar culture, if that is required, to be faithful. God is looking for those who will not walk away because a person may not fit the gender mold their religious minds require. God is doing a new thing and He will only consult one person…that is the one He calls. Each one called can say no! Each one called can deny the viability of the calling. Excuses can be made of the many reasons this new thing will not work.

God is doing a new thing. Can you perceive it?

I felt an unction to write a daily devotional for August, and it has been personally very beneficial.   As I thought about the post for today, I recalled a previous post I wrote about the importance of understanding the purpose behind the trials we experience.   Often, we do not understand the benefit or purpose of our trials due to the fear of the cost required for our victory.  This fear will limit our ability to understand how and why we are in the struggle we find ourselves in.   Hopefully, this repost will bring you blessings!

As I read Genesis 45-46 this morning, I was intrigued by the parallels we see in our own lives. Joseph was second in command in Egypt by God’s hand and had just revealed his identity to his brothers. These were the same brothers who sold him into slavery many years before.  So many years had passed that the brothers no longer recognized Joseph. Joseph had every right to be bitter and resentful towards his brothers, and he could have used his position and wealth to shame them, but he did not. He did not because Joseph had long ago let go of the bitterness and resentment that could have been in his heart towards his brothers.

How was Joseph able to let go of this pain? Joseph understood that all the past years had been about God’s plan to save a nation. He understood that his brothers’ betrayal was to bring him to a place for his God assignment. He understood that his teenage dream of his brothers and his father bowing down to him was a preview of what God had in store for his life. There was a Purpose in the trial. It was God’s purpose.

Joseph said to his brothers….Genesis 45:4-8. Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. ⁵ But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. ⁶ This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. ⁷ God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors.^{* 8} So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser^* to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.

This is again later confirmed by the psalmist. Psalm 105:16 He called for a famine on the land of Canaan, cutting off its food supply. ¹⁷ Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them— Joseph, who was sold as a slave. ¹⁸ They bruised his feet with fetters and placed his neck in an iron collar. ¹⁹ Until the time came to fulfill his dreams,^* the Lord tested Joseph’s character.

The dream was not about Joseph’s family bowing before him in humility to his own greatness. The dream was confirmation at that moment that God was involved in this trial. Joseph must have remembered that dream and the trouble it got him into with his brother’s jealousy. But was this also God’s plan? God needed to get Joseph into the land He had preordained to send a nation of people, His People, and God needed someone to serve as His agent of protection for those people. God chose Joseph…many miles away.

God does not need someone close by to accomplish His purpose. God can move people like a chess piece on a board to bring about His will and purpose, but God does need the right character involved. God tested Joseph and Joseph was faithful.

Does our character ever abort our God-ordained purpose? Can we pick up bitterness and resentment along the way and poison God’s plan for our lives? Hebrews 12:15 says “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;”

The word “defiled” carries the meaning of staining morally in such a way that it carries a cultic or demonic process with it. Just as a freshly painted wet fence would stain all who touch it, the defilement of bitterness will stain all who come in contact with it. For this reason, many families carry generational issues of prejudice, bitterness, and resentment, and entire families are stained by this horrible defilement. Hatred breeds among families and ethnicities without understanding the ugly root of bitterness that may have been planted years or even centuries before.

Back to Joseph…what if Joseph had allowed a root of bitterness to spring up in his heart? A consistent fruit of bitterness as defined above is that of leading to cultic and godless behavior and especially immorality. Again, in Hebrews 12, verse 16 warns of the result of such bitterness, illustrated by “godless and immoral Esau. In Genesis 39, Joseph revealed his pure heart when he was tempted by Potiphar’s wife to commit fornication, but refused to dishonor himself and God. There was no immorality or godlessness resident in Joseph’s heart.

There is a purpose or lesson in every trial. First as has been said, “adversity strips us to our fighting weight.” Adversity reveals the content of our hearts and offers the opportunity for self-examination. We can see what is in our hearts and repent and allow God to cleanse us of this deadly sin. (See 1 John 1:9). If we do not, we will proceed in a direction that will lead to aborting our God’s purpose. Joseph chose the high road of honor to God.

What is the results? When Pharaoh learned of Joseph’s family, he set aside the best land in Egypt for Joseph’s family. (See Genesis 45:18) What was that land? It was Goshen. God had moved on Pharaoh’s heart to bless His people.

In Hebrew, Goshen means “drawing near”. God was not only drawing Joseph’s family near to Him, but He was also gathering His people in a single place to draw them near to Himself. In March 2020, I heard in prayer, “You are a Goshen people.” This was during the beginning of the pandemic and my first thought was that God’s protection would be around us, just as He protected the Israelites during the plagues. This is true, but more importantly, that protection comes as we draw near to God in our hearts and our obedience. I heard and ministered many times about finding God in the secret place and staying close to Him.

Have we found purpose in our trials, or are we still nursing bitterness in our hearts because of the tools used to get us into a place where God can use us and bring about His purpose, not just for our individual selves, but possibly for a family, a church, or even a nation? We may not always understand the big picture that God sees, but we must trust Him in all things. Our responsibility is to maintain the integrity of our heart and character in every situation, regardless of the circumstances.

The story of Joseph cannot be fully appreciated unless we see the big picture of all God was doing. Joseph faced fear, disappointment, temptation, and mistreatment but he remained faithful in heart and character.

What is God developing in each of our hearts? How quickly are we offended by circumstances that we may not understand? What we can do is take confidence in the Word and Love of God. His Word tells us that above all we guard, we are to guard our heart (See Proverbs 4:23). Why? Because our heart will determine the course of our life. Our hearts will qualify or disqualify us. Our heart holds the purpose of God only when our heart is near to Him. Ask God to see the Big Picture!