"Some of you are feeling like you are 'losing it', you are losing your authority in some areas of your life, losing your 'ground', or even losing your opportunity, but look to Me, and watch how I am going to give you a new identity that comes with new authority!"
And then, I heard further:
"There is a new sound and new rhythm being released from heaven right now. The wind of change is blowing, and it is blowing stronger and stronger in many of you! And this wind that carries a new sound and new rhythm is overwhelming every sound of disappointment and sound of pain in your life. Receive by faith and let it flow in your spirit, soul, body. Do not resist Me, but choose to let go of all those disappointments and pains in your life, for I am in the midst of releasing to you a new identity that comes with new authority!"
By the way, the word 'identity' is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as 'who or what somebody (or something) is'.
People of God, whatever disappointment or pain you have gone through in your past, take heart in the words of the Lord above, even though you may not fully understand why certain things happened the way it happened, or why God allowed it.
Maybe you are still blaming (or beating) yourself for what had happened, for that mistake you have made, or for that lost opportunity that (you thought) was supposed to be yours! Some of you have even blamed God or got angry with God, and you were wondering "Why? Why? Why didn't God do something (about it)? Why didn't God intervene at that time?" And you began to question if God really knows what He's doing! The enemy would also try to 'rub salt in those wounds' and make you think that you have indeed 'lost it', lost that 'golden opportunity', and are now 'doomed' beyond return!
But that's not what God thinks!
Because He says in Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." The word 'peace' here is 'shalowm' in Hebrew, and it means 'wholeness, wellness, favor, welfare, prosperity, health, safety'. In other words, 'nothing broken, nothing missing'!
In Romans 8:28, the apostle Paul wrote, 'And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose'. Notice the words 'all things' here? Not 'few things' or 'some things', but 'all things'! Surely, the Lord knows better and sees farther than us! (Isaiah 55:8-9)
You see, Joseph could have questioned God too, having received a 'grand' dream only to find himself thrown into a pit and sold as slave the next thing he knew! But in the end, he understood that what was meant for evil against him, God turned it into a time to save many! (Genesis 50:20)
Let's go all the way to the book of Judges now, and look at this man named Gideon. He was living in a time when nothing went right for Israel, and whenever they have planted, the enemy (the Midianites) would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth, leaving no sustenance for them whatsoever, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey (Judges 6:1-5).
And it was against this backdrop that Judges 6:11-14 says, '...the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, and said, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!" (But) Gideon said to Him, "O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?' But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of Midianites." Then the Lord turned to him (Gideon) and said, "Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent (appointed) you?"'
This appointment by the Lord was an answer to the cries of the children of Israel who have been greatly impoverished because of the Midianites (Judges 6:6-7), and the Lord had chosen Gideon to be the deliverer. And you know what? This was also a turning point for Gideon! From someone who was the least in his father's house, and from the weakest clan (Judges 6:15), the Lord then spoke these life-changing words to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man." (Judges 6:16)
In other words, Gideon had just received a new identity that came with new authority!
The Spirit of the Lord then came upon Gideon, and the people were gathered behind him (Judges 6:34-35). As you can see here, the Lord began to move the people to respect him and his leadership, supernaturally. This speaks of the 'new authority' that he had never experienced before prior to that, and with this new authority, he began to do great exploits for the Lord!
By the way, the name 'Gideon' is 'Gidown' in Hebrew, which means 'warrior, feller', from the root word 'gada' meaning 'to fell a tree, to destroy/cut down (the enemy's work)'; whereas the name 'Midianites' comes from the word 'Midyan' in Hebrew, meaning 'contention, brawling, strife, discord, quarrel', which speaks of 'the enemy who tries to hurl problems at you'.
And with the three hundred men that the Lord had given to Gideon, the Lord then said, "Arise, go down against the camp (of the Midianites), for I have delivered it into your hand." (Judges 7:9)
Remarkably, with these mere three hundred men coming against the enemy who were 'as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude' (Judges 7:12), and with the sound of the trumpets blown by these three hundred, the Lord then gave Israel a resounding victory! This is none other but the Lord's doing, the One who is great and mighty in all His deeds! Hallelujah!
People of God, this is a time to declare that your 'turning point' has come too, just as it had happened to Gideon! And your victory is at hand! In Jesus' name. Amen!
Maybe you are still blaming (or beating) yourself for what had happened, for that mistake you have made, or for that lost opportunity that (you thought) was supposed to be yours! Some of you have even blamed God or got angry with God, and you were wondering "Why? Why? Why didn't God do something (about it)? Why didn't God intervene at that time?" And you began to question if God really knows what He's doing! The enemy would also try to 'rub salt in those wounds' and make you think that you have indeed 'lost it', lost that 'golden opportunity', and are now 'doomed' beyond return!
But that's not what God thinks!
Because He says in Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." The word 'peace' here is 'shalowm' in Hebrew, and it means 'wholeness, wellness, favor, welfare, prosperity, health, safety'. In other words, 'nothing broken, nothing missing'!
In Romans 8:28, the apostle Paul wrote, 'And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose'. Notice the words 'all things' here? Not 'few things' or 'some things', but 'all things'! Surely, the Lord knows better and sees farther than us! (Isaiah 55:8-9)
You see, Joseph could have questioned God too, having received a 'grand' dream only to find himself thrown into a pit and sold as slave the next thing he knew! But in the end, he understood that what was meant for evil against him, God turned it into a time to save many! (Genesis 50:20)
Let's go all the way to the book of Judges now, and look at this man named Gideon. He was living in a time when nothing went right for Israel, and whenever they have planted, the enemy (the Midianites) would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth, leaving no sustenance for them whatsoever, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey (Judges 6:1-5).
And it was against this backdrop that Judges 6:11-14 says, '...the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, and said, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!" (But) Gideon said to Him, "O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?' But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of Midianites." Then the Lord turned to him (Gideon) and said, "Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent (appointed) you?"'
This appointment by the Lord was an answer to the cries of the children of Israel who have been greatly impoverished because of the Midianites (Judges 6:6-7), and the Lord had chosen Gideon to be the deliverer. And you know what? This was also a turning point for Gideon! From someone who was the least in his father's house, and from the weakest clan (Judges 6:15), the Lord then spoke these life-changing words to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man." (Judges 6:16)
In other words, Gideon had just received a new identity that came with new authority!
The Spirit of the Lord then came upon Gideon, and the people were gathered behind him (Judges 6:34-35). As you can see here, the Lord began to move the people to respect him and his leadership, supernaturally. This speaks of the 'new authority' that he had never experienced before prior to that, and with this new authority, he began to do great exploits for the Lord!
By the way, the name 'Gideon' is 'Gidown' in Hebrew, which means 'warrior, feller', from the root word 'gada' meaning 'to fell a tree, to destroy/cut down (the enemy's work)'; whereas the name 'Midianites' comes from the word 'Midyan' in Hebrew, meaning 'contention, brawling, strife, discord, quarrel', which speaks of 'the enemy who tries to hurl problems at you'.
And with the three hundred men that the Lord had given to Gideon, the Lord then said, "Arise, go down against the camp (of the Midianites), for I have delivered it into your hand." (Judges 7:9)
Remarkably, with these mere three hundred men coming against the enemy who were 'as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude' (Judges 7:12), and with the sound of the trumpets blown by these three hundred, the Lord then gave Israel a resounding victory! This is none other but the Lord's doing, the One who is great and mighty in all His deeds! Hallelujah!
People of God, this is a time to declare that your 'turning point' has come too, just as it had happened to Gideon! And your victory is at hand! In Jesus' name. Amen!
