“Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste,
Distorts its surface And scatters abroad its inhabitants. And it shall be:
As with the people, so with the priest;
As with the servant, so with his master;
As with the maid, so with her mistress;
As with the buyer, so with the seller;
As with the lender, so with the borrower;
As with the creditor, so with the debtor.
The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, For the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourns and fades away, The world languishes and fades away; The haughty people of the earth languish. The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth,And those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, And few men are left.” (Isaiah 24:2-6)
(Suggested listening while, before or after reading this post: Kari Jobe’s new album, The Garden, specifically, Heal Our Land…once you hear it, you’ll understand why!)
The Lord began festering a burning message within my very spirit in early 2016, one that I had to explore and seek Him, in great depths, to be certain it is truly His intention I share. After receiving much confirmation that it is His desire I still sat on it until just this morning. Please know, this is a hard pill to administer. One that may prove difficult for the body of Christ to not only swallow, but receive. This is not my opinion, this is Truth as the Holy Spirit has revealed to me (and from my findings, many other Disciples of Christ) over and over for a year.
To begin, the Holy Spirit led me to read Isaiah 24 weeks ago. I didn’t immediately understand why. Prior to that, several verses from Isaiah 24 were laid on my heart during my work commute, while driving through an area where large estates have been built over a century. The Lord continually draws my attention to the trees: Twice a day, my attention is on every tree that has fallen, been cut back or cut down. The erosion along the roadsides. The deer that cross the road before me or play in the median and yards. After seeking the Lord on meaning and why I keep hearing that he is “making the earth empty and making it waste” (Is 24:1) and Him showing me how “the earth mourns and fades away…” as “…the earth is defiled under its inhabitants” (Is 24:4-5) the Lord spoke to me through the entire premise of Isaiah 24.
Back in January, the Lord revealed himself to me as I drove around in awe of His power to control a wildfire in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. He spoke to me about the disaster just this morning, stating it too was an example of Isaiah 24 and he wants glory for not allowing the destruction to be worse. God allowed this evil to happen through the hands of two teenagers, knowing He would use the godly man who acts as mayor of that town, to sing His praises. The mayor did just this, stating that it is through Jesus’ strength they would get through this time and come back better and stronger as a town.
Why? God wants his people to focus on His will and desires. He wants his people to proclaim Kingdom power in such a time as this. God’s power, his presence, are beautiful and glorious. Refining, defining, and holy!
Please, brethren…inhabitants of the earth, listen with your ears and hear with your hearts: God the Father is showing those of us who will heed the Lord’s warnings, that the time to draw near to him is now! Draw near to Jesus, THE WORD of GOD found in the Holy Bible, not the words and ways of man. The purity of Christ and his ministry!
For those of you whom are not inclined to, or afraid to understand the mystical, spiritual aspects of God, this message is especially for you, but truly is for every Believer out there. There are things unseen which are talked about in the Bible. We are told to equip ourselves for spiritual battle because humans have been in battle since the Garden of Eden. Spiritual warfare has been instilled into the likes of Moses, David, Elijah and Elisha, John the Baptist and Paul. It has been sown into every person Jesus healed before his earthly body died.
Understanding of spiritual warfare is what Jesus was imparting into not only his apostles, but those whom he healed:
Belief.
Repentance.
Love.
Sanctification.
Healing.
(Bringing the power of heaven to earth through the Holy Spirit.)
The cross of Christ was not the beginning…it was not the end. It was the way!
Through this comes knowledge, wisdom, discernment…Truth. Eyes to see what is all around us. No, not all are called to “step up to the battle lines” which is why he created some with the heart of an intercessor. They are prayer warriors and most important partners, in and through any battle we may face. Regardless, we are provided the necessary spiritual tools as outlined in Ephesians 6. Remember, only Light can overcome dark. Only Truth in Love (God sacrificing his only begotten son, to death by crucifixion) can overcome Hate/Evil.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10-11)
In this new series, God is leading me, heavily, to enlighten you to the spirit realm. To reveal truth, encourage and equip. To share what (and who) you need to be aware of and how to shed His light across it. It will consist of a strong prophetic word on the state of the Western Church and Believers; it reveals how Lucifer and Jezebel spirits are manipulating both through false teachers, prophets, movements, and just pure deception. I am also to share personal experience with the spirit realm. I pray that what the Lords leads me to share, reaches those he intends and opens up hearts and minds to knowing Him on a more intimate level.
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I implore you to be Berean and prayerful if you dive into this series with me. I request your prayers: The attacks of the enemy began weeks ago. However, miracles have also been manifesting in my life through the prayers of others. There is a battle in the principalities and I’m standing here receiving from God, his blessings and rebuking Satan for his attempts to distract and stop me from doing God’s will.
After I wrote those lines above, in red, chills came over me so badly I had to stop. I was blown away by that revelation because it dives very, very deep into the heart of Christ and The Almighty. Deeper than I anticipated. As I finished this section, I was led to Revelation 10 and stopped twice on verse 7. You can read that for yourself by clicking on <– verse 7 or opening your Bibles.
About the image used: I took this photo on January 3, 2017. This is on the Gatlinburg Trail on the backside of the Sugarlands Welcome center; there The Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee meet. I never wanted to share the images I took of the charred trees and trails publicly but today was led to. There is a reason for everything…
I was stopped in my tracks as I parked my SUV early that morning because the fire line literally stopped at the edge of town where I parked, but jumped 441/Newfound Gap Rd to continue up the ridges around Gatlinburg. As I had stated in an earlier post while visiting, the only way the entire town didn’t burn was purely God. There is absolutely no other explanation. His hand was everywhere you turned. Please continue to pray for the people of Gatlinburg. It is going to take a lot of time for them to heal emotionally and financially from this disaster. Thank you!
I really appreciate how you relate the fire tragedy to God leading the mayor to be strong in Christ. Yes, this is a deceptive time, but God has our back, and an answer –
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