New Wine and a Season of Grace
Greetings in the Lord!
Have you ever had one of those dreams where you re-live a moment and it's just as intense as the day you experienced it? Me too. In fact, I hadn't even thought of that day in quite a few years--5 to be exact. It was one of those that was better left unremembered anyway...
Nevertheless, I recalled in my dream a time 5 years ago when I was directing a kids' summer camp just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. That hot summer was the time the Lord was teaching me about the deceitfully devastating effects the witchcraft found in Harry Potter books had on kids who owned and embraced those books. I witnessed everything from strange, spontaneous, atypical childhood medical conditions to uncontrollable, anti-social behavior to excessive fantasy-play that hindered learning. Then there was the extreme, malicious bullying that even included the casting of spells!
I also witnessed how adults were effected: increasing hardness of heart, cruelty, arrogant mocking of the things of God, a bent towards violence, promiscuity, and sexual perversion....and these young adults had grown up in the church, mind you! In the midst of it all was a lot of activity in the spirit realm, not all friendly either. To combat this volatile situation the Lord asked me to go on a Daniel's fast for 40 days, which I did. At the end of this fast the Lord led me to read Joel chapter 2, the passage on darkness and desolation coming like an army of locusts devouring the land. The Lord revealed that with the launching of the 7th Harry Potter book, the United States would indeed be having an army of spiritual locusts to devour our land and invade our homes supernaturally. Woe to those who open their doors to the locusts by bringing sorcery materials into their homes!
"Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste--nothing escapes them...They rush upon the city; they run along the wall. They climb into the houses; like thieves they enter through the windows." Joel 2:3,9
By the end of the summer I was exhausted and counting the days till I was finished there. Alone in my thoughts as I cleaned up from the day, I came across a cartoon one of the young adult counselors had drawn and left for me to find: it pictured a death scene--mine! Now I had been in many precarious situations over my travels but nothing compared with the shock this one gave me to the core--I could feel the devil's intense hate in it towards me,...not a good feeling, I assure you, and not one you'd want to see again 5 years later either. The dream reminded me that it was 5 years ago that the enemy began a vicious campaign to try and end the call on my life, and for countless others, I am sure, but the story does not end there!
Today's word is from Joel chapter 3 and it talks about the final redemption of Israel over her enemies. Through her own sin, Israel was allowed to be devoured by her enemies, but a time comes when God redeems them. We read that all of her enemies are led into the Valley of Decision by the Lord, to have His judgment executed against them for all the violence they have done to the people of God. The Lord chooses to pardon His people after they repent and return to Him, while their enemies perish from their own unrepentant sin.
"In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water....But Egypt will be desolate, Edom a desert waste, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood." Joel 3:18-19.
So, we, too, can understand that we are in a season of redemption and grace. Though we have been allowed to suffer at the hand of our enemy for our sins against God, the Lord in His divine mercy chooses to hear our repentant cries and delights to restore us to Himself again. Expect breakthroughs in your life: peace of mind, health to your body, and a renewed love of God in answer to your repentance. Praise God for His mercy towards us; He is faithful to the contrite and broken-hearted.
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
Have you ever had one of those dreams where you re-live a moment and it's just as intense as the day you experienced it? Me too. In fact, I hadn't even thought of that day in quite a few years--5 to be exact. It was one of those that was better left unremembered anyway...
Nevertheless, I recalled in my dream a time 5 years ago when I was directing a kids' summer camp just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. That hot summer was the time the Lord was teaching me about the deceitfully devastating effects the witchcraft found in Harry Potter books had on kids who owned and embraced those books. I witnessed everything from strange, spontaneous, atypical childhood medical conditions to uncontrollable, anti-social behavior to excessive fantasy-play that hindered learning. Then there was the extreme, malicious bullying that even included the casting of spells!
I also witnessed how adults were effected: increasing hardness of heart, cruelty, arrogant mocking of the things of God, a bent towards violence, promiscuity, and sexual perversion....and these young adults had grown up in the church, mind you! In the midst of it all was a lot of activity in the spirit realm, not all friendly either. To combat this volatile situation the Lord asked me to go on a Daniel's fast for 40 days, which I did. At the end of this fast the Lord led me to read Joel chapter 2, the passage on darkness and desolation coming like an army of locusts devouring the land. The Lord revealed that with the launching of the 7th Harry Potter book, the United States would indeed be having an army of spiritual locusts to devour our land and invade our homes supernaturally. Woe to those who open their doors to the locusts by bringing sorcery materials into their homes!
"Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste--nothing escapes them...They rush upon the city; they run along the wall. They climb into the houses; like thieves they enter through the windows." Joel 2:3,9
By the end of the summer I was exhausted and counting the days till I was finished there. Alone in my thoughts as I cleaned up from the day, I came across a cartoon one of the young adult counselors had drawn and left for me to find: it pictured a death scene--mine! Now I had been in many precarious situations over my travels but nothing compared with the shock this one gave me to the core--I could feel the devil's intense hate in it towards me,...not a good feeling, I assure you, and not one you'd want to see again 5 years later either. The dream reminded me that it was 5 years ago that the enemy began a vicious campaign to try and end the call on my life, and for countless others, I am sure, but the story does not end there!
Today's word is from Joel chapter 3 and it talks about the final redemption of Israel over her enemies. Through her own sin, Israel was allowed to be devoured by her enemies, but a time comes when God redeems them. We read that all of her enemies are led into the Valley of Decision by the Lord, to have His judgment executed against them for all the violence they have done to the people of God. The Lord chooses to pardon His people after they repent and return to Him, while their enemies perish from their own unrepentant sin.
"In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water....But Egypt will be desolate, Edom a desert waste, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood." Joel 3:18-19.
So, we, too, can understand that we are in a season of redemption and grace. Though we have been allowed to suffer at the hand of our enemy for our sins against God, the Lord in His divine mercy chooses to hear our repentant cries and delights to restore us to Himself again. Expect breakthroughs in your life: peace of mind, health to your body, and a renewed love of God in answer to your repentance. Praise God for His mercy towards us; He is faithful to the contrite and broken-hearted.
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
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