Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow by Gretchen Kershaw

    Today, we awake to a new day. Yesterday is gone and you can’t do anything about it, but today is here and you can do everything about it! Each day when I wake up, I always thank the Lord for allowing me to see another day. I always start my day by talking with the Lord and asking Him what is Your will for me today, and asking for His will to be done. I have a servant’s heart and my desire is to serve Him…Not just in heaven but here on the earth, matter of fact I desire to serve Him ALL the days of my life. This morning the Lord and I were spending time together and He said to me “My child, many people woke up this morning and are still caught in yesterday; many people are still struggling, hurting, wounded, broken, frustrated, angry etc…from yesterday. My child, many people are stuck in years ago of yesterdays and can’t even begin to see what is before them today!”

    This grieved my heart this morning, as I too was once where many people are at, knowing full well what it’s like to be stuck in yesterday and not know how to even rejoice and be glad that a new day is here. But GOD….Not one of us can change people, make people love us, desire to be with us, share with us, grow with us, apologize for hurting us etc…But GOD… All of our “Yesterdays” are filled with many things some good, some bad, some challenging etc…But all of our “Today's” are NEW in the LORD!!!

    Here's what God says about Yesterday:

    Proverbs 27:1 "Do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring forth"

    Philippians 3:13 "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead"

    Isaiah 43:18 "Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past" See, I am doing a new thing!

    Here’s what God says about Today:

    Psalms 118:24 "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it"

    Lamentations 3:21-24 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

    2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.”

    Job 17:9 “The righteous keep moving forward and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.”

    Here's what God says about Tomorrow:

    Matt 6:31-34 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

    If we continue to live in yesterday, we will never be able to see the hope and the blessings of a new day.

    In this manner, therefore, let us pray:
    Our Father in heaven,
    Hallowed be Your name.
    Your kingdom come.
    Your will be done
    On earth as it is in heaven.

    Give us this day our daily bread.
    And forgive us our debts,
    As we forgive our debtors.
    And do not lead us into temptation,
    But deliver us from the evil one.
    For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

    Learn from Yesterday, Live for Today and Look forward to Tomorrow…

    REJOICE….FOR THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE!!!!

Seeing Yesterday's News thru the Eyes of Faith

Yesterday there was some dramatic news of an escape from captivity by three women and a child. 

This is a tragic story with a quasi happy ending.  What makes it more difficult is the end is a long way off for these three young women.

They have been tied up and locked up for a decade.  Abused. Captives.

There is much that is not known about this.  There may well be some twists and turns yet to be revealed.

Here are some parallels in this case to the bondage those held captive by the enemy and in need of deliverance.

• The bondage was a long time and became for them a new normal.
• This was probably not the first time they had the chance to escape.  
• There was fruitfulness from this captivity in a child.  
• No one from the outside thought anything was wrong from external indications in that house.
• The captors seemed ordinary. Accepted.  Paid taxes.  Worked.  Played with his dog.
• The reason for the captivity was not abuse but use.  If it were abuse alone they would already be dead.

Now that these young women and a child are free...freedom is going to be very hard.  They are going to have to learn to adapt.  How to deal.  They will need a lot of deliverance.  They are going to need rooting and grounding.  The potential to go back into another form of bondage is real.
 
The people who loved them who wanted to see them free died without it ever coming  to pass in their lifetime.  The mother of one worked (and prayed perhaps) to see freedom.. but died before ever realizing.  YET the child she fought for is now free.  This is encouraging for those who may pray and fast over a bound child.. and die before ever seeing the manifestation of their prayers.  It has always been so. 

All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Hebrews 11:13

We need to be happy when someone is released from bondage.  That is only a first step.  In a way it is the house swept clean.  Luke 11:24-26   The demons surrounding them, memories of the last decade will haunt and in a sad way cause them to become even more vulnerable in the future.

Sometimes darkness has a way of trying to envelope people, even after they have seen the light.  Hebrews 6:4-6

We need to recognize the pattern of bondage and captivity. In a way, many ordinary normal looking people you see all around you are bound and broken inside.  Most of the time the casual observer will see nothing.  Until they are set free.

Let's hope there is a fellowship of believers in the Cleveland area that can somehow help them walk back into the light and stay free of bondage.  The battle really begins AFTER the bondage is broken. 

Darkness and Light

There is a long ago Joni Mitchell song called shadows and light. WOW, I'll bet you never thought you would hear of a prophet speaking about a Joni Mitchell song.  Yet while the song has nothing to do with this other then the title, there is a reason.  The song deals in contrasts.  That of darkness and of light.

If the world can see the contrast how much more must we be aware of a darkness that can invade our lives.  The problem is for many we try hard to push back the darkness by blocking it's intrusion.  So we shut off the TV, stop reading the newspaper, stop reading blogs, in essence we block out ears and say LA LA LA LA.  Hoping  that somehow by this flesh driven action we can push back the darkness in our lives. There is a time for that sometimes, but we must learn to stand against.

Here is truth:  You can't fight darkness by hiding from it.  It's still darkness.  It's still there.  It's still a threat.  There is only one way to fight the darkness... light.

When toured a cave in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the guide took us into the deep dark inner chamber. It was very interesting.  He had everyone shut off all the lights.  It was dark. Pitch dark.  Zero light. He kept speaking to us to let us know he was there yet the darkness enveloped the whole group.  No one panicked.  No one was fearful.  The one who knew the way up was there and speaking.  Our eyes tried to adjust to the darkness but none came.  Finally, he lit one small lamp.  It wasn't much but to our widened pupils it seemed like a beacon.  At once the darkness fled.  Light overcame.  It always does. 

The problem isn't the darkness.  It's the lack of light.

Light comes as the Holy Spirit Hovers over the face of the deep darkness and speaks.

Genesis 1:2-4 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.

It's exactly like that in our lives.  Darkness can settle in.  Despair.  Discouragement.  Disasters.  Things that cause us to stumble because we can't see.  Yet Holy Spirit hovers over us to bring light, to speak to us and separate light from darkness.  Just as happened in the natural in the cave.

The face of the deep in our formless void world without God cannot be brought into order by hiding from it.  For a season of healing perhaps, but in the end we must respond with the Spirit in US... light shining in dark places.

Never encountering and overcoming darkness will make cowards of us all.  The enemy wants us to fear darkness, not to confront it.  Certainly not to overcome it.

God is still in the light shining in a  dark place business.  He want to shine in and thru YOU today.  He is not intimidated by deep and dark.  Think of this, the very creation came from life in the sea sustains us to this day.  By light.  The darkness we see has potential in the Spirit to be the very carrier of the new reformation to come.  We are doing a good thing confronting and overcoming darkness with light.

Carry the Light.  Fear NOT the dark.   He speaks even there.

The Death Agenda

We know the words of Jesus:

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly".  John 10:10

If you read this in context you will see that this has to do with false shepherds, hirelings, false leaders and pretenders.  In other words anyone who is NOT the GOOD shepherd.

Yet there is a revelation.  There is implied in his warning about the thief that the thief has an agenda.  A mission.  One to Steal what you have and is rightfully yours.  We can spiritualize that and it's OK to do so, but when you are stolen from or someone uses deceit to talk you out of what is rightfully yours, that person is a thief.  He is doing what thieves do... STEAL.

A second part of the thieve's agenda Jesus talked about was destruction.  To tear apart.  To destroy so it is no longer useful.  He leaves behind the rubble for you to clean up after he has wrought destruction.  But the destruction is certain.  The thief gets little benefit from destroying you except it is part of his mandate of evil.   When you see destruction of those things held dear and valuable in your life, be certain it is the enemy, the thief.  He wants you to give up everything under the crushing destroyer sent to create havoc in your life.

The most critical part of this evil agenda is that the thief comes to KILL.  He strives to create less and less value on human life such that in the end there is none at all.  Death is his agenda.  It is his ultimate destruction and theft.  The destruction and theft of life itself.

We see that all around us.  Manifestations of the spirit of death.  We see it in the abortion mills.  We see it on the street.  We see it in our media... TV and movies.  Hundred are killed every day before our eyes until we are hardened in our heart to it all.  We see it's result in the news as the report last week of a huge increase of suicide is taking place in our culture.  We see it all around us.  Death is being held up as the norm by out government and culture.Life is becoming cheaper and cheaper.  Valueless in fact now to many in our culture.

Unless we recognize the thieves in our lives, those sent to allegedly protect, those in authority, those who have the power of temporal life and death over us.. we will willingly submit to their schemes.

Nazi Germany manifested such a disdain for life.  We are seeing the same thing again in the USA.  The death agenda is alive and well.  Even in our health care systems... life is no longer the goal.. cost savings including letting people die is the purpose now of the evolving system.  End of life expense is targeted.  Take a pill.  Over medicate.  Much of what we think is progress is part of the death agenda.

Unless you are vigilant, you too can be like the poor misled and bullied Jews who had hope of a promised better life as they were herded into cattle cars on the way to the Gas Chambers.

The thief is alive and well.  He has an agenda to steal from you, destroy you and kill you.  Jesus said so. That settles it. 

Shining the light of truth on the warfare taking place on the 7 mountains is the job of the watchmen

 Many people take offense when we point out the enemy positions in education, politics and government, media, arts and entertainment, religion and the church, family structure (gay marriage), business and economics. You can't win the warfare over the strategic enemy camps without being aware of what the enemy is doing. Here's one more important truth. The enemy is coordinating the attacks on the mountain tops. Government influences education, economics and family structure by it's policies. Arts and entertainment influences religion. The media supports evil in all these arenas. Not all.. but knowing which makes all the difference.

I have been criticized as a prophet for posting too much on the war of the worlds going on in politics, economics and other things. "Stick to spiritual things" they say. NOTHING is more spiritual then casting out demons and healing the sick. Jesus went about doing exactly that. Those demons and our sick culture IS the battleground.

The Prophet's job is to sound the alarm and focus the attacks we must make against the enemy, to wake up the army of the Lord; to make clear the strategies of the enemy to the kings and priests in spiritual Israel until the enemy says, "The prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom". 2 Kings 6:12b We must not allow our entangling alliances on any of the mountains to trap us into inaction.

Your Gifting is in your Area of Temptation

Who hired Judas to be the treasurer of the ministry? Jesus, of course. Now think, Jesus gave an opportunity for a greedy man to handle His money. Did He not know that Judas had a problem with money? Certainly. Which makes for TWO important discoveries:
1.) the area of gifting is the area of temptation,
2.) God will give you responsibility and opportunity in that area in spite of your weakness.

WHY? Does God want to set you up to fail? Actually He is setting you up to succeed. The only way you can break through a weakness is to face it and overcome it. To break off the iniquity - you must face off with the iniquity.

God doesn't tempt us - yet the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Why? Meeting the tempter seems to be a right of passage into promotion. Did the Father want the Son to fail? Obviously not. He wanted the Son to be tested and qualified to drive the enemy out.

Maybe you and I are tempted most in the area we are called to drive out the devil? Look at the thing you struggle with now and consider if it isn't a spirit somehow associated with the territory you are called to occupy. Judas had a gift for money and therefore had to overcome a spirit of greed. A strong leader may struggle with control, a great persuader with manipulation or seduction.

Temptation reveals weaknesses and "Owning" a weakness actually makes you more authentic. It makes you more generous with others who fall and the humility you experience creates a vacuum in you that draws in greater grace! God gives grace to the humble. Grace is the word that describes a current of divine energizing power from Heaven. As you draw near to Him, He gives you grace and this creates energy to overcome. Heaven creates a table for you right "in the presence of your enemies." You "occupy till He comes" you don't run from the pressure. Heaven is wanting you to win. You'll never meet a temptation you do not have ability to resist (read 1 Cor 10:13)

And you'll never be held back from promotion because you might be tempted. In fact your weakness and your strength are so intertwined that you will surely meet temptation as you advance. Don't let it stop you.

AUTHORSHIP UNKNOWN.  

Is being Wrong Prophetically mean someone made a Mistake or takes the Name of the Lord in Vain?

I understand the prophet and seer anointing.  I am one.  I know how it works.  Modern prophecy is not as empirical as most people hope.

Yet there are those who are operating as a prophet who are actually at odds with one another. Diametrically opposed.  I know God is not schizophrenic, so it's not him. It is a problem however.  One that if we don't point out the discrepancy ... will trouble us.

I hear ominous prophecies that declare:

• Jesus is coming back.. Tuesday, Wednesday, or really really soon
• The Anti Christ is HERE, Mark of the beast, tribulation is here.
• The New World Order Satan has established is in force
• The Matthew 24 and Ezekiel 38 and Book of Revelation are unfolding right here right now
• Mass persecution is going to come prepare to lose your head
• Don't worry about a thing, you will be raptured out soon

They seem to have read all the left behind books, Rapture Ready and End Times websites... without recognizing that they are pretty subjective and in the book series.. fictional

Then there is another stream of the Prophetic:

• We are about to experience a great revival - Greatest ever
• The Greatest days for the Church are coming soon - They'll all be full-no place to sit
• Anointing and gifting are being released right before your eyes - Get Some
• Don't worry be happy..  God is in control - the devil is defeated..
• You are fabulous, God is tickled to see you.  He wants you to prosper beyond your wildest
• The end is never coming.. it all happened within 90 years of Jesus birth

I love this stream.  It makes me happy. I want to believe it all.  It's just that it's not completely accurate.

There is a false sense of security implicit in both prophetic streams.  Both are escapist in their theologies. "God is going to save the day.  Just watch and see".  It'll be GREAT  OR you will be out of here soon via the rapture.  Don't worry about a thing.   That's the problem, it's all passive.

God IS moving.  The "watch and see" mode of either of these streams replaces the "Watch and Pray", Doing battle, standing for righteousness, erect a banner, choose the side of the Lord in the warfare to come.  Neither of the competing prophetic streams makes any demand on HIS Army on Earth, you and me. HE is the Lord of the Angel Army Host... we are supposed to partner with that Angel Army manifesting right here on earth.

The stream you need to hear is a minority view because it places a demand on the believer.  Just as Jemimah and Zechariah did. A hard demand that doesn't sell books, get speaking engagements or builds a church.  The Church of "You Gotta Serve SOMEONE" is not the place people are flocking to.  They are flocking to the "End Times Temple of Rapture Ready Believers" or "The Kingdom Palace of Prosperity".

God's power and anointing is imparted to you not to build a ministry based on either prophetic stream but to evangelize the world.  To prepare the Body of Christ for the days to come.  To learn from the patterns and cycles of the devil's schemes of which we are instructed not to be ignorant.  He is recycling them constantly because they constantly sucker people in.  Even the very elect.

There is a smaller but more important prophetic stream.  It is the stream we must understand.  Not the more popular streams.  Here is Prophetic Truth:

• The devil is defeated... in the end, but he is alive and well and is at war with believers and against the Body of Christ.  I don't say the Church because much of the church today is NOT the Body of Christ.. much less the Bride of Christ.  So the devil just creeps in and takes over. It looks good and all, but at it's heart is corrupt.
• Warfare is going to increase.  It will grow to great volume.   Many will come under difficulty for HIS name's sake.  The war is very wide. Global. A million miles wide and an inch deep.  It is Governmental.  Religious. Economic. Cultural. Educational. Media.  Business. Entertainment.  All of the mountains we have heard about are not just mountains, but battlegrounds.  Warfare must be on those summits or we will lose in the valley.  We dare leave no contented territory to the enemy.
• The restoration of the Prophets and the Apostles for this day is not for church building but for order and command in the war to come.  You are already at war, taking up your weapon is a choice however. Passivity will cost lives and souls.
• The carnage, collateral damage and result of the victory of our God will leave a much different landscape than you can possibly imagine.  It will mean the demise of much of what you have been led to expect.  It will not look like the former days.  It will be better, but you will have to forget what the former days really were like.  This is the new thing you read about in scripture.
• God will activate the change, we can make the choice to cooperate or fight against God's moving.  He will overturn our economic system of corruption, governments will fall, businesses will fail, churches and religious systems will collapse, education will implode, those things we have used as panacea and pain killers in media and entertainment will deteriorate.  The culture will come to a place of exhaustion where no longer will people put up with the craziness.  People will wax worse and worse.  Then they will be set aside.
• Attacks on the things of God will come from all sides.  This is a frontal attack.  Islam, Government and even organized religion will become the enemies of God.  If you call His name, Jesus, you will become the enemy of the state.
• Unless the watchmen and women of the Word stand and call out to the army of the Lord where the battle is, the warfare will creep into the camp without people even being aware.  It will be contentious, yet it is critical that we recognize the sound of approaching enemies.  
• Many who believe they can stand in this warfare using carnal means will find themselves losing.  Petitions and protests are going to be without influence.  The pressure of bringing about revolution and reformation in the ranks is going to be what wins the day.  Unless people's hearts are changed, nothing will change.
• The prophetic stream I want to encourage you to understand is as unpalatable as was Jeremiah's words in his day.  He offered God's hope and a future but only if they understood the exile and difficulty to come.  That is where we are. We will come out as gold, refined as if by fire.

The warrior Bride of Christ will have learned to do battle at the end.  Something the Church does not now know how to do.  Do not be among those who will fall because they could not stand.  There will be no middle ground when the war on.  Choose to serve the Lord..before you are forced to make a choice.