Your Hands for War

These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience). Judges 3:1-2

Do not desire to be trained for spiritual warfare if you are not yet able to obey God in laying down your life and all the things you want in life to gain His desires and His plans for your life. The Lord's training for warfare is going to cost you your life -- nothing less. If you cannot follow Him that way, you cannot follow Him at all.

He is the One who trains. He is the One who teaches. If you do not yield to that, you will yield to something else. If you do not submit to the training and discipline of God, you will submit to something else. You are either for God... or for something else.

Who will you yield to? Who will you submit to? Who will you let train you? God? Or someone else?

God will train your hands for war, especially if you have not experienced it before. But you have to recognize that initially it is going to look unattractive, painful and uncomfortable. You're not going to like it at first, but in the end God's training -- the testings that come; the sacrifices required; the obediences demanded -- will strengthen your feeble knees, train your hands for battle and make you the warrior God has designed you to be.

But first be yielded to His will.

This war cannot be won with complacency and nonchalance. The devil has had us blinded for far too long already. Recognize that you are a soldier in God's army and you have a destiny that Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy -- both in the physical and the spiritual. The devil will stop at nothing to eliminate you -- you are a bane to his existence. He wants you dead. And if you cannot even learn to kill your flesh or even control your emotions, the devil will find it easy to toy around with you. If you won't even cry out to God for help, do not expect to put the enemy under your feet. Chances are the enemy will be doing tap dances on you.

God allows hardship into your life not to weaken you or to push you down, but because He wants to strengthen you by causing you to draw near to Him -- not run away from Him. That's how He trains you. Training for warfare is not easy. Understand that. Training is going to be tough. Why? Because the enemy is tough and he's been at it for much longer than you have been. But if in every painful and disappointing situation in your life you choose to run from God and cower in your own corner, how will you learn to fight this enemy of ours?

The Lord knows you are weak, that's why He has sent His Spirit to empower you. But you have got to make the choice to get with the program -- go all the way for God. That's how you win. Decide to follow Him no matter what the cost is, no matter what needs to be let go and laid down. Your present sufferings are called "light and momentary troubles" in the New Testament and compared to the glory yet to come, what we go through in this lifetime is nothing but a breath.

God will train your hands for war. He will equip you to not just survive the daily assaults from the enemy and from the world, but to be a victor at every turn. Just ask for Him to train you. Cry out to God to help you. Be yielded to His ways and then you'll see yourself becoming stronger in the strength of His might. You'll see yourself becoming the conqueror He sees and says you are!

Empty your hands! The Lord wants to train them for war!


"Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him?" Psalm 144:1-3

Captivate

I will pursue You. I choose to do that. Even if my passion for You isn’t yet the burning bonfire that I wish it would be. I just know that the hunger inside is growing – I can feel it. You are consuming the proclivities of the old, killing the prospects of the past. God, please sustain me with a willing spirit that I may not lose heart and grow weary. Please captivate all of me and hold my attention on You only.

Protect Your Destiny

[for "Protector of the Land and Those Who Cross It"]


Lance in your hand, courage at heart
Vision is clear, mission to start
Saddle up, soldier; get up in gear
Armor of God will keep focus, not fear

Start from the barn; humbly begin
Shelter from storm – in God you will win
Storage of faith, of hope and of love
Now you’re released with power from above

Rise to your calling, rise to your feet
Stand on His victory and enemy’s defeat
Ride out to battle; ride out in faith
Run to your Savior, find strength as you wait

You are a guard and you are a shield
You are a guide to those crossing the fields
Called to protect the land that you own
Called to defend it from giants who roam

Ford every stream and bring them across
Lead those who follow back to the Cross
Until you find rest in God’s promised land
Encourage your brothers and lend them a hand

Protector of the land, your name prophesies
The purpose of your heart, the goal in your eyes
The Lord has granted you rest and this land
Defend those who cross it to take their own stand

Take up your spear and take up your shield
Lay down your all and all to Him yield
Your destiny beckons and now calls on you
Your God simply asking, “What will you do?”

Let the River Flow 2008: Living Our Dreams

Notes from the 2008 Let the River Flow Conference... from Arlene del Socorro {thanks!}.

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LET THE RIVER FLOW CONFERENCE 2008
Feb. 18, 2008 Monday Ladies’ Meeting 7:00 pm – LIVING OUR DREAMS

Lindy Oliver

WOMEN are NURTURERS, capable of compassion and helping and encouraging children to find their own faith in God. Women are multi-tasking people.

We are created to be DREAMERS and it is something we are not supposed to outgrow.

A DREAM is something strongly desired, something that fully satisfies.

We need to change our “IF ONLY” with ‘WHAT CAN WE DO TOGETHER LORD?”

The world is a dream stealer. Even the church can be a dream stealer. But we need to TAKE PLEASURE IN THE LORD and hold on to our dream.

PSALMS 37:4-6 DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD AND HE WILL GIVE YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.


HOW DO WE GET FROM HAVING DREAMS TO REALLY LIVING THOSE DREAMS?

Example of Mary: LUKE 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" 35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 FOR NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD."

38 "I AM THE LORD'S SERVANT," MARY ANSWERED. "MAY IT BE TO ME AS YOU HAVE SAID." Then the angel left her.


It has to START WITH THE LORD.

Share your dreams with Him. DREAMS ARE BORN OUT OF A RELATIONSHIP. Conception comes not from passion but from INTIMACY.

Believe that WITH GOD NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE. (verse 37)
BELIEVE IN YOUR DREAMS. Believe the prophetic words you received and what God has placed in your heart. It’s not about knowing how it’s going to happen, it’s about WHO GAVE THE PROMISE.

We need to SURRENDER TO GOD’S IDEA like Mary.
She believed so she conceived. (verse 38)

We have to carry our dreams to its’ FULL TERM.
It was an inconvenient time for Mary to travel and she was uncomfortable during the entire trip but she proceeded to carry the dream.

DO NOT ABORT YOUR DREAMS WHEN IT GETS UNCOMFORTABLE.

Deal with the inconvenience and LOOK FORWARD TO BIRTHING YOUR DREAMS. We know there is a baby inside a pregnant woman. We don’t say there is a promise inside the womb. There is a seed, a life inside it. It is the same with your dreams. YOUR DREAMS CARRY LIFE, A SEED THAT WILL PRODUCE GOOD FRUIT IN DUE SEASON.

WE HAVE TO LABOR BEFORE WE CAN BREAKTHROUGH.
Mary’s time to labor came at a very inconvenient time in a place where there was no room for her to properly deliver her baby, BUT IT WAS GOD’S PERFECT APPOINTED TIME.

To LABOR is to TRAVAIL, STRUGGLE, STRIVE, TO SWEAT. Spend time in PRAYER to PREPARE YOURSELF FOR IT.

Breakthrough is messy, but that’s not the dream. The baby is the dream, the treasure. THE MESS COMES BEFORE THE DREAM.

If you want to see the dream come, you got to BREAKTHROUGH.

NURTURE THE DREAM.
God trusted Mary and Joseph to raise His Son. Your dream will need a lot of your time and attention, but in time, your dream will be imprinted with your life.

GIVE YOUR DREAM, YOUR VISION BACK TO GOD.
Remit it to Him. RELEASE IT AND GIVE UP YOUR RIGHTS AND YOUR CONTROL OVER IT TO GOD. The dream and life we have in us has a PURPOSE and DESTINY FAR MORE BIGGER THAN US. Release your children and bless them. Know that GOD IS AT WORK IN THEIR LIVES.

To move from having dreams to really living those dreams starts with INTIMACY. BELIEVE. That’s where life is conceived. Then we SURRENDER TO HIM. Choose to believe Him who is the Giver of life, share your life with Him and see a fruitful and fulfilling life in Him.

Let the River Flow 2007: Day One

November 23, 2007 / Friday

Harp & Bowl
Before the 10am assembly started, we had a worship, prayer and intercession session. The spirit of intercession for the nation was heavy as it came down upon the Upper Room of the Maranatha World Outreach Center (in Manalili, Cebu).

There was a cry for the children of the nation, for the fatherless generation; that Father God would father them; that the Lord would send them father figures to train them and raise them up so they can fulfill their destiny in the Lord.

A prayer for the schools in the nation was also spoken. It was a prayer for the teachers to become the leaders and instruments that the Lord would use to raise up the students in righteousness.

There was also a cry for the Filipino church, the body of Christ in the Philippines, to rise up and stand in the gap for the nation.


Morning Session
The main emphasis during the morning session was a changing of seasons. Pastor Jerome pointed out that recognizing the seasons in our lives is one of the most prophetic things we can do. There is a new season that has already begun in the Philippines and we can either be part of it or just be bystanders. Pastor Jerome said it this way: "We could either be forerunners or drifters."

There was a call to revolutionalize our way of thinking, to have a mindset of serving God and fighting for the Lord as the Philippines has now entered a spiritual season of WAR! "We must have a wartime mindset," said Pastor Jerome. He also emphasized that Satan wants to lure us to a peacetime mindset in order for us to not be on the watch. "WE ARE AT WAR!"

The challenge toward the end of Pastor Jerome's preaching was to bring the focus back to God, and to put our wartime mentality on. We were encouraged to find joy in this season of war and to be confident in the fire of God to burn inside of us.

The question that lingers in my mind is: "Are you willing to lay down your today for your country's future?"


Afternoon Session
Stacey Campbell came in for the afternoon session and confirmed the prophetic word spoken by Pastor Jerome -- the season is changing in the Philippines; it is a season of WAR! Stacey pointed out that on her way to Cebu, on the plane, she sensed the strong presence of witchcraft and demonic spirits in the land; that these spirits are oppressing and opposing Christians in the nation. She called for us to fight against these spirits for GREATER is He in us than he that is in the world.

Stacey also encouraged us to turn passive faith into aggressive faith, and to not let the enemy's design (to make us quit) take over us. Instead, we should hold on to the fact that God wants -- and enables -- us to be successful overcomers.

She also said that God is training us for this new season and that even in our trials we can be happy because there is joy in serving Him -- this is also a confirmation of what Pastor Jerome said in the morning session that God doesn't want us to live a miserable life.


Evening Session
The evening session was a build-up of what had been shared by Pastor Jerome and Stacey during the day. Stacey felt that she was in Cebu to anoint the warriors and prophesied over Pastor Joe (DiSarno) saying he's a general who's gonna be getting battle strategies from the Lord and lead the army to war.

Then Stacey read from the book of Joel (chapter 3), which is call to war, to rouse the warriors. She highlighted the importance of becoming intimate with God in relation to going into battle: "You can't go to war if you don't know you're loved!" Intimacy is the key to victorious warfare! And acts of war does not have to be big and bold all the time. Stacey shared that during her times with the Lord, He told her that "it is enough that you die to yourself daily."

Another point of emphasis that night was the importance of how we pray and live our lives, because according to Stacey, "it matters to the nation." As we stand in the gap and pray for those who cannot pray for themselves in the Philippines, we also need to show God's love and righteousness by the way we act and live. And there was also the reminder to keep praying and fasting for this nation to bring in the prophets, prophetic words and prophecies.

It is time to get serious about the weapons of warfare God gave to us -- FAITH, HUMILITY, PRAYER AND FASTING (among others, of course). Because of John 3:16 -- because God so loved the WORLD -- we need to be in warfare for the world, for the lost, and bring them into the Kingdom of God.

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Day Two to follow.

A New Season

During last night’s revival service, I got confirmation of many things that have been swimming in my head. It felt good to know that despite my shortcomings the Lord has graciously led me to the path that He wants me to walk on. Those confirmations were also assurances that my desire to be able to clearly hear God speak to me has been granted in ever increasing measure.

My pastor, Joseph DiSarno (my friends fondly call him Joe Di), mentioned in the midst of the service that he sees a changing of seasons. He sees it in the spiritual: a new season is coming. This confirmed what I have been sensing in my spirit: that the Lord is bringing me into a different season. I also sensed this changing of seasons in Maranatha Christian Fellowship (my congregation), the New Life Sounds Choir (one of the ministries I am involved in) and the Philippines (my beloved nation).

Another word I received last night was a confirmation of my decision to totally lay down something that I had been holding on to for quite some time. When one lays something down before the Lord, it has to die. And when something is dead, it has to stay dead... until God decides to resurrect it, or use it as a seed to grow more Christ-like qualities in one's character. Either way, the decision has already been made. This particular season in my life has ended. The rest is now up to God.

Thirdly, Pastor Nap, who shared the word last night, spoke on the need for change in the Philippines; that there needs to be a turning of the fathers' (the Elijahs') hearts to the children and the children's (the Elishas') hearts to the fathers. This one confirmed the Lord's recent reminder to me to pray for my nation, and to continue fasting and praying with my congregation until God pours out His justice on the Philippines.

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A few days from now the Let the River Flow Prophetic Conference will take place here in Cebu. Stacey Campbell is coming and so is Pastor Jerome (Ocampo). Things are stirring up in the spiritual atmosphere in the Philippines, particularly in Cebu. I believe, along with my congregation, that God will unleash a prophetic word and anointing for the body of Christ in this nation. New oil that will bring the church -- and the country -- to a new level of faith and dependence on the Almighty God.

A new sesason is coming. The prophets are rising. And a new Philippines is just a matter of time.