It is not just in America that there is a rising clash between light and darkness. As the biblical prophets foresaw, this will be a worldwide conflict at the end of the age. The Lord, His apostles, and His prophets all gave instructions for how to prepare for this. This is not something that we should dread, but rather be honored that we were chosen to live at such a time as this—to see the glory of The Lord revealed and His ultimate victory over that which has kept the earth in bondage.
As we have repeatedly covered, The Lord said that when we see these things we must 1) stand up, 2) look up, and 3) rejoice because our redemption is near. We must never lose our resolve to stand for what we believe, without compromise or surrendering an inch before the enemies of the cross. We have this courage because we keep our eyes on things above, on Him who sits on the throne above all rule and authority and dominion. If we do these things, we will have the joy of The Lord, which is our strength. Joy is a hallmark of those who follow The Lord.
Even so, we are entering the ultimate battle of the ages. It is fatal to go into any battle without the will to win. We are assured in Isaiah 60:1-3 and other prophecies that those who carry the glory of The Lord will win, and that the nations will come to the brightness of their rising. We have this sure word of God that cannot fail, so we must resolve that we are fighting for total victory, not just to take some ground back. There are important defensive strategies we must employ at times, but you never win while playing defense. Our goal must be to go on the offensive, to seize the initiative and not relinquish it until the victory is complete.
It is a basic military principle that you cannot defeat an enemy that you cannot see. We must see and understand what we are fighting against in order to defeat it. Scripture warns that we are not to be ignorant of the enemy’s schemes or strategies. Knowing these gives us a great advantage. They are easy to understand because they have not changed since the beginning of human history. Yet, the enemy does use different disguises and facades to continually implement his strategies through unexpected sources. We must discern those he is using today.
The battle is on three levels: personal, for the church, and for our nations. There are different ways that we fight on each of these levels, but there are also some ways that are common to each. We will cover these in more depth as we continue this study, but basic to fighting in all areas is to know who we are called to be and what we are called to do. That is the ground we must take and never surrender. Every individual, every church congregation, and every nation is in the “Valley of Decision.” Every nation is right now facing the challenges that will determine if it is a “sheep” or a “goat” nation when The Lord returns.
Most of my life, my teachings and writings have been devoted to the church and our purpose as Christians. It was about two decades ago that I was called to go deeper in understanding our national heritage and purpose. I was given this as a priority in 2014, though I will always continue with strengthening and preparing individual Christians and the body of Christ for the times. All of these are intertwined, so to be victorious in one will mean victory in the others as well. This is why now in virtually all of my teachings and messages, I address each of these levels.
In II Corinthians 13:5, we are told to “test yourselves to see if you are in the faith.” This means that we should evaluate ourselves regularly to see where we are in our Christian growth. I’ve tried to do this each year, especially to see areas of weaknesses or strongholds in my life that must be overcome. Though I have reached many people and accomplished many things, as recently as five years ago I was only walking in a fraction of the power, authority, and victory I should have been walking in. A fresh resolve came into my life in 2014, and since then I have had victories over strongholds that have hindered me for a long time. Best of all, I have gotten closer to The Lord each year. Last year was the best year of my life, by far, and this year is going much better! I wake up virtually every day with inexpressible joy in The Lord and hope for the future. This hope is based on what I have been shown.
We may look at the body of Christ and think it has not done well. Presently, the body of Christ overall is less than 10% of what it is called to be. I am not discouraged by this. I look at it as the incredible upside that we have. Even though we are still but a fraction of what we are called to be, the body of Christ is still the most powerful entity on the planet by far. Just think what it will be like when it gets to 20%!
A great encouragement I have is that I see some of the same things working in the body of Christ that began working in me before the breakout of my soul in 2014. I can also see them in our country. What happened in me personally was a spiritual awakening beyond anything I had experienced before. Before this, I had a life of spectacular spiritual experiences, encounters with The Lord, and revelation on many things. I thought I was doing well and had no idea that there was about to be such a breakout and acceleration in my spiritual life. I’ve had greater encounters, and more revelation in the last five years than in the previous forty-five, and it continues to increase. I think the body of Christ and our nation are about to have similar experiences. These are called “awakenings.”
You don’t have to wait for the body of Christ, or the nation, to have your awakening. It is up to you when you have yours. If you seek Him you will find Him. How bad do you want Him? The coming “Great Awakening” will be fired and fueled by the many individuals who led by not waiting to be led. These will have pressed beyond the spiritual limits of their associates, resolving that they had to have more of Him, now!
