2 Chronicles 7:13-15 – “When I close up the sky so that it doesn’t rain, or command locusts to devour the land’s vegetation, or send a plague among my people, ¹⁴ if my people, who belong to me, humble themselves, pray, seek to please me, and repudiate their sinful practices, then I will respond from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. ¹⁵ Now I will be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place.”

The Holy Spirit quickened my heart to consider “Who Jesus Is,” not just what He does.   I contemplated and meditated on Who He Is, What He Has Promised, and the condition of our present world.   I thought about the war in the heavenlies and our role in that struggle.

Over the past few months, there have been what seems to be an excessive number of people I know (believers) who have been taken home.   The sense in my heart is that God is about to do something incredible in the face of the terrible works of the devil.   

God seems to have decided to allow those (some too young) to come home to protect them from what’s coming.  Yet, others remain to experience the chaos and the outpouring of the Spirit.   I do not believe that is without purpose.   

It means that those of us still here have a specific assignment.   I believe that means we need to be alert and carefully listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.   This means we need to pay careful attention to our assignments, which include equipping, training, encouraging, and interceding.   Moses was on his face before God in intercession for 40 days and 40 nights.   2 Chronicles 7:14 is our commandment and answer.

Jesus is the “only” answer.   He is the Light of the world.   As believers, we are not to be fearful of what’s coming.   The world has reached a new depth of depravity.   The Biblical descriptions of the Last Days are so apparent that a blind person could see them. 

Tragically, too much of the church is compromised, and its focus is numbers, programs, and notoriety.  Individuals are adopting the lifestyles of the world and justifying their actions.   When Jesus lives in the heart as not just the forgiver (Savior) but as the LORD, our lives undergo a radical transformation, and the Ten Commandments become a natural outflow of life.

We are to love others as ourselves and love the LORD with our all.   All selfishness must die.   Shaking and revival are here.  The only question becomes, “Which camp will we be found in?”    Victory is for today!

Lord, help us to allow Jesus to be the Only Answer we need for today’s problems!  

Numbers 33:50-53 – “The Lord spoke to Moses in the rift valley plains of Moab along the Jordan, across from Jericho. He said: ⁵¹ “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵² you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images, all their molten images, and demolish their high places. ⁵³ You must dispossess the inhabitants of the land and live in it, for I have given you the land to possess it.” 

The Holy Spirit reminded me of the importance of practicing the four keys to victory in life.   That was found in our text, Numbers 33.  Those four Keys are Drive Out, Cleanse, Dispossess, and Possess.

Those four elements are keys to a life of spiritual fullness.  When the Children of Israel transitioned from wilderness wandering (a type of life of sin before Jesus), they were instructed to “drive out” the occupants of their place of promise.

Sadly, too many modern believers try to coexist with the devil.  In the world, we rub shoulders with evil, but in our place of promise (hearts), we cannot!    We must “drive out” all that is not holy from our hearts. We cannot be double-hearted, but our hearts must be free of the forces of darkness.

Next, they were to cleanse the land.   That cleansing involved removing the carved images (idols – all that hold the heart that is not God).  They were to remove all the molten images and demolish the high places of idol worship.   God must be the only occupant of our hearts.  We cannot live with one foot in the world and its offering and one in God and His Kingdom.  

The directive is to “Love God with our ALL, body, soul, spirit, and strength!”  In my East Texas lingo, it is “Be all in or not in!”  God does not share our hearts with the world.

One would think that driving them out would satisfy the third directive to “Dispossess the inhabitants of the land.”    However, since God worded it the way He did, there must be something beyond the initial eviction to note.     Driving out implies the initial act, and dispossessing indicates the legal action of not just evicting and cleansing but serving notice that our hearts are under new management.

We Dispossess to Possess.  Once the initial act or experience of Salvation comes, there must be a thorough cleansing and purifying of our hearts, minds, and hands.   The Bible reveals that a house left unfilled invites the old tenants to return with a larger contingent of evil.  We drive out, cleanse, and dispossess (serve legal notice), then we possess the place of promise and the promise.

Trying to coexist with the devil is to fail to become!   In the world, we work with and associate with evil.   We are to separate from it.   We are different.   But in our hearts, we must seek to be pure!   Only through the Holy Spirit’s purifying can we be thoroughly cleansed.

Whenever a hint of greed, envy, jealousy, lust, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, ungratefulness, or selfishness reveals itself, we must cleanse our hearts.   We drive out those thoughts, feelings, and emotions, dispossessing them, and by God’s grace, possess our hearts in purity.   God can trust us with His power, presence, and provision in that purity.

When we make that full surrender of Everything to Him, He opens the door to His fullness.   Remember, the kingdom is ours.  The promise is ours.  The provision is ours.  The power is ours.   Jesus said, “Come unto Me, and I will…”

Are you tired of feeling like the devil seems to be getting the upper hand?   Then, drive out, cleanse, dispossess, and possess.   Simple?  Only through God!  Is it possible? Only Through God.  We have been called to Abundant Life.  Why not have it NOW?

Have a victorious day Possessing the Promises God has made to you!

Numbers 20:8 – “Take the staff (symbol of authority) and assemble the community, you and Aaron, your brother, and then SPEAK to the rock (a type of Christ) before their eyes.  It will pour forth its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, something from Numbers 20 filled my consciousness.  Four things leaped out at me.   Explicit obedience, presumptuousness, humanizing God’s directive, and unfulfilled destiny.   I confess that to unpack all that would be far too involved for a brief post.

Once again, the people grumbled in the wilderness.   God had repeatedly provided and guided them, but another problem presented itself, and they demonstrated their true character.

In Numbers 20:8, God told Moses, “Take the staff (symbol of authority) and assemble the community, you and Aaron, your brother, and then SPEAK to the rock (a type of Christ) before their eyes.  It will pour forth its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.”

Moses demonstrated a natural propensity to allow the past to define the present and for presumption to surface.    If you recall, the first time, God had him use his rod and strike the rock.    This time, God said, “Take your staff and SPEAK to the rock.”   The directive was to speak from his position of authority.   We have authority in Jesus and do not need to force things; we declare them, and God does them.

Numbers 20:11 – “Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff.”    Water did come out!   However, it opened the door to a view of the staff as a magical instrument rather than turning all eyes on God through a declaration of faith.   Moses modified God’s directive and acted presumptuously, drawing from his history.   In Numbers 20:12, God said, “Because you did not trust me enough to show Me as holy before the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.  “

God expects explicit obedience, especially from those charged with leadership or oversight.   Moses was the visual connection to God.   His task was to teach them God’s character, not just lead them to freedom.  When he trusted history more than God or acted presumptuously in anger or frustration, he aborted his destiny.

Today, prophets are doing what Moses did, adding to or modifying what God says.   Today, believers are clinging to what was rather than being open to and entering into what can be.

God’s directive always has a victorious purpose and a powerful promise.   The problem is that we tend to rationalize rather than give explicit obedience to it.

Explicit obedience produces the promise and propels us into the fulfillment of our destiny.   We do not have to understand nor rationalize God’s directive.  We must obey it explicitly.  Explicit obedience is complete trust.   Adding to, modifying, or rationalizing can become rebellion and shift the sovereignty from God to man.

God’s Word, God’s way, brings God’s purpose to fullness.  Do not fret about the timing or your lack of understanding.   Explicitly obey and watch God be God.

I pray that we will all strive to explicitly obey God all the time and every time!   He will be faithful to His promise if we are faithful to Him!

Luke 16:13 – “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and money.”

God is good all the time, and His mercy never ends or fails.   As I went to bed, the Holy Spirit was downloading information throughout the night.  Today, as I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God, something kept echoing in my heart and mind.   What was that?   Stuff!  The Lord spoke to me about stuff.   The danger of transforming stuff into idols is more prevalent than most understand.

God’s purpose for stuff is to enhance our lives, to be used to help us navigate life’s seas and advance into His purposes.    Stuff can hold our hearts; when it does, it crowds out the Spirit of God.   Stuff is to be used, not hoarded.

Those who know me know that stuff (material things do not have a significant hold on me).   It is not because I do not value things but because I see them as tools for life, not bigger than life.   The Lord dealt with me about stuff years ago.   I realized I was keeping things I did not need or use for various reasons.   

The challenge to my heart was the Why?   The Lord caused me to realize that I gave honor to him by releasing stuff into His hands.   He taught me that stuff not used held an unwholesome place in my heart.   He challenged me with Luke 16:13 and other passages about the power of stuff and the need for an undivided heart.

I’ve been given treasured gifts only to have the Lord direct me to give them to someone in need.   They had sentimental value but not practical value.   They would make someone else’s life better, but we’re just stuff if I keep them unused.   My heart’s cry is to have an undivided heart.

The Holy Spirit has challenged me in this about trusting God.   I have said, “But I might need or use them sometime.”   Then, I was challenged with the thought, “What can God not provide?”

I’m guilty of holding on to material things for selfish reasons when there were those who desperately needed them.   If I allow anything other than God to hold my heart, it can become an idol.   If I give God my all, He will provide all I need.   He will fill my heart, and in that state of a whole heart, I have perfect peace!

I’m not saying we cannot have some things that have only intrinsic value but no practical use.   I am saying we dare not let those things have such a grip on us that we cannot let them go.   Then, they rise to a place that crowds God out.   I want treasure in heaven, not just on earth.   When God is first, nothing in this world can hold our hearts, and we open the door to God’s open-handed provision.

I pray for God to become more and more important to me.   Lord, do not let me allow anything to have a controlling hold on my heart but You!

As you become free from the unwholesome hold of ‘stuff,’ I pray you will become totally free!   May you always soar like an eagle!

Luke 11:1-4 – ”Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” ² So he said to them, “When you pray, say: Father may your name be honored; may your kingdom come.  ³ Give us each day our daily bread, ⁴ and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.  And do not lead us into temptation.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, Luke 11 gripped my heart.    The amazing simplicity and clarity of the teachings of Jesus always amaze me.   In a few words, He makes life clear and reveals the heart of the Father and the visual of kingdom life.

One of the disciples asked Him for a model or pattern of prayer that they could implement. Jesus never gave formulas or meaningless rituals. His example contains what I call the 5 P’s.

• Praise is the beginning. “Father, may Your name be honored.”

It all begins with God being God. It all starts with recognition of His sovereignty and goodness. “Seek first…”

• Presence. “May Your kingdom come.”

The desire for God’s presence is not only a motivator but also a security for us. Where God’s presence is, there is peace and in His person wholeness.

• Provision. “Give us each day our daily bread.”

Give us what we need physically, relationally, materially, and spiritually for each today.

• Pardon. “And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”

Forgiveness is the key to wholeness. Any unforgiveness in our hearts locks out the peace of God and limits His provisions.

• Protection. “And do not lead us into temptation.”

Protection from the perils of temptation and the pollution of this world and the flesh. Protection from the curse of the enemy.    Protection from the flaming darts of accusation and condemnation. Protection in the shelter of God’s arms.

In that position, we are empowered to see our persistent prayers become realities.   We ask with confidence that we will be answered. We seek convinced we will find the answer and treasure.  We knock on the door, assured that it will be opened.

It all begins with praise and honoring God as the LORD of all.   We enter His presence and, in that secure covering, receive the provision, pardon, and protection.   We begin to live the abundant life Jesus brings and see the kingdom manifested daily.   We are able to embrace Psalm 91 as our personal promise and walk in the Isaiah 61 anointing, fulfilling the Great Commission. We have the invitation and a clear pathway to the place of promise. Let’s walk through that door!

Allow the 5 Ps of the Promise to permeate your life, persist into His presence, and embrace the Kingdom!   Victory is ours, so enjoy your day victoriously!

Luke 6:38 – “Give, and IT will be given to you: A good measure, pressed down (compacted), shaken together (removing the air pockets), running over (abundance), WILL BE poured into your lap.  FOR the measure you use will be the measure you receive.”

In athletics, frequently someone will say about a player, “He has the “it” factor.”   Nobody knows for sure what “it” is, but they know when someone has “it.”   However, the “It” factor takes a different form in matters of the kingdom of God.

Today, I am praying for the abundant life Jesus brings to be fully realized in each of our lives.   God’s Abundant Life transcends possessions, accomplishments, or anything natural.   

• It is a life lived in calm assurance.
• It is peace and rest.
• It is rejoicing and joy.
• It is a life lived with a forward look, not a backward look.
• It is a now life in union with Him.

I was reminded of a principle of life that the Holy Spirit taught me years ago.   That principle is found in Luke 6:38.   The principle is also connected to the widow, who gave her two coins in contrast to the rich.  She gave out of her need or lack.   They gave out of their abundance.

The principle is – “Give to your need or give what you need.”

I recalled having a broken foot and had to use crutches to walk.  I preached, and people came for healing prayer.  The visual was troubling.  I was supported by crutches, laying hands on people for healing; some were healed.   Like Peter at the Gate Beautiful, I gave what I had: faith for others.  In praying for others, I was healed.

I learned and demonstrated this principle in life.  When I was in financial need, I would pray, find someone in financial need, and give out of my need, and God’s faithfulness never failed.

When I was lonely, discouraged, and depressed, I would look for someone in that state and encourage them, and God’s faithfulness never failed.   I have learned to practice in a practical way, Luke 6:38.   I gave what I needed, and IT (what I needed) came back to me in abundance.

The Holy Spirit taught me that I could not remain in a state or condition of heart and mind and fulfill God’s purposes.   Life was to be lived, and if I remained in a condition rather than moving forward toward His purposes, I was being selfish and focusing on myself.  My life was given to be given in service.

I can focus on me, or I can focus on the kingdom.  In focusing on the kingdom and others, this world and its offerings have no hold on me.  I become free to live, love, and serve.  I become rich on the inside and live with no sense of lack because God has no lack, and I can trust His Promises.

Luke 6:38 is a key to abundant living and is only minorly focused on the material or money.

Therefore, I pray that you will have a phenomenal day and an overflow of thanksgiving!