Excerpt from Extreme LIFE Makeover - January 13, 2010
Are you listening to the Lord’s voice? Can you hear the Lord calling you into a deeper level of intimacy?
We took the time to rehearse an exhortation that the Lord gave us two years ago, almost to the day. I had spent a weekend of fasting and prayer and I sent out an email following that weekend. In that exhortation, The Lord instructed me to tell our church family that He was going to cause us to make up the deficit (in our warfare) and then to surpass the enemy’s plot to defeat us. Part of that exhortation went like this:
“For three years, we’ve been playing from behind and falling further into a deficit. But, I found out something in my weekend in the Lord’s presence. God just wants the victory to be that much more spectacular.
Nothing is sweeter in athletics than the come-from-behind victory. And we’re not going to win by one point on the last second of the game, either. God’s going to cause the comeback to blow the enemy away. It’ll be so big that you will call the fruit of your victories Manasseh and Ephraim. Manasseh means -For God has made me forget all my toil. Ephraim means -For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
So here we are, just a couple of weeks into the New Year, and we are living the promise of God. Every victory that we have been reporting recently is the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to us.
Sunday, before we shared this reminder, we sang a little song the Lord gave us many years ago titled Hear His Call (mp3). Parts of the lyrics are:
In the stillness of the night, Listen to His voice, Hear His call
In the break of morning light, Listen to His voice, Hear His call
For it is beauty from the ashes, that His will brings into my life
Listen to His voice, Hear His call, Hear His call.
I cannot explain why I began to weep while singing this song this past Sunday morning. I cannot explain why I feel the Lord’s presence as I type these words today, and find myself fighting back the tears. I just know that God made a promise from Isaiah 61:1-3 that is for you today.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…
I don’t live my life according to feelings and I don’t move by intuition or spooky voices. The tears don’t make it real, but that special knowing that comes upon me in times like this, is what gives me the boldness to keep declaring this Word to you in spite of what your circumstances are dictating right now.
We have lived by the Word of the Lord. We have lived by what is written and we have lived by what has been revealed as the Word is applied to our lives. Most of you, who receive this weekly email, know about our journey the past five years. God has allowed us to experience what people have been going through here, all of their lives. Yet, He has required that we show them how to get out of the prisons and to climb out of the pit. We have been climbing out and we are showing them how to climb out.
No matter what is happening in your life, don’t stop climbing. You climb out by staying in tune with the voice of the Lord. You praise Him even while you’re hurting. You worship Him even when you don’t have answers. You keep giving your time, talents, treasure and trust, into the Kingdom and keep serving with the family of believers you are connected to. You just stay faithful to the Lord. Now we are watching God lead us out of the wilderness and into the land of promise.
I said all of this just to emphasize that these are not the words of a preacher trying to get people to respond in their emotions. These are not the words of a pastor trying to recruit people to join his church. These are not the words of a minister seeking to be popular and fashionable.
All we know is that God told us to pack up our family and move to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He told us to come and demonstrate the reality of the Kingdom of God before people who would be accustomed to covenant breaking, religious tyrants, and corruption.
We know we're not the only ones that He sent, but we trying to be faithful in fulfilling our part in His master plan for this community. He sent us here to tell you that even though you may never have experienced the level of breakthrough that we are declaring, that it doesn’t mean that you will never experience it.
Isaiah 61: 4-5 is declaring that the Lord’s anointing is coming into your life: That they (YOU) may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. And they (YOU) shall rebuild the old ruins; they (YOU) shall raise up the former desolation, and they (YOU) shall repair the ruined cities, the desolation of many generations.
This is the beginning of your extreme makeover. God is tearing down the old structure of doubt and skepticism that has held you back. The devastating effects of discouragement, due to the disappointments of the past, are being demolished! Fear is being torn out of your foundation by the Love of God! We declare this over your life, right now, in the name of Jesus Christ!
