Matthew 11:12 – ”From the moment John stepped on the scene until now, the realm of heaven’s kingdom is bursting forth, and passionate people have taken hold of its power.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered, I read Matthew from the Passion Translation, and some things leaped out and exploded in my spirit.  I realize some do not like this translation, and it may have flaws, but I like this particular rendering.

In Matthew 11, Jesus spoke of John the Baptizer and said something we read, but I wonder how it resonates.  He said that the kingdom was being manifested, and those with passionate hearts were tapping into and embracing it.  We need to do that!

The infamous and familiar “Take My Yoke” passage is powerful in this translation.    Matthew 11:28-30.  “Simply join your life to Mine and learn my Ways.”

Remember the Binding the Strongman passage? 

Matthew 12:27-29.  Jesus addresses the charge that He is casting out demons by Satan.  He says, 12:29 – “Who would dare enter the house of a mighty man and steal his property?  First, he must be overpowered and tied up by one stronger than he.  THEN, his entire house can be plundered.”

Jesus binds the strong man; He is the stronger man!   We operate in His power.   Remember the parable of the weeds in the wheat?   Do we grasp the real picture?   The wheat sown is those born again (Church, Body of Christ). 

The weeds are the lost pretenders and deceived.   Where are they planted?   In the church by the devil to harm and destroy.   No wonder we are told to mark those who cause division and to know those who labor among us.

Jesus said the fruit of the tree identifies the tree.  He said the overflow of the heart (words from the heart) reveals the character.   Words from the heart are important.  They reveal the hidden character of the heart.

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by God’s Word (Rhema)—the personalized, direct Word from God that produces faith.  When Jesus walked on the water and bade Peter to join him, Peter started well, but when he shifted his focus (revealed his heart or what he was hearing), he began to sink and cried out for help. 

Jesus said in Matthew 14:31 – “What little faith you have!  (You had my Rhema), Why would you let doubt win?”  Wow!

What we hear and see, we believe.   What we believe determines our faith and fate.   Don’t let doubt win.   Focus on Jesus, not the storms.  He has the Word of life and faith.   We have been made more than conquerors, but we must stay focused.

I declare that today is Victory Day!  Have a great day in Jesus!

Habakkuk 1:1-2 –“This is the oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw:  ² How long, Lord, must I cry for help?  But you do not listen!  I call out to you, “Violence!”  But you do not deliver!”

My heart was troubled as I read, prayed, and meditated on this Word.  God is about to shake things up unlike anything we have seen, and his long-suffering patience is exhausted.  The increase of evil has affected the church (believers), and God is going to shake up everything as he deals with the false and fantastical pursuits of things, not Him.  God’s power will be present and could be prevalent.  That’s up to us.

Nahum spoke of God’s slowness to become angry but declared that God would not tolerate evil forever.  The prophet Habakkuk began by questioning God, “How long, O LORD, will I call for help and You not listen?” God responded, “I am working, but you don’t see because you are looking in the wrong places and not observing with spiritual discernment.  You are focused on yourself.  I’m doing something that even if you were informed, you wouldn’t see or believe.”

The revelation of God’s Kingdom is vital.   When the vision is written down, others can read and pursue it with clarity and purpose.   Too often, we make our dreams, hopes, and fantasies our source.    They then become idols.   We don’t think they are, but clinging to Anything but God or in addition to God reveals their true status in our hearts.

Habakkuk began with despair, but after God spoke, he said (3:17-19), No matter what, I’m Yours, and I will praise You in all things and at all times.

Haggai warned about this in 1:5-6.  He said, “Examine what you are doing.  Your efforts and plans are not producing anything but unfulfilled dreams (fantasies).  It’s like putting your money or dreams in a bag filled with holes…

Haggai 2:6 – “For thus says the LORD of hosts, once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land.”  He continued, including the nations…  Everything belongs to God.  He provides, but He never shares His glory.  If we allow anything other than Him to hold our hearts and hopes, we are dangerously near being bags with holes.

We are called to be lights shining into the darkness.  We are to put our hope in Him.  It’s not God, and it’s God. Divided hearts open us to deception, and deception deflates faith.  Hope deferred makes the heart sick.  Hebrews 11 tells us they died in faith, not having received the promise, but they continued to hope.  On the other hand, deferred hope that makes the heart sick indicates hope anchored in something other than the person of God. 

My cry is, Lord, help me to hope in or for nothing outside of You.  As Habakkuk, I declare that no matter what, I will only praise God and trust in Him.  We are genuinely victorious in Jesus.  We walk in fullness only when He is our all.  I will resist the temptation to allow anything to become an idol of my heart.

Have a great day, and roll all your care on Him, He cares for you and never fails!

Romans 3:26 – “AND when the season of tolerance came to an end, there was only one possible way for God to give away His righteousness and still be true to both His justice and His mercy – to offer up His own Son. So now, we stand on the faithfulness of Jesus,  God declares us righteous in His eyes!”

As I read, prayed, pondered, and weighed the Word, my eyes peered into the Throne Room of Heaven.   I saw Grace standing there!  I don’t have time or space to detail that entirely, but I will share this.

The sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross ended God’s tolerance of sin. Abraham, the Father of Faith, and the human origin of the Jews demonstrated the power and purpose of faith. His faith was so strong that it could not be undermined by physical reality—age and physical condition.

When Jesus went to the Cross and rose from the dead, it was proof of God’s love and that there was a way to be made Right with God!

Adam’s disobedience enslaved humanity to the tyranny of sin.  Death ruled the world from Adam to Moses.  Because of Adam, we are tried and found guilty, doomed to die.  Because of Jesus, we are acquitted and given life.

We are co-buried with Jesus, resulting in our co-resurrection with Him. We now have newness of life. Our former identity is now Forever deprived of its power.  Our co-crucifixion with Jesus dismantled the stronghold of sin within us.  We should not live one second submitted to sin’s power.

What are we to do? We are to constantly view ourselves as dead and unresponsive to sin’s appeal as we live daily in union with Jesus.  Sin has been dethroned as a monarch.  Therefore, we are not to give it any opportunity to regain control. Instead, we are to passionately answer God’s call to yield our whole self to Him.  Sin cannot conquer us; God already has.   We are to be governed by the reign of Grace.

When we die, that ends our obligation or tendency to sin.  Dead people do not sin.  We are raised from the dead and live in the freshness of a new life by the power of the Holy Spirit.  If we are dead to sin and alive in Jesus, then those temptations of the flesh are violations of our true identity by the unwelcome intruder – sin.

God has provided a pathway to righteousness in Jesus.  If left to ourselves and our humanity unchecked by the Word and Spirit of God, we allow sin to dominate us.  But because we are being renewed in our minds, we can focus on Grace and live Free from sin’s dominion.  We can live fully submitted to God’s righteous principles.  We can live in peace and manifest His power.  We can live the abundant, joyful life Jesus gives.   We can live FREE!

Today is Victory Day.  Rejoice!

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.“

Trouble, trials, difficulties, and disappointments are a part of life.   But they are not the definers of life.  They are events and should be catalysts to higher realms.

Unfortunately, most people focus on difficulties from a “Woe is me” attitude rather than as a stepping stone or a transforming experience.   We look at life rather than through it to God’s purpose and finished product.   One way brings despondency and defeat, but the other growth and victory.  Choice is always involved, and choice is determined by how we look at life.

In 2 Corinthians 1:4, Paul reminds us that the ministry of Jesus is to come alongside us in Every suffering and comfort us.   Is the focus only on us?  NO!   It is to equip and enable us to comfort others who are being battered by life.  We can only give what we have.  So, if they are struggling and we don’t have this revelation and relationship, we will add weight to their trial, not relief. 

2 Corinthians 1:6 – “If troubles weigh us down, that just means that we will receive EVEN MORE comfort to pass on (to others).”

Difficulties, trials, struggles, and disappointments have a benefit.  Seriously!  They enable and teach us to Lose All Confidence or faith in ourselves.   We can’t do it, so we realize that our Only Hope is GOD!

2 Corinthians 2:14 – “God ALWAYS makes His grace VISIBLE in Christ, (seeing Jesus and His finished work is indispensable) who includes us as PARTNERS in His ENDLESS TRIUMPH.”   [Emphasis mine] Hallelujah!

The next verse says that through our yielded lives (hear that phrase), He (God) spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere we go!   Wow!  We can be the perfume of God in a world of putrid stench.  Talk about an attention-getter. 

People will flock to us to discover How we can have such a wholesome attitude in the midst of crushing pain and struggle.    Remember, it is Christ “In Us” before Christ “Through Us.”

Today, say to every struggle, pain, trial, and disappointment, your only result is to make me strong.  You cannot defeat me.  I am IN Jesus, and He defeated you.  Therefore, I defeat you.  

Read 2 Corinthians 4:7-18.   Please read it, meditate on it, and embrace it.  You, in Christ, are Victorious No Matter What Comes!

Have a Great Day, and keep this truth in your heart: God Never Fails.   

Psalm 66:10-12 – “For you, O God, have tested us; You have tried us as silver is tried.  ¹¹ You brought us into the net; You laid a crushing burden on our backs; ¹²  You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet You have brought us out to a place of abundance.”  ESV

At the beginning of the year, I heard in my Spirit that this was the year of the “Open Door; it will be the Pour of More!”  That resonated then, and as we are approaching 2025, I sensed in my spirit that the Holy Spirit was asking, “Will you Thrive in 25?”  I believe that, even in the midst of the overwhelming darkness, God’s goodness, grace, mercy, peace, and provision will be abundant for those whose hearts are fully centered in and on Him.  Total Surrender!

That makes me declare, “This is a great day to be alive and thrive!”  I am praying for the Peace of Jerusalem and for your peace in His presence.  May the Power of God become your strength to renew you daily.  May the Grace of God keep you at all times.  May the Wisdom of God inform and guide you through the flood waters of life.

As I read, prayed, and meditated upon the Word, God’s incredible keeping power and strength comforted me powerfully.  Psalm 66 raises some questions and offers hope!  We can focus on the problem or the promise and the provider.  It is a choice. 

God’s goodness is nothing short of amazing!   We all face the fiery, overwhelming battles of life.  God’s promise is to be there and bring us through them.  The Psalmist says we come through these difficulties Better than when they began.    In that promise, we can and should become Saturated with God’s goodness!

The Psalmist brings a powerful revelation about honesty and openness to God. Psalm 66:18-19 – “Yet IF I had closed my eyes to my sin, the Lord God would have closed His ears to my prayer.  19 BUT praises rise to God,  FOR He paid attention to my prayer AND answered my cry to Him!”

Surviving and Thriving as we go through difficulties, troubles, and trials is contingent upon being open, honest, transparent, and repentant.  God is our present help in trouble and in safety.  This God is a Father to the fatherless, a friend to the widows and needs, family to the lonely, and freedom to the prisoners.

Psalm 68:27-32 speaks of triumphant victory.  In verse 27, we read, “Astonishingly, it’s the favored youth leading the way…”  That is prophetic about the Last Days Outpouring.   The young and old who have wrestled with God in intercessory warfare are rising.  The troubles of this present problem are pathways to purity and power. 

We are training for reigning.  Don’t run from trouble; don’t focus on yourself or the problem.  LOOK at and to God.  As we read Psalm 69, we are made aware that we will be victorious In Him no matter what!  Troubled times are troubling, but they are not the focus – God is.  God’s purposes are!  Harvest is!

I’m declaring Victory today!  God is going to pull us out of this mess and not let us sink (Psalm 69:14).  We need to laugh at the devil’s feeble attempt to discourage and defeat us.  When it’s over, you will be better than when it started.  Laugh at it.  A good belly laugh is in order.  Hilarious laughter is called for!  Become almost hysterical in laughter and watch the joy, peace, power, and presence flood in.  It works!

Have a fantastic day in Jesus and rejoice; this is the time for more and to thrive in God!   We are Victorious through Jesus!