The King is coming. Do you know Him?

PART 1

"You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance." Psalm 65:11

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Luke 4:18-19

Happy New Year! It's a pivotal year: an "acceptable" year! It's a time of NEW BEGINNINGS with a door of hope. It's a time to PROCLAIM the acceptable (welcome, pleasing) year of the Lord and set the captives free! New means: different from one of the same category that has existed previously; of greater/superior quality; has not been known or experienced; novel--not only new but strange or unprecedented; original--applies to what is the first of its kind to exist; fresh--applies to what has not lost its qualities of newness such as liveliness, energy, brightness--such as a fresh start.

If you want to experience the new, don't look for or do the same thing. Remember the old saying, "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity."
The Word says it like this, "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead." Philippians 3:13

Doors can open right and left, but if we are not willing to leave the old behind and go forward through new, open doors, we cannot experience what God has for us on the other side of them. I'm reminded of what Alexander Graham Bell once said, "When one door closes, another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us."

We must let go of the old in order to take hold of the new.

Time to Take the Land

This is a year of confrontation because it is a year of taking the land. Did this year begin with warfare? Don't worry, the results are and will be good. It is time to take the land, and that means confronting some giants and/or things that think they are, even those things within ourselves that have held us back. Who the Lord loves, He chastens so we can be better equipped to go forward into the "more" and the "better" in the promised lands He has for us to take. It's time to shift gears and make the necessary changes in order to go up to the top of the mountain and experience those "Mountaintop Experiences!"

I'd like to make a literal point in this phrase, "Time to take the land." There are areas of the country where the price of land has gone down and it has become a "buyer's market." If you are able to take advantage of this and the Lord speaks to you to do it, this could be a good time to invest in the opportunity to literally "take the land" which the Lord would present to you.

First Things First

As I sat before the Lord seeking Him about this new year, I realized that going forward into the new, individually, we would experience the new -- to the degree we each would be willing to go forward in the newness He offers. Exponential results will occur as a direct result of our obedience to Him. However, there is also a warning that we could allow ourselves to be hindered by letting the enemy overthrow those plans by overwhelming us with emotions and feelings. This is truly a time when we need to FOCUS ON THE LORD, so that He can and will keep us in perfect peace no matter what opposing voices or circumstances may arise. This covers all areas God wants to move us in -- personally, spiritually, in business, ministry, relationally, nationally or internationally.

"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Isaiah 26:3

Seek Wisdom and Discernment

"My son, if you receive My words, and treasure My commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path." Proverbs 2:1-9

We are in a time when there are many distractions and deceptions. It's very important to be in communication with the Lord at all times, seeking His advice on how to handle every aspect of our life and to operate in the Spirit of Truth. The enemy is a liar and the father of lies, so we also need to be in the Word, using it as our ultimate plumb line. The Word challenges us to NOT "believe every spirit," but to TEST the spirits, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God." 1 John 4:1

Is there something about a situation that makes you feel unsure or uncomfortable? Even if it is a ministry situation, is there something about it that does not line up with the Word? The antichrist spirit is a religious spirit, a spirit of religious deception, meant to turn people from seeing Jesus Christ as Lord. It was already in the world back when Jesus walked the earth as a man.

"Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour." 1 John 2:18

Bottom line--stop second guessing yourself and your ability to hear from the Lord. Be willing to take the time to engage and communicate with the Lord and ask Him about situations that put a "check" in your spirit, so that you and your loved ones are protected.

Don't Bow to Controlling Spirits

The battle lines have been drawn and we must stand strong, even when being battered upon by the enemy. The only way we can do this is to submit to God and resist the devil. When we do that, it says in James 4:7 that the enemy will then flee from us. This year will also be a time to define and redefine our relationships because the Lord desires to protect us. Part of this is our responsibility, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." Proverbs 4:23

If you are a peace lover and don't like confrontation, you often put up with issues from people for a long time. But when the Lord lifts off the grace to do that, know that it is time to confront and notback down. It may cost a relationship to do that, but any relationship that puts you in a constant situation of bowing to someone else's temper tantrums, control, manipulation, disrespect, or hard-headed attitude is not a good one. This is going to be a year of confrontation with a release from these situations and relationships of control, manipulation and bondage.

For those of us who truly do want to "do what is right," we often prolong the inevitable by operating in unsanctified mercy (having mercy on people who are really not doing what is right in the first place, but are manipulating your emotions or being co-dependent upon you). We end up wasting our time on situations, being taken advantage of, robbing us of time, emotions and even money. A religious spirit can hover over us and condemn us if we try to release ourselves from the situation that make us feel "bad" or "mean" when we try to move on.

So what do we do? Well, the enemy continues to engage us as long as we refuse to confront situations that need to be handled. By allowing that to happen, we are merely prolonging our misery. While it may not be comfortable to confront these situations, we need to do so. People pleasing puts us in a position of being controlled and manipulated. It's time to fear God more than to fear man and put the axe to the root. The more we try to minimize situations that need to be confronted, the worse it becomes. It's better to handle it in the beginning than to allow the situation to grow bigger, prolonging the pain.

Plainly put, we are all learning to recognize and refuse submitting to witchcraft via controlling and manipulative powers. The best way to do that is by simply saying, "No" and refusing to allow anyone to control and manipulate us. Control is rebellion, and "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft" 1 Samuel 15:23. We must not allow anyone else to be "God" or "Holy Spirit" in our lives by submitting to them above God if we want to walk in the fullness of our purpose, calling and destiny. Additionally, others need to trust in God, not us, as their source. By making healthy boundaries, we are helping to send others on a more healthy path in the Lord as well.

Tags: Jehovah-Jireh, geographical positioning, Jonah, onboard, stagnant, enemy, kill, steal, destroy, soul, trumpet, the alarm of war, warfare, carnal, weapons, battle against the enemy, 2 Corinthians 10, Romans 8, groanings, uttered, intercession, weeping, outcome, His Sheep, Psalm 33, 1 Corinthians 1, Jeremiah 4, praying in the Spirit, house meetings, highways and byways, comforter, Acts 2, James 4, relationships, temper tantrumms, control, manipulation, disrespect, relationships of control, manipulation, bondage, devil, Spirit of Truth, controlling spirits, Isaiah 26, 1 John 4, beloved, father of lies, enemy, lies, exponential, warning, Proverbs 2, shield, discernment, justice, hidden treasures, stores, guards, paths of justice, preserves, warfare, mountain, first things first, focus on the Lord, country, market, time, acceptable, Lord, crown, goodness, paths, abundance, Psalm 65, recovery, Spirit of the Lord, anointed, Gospel, new beginnings, prclaim, captives free, captives, novel, definition, insanity, unprecedented, blind, liberty, restoration, Body of Christ, visitation, Joel 2, 2 Peter 3, Isaiah 60, Kingdom