Fighting For Change

Often we as believers think about various challenges in life as battles. We fight battles as Christian soldiers, marching off to war, as the song goes. But much of the time the battles are in our hearts and minds. When that happens, what is it we are fighting for, exactly? The answer is often simpler than we make it. The answer is – change.

Psalms 55:16 As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me.
17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.
18 He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.
19 God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.

Prayer
We love You Father! Let us change to be more like You! You are our King. Praise the name YAH! Let Your kingdom come here in the hearts and minds of Mankind. Let Your perfect will be done here as it is in heaven. Send us now Your overwhelming provision. Let it overflow to those around us. Forgive us our trespasses and transgressions, and help us all to forgive those that have trespassed or transgressed against us. Deliver us from the evil here. Wipe away all thoughts and memories of the evil done to us or by us. In their place let there be only thoughts and memories of You and Your love for us. Restore Your people Father. It is time. This is the time when we need You most of all. Restore all that the worm has eaten. Restore unto Your people one thousandfold all that has been taken or held back in any way, and the more besides, of that which is good. Send in quickly the $423,923,962.53 that we might use it to promote the kingdom of God in the hearts and minds of all mankind. It’s Your kingdom, Father. Let it rise truthfully in mankind. We ask all these things of You, Father, in the name above all names, YAH Yeshuah HaMashiak. Amen.

Fighting Falling Back

Growing up with the famous John Wayne movies, WWII was a very recent memory for many. Now, not so much. There have been great movies since, and today with modern technologies they are far more graphic. But in all of these battles, I remember that when the troops were being overwhelmed and had to “fall back” to another position, they would keep fighting as they went. Thinking about it now, it was not really surrender or retreat, it was establishing a more secure position. That position was just not as far forward as they were at one point. This is important to remember in spiritual warfare as well. Being human, we will make mistakes and get things wrong. To get things right we just keep fighting.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

When we are in the battle, which is really every day of our lives, we need to remember to keep moving forward. Keep speaking scriptures, even if we fail to keep them. Keep calling out to our Father for help, even in our sins. Keep saying what we want to see change, even when what is going on around us makes that look impossible.

Keep fighting while falling back.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King. Praise the name YAH! Let Your kingdom come here in this earth. Let Your will be done here perfectly as it is in heaven. Send us now Your provision that it might overflow to those around us. Forgive us our trespasses and transgressions, and help us all to forgive those that have trespassed of transgressed against us. Deliver us from the evil here, and in our hearts and minds. Wipe away all thoughts and memories of the evil done to us or by us. In their place let there be only thoughts and memories of You and Your love for us. Restore us, Father. Restore Your people unto You. Restore unto Your people one thousandfold all that has been taken or held back in any way, and the more besides. Send in quickly the $423,923,962.53 that we might use it to promote Your kingdom in the hearts and minds of all mankind here. We ask all these things of You, Father, in Your name, YAH Yeshuah HaMashiach (Lord Jesus Christ). Amen.

Finishing Up

One of the important goals in life is to finish what we have started. I started this post on Wednesday morning, but got caught up in the day and went on to handle a few things. Because in my mind it had started, it was now done. This morning when I wake up on Thursday, I went to look at what I wrote only to find it unfinished. We can do this same thing in life. We need to find a way to finish what we have begun. One of those things we need to walk out is our spiritual warfare encounters. One of the ways we can consider to discover if we are finished is to look to our Father and ask. Prayer in the Spirit is the sword we are given. If we use that weapon, we have a chance to make it. It seems good at this point to consider scripture, and then pray.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King. Praise the name YAH! Let Your kingdom come here in this earth. Let Your will be done here. Send us Your provision that we might overflow to those around us. Forgive us our trespasses and transgressions, and help us all to forgive those that have trespassed or transgressed against us. Deliver us from the evil here. Wipe away all thoughts and memories of the evil done to us or by us. In their place let there be only thoughts and memories of You and Your love for us. Restore Your people, Father. Heal up hurts from the past. Restore unto Your people all that the worm has eaten. Restore unto Your people one thousandfold all that has been taken or held back in any way, and the more besides. Send in quickly the $423,923,962.53 that we might use it to promote the kingdom of Gad, Your kingdom, Father, in the hearts of mankind. WE ask all these things in the name YAH Yeshuah HaMashiach (Lord Jesus Christ). Amen.

Dynamite On The Inside

It is unusual to think about perhaps, but the Greek word used for “power” and for “strength” are often the word we get “dynamite” from in our language. I speak of the scriptures. This one helped me this morning as I thought about struggles I am personally facing, as well as struggles I have seen others face recently.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

In this scripture, the phrase “be strong in the Lord” means to “be empowered with dynamite power on the inside” if we try to translate it from the Greek in an easy to understand fashion. We get to share in our Father’s power to do His work here. What follows next is equally encouraging as we head into spiritual warfare.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

We need to reach out to our Father and pursue His will and His ways. Only then can we truly understand what He wants for us, and our mission here in this place. Thank God that we have been given the armor to defend, and the sword of the Spirit in the utterance (word) of God.

Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Today, let us not forget that we have that dynamite power on the inside.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King. Praise the name YAH! Let Your kingdom come here in this earth into the hearts of mankind. Let Your will be done perfectly here as it is in heaven. Send us now Your overwhelming provision that it might overflow to those around us. Deliver us from the evil here. Forgive us our trespasses and transgressions, and help us all to forgive those that have trespassed or transgressed against us. We need You and Your help, Father. Help us all to forget the evil done to us or by us, and replace those thoughts and memories with only thoughts and memories of You. You are our only chance to make this happen. Restore Your people to You, Father. Restore unto Your people one thousandfold all that has been eaten or taken or held back in any way of that which is good, and the much more besides. Send in quickly the $423,923,962.53 that we might use it to promote the kingdom of God, Your kingdom YAH, in the hearts of mankind. We ask all these things of You, Father, in the name of our Messiah YAH Yeshuah. Amen.

Freedom, True Freedom

Today in America we celebrate a holiday called Independence Day. It is supposed to be about freedom. But perhaps true freedom is really something else. Perhaps true freedom comes from an intimate relationship with truth.

John 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

We must continue in the logos (something spoken, including the thought in the Greek) of our Messiah, because He continued in the logos of God.

John 8:54 Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:
55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.

Jesus (Yeshuah) kept the words of His Father. And when He spoke, it was God speaking. We need to be able to hear God when He speaks His words (rhema or utterance in the Greek).

John 8:47 He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

If we will abide in the spoken words and thoughts behind them of our Messiah, then we will come to an intimate knowledge of the truth that it is all about the heart, and the mind. When we understand that the heart and mind must be pure and free from transgressions of the Law (sin), then we will be free from transgressions of the Law (sin).

Pray
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King. Praise the name YAH! Let Your kingdom come here in the hearts and minds of mankind. Let Your will be done here as it is in heaven, so perfectly. Send us now Your provision that we might overflow to those around us. Deliver us from the evil that would hold us back. Forgive us our trespasses and transgressions, and help us all to forgive those that have trespassed or transgressed against us. Wipe away all thoughts and memories of the evil done to us or by us. In their place let there be only thoughts and memories of You and Your love that carries us through always. Restore unto Your people unto You, Father, in heart and mind. Restore unto Your people all that the worm has eaten. Restore unto Your people one thousandfold all that has been taken or held back of that which was good. Send in quickly the $423,923,962.53 that we might use it to promote Your kingdom here in the hearts and minds of mankind. We ask all these things of You, Father. We ask in the name of our Messiah YAH Yeshuah. Amen.

Remember Why

I have often heard it said that in the pursuit of a dream, of a goal, of success at most anything, it is important to know why we are doing what we do. This concept can be very helpful for us in overcoming challenges that keep us from moving forward spiritually. A great example of this appears in the scripture about fasting.

Isaiah 58:4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?a day…: or, to afflict his soul for a day?
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

Yahuah (Lord) spoke through the prophet Isaiah to say that He had a prayer and fasting, a why, but the people did it for a different, wrong purpose. Their “why” was wrong. Our focus in spiritual warfare has to be to bring liberty and freedom to the oppressed. If we stop and remember to pray to our Father and to praise His name, we will get to the right “why” which is also what our Messiah said to us.

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Today let’s all take the time with the Father to remember our “why”, our reason for spiritual warfare. It is not to fight people, and certainly not our brothers and sisters in the Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). It is to get the freedom for the oppressed, break the bands of wickedness, to set the oppressed free, and to take care of the hungry and the poor. These are all good reasons to fast. We lay up our treasures in heaven.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are our King. Praise the name YAH! Let Your kingdom come here into the hearts and minds of mankind. Let Your will be done here as it is in heaven, so perfectly. Deliver us from the evil here that would prevent us from forgiving. Forgive our trespasses and transgressions, and help us all to forgive those that have trespassed or transgressed against us. Wipe away all thoughts and memories of the evil done to us or by us. In their place let there be only thoughts and memories of You and Your love toward us. Restore Your people to right standing, Father. Restore Your people to doing Your will. Bless their spirits that they might hear You and do Your words. Restore unto Your people one thousandfold all that has been taken or held back in any way, and the more besides. Bring in quickly the $423,923,962.53 that we might use it to promote Your kingdom here in the hearts and minds of mankind. Rise up now, my King, stand and deliver Your people and raise them up from the dust, placing them on high. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). We ask all these things of You, Father, in Your name YAH. We ask all these things in the name YAH Yeshuah. Amen.

Battle In The Spiritual

When we are involved in spiritual warfare, what exactly are we doing? By that I mean, it is good to understand how this works so that we can move forward with a confidence. For many, the phrase “seeing is believing” is a common way of having the greatest confidence. But our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus) says it differently.

John 11:40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

He made this statement when He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead. He also said it indirectly to Thomas.

John 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

We in fact have been given a power to believe our Father, speak what He declares and watch it come to pass. This is also true of spiritual warfare. Paul expresses it as armor. Today, young people might equate that with giant robotics that we stand inside to battle our foes. However one sees this, we need to use our power of believing to accomplish spiritual warfare, just like everything else in our lives.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King. Praise the name YAH! Let Your kingdom come here in this earth in the hearts and minds of mankind. Let Your will be done here as it is in heaven so perfectly. Send us now Your provision that it might overflow to those around us. Forgive us our trespasses and transgressions, and help us all to forgive those that have trespassed or transgressed against us. Deliver us from the evil here. Restore Your people, Father, and all that has been eaten or taken away or held back, multiple times over. Send in quickly the $423,923,962.53 that we might use it to promote Your kingdom here in the hearts and minds of mankind. We need to understand You and Your ways. You alone are worthy of these things. You alone can make this happen. You alone can restore and reunite Your people. You alone are our King. Praise the name Yahuah (Lord). We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). We ask all these things of You, Father, in Your name, YAH. We ask all these things in the name YAH Yeshuah. Amen.

Doing Good

Every day we have opportunity to overcome the evil in this world. We can do that by seeking the will of our Father and following in our Messiah’s footsteps. Our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus) regularly stated that he was here doing what He saw the Father doing and saying what the Father told Him to say. That can be a challenge for us here as we move forward because sometimes we may think we know what is the best to say or do on our own. In the end, we just need our Father to help us to know what is the best thing to say or do. Only then can we have knowledge of what is right. I always recall in these times a few scriptures that seem good to me.

James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

God never fails us. It can be a challenge to hear Him because we may not know how to get out of the way of what we are hearing. But we can hear him if we try, and we can be heard of Him.

Another scripture that really interests me in these times comes from Ephesians.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Today, let us seek our Father for wisdom. Let us go forward and obtain help and favor from Him.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King. Praise the name YAH! Let your kingdom come here in the hearts and minds of mankind. Let Your will be done in this earth as it is done perfectly in heaven. Send us now Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our trespasses and transgressions, and help us all to forgive those that trespass or transgress against us. Wipe away all thoughts and memories of the evil done to us or by us. In there place let there be only thoughts and memories of You and Your love toward us. We need You now. You are our King! Praise the name YAH! Rise up my King, and bring deliverance while it is called today. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah. We ask all these things of You, Father, in Your name YAH. We ask all these things in the name YAH Yeshuah. Amen.

Winning Endurance

A friend of mine has signed up to do an Ironman this year. He is not what most of us would call a physically fit person. But he felt that God wanted him to do it, so He did. When speaking to him, it is his desire to just finish. He does not have aspirations of winning the race. To him, winning is enduring to the end in within the required 17 hours. That is his goal. Finishing.

As believers, that can be our goal as well. Yes, we may suffer distractions and misdirection along the way. But in the end, we want to correct our course and go in the direction of our Father. We have that opportunity because we are called to press on, to finish.

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Finish.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King. Praise the name YAH! Let Your kingdom come here in the hearts and minds of mankind. Let Your will be done here just as it is perfectly in heaven. Forgive us our trespasses and transgressions, and help us all to forgive those that have trespassed or transgressed against us. Wipe away all thoughts and memories of the evil done to us or by us. In their place let there be only thoughts and memories of You. Restore unto Your people one thousandfold all that has been taken or held back in any way of that which is good, and the more besides. Replace more than we can imagine of what has been eaten. Send in quickly the $423,923,962.53 that we might use it to promote the kingdom of God here in the hearts and minds of mankind. We love You Father. We need You now. Rise up my King, and show Yourself strong. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). We ask all these things of You, Father, in Your name YAH. We ask all these things in the name YAH Yeshuah. Amen.

Heart Surgery

This morning as I type in the semi-darkness of the hotel room, trying not to wake my family, I think about the heart of man. Each of us is responsible to examine our hearts and minds to see what we need to change to be more like our Father.

Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

We see that God is righteousness and true holiness. We have to put on this new man. We have to take action, even if that action is like David, to cry out to our Father.

Psalms 51:9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.right: or, constant
11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

This may not seem like spiritual warfare to some. As a young man I thought of spiritual warfare as mostly external, as something I did for someone else somewhere else. But truly, scriptures show that just taking a stand is in fact spiritual warfare.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King. Praise the name YAH! Let Your kingdom come here. Let Your will be done here as it is in heaven. Send us now Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our trespasses and transgressions, and help us all to forgive those that have trespassed or transgressed against us. Deliver us from the evil here. Restore unto Your people seventy times sevenfold all the good that has been eaten or taken of held back in any way and the more besides. Bring in quickly the $423,923,962.53 that we might use it to promote the kingdom of God here in the hearts and minds of mankind. We love You. Please help us today. WE ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). We ask all these things of You, Father, in Your name YAH. We ask all these things in the name YAH Yeshuah. Amen.