THE NEW YEAR HAS
DAWNED … and held within the newness of its days we’ve already come face to
face with the complete spectrum of good and evil. Time has wasted no minutes. These first weeks of the year typically
provide strategic places of the heart where battles are fought and won as we
feel called to fast and pray. And this
year of 2016 is no different – other than perhaps more intensified. Well, let’s say it like it is: way more intensified! This new year just took the battle zones up by
several notches. And actually, these
battles are won only when fought in a warrior’s stance: on bended knee. There’s no time for sitting around and
ignoring the sounds of attack. Within us
must arise an impassioned battle cry that curdles the blood of the prowling
enemy. The time has come to ask
ourselves the pointed question that demands an honest answer: “am I battle-ready?” The battles are here, dear ones – the time
has come for us to become trained warriors in the army of God for one
reason! Victory! It is victory that equals our very
survival. While we must be trained and
alert, we need not fear! God’s angel
armies encamp around us, and they are standing guard, poised to help us in this
good fight!
As the battles have
been flung in our direction and in the direction of our family and friends we
hold dear, we realize that we MUST KNOW WHOSE WE ARE! That defining knowledge of the heart will
make us or break us. If we know … we
will make it! If we do not, we will find
ourselves adrift and we will crash on the perilous rocks of life. We will experience either victory or
defeat. Perhaps you have felt this way
in recent days – we want you to know that you are not alone! There ARE answers that bring us spiritual
strategies for victory in any battle that comes our way!
I said … I
CANT GO ON … but Jesus said, I WILL CARRY YOU.
I said … I AM
TOO TIRED … bus Jesus said. I WILL GIVE YOU REST.
I said …
IMPOSSIBLE … but Jesus said, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.
I said … I AM
STARVING … but Jesus said, I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.
I said … I AM
DEHYDRATED … but Jesus said, I AM LIVING WATER.
I said … I AM
GOING TO DIE … but Jesus said, I WILL RAISE YOU UP.
(credit to
online site, AMEN)
Our God tells us that
we are HIS; that we are NOT alone; that He will give us everything we will ever
need to not just survive in these days, but to flourish! How we respond to the battles – determines
whether we will win or lose.
As my husband and I
began our corporate 21-day fast at Elevation North this year, he suggested that
we choose one family member to focus our prayers on for an entire day, along
with whatever else God led us to seek His face for as we entered our “war-room”
of prayer. I know he was inspired by God
to have us implement this strategy of prayer, because as we near the end of the
fast, what has occurred has been so precious and priceless that we do not
intend to stop! While any fast comes to
completion for a season, we will continue praying for our family in this way. We let each of them know that THIS DAY IS
THEIRS for us to pray over them all day long and we ask them for anything
specific we can include in our prayers.
The answers to prayer have come in God’s way – not always by our wishes
… but the spiritual connection that has been raised up between us across the
long distances that separate us has drawn us closer than ever before. While we do not see each other for months and
months, praying for our family this way renders any distance powerless to keep
us apart. We are engaged in prayer all
day long, knowing what they are needing from God and desiring to give to Him …
and we feel ever so closely connected!
We share the tears of struggle, the longing to be more than we are, the
battles that need to be won, the personal cries for victory in many arenas of
our lives, the opportunities put before us for ministering to others within and
without the church walls … and so much more!
And now we have put into place the power that comes from praying as a
triple-braided cord rather than by ourselves.
(Ecclesiastes 4:12) Now our
prayer strength cannot be easily broken … we hold each other up, accountable
and encouraged through the hope that Christ brings to us new and fresh each
day!
How many spiritual
breakthroughs will take place in our families … in our churches … in our own
lives as the season of this new year’s fast comes to a close? Only God knows! I believe that the outcomes will go on and on
producing continued results and fruit for the glory of God! It is time for us as the people of God’s
church to not be still or stagnant, but to get up and MOVE into the places of
victory that God is preparing for us. We
will never experience and receive them if we do not get up from where we are at
– and MOVE forward! I love the message
that Pastor Steven Furtick from Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina
shared during their recent recording of a new worship album. In part, this is what his challenge was: “We can’t stay here – we’ve got to go! We’ve got a charge to keep; we’ve got a God
to serve! We’ve got a gospel to
preach. We’ve got broken hearts to bind;
we’ve got hurting people to heal. MOVE,
CHURCH!” I echo his anointed
message. “People of Elevation North in
Owatonna, Minnesota … let’s go! We’ve
got a God to serve! MOVE, Elevation
North!”
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
