Spiritual Warfare; The Next Generation

Ezekiel 33:1-9 NIV

1The word of the Lord came to me: 2“Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, 3and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, 4then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. 5Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. 6But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’

7“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 9But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.

 Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock!

I hear the sound of a clock and it is getting louder and louder every day reminding me that the time is short. I just recently read an article talking about how Lesbian premier orders Ontario’s sex-ed update to teach kids about giving sexual ‘consent’ from ‘the very earliest stages’. My heart just sunk. How can God be pleased with us? Surly our time here on earth as we know it must be running out.

I have read Ezekiel 33:1-9 before and felt an underlying nudge on my heart but it was only a dull probing. Today, as I read this familiar passage, that nudge was pretty intense and I felt if I ignored this probing I would be disobeying Father's leading. Where is He leading me? I am not too sure. I am pretty certain I am not a watchman but I am also certain that as a Christian, I have a duty to share what I know with those who Father brings into my path.

This year I am helping out with our churches after school program and youth/young adults. Many of these kids do not know much about God and I am thrilled that I have a moment in their week to share Jesus with them. What I am noticing is the more I share the more the spiritual warfare increases. Last week while helping serve lunch to these kids the warfare was so intense that after the kids left I felt very drained and just needed to be along with Daddy. What I learned was I was lacking proper prayer cover. I went in, in the flesh and not in the Spirit. There is a war for the next generation and the devil is pushing the limits. The only way to overcome is to humble myself to Holy Spirit and allow Him to lead and direct me. This week I went in to help after having spent a lot of time in prayer for those kids, the workers and drawing a blood line around the church asking Father to hold back the attack of the evil one. What a difference!!! The rebellion was gone and those kids were receptive to the word being shared.

I see God cannot be pleased with us at all. How can He when we have regulations, like the one I shared in the above article, being pressured into our school system. How can He when we have walked away from His rules to follow those which please the flesh? We, as Christians, need to blow the trumpet and spread the Word so we don't have the blood of none believers on our heads. (Here I made a mistake and mixed up two thoughts. See comment from Brenda and my response.) Once we have shared the Word then we have done what we are supposed to do and it is up to those listening to make a choice.

Prayer. 

Intense prayer every step of the way is needed if we want to see these strongholds come down. 

Blessings,
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Submission; Surrender

Happy New Year! 

2015

In my neck of the woods we are holding at around 0 degrees Celsius and have a ton of snow!! I am so thankful for 4x4 and studded tires otherwise the family and I would be home bound!

I had a wonderful Christmas with my family and our New Year was brought in with two baptisms on New Years Eve. What a deep joy to see two young kids make a public declaration of their love for Jesus. Now that’s the way to start a new year!

I also learned to downhill ski. Although I was terrified at first I did it and now I am able to make it down the green hill without falling. I can hardly wait to go again! It was so much fun.

I have spent a lot of time praying asking Father if He had a new word for me this year. 2013 I had Spiritual Warfare, 2014 He gave me Obedience and 2015 He has taken obedience and brought it into two divisions. Submission; Surrender. I have mentioned before I feel like I am a spinning top going deeper and deeper into Father as I swiftly spin on top of Jesus my Centre, my Support, my Everything.

Definitions taken from Dictionary.com. (I removed some of the off track definitions to make this post shorter, although they still do apply.)

 

Submission: (n)

the quality or condition of being submissive to another

Surrender: (verb used with object)

 

1. to yield (something) to the possession or power of another; deliver up possession of on demand or under duress:

4. to give up, abandon, or relinquish (comfort, hope, etc.).

5. to yield or resign (an office, privilege, etc.) in favor of another.

(n)

7. the act or an instance of surrendering.

This past year has brought a lot of changes not only to my daily life but to who I am as a person. I am being stretched beyond what I ever thought was possible. I am doing things I couldn’t even bring myself to think about without getting sick over. The biggest challenge has been praying publicly, over a speaker, leading our church in opening prayer. I still find it very hard to do but every time I obey Him, He comes right in and fills me up with His Spirit and takes over. That really is a miracle. I am so shy and I really dislike being the center of attention but just like our faithful Daddy, He gave me a way that not only helped me do this but brings great glory to Him. When I go up to pray I kneel and ask the church to kneel with me if they are able.

I am excited to see what He has in store for this year, but I must admit, I am a bit nervous too. As He shows me how to yield even more to His will, I am sure it will be painful yet He will be glorified and that is the desire of my heart.

There are two verses that came with these words.

Submission:
 

James 4:7 ESV
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Surrender:

Mark 14:35-36 ESV

And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

 
Have you asked Father for a word for this year 2015? If so please share it in a comment, I would love to hear what it is and how you feel about it. 
 
Blessings,

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