Morning Moment: Exploits The word of the Lord for today: EXPLOITS
“Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” Daniel 11:32 NKJV
In the economy of the kingdom, we are called to great exploits. Not just exploits, but great exploits. It is the people who know their God that are so called and equipped. Do you know Him? Are you ready for great exploits.
Great exploits happen in times of great challenge. Job’s recovery came after Job’s disaster. David’s victory came in the face of giants. Paul’s kingdom expansion came through prisons and beatings. The prophet’s words came against stiff opposition. Jesus’ resurrection came after a gruesome torture and death. Are you looking for a great exploit? Look for a great challenge.
Today, we have a great challenge. It is time for great exploits.
It is time to know our God. Do you know Him?
Do you know Him as Shepherd? King? Righteousness? Peace? Supply? Provider? Creator? Banner? Shield? Exceeding Great Reward? Always There? Do you know Him as Lord of Hosts, the Armies Encamped for War? Do you know Him as Savior? Friend? Confidant? Comforter? Holy Spirit? Do you know Him?
When you know Him, great exploits are expected of you.
Do you welcome great exploits?
Welcome Him. Welcome Great Exploits. Welcome healing. Welcome deliverance. Welcome supply above and beyond.
Great Exploits Are On The Horizon.
We are Family You are Loved Jesus is Our Strong Tower
Morning Moment: Certainty The word of the Lord for the Day is CERTAINTY ““But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.” Malachi 4:2 NLT
If anything marks our days it is uncertainty. Will there be enough masks? How long will the Seclusion of 2020 last? Can our nation comeback? Will the global economy work again? Has prosperity left us forever? Can my family and I survive the virus? All of these questions and more leave us with uncertainty. Uncertainty leaves us with depression, anger, anxiety, and fear. Fear Is a liar.
Certainty is a commodity of the kingdom. In uncertain times, the voice of the Lord reigns over the crashing waves of crisis. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He does not change. There is no shadow of turning in Him.
For years, I saw nothing but growth and power in Christ, in financial footing, in career, in ministry, in family, and in friendships. Certainly, the Lord was on my side. From 1980 to 1989 was a powerful time for my family and for me and for the kingdom. Then it crashed. I crashed. My energy sucked dry. My vision became nothing. Retreating into a sense of powerlessness and loss, I went through the motions daily. The only certain part of my life was defeatism.
During a family camp one of the premier prophetesses of the day called me out of the congregation. She travelled the world in ministry. Her example was a light for me. She did not call me out to pray over me. She called me out to ask me to stand beside her and join her to pray over others. It had been two years since I had ministered. The defeatism was evident in my stance. For some time we ministered together as a tag team. The Lord was stirring me back to stand. The certain part was that He did not give up on me, when I gave up on me.
That day, I took time to listen to Him. In my mind’s eye, I saw a glass casket shining with a brilliant light from the inside. I asked the Lord what it meant. He explained that my vision, my destiny, and my calling were in the casket as if I were dead. But it was all still alive. Of course, I wanted to know how to get out of the casket and back to life. He then began talking to me about my attitude. Defeat in the face of uncertainty is an attitude of death. The potential and power are unable to be effective.
We walked through the lessons of Malachi. For the rest of the week, I dug deep into this book the Bible. A prospering nation became weak, powerless, full of family betrayal, beleaguered by corrupt leaders, and faithless in the Lord. All of that could be solved in just a few responses to the certainty of the Lord. Stand in commitment to family, speak well of the goodness of God, be faithful in serving and giving, and follow the voice of the Lord in daily living. That was it. That was enough to unleash a certain power of the Holy Spirit for knowledge, prosperity, leadership, healing, and family stability. A nation could go from defeatism to destiny with a shift of heart. Take it to heart to give glory to the Lord of Hosts, the Lord Almighty, the Lord of Angel Armies.
On the spot, I resolved to allow the Holy Spirit to correct my heart. Within weeks, I was back in ministry and within a short time I was leading a major reconstruction of a large congregation in fresh vision and anointing. Within days, I took a new career step that would change my destiny for the rest of my business career. In the middle of chaos and crashing, the certainty of the Lord’s faithfulness pushed aside all the uncertainty of the world and took over my life. The top of the casket was pushed aside and the light of the joy of the Lord and the anointing of the Holy Spirit for family, friendships, finances, and freedom captured me.
It took time. But it was quick. It took prayer. But it was joy. It took effort. But it was powered by His support. What it took was taking to heart to give glory to His name. Quit whining. Quit complaining. Quit looking to what I had lost and what had not worked. Look to the good in life and find His mark of grace in every circumstance. Be grateful. Be thankful. Be about His business instead of my business. Live in CERTAINTY of His goodness and grace.
This present darkness easily causes us to see the bad and embrace a sense of uncertainly and powerlessness. Yet, His goodness is a certainty. His deliverance is a certainty. His supply is a certainty. The Lord is on our side.
Begin speak with a heart that recognizes the hand of the Lord for good in each moment.
In a moment of uncertainty, be faithful to give and to serve. Don’t pull back. Push forward.
In a moment of uncertainty, speak well of the Lord. Point out his goodness to others.
In a moment of uncertainty, listen to right leadership. Quit griping and get to work carrying out solutions.
In a moment of uncertainty, invest in your family. Take your eyes off of alternatives and be fully engaged.
Certainty will embrace you. Vision will be restored. You will leap out of the stall like a well fed calf. You will trample the enemy of depression, anxiety, listless living, and defeatism. Disease will run from you. Disaster will find it is not welcome at your doorstep.
Live in certainty. Speak of the faithfulness and goodness of the Lord for all to hear and see. Watch what happens.
We are family. You are loved. Jesus is Our Strong Tower.
Morning Moment: Return The word for today is RETURN.
“You welcomed him back with success and prosperity. You placed a crown of finest gold on his head.” Psalms 21:3 NLT
The Seclusion 2020 is in full mode in many places. Workplaces are shuttered. At 7-11, people silently stood six feet apart even as they moved through the store. At the park, people wave with a quietness and a respect and a look that says, “I want to say more. I want to come closer. But, I am doing my part to help stop this evil.” And I call you to Return.
It has been my discipline since 1997 to pray seriously every day. Sometimes that is 30 minutes and sometimes 3 hours. It has been my discipline since 1976 to read my Bible and meditate on the words every day. Starting in 1997, I began praying with the book of Ephesians daily. That lasted three years. Three years. One hour a day. I kept handwritten notes that I still have. My life changed. At the time, I was full time in ministry as the Director of Operations of a large multi-cultural church. At the time, I was suffering the greatest challenge of my life with my hormonal system completely out of wack causing emotional roller coaster. At the time, I made many mistakes and did many things right. Every day was chaos and adventure. Return.
The result of the discipline was success. Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal. Those three years led me into a life change. The ministry went from one church ministering across the city to many churches and ministering across the United States. The ministry went from being my full time to being my parttime. The impact is still changing families. Return.
In this chaos of the Seclusion 2020, I took time to examine. In the 1970’s my personal relationship with Jesus taught me basic Christian disciplines of study, prayer, reading, devotion, giving, serving, fellowship, witnessing, and worship. In the 1980’s the Holy Spirit became a great friend and spoke many specific foundational visions into my life. In the 1990’s, the Lord stretched me to see the fullness of the gospel and His intensity for all peoples. In the 2000’s, the Father walked me into places in the community that had been segregated and expanded the reach of family fixing. In the 2010’s, missions to Mexico and to state legislators consumed my life and the Lord stretched me into the struggling and broken on a full time basis. In the 2020’s, we shall see. What a start to this decade! Return.
Like many of you, I ask the question, “What will we look like when we come through this, Lord? What’s next?”
So yesterday I made decisions on what I will not be doing and listening for His voice for the next stage of the journey. Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before. Fills my heart with longing. I love Him more and more. And today He says, “Return.”
Return to His beautiful disciplines of study, prayer, reading the Bible, devotional time, memorization, meditation, serving, giving, singing praises to His name, witnessing, fellowship, and worship. Return to Him.
Desire becomes determination becomes discipline becomes delight becomes desire becomes destiny. Our desire to growth leads us in Christ to a changed desire that matches His destiny for us. Return
Return to giving Him the first hour of the day. Return to what you know works.
In the Seclusion of 2020, domestic violence and child abuse are rising. Loss of connection to support groups will see a rise in slippage backwards into alcoholism and other drugs. Suicide most likely will rise. Social anxiety will heighten. Except for the ones who return. Return to Him and daily disciplines that help you hear His voice.
When this is over, He has a plan to restore prosperity and success. It will happen in the quiet hours we spend returning to Him.
So, I started by dusting off my prayer notes from Ephesians. I created a prayer outline for intercession during that time and keep printed copies so I can take more notes. Yesterday, I returned to allowing Him to change my direction and shutdown the voices of so many that want me to do something for them versus what the Lord wants done. In the 2020’s, the Father says, “Return”.
Return to the basics. Let Him take you on an incredible journey that shadows all your prior life. This is the hour of destiny, when He prunes what is not needed, quiets your mind and heart to listen, and puts a crown on your head for the future. Return.
Oh, the picture. I took it 10 years ago when I was in another period of change. The Lord blessed my family with a lake lot and I built a stone patio for prayer under the trees. On that patio, I spent many hours returning and I do not regret any decisions. I left the corporate hustle and dedicated my remaining years to face to face intervention in the family struggle. I became a full time missionary to fractured families. It happened on that patio in return.
We are Family. You are Loved. Jesus is Our Strong Tower.
Morning Moment : Welcome Back The word for today is WELCOME BACK In Psalm 21, the king is welcomed back into the good graces of the Lord. He and the nation are restored to prosperity. It is time we begin to prepare for our comeback
Comeback power is an awesome commodity. In Christ it is always available. Do not get accustomed to this land of fear and financial loss. Do not get comfortable in chaos or down in death. Take a stand against the wiles of the enemy and the conditions of a cursed world separated from His redemption. Speak back to it. WELCOME BACK.
Begin to apply wisdoms learned in the pressure. Don’t go back to the way you were but build a new way, a way of rest in Him and prayerful days. Do not forget the fear but leverage it to produce a more fulfilling life.
When I was 26, Dian and I and our newborn daughter returned to Oklahoma City. For two years, I prepared for ministry at Christian Outreach School of Ministry. The Lord prospered us financially and spiritually.
It was 1982. The oil bust hit. In a matter of a few months we lost everything. The job promised disappeared in the wake of economic downturn. We had no healthcare but we had a newborn infant. The partner in ministry that I returned to work alongside, left his family and the ministry. I went to work at a temp agency changing jobs each week. One week filing. One week stacking newspapers. One week delivering furniture. Whatever I was assigned.
At the point our bank account was emptied a bottom rung job opened. I took it with joy. It took three years to rebuild. It took night shifts. It took starting at the bottom and working my way back up.
During this season, I joined two other men in prison ministry. My finances were gone, but I could share faith, hope, and love. For the season as my prosperity was restored, i continued to share the gospel every week. Miracles were common.
Don’t give up whose you are in days of downturn. Days of WELCOME BACK are waiting.
Welcome is a great word. It is German in root. It means “Come and be well.” In Spanish the word for welcome, Bienvenidos, means the same Come and be well. So I say to you and the Lord says to you, Welcome Back, come and be well, prosperous, satisfied.
Today, I pray for restoration of the economic engine of the world. That the Lord would welcome back the economy. That we would return to productivity and enjoyment of life. That we would wisely enjoy our families and not get caught up in the rush of hedonism. That we would be gracious to each other. That His will be done in our cities through a spirit of gratefulness and generosity and gospel.
Energy For Your Life and Health 