Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

Prayer: Abba Father, according to John 6:44, John 14:6 and Colossians 1:13, You draw and attract to Jesus, and have brought us out of the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of Your only begotten Son. Father, increase my sensitivity to the promptings of the Spirit of Truth – the Holy Spirit – Your Spirit within me, so that I may serve You better to open eyes blinded by darkness; that those outside Your Kingdom of Light may desire to draw nearer to You through Christ Jesus; and those of us inside Your Kingdom may come to know fullness of life through the abundant seed of Your Word and the manifestations thereof to establish Your covenant in the earth, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Many years before I would endeavor to pray God’s Word back to Him, I became a little more aware of the promptings of The Teacher who is the Holy Spirit. Such a prompting occurred one morning during late Spring and/or early Summer of 2007. As I made-up my bed, a thought crossed my mind that, if I replaced the light bulb in the lamp (attached to my headboard), I could start reacquainting myself with the Holy Bible. Almost immediately, my thought was that it was an odd thought because (first of all) I never read in bed! The important thing about thoughts is to discern from whom these come; was it from God, you, or the devil? (Some years ago, I heard a Pastor preach that we have no thoughts of our own; that all thoughts are from either God or the devil. Whether or not I agree with his statement is yet to be decided.) Nevertheless, you (and I) must fully understand the importance of becoming increasingly familiar with the character or essence of God Who is Love (1 John 4:8,16). For Love who is God doesn’t send sickness to teach anyone a lesson. (Neither is sickness necessary to transition from this physical world into the presence of God because Isaiah 53:5, 1Pe 2:24, John 10:10b, and Romans 8:11 informs us that the redemptive work of Christ Jesus took sickness, weakness, and every evil addiction.) To be clear, maladies are of Lucifer – the fallen angel and his cohorts; all of whom the Lord Jesus defeated at the cross (Colossians 2:15). The chief thief is a toothless lion on the prowl. “ 8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith” 1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV). Abba Father never encourages hurt to self or others; and His commandment of love neither renders Believers doormats nor open targets because the redemptive work of Christ Jesus bestowed unto each Believer access to all the Weapons of God with authority in the Name above all names.

 Given such, sons and daughters of God by the Blood should be far less on defense and far more on offense. That is, DO NOT LET UP on the thief who comes to “steal, kill and destroy” John 10:10a; this is what Ephesians 6:11-18 tells us. For those rendered sons and daughters of GOD don’t live or walk by the standard of this world; as it is written, “The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds”  2 Corinthians 10:4 (AMP). As relayed in a previous reflection on God’s Word, the Weapons of God include: the Word of God (which is the sword of the Spirit), authority in the Name above all names (which is JESUS),  the Blood (of Jesus), Anointing Oil, Angels of God (assigned to minister unto us individually but will only move by speak in keeping with language consistent with God Speak – the WORD), exaltation or praise unto GOD (which goes forth even before manifestation of that which is sought), and praying all sorts of prayers (using both one’s natural language as well as in tongues). The Word of God is immutable; though different strategies in the using the Weapons of God may result in better results. Therefore, we seek first the LORD’s advice for insight about the most efficient strategy against the enemy, and receive through the counsel of the Holy Spirit. God never changes (1 Samuel 15:29, James 1:17), and whatsoever goes forth from His mouth must accomplish that for which it is sent (Isaiah 55:11 & 45:23a). By the blood of Jesus it is true unto us according to the Word of God. Oh! We rejoice that Abba Father and the Living Word (John 1:14) are the same “yesterday, today and forever” Hebrews 13:8. It is comprehension and application of the WORD that brings the manifestations thereof. In other words, the doing when you (or I) might not “feel” like putting on the whole armor of God daily has nothing to do with the force the of the weapons thereof. For we know by the WORD that feelings have nothing to do with the way of God; we walk by faith not by sight (Habakkuk 2:4c; Romans 1:17c; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:37b).

 The thief perpetrates through people, and a significant number of the unsaved are clueless (though others have made a conscience decision to side with the thief). However, those reconciled unto the Family of GOD by the Blood are all Ministers of Reconciliation, and those in the meat of the WORD are called to stand thereon in every place God wants His presence i.e., education, medical, retail, police, government, public transportation, military, and yes, even social media). In other words, each Believer needs to be ready with a WORD for every situation and/or able to give the WORD to whomever is in need. The incomparably great power of God in those of us who believe (Ephesians 1:19) moves effectively by the Holy Spirit through those redeemed, recreated, reconciled and restored all rights and privileges as sons and daughters of GOD by the Blood, who are willing vessels (free-will). Abba Father looks for those who will stand in the gap and make-up the hedge (Ezekiel 22:30); the significant difference between the time of the Prophet Ezekiel and now is that the redemptive work of Christ Jesus – His birth, death and resurrection tore the curtain that prevented man’s (i.e., male, female) direct communication and relationship with Abba Father. This day, the power of God is in us; “this is that” relayed by the Prophet Joel (Acts 2:16-21; Joel 2:28-32).

 Speak the promise . . . Harriet