Last year ended with heartbreaking tragedy and loss. Families were hit with such severity that it is still difficult to grasp what thousands, if not millions of people are going through as we entered 2013.
We tend to forget about them because our lives may not have been so devastated or we are going through our own problems and losses. Thousands and thousands are still trying to recover from the various natural disasters that struck our country last year. They did not celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas or the New Year in their own homes. They were in shelters, still living in a hotel, or bunking in with family members. Others, like the people in Newtown, CT, could not celebrate at all. It was just too painful.
We have spent the last seven years laying a foundation upon which we could begin to rebuild, restore and renew our hearts and homes. As we celebrated the start of a new year, our hearts have been stirred with a fresh determination to preach and teach the Word of God like never before.
With so many families struggling to rebuild in the aftermath of literal and spiritual hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires and droughts, we have sensed a new release from God to take the ministry to the next level.
In 2013 our posture and demeanor will change from teacher/ instructor, to strategist and warriors. That's because, we are now moving out into hostile territory that the enemy of our souls has held for many years.
Last year we laid the groundwork for us to take up our positions in the gaps of the protective walls that are supposed to guard our households. We're going to become a lot more intentional about what we do in 2013.
A lot of people are already talking about dreams coming true and many things breaking through for their families, but many of them are not going to see anything change in their lives. In fact things will get worse. Why? Because they aren't willing to fight for it. In 2013, I strongly believe that we're going to have to fight.
The Word that God gave us for Urban Life is that in 2013, we're going to have to fight for it. Things are not going to just fall in place. Doors are not just going to open. Money is not just going to fall out of the sky. If there's going to be any breakthrough in our households, we're going to have to fight for that breakthrough.
In Nehemiah 4, God's people were being threatened because they were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah rallied the people to protect the gaps in the walls while those who continued with the construction, worked with a weapon in one hand and construction tools in the other. They were postured to fight and positioned to build.
I believe that 2012 was just the beginning of sorrows for America and the Church was not exempt from those sorrows. Many people have a very passive approach to the spiritual battle that is now upon us. That's because they don't understand that what we observe in the natural world, is the result of what has happened in the spiritual realm.
Therefore, 2013 will be about getting geared up for and engaging in the spiritual battle as well as continuing in the work to restore our families.
It's time to FIGHT for our families. There is no way we're going to sit down and just watch demonic strongholds overwhelm us. It's been happening for so many years that many of us are convinced that there's nothing that we can do about it.
If you've ever watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy, you have some idea what I’m talking about today. However, for us, this is not a mythological story. This is our real-life conflict. Will we put on the spiritual amour and prepare to fight? Will we pick up the tools and begin to rebuild?
If we want to see the promised victory, then let's get prepared because THE BATTLE'S ON!
