67 Day Countdown - Days 21-30

Aug.3, Day 21, Ps. 21: 2021 PROPHESIED?

Key Verse: “YOU welcomed him back with success and prosperity. YOU placed a crown of finest gold on his head.” (v.3)

Key Theme: Victories/Joy over the Troubles of Psalm 20

Key Descriptives of God: God of Power

As I began to read Psalm 21 it immediately became obvious to me that this was for us a prophetic perspective for the year 2021. As we saw, Psalm 20 was very applicable for us in 2020, and Psalm 21 when read right after Psalm 20 is clearly on theme. This is what we prophetically have to look forward to in 2021 as we believe it, declare it and bring it into the now of 2020. Psalm 20 began with “In times of TROUBLE may the Lord answer” and Psalm 21 begins with “The king shall have JOY in Your strength.” God’s strength and power will be the focus of how everything turned around.

We want to continue being immersed into David’s perspective of God. His God-view is one of Him with absolute POWER and one where He is heavily involved. He is not a distant God. As in all of his Psalms, God is the key player of everything and so HE, HIS, YOU, GOD are the compass point for every verse. David knows you orient yourself based on first seeing God.

(On a side note, I am aware there is some disagreement on exactly which Psalms David personally wrote. I have looked into it and my view is that either David wrote the chapters or had someone pen it for him serving essentially as speech-writer, meaning David had to approve it. That is enough for me to consider it all David)

YOU GAVE HIM VICTORY

“He shouts with joy because You gave him VICTORY. For you have given him his HEART’S DESIRE.” (v.1,2)

This verse proves that verse 9 from yesterday was not about King as in God but King as in David. The prayer was for King David to have victory. Now there is rejoicing because he has been given VICTORY and been given “his heart’s desire” which also connects to Psalm 20:4 from yesterday. I believe that this chapter and this verse is prophesying right into our present-day reality and we are going to see President Trump having VICTORY and his "heart’s desire" in the election. I have been capitalizing the word VICTORY because it is that same Hebrew word YESHUA that has multiple meanings and was JESUS Hebrew name. That word is mentioned again in verse 5, “Your VICTORY brings him great honor.” I like it that we could insert the word YESHUA there. “Your JESUS brings him great honor.” Maybe YESHUA/JESUS being twice in Psalm 21 speaks of us being in the midst of the Jesus Movement 2.0, and I do believe that will in fact be the case. We are seeing evidences of it even now as thousands are gathering in meetings on the beaches of California and elsewhere. More is coming. This will bring joy not just to the “king” but to us all.

YOU WELCOMED HIM BACK

“You welcomed him back with SUCCESS and PROSPERITY” (v.3)

Does that not sound like a re-election? When I read this verse it registered in my spirit as a specific prophetic word regarding President Trump. SUCCESS and PROSPERITY registered powerfully as well as it speaks into his dual assignment against “the swamp” and on behalf of the United States (and by extension world) economy. If you are uncomfortable with “politics" mixing with the Psalms and you wish I would just stick with the Psalms- I AM! What do you think David is talking about here? It is not “politics” though— it is the mountain of government. This fundamental error of not seeing and interacting with "the God of ALL of life" is part of what He is wanting to correct in us. We are not called to be “salt and light” in and to our churches- it is in the 7 Mountains of influence, and government for sure being high on the list. We are just doing what David did by bringing God into government. May we never again consider it the “unspiritual” thing to do. President Trump is in a King David role of our day- but the stakes seem so much higher.

FOR THE KING TRUSTS IN THE LORD

“FOR THE KING TRUSTS THE LORD, And through the mercy of the Most High HE SHALL NOT BE MOVED.” (v.7)

I was sent a most amazing video clip today where President Trump is sharing on the Lord and of a prisoner's choice to trust Jesus with his life and how it changed everything. He was being an evangelist. President Trump trusts in the Lord. He talked about prayer, the power in prayer and our need for prayer. His policies are the most God-honoring by a president in memory. It doesn’t necessarily mean he is as spiritual and deep as David was— but have you noticed David has had some pretty rough words for his enemies in these Psalms, falling substantially short of “loving those who despitefully use you” as Jesus modeled. We just saw in Psalm 18 David bragged of "grinding his enemies as fine as dust” and “sweeping them into the gutter”. Who does that sound like? Well, expect him NOT TO BE MOVED.

THEY DEVISED A (FAILED) PLOT

“For they intended evil against you; THEY DEVISED A PLOT WHICH THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO PERFORM.” (v.11)

Does this verse sound pertinent? I truly am just amazed at how these daily Psalms have had so much relevance for us in what we are blatantly seeing. For those getting dreams about plots against President Trump including assassination attempts know that it is not really significant revelation. That is the nature of evil against God’s anointed in government ALWAYS. (Now if you have high-level specificity with details on who, when and where— then that information could be possibly useful. Generally, it is still about you dealing with it through prayer) The Psalm 2 dynamic of the wicked plotting against God’s anointed is ever-true, and the God-response of laughing at and then “rebuking” the plotters is also ever-true. Agree with and decree this verse into our present governmental circumstance.

RISE UP, O LORD IN ALL YOUR POWER

“Rise up, O Lord in all YOUR POWER. With music and singing we celebrate YOUR mighty acts.” (v.13)

This is how Ps. 21 ends. In the NKJV it says “Be exalted, O Lord in YOUR OWN STRENGTH.” GOD WINS PERIOD. He is totally self-capable of pulling off election victories, and pulling off judgment on “the deep state”. His “need" of us is greatly overrated and overstated. In eternity we will begin to see this clearer at how many times unbeknownst to us and without our participation, He rescued us. He does it over and over, personally, and over and over, collectively. However, part of His growing us up and maturing us as His children is to do things together. He never needs everybody— which is why the “America needs to repent” mantra waxes old. If God can’t move unless 350 million people repent then we are sunk. Throughout history, He has only evidenced the “need" of a person or a tiny remnant (Moses, Gideon, David, Nehemiah, Esther, etc.). Today in America, for God, He has massive participation in responding to Him. So much of His delay in showcasing all His power is connected to His patience with those in the process of awakening. He does want "Gideon’s 300" to turn into the overall "armies of Israel” joining in. As in Gideon’s day it's not that He needs the masses— it is just that the masses feel more ownership of the new victorious landscape when they participate in it. But in His OWN STRENGTH, He is so capable He asks us to have some worship anthems we can celebrate to during the season. May the soundtracks of revival and reformation "come forth" even in this Summer of His Love! The Psalmist starts the chapter with “joy” and ends the chapter with “celebration”. This is how we fight our battles.

Aug.4, Day 22, Ps.22: THE MESSIAH!

Key Verses: (2) “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are you so far from helping Me, And from the words of my groaning?” (v.1) AND “For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; NOR HAS HE HIDDEN HIS FACE from Him; But when He cried, He heard.” (v.24)

Key Theme: The Messiah Prophesied through David’s Parallel Journey.

Key Descriptives of God: “God, Even When I Can’t See You”; The One Enthroned in Praise; Ruler of the Nations

Well, what a chapter this is! This is the famous prophetic Psalm that would tell of the coming Messiah in the person of Jesus. Its' 31 verses confirm we will have to leave some revelation treasures on the table. This passage is case and point on the 4 P’s approach to interpreting scripture. In the PLAIN view of Psalm 22 (context, context) it is telling us of David feeling “forsaken”, groaning for help, unanswered by God, being mocked for his trust in God, being surrounded by his enemies and then finally feeling relief from that sentiment. Yet the PROPHETIC nature of this chapter is unmistakable even to the most undiscerning “purists” of Biblical interpretation. 5 times David will identify a sentiment or treatment he is receiving that coincides with the exact same sentiment or treatment Jesus received as reported in the gospels. #1, “My God, My God why have You forsaken me?”. (v.1) #2, “All those who see me ridicule Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake their head saying, He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him.” (v.7 and 8) #3. “I am poured out like water.” (v.14) #4. “They divide My garments among them.” (v.18) #5. “They pierced My hands and My feet;” (v.16)

Nowhere in this chapter does it plainly state this is a prophetic passage, but as it often does, scripture connects all but the last dot and hopes that with the Holy Spirit as Teacher, we can get it. Honestly, this one didn’t even require the Holy Spirit to do anything but keep us awake. The connection is unmissable. The third P, Parabolic is all throughout the chapter, but let’s consider the “snatch me from the lion’s jaws” of verse 21 as one of the many examples in this Psalm. All of this is then designed to have a 4th P, Personal lesson for us all. An obvious one is, even when we feel like He is not working, He is working (as the song goes). Again, I share the 4 P’s concept so you eat the full four-layered cake that scripture is and not just the one layer you could be reduced to by the Pharisees, oops I mean Bible hermeneutics and exegesis “experts".(sorry I have that “edge" to me—getting better)

DID GOD FORSAKE JESUS ON THE CROSS?

I have heard taught that God did “forsake” Jesus on the cross, because He had to because Jesus was carrying the sins of the world. It’s a workable and reasonable premise but if Psalm 22 is prophetic then it is not actually true. David and Jesus had a moment when they felt abandoned by the Father. He felt “far from helping” and their “groanings” seemed to be ignored. If you have not ever been to this place before consider it a sign that you have not been a Christian very long or that you have lived as a backslider . I think 2020 for many has “helped" bring significant identification with this sentiment. There is a reason the song “WayMaker" has exploded in 2020, made famous by its lyrics of “Even when I don’t see You, You’re working, Even when I don’t feel You, You’re working. You never stop, You never stop working.” As we endlessly wait for the coronavirus pandemic/plandemic to end, and for the human traffickers and all to be exposed and stopped— we have needed that song. My God, My God, how long until you do something about what is being done to the children? If it is not for our own “abandonment" we have known to feel it for the children we have come to hear of. Blatant unimaginable evil has been exposed as perhaps no generation has seen and every second it remains undealt with weighs on us.

NOR HAS HE HIDDEN HIS FACE

The response in verse 24 is so good. “For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted.” It seems like it— but it is not true. Then, "NOR HAS HE HIDDEN HIS FACE.” This tells us it is possible for His face to be shining upon us and us not feel it. It is why we intentionally have to look for and gaze into His face. We have been doing that for 22 days now. If not we can lose perspective and be momentarily deceived. Was the cross a “disaster” or was it the greatest act ever on planet earth? Was the cross done by God or by the devil and his proxy? (Correct answer is the bad guys did it. Sorry Calvinists).Yet it turned out beyond marvelous. Satan has no greater regret in his thousands or millions of years of existence. I assume he slaps himself daily for not seeing how God was taking his "plot of all plots" and turning it into a new era for humanity.

SATAN’S “LOOSE END"

Something similar is happening today. Satan covered every base he could think of in his conspiracy against God and God’s present "anointed ones". It was a brilliant conspiracy worked on for decades. He had back-up plans for his back-up plans for his back-up plans in his "brilliance". The “loose end” he can never properly account for is God— and that despite how many millennia he has observed Him and His ways. He thought he had exploited some weakness in God that only he knows about and that’s the problem with being a liar— you end up deceiving yourself. Satan thought he had Him over a barrel and ready to make a new “power retention" deal, but God hasn’t even broken a sweat. The devil should have been listening to our WayMaker song. “Even when you can’t see Him, He’s working. He never stops, He never stops working.” The embarrassment Satan is about to go through is going to take him a few hundred years to recover from. His ace card is going to turn on him- but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. God would have Trumped it. Our 2020 Passover has delayed more than we thought but DELIVERANCE/VICTORY/SALVATION/JESUS (all definitions for YESHUA) are all about to be evidenced. Where it is all headed to are the last verses of Psalm 22 and why the Messiah came to begin with.

ALL THE ENDS OF THE WORLD WILL TURN TO THE LORD?

“ALL the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord. And ALL the families of the NATIONS shall worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord’s and He rules over the nations.” (v.27, 28)

Yes, yes, I know. Everything that requires faith to believe MUST be in the millennium. Why does it say after that in verse 30, “A posterity shall serve Him. It will recounted of the Lord TO THE NEXT GENERATION.” Will this time of "the ends of the world turning to the Lord" also be multigenerational as it suggests? Why not? Why do so many Christians continually say, “You can’t expect/contend for things to get better, I have read the Bible and it all gets worse?” Really? Why is there no memory of the multitude of passages such as this one? When does Isaiah 60 take place? Isaiah 61? Habakuk 2:14, “the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the seas?” Oh yes, yes, I forgot. Anything that requires faith to believe MUST be in the millennium. Well, hear it first here if you haven’t before. There is no pre-established limit on how much of the kingdom we can receive by contending for heaven on earth. There is no, “sorry guys, you will need to wait for Jesus to come back on that one.” Even if there is, I would love the stigma of being "that guy" that thought that all things really were possible. I will gladly walk around heaven and have people point to me and say, “that's the guy who thought cities and nations could be transformed before Jesus returned. He also believed Psalm 22:27 was a reasonable thing to contend for as a son of God.” I will take the mocking- but I am pretty sure it is not coming. When has anyone ever been told by God they should have believed for less? I know, I have gone too long today, but our Messiah did not give His life and shed His blood for a mediocre story ending. This is all going to something spectacular. Here in 2020, we are in a watershed moment for the kingdom of God on earth and His face is shining upon us for something monumental and historical on earth— with blessings on your families, and their children, and their children, and their children. Be awakened to that storyline and heaven’s "hall of fame" awaits you.

Aug.5, Day 23, Ps. 23: THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

Key Verse: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Key Theme: Personalizing God as Shepherd.

Key Descriptive of God: MY Shepherd

Psalm 23, is undoubtedly the most famous of all Psalms and has been my favorite since a boy. I believe it to be a progressive testimonial of David’s life and when that is understood it is all the more powerful. My book, “Becoming a Super Hero: A Pocket Guide to a Life Like David” does the best at extracting the full understanding but I will do what I can in this short post as well. Story-telling time ahead. You won’t want to miss it.

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

This, I believe to be the major reveal of Psalm 23. Scripture puts some dots out there that once we connect them, suggest that David was an illegitimate child and possibly a product of incest. In Psalm 51:5, he tells of being “brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me”. In Psalm 69:8 he speaks of being "a stranger to his brothers” and “an alien to his mother’s children”. “Iniquity” often refers to generational sins. David’s great-grandmother was Ruth the Moabitess, with the Moabites being incest descendants of Lot and his daughters. We see this same “iniquity” in David’s sons who went after David’s own wives and a sister (all kinds of messy family dynamics with David). In Ps. 69:8 where it separates being a “stranger to his brothers” and “an alien to his mother’s children”, I think it is suggesting that being a product of incest (Jesse and somebody) and as David is growing up neither side accepts him as he is the proverbial "red-headed stepchild” — except worse. David grew up under profound rejection, which is reportedly the greatest pain a human being can experience.

DAVID THE BASTARD-CHILD?

The fact that in 1 Samuel 16, he was not even invited to be a part of Samuel, the prophet, anointing one of them as next king, tells us a lot. Samuel had ahead of time told Jesse to sanctify ALL his sons because God had chosen one of them as next king. It is unimaginable that if David was considered “a son” why he would not be one of those sons— or at minimum invited to the ceremony. First of all, they were all descendants from Boaz and so we can assume they were wealthy. By the next chapter when David, now anointed as king by Samuel, is sent to the Goliath battlefield, it says he left “servants” in charge of his flocks. So they had them. Coronation day, David was not needed to watch sheep for practical purposes nor because he was the youngest— but because he wasn’t considered “family”. He was the bastard child. Shepherding was the very lowest on the totem pole job for servants and no family of wealth would have a son doing that. Furthermore, David wasn’t the youngest, as the Hebrew word QATAN used to describe David as “youngest” also means “least”. I Samuel 16:10 says Jesse had all 7 of his sons go by Samuel to see if they were the one— but they weren’t. In 2 Chronicles 2:14, in the genealogy section it tells of Jesse’s sons and it says “his seventh was David”. So on the day Samuel was anointing one of them there was a brother younger than David that was with the family. David was just “the least."

HE IS THE ONE!

Now imagine the shock when the prophet Samuel says, “Jesse, the Lord has said one of your sons is to be the next king— and so I told you to sanctify them all and bring them to me and you said you did. The Lord is still saying “one of your sons” is to be king. Care to explain?” A cold sweat hits Jesse— who furthermore had invited all the elders of the city for this supposedly unparalleled day of honor for himself. Suddenly he realizes his secret sin (that perhaps no one in the family even knew about) is being exposed in the grandest fashion. Should he deny there is another son? But he knew there is no lying to THE prophet. Especially in the Old Testament. You could die. So he said, “there is one more— and there he is watching the sheep”. He was within view. Imagine David watching all this pomp and circumstance not as a son but as a bastard-child and then suddenly being set in front of his “brothers”— none who claim him— and anointed king of Israel as the chosen of God. “He is the one." Imagine his brothers. They still didn’t like him in the next chapter and none of them ever served David like brothers should. I am sure they thought the prophet had gone into early dementia. This is WHO God chose and HOW He chose him. It is all told in this Psalm 23.

“MY” SHEPHERD: HOW A GIANT-KILLER IS FORMED

David had a revelation of the Lord not just as A shepherd, not THE shepherd, nor OUR shepherd. He was to David— MY shepherd. I believe he wrestled with God while doing the lowly shepherding job he had. I believe he learned to be honest there and poured out tears and bitterness to God for his ignoble existence and lack of options for ever-improving his state of being. He knows Jesse is his dad, but Jesse doesn’t claim him therefore no inheritance is coming. On and on so many things to embitter him. Then suddenly a lion shows up and picks off one of his helpless sheep. David identifies with that helpless sheep, and instead of saying like I might, “Oh thank God for the sacrificial lamb that saves me from being the snack”, he makes a decision, that if it is the last thing he ever does, he is going to be better than God is towards him. Suddenly he is super fast and super strong. Catches up to the lion, knocks him over the head with a supernatural thunderbolt punch, delivers the lamb, and shreds the jaw of the lion, killing him. From that moment on he was a different man. He had been “sozoed” (inner healing) in an instant. God cared. God was just. God cared about little innocent lambs— including himself. God, as well, will show up supernaturally when you stand in the gap knowing that. This was the day the Lord became MY shepherd. He was to David what David was to his sheep. It is why even after being anointed king he will not leave the flock. This is where he meets and knows God. For you and for me, once you break off the lies of rejection and He becomes "The Lord MY shepherd”, it is a "line in the sand" you are never retreating from. It is the foundation of being a giant-killer. David’s first “lion” was lyin’ rejection. His first bear was bare insignificance. Once he drastically dealt with them by ripping their mouths, there is no Goliath that will ever intimidate you. You look at them and with disdain say, “who is this uncircumcised Philistine?”

I SHALL NOT WANT

Once He becomes MY shepherd in the way David encountered Him, you enter the “I have all I need” zone. What a zone.

HE MAKES ME TO LIE DOWN IN GREEN PASTURES

The phrase “makes me to lie down” in Hebrew is RABATS meaning “to couch beneath”. The Shepherd MADE him lie down by setting Himself up as an irresistible "couch" right there in the midst of the "green pastures.” There He would feed him not “bales of hay” of yesterday's truths, but the “green pastures” of today's fresh rhema words, personalized for him.

HE RESTORES MY SOUL

When you grow up under the profound rejection David did, you need “soul restoration”. This he got progressively as He was shepherded by the Lord with “green pastures” and “quiet waters” - but of course one can only imagine how much was restored the day David gets called out from the sheep and in front of his unloving brothers anointed king of Israel. That will quickly tell you that you may have been processing God and life incorrectly.

YOU PREPARE A TABLE IN FRONT OF MINE ENEMIES?

When do we ever hear about when that was? It was in fact the day Samuel the prophet called for him out of the sheep shed. A table of sacrifice had been prepared. The word “enemies” is better translated “anguishers” (as it says in Spanish). Those who vexed him and made life difficult for him were his brothers. Can you imagine going from “the bastard” to “the king" in 5 minutes? That had to feel pretty good.

YOU ANOINT MY HEAD WITH OIL

This is proof of what I just told you. His head was anointed before a prepared table right in front of his adversarial brothers. Life would be harder in some ways but crackling with enough destiny to make it worth it.

SURELY GOODNESS AND MERCY WILL CHASE ME DOWN

As I said, David’s life testimony is laid out in Psalm 23. His healed perspective of God, and of his own challenged journey has him speaking prophetically and confidently into his own future. “Because God is MY shepherd, I expect goodness and mercy to always be stalking me.” Do you know how rare that sentiment is in believers? Invite God to take you through your personal Psalms 23 overhaul, this 67-day "Summer of His Love” journey. You can start with raw and even bitter honesty. He can take it. Sometimes that is how you discover “The Lord MY shepherd”. End-game reward you already know and are already encouraged by “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”. It is the seeing of God “in the land of the living” where you/we need the breakthrough. It can happen quickly.

Aug. 6, Day 24, Psalm 24: KING OF GLORY

Key Verse: “Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.” (v.7)

Key Theme: Terms for a visitation from the King of glory.

Key Descriptives of God: Lord, Mighty in Battle; Lord of Hosts; King of Glory

As I begin to write, I can feel the expectancy of the many thousands of you who are on this 67-day journey with me in this Summer of His Love. If yesterday’s Psalm 23 was the most popular Psalm in the Bible, this one is not far behind. The reading of it alone sweeps us up into another dimension. Ancient gates? King of glory? This is an otherworldly topic that our spirits latch onto even beyond our brain's capacity to absorb. Somehow we want to remain on this “beyond our brains” frequency as we delve into what the Holy Spirit has for us today.

EARLY PROPHETIC MARKERS: (24, Kobe Bryant, Pat Mahomes)

So much has transpired this year that it can be hard to forget that the year became marked early on by the sudden and tragic death of Lakers #24, Kobe Bryant. I happened to be in California when this happened and released a word as to its significance. I said that even as Isaiah 6:1 spoke of “In the year King Uzziah died” how he saw the Lord “high and lifted up” leading to “The whole earth is full of His glory” being sung by the seraphim— even so that this year which could be known as “ in the year Kobe died” will be remembered not by his death but by a visitation of His glory. KOBE means “door” in Japanese and I spoke into a door being opened for “the King of Glory” and how his #24 was to draw attention to Psalm 24. Little did I know the year would become known for deaths for a different reason as well shortly thereafter. The message remains the same. The year seemingly marked by death will become the year a great reveal of the King of Glory will take place.

Not to go unmentioned, is that while in California late January, I was invited to share at an impromptu gathering of key Orange County leaders on the grounds of Vanguard University. Literally outdoors in the grass, I spoke of what I just shared to you. I prayed for these leaders as I saw a great Harvest Angel (named Harvey) being activated from where we geographically were located and as I prayed many received a profound visitation remaining laid out on the grass under the power of the Holy Spirit for a long time. This small group is the one that now spearheads these Orange County weekend meetings on the beach that are being covered by the news media as thousands are coming out and healings, salvations, deliverances are taking place— even as some officers of the law attempt to shut it down. It is in its early stages, but the King of Glory is coming in— in a very embattled state under widespread contradictory darkness in government. Keep your eyes on California. The greater the darkness, the greater the grace.

CHIEFS WIN!

I also wrote a prophetic word on the Super Bowl win of the Kansas City Chiefs led by star 24-year old quarterback Pat Mahomes. (He wears a #15. Interestingly this Psalm 24 has much overlap with Psalm 15) This win was much anticipated by those who have followed a prophetic word from Bob Jones, decades ago, that the next time the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl it would mark the year as a year of a great visitation of the Lord. It is good at this time to be reminded of that, as the storm of events that followed have tended to want to make us forget. In my Super Bowl word I brought attention to Pat’s age of 24 years old and again to the importance and connection to Psalm 24. Not to forget as well, is that the Chiefs did not look so good for a long time and not until the 4th quarter did they breakthrough and begin to lead. The halftime 10-10 score, I connected to John 10:10. “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” The first half of the verse is not good but it ends marked by God and ultimately the word ABUNDANTLY. It is playing out before us. Those of you still giving or receiving dreams glorifying what the enemy is yet to try to do this year, will be missing the whole point of the year. It is like having all the highlights of the San Francisco 49ers’ appearance rebroadcast. Yes, they led for a while. Yes, they had some good plays. Yes, they hit hard at times. BUT THEY LOST! Chiefs quarterback (Commander-in-Chief) Pat Mahomes led a stunning 4th quarter rally and all the 49ers “exploits” of the first three quarters were forgotten. See if you can decode the last sentence for today

TERMS FOR A VISITATION

Psalm 24 begins with, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to Him.” (v.1) Please read that again, because in that short phrase are the main “terms” for a visitation. Even BEFORE Jesus died on the cross EVERYTHING of substance was His. Call it Creator’s rights. With what Jesus did on the cross a niche of lost authority was regained (now even Redeemer’s rights are added) but Satan being “prince of the air” or a “god of this world” never trumps His ownership rights. The next few verses are very similar to the previously covered Psalm 15 speaking into “who may ascend” into His holy mountain. It is worth revisiting and motivating our relational pursuit of our King of Glory (i.e repentance), but for time’s sake lets go right to our key verse 7.

“Lift up, your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.”

This is our primary focus today. This is our intercession of the day. This is our decree of the day. In other versions it says, “Open up, ancient gates!” and that is a good decree as well. I put the “Lift up” translation in, as when you get to the deeper meaning here, you see that there is an invocation to the gates and doors to lift up higher than they are used to, because it is the KING OF GLORY who is coming in. The spiritual gates and doors must open to its max capacity because of WHO and WHAT is coming in. This year was marked for this from early on and it is still the highlight of the year. The King, who owns the whole earth, all the nations and everyone in it is coming in. Jesus paid the ultimate price so that no legal grounds for the enemy’s stealing, killing and destroying remains. He is coming in with glory and He is going to make His face shine upon us and be gracious to us. He is rescuing us. We are to quit studying the enemy, and his playbook, and his highlight videos. Yes, he has given us some good “hits” this year, and may still have some good “sacks” and “tackles” remaining (football terminology for those translating)— but WHO CARES?! God wins! We win! The King of Glory is coming in!! The Hebrew word for “Lift Up” is NASA (how interesting the timing huh?) and it means “Open up, Bear up, Forgive, Exalt, Be Swept Away, Arise, Fetch, Furnish”— and more. Every word there is profound and can be included in prayer, intercession and in prophetic decree.

WHAT IS GLORY?

The word “glory” in Hebrew is KABOD. It means “Glory, Honor, Abundance, Riches, Splendor, Reputation and Weight—"only in a good sense”, as it says in the Strong’s Concordance. He is coming with ALL of these. Yes, it is great presence for church and worship gatherings— but it is more. Our economy will be revitalized by the King of Glory. His “Splendor” is coming in and we don’t even have a proper mental receptacle for that. It is coming as well. His “Reputation” is coming in. The name of the Lord will be revitalized, repopularized and overall honored and valued as we haven’t seen in a long, long time. He is about to leave “an impression” upon us with His “weight.” You say, but oh it doesn’t seem like it, there is so much darkness. That too is the scriptural pattern. He comes shrouded in darkness. It is His cover. He is like the dawn. He interrupts the darkest night. That is how He lights up the darkest night. He brings in the dawning of a brand new day. That is what is happening. A new era is upon us and it is HIS era. The King and His Kingdom come together and are inseparable. More kingdom equals more King. More King equals more kingdom. It is not just about “transactional salvation" with the King (souls, souls), it also includes "transactional reformation” (nations, nations) through His kingdom way of doing things. He is both WHO and HOW. Most have heard WHO He is. In reformation of society/nations we reveal HOW He is.

MIGHTY IN BATTLE

The scriptures gives us scores and scores of ways of referring to God. In verses 8, 9, 10 it makes it clear that this "King of Glory" comes understanding that it is war. “Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord MIGHTY IN BATTLE.” We are still IN BATTLE. The enemy has mobilized every available asset to preempt the King not from “rapturing us” (not that time yet) but from leading us into an era of the glory of God. The Lord is MIGHTY in battle because it is a MIGHTY BATTLE. The “mighty battle” is causing many to have their dreams invaded with subjective battle scenes. These will not give you the objective big picture. If the Lord Mighty in Battle didn’t make it into your dreams it is a worthless dream. Furthermore, it is a dangerous dream both for yourself and for whoever you share it with. It provides disinformation to the troops and will always source dread even if it is followed by “so we should pray”. Don’t speak, without preferred viewing. Don’t even start praying until you have seen the King of Glory. You will just religiously process your fears thinking you are doing something of value. You must be above the fray of the battlefield to properly discern the battle. Let’s close with the final verse. “Who is this King of glory? THE LORD OF HOSTS, He is the King of glory.” He doesn’t NEED the help but this is just how the Godhead does everything. God wants all hands on deck. Those who can see know we have been invaded with the angel armies of heaven. They always accompany the King. Our King is on the scene and has innumerable hosts of angels with Him. Lift up your personal head and see Him coming in. See His myriad of angels.

Aug. 7, Day 25, Psalm 25: CIRCLE OF CLOSE FRIENDS

Key Verse: “ All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.” (v.10)

Key Theme: A God who can be trusted.

Key Descriptive of God: GOOD (v.7,8)

On today’s journey into “His face shining upon us” we find a very rich Psalm with many delicacies to feast on. In the 22 verses we find several recurring themes and in fact there are 7 key words that we will look at and they are the pillars for the chapter. The first word is GOOD. “Good and upright is the Lord.” (v.7) This word alone would be worth it all as in Hebrew words are so much richer and more encompassing in its multiple descriptives. David knows to appeal to God’s essence of GOODNESS, over and over, from forgiving his sins (that he brings up often in this chapter), to protecting him from trouble, to securing his destiny. Listen to the definitions for this word GOOD in the Hebrew.

#1. GOOD (TOWB)= “Good, Better, Best, Merry, Fair, Precious, Fine, Prosperity, Beautiful, Wealth, Agreeable, Bountiful, Cheerful, At Ease, Ready and Sweet”.

To really absorb His GOOD-ness you must go down this definition one by one and take it in. God is Good, God is Better, God is Best…When you get to God is Prosperity, note that He is not listed just as He who gives prosperity but He who IS prosperity. Take the time to go down the line here and say each one out loud if possible. He is ALL of these at the same time. Isn’t that just mind-blowing?

Another key word and theme for David is ASHAMED, and he uses it several times in this Psalm. We will look at it’s first mentions. “Let me not be ASHAMED.” (v.2) and, “Indeed, let no one who WAITS on you be ASHAMED.” (v. 3) He will then ask that his and God’s enemies be the ASHAMED ones. So here is that word in the Hebrew.

#2. ASHAMED (BUWSH)= “To be ashamed; to be disappointed or delayed; to become dry”.

David repeatedly throughout all of the Psalms will tell of his trust being in God and his waiting being on God. His request to God is our request. As we WAIT on you, don’t let us be ashamed, disappointed, delayed or dried up. Let’s slow down just a minute and capture the revelation from this verse 3. God as I WAIT for you. Seems like DELAY right? How often do we hear or say, "I am WAITING on God?" But David finishes it off essentially saying, “No one who WAITS on You, will be disappointedly, delayed.” Said another way. “God accelerates those who wait— on Him.” Acceleration by waiting. Seems like an oxymoron doesn’t it? It’s the upside down kingdom.

Now the word TRUST. “O my God, I TRUST in You.” (v.2)

#3. TRUST (BATACH)= “trust; confidence; secure; bold; careless (think CARE less); make to hope; to fear nothing for oneself.”

What a small word, so hard to do, but with huge implications. Don’t say, “I just can’t trust God”. Saying the opposite of what you feel in this area is often THE KEY to getting there. David did it over and over. At times you could tell he was trying to get there and not actually sure he did. You get there by PUTTING your trust in Him. You put your trust in Him first by SAYING you TRUST Him. Where you will arrive to is all the definitions I listed, but I love the last one, “To fear nothing for oneself.” If you could bottle that and sell it, you’d be an instant billionaire.

Now the words WAYS and PATHS. “Show me Your WAYS. Teach me Your PATHS.” (v.4)

#4. WAYS (DEREK)= “ways; roads; journey; manners; habits;” also a “well-traveled path”. This is pretty self-explanatory, but how interesting to ask God to show you His manners and His habits?

#5. PATHS (ORACH)= also “well-traveled path” but includes “caravan; race; rank; troop.” In essence, David is also asking for who his “tribe” is (caravan, troop); what is the “race" he is running (Paul talked about running “his race”), and what is his “rank”. Meditate on these. The higher the “rank”, the lower, more circumspect life you are to lead. (I know you thought it was "the more people you get to boss around" :))

Next, my Key Verse, “ ALL the PATHS (that word again) of the Lord are mercy and truth, To such as keep His COVENANT.” (v.10)

#6. COVENANT (BERIYTH)= Yes, this word is about “cutting covenant” and refers to a very bloody ordeal where a pact or binding agreement is made, but as I looked down the list of definitions it was about “an alliance of friendship or marriage” and then had a strong “eating together as friends” component. The Old Testament covenants always included something done with blood but also then eating the animal that had been killed. That is way beyond just “cutting" and “blood" and is the focus here. “Keeping His covenant” is not some unachievable perfectionist standard. It is entering into a next level friendship with God where you “eat together as friends”. To those who go there, God says, ALL your paths will be “mercy” and “truth”. What a promise? Yes, focus on making agreements/covenants with the Lord but the “eating together as friends” may be the bigger deal. We talk about God’s “covenant” with Abraham being still a big deal today but remember Abraham was called a “friend” of God. Covenant is much less about a legal obligation and much more about a relational privilege.

Last one. “The SECRET of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His COVENANT (that word again)”. (v.14)

#7. SECRET (COWD)= “a session; intimacy; consultation; a circle of close friends”.

Is this not something? He grants “a session”, “intimacy”, “ a consultation” and lets you in on His “circle of close friends”, if you “fear” Him. The word “fear” we could have added as well, but I think we understand it. In Hebrew, it means to revere, stand in awe, honor, respect as the “fear” you show. If you approach the Lord not overly familiar, He will bring you into His “circle of friends”. Seems like another oxymoron doesn’t it? Don’t be overly familiar so you can be close friends. Aren’t close friends marked by over-familiarity? Not when He is Creator of the Universe and Ruler of the Nations. This is something to ponder and take in. Note the rest of that verse, “He will show them His COVENANT.” See how that is beyond legalese? Covenant is about making His circle of close friends. He loves everyone, unconditionally always. But not everyone gets in on the "secret of the Lord.” It is a relational privilege based on you knowing how to make HIS heart feel safe with you. That is what this 67-day journey is about.

August 8, Day 26, Ps. 26: HOSTING GOD

Key Verse: “Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, the place where Your glory dwells.” (v.8)

Key Theme: David’s introspective commitment to being pleasing to God.

Key Descriptives of God: None. Ultimately, the main object.

Psalm 26, is one of those rare chapters where David stays in an introspective mood the entire chapter. I found ME, MY or I, 24 times in these 12 verses. There are no “God, You are…” statements. It is all David looking inside and actually judging and examining himself even as He asks God to. He never talks about God, but the entire chapter is yet about how to please Him and be with Him. You have to remember that there was no righteousness and salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ available when David was writing any of his Psalms. Today, right away, we could all instruct David and say, “Don’t look to yourself to earn salvation, you must look only to Jesus.” While this is true, this is not David’s primary goal here. This is not a chapter on him trying to be righteous enough to get into heaven. He is not really trying to prove his perfection. He is trying to demonstrate the bent of his heart. He is declaring that he is committed and attracted to integrity, God and what is right. “I have walked in Your truth”, “I have not set with idolatrous mortals”, (v.3,4). He resists evil-- relationally motivated.

I LOVE THE HOUSE WHERE YOU LIVE

The key verse everything revolves around is, “Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells.” In another version, “I love the house where you live”. This is David’s driving passion, to be in the house where God lives. It is one thing to be legally attempting to qualify for eternity with God (i.e. “sinner’s prayer”). It is another to, here and the now, be wanting to be in the house where He lives. Again, one of the things I have always loved about David, is that he continuously wanted to experience more of God and His Presence, here and now, and not just later. He speaks very little of his hopes and dreams of one day being with God in heaven. He experiences Him NOW, and he wants to experience Him MORE, this despite being under a much less advantageous covenant (Old Testament).

BEFORE THE NEW AND LIVING WAY

Today, we have access to God and Presence through the new and living way, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:20)— and the Holy Spirit. We can lay on our beds and theoretically access “the place where His glory dwells”. Under the old covenant, God was not so available. Early on, His Presence was in the Ark of the Covenant, guarded by the Mercy Seat that Israel tended to so carefully. Then there was the Tabernacle and in it were ascending places of His presence, all the way into the Holy of Holies, but not available to most as a veil/curtain blocked the pathway. Solomon’s temple was later a place for His Glory Presence but that was not yet built. David had a tent/tabernacle made that housed the Ark of the Covenant and this is where he had to go— and loved to go. It is hard to imagine not having access to His Presence apart from going to some physical place but that can become a real positive as it was for David. He prepared himself for it more intentionally and with less familiarity than we tend to do. He never was trying to “earn” the right to go into the Tabernacle as the “altar" he describes in verse 6, is where blood sacrifices of animals were made to atone for the sinfulness that would disallow you to enter His Presence. That is why I say David was not trying to be perfect enough, as they were clear even in his day that this was not possible. They also were to embrace the need for forgiveness, but it was a price paid for by a lamb instead of THE Lamb. Jesus,THE Lamb, then on the cross removed the veil/curtain of separation forever.

THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID

Amos 9:11, “On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old.”

This, of course, is a theme for an entire book, but we can touch on it today. Obviously, Solomon’s temple was much, much more visually spectacular than the tabernacle of David, so this prophetic passage is not looking to rebuild or restore a tent. It was and is David's careful attention to God’s Presence that is to be rebuilt and restored. David covered all the legal sacrifices required of him under the old covenant, but he went way, way beyond that in stewarding the Presence. Besides daily making sure his predisposition was towards integrity and away from evil, he was very extravagant with his pursuit of the Living Presence. David had around the clock, skilled worship choirs installed in the tabernacle, not because God “required” it but because he had learned about hosting His Presence, probably since he was a young shepherd boy playing on his harp. He learned “God inhabits the praises of His people”. He will tell us of a God who really doesn’t want "blood sacrifices", but rather lives poured out to Him IN worship— and AS worship.

ROYAL PROTOCOL

Verses 6 and 7 of this Psalm 26 reveal to us some of the keys or protocol of entering into His Presence. At the entry altar, he would “proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving” and “tell of His wondrous works”. As he will also later say in the Psalms, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving”. Though David was always committed to being honest and transparent, he learned that this is proper “royal protocol" for how you approach the King. Our first instinct is to “enter His gates” with petitions, and that is okay, but as you cherish your King more you learn the royal relational protocol. Starting with thanksgiving touches HIM more and also fixes our own heart before petitioning starts. Everyone likes to be thanked for doing favors and we get that from our Creator. Especially if we are about to be asked for more favors. The heart opens up just a little bit wider. The way thanksgiving “fixes” our own heart, is that before we ever get to our petitions, it removes doubt from believing He wants to help us or can help us. Who God WAS, is who God WILL BE. We are to come “boldly to the throne of grace to find help in time of need”, (Hebrews 4:16). There is no shame in coming to Him with even tons of requests for help. In fact, it is the epitome of foolishness to have an all-powerful God and NOT come to Him often for help. He wants and expects that of us. He enjoys being Provider, Helper, Counselor, Healer and general Relationships Guru. He does not have inner thoughts of “Oh, look who is back needing something else”. He is not like we might be with our teenage kids . (Partially, perhaps because He has an inexhaustible bank account). He truly enjoys us and truly looks forward to “His face shining upon us and being gracious to us.” Let's approach Him and enjoy Him today.

Aug 9, Day 27, Ps.27, ONE THING

Key Verse (2): #1. “One thing I desire of the Lord, that I will seek; That I may dwell in the house of the Lord forever all the days of my life. To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.” (v.4)

#2. “ I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (v.13)

Key Theme: David’s Life Statement.

Key Descriptives of God: Light and Salvation (v.1) Strength of My Life (v.1) Beautiful (v.4)

40 days to go! We have made it to day 27 of our Summer of His Love journey with His face shining upon us! What a delight it has been for me personally to spend 3 or 4 hours a day immersing into each Psalm. What an ongoing challenge it is to leave so many marvelous truths unwritten about as time runs out. Psalm 27 particularly gives me that challenge as it is one of my life chapters. When Elizabeth and I pastored for 14 years I spent 4 weeks just covering 4 words from verse 4 (and there is my favorite number sequence of 444— that would be another post). Several main songs we would worship to when growing up come out of this Psalm, so that too helps make it unforgettable. Let’s dive in.

LIGHT, SALVATION, STRENGTH, BEAUTY

These 4 words essentially make up the descriptives of God for this amazing Psalm. “The Lord is my Light and my Salvation”, is how it all begins. God does not just provide Light, He IS Light. Furthermore, He is not just Light, He is MY Light. David’s ongoing experiences of God in a MY way is revelation in itself. (MY Shepherd etc). “MY Salvation” is also just so good. Again that word “salvation” in Hebrew is YESHUA. “The Lord is MY JESUS!” What an Old Testament reveal. The word YESHUA, as we have previously pointed out, also means “Victory” and “Deliverance”. No wonder David follows saying, “Whom shall I fear?”. This revelation alone could sustain us all day. Darkness is not the problem— ever. Only the lack of "the Lord My Light” is a problem. Immersion in “the Lord My Salvation” will then take care of any other battle in life. YESHUA will save you for eternity, and give you victory here on earth. That is why David follows, still in verse 1, with “The Lord is the Strength of my life.” Do you sometimes get panicked at how weak and fragile you are? No worries, if your internal GPS redirects to God as Strength, you are in great shape. God doesn’t provide “Deliverance” for got-it-all-together people— only those who NEED deliverance.

BEAUTY

“To behold the BEAUTY of the Lord.” (v.4) We will delve more into this verse in a moment, but the definition alone of Beauty tells us so much. The Hebrew word is NOAM, and it also means “pleasantness, delightfulness, agreeableness, splendor and delight.” This same God who is our Light, our Salvation, and our Strength is pleasant, agreeable, delightful and full of splendor. I frequently quote AW Tozer’s “What you THINK about God is the most important thing about YOU.” That line is worth an entire post as well. What comes to your mind when contemplating God is the game-changer of all game-changers because what you limit Him to in your thoughts is generally what you will be limited to in personal experience of Him. Furthermore, it will limit and distort what you pass on to others of Him. Have you noticed people who don’t believe in God as Healer rarely experience Him as such? God as Provider? God as Holy Ghost Baptizer? God as Comforter? God as Patient? God as Kind? God as Merciful? God as Ruler of the Nations? And now here, God as Beautiful in His pleasant and delightful demeanor. If an aspect of Him doesn’t make it into your thoughts, you are unlikely to see it in your life. Let’s add God as Beautiful into our contemplation.

SEEK, DWELL, BEHOLD, INQUIRE

These are the 4 words out of verse 4 that I preached for 4 weeks on. “ONE THING I desire of the Lord, that I will SEEK; That I may DWELL in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To BEHOLD the beauty of the Lord, and to INQUIRE in His temple.” What a verse. David’s ONE THING requires us looking at these 4 words in some detail, though a whole post on each would have been even better.

#1. SEEK. Hebrew word is BAQASH. It means, “to search out (especially in worship or prayer)”, ask, beg, desire, request, require (and the definitions goes on). The ONE THING is to put you on a journey of discovery.

#2. DWELL. Hebrew word is YASHAB. “To dwell, remain, settle, marry”. Additional words were “haunt” and “lurking”. Your ONE THING is to stalk Him until He marries you. Yes, I know easier to process if you are a woman, but I think you can all find the equivalent.

#3. BEHOLD. Hebrew word is KHAZA. “ To see, perceive, prophesy, gaze with intelligence, contemplate with pleasure.” Amazingly self-explanatory. If you want to grow in the prophetic, grow in your “beholding”. If you want to grow in hopeful and useful prophetic grow in beholding “His beauty”. Prophets who see Him first as Severe instead of Beautiful— pass that on. The lens distortion affects their entire revelatory gift.

#4. INQUIRE. Hebrew word is BAQAR. “To plow; to breakthrough in general; inspect; admire; reflect.” Such a full definition. I recommend just trying to say those 4 words in Hebrew might leave an impartation. BAQASH, YASHAB, KHAZA, BAQAR. Say that slowly three times and it even sounds like you are on a ONE THING quest for God

IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the GOODNESS OF GOD IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING.” (v. 13)

Is this perhaps why so much of the church seems to “have lost heart”? Is this why if you take their “Linus’ blanket” of immediate or soon “rapture” that they break out into a panic attack? Is all our hope and faith stashed in a corner called LATER? That would be proof that you had “lost heart”. The move of God we are stepping into is one that will re-awaken hearts. Awakened hearts know to expect God’s goodness, not just one day in eternity, but here and now "in the land of the living". The Kingdom is past, PRESENT, as well as future. PRESENT means NOW. In "the land of the living.” Relishing the future Kingdom is worth doing, but if that is the space you live in, it is further proof of “having lost heart.” A by-product of the ONE THING is seeing a God of goodness IN the land of the living. That is the KHAZA of intelligent gazing. "Stalk Him" and "plow into Him" until you have breakthrough in this area. We are about to enter the most exciting period ever of Kingdom demonstration on earth. We are in a brand new era of the Kingdom Age and it is not going to stop until there are 153 sheep nations (yes, another post, but it is Biblical). This means nations that operate to the light of the sons and daughters of God (Is. 60:1-3) There is no historical point of reference for what we are accelerating into— and it is "the goodness of God in the land of the living.” Note, it is not “the goodness of God in the land of the recently departed.” It is “goodness” before “rapture”. “Rapture” is a celebration not a rescue. The rescue is now.

REVELATION OF "THE DEVIL"?

Remember neither the Bible nor specifically its' last book is a revelation of “the devil” (antichrist, beast, false prophet, dragon, harlot, great tribulation etc.)— God doesn’t do commercials for the devil. The Bible and Revelation is the Revelation of JESUS CHRIST and His rule. "Oh, but the preacher said…?” Yes, many preachers have been “seminarily" trained to gaze at the horrors of the devil, rather than the beauty of God. What you gaze on you make room for. This is a terrible joke/truth I know, so forgive me ahead of time, but if you break down the word SEMINARY , SEMI means “half", and NARY means “nothing”. "Half of nothing" is the effect of abandoning the ONE THING. Any seminary or deeper study of the scriptures that is not predicated on SEEK, DWELL, BEHOLD, INQUIRE will be religious gobbledyygook. We already abound in that, and in that, have discovered the cause for our loss of heart for seeing God do anything truly significant in our day. Take it from someone who has been doing the ONE THING— truly significant “goodness of God” is in process as we speak. We accelerate towards Hab. 2:14.

Aug 10, Day 28, Ps. 28. HE HAS HEARD

Key Verse: “Blessed be the Lord, Because He has heard the voice of my supplications!” (v.8)

Key Theme: Answered Prayer

Key Descriptives of God: Rock; Strength; Shield; Saving Refuge

Psalm 28 is a simple Psalm with a simple theme. The God of answered prayer is celebrated by David. Typical for him, it doesn’t start in a celebratory place but that is where it will all go. The first two verses David is in the contradiction of it all. “To You I will cry”, “Do not be silent to me”, “Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You”. Then the next three verses David is asking God to do something about the wicked around him. “Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors”, “Render to them what they deserve”.

As we see the overt “wickedness” of our day, we can relate very well. How many of us have been crying out to the Lord for Him to answer us in this unforgettable year? How many of us have seen and learned way too much to ever forget about the human trafficking, child sex trafficking, pedophilia— and worse, of our day? A massive spiritual war is playing out in very overt and visible circumstances. The agendas of darkness are becoming black and white obvious. The more the “wicked” get exposed the more they dig their heels in. It causes you to shake your head as it defies logic.

PHARAOH AGAIN

It reminds me of Pharaoh during the plagues of Egypt. You would think he would learn that God is on a mission to free His people and before things get worse let’s go ahead and relent. But NOOO he digs his heels in. Interestingly enough the scripture says, “And the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart…”. I think this is going on right now in our nation and is presently most obvious with “wicked” governors, mayors, politicians and media and social media platforms and personalities. Pharaoh looks different today but is recognizable by his war against freedom and against worship. I am sure in Moses’ day it must have been frustrating for the children of Israel to assume Pharaoh would now relent as the checklist of plagues hit him— and to see him instead harden his heart. As we experience a similar dynamic today remember that it was and is GOD who is behind the “hardening”, and for the same reason today as back then. The longer Pharaoh resists the more clearly God gets to reveal Himself. If the testimony of Israel’s exodus was only that the Nile River turned blood red and Pharaoh let them go, perhaps a question arises on down the line on whether it was actually supernatural or maybe something else. Perhaps some farmers upstream had suddenly killed a whole herd of pigs by the river and so it had affected the Nile. Maybe it was some kind of visual phenomena tied into a phase of the moon that at night made the Nile look red. Different ways of de-Nile (denial). You know, it is always amazing what history revisionists can do. “So the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart”, so that “fake news” couldn’t distort what had actually happened. Undeniable plague after plague came and went as Pharaoh almost repented but then backed off his repentance. Flies, frogs, lice, boils, hail etc.etc. piled on one after another in ways that registered forever with Egypt and with Israel. Egypt needed to be clear on what was happening. Israel needed to be clear on what was happening. When God wants this kind of clarity He “hardens the heart” of the evildoers. Both sides see His face of justice, one from a plaintiff’s view and one from a defendant’s view. Justice is always good for the innocent plaintiff and always bad for the guilty defendant. We are in such an operation today so take heart.

HE HAS HEARD

“Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications!” (v.6) As you read this Psalm there is a very clear pause between verses 5 and 6. Something shifts between them. There is no way the Psalm could have been written in one day and for sure not in one setting. You cannot go from “why are you being silent?” to “He has heard!” in 5 verses. Days, weeks, or months could’ve gone between these verses. I like it that David ends that verse 6 with an exclamation point. I believe that this is what God wants to do for us right in the middle of the 2020 Summer of His Love. He wants to bring exclamation points to our supplications. He wants us to be able to say as David did in the next verse 7, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.”

I WILL PRAISE HIM

The enemy's attempts to mask us and restrict worship are backfiring. Praise and worship is breaking out all over. Sean Feucht made it again on Fox News and other media outlets as he did the very courageous thing of going into the heart of ANTIFA troubled Portland and worshiped HIM. Thousands came out this past weekend with estimates of up to 7000! Many, many got saved and many were baptized. He went to Seattle as well but I haven’t heard the report. Also this weekend there was another gathering on the beaches of Orange County, California with another large crowd praising HIM. Close friends of mine who are there say the air is electric with revival, with a move of God— not just the day of an event but in between the events. These all qualify as “answered prayer” and are evidence of His face shining upon us in the Summer of His Love. Something big and good is brewing.

Pastors are beginning to recognize the “Pharaoh element” of their worship services being targeted and are standing up and taking “Pharaoh” on. Once again the “troubled” state of California is leading the way here and I salute my friend Pastor Che Ahn for his courage in suing the state on this matter. Pastor John MacArthur is standing up to the state. Others are doing so as well and I am sure there are hundreds of pastors and churches around the nation defying orders. May it quickly be thousands upon thousands. God is going to “plague Pharaoh” until he lets us go worship— so work with Him. Those trying to suggest it is always Biblical to “submit to authority” just remember this very story. It is 100% “Let My people go!” and there is no submission to authority in that. The matter then was worship as well. (Pharaoh, God says let My people go worship) Can you imagine as God is revving His messenger Moses and as He is plaguing Pharaoh— for some “meek pastors" to be saying, “Well, you know we really don’t have to leave here to worship. We can do that anywhere. Let’s show our “honor of authority” by not pushing for freedom. It will be safer as well”. Would that not be the epitome of absurdity? The epitome of not understanding the day you live in? I want to extend grace to pastors and I know the pressures are great, but since when is having church and worshiping God ever supposed to be the “safe and honoring” thing to do? Have we done church and worshiped unopposed for so long that we think that the new standard? Yeah, there is a reason God has to “harden Pharaoh’s heart” to crack down more and more. It is tied into us finally awakening. Our King is going to get us to stop bowing to clearly antichrist government officials and ordinances. He is going to get us to quit bowing to “cultural relevance” ( the more you bow, the more irrelevant they actually believe you to be), to “seeker sensitivity” (that ship has definitely sailed) and to pseudo “honor of authority” (CHRIST is the head of the church, not your governor). Your True Authority is working on your behalf to honor the cries and supplications of those oppressed by the wicked. Submit to HIM!

A SAVING REFUGE

We close with the promise of the last two verses. “The Lord is their strength, He is the SAVING REFUGE of His anointed. SAVE Your people, and BLESS Your inheritance; SHEPHERD them also, and bear them up forever.”

This is what our Saving Refuge is presently doing. He is here to SAVE us, BLESS us, and SHEPHERD us. We can cooperate with it now. We can celebrate it now.

Aug 11, Day 29, Psalm 29: SKIP LIKE A UNICORN?

Key Verse: “The Lord rules over the floodwaters. The Lord reigns as King forever.” (v.10)

Key Theme: The Kingdom Meta-narrative

Key Descriptive of God: The Lord with the Thundering Voice

What a challenge I have today. As I dove into Psalm 29, I discovered a veritable gold mine of revelation that could or will perhaps fill a whole book. With the Holy Spirit’s help, I will bring it down to a useable portion into the smiling face of God on this 67-day journey in the Summer of His Love.

If you have already read this chapter I am sure you realized that these eleven verses take you to an other-worldly place. It is beautiful, poetic, majestic and quite above normal reasoning. From its first verse, you can tell you are being thrown into the deep end of the pool. “Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.” Immediately your mind of reason is thrown into TILT. What does “ascribe to the Lord” mean? Who are the “mighty ones”? If “ascribe” means “tribute or honor”, how do you ascribe “glory and strength”? You can tell the translators have really struggled with the meaning of words. I read the chapter in 6 versions and about the only word or phrase agreed upon was the “voice of the Lord”. Again part of the reason for that is each Hebrew word has multiple definitions to choose from and often they are not similar at all in context. For instance in verse 8 where it says “The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness” (or desert, depending on your translation), the Hebrew word for “wilderness” is MIDBAR, which can be translated as wilderness or desert but also means “speech, mouth, and all the mouths connected organs”. The Lord either “shakes the desert” or “shakes the mouth”. (amazingly at this precise moment a sound of thunder just reverberated outside and it is the only one I have heard today). To further complicate matters the Hebrew word for “shakes” CHUWL can mean “twist, whirl, dance, writhe, travail, birth, tremble, trust (and more)”. So is He “shaking the desert” or “twisting the mouth”- or something else? Yes, the inspiration of scriptures is “inerrant” and of the Holy Spirit, but the fact that man has had to translate it adds an “errancy” component most aren’t that familiar with. All it means is make sure to bring the Holy Spirit into your scripture reading. “The letter kills but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). The translators, by and large, get you close enough to the treasure field where with Holy Spirit-Teacher you can find the treasure. Here is what He showed me for Psalm 29.

THE KINGDOM NARRATIVE LAID OUT

The chapter begins with an invocation to be wowed by the Lord. I gave you verse 1, and now verse 2, “Honor the Lord for the glory of His name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness”. Verses 3-9 there will be 7 “voices of the Lord” mentioned. The 7 is not coincidental. There are 7 mountains (Rev. 17:9), 7 spirits of God (Rev. 4:5) and 7 divine attributes of God to be revealed, one in each mountain (Rev.5:12). The “voice of the Lord” when seen in the Hebrew is a thundering, voice of power. The sequence of each voice corresponds with the Lord speaking into and ruling over the 7 mountains or spheres of society. The ending is awesome. The last line of verse 9 says, “In His Temple everyone shouts , Glory!” That connects us to Habakuk 2:14 and the whole earth (all 7 mountains) being filled with the knowledge of the glory of God. Verse 10 starts with “The Lord rules over the floodwaters.” This reminds us of the days of Noah, but the scriptures also tell us we will go back to “as in the days of Noah”. The relevant part for us is that HE opens up "the deep" and releases the floodwaters that causes the ark of His presence and His people to rise to the tops of the mountains, where it finally rests of Mt.Ararat (meaning “the curse reversed”). This time under the new covenant of mercy, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. We are the “ark of God” rescue for “whosoever will” as His waters rise and rise and rise. The Lord has spoken very clearly to me that we are entering those days. It will undoubtedly take many, many decades of these rising floodwaters for the tops of the mountains to be saturated and for ultimately “the curse reversed” as nations walk to the light of the sons of God. (Is. 60:3 - a good translation).

THE LORD REIGNS AS KING FOREVER

What follows is “The Lord King reigns forever.” He progressively “reigns” as He arises with His sons and daughters to the tops of the mountains. Acts 3:21 says that “He is held in the heavens UNTIL the restoration of ALL things spoken of by His servants the prophets.” David was a prophet and here lays out the meta-narrative. He is the same prophet that said in Psalm 2, “Ask of Me and I will give you the nations as an inheritance.” The “restoration of all things” of Acts 3:21 coincides with “and the ark rested on Mt. Ararat” (“the curse reversed’). Then the Lord reigns as King forever. “For He must reign until He has put all of His enemies under His feet.” (1 Cor. 15:25) Him being the Head, and us being His Body, WE are His feet. The last verse sums it up. “The Lord gives His people strength. The Lord blesses them with PEACE.” That word for peace is SHALOM. It all ends in SHALOM. What a storyline we are invited to be wowed by and invited to take part in. What a storyline is accelerating RIGHT NOW. Can you feel the mountains tremble?

THE "7 VOICES" HIDDEN REVELATION

Here is where you just hang on for the revelation ride as in-depth explanation has to be saved for a book. I will attach a “voice of the Lord” per mountain. It helps if you read our book RISE (for Reformers Influencing Society Everyday).

#1. Mountain of Family- “The voice of the Lord echoes ABOVE THE SEA.” (v.3) Sea is the sea of humanity. One of definitions of Hebrew word MAYIM for Sea is “ human bodily fluids”.

#2. Mountain of Government.- The voice of the Lord is POWERFUL”.(v. 4) In Rev. 5:12 the heavenly attribute of POWER we associate with government.(from RISE book)

#3. Mountain of Arts- “The voice of the Lord is full of GLORY.”(v.4) (other versions “majestic”) Rev. 5:12 heavenly attribute for Arts/Entertainment is GLORY.

#4. Mountain of Religion- “ The voice of the Lord splits, shatters, causes to give birth the MIGHTY CEDARS…of Lebanon…so she skips like a calf (Mal. 4:2) and makes Mt. Hermon (Ps. 133:3) skip like a young UNICORN”.(v.5 and 6) Two packed verses. “Cedars of Lebanon” were used to build Solomon’s Temple where the glory came in. Mt.Hermon speaks of UNITY. (People who have been to heaven have seen God riding a rainbow colored unicorn. It is extra-biblical revelation so we don’t make a doctrine out of it- but think about it anyway :))

#5. Mountain of Education- “The voice of the Lord divides the FLAMES OF FIRE.”(v.7) These are Lights of instruction. Fire was the ancient light in the darkness = education.

#6. Mountain of Media- “The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness…of Kadesh”.(v.8) It was at Kadesh that the spies gave their reports.

#7. Mountain of Economy- “The voice of the Lord makes the DEER GIVE BIRTH.” Deer in scripture are always about the “high places.” His voice brings the increase.

With that, I close for today. It all was just too jam-packed with revelation. Mainly feel the excitement. In Mt. 6 when it says His is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, think KINGDOM= Thunder, POWER=Lightning, and GLORY = Rain. THUNDER lays out the meta-narrative. LIGHTNING shows His power to pull it off. RAIN is how He floods and changes everything. We are in the advanced swirl of it all.

Aug 12, Day 30, Psalm 30: HEALING IS YOURS TODAY

Key Verse: “For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.”

Key Theme: David celebrating answered prayer for healing.

Key Descriptives of God: Healer; He Who turns Mourning into Dancing.

Today, on the 30th day of our 67-day journey we want to connect to the HEALING that comes from His face shining upon us. Appropriately enough that is David’s theme of Psalm 30 and is summed up in verse 2. “O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me.” For those of you who have been crying out for healing be in expectation today for a miracle from God. Pay attention to your level of pain and discomfort as you begin to read this post and how you feel once we are done. He has assured me that healing from His shining face will be released today.

BARGAINING FOR HEALING

As opposed to many Psalms where David starts under it all in verse 1, the Psalmist begins exalting the Lord for having lifted him up and rescued him from some significant sickness. Whatever it was, it was enough to be scary for him where he wondered whether he would even stay alive. Throughout this chapter, he retells of his ordeal and of his processing. The last line of the first verse, “And have not let my foes rejoice over me”, goes into what is always significant for David. Sometimes he identifies the “foes” and they are human, and some times the “foes” are the demonic, but he often “bargains” with God for intervention over that matter. Heal me, for if no other reason, to keep the enemy from rejoicing at my downfall.

WHO WILL PRAISE YOU?

In verse 9, “What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? (an expression for “dying”) Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?” In David’s bargaining with the Lord, he is giving Him a second consideration. #1, Heal me so Satan can’t gloat. #2, Heal me so you can receive awesome praise. David had to know that extravagant praise, such as was his custom to bring to God, was uncommon. He wanted God to be motivated by that factor as He processed whether He let David die or not. As badly as David loved His Presence, he consistently wanted to experience it “in the land of the living.” I think he innately knew that there is no worship of God in heaven that can compare with worship on earth. As shocking as that sounds, even the most skilled, elaborate and passionate worship in heaven registers differently to the heart of the Father. There, all can see and experience Him face to face and in His full glory. All questions of what was God doing and why is God delaying have been answered. Praise and worship of Him can’t be helped in that atmosphere. It is so obvious there— that He is Good, and Kind, and Glorious, and Majestic, and Wonderful, and Loving, and Beautiful. Here we sing from a war zone. Here all those descriptions of Him are constantly assailed and easily doubted. The worship of God that comes from earth is always going to have more potential than that which comes from heaven. When one here can be fighting sickness, inwardly grieving a loss of a relative, tormented by a child who has gone astray, facing demonic injustice in government— and STILL says from the heart YOU ARE GOOD! Now that’s rare worship and it outdoes what 10,000 angels around the throneroom can do. So David says, Father, you want to lose that? I’m sure it would be a pretty good bargaining chip. David’s present praise of God can never equal what it was while he was writing the Psalms. Praise under duress has a different fragrance. That fragrance is only available on earth. It is why “He inhabits the praises of His people”.

HIS ANGER IS BUT FOR A MOMENT?

Our key verse is verse 5. “For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.” The message here is wonderful even just as it is. “Anger for a MOMENT” versus “Favor for LIFE” is a wonderful proposition. If we apply it towards how He disciplines us particularly so. You know, we do something obviously wrong, He corrects us sternly— but then it is over. We are back under His favor. However, I struggled with it here because David is speaking about healing throughout the chapter. It did not seem like acceptable theology for him to consider sickness “His anger” as if THE HEALER can also be THE SICKENER. To the degree that was David’s perception, to that degree he was in error. God may “allow” sickness, but He does not cause sickness. I put “allow” in quotation marks because by creating a world of freewill creatures He “allows” just about everything. But I looked up the Hebrew word for “anger” and it is a little word APH. That word’s FIRST meanings are listed as “nostril, nose, face”. In Genesis 2:7 when it says “God breathed into man’s NOSTRILS” it is that very word APH. I think a better translation might be “For His nose or face may seemed turned for a moment…”. Which of course is why we exult when “His face shines upon us”. He does allow “weeping for a night” (often many nights:)) but He loves coming in like The Dawn. His heart for us is that even when we have “moments” of contradiction that we live out of a “Favor for Life” identity.

YOU HID YOUR FACE, I WAS TROUBLED

That is a line in verse 7. So often in scripture, things going well or not going well are explained from this perspective. “His Face shining upon us” means experiencing FAVOR. Him “hiding His face” equals TROUBLE. There is very little attention to “warfare”. What the devil is doing is irrelevant as compared to this overriding dynamic. It is like rebuking the night. What we want is The Dawn. When the sun rises darkness gets ignored. Yes, I do understand the New Testament command that we “Resist the devil” but the words that precede it are “Submit to God.” Those who make that a continual habit usually have a hard time even finding the devil. David warns in verses 6 and 7, of living in overconfidence, which is essentially where we expect His face to stay shining on us without “submitting to God”. It is often an oversight that leads to the enemy coming in with sickness, but it is not punishment from God, but just a reality. LIKE a roaring lion the enemy is always seeking whom he may devour. Sickness is always from the devil, but ALL of us tend to give him access points. Fortunately, our God is Healer and when He is looked at as such His face of healing can shine on us.

YOU HAVE TURNED MY MOURNING INTO DANCING

As we close, make sure to read the last 2 verses. This is what He makes available even today. He wants to remove your “sackcloth” and clothe you with “gladness”. This scripture applies to other matters as well but in the context of this Psalm, I believe he is speaking of the “sackcloth” of the sickness and of the accompanying lies to the sickness. How long? Why? Am I going to die? What if? These are all part of the “sackcloth” He is removing today. Mourning into dancing. He is here to clothe you with the “gladness” of answered prayer. Today, I speak over you divine healing. May your body experience a dawning today from its’ night season. May heat be felt in your body right now as the Sun/Son of righteousness arises with healing in His wings. Be healed in Jesus name! Raise your hands and receive it. He is moving among us.