The Swordsmen Are Coming

Tags

Battle, bible, deception, Help, Truth, Weapons of War

The Swordsmen Are Coming

During the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the famous words, “The British are coming, the British are coming!” was heralded among those preparing for the battles they were about to engage in. I hear in the spirit the Lord saying, “The swordsmen are coming, the swordsmen are coming!” I believe this is being heard in the camp of the enemy, but may not be being heard in the church. But I believe the Lord is saying this to both the enemy and the church, “the swordsmen are coming, the swordsmen are coming”.

Judges 7:19-22 “Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords.”

Gideon is an Old Testament example of the swordsmen that are coming. They are coming with a sound of salvation for the nation. When the sound of these swordsmen is heard, the enemy will turn on themselves, because it is not the sound of men they are going to hear, it is the sound of God. Another example of these swordsmen is found in the New Testament, where Jesus was in a discussion with His disciples about the kingdom that is coming, on earth as it is in heaven.

Luke 22:35-38 “Then Jesus said, “When I sent you out and told you to travel light, to take only the bare necessities, did you get along all right?” “Certainly,” they said, “we got along just fine.” He said, “This is different. Get ready for trouble. Look to what you’ll need; there are difficult times ahead. Pawn your coat and get a sword. What was written in Scripture, ‘He was lumped in with the criminals,’ gets its final meaning in me. Everything written about me is now coming to a conclusion.” They said, “Look, Master, two swords!” But he said, “Enough of that; no more sword talk!”

The year 5778 is the year of the open door, Chuck Pierce at the Head of the Year Conference said, it is the year of a living 8 and it is the gate of 8. 8 as we all know means new beginning, God is inaugurating something new, but it is old, but it is new. It is new because we may not have seen it before, but it is old, because to God nothing is new. The year of the open door is opening for the Word Warriors to enter in. These are swordsmen who have learning to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15); they know their sword is not a carnal weapon of war (2 Corinthians 10:4-5); rather they have been in swordsmen training for years, for they were willing to sit down, wait on the Lord and in the waiting, they sharpened their double-edged swords (Hebrews 4:12).

The swordsmen are coming, the swordsmen are coming for the only weapon that is going to win this war is the Sword of the Lord (the Word of God). The only weapon against deception is TRUTH, and TRUTH is a person, not a ministry, not a calling, not a title, it is a person and these swordsmen that are coming know Jesus, not in theory, in reality. They hear His voice and another they will not follow (John 10:5); they have not sought their own glory, their own ministry, their own way, they have laid down who they are completely for Yahweh. Their call is not to make a name for themselves, but to display the glory of God on earth as it is in heaven. They know who they are, but more importantly they know whose they are and in that they rejoice: Luke 10:19-20 “See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” 

The swordsmen are coming, the swordsmen are coming! For the Lord has heard the cry of His people and He is sending help from heaven. The swordsmen are coming, the swordsmen are coming!

The War We’re In

Tags

antichrist, Battle, deception, Kingdom, Truth, War

One moment on the news and you know we are in a war. One hour in church and you know we are in a war. One post on Facebook, Instagram, Google+ or Twitter and you know we are in a war. One statement that is not politically correct, no matter how truthful it is and you know we in a war. Very few people cannot recognize that we are in a war, but very few people are identifying what that war is accurately. Politicians believe we are in a political war between Democrats and Republicans. Hate groups believe we are in a war over freedom of speech. Terrorist groups believe we are in a war over religion. Other groups believe we are in a war over the color of our skin, the definition of marriage, or the status of your visa. 
Depending on the way you think, you may believe that one of the listed wars are the war we are in. Honestly, I can understand why you would think that, because on the surface that is what it looks like to the naked eye. However, as believers in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of God who was manifested in flesh on earth and is seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father, who have a Bible, we must remember 2 Corinthians 2:10-11 “Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes”; 1 John 2:18 “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour”; and 2 Thessalonians 2:7 “For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work”. 
The war we are in is an age-old war that began when Lucifer was kicked out heaven (Isaiah 14) for seeking to exalt himself against the knowledge of God. The war has not changed, in the words of Bill Johnson, we were born into this war. Therefore, as believers we should not be alarmed when the anti-Christ spirit manifests in violence of its varying kinds, not just in America, but around the world. We should not be shocked that when law and order are restored, the spirit of lawlessness that has been at work silently in the hearts of men and women worldwide, would begin to put up a fight. The apostle Paul told us in Ephesians 6:10-18, that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against powers, principalities and rulers in the heavenly realms. He then went on in those verses to tell us how to dress so we are ready for the battle. None of this should surprise us. 
The war we’re in is a spiritual one that is manifesting physically. It is not the first time it has manifested on earth and unless Jesus comes back in this war, then it will not be the last time this spirit manifests on earth. The war we’re in right now is the same war, we see all throughout the Word of God. From Genesis to Revelation, we see this war and we see the strategies from heaven on how to win this war. The spirit of anti-Christ, the spirit of lawlessness and the spirit of deception are all three, one in the same spirits. They have the same father of lies as their commander and they seek to counter any activity the kingdom of God makes. When you see anti-Christ manifestations, take heart, for it is evidence of kingdom activity. 
The war we’re in is not one to be afraid of, for fear is a tool the enemy uses to paralyze the believer into inactivity. The way to win this war is to love deeply, forgive consistently, read the word daily, connect with others faithfully and worship unashamedly. The way to conquer the anti-Christ spirit is not to engage in tit for tat arguments, but to “praise until the spirit of worship comes, worship until the glory falls, then stand in the glory” – Ruth Heflin. Your greatest weapons are the word of God and the presence of God, for they protect you from deception. Once you are vaccinated by the presence of God and the word of God, then you can go out into the world and rescue those who are being held captive by the spirit of the world. In the words of the old hymn, they will know you are Christians by your love, by your love, they will know you are Christians by your love. 
The next thing we need to address in a future blog is, what is love? One hint, it is not unconditional.

Snipers in the Kingdom

Tags

Battle, Intercession, Intercessors, Kingdom, Sniper, Warfare

Ephesians 6:12 “For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age.”

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

One of the main differences I am noticing between the kingdom of God and religion or even the church age is the simplicity in which God does things. In the church age everything is laborious, time consuming, and honestly can feel very heavy. It is as though in the church age there is a lot of being busy doing nothing. But, in the kingdom on the other hand, which is actually a place, not just a nice phrase to quote, things are highly effective, cost effective and empowering. There is a sense of moving forward, of taking ground, of actually, genuinely advancing with the Lord Himself. Jesus spoke the people in His day and invited them to a kingdom lifestyle which included a yoke (work)but it was easy and a burden but it was light.

An area that is found both in the kingdom and the church age is that of intercession. Intercessors and intercession are an integral part of the kingdom life, but the way in which intercession is viewed in the kingdom is more like a sniper, rather than a laborious, time consuming activity that gets no recognition, but does what many feel like is most of the work. When the Lord spoke to me that intercessors are snipers in the kingdom, I was eager to discover who a sniper is and what they actually do. This is what I learned.

A sniper is a qualified specialist who operates alone, in a pair or with a sniper team for the sake of maintaining close visual contact with the enemy; engaging in targets from concealed positions; and engaging in distances exceeding the detection and capabilities of enemy personnel. This alone made me shout, INTERCESSORS ARE SNIPERS IN THE KINGDOM, for this is what they do and I am so honored to know some of them. But as I kept studying, I learned even more than just solidified what the Lord spoke to me.

A sniper’s job description is to deliver discriminatory, highly accurate rifle fire against enemy targets, they are marksmen (a person who is skilled in shooting at a mark). Snipers are force multipliers (an attribute which makes a given force more effective than that same force would be without it). This factor dramatically increases the effectiveness of a group. When I read this I shouted, snipers in the kingdom, multiply the body of Christ’s effectiveness because of their precision in with which they hit the enemy target with their prayers. Snipers ensure battlefield survival for the rest of the Lord’s army.

Qualities that a sniper must have include being patient, disciplined and are able to work alone. Snipers are sharp shooters. If this was not enough, the final discovery I made about snipers is the economic effectiveness they bring to the team. Snipers use 1.3 rounds of bullets (prayer time) while other military officers (members of the body of Christ) use 50,000 bullets (prayer time). Do you see how the sniper is able to do more with less? Moving from church or religion to kingdom, increases your effectiveness in prayer from being a soldier to a sniper.

Finally, soldiers hit man-sized targets 10% of the time at a 300 meter distance, while a sniper hits the same target 90% of the time at a 600 meter difference. Snipers in the kingdom are intercessors and they are extremely accurate, they know who their enemy is, they are patient enough to wait in hiding until they can get a good shot at him and take him out immediately. They save the kingdom time and money because of their skills and they force multiply the advancing of the kingdom, so the bride is accelerated in her gathering of others to meet their King. Snipers in the kingdom don’t spend long hours in prayer, for they are trained in hearing the voice of God, recognize the enemy and position themselves to take him out with minimal prayers. We will not win this battle without the snipers in the kingdom.