HOLD FAST YOUR PROFESSION – pt 7‏ – HFJ53

(part 7 – pt 1 , pt 2, pt 3, pt 4, pt 5, pt 6)

God has given so many amazing confirmations since the last message!!! I mentioned in a previous message that in mid April, I felt the Lord was leading me to start going back through one of the big stacks of Scripture cards from last year of all the things He poured out for me when that big health battle began. As I’ve been going through them, it’s been amazing to see how perfectly timed they’ve been with what I’m going through now. So Sunday night, as I picked up the stack to read more, I was looking forward to seeing what God was going to speak this time. The cards I went through that night began with a word from Ivan Tait’s book (Letters from God). As soon as I saw the Scripture it was based on, I knew it was another timely word about not giving up. As I continued to read, I was AMAZED at the confirmations! Hoping it was no coincidence that I was rereading this, but that God was truly giving us that word again for this season – I almost shared it with Jesse. But then I thought/prayed, “No. Instead of showing it to Jesse and then hoping together that it’s truly rhema from YOU (God), I’m going to keep it to myself and just ask that if it truly is a NOW WORD from YOU, that You will give it to him for us TONIGHT when we go to bed.” So I said nothing to Jesse about it. By the time we got in bed, I’d forgotten that I’d asked the Lord for that specific word, but I was still praying my normal prayer that He would speak to exactly what we most needed to hear in such a way that we would KNOW it was from Him. (He continually astounds us in answer to this request).

After Jesse read from our normal confessions list, he prayed for God to give us a word and then opened Ivan’s book and began to read. We have teased each other in the past about me nearly catapulting out of bed because of the words/confirmations that God gives – but this was probably one of the most drastic instances ever. By the grace of God, Jesse survived – though my catapulting caused him to feel like his heart would also catapult out of his chest. When I heard him read the date and the title of the very word I had privately asked the Lord to give us hours earlier, I shot straight up with a loud gasp. Jesse’s adrenaline was immediately through the roof! I had to apologize profusely and then explain what happened. After his blood pressure returned to normal, he was in awe too and we drank in every word as being straight from the Lord. I will share a portion of it here:

It began by talking about how Abraham did not weaken in faith when he saw the impossibility of his circumstances, but instead he was strengthened in faith because he knew God still had the power to do what He had promised. Part of it said, “DO NOT CAVE IN! (This went along with all the words about HOLDING ON – HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION – HOLDING FAST to HIS WORD/PROMISES! HOLDING FAST TO OUR DREAMS! DON’T GIVE UP; DON’T QUIT!) REACH into Me! REACH into My Strength! STRETCH YOURSELF into the storehouse of My FAITH. I AM NOT MOVED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCE YOU ARE IN; I DECIDE WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU, AND MY DECISION FOR YOU IS MIRACLE BREAKTHROUGH. WHATEVER APPEARS IMPOSSIBLE, I WILL BRING INTO REALITY. PROCLAIM YOUR VICTORY NOW!” When I’d read it earlier in the evening, the part that said “PROCLAIM” YOUR VICTORY NOW was one of the strongest confirmations that had given me such HOPE that God was truly speaking this word to us NOW – in light of all the things He was speaking last week about PROFESSING, DECLARING, CONFESSING His Word – and especially in light of the revelation He brought back to mind that He’d given me a year or two ago from the word “PRO-CLAIM” (shared in part 2 of these HOLD FAST messages). We were so overwhelmed by God’s goodness to confirm this word for us in this undeniable way!

Then Monday morning, I turned on Joyce’s broadcast and was blown away by all the confirmations in her message: “Quitting is NOT an OPTION” (part 1) – including an emphasis on becoming “PRISONERS OF HOPE” (which I mentioned, in part 5, God had already been speaking to us in light of our battle)!!! This passage (Zechariah 9:11-12) also talks about God’s declaration that He will restore DOUBLE to us (which is especially significant for us in light of the prophetic words over 2014 about DOUBLE portion). So we felt like, by giving us this word and confirmation again, God was also telling us to hold onto that specific hope and promise, despite the attacks we’ve endured. Joyce also talked about how on the way to the fulfillment of our dreams that God will give us little glimpses, sparks of HOPE, that are enough to cause us to “HOLD ON” and not give up – believing the “impossible” things He’s promised truly can/will happen for us if we don’t quit. (I’ve included links to Joyce’s 2 part program below.) I later saw that she also posted on FB that day: “We grow spiritually when we need to HANG ON to God and we’re HANGING ON for all that we’ve got” and “Dig in with both heels and say, ‘I am never going to quit and I am never going to give up. Devil, you just go wear yourself out bothering somebody else because I am going to get from the pit to the palace and you are not going to stop me.’”

Over the weekend, we had finally watched the new Thor movie. So Monday morning, I wrote a FB post about what I felt the Lord was speaking through the “David and Goliath” scene from that movie – demonstrating the power of the WORD (represented by Thor’s HAMMER) to break the rock of stubborn opposition in our lives (Jeremiah 23:29). He also brought to mind how David had PROCLAIMED (Pro-Claimed) his VICTORY IN ADVANCE when he ran toward Goliath on the battlefield (I Samuel 17:45-46).