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The 5 kings of Makkedah-#1 in series Adoni-Zedek

4/16/2018

This week I will be sharing with you parts of a sermon I preached at my local church on Sunday. Many had never heard about the 5 kings of Makkedah. Some people have asked for my notes, and several wanted a CD, so I thought I would share with you as well. We find the story in the Book of Joshua.

The story in Joshua 10 reads:

Verse 10. "...so the Lord routed them before Israel…and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah...." Verse 16," But these five kings had fled and hidden themselves in a cave at Makkedah...." Verse 24, "So it was, when they brought out those kings to Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the captains of the men of war who went with him, 'Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings.' And they drew near and put their feet on their necks. Verse 25, "Then Joshua said to them, 'Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.'"

Today, I want to share with you the meaning of the first king whose name is Adoni-Zedek, king of Jerusalem, before the Israelites took possession. Then each day this week I will share another meaning of a king with you, until we finish all 5 kings. This king's name represents a spirit of oppression that leads to injustice, fear, poverty, confusion and defeat. This spirit is after your peace and tries to instill worry and fear. The oppression can cause head pain and constriction in the chest.

You may be asking do these spirits still exist today? Spirits are never dying. They work for heaven or hell. They may be defeated but as with all spirits from hell they are lawless. They do what their father of lies whose name is Satan does, they kill, steal and destroy. We have power over these evil spirits, but we must use our authority given to us in Christ Jesus.

Praise God the Lord threw down large hailstones from heaven to slay these kings. We use the word of the Lord and the power Christ death and resurrection provided for us. Our help truly comes from the Lord. I have learned to look up as that is where my help comes from. I no longer look down and hang my head. Jehovah is the banner over me and He our refuge.

The sermon that I preached this past Sunday is available at out bookstore. Click here to purchase the single CD of the sermon for $5.00. https://squareup.com/store/rci-bookstore

Tomorrow, I will share on the second of the 5 kings whose name is Hoham, king of Hebron, who represents the spirit of religion. Begin today to break the neck of your peace stealer. Refuse to worry and be in fear, but rather in all things and in all ways give thanks to Lord our God and King; because His love endures forever! He is the banner over us!

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Sunshine affects people.

4/13/2018

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Maybe because it's Friday and it's been a long week. Maybe because the sun was shining today and the temperature went to 81 degrees. Whatever the reason the windows on the cars came down and people stuck their arms out there car windows. The music from the radios, or CD's, or bluetooth connections were louder than normal. People were looking through their rearview mirrors at the people behind them. I know because I was watching them.

If you read my Blog daily, you might know me. I am a high Melancholy Choleric. So, somedays I am more into details and think deeply and yes, become a bit philosophical. Perhaps I will jot this down as one of those days. I began to wonder why the sun had such a transforming effect? That's when I realized that I was having a bit of an epiphany. This sudden revelation or insight came as I was considering this scripture.

Matthew 4:16 NIV "the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

That's when it dawned on me. The sun shines everyday. Somedays we don't see it. We may not feel it. But, the sun is shiny nevertheless. When people actually see the sun however it changes them. When they can't actually see the sun or feel it they think it's not there.

Isn't that the way people feel about "The Son"? Jesus the son of God whom they cannot see and they can't feel, they doubt the existence. The God of this world has blinded them. Mark 8:18 KJV "Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?" 2 Corinthians 4:14 KJV "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." However, when the Son shines into their darkness and they have an encounter with Him like Paul did, they will forever be changed.

As the season changes and the sun shines down on the earth it begins to come to life again. There is hope for our nation and for the people all over this world, and that hope is Jesus Christ, the son of God. Let's pray like we have never prayed before, that people begin to not just open their windows, but open their hearts. Pray that they not only stick their arms out, but lift their hands up. Pray that the music coming from their cars would be music that glorifies God. Pray that as the earth begins to come to life, the people of the world would come to new life, be born again, and become new creatures in Christ. Prayer changes everything. Now is the time. This is a new season. Let the son shine, let the son shine...

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Healing 101

4/12/2018

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Everyone from one time or another needs a healing. Colds are miserable and few people live their entire life without at least one cold. Flu is another miserable experience. I personally don't know anyone who has escaped the flu if they are over 10 years old. So, bottom line is we all need to know about healing. Many need to learn in the middle of a battle. That is a hard place to learn. Pain will cause even a warrior to get weary and want to quit.

HEALING~ A Lesson for your personal use.

People believe that God heals the sick.

However, when you bring it into the present the (Now) they become unsure.

If it’s not God’s will for you to be healed. It would be wrong for you to try to get better.

It is as clear as being saved that healing is the will of God.

Mat. 10:1 NKJV And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

Sickness is no more natural than sin.

Gen. 1:31 NKJ Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

There was no sin or sickness.
Sin and sickness came through the fall.

Exodus 15:26 NKJV and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”

Type of Christ
Numbers 21:4-9 NKJV 4 Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” 6 So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
Adam put up Picture of Medical Symbol

Jesus quoted the story in John 3:14-15 NKJV 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but[a] have eternal life.

The Curse

Galatians 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”

Not seeking God

2 Chron. 16:12 NKJV And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.

Asa died in his sickness because he did not seek the Lord but went to the Physicians.

Apostle

Isaiah 38:1-9 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’”
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. 6 I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.”’ 7 And this is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lordwill do this thing which He has spoken: 8 “Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.” So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down.
9 This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:

1 John 3:8 NKJV He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Sickness is a work of the devil.

Mark 16:15-20 NKJV 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they[a] will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.

Now it is time to put what you have learned into action.
Make a copy of the lesson and share it with those you know who are in need of a healing. Confess the scriptures over your own life and over the lives of those you love.

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Shades of grey.

4/11/2018

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Spring cleaning is a messy job. You take down the curtains and dust flies everywhere. You wipe off the shutters and wonder where did all this dust come from? The walls looked fine. However, once you take the first swipe with the clean water, you wonder how you never noticed, the walls had turned three shades of grey? What was invisible to the eye was apparent once the water touched it.

Ephesians 5:26 (NIV) "to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,"

This is a picture of what our lives are like before we come to Jesus. We think we are fine. We don't notice the dirt on the inside of us. We fail to see how dirty the world is. Once we ask Jesus into our hearts and begin to read His word we start getting cleaned up. It's often painful to see how dirty we have become. When we are made clean, we often forget our previous state of uncleanliness. Then, we drift away from the Word, and soon become dirty again. Just like we need a bath on a regular basis, we need the Word of God to wash us on a daily basis. We may not realize we are dirty but to the eyes of God we need a little spring cleaning.

Seasons change in our lives. We have seasons where we work a lot. Then we will have seasons of waiting. Then again, there will be seasons of wanting. However, every season that we go through we need water. Without water living things die.

Jesus became dirty so that we could become clean. This is the great exchange.

It's hard to avoid getting dirty in this world. We can get dirty simply by use. When God uses us in the world for His purposes we get dirty. You can tell where a person has been by their shoes. Even in the days of Jesus, He got down and washed the disciples feet. Jesus is still wanting to wash His disciples feet. Christ wants our walk to be clean and uncontaminated by the world we witness to. There has to be a difference between disciples and drifters.

Allow me to encourage you to get in the Word. You may not know that you have accumulated part of your environment and are now three shades of grey, but when the Word touches your life, you will find the Great Exchange is still working.

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A "Red Sea" Season of life

4/10/2018

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Exodus 14:14 (NKJV) "The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

Many times the things that seem to chase us, purse us, breathe heavy after us, are the very things that Father God has already planned ahead to destroy. It is at the right time, that we see the salvation of the Lord. The test for each of us is will we begin to complain, and want to go back to the old ways of doing things, and the previous chains that held us captive? Or will we choose to walk where no one has ever walked before?

Exodus 14: 21-29 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land,and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

I do not remember reading this in verse 25, "And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty;"

When I read this the Lord spoke to me and said, "When the going gets difficult ask yourself which side of the Red Sea are you on? For I am the way, the truth and the light. I make a way in the wilderness. I make the crooked ways straight..."

Scriptures I tucked within my heart began to flow like a river out of me. I saw that what the enemy of my life was riding on was doubt and unbelief. As soon as faith came the enemies wheels sank, and the rider was drown in the sea.

Whatever pursues you today I encourage you to forge ahead. Refuse to go back to your former ways. Go where no one has ever gone before, for the Lord your God goes before you.

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Breaking the Cycle

4/9/2018

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On Sunday morning during the month of April we are talking about "The Blessed Life". Everybody wants to be blessed, few people do what it takes to stay that way. The book of Judges is the history of the nation of Israel after the death of Joshua. We see a repeated pattern throughout the book. The people serve God and are blessed by God. In their prosperity they forget God and serve idols. They go into servitude to their enemies, and in their misery they cry out to God who delivers them. And as they serve God, He prospers them and in their prosperity they forget God and serve other gods..

In Deuteronomy 6 God said: "When your son shall ask you in time to come, saying, What are these testimonies, and statutes, and judgments, which the LORD our God has commanded you? Then you shall say to your son, We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: And the LORD showed great and awesome signs and wonders, in Egypt, and upon the Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: And he brought us out from there, that He might bring us into this land which he swore to our fathers to give to us. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive."

We have probably all heard, "Everyone has their kryptonite ." What is it in your life that is keeping you from serving God with all your heart? Find that, and you will have found your god. Once you find him, he will take you away from the one true God with promises that will fail, pleasures that will cease, roads that will lead to no where, and an eternity separated from God.

How can we make sure that the third generation will still be serving the Lord? The general trend is that the first generation experiences. The second generation hears of the experiences. The third generation does not even hear. Like in our text, there arises a generation that knows not the Lord or the works He has done. We must make sure that we do not have only past-tense experiences with God, so that we can only tell of what God did in the past. Keep a current relationship with God. Look for a fresh work of God in your life each day.

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Boundaries are a blessing

4/6/2018

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Boundaries have to begin with the individual. I am responsible for me. You are responsible for you. I love being productive and yet personal. We are to be about God's business, right? How do we get it all done? I don't believe we do. We make choices and schedules. Then we do our best to keep our priorities.

Do your best to do what you can to schedule your day. We have all heard if we don't have our day planned then others will plan it for us. It is the same with boundaries for our life let alone our day. Let me give you an example. On Mondays I take a Sabbath. On this day I do self care. Then on Tuesdays I do paperwork, which includes emails, correspondence, phone calls, creative scheduling and planning, etc. Then on Wednesdays I do sermon preparation and study, as well as prepare for mid-week services. Thursdays I meet with people, home visits, hospital visits, counseling appointments. Fridays I recover from Thursday and continue to prepare for speaking engagements or Sunday services, travel to engagements, pack or unpack, etc. The reason I met these boundaries on myself and my schedule is I am better able to be present and complete my tasks without interruption. Bottom line is have a plan and then work your plan. As Lisa TerKeurst put's it, "We need our best yes", but we also need to have a firm "No".

Matthew 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Jesus had far more stress, far more pressure, and far more responsibility than any of us and yet he remained relaxed, joyful, and generous with people.

Personal boundaries are what define your identity. They’re like the property lines around a home. This is my property and that is not my property. This is me — what I value, am good at, believe, need, or feel — and that is not me. If we don’t have clear personal boundaries and limits we get weighed down and walked on. Eventually we start having problems with anger, resentment, stress overload, or burn out.

Jesus wasn’t always nice to people. Often he didn’t do what people wanted him to do. There were many people he didn’t help. Whenever he did help other people he expected them to do their part. For instance, even in Jesus’ miracles he asked people to do something, usually something they felt they couldn’t do. (The blind man had to walk a long way to get to the pool of Siloam to wash the mud out of his eyes.)

Challenge for today: Take a good hard look at your schedule and ask the Lord to help you set healthy boundaries. Then pray to God for the grace to live your life to bring Him glory.

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There's a new wind a blowing. The climate is changing.

4/5/2018

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Make a great day today, April 5th. When I looked at that date I heard there is a new wind a blowing, and it's bringing in a new spiritual climate. I heard dreams will be on the increase. Then two people walked into my office who don't normally do so and shared with me their dreams. Each of them had 2-3 dreams. God was nudging me saying I told you, now I am confirming it.

At the end of the day I drove to the hospital to visit a friend and the wind literally moved me. I was dressed in a long winter coat and when the wind hit that coat it just shoved me. God may have to shove some of us into the new climate, but He will not have us miss this new climate. Notice I did not say season. This is a new climate.

Climate as defined by Merriam Webster is this: the average course or condition of the weather at a place usually over a period of years as exhibited by temperature, wind velocity, and precipitation, a region of the earth having specified climatic conditions, the prevailing influence or environmental conditions characterizing a group or period. What I was hearing is over the church in the United States the climate is changing for a specific period of time. Those that are luke-warm are going to become hot or cold. The Spirit of the Lord is making the conditions so that a decision must be made. The wind is picking up so that they will no longer be able to sit on the fence. There will be an increase of the watering of the word in some lives and a drought in others. The fire of God will be turned up and people will either embrace or run from the flames.

There are a lot of fences we as people choose to sit on. The question is what decisions is God asking you to make? Remember to not make a decision, is a decision. God wants us to be all in, totally committed. Many times in scripture when God wanted to do something in a persons life He moved them. He moved Abraham out of his own country to bless him. He moved Joseph and Mary to spare the life of their child. In all the moves that I could see in the word, Jesus provided for those He moved. So what are we waiting for?

Just like that wind moved me, I believe that those that have already made the decision in their hearts to do whatever God would have them to do, He will help them move. It was effortless as the wind scooped me and moved me forward today as I walked into that hospital. I thought to myself, "Wow that wind is strong!" "Yes, it is but I am stronger." Yes, I thought You are stronger Lord. Have your way in me Lord. Move me to where You would have me to be.

Can you pray that today? I'm all in Lord! How about you?

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God's doing a new thing!

4/4/2018

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Catching up on emails is not my favorite thing to do. Many times I consider hitting delete all, but the Melancholy in me tells me, "You might miss something". So, I diligently go through my emails and usually I find some gold nuggets. Such was the case today. I heard loud and clear, "She is right on in this article!" If you subscribe to Jennifer LeClaire or www.morningswiththeholyspirit.com you have already received this information. However, when something really hits me as a teacher/prophet, I usually want to share the new revelation, or resource. I truly get that scripture, "My people perish for lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6)

I can not do a better job of saying what she shared, so I am giving her my space on this Blog today. I want you to hear what she has to say. Also, she is a great resource for you to subscribe to, if you are called to the Prophetic.

I pray that as you watch how the Holy Spirit speaks to Jennifer that you will know that the Holy Spirit can speak to you too. "The Lord is no respector of persons." (Acts 10:34) Then after the You Tube I attached in it's entirety Jennifer's article so as not to infringe on her copyrights.

Don’t Allow the Enemy to Mesmerize You With Past Pain
By: Jennifer LeClaire|Published on: Apr 2, 2018

On one of my Mornings With the Holy Spirit prayer broadcasts, I heard the Lord say: “Behold, I do a new thing. Behold, I do a new thing, I do a new thing. I do not do an old thing.”

Beloved, the Lord is not doing what He did yesterday. The Lord is doing a new thing. He’s not doing what He did 10 years ago. Stop looking backwards. Reject the longings of yesterday.

The Lord showed me many are looking over their shoulder to the past; looking over their shoulder at the devil, wondering, “Is he chasing me? Is he after me?” I break that assignment to look over your shoulder, in the name of Jesus!

Don’t look back. Don’t be like Lot’s wife, paralyzed by your past. Don’t look over your shoulder and turn into a pillar of salt, mesmerized by the destruction of the past. Look up; be heavenly minded.

The Lord shows many are being persecuted. We’re to act like Stephen the evangelist in the Book of Acts. The religious haters of the day were stoning him. As he was dying, he looked up to heaven and saw Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father and said, “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.” He took a page out of Jesus’ book when He was on the cross and cried out—“Forgive them Father, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

Many have been persecuted in this season. You’ve been maligned. You’ve been under appreciated. You’ve been overwhelmed. Whatever they’ve done to you, just look up at Jesus, just look up at the heavens.

Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father. Do you know what He’s doing? The Bible says that Jesus ever lives to make intercession for you (see Hebrews 7:25). He’s praying for you. You can make it.

Press! It’s time to press past that hard place. Maybe you’ve wallowed in it. Maybe you’ve felt sorry for yourself. You have no reason to feel sorry for yourself. You’re a child of the king. The devil is under your feet. That self-pity is just a snare of the devil.

No more, “Woe is me.” Look at the wow of God!

You can find more content like this at www.morningswiththeholyspirit.com. Be sure to join my prayer broadcasts, or watch the replay.

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