Note 5 – Part 1 (Navigation forward and backward at bottom of screen. Links to Previous notes also at end of part 4)
The Lord is blowing our minds! I believe He is definitely trying to prepare us (His people) to be able to endure to the end no matter what comes.
On 2-14, I mentioned “He has continued the kinds of words…about the necessity of becoming FEARLESS, now urging us that it is going to take “GUTS,” require us to be spiritually “TOUGH“, and TOTALLY COMMITTED in order to make it all the way to our goal. As in 2012, He has been telling us again to pray for “conviction” to the point of being “FULLY PERSUADED” regarding our calling and His promises. …” (Receiving Egypt as a Reward, see also Something’s Afoot)
In addition, throughout last week, phrases such as “Jesus doesn’t call us to be comfortable; He calls us to be Christlike“ and (He doesn’t call us to be comfortable, but) “…to be conformed to the image of Christ“ kept coming to my heart/mind. When I saw the JHM devo on Saturday (2-15), I realized He was continuing to confirm these things:
“Happiness begins with an absolute COMMITMENT to Christ. There are two groups of people who came to hear Jesus’ sermon about happiness (the sermon on the Mount): the disciples, who have made an absolute commitment to follow Jesus, and the multitudes, a curious mob committed to nothing. A disciple is someone who has forsaken all to follow Christ. Jesus established the entrance requirements early on when He said, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever will loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:37-39). Jesus does not call us to a life of CONVENIENCE. He calls us to a life COMMITMENT.“
Last week, the Lord also gave us a series of words based on Hebrews 11:1 and we’ve been praying for further revelation about what He’s asking us to do in response. Yesterday He tied that passage together with other recent themes! (see end) Continuing the “Get Your Super On…” theme, He also gave us several words about “HEROES” (and Champions) last week (about Jesus as our HERO/Champion and that He calls us to be as well). And along the vein of our need to become spiritually “TOUGH,” He brought back to remembrance the passage from Psalm 105 He’s given us often since 2011, saying that He wants His IRON TO ENTER OUR SOULS (Ps 105:17-22 -see v.18 in the Amplified version). Talk about getting our “Super” on ~ He wants us to become spiritual IRONMEN / IRONWOMEN! He showed us a film where the everyday hero (who didn’t consider himself a hero) demonstrated exactly the kind of attitude the Lord’s been telling us we must develop toward our enemies in the spiritual realm ~ FEARLESS, INDOMITABLE, FULLY PERSUADED that he would be VICTORIOUS in EVERY BATTLE before the fight even began!
At the end of note 4, part 4, I referred to a note I’d written at the beginning of September last year, but never posted. The fact that a note was sitting in my drafts which had a title very similar to the message the Lord was speaking to us through the Hobbit came to mind repeatedly last week. So we finally reread it Saturday night (2-15) as we prepared to post The Hobbit note. We were IN AWE to discover it was full of confirmations of some of these precise things the Lord was just emphasizing to us again. So here’s the note from September 2013:
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Several weeks ago we saw a news segment about Israel’s enemies methodically gaining ground. This story highlighted the nontraditional strategy being used to show that this is not occurring through overt acts of war, but rather through their adversaries infiltrating, settling in areas, pushing them out, and thus, slowly claiming piece by piece of land. Many believe there is an urgent need for Israel to awaken to what’s happening, begin to stand their ground, and reverse the situation before they find themselves overtaken (…or facing war).
Once again, I believe the Lord was showing us that what’s happening in the natural realm is mirroring the spiritual realm in our nation and the nations. In this comparison, Israel represents the 
church. In the same way, the Lord has been saying that we must awaken, begin to stand our ground, and take back the territory that’s been lost. I wish I could say He’s assured us that this can be accomplished simply and without opposition. Instead, He’s continuing to speak of the need to allow His iron to enter our souls that we become immovable, unbreakable, unshakeable, and unstoppable regardless of what hell brings against us. When Jesse asked what message we were to share about this, He led him to this word:
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Become More Determined Than Hell Itself!
(excerpts from Rick Renner – added emphasis mine)
“If you’re going to do something mighty for God, you have to throw yourself into the call of God and do what is needed, regardless of whether or not it is CONVENIENT to you. The fact is, doing what God has called us to do must be paramount in our lives – more important than any COMFORT or PLEASURE. Like the examples we see in the lives of Jesus and the apostle Paul, we must be willing to do anything required or go to any length to do exactly what God has assigned to us. Of course God wants His people to be blessed! But a believer shouldn’t start complaining just because He runs into an attack of the devil that affects the level of COMFORT he is accustomed to. And if he’s asked to do…more than what is usually asked of him, he shouldn’t start griping that the extra task is not part of his job description. …
To push the forces of hell out of the way, you have to be more determined than hell itself. You have to be willing to do anything necessary to get the job done. The vision before you must be more important than your own personal PLEASURE. When you adopt this mentality for your life you will always push through hard times and take significant territory for the Kingdom of God.”
to be continued… (part 2 here)
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