Tag: #spiritualwarrior

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Be Encouraged!

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. – Galatians 6:9 (NIV)

I am sitting at my dining table preparing my notes for the Bible Study teaching tonight. My husband comes downstairs and excitedly exclaims, “Did you see it?”

“See what?”, I asked.

“We are at 102,” he replied.

…I grabbed my phone and texted in the family chat: Good morning. More good news! ezerwatchers has just passed the 100 subscribers mark. As of today, we are at 102 subscribers and counting. Thank you Lord!!!

Later that morning, one of my “daughters” asked, “Are you going to write a celebratory post?….100 is a milestone.” I gave it some thought and while thinking on it, my mind went to one of my journal entries from July 2019. It reads as follows:

I am somewhat disappointed this morning. I am displeased because ezerwatchers.com has not been receiving the responses I had expected or hoped for. I expected that it would be supported by my family and friends, if by no one else. But last week, it only received 1 view total.

However, in my reading this morning, I read Nehemiah 5:16a – “Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall….” This passage spoke about how Nehemiah invested in himself and continued in his assignment. Unlike the other governors before him, he was not going to trust in or rely on the people. Instead he was going to shoulder his burdens and apply himself (that is, devote himself) to the work of the wall.

Like Nehemiah, I need to look away from man’s help, from my expectations from family and friends, and continue to invest in the work that God has assigned me – ezerwatchers. I need to keep at it! Be faithful!

Dear Father, You are my support so, I look to You for support. Help me to keep my eyes focused on the assignment and not look to the arm of flesh. Help me to value Your approval more than the approval of man and above everything else. Lord, help me to remember that as long as I am obeying You, then I am successful and prosperous. I thank you for your encouragement. I will wait on You and be of good courage. Amen!

Friends, that morning I went into prayer with the weight of disappointment weighing me down but, by the time I left my place of prayer, I was encouraged. I want to share that same encouragement with you. I want to encourage you regarding those times when it seems like what God has asked you to do is not bearing any fruit. Do not allow disappointment to pull you apart from your God-assigned task. Know that all God requires of you is faithfulness. It is His responsibility to add as needed. Just as you were a part of making this milestone possible for ezerwatchers, even so God is raising up people to help make your milestone possible.

THANK YOU TO ALL MY SUBSCRIBERS!!

Know that the Lord Your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness  – Deuteronomy 2:7 (NIV).

My love and prayers are with you all!

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Infected?

As we prayed this morning, I felt directed to pay attention to the state of the spiritual environment. I have learned that indulging in repeated acts (habits) draw or attract the spirits associated with that act. Additionally, things that appear in the physical realm are usually (1) a manifestation of what is occurring in the spiritual realm OR (2) an illusion that the adversary is propagating to deceive many.

In either case, what I see, hear, smell, feel – what I sense in the physical – is connected to an entity in the spiritual realm. So, although my household has been protected so far from the COVID-19 infection, it does not negate that the infection and all things resulting from its effect on the earth are manifesting and have manifested.

I need to look at this virus and its effects so as to trace the spirits that have been unleashed and are actively working in our world at this time:
– UNEMPLOYMENT = lack, poverty, hopelessness/despair, suicide, loss, homelessness;
– SHUT-DOWN = quarantine, shelter-in-place, isolation, separation, loneliness, fear, anxiety, abandonment;
– SICKNESS & DEATHS = sorrow, loss, grief, lostness, doubt, mistrust
– RACIAL PROTESTS = anger, violence, hatred, malice, murder, injustice

As I stop and look, really look, I see how I have taken the state of the spiritual environment for granted. My lack of attention to it has exposed my family and me to spiritual infection.

Masks are being required more and more as a defense against this virus. Countries are pushing for their people to wear masks as their personal protective equipment (PPE). But what spiritual PPE have we put on as a spiritual defense against those spirits that have accompanied the pandemic?

In my studies and subsequent teachings on “Overcoming Emotions”, I realized that our senses as well as our emotions were given to us as organs of perception that will help us navigate and survive in this world. Moreover, we saw that this perception is not just limited to the physical realm but is also connected to the spiritual realm. With the onslaught of issues arising from the effects of this pandemic, our emotions are functioning as God designed them, attempting to convey to us changes in our spiritual environment. They are doing so in an effort to help us navigate and survive this pandemic; to protect and preserve not just our physical lives but our spiritual lives as well.

With this in mind, I ask myself, “Could it be that what I have been feeling these past weeks was me actually sensing activities or pulses in the spiritual realm? Could it be that the symptoms of feeling mentally, emotionally and spiritually faint or tired/fatigued/exhausted are an indication that I have been spiritually exposed?”

If so, I need to QUARANTINE. I need to stay home and monitor my spiritual health. I need to spiritually distance myself from every evil spirit that is seeking to infect me with Lack, Loneliness, Despair, Anxiety, Fear, Anger, Doubt, and every other spirit that is actively working through this pandemic. I need to go to my place of refuge – God – and find shelter under His wings (Psalms 46:1; Psalms 91:1). I need to take the time that I need to be spiritually recovered and be back to full strength again.

Holy Spirit, You are ever-working, ever-active. You know just how to get our attention and how to lead and guide us into our truth, that is, the truth we need for today. You are my parakletos indeed – the One who walks alongside me as my Help. May I connect with you once more in the place of prayer and find strength for the battle. May Your all-sufficient grace be realized in me as I fight for my survival and that of my family. May I walk with the sight of the Spirit, knowing that my steps are ordered by You. – AMEN!

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Prayer of Warfare for My Family

By the power and authority invested in me, through the blood and name of Jesus, I contend for my family today!

  • Every attack against this family is arrested!
  • I revoke every assignment against us and interrupt every demonic activity in and around our lives; I prohibit their influence; they shall NOT succeed!
  • I violently object to every Satanic claim over our lives, over our progress and prosperity and over our souls!
  • I demolish every Satanic roadblock against this family!
  • I revoke every curse pronounced against this family!
  • I pronounce divine reversal of every demonic conspiracy against the leadership of this family!
  • Every counsel against us will come to nought!
  • I unblock every stopped up well in this family!
  • I declare that this family is blessed with the blessings of the Lord!
  • Doors of opportunity and favor are opened to us now!
  • This family is seeing AND will see the manifestation of the plans and purposes of God, as prophesied over our lives!
  • We will be the head and not the tail; above only and not beneath!
  • We will be known for holiness and righteousness and will be a godly example to nations!
  • This family will walk in the power and leading of the Holy Spirit!
  • Prayer, anointed prayer, effective prayer will be the nature and trademark of this family!
  • This family will bear fruit and experience expansion and growth!
  • Our roots will grow downward and our shoots upward!
  • We will remain planted in God and on fire for God until He returns or calls us home!

“The Breaker, the Messiah, who opens the way, is going up before us [liberating us].
We are breaking out, passing through the gate and going out;
with our King going on before us, and
The Lord at our head.” – Micah 2:13

THANK YOU, O BREAKER & STRONG DELIVERER FOR THE VICTORY….In Jesus’ name, AMEN

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W.O.M.E.N. – Catalysts of Change

Watchers

Of

Ministry

Empowered with

kNowledge

Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother.  – Exodus 2: 1-8

Genesis 1:26-28; 3:1-6 In the beginning, it was our desire for knowledge that caused us to use our God-given power (influence) to change the world; to birth forth change.

Genesis 3:15 The Lord God did not remove our power (influence) but instead prophesied that He would use our wombs to change the world; to birth forth change.

Galatians 4:4 Throughout time, God continually used our wombs to bring forth numerous change agents. Then, “in the fulness of time”, God fulfilled His prophesy using one of us to birth forth THE CHANGE AGENT Jesus Christ, again changing the whole world.

Revelations 12:1-6; Isaiah 11:1-2 Now in the End of Times, our assignment has not changed. We are facing that original serpent in battle but, this time, we rise as W.O.M.E.N. using our power (influence) equipped with the knowledge that comes from God, with the seven-fold spirit of God resting on us – the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

Do not be deceived! Do that which you were born to do! You are one who births, discerns, covers and protects. Your assignment is not about you. It’s about your caring for and watching over another.

You are anointed to love, to see, to wash the feet and wounds of …., to provide comfort and care. Arise, take up your mantle and walk out your destiny. Lift your head high knowing that you were born for this. Your sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and acquaintances will call you blessed.

You are W.O.M.E.N. – Watchers Of Ministry Empowered with kNowledge. Walk circumspectly…eyes are on you!

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Journeying through the Wilderness

“Because I did not know our purpose for being THERE, my expectations were wrong and, I unknowingly frustrated God’s purpose for our lives.”

These words can be found penned at the top of one of the pages of my journals. It was written at the turn of a new year some 4 years after we had been in the USA. My family had migrated to the USA in 2013 as the result of a prophetic word spoken about 10 years earlier. We came to the USA for ministry and with the expectation that ministry would birth forth and blossom quickly. We never bargained for a wilderness.

The journey through the wilderness lasted a few years, during which time I battled with and often found myself under the influence of spirits of discontent, dissatisfaction, and discouragement. My attitude and outlook during those years left much to be desired.

You see, the problem for me was that the Lord had directed us to another ministry during this wilderness time, until He would separate us for the work that He had sent us here to do, like He did with Saul and Barnabas (Acts 13:2-3 ). However, I found myself like the children of Israel, lusting after what WAS (our ministry back home, PFEM). I kept comparing what WAS with what “IS” and kept looking back.

What I did not realize at the time was that whereas PFEM was my place of growth in salvation and training for ministry, this new place was my place of testing, my wilderness. This was where God would humble me and prove me to know what was in my heart. This would be the place that God would use to stir and challenge our faith, teaching us how to survive in what might seem as uninhabited and barren places.

I really felt like I was in a bad place. I felt that somehow we had missed God, but as the Holy Spirit ministered to me, He showed me that it was not a bad place and we had not missed Him. He brought me to study the following two verses.

Exodus 13:17-18 (KJV) – 17 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:18 But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 8:2-3 (KJV) – 2 And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

And this is what He shared with me.
1. The wilderness is not a bad thing or a bad place. The wilderness represents God’s love for and mercy towards us.
2. The wilderness is our place of transition before we enter and posses the Promised Land.
3. The wilderness is the place where God will develop our faith to be able to take possession of that Promised Land.
4. There is no need to be discouraged because the wilderness is not our destination, rather a part of the journey, a part of the process to get us to the Promised Land.

Friends, when we left Antigua, we felt like we were ready to possess the Promise. But God said, if we went directly the wars we would see/encounter would discourage us and cause us to repent (change our minds) from the “Yes” that we had said to this assignment. So, instead, He provided for us an alternate route that would take us through the wilderness, spending time THERE. How much more I could have learned? How much further we could have been? If I had only understood our purpose for being THERE.

I share this experience with you all today because I don’t want you to frustrate the purposes of God as a result of the navigational route that He has chosen for your journey. I don’t want You to waste Your time looking back at what was and miss what God has prepared for you now. Please remember that He is faithful and will perform what He has promised, but He may need to take you on a journey through the wilderness so that you can be sufficiently prepared for what He has promised.

Dear Holy Spirit, please help me not to resist Your wisdom in taking me through the wilderness. Help me not to resist Your training in developing my faith. May I rise in my faith believing truly that You are not a Man that You should lie, nor a son of man, that You should repent or change Your mind. May I be fully persuaded that if You said it, You will do it and if You spoke it, You will make it good. Father, I cast off the weight of every spirit of discontent and discouragement right now and receive the oil of joy and garment of praise. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!

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Left Wide Open

Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel. – Joshua 8:17 (NIV)

More and more lately, as the Lord speaks to me, He keeps on reminding me about the FIGHT. He cautions me not to forget who I am and whose I am. He admonishes me to be on guard. Today, I was reminded of this once again when I re-read this journal entry from 2 years ago. I pray it is a blessing to you, as you stay positioned in the The Fight.

On Friday morning, I read Joshua 8 as my devotional and, one verse in particular stood out to me – verse 17. It pointed out that all the men of Ai left the city open and pursued after Israel. As I read the full account , two thoughts penetrated my mind: LEFT WIDE OPEN and DON’T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!

As I pondered on both thoughts, I heard that we must constantly be reminded that we are in a war. Although we often forget this fact, our adversary does not. As such, he is always strategizing against us. One such strategy is SETTING AN AMBUSH against our city; against our dwelling space. An ambush is a surprise attack on someone from a concealed position. Let’s read the account to see how this was executed:

Joshua 8: 4- 7 (NIV) –“Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. 5 I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. 6 They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are running away from us as they did before.’ So when we flee from them, 7 you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. 13 So the soldiers took up their positions—with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley. 14 When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set against him behind the city.

STEPS OUR ADVERSARY TAKES IN AN AMBUSH AGAINST US:
1. He sends something that would lure (draw) us away from our “city”: our place of security, protection, or refuge. Something that seems like an attack but it’s just a distraction.
2. He gives us a false sense of security or victory.
3. He gets our attention fixed on the pursuit.
4. He causes us to be in a hurry to achieve, to rush out without first doing the proper reconnaissance, not realizing that an ambush has been set.

Scripture teaches us that we are to be on guard. 1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV) states, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” One of the things that ensures that we are not left open or vulnerable is prayer.

When life’s cares, joys, pains, schedules, etc. come in the way of my prayer life, I am as that city, left wide open.

When I stop being vigilant in prayer, stop being cautious in my daily interactions, and become relaxed spiritually, I am left wide open.

Prayerlessness makes me vulnerable to the enemy.

Prayerlessness weakens and eventually removes my cover/protection and exposes me to the deception of the enemy.

Prayerlessness is evidence that I have let down my guard.

Friends, if you and those who are a part of your space are going to remain protected, you need to guard against leaving your “city” wide open. Do not be ignorant of the devices of the adversary. Remember who you are. You have been called to and anointed to fight. You are `ezer – an agent of the kingdom heaven empowered as a military ally to fight on behalf of the citizens of this kingdom. Remember, even when it seems as if nothing is happening, the fight is still on. DON’T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN and DON’T BE FOUND WIDE OPEN!

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You are NOT Too Late! It’s Not Over!

It is Thursday night and, as is our custom, we have gathered for prayer. John, my 12-year old son, lifts his voice as he makes his approach to the Throne of Grace. His sister Grace, sitting beside him, also lifts her voice in support of him, as he carries our requests to the Father.

I am not exactly sure of what he said that caught my attention, but something did. I opened my eyes and saw them both, heads bowed, eyes closed, their countenance portraying the fervor of their hearts’ convictions. As I looked at them, I was no longer in my bedroom in South Carolina in 2020, but I was in another bedroom, in another country, over a decade ago.

I traveled through the years, visiting a number of bedrooms, seeing mirror images of the same scene – my son and daughter at various ages with heads bowed, petitioning the Father. A strong feeling of gratitude washed over me, as my mind returned to the present, and I whispered ever so softly, “Thank you, Jesus.”

Those images and that feeling of gratitude stayed with me long after we were finished praying. Later that night, I approached the Father alone and asked that He would preserve that which was implanted in them from early childhood. As I talked to the Father, I was reminded of Philippians 2:13, “For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” I thanked the Father for working in me BOTH to have the desire AND follow through in regards to being that mother who would teach her children to trust, and therefore, call on God.

As I continued communing with the Father about Grace and John, I remembered my eldest child – Persephanie (Sephie). She was the product of a teenage pregnancy. She was the child I almost aborted; the child I chose to keep, but was never really a mother to. As I thought of Sephie, I heard a voice say to me, “What were you doing with Sephie when she was 12 and 14 years old, the ages that John and Grace are now? You did not do for her, when she was in her early childhood, what you did for them? You gave her what money could buy, showered her with gifts but failed to instill a love for and trust in God the Father. You gave her things but gave them God. You are to be blamed for how she turned out. You were not a good mother!”

A wave of guilt and regret washed over me, just as gratitude did just a few hours earlier. Again, I whispered ever so softly, “Lord, I am sorry. Please forgive me.” This has been a cry of my heart, most times when I think of my eldest daughter. I often have to remind myself that God has already forgiven me and I need to embrace that forgiveness and forgive myself. It is a battle I face from time to time, a battle with guilt and regret.

Nevertheless, true to His character, the Lord God did not condemn me, but immediately reminded me of the truth. Once again, my mind traveled back in time, walking through the years from the time I knew of her conception up to when she left home for college. I was reminded that back then it was all about me – my hurt, my pain, my abandonment, my needs. On the outside, Sephie was a well-cared for child, all of her physical needs were met, but there was no emotional connection that would serve as a bridge for impartation. I was too busy searching for my needs to be filled.

Not so now! I have lived long enough to learn through experience that my life is NOT about me nor for me. My life is for and about my assignment, my purpose; for the saving, nurturing, and preserving of those whom God has entrusted to me. The Lord God reminded me that learning and embracing that truth has made me free and now I am free to address the consequences of my past missteps.

The Lord God reminded me, “IT’S NOT OVER YET! “

The Lord God reminded me, “IT’S NOT TOO LATE!“

Sephie is my seed and she too is blessed. He promised in Isaiah 49:24-25, “… For I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children.” He also promised in Jeremiah 31:16-17 that He will reward the work of my hand and cause my children to return from the land of the enemy.

My dear sisters, the adversary of my soul wanted me to be weighed down by shame, guilt, and regrets so that, once again, it would be about me and not about my purpose of preserving lives, my child’s life. But thanks be to God, who causes us to triumph through Christ Jesus, I was able to hear a word from the Lord God, YOU ARE NOT TOO LATE….IT’S NOT OVER!!

As women, this is another common battle that we have to learn to face and conquer: forgiving ourselves for the things we regret doing/not doing and gaining strength to face the consequences of those decisions. If you are wrestling against the spirits of shame, guilt, and/or regrets, know that God is not holding your past against you. He is waiting for you to come and reason with Him so that He can direct your path in pursuing, overtaking, and recovering all.

I left my conversation with the Lord, having an assurance that although my daughter – my firstborn – is currently being held captive in the camp of the enemy, God is with me to go get her, overtake the head start of the enemy, and RECOVER ALL!

Dear Father, Please grant me the faith, courage, and endurance to keep on pursuing the adversary who took my daughter, until I have overtaken him and recovered all, IN JESUS’NAME, Amen!

DIG DEEPER:

  1. Devotional: It’s Not Too Late! PURSUE ….
  2. Prayer Room: Warfare for My Children

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Two Mothers

My focus of study for this month was the Old Testament book of Leviticus. As I neared its end and read the story of Shelomith, I began to think of the many women in the Bible who had to live through the consequences of unwise decisions of their loved ones. We were not given the details of how they were affected, but we know that they were affected nonetheless.

Here is a poem that I came across a few years ago which forced me to think of my sisters from Biblical days in a new light, Two Mothers.

TWO MOTHERS

Long time ago, so I have been told,
Two angels once met on streets paved with gold.
“By the stars in your crown,” said the one to the other
“I see that on earth, you too, were a mother.

And by, the blue-tinted halo you wear
“You, too, have known sorrow and deepest despair…”
“Ah yes,” she replied, “I once had a son,
A sweet little lad, full of laughter and fun.”

“But tell of your child.” “Oh, I knew I was blessed
From the moment I first held him close to my breast,
And my heart almost burst with the joy of that day.”
“Ah, yes,” said the other, “I felt the same way.”

The former continued: “The first steps he took-
So eager and breathless; the sweet startled look
Which came over his face – he trusted me so.”
“Ah, yes,” said the other, “How well do I know”

“But soon he had grown to a tall handsome boy,
So stalwart and kind – and it gave me so much joy
To have him just walk down the street by my side”
“Ah yes, “said the other mother,
“I felt the same pride.”

“How often I shielded and spared him from pain
And when he for others was so cruelly slain.
When they crucified him – and they spat in his face
How gladly would I have hung there in his place!”

A moment of silence – “Oh then you are she –
The mother of Christ”; and she fell on one knee.
But the Blessed one raised her up, drawing her near,
And kissed from the cheek of the woman, a tear.

“Tell me the name of the son you love so,
That I may share with your grief and your woe.”
She lifted her eyes, looking straight at the other,
“He was Judas Iscariot: I am his mother.”

Author Unknown

As ezerwatchers, we are connected so strongly to those to whom we have been assigned to “help” that there are times when their decisions and actions pierce us in ways which seems so hard to bear. What do we do then? From where can we find help? To whom do we go for comfort and relief from the pain?

Hebrews 12:2-3 (NIV) states “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

This is how The Message Bible paraphrases these verses: “Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!”

My dear sisters, today I agree with you in prayer that your faith will not fail.

I declare that you will not drown under the heaviness of sorrows brought on by loss.

You will not be overcome by any evil, but you will walk as you are – more than a conqueror through Him that loves you.

Receive the strength of God this day!

Receive grace for the journey!

Know that you are NOT alone!

You are making it and will make it to the end!

DIG DEEPER:
1. Devotional – Shelomith

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Who Are You?

Excerpt from the Prayer Room’s I KNOW WHO I AM – (A PRAYER OF DECLARATION):

  1. I AM AN AGENT OF CHANGE on assignment from heaven to bring change to my world.
  2. I AM AN AMBASSADOR FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, so I HAVE AUTHORITY to command and affect change on earth.
  3. I AM EQUIPPED with power, gifts, and abilities to be successful in my assignment.
  4. I AM WHO GOD SAYS I AM.

But who are you really?

Most humans are born with their senses intact and functioning. They can receive and respond to stimuli in their environment. However, not all humans’ senses function to the same degree. For some, specific senses and/or sensory organs are more heightened than for others.

This is because every human is a carrier. We are carriers of the blueprints or instructions needed for the development, sustenance, and reproduction of that which God wants to see manifested upon Earth. We transport God’s ideas and inventions into this earth realm. The Lord God has encoded within us that which is needed for our assignment and for the war.

If we just paused for a moment and reflect on what makes me different from the others who came out of the same womb, we would be surprised at the glimpse into the revelation of who we are.

After spending some time looking at my life, analyzing the ways in which I was different, my strengths and weaknesses, patterns, cycles, attacks from the enemy, and my preferred mode of response, I discovered some things about myself. I came to understand that, although the following is true of all humans, and in particular, the children of God, for me they are especially true. I arrived at the following answers to the question of, “Who are you?”

  • I was built and designed – A Student of THE WORD – hence my attraction to books, study, teaching, and teachers of the word.
  • My greatest strength is WORDS.  I have been given the ability to see a word and uncover things in it that are (otherwise) hidden from the eyes of mortals.
  • I have been given the ability to hear words on frequencies….
  • I have been given the ability to use words to shape the minds of others; to build ministries; to build relationships; to call things into existence.
  • My greatest weaknesses/attacks therefore are linked to words. The words I hear have the ability to break my spirit and wound me terribly. So do the words I see (read) and the words I say. Hence the struggles with my speech.
  • The gift of WORDS is not only evident in my ability to see and hear the “veiled” things, but it is also connected to my ability to write – hence my obsession with writing.

What about you? Do you know who you really are? Are you able to identify what makes you different, at the core?

Such knowledge is needed to effectively wield your power, gifts, and abilities to be successful in your assignment.

Such knowledge is needed to affect lasting change in your world.

Such knowledge is needed to realize victory in your spheres: internal life, marriage, family, work, community, and church.

I submit that many of the struggles that we have in our relationships and assignments as women may be linked to a lack of knowledge of who we are. Would you make a commitment today to go beyond who you were told you are and discover who you really are?

PRAYER: Lord, I hear you. Please give me a revelation of the true me. Open my eyes that I might see beyond what others see in me. May your Holy Spirit reveal what flesh and blood cannot reveal. As you reveal, help my whole being – body, soul, and spirit – to come into alignment with who I really am; with who you designed me to be. Lord, I know that you not only sent me, but you are with me, and I shall ….”

DIG DEEPER:
1. Devotional – What Did He Call Me?

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I HAVE an ‘ezer!

The month of June 2020 is a momentous month for me. It is a month in which I celebrate two anniversaries: my 7th year anniversary of migrating to the USA and my 1-year anniversary of the launching of ‘ezerwatchers. Celebrating any kind of anniversary causes one to reflect; to look back at where you came from and where you are currently. Consequently, upon reflecting on both, I could only come to one conclusion: Through it all, I had and still have an ‘ezer. This fact is especially significant to me today because of what I am about to face.

In my first blog post for 2020 – New Year, New Training – I wrote, “For me, this new year – this start of a new decade – is another opportunity to become more skillful in warfare; the kind of warfare which, at its roots, is about listening to and obeying God’s commands. With this year comes new training for battles for which I lack experience.”

In that post, I also asked the questions, “What battle experience(s) am I lacking? What has God allowed to remain in my life from the previous year(s) that would give me the necessary training and experience so that I can become more fit for and skilled in warfare?What “enemy” has been left in my life for testing and proving; to know whether I would listen and obey the commands of the Lord?”

I concluded that, although I may have entered a new year, there will still be some old, remaining, or leftover things that I will have to deal with for my betterment. The Holy Spirit was impressing upon me to be careful not to offer wasted prayers, rebuking and cancelling the very things that the Lord has ordained for my growth and development.

At the time that I penned those words, I had no idea that six months later, in June, I would be taking a surgery for a health condition that I had been battling for some time. As I woke this morning and thought… six days away, I heard, this is an opportunity to not only SEE God as my ‘ezer, but EXPERIENCE Him as the true epitome, true prototype, of who and what an ‘ezer ought to be.

I was reminded of Genesis 2:18. Adam was alone. It was not good for him to be alone so, God made a help suitable for him. God made him an ‘ezer. As much as my husband, my children, and my mother are walking through this battle with me, I need an ‘ezer: one who can HELP in ways that they cannot. Just as Adam could not find a suitable helper (‘ezer) and God made him one, even so God is my ‘ezer in this season of warfare.

Motivated by this thought, I reached for my study tools at my bedside and began to dig deeper into this concept of ‘ezer. I was reminded that ‘ezer ( a noun) was derived from the verb ‘azar which means to surround, that is to protect or aid. Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon states of ‘azar – The primary idea lies in girding, surrounding, hence defending. It is used of an ally in war (1 Kings 20:16) and means to be helped (Psalms 28:7), especially by God (2 Chronicles 26:15; 1Chronicles 5:20) “and they were helped against them,” i.e. God gave them the victory.

When I think of undergoing general anesthesia and the whole surgical procedure, I embrace this idea of girding and surrounding. According to Israelbiblicalstudies.com, “to gird does not mean just to fasten, but to encircle and make safe. It comes from the root word that means to lock up, as in a city that is encircled by a wall.”  I find comfort in knowing that even though I will be under anesthesia, in a medically-induced coma, I have an ‘ezer who will encircle me and keep me safe. Although I will be unconscious, hence unaware of and unable to participate in this battle for my life, while I am asleep, there is one who will shield me and fight for me.

2 Chronicles 32:8 says, “With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help [‘azar] us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.”  In this battle, I am growing in the strategy of warfare called Resting in God’s words.

Isaiah 41:10 – “Fear thou not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee [‘azar]; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

I go into this surgery knowing, believing, that God is my ‘ezer and that God will ‘azar me. He is my helper, my ally in this battle for my health. He will surround me; be all around me, enclose me on all sides. He will lock me in and keep me safe as a walled city. The end result is that God will cause me to conquer this enemy because, I have an ‘ezer.

I do not know what battle you may be facing today; what obstacle you are finding difficult to surmount. What I do know is that you have an ‘ezer. You do not have to face this battle alone. God is your help and, if you can just rest in His words, you will see the deliverance from the sword of your adversary.

Pray with me: My Father and My God, please help me to rest in your words so that I can experience you in a personal way during this time of difficulty. Cause me to lean on you as my ‘ezer, my present help and comforter. May I find in you the support I need to carry me through and over this ordeal. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

DIG DEEPER:
Prayer Room: From one ‘ezer to another