Last Monday morning (10-8-12), as Jesse sought the Lord, in addition to his time in the Word, the Lord gave him a word from Sparkling Gems from the Greek (by Rick Renner). The word was centered around II Thessalonians 2:8
“And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.” II Thessalonians 2:8
From this passage, Rick talked about how when the Lord comes, He will destroy the enemy (the lawless one) with the breath of His mouth, and how we are now also able to overthrow the enemy in our situations by the breath of our mouths (by speaking God’s Word). When Jesse showed me the devo, of course it jumped out to me that it was about II Thessalonians 2, since that has been one of the major chapters for us in the past 2 years due to all the Lord has spoken to us. But, in addition, the Lord brought to my remembrance Isaiah 11:3-4 and Revelation 12:11 from the point Rick made.
And there shall come forth a Shoot out of the stock of Jesse [David’s father], and a Branch out of his roots shall grow and bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord— And shall make Him of quick understanding, and His delight shall be in the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord. And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, neither decide by the hearing of His ears; But with righteousness and justice shall He judge the poor and decide with fairness for the meek, the poor, and the downtrodden of the earth; and He shall smite the earth and the oppressor with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Isaiah 11:1-4
“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony….” Revelation 12:11
Years ago the Lord had spoken to me through Isaiah 11 that we too are empowered, through Him living in us, to strike the earth with the rod of our mouths and destroy the enemy and his works with the breath of our lips by speaking God’s Word. He does not want us to judge what is happening in our circumstances by what we see with our eyes or hear with our ears; we walk by faith and not by sight. We must stand on what God has told us and overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. So the Lord encouraged me through these additional confirmations of what Rick was saying.
Later that morning, as I was catching up on e-mails I’d missed while we were on our trip the previous week, I saw this one from Ed Traut:
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“The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.” 2 Kings 13:19 NIV
• In prayer, and often spiritual battle, attitude plays a paramount part in the outcome and success.
• Let us not get less than total success because we are not aggressive or believing enough for a breakthrough.
• Even when the promise or prophecy does not encourage us in a certain attitude, it is up to us, to walk by faith and obedience.
Prayer: Mighty God, I trust You and expect complete victory and blessing. Help me to maintain the right attitude and faith! (Copyright, Prophetic Life Ministries)
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The Lord had already brought this passage from II Kings to my remembrance a few times recently. And again, I believe He connected this passage from II Kings with the verse from Isaiah 11:3-4 about striking the earth with the rod of our mouths (by declaring God’s Word). I believed the Lord was encouraging me that we must continue to strike the earth with the rod of our mouths (declaring the Word He told us to speak, and standing on the promises He’s given us in relentless faith) as many times as necessary until we see the TOTAL, COMPLETE VICTORY He’s promised. We must not do this in faith only a few times and stop prematurely. He does not want us to lose our harvest through impatience and discouragement, as He’s told us over and over in the past months (and at least two more times in the days I was writing this note):
“And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.” Galatians 6:9
Even if at times we must keep pressing through pain in faith to do what the Lord has told us to do:
“Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.” Psalm 126:5-6
to be continued…
