As the people of God assemble today, may they hear and experience the powerful Word of God that propels them forward and may they go into the coming week stronger than the week before. ”The righteous shall move onward and forward; those with pure hearts shall become stronger and stronger.” (Job 17:9, Living Bible)
Melissa — It came to me that to actually trust God meant to actually let go of needing to know the process of getting to an answer. I’ve never functioned like that. Unfortunately my M.O. has been to ask and believe for a God-outcome while all along fixating on my logic’s only conclusion as to how that could happen. That, my friends, will WEAR. YOU. OUT. In that moment it felt good, it felt right to let go, and something in me took a deep breath for the first time. (Melissa is leading worship and speaking at KINGDOM CONGRESS 2021 – March 3-5. Detailed info: martygabler com/kc2021)
Kathy — There are some people who seek knowledge and spiritual connections to have influence over other people, ultimately hoping to be powerful and wealthy.They may or may not realize they are allying with demons: 1) while demons can take a person past natural knowledge, they are not all-knowing, 2) demons are under no obligation to be truthful. 3) demons are never ‘helpful’. Demons are maneuvering for control, to have agents to actualize through in order to steal, kill and destroy (Jn.10:10) at the opportune moment. There are those who will defend their practices declaring themselves “compassionate defenders and helpers of the helpless”.This is the same bill of goods the serpent sold Adam and Eve in the garden: you will be able to discern good and evil and know just how to deal with it. You will be just like God.The bottom line is that no matter how good human intentions are, if they refuse to operate in the Spirit of Christ, they are opposing His Lordship and they ultimately defile lives.The excellence and skill of the human ability without Christ boils down to worshiping the abilities of the creature rather than the Creator. The word is very clear that these are works of darkness and workers that He never knew.Matt. 7:21-23“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”(NKJ) (Compare Jn.5:19, NASB — “Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way.”) —Kathy is speaking at Kingdom Congress 2021.
With the great amount of confusion, misinformation and misdirection in the atmosphere, IS IT TOO LATE? Peter just stood there shaking his head…. totally confused…. because he had been telling people, “He has come to sit on a throne.” And now…. this King of kings has just explained to Peter that He will hang on a cross. What was so glorious and victorious now, from Peter’s viewpoint, stinks. Just about the time Peter had God figured out, just about the time he got comfortable walking on a predictable road of committed institution-building, God seemingly veered off to the left and sent Peter’s head spinning in a dizzy flood of questions and attempts to re-evaluate his calling, if indeed he ever had one. Though some irresistible gravity may be pulling on us to suck us down that abysmal “sifter,” our Lord has prayed for us and we can endure to the end and be saved (Matt 24:13). Jesus was so certain Peter could endure that He said, “And WHEN you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Lk 22:32, NIV)
Kathy — If we just talk about what we sense or what is going on, that is like laying a ticking bomb in the laps of others instead of diffusing it! Anything that is contradictory to God’s will should be confronted with God’s Truth. The Truth is Jesus. The truth is His Word and character and purpose in earth as in heaven, and we can speak it and release it as a counterforce to contradictions, and it will make a difference. As believers and sons of God we cannot be more focused on conditions than the Truth. If we intend to pray in faith, we must think according to His Word and principles and character, instead of falling into being upset over circumstances.
Melissa — Hey, you can fast fear! It’s true! Set your mind to it and watch how aware you become of fear in your life. It’s amazing how interwoven that stinker is. But when you become aware, you can do something about it. You can take your rightful place in the driver’s seat by forcing fear out. Ask the Holy Spirit to point it out, then you replace it with truth. You replace fear with God’s original intent for your life, thoughts of peace to give you an expected end (Jer. 29:11). This is not necessarily an overnight change, it takes time. It’s a process well worth it, but you can still be an agent of change in the middle of your process. How? By listening to the Father and doing/saying what He tells you (John 5:19).
Kathy — When we are DISCERNING rather than DECEIVED, we can distinguish works of darkness because they do not reflect the truth or heart of God. Holy Spirit discernment and the principles of God come from keeping our priority focus on knowing Him. Knowing light will expose darkness. Knowing the real will expose the counterfeit.
As the people of God assemble today, may they see plainer than ever the road that they are purposed to run in this new year. May one be an encouragement to another to steadily get on down the path this year that leads to success for our Lord’s plan. “…I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.” Eph.4:1b-3, Msg)
Melissa – So, the Gablers just had a powwow and here’s what we decided: First, even the non-MSM we have been following is not worth following anymore as everything is “seemingly” crashing and burning. Second, what we have are the prophetic words we’ve heard and believed. Third, THIS IS NOT OVER. Lastly, our number one prayer is that the fear of the Lord hit this nation, and that He deliver us from evil!Job 28:28, King James Version – “And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”
Kathy — Works of darkness ultimately end in death. God makes the truth even more vivid pointing out to Pharaoh that He could have wiped out the nation rather than just plague it with blood, frogs, gnats, flies, death of livestock and boils. Yet Pharaoh stubbornly held his economic ace, intent upon keeping Israel as slaves. After the hail, Pharaoh was so strung out on his greed that he would not even listen to rational counsel from his own ranks. His own servants asked him if he understood that the plagues had destroyed Egypt and that he needed to get Moses out of the country! After the locusts, the Lord gave them a taste of the deep darkness they were allied with. Pharaoh tried at this point to negotiate saying they could leave but not take their livestock. His greed still blinded him to his hopeless situation. When Moses would not negotiate, Pharaoh banished him and threatened to kill him if he ever came before him again. Moses said, “You have spoken truly; I will never see your face again.” The lesson was over for both nations. The firstborn, the pride, the joy, the hope, the future of Egypt died. Discerning works or workers of darkness may not always be as obvious as in the showdown between Moses and the Egyptian magicians. It will not always be their acts and abilities that expose workers of darkness, but being confronted with truth and light will always reveal their motive and their source of power. The showdown between Moses and the magicians exposed everything.
In His wisdom Father has placed opportunities & choices before us (Deut.30:19; Matt.7:13). Whether or not we go through the many divinely-ordained opened doors God has put before us this year will depend upon how we make decisions this year. There are many doors open before you. They are not just barely cracked open but wide open for His Kingdom purposes, for His Name’s sake.
Kathy — Lovers of darkness worship power. It is interesting that everybody in Egypt was plagued until the magicians stopped competing. Evidently, Israel was also being convinced that worshiping power was not enough. The one true God was to be worshiped. It was the Lord who withheld His grace that would allow Pharaoh to have a change of heart. He was obviously pushing the envelope to teach the truth. In the next plague, God began to show the benefit of being allied with Him. The flies did not reach the Israelites’ region of the city. They were spared for the purpose of demonstrating that Jehovah was Lord in the midst of the earth. Powers of darkness are never noble in their ultimate purpose. They seek to intimidate by demonstrating their skills, and when there are harmful consequences it is of no particular concern to them. But here, God demonstrates that His acts are for His purposes in the earth and that He is drawing a line between those who worship Him and those who worship power. (Kathy will be speaking at Kingdom Congress 2021 which is Mar.3-5) *****CLICK HERE FOR all information for Kingdom Congress 2021*****
At times the future is depicted by a picture of an open door. The way to the future, to fulfillment, to glorifying the Name of the Most High God is open before us now—wide open. There are open doors before us to take us where we have never been before. We will go through those doors and be successful because the Kingdom purposes of God for us in our generation will propel us there to glorify His Name. (Rev.3:8) There are open doors. However, there is a process of decision-making that we must give ourselves to. We must choose the way of life or of death (Jer.21:8). God commands us to choose life instead of death, and blessing instead of a curse. We have choices to make as to how days, events and people affect us; as to how we will affect those days, events and people. We can be bearers of life or of death, blessing or curses.
Kathy — The source of their empowerment was limited which revealed it was not Almighty God. When Pharaoh asked Moses to pray the frogs abate, Moses said he would so that Pharaoh would know there is no one like the Lord God. However, Pharaoh recognizing that truth did not make him want to submit to that Lord God. When next came the biting gnats or mosquitoes, the magicians had reached their limit. They could not produce gnats from dirt and certainly couldn’t turn gnats back into dirt. The magicians themselves admitted to Pharaoh then, “This is the finger of God!” We can’t top that! Only God is All-Powerful. All the abilities and manifestations of darkness will forever be limited by comparison.
As the people of God assemble today may they join hands and hearts and look toward the coming year with expectancy for the purposes of the Lord in each other and the victorious intervention of the Lord in their behalf. “Paul, Silvanus (Silas), and Timothy, to the assembly (church) of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah): Grace (spiritual blessing and divine favor) to you and [heart] peace.” (1Thess.1:1, Amp)
Looking in the Bible and looking at the decisions and actions of its victorious characters, it is obvious that the possibility exists for us to have a Kingdom mentality and act victoriously out of that mentality regardless of the pressure of overwhelming circumstances and insurmountable opposition. When we pray “Thy Kingdom come” we are praying: Thy will come, Thy authority come, Thy power come, Thy rule come, Thy order come, Thy sovereign activity come, Thy heavenly culture come (cf.”Kingdom of heaven; as it is in heaven”; also Acts17:6). If we truly pray “Thy Kingdom come” we will not be of the mentality that dismisses the extraordinary of God Who is able to “do the undoable, change the unchangeable and provide the impossible”. If we are of a Kingdom mentality when it comes time to break loaves and fishes, we will not be thinking, “Oh, swell, now I will simply have two pieces of fish and two pieces of bread.” Rather we will be set up for the extraordinary of God since we know that, in our lifetime, we have only seen a fraction of the many-layered, many-sided wisdom (Eph.3:10) of God that can feed 5,000 with a sack lunch (Jn.6:9).
Kathy — The competitiveness of the Egyptian magicians was destructive to their own nation because their determined pride and worship of power was more important than loyalty or any benefit to their kingdom. In the beginning stages of the showdown, the magicians did the same supernatural acts as Moses, turning their rods to serpents, turning water to blood and producing frogs. It is interesting that the Egyptian magicians could not and did not even try to reverse the plagues loosed by Moses, (which would have been really beneficial to their nation.) Their only goal was to compete in a power display. Instead of trying to help, they simply battled to prove themselves superior, no matter what the cost to their people. Of course, it is also evident that they would not have been able to reverse the plagues. In Exodus 9:11, they could not even keep themselves from the boil plague and you know they would have invoked personal protection and relief to save their own hide if they could! There is a key insight exposed here about the nature of the powers of darkness: they are selfish and competitive. There is no loyalty or benevolence, just worship of power. Being interpreted, that means they will work against each other or their human agent when necessary. The human agent for darkness is totally deceived if he or she believes the powers of darkness will be loyal or trustworthy or ever think about unity of purpose or a common good. God can be trusted that His love and faithfulness insure His power is released for good. Since ONLY God is good, all other sources and agents have lesser motives. No matter how humanely and beneficently packaged, powers of darkness will always be deceptive and ultimately abusive. And those human agents who ally with darkness will ultimately face the hidden but costly consequences of betrayal.
Where are you going to stand? Will you stand with the national news broadcasts or with reports of demographics or with unrighteous legislation or, in spite of it all, will you stand on God’s Word? Every night before retiring, we might should sing the words of that song, “Whose report will you believe? We will believe the report of the Lord!” We are not subject to rumors, corruption and terrorists. We are subject to the Word of God if we will agree with it. (Matt.18:19-20) 1Cor.1:18 “For the WORD of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the POWER of God.” (NASB) We are praying you discover daily God’s Word working powerfully in your life.
God’s Plan and Opposition Does God’s plan or purpose ever change? When His Word does not come to pass within a timeframe or in a manner that our expectancies are the most comfortable with, is it OK to just give up and give in and go along with whatever people perceive will get us all back to being close to normal?
Does God’s plan or purpose ever change? When His Word does not come to pass within a timeframe or in a manner that our expectancies are the most comfortable with, is it OK to just give up and give in and go along with whatever people perceive will get us all back to being close to normal? JOIN MARTY LIVE ON HIS FB PAGE 1-13-21 at 9:00pm Central USA to hear why we must consider the compass to help us understand where the church stands now.
Kathy — Apostle Paul put the issue in these descriptive terms: “we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere” (Eph.6:12, AMPC). Discerning works or workers of darkness may not always be as obvious as in the showdown between Moses and the Egyptian magicians. It will not always be their acts and abilities that expose workers of darkness, but being confronted with truth and light will always reveal their motive and their source of power. The showdown between Moses and the magicians exposed everything.
As the people of God assemble today, may they hear and experience the powerful Word of God that propels them forward and may they go into the coming week stronger than the week before.
Melissa — It came to me that to actually trust God meant to actually let go of needing to know the process of getting to an answer. I’ve never functioned like that. Unfortunately my M.O. has been to ask and believe for a God-outcome while all along fixating on my logic’s only conclusion as to how that could happen. That, my friends, will WEAR. YOU. OUT. In that moment it felt good, it felt right to let go, and something in me took a deep breath for the first time. (Melissa is leading worship and speaking at KINGDOM CONGRESS 2021 – March 3-5. Detailed info: martygabler com/kc2021)
There are those who will defend their practices declaring themselves “compassionate defenders and helpers of the helpless”. This is the same bill of goods the serpent sold Adam and Eve in the garden: you will be able to discern good and evil and know just how to deal with it. You will be just like God. The bottom line is that no matter how good human intentions are, if they refuse to operate in the Spirit of Christ, they are opposing His Lordship and they ultimately defile lives. The excellence and skill of the human ability without Christ boils down to worshiping the abilities of the creature rather than the Creator. The word is very clear that these are works of darkness and workers that He never knew. Matt. 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”(NKJ) (Compare Jn.5:19, NASB — “Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way.”)
With the great amount of confusion, misinformation and misdirection in the atmosphere, IS IT TOO LATE? Peter just stood there shaking his head…. totally confused…. because he had been telling people, “He has come to sit on a throne.” And now…. this King of kings has just explained to Peter that He will hang on a cross. What was so glorious and victorious now, from Peter’s viewpoint, stinks. Just about the time Peter had God figured out, just about the time he got comfortable walking on a predictable road of committed institution-building, God seemingly veered off to the left and sent Peter’s head spinning in a dizzy flood of questions and attempts to re-evaluate his calling, if indeed he ever had one. Though some irresistible gravity may be pulling on us to suck us down that abysmal “sifter,” our Lord has prayed for us and we can endure to the end and be saved (Matt 24:13). Jesus was so certain Peter could endure that He said, “And WHEN you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Lk 22:32, NIV)
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