Overcoming Weariness - Steve Martin, Love For His People Ministry

 

Overcoming Weariness

“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14, NASB

We all experience weariness. In our body. In our soul. In our spirit. There just are days when it is hard to press on, to keep the chin up, to not quit in the midst of battle. It just is that way.

Jesus Himself experienced weariness. He understood it, becoming man Himself, and did what was necessary to keep His face looking forward, to press on. He knew He needed proper rest, and took time away from the others to spend with His Father, to be re-energized and uplifted.

Paul grew weary many times as he walked out his calling. He described in several writings how he battled against the naysayers, the ungodly, the ones who even among the brethren questioned his legitimacy after he turned from being a Christian hater to becoming a Christ-follower.

Standing for truth in an ever-increasing godless society certainly wears you out. Paul instructed his disciple Timothy to be watchful of this as he wrote to him, “Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching.” 2 Timothy 4:115, NASB Upholding the truth takes courage, knowledge, and boldness if we are to be overcomers for the truth.

Paul let us know that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, as it is spiritual warfare that we face daily. There are times when the cost of pushing forward, as many in sports and military arenas so often do, takes strength and continual output of effort in order to get the victory.

I recall as we prepared for the high school football season, we had to endure three practices a day in the hot August heat, to get our bodies and minds ready for the upcoming games. Though others certainly experience far more in their weeks and months of preparation, it helped bring to me the understanding that you won’t be able to put up a good fight if you do not prepare in advance.

Be it preparation of the mind, soul, or spirit, we must do what it takes to be ready for the action that is promised to come and it many cases already here. No one goes to battle without properly being made ready. No success will ever come without it.

As believers in the Lord Jesus, and ones called to be the warriors resisting the enemy and his attempts to take away all that the Lord has given us, we will need to fight even against weariness and all that seeks to bring us down.

We must be faithful in practicing the disciplines of the Christian faith. Prayer. Bible reading. Fellowship with other believers. Teaching is received for training, encouragement, and renewed hope for what we believe in. All necessary to sustain the long journey.

The days indeed are getting darker, but our Bible confirms that we are the victors as we stand with our King in His rule and government.

Be encouraged. Do not grow weary in the fight. Be renewed as the hope within us brings strength to endure to the very end.

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin, Love For His People founder

Prophetic Word: Prophetic Clarity Will Carry You Through This Season - ANA WERNER CHARISMA NEWS

(Pixabay/Free-Photos)

Prophetic Word: Prophetic Clarity Will Carry You Through This Season

12/9/2017 ANA WERNER  CHARISMA NEWS

Clarity of Focus Will Carry You Through

We can look at Nehemiah in the Bible as a groundbreaker. In his time, he was a person whom the Lord placed strategically to bring reformation and restoration as well as to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. What Nehemiah carried should be an eye-opener to us prophetic ones, as we are entering into a season of rebuilding, reassignment and swift change. Our prophetic ears and eyes should shift towards Nehemiah as an example and illustration of how we can navigate this season in which we live. We are: contending and begging the Lord for the rebuilding, asking for favor to carry out our assignment and overcoming immense discouragement. Nehemiah kept a clear focus on the goal of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, even in the face of great adversity.

Your Prophetic Promises Have an Adversary

Once Nehemiah and his cohort had successfully rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem, the enemies of the Israelites rose up. It's a prophetic picture of opposition that we cannot overlook. As we cross the threshold of the prophetic promises God has placed over our lives in this season, often that advancement will irritate the enemy and cause him to try and strike back. How do we push through the enemy's traps and assaults, to walk fully into our promise from God?  

Clarity of Focus

Setting a perfect trap to entice Nehemiah and pull him away from finishing the reconstruction, the Israelites' enemies rose up intending to harm him. "Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono," they said to Nehemiah. (Neh. 6:2, NASB). Receiving prophetic revelation from the Lord–"they are planning to harm me" (Neh. 6:2)—Nehemiah sends a message back to them. "I am doing a great work and cannot come down" (Neh. 6:3). I believe this is a key mindset for us in this hour!  Nehemiah tuned into what God was saying, and tuned out the adversarial voices.

Clear Focus Will Carry You Through the Testing

Just recently, Holy Spirit woke me up at 4:30 in the morning to speak to me. I love Holy Spirit wake up calls! Through a profound encounter with the Lord, I heard the phrase, "Clarity of focus will carry you in this season."

The following questions were then presented to me by the Lord. "Who are you listening to right now? Is My voice the loudest?" I heard Him ask.

Let us not forget that as Jesus was just baptized and received the blessing and public honor from His Father, He was then led into the desert for a season of testing. Before He would begin to minister, deliver His first sermon and perform His first miracle, there was a time of testing from the enemy.

The devil met Him there in the desert and tempted Him when Jesus was weak from fasting. In our weakened state, the enemy tries to hit us and get us off course from reaching the promises of God for our lives.

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What sustained Jesus and helped Him fight off the enemy was the Word of God!  "It is written ..." Jesus quotes Scripture back at the enemy's attacks, and the enemy loses his grip and has to try something else. We cannot overlook this. The power of the written Word of God breaks the enemy's grip and causes him to back away from us.

So when the Lord said to me, "Who are you listening to right now?" and "Is My voice the loudest?"  I felt pressed to get more of the Word of God in me during this season. It's a key to unlocking the promises over our lives.

Refocus, Find Direction and Step Into Your Assignment

"Where are you going right now? What is the assignment I gave you for this season? Refocus and find your direction," I heard the Lord say next.

"Refocus and finish well" was the challenge presented to me that day. What has the Lord assigned to you? Often, as we wait for a promise to come, discouragement steps in and tries to get us distracted and off course. When Nehemiah was so close to finishing the construction of the wall, distraction tried to pull him away. His response is awesome: "I can't come meet you right now. I have to finish what God has given me to do!"

Nehemiah recognized that it was the plan of the enemy to set him off course and also do him harm. When you are close to finishing or walking into the promises of God of your life, do not get distracted by the small assaults of the enemy. Claim this same tenacious spirit that Nehemiah carried, and keep your focus clear.

Lastly, I heard the Lord say "Declare it and declare it again."

Even when we can't see the answers to our prayers, let us pick up our faith and believe that God is a God of the impossible. He is moving, whether we can see it or not. Our prayers move the heart of God.

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or imagine, according to the power that works in us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen" (Eph. 3:20-21).

Ana Werner is the author of The Seer's Path, and also the associate director of the Heartland Healing Rooms in Lees Summit, Missouri. Ana travels and equips people internationally on seeing in the Spirit, moving in the prophetic, and healing ministry. Her transparency as she shares on the realities and experiences she has in heaven, bring Holy Spirit, the love of the Father and the power of God into the room when she speaks. Ana is passionate about leading people into encountering Jesus' heart. Learn more about Ana's ministry at anawerner.org.

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"The Glass Ceiling of Your Captivity Will Be Shattered!" - Bill Yount The Elijah List

"The Glass Ceiling of Your Captivity Will Be Shattered!"

Bill Yount

The Elijah List Dec 14, 2016

From the desk of Steve Shultz:

God does NOT forget one thing that you have walked through...not one! AND on top of that...so much good comes out of the trials we have been through. Yes, it's very true.

I believe that in this new year, God wants to encourage His people with such HOPE in Him that that we will literally be in awe of what He is going to do in our lives.

If you need some HOPE...you've got to read this word by our friend Bill Yount in which he shares:

There are many blessed with creative gifts to bring Heaven to Earth but through hope deferred you hung them on the weeping willow. The word "deferred" means: postponed or delayed. It doesn't mean it's not going to happen. It means it's just a matter of time. Take your hope off the weeping willow tree and hope again. Against hope, believe in hope.

Let's be full of HOPE Again in this new year! (To Subscribe to the Elijah List go here.)

Note to Our Dear Readers:

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Enjoy! And thanks for forwarding this to your friends! They can subscribe just below...

Steve Shultz, Founder and Publisher
The Elijah List & Breaking Christian News 
http://www.elijahlist.com

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"The Glass Ceiling of Your Captivity Will Be Shattered!"

by Bill Yount, Hagerstown, MD

I have walked with the Lord for forty years and I have never been so excited about this coming year. I am pessimistic by nature, seeing the glass half-empty, but for this coming year I see the glass overflowing. For 2017, My spirit is jumping up and down.

The number 17 means: overcoming, victorious.

I believe a rhema word for the coming year is found in David's victory over the Philistines. After defeating the Philistines, David inquired of the Lord in 2 Samuel 5:19, "Should I go up against this enemy like before?" The Lord's plan was different this time.

The Lord said, "You shall compass behind them and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. It shall be, when you hear the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall bestir yourself, for then the LORD shall go out before you to strike the army of the Philistines" (2 Samuel 5:23-24).

I can feel the stirring in the mulberry trees, and I know that I know that I know...the move is on.

Stir Yourself Up In Your Captivity

There's a stirring in the mulberry tree and it's time to take our eyes off the weeping willow. These two trees war against each another. When God's people were taken captive in Babylon, the only tree the Psalmist could write about was a weeping willow.

"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down,(right there is where the problem started when we sat down) yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hung our harps upon the weeping willows in the midst thereof. There they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us joy, saying, 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.' How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" (Psalm 137:1-4.) (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

Let me tell you how to sing a song in a strange land. Start singing and Heaven will come down and your Babylon will be shaken to pieces.

Fifteen years ago, I stopped singing and playing my guitar when I ministered in churches. The devil robbed me by convincing me that my style didn't fit the present-day type of music and singing in churches. Recently, the Lord broke through to me. "Son, it's not about the style of music – it's the anointing! Pick up your slingshot (guitar) and start killing the Goliaths in people's lives."

By the way, in this crazy world, you will sing again too. Pick up your slingshot and come join me!

I sense the Lord saying to many, "Take your harp down off the weeping willow tree and sing again. Take your dancing shoes off the weeping willow." When was the last time we danced? Or did we ever dance? God wants to cut loose this year. Dancing is a weapon. When you dance in your captivity, Babylon will wonder what you got.

Take Your Harp Off the Weeping Willow

Take your paint brush down off the weeping willow. Through you, God is coming to paint your whole town red with the Blood of Jesus. Pick up your pen and start writing that book you have dreamt about. These gifts and talents are Heaven's therapy. I write better in crisis. It's therapy for me.

If you've ever read anything that's touched your life that I have written, it's because there's been pain in my life somewhere. 'Behind every beautiful thing, there's some kind of pain.' -Bob Dylan. Don't let your pain stop you this year. (Photo via Wikipedia)

Why do we read the Psalms when we get discouraged? It's because David tells it like it is in his depression and frustration. But then he takes his harp off the weeping willow and ends up singing about them and making songs out of them. He ends up in praise and worship.

Right after my new book came out this past year, I was hit with depression. I checked with a friend who is a professional writer and he said, "That's normal, you put your life into it. You gave birth to a baby and now it's gone." He said, "The best cure to get over this discouragement is to start another book."

There are many blessed with creative gifts to bring Heaven to Earth but through hope deferred you hung them on the weeping willow. The word "deferred" means: postponed or delayed. It doesn't mean it's not going to happen. It means it's just a matter of time. Take your hope off the weeping willow tree and hope again. Against hope, believe in hope.

Hope in God and the glass ceiling of your captivity will be shattered. (To Subscribe to the Elijah List go here.)

Bill Yount
Blowing the Shofar Ministry

Email: theshofarhasblown@juno.com
Website: www.billyount.com

Bill Yount has been a member of Bridge of Life in Hagerstown, Maryland, for the past 36 years where he is now an elder and a home missionary. He is currently an advisor at large for Aglow International. Bill faithfully served in prison ministry at Mount Hope for 23 years and now travels full-time, both in the U.S. and internationally, ministering in churches and Aglow circles. "Humility and humor" characterize his ministry as he brings forth a fresh word that is "in season," proclaiming the Word of the Lord! 

The shofar (or ram's horn) is often used in his meetings, breaking the powers of darkness over regions, churches, and households. The shofar represents God's breath blowing into the nostrils of His people, reviving them and awakening the lost. Many of God's messages, which Bill ministers prophetically, come out of his everyday life with his family and friends.

Overcoming Satanic Attacks of Discouragement - DR. F. DEAN HACKETT CHARISMA MAGAZINE

Overcoming Satanic Attacks of Discouragement

 2/23/2016 DR. F. DEAN HACKETT  charisma magazine

Satan is well-aware of our weaknesses, and he always takes advantage of those weak spots, but you don't have to fall for it. (iStockPhoto | Chepko)

Through many years as a missionary in Asia, I have had lots of opportunity to feel the keen edge of Satan's tool of discouragement. I discovered that he keeps this particular tool in readiness at all times, and he's always sharpening it for use on the unsuspecting.

And that's what alarms me. None of us should ever be taken by surprise.

Just study the description of Satan in the Bible—he is a deceiver of the brethren, a liar, he masquerades as a harmless sheep, but he is actually a wolf in sheep's clothing, and furthermore, he is described a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. That is enough to put us on high alert!

My problem has been, and I suspect yours may be, the fact that we are lulled to sleep for various reasons and we drop our guard.

Satan is well-aware of our weaknesses, and he always takes advantage of those weak spots. Sometimes he afflicts us with sickness as in Job's case, to get our eyes off Jesus. There are times when he brings financial reverses or causes a lack of sufficient funds as in Job's case when he lost all his possessions and his children. His purpose was to bring despair into Job's heart so that he would curse God and turn his back on Him.

There are times when our children are subjected to attack while at boarding school or college in the States. That is most stressful, and if we are not living close to God, it can have devastating effects.

Such things can occur in all of our lives and can cause times of great discouragement and despair because we see the problem rather than the Problem Solver.

There are often times of misunderstanding and criticism that sweep over us like a tidal wave. To make matters worse, the criticism often comes from fellow believers, as in Paul's case in the book of Philippians. Worry and fear may grip our hearts and sometimes produce a spiritual paralysis that neutralizes faith and immobilizes us.

The first thing we need to do is get alone with God and let His reassuring voice speak peace to our hearts. I have found that it often is at times when I am especially busy doing kingdom work that I neglect communion with God. If this condition persists, we are in danger of spiritual starvation while a spiritual feast is spread out before us. Prayer has been pushed aside to meet the urgent needs confronting us. I know this is true from personal experience. Every time I have been caught in the slough of despair, it was because I failed to take the time to be with God and in His Word.

The amazing thing I have discovered when buffeted by Satan is the power of the Word of God to lift my despairing spirit, and the power of prayer to overcome anything Satan throws at me. It has always been amazing to me how the application of His Word and the power of prayer restore me to instant victory.

There are some things we must not forget.

We cannot overcome Satan in our own strength. He will come to hound us at any moment, but we know from God's Word that we are more than conquerors through our Lord Jesus Christ. Take time to immerse yourself in God's Word daily and never neglect prayer.

We know that Satan trembles when we bow our knees in prayer, and he flees from the Word.

So know your enemy and his strengths and weaknesses as a good general knows the enemy he faces. Be sure to put on the whole armor of God and stand in the strength of our Mighty Conqueror.

Whoever lives in the light of Christ's presence and Word will be well-able to stand every attack of the enemy and be more than a conqueror through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Dr. F. Dean Hackett has served in full-time Christian ministry since October 1971. He has ministered throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, serving as pastor, conference speaker and mentor. He has planted four churches, assisted in planting 15 others, and currently serves as lead pastor of Living Faith Church in Hermiston, Oregon. Dr. Hackett founded Spirit Life Ministries International in 2001 to facilitate ministries in Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina and to open a training center for workers in those nations. You can find him at F. Dean Hackett - Foundational,Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

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