25-02-2018
The Lord reminds
us that He will keep us in the eye of the storm.
Storms will come
unexpectedly.
God is your
refuge and protector.
But we can come
to a place of despair and discouragement.
You struggle with
the agony of going through suffering.
In this area of
our soul, God wants to consecrate it--to set apart.
Psalm 63:1-8 New
King James Version (NKJV)
Joy in the
Fellowship of God
A Psalm of David
when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
63 O God, You are
my God;
Early will I seek
You;
My soul thirsts
for You;
My flesh longs
for You
In a dry and
thirsty land
Where there is no
water.
2 So I have
looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power
and Your glory.
3 Because Your
lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall
praise You.
4 Thus I will
bless You while I live;
I will lift up my
hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall
be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth
shall praise You with joyful lips.
6 When I remember
You on my bed,
I meditate on You
in the night watches.
7 Because You
have been my help,
Therefore in the
shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8 My soul follows
close behind You;
Your right hand
upholds me.
Do we have faith?
Psalm 132:1-5 New
King James Version (NKJV)
The Eternal
Dwelling of God in Zion
A Song of
Ascents.
132 Lord,
remember David
And all his
afflictions;
2 How he swore to
the Lord,
And vowed to the
Mighty One of Jacob:
3 “Surely I will
not go into the chamber of my house,
Or go up to the
comfort of my bed;
4 I will not give
sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my
eyelids,
5 Until I find a
place for the Lord,
A dwelling place
for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
David endured
hardships but he was being replenished in his soul. Even his own son tried to
dethrone him. He is human too.
The period of
waiting could be the most trying times to see what God could do in our lives.
Come before God and allow God to speak in the area of our soul. Come into His
presence, else many of us will give in to the struggles of our soul.
Joshua 3:5New
King James Version (NKJV)
5 And Joshua said
to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders
among you.”
Joshua 6:16-20New
King James Version (NKJV)
16 And the
seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said
to the people: “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city! 17 Now the city
shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only
Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because
she hid the messengers that we sent. 18 And you, by all means abstain from the
accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things,
and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. 19 But all the silver and
gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the Lord; they shall
come into the treasury of the Lord.”
20 So the people
shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people
heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that
the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man
straight before him, and they took the city.
Transgression is
knowing that something is wrong, yet we do it.
It is not right
in God's eyes.
We may try very
hard to overcome it but we do it again and again.
That is iniquity.
Joshua 7 New King
James Version (NKJV)
Defeat at Ai
7 But the
children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for
Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi,[a] the son of Zerah, of the tribe of
Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned against the
children of Israel.
2 Now Joshua sent
men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel,
and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the country.” So the men went up
and spied out Ai. 3 And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let
all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack
Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few.” 4 So
about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before
the men of Ai. 5 And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they
chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on
the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
6 Then Joshua
tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord
until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. 7
And Joshua said, “Alas, Lord God, why have You brought this people over the
Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh,
that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan! 8 O Lord,
what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? 9 For the
Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us,
and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great
name?”
The Sin of Achan
10 So the Lord
said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? 11 Israel has
sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For
they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and
deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. 12 Therefore the
children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs
before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither
will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you. 13
Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow,
because thus says the Lord God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your
midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the
accursed thing from among you.” 14 In the morning therefore you shall be
brought according to your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the Lord
takes shall come according to families; and the family which the Lord takes
shall come by households; and the household which the Lord takes shall come man
by man. 15 Then it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall
be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the
covenant of the Lord, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.’”
16 So Joshua rose
early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah
was taken. 17 He brought the clan of Judah, and he took the family of the
Zarhites; and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man, and Zabdi was
taken. 18 Then he brought his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi,
the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
19 Now Joshua
said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and
make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from
me.”
20 And Achan
answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel,
and this is what I have done: 21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful
Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing
fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the
earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”
22 So Joshua sent
messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent,
with the silver under it. 23 And they took them from the midst of the tent,
brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out
before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of
Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his
oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought
them to the Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The
Lord will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they
burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
26 Then they
raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the Lord
turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has
been called the Valley of Achor[b] to this day.
One person's sin
affected the whole community. One person's sin caused them to lose the battle.
We need to battle
even for our own families.
If we are not
even able to remove the giants in our own land, how are we able to remove the
giants in our nation?
Consecrate
ourselves and our souls to God.
Do not continue
in the cycle of sin. We need to rise up as God's army. We are in a critical
time.
Are we giving the
enemy a foothold to steal, kill and destroy.
Isaiah 53:4-6 New
King James Version (NKJV)
4 Surely He has
borne our griefs
And carried our
sorrows;
Yet we esteemed
Him stricken,
Smitten by God,
and afflicted.
5 But He was
wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised
for our iniquities;
The chastisement
for our peace was upon Him,
And by His
stripes we are healed.
6 All we like
sheep have gone astray;
We have turned,
every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has
laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
God wants to
perfect us and to change us to battle for Him.
Galatians 2:20
New King James Version (NKJV)
20 I have been
crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave Himself for me.
It is very easy
to claim the word of God but we struggle to live by faith.
How we respond
will determine if we grow or we remain where we are.
In the midst of
our struggle, God sees our response: is it God/Christ in me, or the
ugliness/anger coming out?
If we constantly
continue to rebel, it is like a sin of witchcraft. We are still committing the
sin of idolatory and witchcraft.
1 Samuel 15:23
New King James Version (NKJV)
23 For rebellion
is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness
is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have
rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has
rejected you from being king.”
Exodus 34:6-7New
King James Version (NKJV)
6 And the Lord
passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and
gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing
the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the
children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
Look at our own
generation. Strengthen the areas of our weaknesses and let God cleanse the sins
of idolatory and witchcraft in Christ.
Psalm 51:5 New
King James Version (NKJV)
5 Behold, I was
brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my
mother conceived me.
We do not want to
pass down what we had done to the next generation. If the iniquity is not dealt
with, it will kill God's plan and vision and destiny for our lives. Unless we
honestly ask God to check our lives and allow Him to cleanse us from within. The
enemy is not fighting a fair battle. It will affect our next generation. Unless
we rise up.
We have been
called a royal priesthood and a holy nation to declare and fulfill His plans
for us. War against the giants in our own souls.
Knowing the word
is not just reading and not applying. To live a victorious life, we first need
to come to a place of consecration.
We are battling
for righteousness and justice. How do we do that when we still have gray areas?
Don't compromise.
Psalm 66:18 New
King James Version (NKJV)
18 If I regard
iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not
hear.
Psalm 51 New King
James Version (NKJV)
A Prayer of
Repentance
To the Chief
Musician. A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had
gone in to Bathsheba.
51 Have mercy
upon me, O God,
According to Your
lovingkindness;
According to the
multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my
transgressions.
2 Wash me
thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me
from my sin.
3 For I
acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is
always before me.
4 Against You,
You only, have I sinned,
And done this
evil in Your sight—
That You may be
found just when You speak,[a]
And blameless
when You judge.
5 Behold, I was
brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my
mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You
desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden
part You will make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with
hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I
shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear
joy and gladness,
That the bones
You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face
from my sins,
And blot out all
my iniquities.
10 Create in me a
clean heart, O God,
And renew a
steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me
away from Your presence,
And do not take
Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me
the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by
Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will
teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall
be converted to You.
14 Deliver me
from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my
salvation,
And my tongue
shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open
my lips,
And my mouth
shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not
desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not
delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices
of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a
contrite heart—
These, O God, You
will not despise.
18 Do good in
Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls
of Jerusalem.
19 Then You shall
be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt
offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall
offer bulls on Your altar.
God's word
convicts us of our own ugliness. And that's a good place to be.
James 3:6 New
International Version (NIV)
6 The tongue also
is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole
body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by
hell.
Our words can
curse, defile and bring someone down.
God brings us to
that place of shaking to wake us up of our slumber and that we return to God.
Unless we come to that place of brokenness and surrender, we come to depend on
God.
Are you
struggling in the area of flesh or mind? Be broken, rather than be in
rebellion. Allow God to shape us.
2 Chronicles 7:14
New King James Version (NKJV)
14 if My people
who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face,
and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive
their sin and heal their land. 15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears
attentive to prayer made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and sanctified
this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be
there perpetually. 17 As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David
walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My
statutes and My judgments, 18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom,
as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a
man as ruler in Israel.’
19 “But if you
turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before
you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, 20 then I will uproot them
from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified
for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a
byword among all peoples.
21 “And as for
this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and
say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?’ 22 Then they
will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought
them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and
served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.’”
1) Repent of our
own sin.
2) Renounce the generational
sin. Humble ourselves to seek help. Deal with it.
3) Apply the
blood of Christ in our bloodlines. Do not allow strongholds and lies to deceive
us. We need the word of God. Be grounded in the word.
4) Pray in the
Spirit to come out of the mode of depression and failure.
5) Renounce all
the iniquities, sins and transgressions. A public confession and declaration.
God's promises
are yea and amen. He will anoint you. He will fulfill it. Don't let the enemy
to deceive you.
A broken and a contrite
heart He will not despise.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I ask You to forgive me for every sin, defilement, compromise and every works of the flesh in my life. Lord, I know that the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatory, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies. (Galatians 5:19-20) Teach me to live by the power of Your Spirit and to help me crucify the works of the flesh in my life.
Father, help me to understand that "those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." (Matthew 15:18-19) Turn my heart toward You, and keep my mouth pure.
Father, You tell us in Your Word that we can keep our lives pure "by living according to Your Word." Help us to make this commitment: "I seek You with all my heart; do not let me stray from Your commands. I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You." (Psalm 119:9-11)
Strengthen areas of my life where there are generational iniquities. I ask that these areas be cleansed by Your blood and deliver me from all evil spirits enticing me to sin in these areas. I renounce and cut them off my life in Jesus' Name.
I dedicate my life to You, spirit, soul and body. Lord, make me strong - a bold spiritual army for You. Lord, I want my life to be built upon the strong rock of Jesus Christ, for then when the flood of ungodliness sweeps in, I will be like the wise man who built his house on the rock: "And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock." (Matthew 7:25)
Thank You for the power of the Cross that I can stand in victory today. Thank You that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Thank You, for we are Your chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that we may declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light.
"Once we were not a people, but now we are the people of God, once we had not received mercy, but now we have mercy." (1 Peter 2:9)
We give you praise in Jesus' Name!
Amen.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I ask You to forgive me for every sin, defilement, compromise and every works of the flesh in my life. Lord, I know that the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatory, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies. (Galatians 5:19-20) Teach me to live by the power of Your Spirit and to help me crucify the works of the flesh in my life.
Father, help me to understand that "those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." (Matthew 15:18-19) Turn my heart toward You, and keep my mouth pure.
Father, You tell us in Your Word that we can keep our lives pure "by living according to Your Word." Help us to make this commitment: "I seek You with all my heart; do not let me stray from Your commands. I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You." (Psalm 119:9-11)
Strengthen areas of my life where there are generational iniquities. I ask that these areas be cleansed by Your blood and deliver me from all evil spirits enticing me to sin in these areas. I renounce and cut them off my life in Jesus' Name.
I dedicate my life to You, spirit, soul and body. Lord, make me strong - a bold spiritual army for You. Lord, I want my life to be built upon the strong rock of Jesus Christ, for then when the flood of ungodliness sweeps in, I will be like the wise man who built his house on the rock: "And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock." (Matthew 7:25)
Thank You for the power of the Cross that I can stand in victory today. Thank You that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Thank You, for we are Your chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that we may declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light.
"Once we were not a people, but now we are the people of God, once we had not received mercy, but now we have mercy." (1 Peter 2:9)
We give you praise in Jesus' Name!
Amen.