(Part 3 – continued from same day)
“I know what I said! Listen to what I’m saying now!”
This phrase goes along with the theme from previous posts about the new thing God is doing. This does not refer to Him recanting or altering the eternal truths of His Word, but rather to Him giving us new personal direction and instruction as we walk out His call. We can’t presume that the method He wants us to use moving forward will be the same as what He told us to do in the past. The passage mentioned from Isaiah 50 above goes on to talk about those who, instead of trusting and waiting on God for direction, decide to light their own fires ~ attempting to illumine their own way. This is connected to the 2-fold test He revealed at the beginning of the year, part of which involved ~
1. Not failing to complete what He has already truly called/assigned us to do
2. Not launching out beyond what He called/assigned us to do yet in the arm of the flesh
As we seek the Lord for the divine strategies we need to take down the walls of Jericho and enter our promised land, He does not want us to illumine our own path and go forward in the strength of the flesh. He cautions us not to act in haste and miss the way. We need to seek Him wholeheartedly and get His plan. For 
some, this will not only involve hearing from the Lord for ourselves; He may also tell us to find the godly counselors who can help us receive His wisdom, knowledge, and understanding for doing the things we’ve never done, and to make sure we have His plan which cannot be thwarted.
By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. Proverbs 24:3-4
No matter how the new thing may bring alterations to previous methods and instructions, one thing that will always remain constant in our calling for the Kingdom is that it will involve laying down our lives in order to be the servant of all. We pray that each one will seek the Lord for how He is calling them to be the servant of all within their own unique calling.
“You have more power than you realize.”
In addition, this intense time of testing the remnant has been walking through is to cause us to become even more rooted and established in the reality of CHRIST IN US, the Hope of Glory, the literal LIFE-GIVING and SUSTAINING power of His Word, and the reality of His mighty resurrection power at work within us.
When the initial time of testing began at the start of the year, the Lord showed us a few general tests from the Word that we would face (which we saw before us immediately). Later, when we entered the even more intense time represented by Jesus’ 40 days, He showed us two very specific areas in our own personal lives we would be tested, and those things happened within the next weeks just as He said. But we did not feel entirely forewarned for the next test. We only knew that He was giving us Scriptures emphasizing and assuring us that HIS WORD and PROMISES PRESERVE OUR LIVES (though in hindsight we now see other words He was giving us to prepare us in advance). Once again we have seen the reality that we do not live by physical sustenance alone; we literally live and are sustained by the supernatural power of His Word and Spirit in us! Though the Lord repeatedly reminded us of the enemy’s desire to take out those whom He has called (and I don’t mean on a date ~ though for some of you it may be that too 🙂 ), God wants us to know that he cannot as long as we put on our full armor and hold to His words He’s given us ~ HIS PROMISE PRESERVES OUR LIVES! He wants us to be so established in His promises and prophecies over our lives that when all of hell threatens to stop us, we will be 
more determined than hell itself. We will know that Greater is He who is in us, that no weapon formed against us can prosper, and that not even the gates of hell can prevail against us!
He surrounded us on every side with His assurance that He already foresaw every one of our days before He ever spoke His promises to us. Nothing has taken Him by surprise. In His foreknowledge He has already seen us standing on the other side of every assault and attack of the enemy, entering our promised land in victory, and He has declared that expected end! His Word is going to endure; it is going to overcome; it is EXALTED ABOVE and TRUMPS all that could come against it; it will not return to Him empty handed; it will accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose for which He sent it. As long as we hold tightly to His Word and do not let go, it will carry us straight through to its determined destination. When we hold to the Lord and His Word we are more than conquerors; we have already won before the fight even begins. We must see ourselves through the eyes of faith, already standing in that place of victory God has promised on the other side of the battles.
Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast (fixed), trusting in the Lord. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes. Psalm 112:6-8
to be continued…
