"Don't be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself" (Phil. 1:28, NIV). Before getting up to minister recently, my wife sensed that I was battling intimidation. She leaned over to me and whispered, "Your new name is 'Confidence!" Immediately, a lion roared inside me, and an alarm went off in hell. I rose up to minister, and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah took over the meeting. The Lord is renaming you today also. Your new name is "Confidence!"
For many who feel they go one step forward in the Lord and then two steps backward, be encouraged. I sense the Lord saying, "I count the one foot forward and two steps backward as forward progress." In football, when the team needs one yard for a first down and the player carries the ball forward one yard yet gets pushed back two yards, it's still marked as a first down. They call this forward progress and so does the Lord. He counts your one step forward, not your steps back. I'm convinced that many who feel like quitting are actually making progress.
Years ago, my ministry almost destroyed me. I fell in love with it more than with the Lord. Our ministries, if we are not careful, can be our number 1 enemy! It happens so innocently, for we love what God has called us to do. The Lord began to hinder my ministry by closing doors and locking the windows. Invitations ceased, and I found myself alone with my family and God. For about three months, I was shut in with God. I discovered if you slow down and spend time with Him, you won't lose your ministry unless it was yours. If it's God's ministry, it will continue without you.
I sensed that not only was the Father excited over His own Son's wedding that would soon take place, but He was seemingly beside Himself for the joy of a multitude of long awaited "end-time" weddings that would take place upon the earth, just preceding the greatest wedding in the universe. "Get those six water pots out again and fill them with 'living' water! I've saved the very best wine for last, for these end-time weddings." I saw veils of singleness that had been covering many single men and women for years, in spite of their desire to marry. These veils were actually covering them to protect and hide them from wrong relationships. Many had thought, "What's wrong with me? No one seems to notice me or even look at me."
Marriages are being bombarded by severe, raging storms like never before. Did you know that when you were even thinking about marriage, God was already thinking of miracles? God spells the word marriage, "m-i-r-a-c-l-e." The Lord actually created marriages with a built-in need for miracles. The Lord ordained marriage to not only require miracles but to demand them. Marriages demand miracles. From heaven's perspective, here is how it works. The Lord will allow your wine in your marriage to run out to get you on miracle territory, just as at the first marriage wedding feast in Cana.
I hear the Father saying, "I am breaking the age barrier! Quit saying, 'I am getting older.' Christ in you is ageless. Allow His Spirit to quicken your mortal body and soar with the eagles. And don't tell Me where I can't send you this year. Get over yourself and buy some new luggage." (Someone should be shouting about now!) I sense the Lord saying, "The older stars in My kingdom are going to shine brighter and do greater exploits than ever before!" I sense there is a special anointing coming upon older men and women in the Body of Christ. God is not through using you.
I sense this New Year will be like a rodeo bull ride for many of us. The stirrings, shakings and heavenly interruptions will feel like we are on a championship bull that defies us to hold onto it. We will need to learn quickly how to hold on and how to let go. This bull ride will expose what is in us. We must be fully persuaded that greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world. And that He, Christ in us, is not afraid of being bullied by any bull. After trusting the Lord with all your heart through blood, sweat and tears, with "eight" seconds of victory on a rodeo bull, when you fail to let go and exit quickly out of the electrifying arena, the bull begins to become the champion.
I heard the Lord Say, "Be patient, your nation is having major heart surgery. Stay in the waiting room and pray." I remember when my mother had major bypass heart surgery in her seventies. The doctors came to us in the waiting area and told us these words, "Because of what she just went through, she's not going to look very good to you, but she looks great to us!" I sense the Lord saying, "Be patient with your nation, and remember I am not a Republican or Democrat, I AM that I AM. I AM working on a whole nation and everyone is a work in process. Don't judge, for I AM not finished working on anyone.
I sense the Lord saying to many of us in transition: "Watch for the exit signs this season along major highways." This could mean a significant change of direction or a minor adjustment in our lives and ministry. Major highways speed up our traveling, but exits take us to our destination. Could it be that the Lord is calling many of us off of the highways to the byways, to take our hands off the steering wheels of our ministry to get our hands on the harvest? Why are so many people hearing a Lion roar at this time? When the Lion of Judah roars, His call is not tame. I believe He is roaring many of His people off the beaten path of ministry to forge their own trail to reach a chaotic world.
Follow Up
