We live such busy lives in this 21st Century. That's 2,000 years after Christ walked this earth, and 2,000 years further away from His human presence and influence. That's quite a span of time for the Enemy to develop ways to distract us, and to encourage us to separate ourselves unto our selfish desires. It has also been such a span of time that he has been successful in convincing us that we no longer need to consult with our Creator about how to deal with the crises in the world. He's done a pretty good job at separating us from the most important relationship in our lives. So, it shouldn't surprise us that our days are filled with so much activity that we rarely stop to have a conversation with the Lord, or to ask Him what He thinks and wants to do about a particular situation in our life or the world.
It has become the nature of my relationship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that they often wake me sometime in the third watch of the night (from midnight to 3 am) and continue to speak to me into the fourth watch (3 am to 6 am). So, it was the other night.
When I wake up and cannot easily go back to sleep, I have become aware that it usually means I am to spend that wakefulness by talking to Father about the things on my heart, or asking Him if there's something He wants me to know. And I have a lot of questions for Him these days. It is difficult to see the decline in our moral values and standards in this nation, and to see the deterioration in the identity of Christians. It is frightening to see the collapse of law and order as the violence on our city streets increases; and heart-breaking to see the suffering that brings millions of refugees to our southern border. Believe me, if you knew the extent of what we in the border states are facing from the lawlessness of the Enemy, you would understand why there is very real fear and many sleepless nights. Wickedness and evil have penetrated the spiritual boundaries of our nation and only God and the Heavenly Host can [and will] protect us!
You can imagine the questions I have for the Father in the midst of the Third Watch. But I remember what someone spoke over me one time .... "You have so many questions, that you never give Father time to answer one of them before you are asking the next". Guilty as charged! So, I am trying to be intentionally silent, and letting Him know that I am ready to hear what He wants me to know. Mind you, I have to keep my soul in check because it is always ready to usurp my spirit's desire to just sit in intimacy with my Lord. But this night, I am obedient to wait on the Lord.
And then these words began pouring out of my spirit and I knew I was supposed to write them down. So I got up in the midst of the dark night and began transcribing. Here is what my spirit heard .... In the darkness of the morning hours my spirit seeks Your Presence. The world sees the encroaching Evil and fears; crying out for escape. My flesh and soul wrap themselves in steely resolve, while my spirit ascends to its appointed seat in the Heavenlies. There, I rest in You, who fills me with Your strength and authority. You impart to me Your Wisdom and Your Might. "Tell them My Truth," You say. " I AM their refuge in times of trouble. I AM their shield and their stronghold. Tell them not to fear, for I AM is with them to the end of the age." I wait for more, but my spirit hears, "That is enough for now. I AM all you need. Tell them".
So, my spirit returned to me in the middle of that night, and I laid awake until the dark gave way to the morning light. I longed to remain in that place of comfort and strength with the Father, but I knew I had to rise to another day on this earth, joining all those who wait in confident anticipation and committed obedience to see His glorious return and reign. But what about those who aren't so confident? Those who struggle with how we are to fight against these physical and spiritual forces of wickedness? I will tell you that I have many Christian friends who are dismayed at the boldness of Evil being displayed in our midst -- the horror of which you are not, and will not, see reported on your nightly news.
It would be easy to curl up in a corner and just cry out to God to take care of it, but that's not how we are to defeat it. God wants to work with us through mighty and powerful prayer, worship, and spiritual warfare, which means we must get on the battlefield to fight alongside the Heavenly Host as Lord Sabaoth, who is Mighty in battle, goes before us to victory! And how are we to pray? Well, Scripture is the way that Jesus fought against the wiles of the Enemy and here are just a few examples from the Word that you can use to begin to war in the spiritual realms ... Father, may our enemies come against us one way, and flee before us seven ways (Deuteronomy 28:7) ... Lord, You will stretch out your hand against the wrath of our enemies and let Your right hand deliver us (Psalm 138:7) ... Father, we trust that You will disarm the cosmic powers that rule the Evildoers and put them to shame and triumph over them! (Colossians 2:15) ... Lord, we ask You to command Your Heavenly Host to rescue the innocent children from the hands of foreigners whose mouths speak lies to them and whose right hands are right hands of falsehood (Psalm 144:11) ... You are Jehovah, who defends the afflicted and executes Your judgment against the wicked. You uphold justice for the needy (Psalm 140:12) for You are the Lord who will take up their case and plunder those who rob them (Proverbs 22:23).
As you can see, there is no stronger way to battle in the spirit than to seek the Lord for what He wants to say to you and then follow His lead. And you will find that His Word backs up everything you hear and everything He shows you. And yes, the Enemy likes to work in the Third Watch of the night, too. But when you know who you are in Christ, and that you fight with the Power of Heaven at your side, you have nothing to fear from the darkness. The Cosmic War is beginning to spill over to this earthly realm and it is time that those of us who proclaim our loyalty to the King of the Universe cinch up our spiritual armor and stand up in our identity. It is time to be counted with the Heavenly Host as we refuse to surrender the earth to the kingdom of darkness. The dominion of the earth belongs to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! And it is our assignment to join in that victory! Hallelujah!
Psalm 27:8 "Seek My face." My heart says to You, "Your face, Lord, do I seek."
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