The Prophetic Word - Day 20: We are under the judgement of the Most High -the National Day of Prayer
- araratchurch
- May 8, 2023
- 3 min read
“"I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven. He proclaimed aloud and said thus: 'Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his mind be changed from a man's, and let a beast's mind be given to him; and let seven periods of time pass over him. The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.'”
Daniel 4:13-17 ESV
On 3-18-2020 The Lord spoke to us and said that the United States was experiencing the fate of Nebuchadnezzar and that it will continue until God’s power and authority over our nation is again acknowledged.
This profoundly sober word was accompanied with the story of Nebuchadnezzar‘s fall, and his eventual reinstatement after he had been humiliated before the world.
If these words don’t ring true to you of what has been happening since that day early in 2020, then you must immediately pray that The Lord would open your eyes to what is going on.
Make no mistake, whereas we have many foreign enemies who would gladly take down our country, our current woeful state is the result of an inside job. This precipitous degradation is the result of our own continued mocking of God’s rule.
The Lord has mandated that we offer this prayer on behalf of the United States in an attitude of utter humiliation, repentance, and submission before Him.
My friend and fellow citizen, this is our country’s only hope. Otherwise, only the first part of Nebuchadnezzar’s story: the judgment, the humiliation, the loss of power, the beast-like heart, will be our end.
Let us turn to the Most High now and beseech Him for mercy as we recognize our sin and His rule.
This we pray:
Our Most High Father and King,
Whereas we have dismissed the sanctity of life by continuing to champion deliberate execution of the unborn;
Whereas we have oppressed the weak by using the power of the government to deny the rights of those without the power to resist;
Whereas we have perverted justice for the love of money;
Whereas we have allowed our government-sanctioned system of education to deny Your edicts, rather, becoming indoctrination for a perverse system;
Whereas we have exploited the poor and needy by selectively acknowledging and helping those who will support our access to power;
Whereas we have made a mockery of Your created order by denying the unique creation of woman out of man which produced the discrete progenitors of Your image;
Whereas we have lied to cover our corruption;
Whereas we have chosen money and/or power over righteousness; and
Whereas these offenses do not even begin to describe our fall from Your purpose;
We, therefore, prostrate ourselves before you, begging for Your mercy on our country as we acknowledge our sins and ask You to reinstate us into Your righteousness and Your purpose.
For all this we humbly ask in the mighty Name of Jesus on this 4th day of May, 2023.
Amen and amen!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- May 8, 2023
- 3 min read
“We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.”
Romans 6:6-7, 12-16 NLT
The apostle Paul describes a struggle we have all felt at some point in our lives. On the one hand, we desire to do what is right; but on the other hand, there seems to be a force within us “making us” want to do what is not right. And, sometimes it seems that the part of us that wants to do what is not right, seems to have the upper hand.
“Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.”
Romans 7:24-25 NLT
As Paul discovered, the answer to overcoming the part that wants to be rebellious against the law of God, is recognizing that we do not have to follow sin’s dictates anymore.
“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”
Romans 8:12-14 NLT
Sin’s right to control us died on the cross with our Savior. And, when He was raised, He was raised with the power to give new life to the former slaves of sin: the group to which we all belong.
We can walk in the freedom of spirit-controlled living by becoming a servant of righteousness.
Now, when we were servants of sin, it was more of a compulsion; it seemed to be beyond our ability to control. As such, we didn’t seem to have to make a decision to do the wrong thing; that seemed to come “naturally.”
The way we become servants of righteousness is different in that we must humble ourselves and submit our will to the Holy Spirit’s leading in our life. He will never try to trick us into doing what He wants. He will never manipulate. He directs and leads; He does not drag or push.
Therefore, again, if we have not consciously submitted our will to the Lord and made the decision to be led by His spirit, what will come “naturally,” is to do the wrong thing, and we remain a slave to sin. This is because the devil will use strong-arm tactics and the Holy Spirit will not.
In our opening scripture we see Paul instructing that because our sinful selves were crucified with Christ, we are no longer obligated—no longer subject—to a sin persuasion that always has the upper hand in our lives.
But, the only way the cross will set you free from being a slave to sin—or always seeming to do what is not right, or having certain areas that you never seem to get the victory over—is to recognize that you do not have to be controlled by sin anymore! And with that, you must submit yourself willfully to become a servant or slave of God’s way of being and doing (righteousness).
Instruct that old man of sin who tries to manifest in your life to look at the cross and see where he died. Then—by the power of the Holy Spirit—let your new man look at that same cross and see where he was born.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- May 7, 2023
- 3 min read
“For this is the will of God, that you be sanctified [separated and set apart from sin]: that you abstain and back away from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor [being available for God’s purpose and separated from things profane], not [to be used] in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God and are ignorant of His will;”
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 AMP
The scriptures we offered yesterday for your prayerful consideration (1 John 3:1-10 & 2 Timothy 2:19-22) bring us to a very clear point of truth: If we want to be vessels of honor—be able to be led by the Spirit of God and do the things that are according to His will—then we must live holy or separated lives. As we stated yesterday: Your vessel will be filled with for what it has been prepared.
It isn’t enough just to think about wanting to be filled with the power of God. We must act on the desire to be filled with His Spirit by abstaining from those things that are evil and doing those things that are according to God‘s will for us.
“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
When we repent of our sins and accept Christ as our Savior and Lord, we become vessels capable of housing the Holy Spirit of God. Now, whereas the Holy Spirit is a gift—not given on the basis of our having earned it—we do have the responsibility to keep our vessel separated to the Lord (holy) in order for the Spirit to be able to truly lead us, guide us, and form the image of Christ within us.
Indeed, the word of God confirms that our part is to keep our vessel clean after having been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Without His blood there would be no way to be truly clean. And, based on the work of the cross, we can now live lives separate from sin.
“Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.”
1 John 3:7-8, 10 NLT
Of course, we know that God has made provision for when we do sin.
“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.”
1 John 2:1 NLT
But, a Christian who continually sins, having no regard for what God wants, is a Christian in name only.
The precious Holy Spirit is a wonderful gift. We must do what makes Him feel welcome, so that we can please God and do good works that bring glory to His name.
Indeed, as Paul states in our opening scripture: “For this is the will of God, that you be sanctified.” God wants us to be holy.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!