23 January 2013

1 Corinthians 7:29-30 “But this I say, brethren, the time [is] short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;”

Philippians 3:13-14 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

We are coming upon a season of crossing over into the fullness of our destinies being fulfilled in Christ in this year of 2013. We have come to realize that our enemy is defeated and are coming into a time of decreeing from a place of the rest of God! We are beginning to rebuild the old waste places. Now more than ever, we must be aware of the enemies’ tactics anew. If he cannot talk us into giving up and he sees those that are pressing forward .He will use all that he has left to stop this from happening. I call it “the great distraction tactic.”

In Nehemiah’s day he went back to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall. He was met with many distractions from the enemy. They came to the wall daily to tell him that it was useless to try and rebuild that wall. They sounded official, and used fear tactics, and they shamed them, and they tried to make Nehemiah feel that they were not able. Sound familiar? The thing of it is, that this never worked with Nehemiah, because he always kept his focus on the building of the wall. That was the task that God had set before him, and he would not be deterred.

David said in Psalm 57:7 “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.”

David had to fix his heart on what he was meant to do. He was to be the great psalmist of his day, and he was met with more than most of us could bear, but he fixed his heart.. This will be the key to overcoming in this season. As Nehemiah fixed his heart on the building of the wall, and David on building the Tabernacle ( 24 hour praise and worship) we must fix our hearts on what God has for us to do in this season.

Our enemy is a defeated foe, and Nehemiah knew that Sanballat and Tobiah had no authority over him,but that did not stop them from coming to bring distraction to Nehemiah’s plans. KNOW THIS! IF THE ENEMY KNOWS THAT YOU KNOW THAT HE IS DEFEATED, AND THAT HE HAS BEEN STRIPPED OF HIS POWER, THEN HE WILL USE ANYTHING THAT HE CAN TO STOP YOU FROM REACHING AND FINISHING YOUR PURPOSE IN THIS LIFE! HIS ONLY WEAPON IS DISTRACTION AND WHATEVER IT IS THAT WILL SWAY YOU FROM YOUR PURPOSE. Give him no attention!! He is a defeated foe!! If you give him no attention he will flee, and as you submit yourself to God and keep on doing what you are called to do you will eventually reap if you faint not!! Jam 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Nehemiah 6:1-5 “Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and [that] there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;) That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in [some one of] the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I [am] doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you? Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner. Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand; Wherein [was] written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith [it, that] thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words.”

You see Nehemiah had his heart fixed on his purpose and even when he was in the final stages of it, he discerned that these who came with an official letter (Bad decrees) had come to stop what he and God had started. The enemy saw that there were no breaches in the wall. Well the enemy is seeing that there are no breaches in between many in the body of Christ right now and he wants to get your focus off of our unity and onto his little petty messes that he is making so that he can form a crack in our oneness and then we will spend all of our time fixing the little messes.

Song of Solomon 2:15 “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines [have] tender grapes.” It is the “little foxes” that try and spoil the vine.

The enemy knows that if he can take your focus off of your purpose to have to clean up these little messes that he has made, then you will not fulfill your destiny.

I had a dream once that my friend and I were bringing some prisoners out of a house and taking them to safety. We were walking them across this rickety bridge like you see in the movies, and as we were leading them there were these flower pots on the steps that she was distracted by. I kept telling her to look forward, but these flower pots had men’s faces that had hurt her in the past, and she couldn’t take her eyes off of them long enough to get those prisoners out. You see they were keeping her from her destiny of freeing these women.

Some of you have been delayed for years, because of these little foxes…I am telling you fix your heart on your purpose and on your destiny!! There are people waiting on you to set them free!! He will come to you especially if you have a gift of exhortation or mercy with those that will suck the life out of you, when others are awaiting your gifting to help them. Then if you figure it out they will accuse you of being a bad Christian, and then finally accuse you to others, and try and ruin your reputation as a minister of the Lord, delaying your purpose. This is where fixing your heart on what God has called you to do come in. It is called obedience! Obedience is key in this hour.

Some of you have never learned that after so long even Jesus said to kick off the dust! Jesus here was telling them how to not be attached to things or those that would not receive His message.

Luke 9:1 “Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.”

Luke 9:2-6 ”And he sent them to preach the Kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. And he said unto them, Take nothing for [your] journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing everywhere.”

Not everyone will like you when you obey God! Get use to it! Jesus said it in Matthew 10:25, “It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more [shall they call] them of his household?”

It is time to press past the flower pots and stop being distracted by whatever represents that flower pot to you! It is the season where obedience is key to getting the wall built that God has told you to build, or that music that you are to play, or that city that you are to take, that church you are to build. Fixing our heart will be the key to it. It is the key to the great obsession that is in your hearts! The enemy is just a distraction from the fullness of what God has called you, and from you bringing in your harvest. “Press on my child, Look straight forward, do not look at their faces. Do not be distracted by all the little messes that entangle you and try and trap you! Do not be distracted by those that would malign you, and say evil things about you!! Press on to the high calling which is in Christ Jesus! Your enemy is a defeated foe! Rejoice in my victory that has been given to you, and go forward despising the shame, and hating the sin that entraps my people, and those in the world. Rise up and bring my light in the face of great darkness! Rise up and look past all of the distractions of the enemy! The world is in darkness and awaits you oh manifest sons of God! Arise, Shine!!”

 

~ by Jo Ellen Stevens
Arise Shine!

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Jo Ellen Stevens of TCIC Ministries is a Prophetic speaker, author, worshiper and intercessor. She has ministered with her husband for 23 years and was a worship leader at the Assembly of God for many years. She is an ordained minister (Restoration Ministries) and works with Restoration Ministries in their Ministry Rooms doing prophetic worship with her husband. She has taught many bible studies and have led many intercessory prayer groups.

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