Obedience opens the door for God to use us mightily, even in ways which may not seem mighty to us at the time. Ministering into the life of a friend, loved one, co-worker, or even stranger on the street could pay spiritual dividends in the future that we can scarcely imagine. Thinking that we know better than God, or allowing ourselves to get so frustrated that we lean on our own understanding instead of God’s can have unintended consequences. Obedience means surrendering ourselves and our will to do things God’s way. And the benefits of living life God’s way are numerous. And it would also be appropriate to say, Life is deeper, more purposeful and more meaning fulfil when we do it God’s way! Obedience becomes essential as the darkness grows deeper. Doing life God’s way has eternal benefits!
Deuteronomy 28 details the blessings that accompany obedience that God offered His people of Israel. The scripture starts in Deuteronomy 28:1: “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.” When Israel was obedient, indeed they were set high above all of their neighbors. The kingdoms of David and Solomon while they were obedient to God were very blessed. David’s Israel was blessed militarily, and Solomon’s was blessed economically. Israel’s days of obedience were numbered, and due to repeated idolatry and wickedness, we know that God eventually allowed them to be carried into exile. Let us not surrender the blessings that the obedience of our ancestors purchased through pain and tears! Even if multiple others disregard Bible principles and morals the only wise path for us as believers is to do as Noah did and listen and obey the voice of God. Our obedience may very well lead to the salvation of many!
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” Being obedient and surrendered in our Christian walk enhances our ability to war successfully against the enemy. It keeps our communion and relationship with the Lord alive and uncluttered and gives the Holy Spirit greater access to move in us and through us. Daniel 11:32 says, “The people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.” God is recruiting His people as warriors in this hour. The book of Daniel has noteworthy accounts of 4 of God’s young men who were used mightily of the Lord, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. These warriors were set above others in a land of exile. Each was poised as a potential for martyrdom. In each case God delivered and spared them. Their mindset of regard for God and His Word was an issue of no compromise and deemed worth dying for! Do we want to participate in great exploits when they are needed? It’s time to prepare!
Praise GOD for the full moon this month.
Declare that as the moon has waxed into fullness this month, so shall you receive a double portionof the prophetic release which will wax to fullness during this season.
Command the full moon to declare the glory of GOD alone and reject every other instruction fromany other source that is not ordained by GOD -Psa. 19.
Proclaim Zech 9:15-17; In this month, command the full moon to praise GOD. As the enemy comesin like a flood, as he comes as a terror by night or shoots arrows that fly by noonday, the Word of theLORD will be your shield and buckler. Psalm 91
Ask Jesus who is the Conquering King, to ride forth victoriously on behalf of righteousness, humility,and truth during the full moon season. Every enemy instruction for the full moon to strike therighteous by night will be returned to sender as the moon rejects every other instruction except thatwhich is from the LORD Psa 45.3-6
During full moon seasons the gravitational pull of the moon on the earth causes an ebb and flow ofwaters resulting in tidal action and instability of the waters on earth even in bodies of all creatures.
Pray that the waters of your body will stabilize and be still during the full moon season when thewaters ebb and flow, and body fluids are also affected adversely.
Ask the LORD to be the stability ofyour times. Pray this for your economy and for the political landscape in your territory.
Just as our obedience to the voice of the Lord gives us more fulfillment in life, disobedience can have the opposite effect. Saul’s disobedience to the Word of the Lord delivered through the prophet Samuel was the beginning of the end of Saul’s kingship over Israel. Saul had specific instructions from the Lord to spare none in dealing with the Amalekites, including the animals.
I Samuel15:22-23says,“So Samuel said, ‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.’” We have no doubt Israel suffered due to Saul’s disobedience. Disobedience often times carries painful penalties that could have been avoided. Saul’s son Jonathan, a noble friend of David died in battle. Is it possible his death could have been avoided under a different king?
Ananias and Sapphira are well known Bible names from Acts 5, but there is another perhaps lesser-known Ananias who was a humble and obedient servant and prophet. This Ananias played a key role in the Apostle Paul’s conversion and call. Paul on the road to Damascus was blinded by divine Light. As he was waiting and pondering God’s visitation God clearly spoke to Ananias to go to Paul. In spite of his major objections probably including fear, Ananias went. He feared disobedience to God more that he feared man! Paul was healed as Ananias prayed and was launched into his call and true ministry as Ananias prophesied. Obedience to God has an element of humility. It is a ‘bowing of the knee’ within. It is our unspoken way of declaring, ‘You, God know the beginning from the end and Your thoughts, ways and plans, I elevate above my own.’ When we choose obedience to God we are always making the wisest choice. Proverbs 22:4 says, “By humility and the fear of the Lord Are riches, honor and life.” One has to wonder if this obscure saint smiled every time he heard mention of the Apostle Paul and Paul’ journeys and fruit. May God give each of us something of this magnitude to smile about!
Once Gideon settled the issue, it is not who I am but who God is that counts, his next hurdle was proving that it was God talking to him. He asked for a sign as he offered an offering. God answered by fire and Gideon perceived the angel was real and God was indeed talking to him! Faith came to obey the direction he was getting and God.
proved Himself to be for the nation of Israel! God was patient with Gideon as Gideon became a confident warrior through various assignments. When it came to the key battle defeating Midian, Gideon’s army used as their weapons what God had instructed. – a trumpet, pitcher, and a torch. What an unlikely array of war weapons!
God calls us to obey him over our own desires or pleasures. It makes sense that Christ said that it is a narrow road which leads to salvation. Often, we have to use our faith on our flesh to obey God. Is it any wonder the Apostle Paul said, I die daily. Walking that road requires surrender and obedience to God, and when we begin walking on that road is when we position ourselves to be used by Him! Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts.
Gideon was threshing grain in secret to hide from an oppressive, ruling enemy. The Angel of the Lord appeared and told him that God was with him. In answer, Gideon replied, ‘That can’t be true because an enemy is ruling our nation and we don’t see God ‘s Hand intervening!’ The angel replied in layman ‘s terms, ‘Stand up and lead, and you will defeat them!’ Gideon’s argument came from his identity, “O my Lord how can I save Israel? my clan is the least in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” Is the issue, who we are? Or is the issue, who God is!
In Isaiah 57:15 says, “For thus says the High and Loft One Who inhabits eternity, whose name if Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place With him who has a contrite and humble spirit. To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.’” Gideon was in a perfect place to be used of God and so are we! God’s indwelling Presence and our obedience paired together spell victory!
A vital issue for everyone in the true church is how we conduct ourselves in the face of supernatural demonic opposition! Two identical incidents from the life of King David demonstrate the core issue of life must come from a relationship with God built on our obedience! As soon as David became king, the Philistines came against him! David inquired of God, ‘Shall I fight them where they are?’ God answered and David had a great victory. Once again not too long after the Philistines returned to the same place for war. In 2 Samuel 5:23-24 David again inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines…?” God said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” Obedience each time was a key. The precursor each time was David’s heart to seek, hear and do what God said! Do we inquire of the Lord for our plans and decisions? Our very life one day may depend on it!
When God requires obedience from us, He doesn’t merely want partial obedience. Nor does He want obedience that involves the manipulation of our circumstances to make things more favorable for us. When God has an assignment for us to do in a certain way, He wants us to do it in that way. He doesn’t want us trying to strategize another way of doing things which may seem better to us at the time. We know from Scripture that God’s ways are not our ways, and they are higher than our ways! When we try to accomplish a task that God has given us in a way outside of what God tells us, the work we accomplish becomes more our work than God’s, and this was the problem with what Moses did at Meribah. By striking the rock with the staff, the people might have thought that it was by Moses and Aaron’s power, or the power of the staff itself that the waters sprung forth. God specifically says to Moses that his actions did not “hallow [God] in the eyes of the children of Israel.” And it was for this that Moses’ ministry would end before the people entered the Promised Land.
A key event in Moses’ life began in Numbers 20, long before his actual death, and it was in a moment of extreme frustration that Moses disobeyed the Lord and thus disqualified himself from entering the Promised Land. When the Israelites were grumbling and complaining at the Lord and at Moses yet again, God told Moses and Aaron to assemble the people, and to speak to the rock at Meribah, and the Lord would bring forth water out of the rock. God wanted to remind the people of Israel of His power and His provision for them. Moses in his anger at the continued rebellion of the Israelites, disregarded what God had said, and instead of speaking to the rock, in his flesh he struck the rock twice with his staff. Surprisingly enough, this act still caused the waters to spring forth from the rock of Meribah! After this, though, God reproved Moses for his disobedience and pronounces a judgment. Moses would not be permitted to enter the Promised Land with the people. Joshua would take the people into the Promised Land and establish the boundaries of their inheritance!
Crescents and Quarter Moons
When the moon is shaped like a C or its mirror image (Sickle), it is considered a crescent moon. The quartermoon is shaped like a D or its mirror image and considered to be a bow.
The occult will use the bow shapedmoon to shoot arrows of wickedness to the unsuspecting in order to draw unfair advantage in various areas of life. The occult uses the crescent moon as sickles (e.g. Hecate’s sickle), for harvesting the gains of theignorant and for demonic strength and fortification with intense enchantments.
Proclaim Psalm 148 and command all creation especially the crescent and Quarter moons to praise GOD as instructed in Psalm 19.
Proclaim Psalm 64 and fasten that judgment into the heavens.
Proclaim Isa 26:1-9 and command the heavens to receive this instruction and reject every other voice of destruction; pray for strength and fortification, “Trust in the LORD forever: for in the LORDJEHOVAH is everlasting strength”. Isa 26:4
GOD abhors enchantment so He warned His people not to be involved in enchantment. (Lev 19:26b)
Pray that the occult, involved in intense enchantment will equally and certainly face the fierce wrathof GOD. Is 13:9.
Strategic Level Prayer Journal 