In a restless sleep and dream, I saw God's army it was in
complete disarray. Some of God's army had gotten entangled in civilian
affairs, others had gone AWOL, some were fighting alone and others were badly
injured. The most dangerous soldiers are those who wore the same uniform as
those in the army of the Lord but secretly worked for the enemy. Can you
imagine fighting in a war just to be fired upon by those you thought were there
to protect you or relying on soldiers who ran scared or decided to go back to a civilian status just to leave you alone on the battlefield? After this
prophetic vision, I had more like a year ago I was inspired of the Lord to write
this to the church. Why is America losing the battle? Why the turmoil? Why the
marked division among us? Here is what the Lord gave me.
Number one reason America is losing the battle:
We are losing the battle because we
have Achans in the camp.
What do I
mean by that? Let’s look at Joshua 7. Israel (US) has sinned, and they have also
transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken
some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and
they have also put it among their own stuff. 12 Therefore
the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs
before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction.
Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among
you. 13 Get up, sanctify the people, and
say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: “There is an
accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies
until you take away the accursed thing from among you.” Joshua 7:11-13 This is
going to be a very strong prophetic statement but as long as there is
compromise and sin in the camp we are going to continue to lose ground to the
enemy and suffer defeat individually and nationally. The answer is and always
will be to get rid of sin, compromise, and become sanctified before the Lord.
We don’t
recognize the real enemy
As long as we believe we are each other’s
enemy we will never win the battle against the real enemy of our soul. The
mission of the devil will always remain the same; steal, kill, and destroy. If
you see stealing, killing, and destruction, you will know that this is from the
devil. Jesus made a marked distinction between his mission and the devil’s. The thief (devil) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may
have life and that they may have it more abundantly. John
10:10 If you call
yourself a Christian and are involved in the devil’s mission then you are a
defector. No Christian should ever be involved in violence. Jesus said this to
Peter, “Put your sword
in its place, for all who take the sword will perish
by the sword.” Matthew 26:52 While we all point fingers at each other the devil
laughs in the corner as he watches the fight he instigated. Of course, pride
won’t let us see past the hatred, resentment, and anger we have toward each
other. We have allowed sin against us to create sin in us. The devil’s strategy
is to let himself into our life through the above sins so then he can gain
ground in our own life. We can’t fall for this trick. The devil knows that if
he can enter in through anger he can co-habitat with us. “Be angry, and do not sin”: do
not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor
give place to the devil. Ephesians 4:26-27 That word place means
habitation in the Greek. If the devil can get us into our emotions instead of
truth and get us to focus on how we feel instead of what is Kingdom he can
deceive us. The Bible exhorts us to actively guard our hearts. “Keep
your heart with
all diligence, For out of
it spring the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23 What
are we guarding our hearts against? Here is a short list: offense, anger,
resentment, unforgiveness, anger, suspicion, accusation, and anything that would
make our flesh rise up. More than ever we need
to hyper-vigilant as the Bible exhorts us “Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
We don't realize we are called to battle
Along with not even recognizing the
real enemy of our soul perhaps the biggest problem with the church is that we
forget that we are in a war in the first place. If that wasn’t the case God
wouldn’t have given us spiritual armor. We will always be at war with the
kingdom of darkness until the return of Christ. Just look around you and our
cities have become war zones because America is being destroyed from within.
Each group accuses the other of racism, intolerance, prejudice, hate while
doing the same exact thing they are accusing the other group of. What is the root
of all this contention, strife, and contempt?
Pride, fear, intolerance, hatred have gripped the hearts of the people even
those who claim to be Christians. Sadly, our hearts are battling a disease that
cannot be cured with anything else but humility, faith, and the love of
God. In a vision I had in 2020 I saw a long scaly tail. Like what you
would see on a crocodile. I knew that I was seeing the spirit of Leviathan it
was wrapped around the White House. The spirit of pride has gripped this nation.
Pride is the open door to almost every sin. He who is of a
proud heart stirs up strife, But he who trusts in the Lord will be
prospered. Proverbs 28:25 An angry man stirs up strife, And
a furious man abounds in transgression. Proverbs 29:22
Like I said before, humility and love are key in
responding to a nation in turmoil worshipping Jesus in the streets have been
effective in not only pulling down spiritual strongholds but being a light in
these tumultuous times. Worship is a powerful weapon against the kingdom of
darkness. It is a way of establishing God’s Kingdom. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabits the
praises of Israel. Psalm 22:3
We have run in the face of battle
Not only have we been in denial about
the spiritual war around us; we have run in the heat of the battle. I believe
that the church will need to answer to God for closing the churches down in a
time when people needed Him the most. While people were being isolated and
faced the uncertainty of these end times; the church was hiding in fear. I
couldn’t believe how many churches were ready to comply by closing their doors
when so many people were hurt, confused, and depressed. They had nowhere to go
to deal with the chaos that was falling on the world. There is no condemnation
here because the early disciples hid, forsook their faith, and abandoned Jesus
too. Then something changed them that also changed world history. What
happened? They spent time in unified prayer, seeking God for His power, and
were transformed by the Holy Spirit. They became his witnesses. They were bold,
full of faith and courage.
Jesus said, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit
has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
(Acts 1:8)
“And when they had prayed, the place where they
were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit, and they spoke the
word of God with boldness.”
Acts 4:31 Now more than ever we need disciples who are going walk in powerful
demonstration of God’s Spirit.
We have not counted the cost
Why have run from the
battle? Simple, we never counted the cost in the first place. “Or what king,
going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider
whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with
twenty thousand? 32 Or
else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks
conditions of peace. 33 So
likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My
disciple.” Luke 14:31-33
Many people come to the altar after hearing how God can
change their lives and how everything gets better. Rarely do sermons involve
the message of repentance, laying your life down for Christ, denying yourself,
picking up your cross to follow Jesus. The truth is many come to Jesus for
self-centered reasons and they remain in a state of selfishness because of it.
The mindset is what can God do for me? I once attended a church in which the
Pastor’s favorite saying was, “What’s in it for me.” Along with that he spent
time getting people from his church to invest in his business ideas and plans.
That church closed shortly after I had a vision of yellow toxic waste barrels
lying about in the church.
In Jesus’ day, the disciples had a whole different way
of looking at things than the American church. They were prepared to die from
the get-go. When Jesus told them they had to pick up their cross they knew that
it meant death. Why? They witnessed the open execution of people on crosses. It
was common in their time. They counted the cost of following Christ. Those who
got offended or did not want to let go of things or made excuses simply weren’t
followers of Christ. Now or days these same people can pretend to be followers
of Christ in American church culture. There is nobody to challenge them.
However, I prophesy to you that we are coming to the end of that and as
persecution comes to America we will see a marked difference between the sheep
and the goats. How can you tell between a sheep and the goats? The sheep will
be grazing in God’s Word. The goats will be grazing in the world. The sheep
will leave all to follow Jesus. The goats will want to hang onto their old life
instead of dying in Christ. The good news is a goat can become a sheep. They only
need to die as a goat so they can be a sheep. To be honest though unless you
are willing to count the cost you will never pay the price.
We have misplaced our loyalty
Another troubling trend is placing our
loyalty in all the wrong places. Must I say that before we pledge our
allegiance to our flag, race, gender, political party, denomination, nation,
creed and etc we are first followers of Jesus Christ and His
Kingdom! That’s why there is so much strife and division even in the church. We
are followers of Jesus Christ; period. Jesus did not get involved in the
politics of this world. He came to establish His own Kingdom and that should be
our pursuit as well. Don’t get me wrong we should take seats in places of
government, be a voice, an influence in our nation but our loyalty must be to
Jesus first.
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so
that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” John
18:36 Until we start being followers of Jesus and make our objective
establishing His Kingdom we will continue to have division and strife among us.
We have abandoned our positions
Many of us have abandoned our positions
within God's army to go back to being plain old civilians! Jesus said,
“Watch and pray!” This word watch is a military term to stay at our post in
prayer so that we don’t get ambushed by the enemy. This is what he told his
disciples as a warning before Judas came to sell them out. They weren’t ready
for this demonic ambush because they were sleeping instead of praying. Our most
important position is to be gatekeepers or watchmen on the wall so to speak. Gatekeepers
decide what is permitted here on earth. Watchmen oversee cities, regions, and
nations. They watch for spiritual ambushes and attacks. They also watch for
changes in spiritual climates. They warn and are ready to attack whatever will
try to get through the walls or boundaries of God’s Kingdom. We need to be like
the laborers in Nehemiah’s time when they were rebuilding the walls of
Jerusalem. They had weapons in one hand and building tools in the other hand. Those who built on the wall, and those who
carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at
construction, and with the other held a weapon. Nehemiah 4:17 We are not only
mandated to set at liberty the captive but also we are called to the local,
regional, and national restoration of communities. It starts with us, and our
families first.
And they shall rebuild the old ruins,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations. Isaiah 61:4
Many of us have gotten caught up in
civilian affairs
Some of us have become entangled with
the things of this world.
You therefore must endure hardship as a good
soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles
himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him
who enlisted him as a soldier. 2 Timothy 2:3-4
Once again in warfare, we can’t get so caught up in the things of this world
that we forget our mission. Our mission is to first to become like him but after
that, we are to pull those out of the crossfires of Satan who unknowingly are
headed for destruction. It is easy to get caught up in the ordinary affairs of
life. We can get caught up in the family, work, and even “ministry” but none of it
has anything to do with our mission. What is our mission description?
The
Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is
on me,
because the Lord has
anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners, Isaiah 61:1
This was the first statement Jesus made regarding his mission in
the New Testament. It is important to Jesus to heal the brokenhearted and set
at liberty the captives as I stated above. We were all birthed in God’s Kingdom
for a purpose. That purpose never has changed.
And He said to
them, “Go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every
creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will
be saved; but he who does not believe will be
condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything
deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will
recover.” Mark 16:15-18
We have stopped listening to the direction of Jesus who is the Lord of Hosts
There isn’t
anything more confusing to those who are in a battle than to have that one
soldier who is operating under their own direction. There is only one General
and his name is Jesus the Lord of Hosts! In our lives releasing control over to
God is the scariest proposition especially if you have been under somebody
else’s witchcraft or control. However, allowing Jesus to be Lord of Hosts is
essential to winning this war. Let’s look at some successful generals in the
Bible; David and Moses.
David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this band [of raiders]?
Will I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you will certainly overtake them, and you will
certainly rescue [the captives].” 1 Samuel 30:8
Here’s David a
man of war who consistently inquired of the Lord before he engaged the enemy.
He knew that his victory in the battle was primarily because of God being with
him.
Moses said to
Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring
us up from here.” Exodus 33:15
Even though Moses was a prophet who
heard from God he still never assumed that God would bless his projects or
leadings outside of God’s presence. It is easy to get caught up in “ministry”
and forget that we need to abide in Him to bear fruit.
Some of us have become defectors
What is a defector? It is someone
who abandons their allegiance to a person, cause or doctrine. If there is
anything more troubling in the church today is the abandoning of the teachings
of Jesus. The great falling away of the Bible is indeed here. We see many
people who say they are Christians that have walked away from sound Biblical
truths to have their ears itched by false doctrines and teachers. This was
prophesied about in the book of 2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they
have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and
they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be
turned aside to fables.
Many Americans profess to be Christians but
openly live lifestyles contrary to what they profess they believe. They believe
they can live in the world and still carry a Christian label. The truth is they
are in apostasy and have become defectors in the Kingdom of God.
Some of us have gone MIA or missing in action
To go MIA
means to be sent to war and not come back. One of the greatest lies a
Christian can believe is that they can never become a statistic. They believe
that they can go into a war without armor, unskilled at battle, let their guard
down, and pretend they are soldiers of Christ when in reality they are
defectors. The enemy right away recognizes those who are vulnerable and are
still his captives. While some people may come back by God’s grace like the
prodigal son, some never come back, and are destroyed by the enemy. They never
fulfill the call or purpose in their life because they give up in the midst of
battle or are deceived into defecting to the other side. Their light shone
brightly for a season but they burned out and were never heard of again. They
were never grounded in God’s Word.
“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do
them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and
the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house;
and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:26)
It’s time for the
church to rise to the battle and become pillars of hope in a generation that is
desperate to see authentic, loving, and battle ready Christians who are in it to
win it. If this message has challenged you please pray with me the following:
Father,
please forgive us for allowing others to incite anger, resentment, unforgiveness,
rebellion, and sedition. We realize that this is a trap of the devil to get us
into sin so that the doors will get opened in our own lives. We repent for
taking sides, blame-shifting, accusation, fear-mongering, and idolatry. You
alone are our savior. Our hope rests in you. We repent for getting caught up in
civilian affairs, running in the face of battle, being defectors instead of
being sold out to God’s Kingdom. We repent for not watching and praying.
Father, we choose to be loyal to you and follow your son Jesus. Give us now the
grace and strength to rise up to the battle, fully armored and fully surrendered to
you in Jesus name!
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