Exodus 15:3 The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name.
1 Samuel 17:46-47 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand.”
As we’ve been traveling across the United States, the spiritual warfare is more tangible than ever before. Whereas years ago, it was done in secret, open, and public occult demonic activity is increasing in numerous places. We are facing principalities and powers in heavenly places and here on Earth, and we must fight as the saints of old, with the spiritual weapons of faith, and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. And ultimately it IS His battle.
This great war, being fought on the battleground of humanity itself, has, from the Lord's perspective, already been won. Messiah Yeshua's victory at the cross resounds through history in every direction of time and space. In this sense, the battle is not ours, but the Lord's, whose triumph over sin, death, and evil was perfectly accomplished there. And since God exists beyond time and space, it's already over in His world. The very grammar of prophetic utterances, particularly in the OT, we call the "prophetic past", is written as though the events described have been completed.
As such, in these developing prophetic days, we live in a paradox, "the already, but not yet". Even as evils increase all around, we're participating in both... a present war, and a present victory. And so we carry both... responsibility and confidence.
Our confidence stands firmly in the resurrection and authority of the Lord Yeshua as He sits at the right hand of the Father. And since we're not fighting in our own strength we can declare, "O Lord this is your battle!
Our responsibility is firmly rooted in our confidence; not in flesh, chariots, horses, armies, weapons, technologies, noble human intentions, economic power or prosperity, political agendas, constitutions, presidents, nor anything else of this world. Our responsibility lies in our re-presentation of the One we love and serve who lives within us and empowers everything we do of any true value. In the power of the Spirit, with bold confidence, we can declare His eternal truth, the most powerful weapon that has ever or will ever exist.
The enemy may attack with lies, deceptions and threats of every kind, and he will.…your defense is the Lord, what He has spoken, who He is, what He has done, and what He is doing in and through you. Your defense, and your offense, are Yeshua's victory and His Word, and this present battle truly is the Lord's. Take it to heart, “The battle is the Lord’s.” You simply stand declaring His victory and His truth to a sea of humanity desperate for forgiveness, hope, love, and peace.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]When I was in school, it seemed they ran a “fire drill” at least once a year. A long, loud, kind of scary bell would sound and we knew it was either a real fire, or, more likely, just another drill. We were formed into lines, ushered down the halls, and out the doors we went. Of course, the point was practice….so we would be prepared for a real fire.
The children of Israel are facing yet another test, this one, even more severe than hunger– dehydration – which, unabated, quickly leads to a miserable death. Yet, now, every day they are also seeing the miracles of God, who is feeding them regularly with manna, and surrounding them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Once again, they fail the test, even in the midst of their daily witness of miracles. So even though the test is more severe, the evidence for trust is that much greater.
Is there something about miracles that makes them forgettable? Or is the problem with us? After journeying for a season the children of Israel were faced with hunger — another test. This time, naturally faced with starvation, they murmured against the Lord, AGAIN! You’d think they might begin to put it together that God truly wanted them to trust Him. Apparently not yet. The dire circumstances attacked their mass cerebral cortex (memory) and once again they went into attack mode, bitterly complaining in unbelief. The Ten Plagues, the pillar of fire, the Red Sea walk, the Egyptian chariot soup, none of these connected to the present hunger pangs. Nature trumped super-nature, and sadly, God Himself.
The Apostle Paul’s discourse in 1 Corinthians 10 recalls the great miracles God performed for the children of Israel during the time of the Exodus. Delivered from Egypt and Pharaoh’s slavery, they were dismayed to discover his maniacal rage pursuing them anew, driving them into a deadly corner and imminent destruction. Humanly speaking, their terror and panic was understandable. With their eyes they could only see the wrath of Egypt succeeding at last to utterly destroy them. In that state of mind, how might they have remembered the consecutive miracles God had wrought against Egypt which had brought them to this very place?
When Ruth pledged her alligence to Naomi and to the God of Israel, it wasn’t based on, “What ifs?” or circumstances. It was a faith rooted in her devotion to Naomi and God even to the point of death!
This season of the Resurrection also occurs during a significant Old Testament feast day, the feast of “Firstfruits” (Hebrew, “bikoreem”). When Yeshua (Jesus) rose from the dead he was the firstfruit of the resurrection. On that day the keys of Hell and Death were obtained by our Lord. The apostle Paul connected the resurrection with the feast of Firstfruits in his letter to the congregation at Corinith. “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
There is a long standing tradition of cleaning one’s house in the springtime – hence the term “spring cleaning”. One source for this tradition is certainly the Jewish Passover (Pesach). Each spring as the holiday approaches observant householders in Israel and around the world perform a meticulous cleaning of their homes, especially to be sure there is no leaven in the house before Pesach begins. Leaven, in scripture, is often a metaphor for sin and impurity; and this season of the year is often a time for emphasizing “spiritual housecleaning”.