Do you want to learn today, one of the greatest deceptions of the devil? One you are very much invested in?

Allow me share how the devil draws us into this mass deception and how we willingly surrender control of our lives over to him and his minions. It’s very subtle and most of the world population is susceptible and completely unaware that they are living their lives in agreement with this behemoth LIE!

Let’s start with the truth: We are spiritual beings living in a physical reality.

My friends, the greater reality is the spiritual realm. We are spirits, FIRST. God breathed into us life and spirit.

Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. —GENESIS 2:7 

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? —1 CORINTHIANS 3:16

We are a spirit, connected through a soul to a physical body, destined to live in a created, physical, world.

So, here is the lie. Satan has constructed elaborate and sophisticated deceptions screens in every area of our society that nearly all of humanity lives merely within our 3D existence. Think about it. Science is completely based upon the premise that what is real or “provable” is witnessed by our fives senses. I remember having this very conversation with my husband in our early years.

“What about supernatural stuff that happens on earth such as….” I would rattle off things like what are lightning balls? What about miracle healings? What about levitation?”

These are legitimate supernatural, unprovable, phenomenon. He response, “Well just as science proved the world was round and not flat, the discovery or explanation will come in the future.”

At that point I didn’t have a response. After all, doesn’t that sound reasonable? However, I’m older and wiser now. I’ll state unequivocally, the supernatural realm, the spiritual realm, is absolutely real. And in fact, the spirit realm is the greater reality.

We are spiritual beings having a physical experience. So the colossal deception is that there is nothing more than the physical realm.

And this is where satan wants us to live. So this is what he will do to keep us away from our true nature and the greater reality. He will throw everything at us in this natural realm to overwhelm our mind and heart with physical problems.

Think about it. Pain, disease, financial difficulty. He keeps us toiling away in a job that is unfulfilling, controlling us through a difficult boss, a range of breakdowns in our relationships, our marriage, with our children. He works to create chaos at every turn because we will be driven to focus on how to navigate this “new” problem in the natural.

The devil works in the small to the overwhelming. One thing, upon another. A rock in the windshield, a sick child, you miss work, fall behind, boss is angry. The dishwasher quits. There is a flood in the downstairs bathroom, your facing loneliness, Covid, fear of the unknown, and a mountain of debt.

Currently, I’ve never witnessed so many believers standing under blow-upon-blow of health issues, financial crisis, marriage crisis, etc. It feels like a relentless siege. And it is.

BUT…… This is where our years of training come into play. Year upon year, you rose from your warm bed and chose to pursue God instead of sleeping for 30 minutes more. Year upon year, you read books that filled your spirit. You filled your mind and heart with the Word of God. All the time you invested into relationship with the Trinity, the maturing of your faith, the development of faith practices now come back to carry you over the siege.

When you feel underwater and it looks like no way out, this is when you go back to what you have known and practiced for years. You take a minute and tell the devil, “YOU CAN’T STEAL MY FAITH!” 

“I am fully aware of the spiritual realm. I know my Father in Heaven. I stand under the blood covenant of Yeshua. With great purpose, today I choose to remember all that God has done and said in the past.” 

“I choose to live out of my true reality that I am seated in the heavenly realms with Christ. This is my victory over all the works of hell.”

When this life on earth begins to consume you, you can bet the devil is behind it. This is the moment you can be assured that you are headed into one of your GREATEST breakthroughs.

You are standing on holy ground.

Take time to remove your sandals, to refocus on the greater reality, give thanks to God, Yeshua, and Spirit. Realign with heaven because that is our greater reality.

Do you agree?

I love you my dear, dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Stay strong in the Lord for surely, we shall see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living. Hallelujah

By Martha Bush

“There are three people here tonight who need Jesus,” the minister had said at the close of his sermon. Immediately, two people raised their hands, and what followed next was an eerie silence that swept over the congregation that seemed as long as eternity.

Tightly clutching the pew in front of me, I opened my eyes to scan the worshippers while screaming within, “Where is that other person? Speak up; it’s time to go home!”

The silence continued to linger heavily over the large sanctuary. And then it happened. The gentle convicting power of the Holy Spirit nudged me, and I knew my time of running from the Lord was up. And with that, I broke the long silence that had prevailed by raising my hand and confessing, “I am that other person who needs Jesus tonight.”  The minister responded, “I knew you were, Martha; that is why I waited so long.”

Say what? Had the minister and the Holy Spirit been co-operating together to reel me in from years of making excuses as to why I wasn’t ready to accept the Lord?  Well, obviously!

You see, I had been brought up in a very strict denominational church where the salvation message was a lot of dos and don’ts.  Salvation wasn’t very appealing to me. It appeared as though I would have to give up everything fun, so I wasn’t interested. But, Pastor Edgar Bethany in Atlanta, Georgia, had made an impact on me. Gone were the type of sermons from my past that had condemned me to hell. What I really liked about him was the way he closed each sermon, “Jesus loves you and I do, too. The Bible says, ‘Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.’”  (James 4:8 NKJV)

So, in those final moments, a gentle voice within me seemed to be saying, “Just draw near to Me; I will help you straighten out all the dos and don’ts that have plagued you for so long. I want a relationship with you.”

And with that salvation experience behind me, I left church that night eager to start my relationship with Jesus. I couldn’t get enough of God’s Word. I often visualized myself as being on the hillside, seated among the multitudes, spell-bound by His teachings. Or walking along the seashore with Jesus hand-in-hand, growing my relationship with Him.

As time went on, quite surprising to me, I discovered that, although Jesus spoke on many subjects, His favorite subject seemed to be The Kingdom of God. Sometimes as He was teaching, I noticed that He would also give reference to it by saying: The Kingdom of God is here; The Kingdom of God is in your mist; The Kingdom of God is among you.

All of which adds up to its meaning as: The Rule of God

Where there was sickness-----Jesus healed.  

When the tormented and deranged came to Him-----Jesus cast out demons.                         

When more wine was needed for a wedding-----Jesus turned the water into wine. 

When storms came up-----Jesus rebuked them.

When death occurred-----Jesus raised the dead.

Whenever Jesus went, His power was pushing back Satan’s power, and He was RULING  over areas that Satan was trying to steal, kill, and destroy in the lives of  God’s people. 

For clarification, there is The Kingdom of God the Bible talks about as a future event when Satan will be bound. (Matthew 26:29; Revelation 20:4-6)  But, in our present time, Jesus calls us to partner with Him to rule and reign NOW on this earth to destroy the work s of the devil.  

What would that look for us: 

• when our thoughts are ruled by God,
• when bills are paid and money is left over to give away,
• when sickness give way to health,
• when marriages are restored,
• when prodigals come home,
• when the Spirit is moving freely in our churches,

that is the Kingdom of God Ruling, which makes us Kingdom People here on earth.

Back to my own salvation experience:  When I left church that night, I entered into a peace I had never had before, even though I had grown up in church. How well I recall when I was a teenager riding home from church in the back seat of my daddy’s car silently praying, “Lord, please don’t let my daddy have a wreck; I am not saved, and I don’t want to go to hell.”

So believe me when I say that the greatest gift Jesus has given us is eternal life. But, I have to believe that He wants us to have Salvation Plus More - -life and life more abundantly while here on this earth, and that comes by partnering with Him in destroying the works of the devil in our lives, family, church, and our nation.

Lynn wrote two books, Marching Around Jericho and Kingdom Conversations, as well as uses this website to teach about The Kingdom and how to live victoriously through Christ.

Let's join with her and bring it on!  More on this subject next week.

What are your thoughts on The Kingdom of God?

25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”

—HEBREWS 12:25-28

Here are a few tips I learned while in the shaking:

*Through this process I reached out to people I haven’t spoken to in a while. Forgiveness came immediately. Weird, as I thought I’d worked through so much unforgiveness. But, I sat in the parking lot of a Home Goods store and I felt my soul release all bitterness, anger and unforgiveness. I’ve cried a lot these last few weeks. I could see how the devil kept me away from people who hurt me in the past. And in my avoidance, I was robbed of intimacy, love and goodness. Grrrrrrr.

Damn, the devil!!!!!!

Hear me now, crying heals the soul. So, let the sobs come. Stock up on Kleenex.

When you can’t pray. Just tell Father, I can’t pray. Help me.

*About the only thing I could pray was a three-letter sentence: HELP ME JESUS.

Over and again. This is enough when the ground had fallen away from our feet.

*Tell someone. You need to share with someone you trust. Let them know. Ask them to pray.

Having a few people hold me up while I walked through the earthquakes, was critical. You need relationships with those whom you are completely transparent, and they accept you for you. Rare, to find. And if you don’t have them, Jesus is enough. Truly.

*Remember the past.

I made myself call to my remembrance the encounters and experiences I’ve had with God. The miraculous, the tangible physical presence. These memory stones were my anchor when the devil was working to destroy my life.

Today, as I write, I'm returning to my fiery self. I know who I am and Whos I am. AND NOW..... It's payback time BABY!  Schedule a prayer session soon. I've got enough fire and authority for both of us!!

As I’m on the tail end of my shaking, I’m curious. What helpful lessons and steps can you share with me and others that helped you retain your sanity, faith and hope? Leave me a word in the comments.

By Martha Bush

For the past three weeks, we have traveled together on a journey that spanned a thirty-year- period between the 1960’s through the 1990’s, as we caught a glimpse of the effects Society and The Church had on one another, both positive and negative. Last week, we talked about what it personally meant to be a Living Sacrifice for Jesus, no matter what is going on in Society and The Church around us. (Links to previous posts:    Part 1   Part 2   Part 3)

To our readers who live outside the United States, thank you for hanging in there with me in describing events that, in some cases, seemed to be more connected to America. Today’s blog applies to all of us, as we take a glimpse at the 2000’s, and what is ahead in the world we live in.

I just suspect that when telling your children and grandchildren about the history of the first two decades in 2000, high on your list will be the year 2020 - - The World Wide Pandemic and The Presidential Election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, which also made news around the world. 

Webster online Dictionary Defines History as: the study of PAST events, particularly in human affairs that covers all aspects of human society: political, social, economic, scientific, technological, medical, cultural, intellectual, religious, military developments.

As the saying goes, "you can’t re-write history - -it is what it is."  However, as Christians we can be an instrument the Lord uses in shaping the history of the future.  Our world has been traumatized this past year by so much death, isolation, sickness, financial disaster, anxiety, insecurity, and fear.  If The Church has ever needed to minister to our world, it is now.

I submit three points to consider if we are to be an effective witness. I believe before the Lord moves upon the world, and bring Revival that we all have prayed for, He first wants to move in HIS OWN CHILDREN. I put my name at the top of the list saying, "Change me, Lord, change me." 

1. Seek the Lord For How He Has Called You Personally to be a Living Sacrifice for Him (Romans 12:1 and Matthew 10.)

As noted in Part 3, sacrificial living will be different for each person, but,  as His disciple, each of us must pick up our cross and follow Him, wherever that might be.

 2. Humble Yourself (11 Chronicles 7:14 and Matthew 6:6)

Pastor Jon Colyer, Gateway Christian Center, West Bromwich England, summed these verses up well, and I quote:  “It is possible our land can be healed, but we must humble ourselves and quit looking at others. You cannot humble someone else, only yourself. Go into your secret place as in Matthew 6:6. In your secret place is where there are things God wants to do in you.  That is where humility happens – in your secret place.   Then when you pray, He will heal our land. Prayer changes others; seeking God’s face changes you.”

3. Realize That We Can’t Go Back to Life As We Once Knew It - -the old ways won’t work anymore.

To explain what I mean by #3, I would like to share with you a prophetic word that was given in a Bible study I was attending in 1990. Irene Farley, Orange Texas, spoke this word that I believe is fitting for this hour: 

There is a shaking going on in the land to shake up the pattern of the things of man. For I have a plan that won’t fit you see, for it’s a plan that’s ordained by me.

So yield to the shaking that’s going on in you. Let me shake you through and through. Let me change your thinking,  for I have a new way that I want to reach you.

I’m passing through the land in this day you see, to show man a new way that will bring them closer to me. So, draw not back to what’s going on within you, but let me shake you, and shake you, and shake you through and through.

For you see the changing of the season in the natural and how it affects your natural man. Well, do you think that it’s a strange thing that my plan will affect your spiritual man? So, yield even to me as my seasons change for thee for as they’re changing from hot to cold that’s the way it’s going to be. But, the cold only lasts for a short season and then springtime comes again. So, yield to this time, my people, so that you might fit in when it changes again.

(End of Prophecy)

I personally experienced a shaking as never before during that time period, but I have got a feeling that there is still more to be shaken.  Lynn spoke of a shaking she has gone through recently in her blog last Friday. What about you?  Do you feel a little rumbling going on inside of you? 

In the comments, describe how you feel the Lord wants you to partner with Him in bringing His Kingdom Rule to the world around us today—2021.

This concludes this series. Thank you for joining me on this Journey Through History of Society and The Church 

Wherever the Spirit of the Lord is Moving,
Move with it!  

25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”

—HEBREWS 12:25-28

I’ve read this passage a million times. It’s been on Facebook posts, memes on Instagram, quoted by influencers and included in pastor’s messages. I would read this passage and think, This is awesome. God, I want You to shake things up in this world and shake off anything in me or around me that must be shaken.

Up until recently, I thought of this passage with a delightful expectation. After all, I’m fully aware that there are a lot of situations and also people who need Jesus to firmly grip them on the shoulders and give them a “good shake.”

You?

Ya, but it’s something very different when this passage becomes your life.

I’ve been standing on sinking sand in areas I wasn’t aware. Ugh! It makes me so mad to even make this statement. I’ve done so much work in prayer and practice to step into a life of holiness. Truly. And indeed, I do walk in great power, authority, and maturity. I’m not prideful when I say this. I’ve done years and years of work in obedience to gain the Lord’s trust and favor. HARD WORK! Laboring before God.

Many of you have benefited from prayer sessions because I’ve laid down so much to gain the ears and eyes of Jesus. And I’m so humbled to have prayed with many and be present as Jesus shows up to heal, touch, love, and restore His beloved Bride.

But since January 4^th of this year, I’ve walked through the shaking of a life-time. I’ll be transparent and admit that twice I experienced an existential crisis in my faith, my life, and future.

Wow!

There are two things I want to share with you about the last four-five weeks that I’ve learned.

GOD IS ALL WE HAVE!

GOD IS ENOUGH AND HE IS THE ONLY THING RELIABLE.

Although I do believe we are surrounded by people, friends and family, who would rush to our side in our time of need, God is what will sustain you when your entire world falls apart.

Even if you doubt. Even if you go through such wild circumstances that you feel like you are watching your life from above. Even when He wakes you in the middle of the night to explain to you what you need to know or learn. (I’ve had weeks of sleepless nights, ugh! AND God has spoken to me about things I didn’t know, misconceptions, out-right lies I believed, and areas of my life that could be better.)

Secondly, if you haven’t been through a shaking, my friends, God will bring it.

GULP!

Because once all has been shaken, you truly are positioned to pray down principalities and recast the future for millions. I truly believe this.

Are you shaking? I want to be your friend. If your life has shaken apart, I’ll be one sole survivor who will assure you that God will show you many things you didn’t know. He will love you and restore that which is of Him. He will never stop loving you. Even when you are mad, sad, glad, confused, and exhausted.

HE IS ALL WE NEED! I truly know this deep within.

Next week I’ll share a few tips to carry when you are toppling in the shaking. They are lifelines.

I love you so much. I have a deeper love for our Father, Jesus and Spirit and for broken people.

I LOVE YOU! In His grace, Lynn