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.
2021 Declaration #3. Evil entities will overplay their hand and THAT will expose them. (Kid’s Version: We declare that bad guys in disguise will unmask themselves.) And the overplayed attempt will lose its effect and it will bring their downfall. They will overplay their hand because of their arrogant confidence where they believe they are beyond the law or that they can buy or manipulate the law through threats and public sentiment. When they overplay their hand, they will expose themselves and their true intent will come out on display. The overplay will also expose those to whom they have links in government both domestically and abroad. Entities that have covered and hid them, finance that has enabled them to hide, connections that have stood between them and justice will fail them and they will be left exposed. Prov.19:5, Amp — “A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who breathes out lies will not escape.” “Truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth”. The power that hates truth, the power that tried to put Truth in a tomb and keep it in the tomb, but could not keep it in a tomb, that power is broken against sons and daughters of God Most High.
Kathy — Workers of darkness are counterfeiters, but counterfeit shouldn’t be mistaken to mean “NOT REAL.” Counterfeit money is real and even spendable, but it is not authorized, NOT LEGAL! Some workers of darkness are frauds practicing trickery to deceive people into believing they have supernatural powers at their disposal, like magicians who learn quick hand tricks or slip through panels to disappear. Others can actually produce supernatural displays because they have tapped into the spirit realm and (knowingly or not) have agreed and connected their lives to spirit forces of wickedness. So, like Moses, we are not here to deny the power of darkness, we are here to de-fang it and defeat it. We are alive in 2021 to DISCERN the enemy, be convinced our God is ALMIGHTY and not be afraid to war incrementally and strategically to pull down strongholds and turn history. Moses took ground each time he went to Pharaoh’s court in Israel’s behalf. He did supernatural acts by the authority of God. The Egyptian magicians (unsubmitted and unauthorized) did supernatural acts that matched those of Moses. They were instruments or puppets of powers of darkness, and they eventually suffered the long-range consequences of covenanting with darkness. (Kathy will be speaking at Kingdom Congress 2021 which is March 3-5.)
God is looking for a people who will line up with a plan that has been in existence for eons. God “framed,” “completed,” “fit for Himself the ages (Heb.11:3) with sound. He sounded out that which fit His purposes. The ages have been “fit for Himself” therefore the machinations and agendas of men will not fit or find a place of fulfillment in them.
Kathy — God made no bones about how He feels about works of darkness. He considers them an abomination or morally disgusting, and anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, (Deut.18:12). These abominable works of darkness are spelled out in Deut.18:10,11, “Don’t you dare sacrifice your son or daughter in the fire. Don’t practice divination, sorcery, fortunetelling, witchery, casting spells, holding seances, or channeling with the dead.” (MSG) Yet, in this present darkness, these things are tolerated as part of our culture. Most of them are even in cartoons for children!
This verse pretty much describes our nation at this time. BUT that description will not be the final outcome. Isa.59:14, NASB — “Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And uprightness cannot enter.” That has a ring of hopeless finality to it but the Word of God continues with the delivering acts of God because our Holy Father is not finished with this nation. Let us now read what God Almighty is in the process of doing. Job 5:12, Amp — “He frustrates the devices and schemes of the crafty, So that their hands cannot attain success or achieve anything of [lasting] worth.” Our Lord will not simply step in and do some frustrating, He will also bring judgment and meet out the consequences of their attempts to destroy this nation. Isa.29:15, Amp — “Woe (judgment is coming) to those who [try to] deeply hide their plans from the Lord, Whose deeds are done in a dark place, And who say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?” Yahweh sees and knows. 2Pe.2:9, Msg — “So God knows how to rescue the godly from evil trials. And he knows how to hold the feet of the wicked to the fire until Judgment Day.”
Kathy — I’ve always thought the only reason to go to war is to win, but I’m beginning to realize there are other reasons for warfare. Some battles are a matter of training our soul (our mind and will and emotions) to stand and develop muscle to be able to stand no matter what. Eph. 6:13 puts it this way: And when you have done everything you could, you will be able to stand firm. The goal of warfare can also be to take ground incrementally in Divine timing. There are many maneuvers needed to pull down strongholds in this present darkness. It is a bigger war than we can wage from one battlefield. This present darkness is a matter of world rulers that are spirit forces of wickedness in the spirit realm. These forces gather to form strongholds, and there they influence and manipulate people like puppets for their evil intents to kill, steal and destroy. That’s why Eph 6:12 tells us 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. These forces must be dismantled strategically and incrementally along with the workers of darkness they deploy into this present darkness.
”Through faith we understand that the ages were framed (arranged, completed) by the word of God”(Heb.11:3). It would appear that God is not looking for people to attempt to “overcome the reluctance of God” but He is looking for those who will hear His heartbeat for the ages and get into alignment with that purpose. Then we would actually be praying God’s prayer requests, not our own.
Kathy — We’ve got to believe more in our Redeemer than we believe in the past. “Plead my cause and redeem me; revive me and give me life according to Your word.” (Ps.119:154, Amp)
As the people of God assemble today, may they see plainer than ever the road that they are purposed to run in the new year. May one be an encouragement to another to steadily get on down the path this year that leads to fulfillment and 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)
Kathy — If you are battle-weary, I believe the new year will bring welcomed changes. I’m not implying battles will stop suddenly and everybody goes on vacation. I’m saying many long-term battles will end because you finally win. “Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick, but a sudden good break can turn life around” (Prov.13:12, Msg). I expect some sudden good breaks in the year to come.
The MONTH OF JANUARY IS FOR REACHING BEYOND FORMER BARRIERS. In January, (and throughout 2021) we will reach beyond the stopping points we have always stopped at before. We will not allow poor self-image, sense of unworthiness, family-accepted pitfalls, world chaos or limited resources to keep us from “reaching forward to those things which are before” (Phil.3:13). We will press forward and extend our reach to some markable degree greater than we have before.
A huge, muscular draft horse was pulling a weighted sled in a competition. The horse was obviously straining forward with every ounce of strength he could muster and was making some progress. But he was, with every step, getting closer and closer to a definite stopping point. It didn’t matter that he had dragged the heavy steel sled farther than any of the other horses in the competition, he still came to a sudden halt. It just happened to be a halt that was a bit farther down the track than the other horses’ halts. The “Year End Wrap Up” theme seems to speak to the need to not drag old stuff from the previous year (or even previous years) into the new year. Even though it is a burden, we tend to wrestle with old issues that seem to never get settled or worked out and we just continue to take them along with us into the future. Lethargy, wavering commitment, fear and neglect are some of the weights that make for burdensome sleds that we drag with us from one season to the next. There are issues to resolve before the end of this year that would be easier dealt with and resolved more readily without adding the laborious task of not having ended things well. It is time for a season in our lives where we “wrap up” what has been left at tattered ends. (Gal.6:9; Phil.3:14)
Kathy — Whatever is on the horizon, God does not intend that we live in fear or dread. We are to live in expectancy that we will do all that we were born to do and that the supernatural presence and power of God Almighty will be manifest through our lives to His glory. Ps 91:7, TPT — “Even in a time of disaster, with thousands and thousands being killed, you will remain unscathed and unharmed.”
