The Lord is our banner. He is Jehovah Nissi. His banner is an identifying flag that represents His LOVE. God is Love! His very nature is love. God lives, moves and has his being in love. He responds to his children through a heart of love.

A word of the LORD came to me a few days prior to writing this cassia.

I have set my banner of love over you. For I say the Victory is yours. I say today, I am the Victor! The battle has been one! Open your eyes! Look up; look up, your redemption is drawing close. Do not fear what is going on in the world, walk only in the Fear of the LORD.

Exodus 17:15-16
Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. He said, “For hands were lifted up to the Throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”

The Amalekites were a nomadic people who came against the Israelites to destroy them. Moses called for Joshua and told him to choose some men and go out and fight the Amelkites. Moses would stand on top of the hill with his staff raised to God. As long as Moses kept his hands raised the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered them the Amalekites were winning. So, when Moses tired he sat on a rock and Aaron and Hur held his arms up. Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

The battle and the victory is the LORD’s. He shows us through this amazing story of His plan to defeat the enemy in our life. We do not fight with swords as they did. Our battles are against the enemy of our soul, the devil.

Ephesians 6:12
For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Our battle is against the evil one. The earth was handed over to his control and dominion at the fall of man. He was defeated through the cross, but we still struggle against him in this world. So, we have an adversary much like Israel’s enemy the Amalekites. He wants to destroy our lives. Jesus is Jehovah Nissi. The LORD is our banner. We fight under that banner. It is recognized by our enemy and he hates it. It represents “For God so loved the world that He gave his Son to atone for our sin.” We overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony.

God defeated the enemy through giving his Son, because He deeply loved His creation. We are not to walk in fear of the enemy. We are only to walk in a holy reverence or the fear of the LORD. God has called his children to walk in this same kind of selfless love we see being poured out by our Father in giving Jesus Christ as our atonement. We are to love the world into relationship with Jesus.

We walk under this banner of love. We personify the love of Christ!

Song of Songs 2:3-6
Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste. He has taken me to his banquet hall and his banner over me is love. Strengthen me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love. His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.

The above reference is a beautiful picture of Christ and His bride, the church. Jesus stands out among all created. He is above every name. He is beautiful and I love to sit at his feet and learn from him. The revelation we receive and the words he speaks over us in our quiet times is sweet to our taste. A banquet was a formal meal held in honor of a person or a special occasion. So, when we see Christ taking his bride to his banquet hall, it signifies a celebration in her honor. Jesus loves his church so much he wants to lavish on her finery. He has prepared this special meal with meat and wine in her honor. To make this gathering even more special, He says, His banner over us is his love. He has not only set us apart to honor us, He declares His love for us! It is his pleasure to raise high the banner, the flag declaring, “My love is over my church, my bride.” He upholds us with His righteousness! He will not let us fall. He embraces us as a gesture of his everlasting love.

Isaiah 25:6-7
On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine- the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations.

The LORD himself will prepare the feast for his bride. The best meats and wines will be served to his beloved. All people are invited to this banquet. He is the manna from Heaven; he is the Bread of life, he satisfies the hunger and thirst within all people. This is an invitation to the Nations to come and feast. He will remove the veil that has hidden the mysteries of the times; Christ in you the hope of glory. Jesus will be LORD over the Nations. He is the Desire of the Nations.

Haggai 2:7
I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord Almighty

Mankind is created and formed in God’s image; we have an innate desire to be like him. We hunger for love but can only be satisfied with God’s perfect love. Men thirst for greatness, purpose and destiny but even with the very best the world can offer they still feel empty. God wants to come into our lives and take up residence. When this happens we become the temple or house for Holy Spirit. He says,” I will fill this house with my glory! “

Glory in this passage actually means to, honor, glorious, abundance,riches, splendor, dignity, reputation. I would like to be filled with all of those amazing things. To be honored for whom you are. To be so God filled that we radiate glory and splendor. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. The fruit of this is honor, dignity and good reputation. The abundance of riches comes in many ways; monetarily, spiritually, relationally, and emotionally. In all aspects of my life, I feel blessed!

This past Sunday as Nate and I led worship; I looked out at the congregation and I saw many flags waving as the people worshiped. It was so beautiful. It actually imparted courage to me. I know what those flags represent. They are banners of love, and freedom in Christ. They are being waved before their King. His banner over us is love!

Quieting myself before the Lord:

Pray against a spirit of intimidation that has infiltrated my body, my church. This spirit is in the church to keep destinies from being birthed. There are many men and women who are amazingly gifted and you are not aware of it. You are missing out on their gifts that bring impartation to my body.

I would like to share an encounter I had recently. I was speaking with an acquaintance who is quickly becoming a dear friend. While praying at our intercessory prayer meeting she received a scripture that she felt was from the Lord. She didn’t share it because of a lack of confidence. Later that evening the same scripture was prayed over and declared by someone else. She felt like she had missed her opportunity to share. I searched my heart right away, because I never want to make anyone feel unqualified. At our intercession group we try to walk in humility, love and acceptance. I discerned a spirit of intimidation from the evil one.

I John 3:8B The Son of God appeared for this purpose to destroy the works of the devil.

Jesus defeated the evil one through the cross! He has come to bring us life more abundantly, and freedom!

If you are a child of God, born again through the shed blood of Jesus, you are given authority to come against the evil one!

You can stop the harassment now, by taking authority over those spirits that keep you from walking in your complete destiny.

I believe that when we are in a situation like my friend found herself in, we presume to think, this is not from the Lord, or my gifting is small and insignificant. Both of these are wrong thinking. I am not being critical of my friend. I am speaking experientially! I have been there recently and continue to stand against this erroneous thinking. To presume something is typically wrong because we filter our thoughts through our soul. We are not perfected yet, many of us are filtering our thoughts through rejection, insecurities, and wounds from our past.

Let’s look at the definition of presume.

Presume means to take for granted, assume, or suppose.

Do you see how dangerous this kind of thinking can be to us? The evil one does not want us to prosper in any way. He wants to destroy our destinies. At the very least he wants to make us feel inferior to our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is a lie that your gifting is not important, or that it is a lesser gift. There is victory for the born again believer. We can stand against these wrong mind sets. I already said that we have authority as joint-heirs with Christ. We must take the initiative to rebuke, bind, and cast down evil imaginations as we are led by Holy Spirit. He will show you the way to rid yourselves of these tormenting spirits.

Now to the Body of Christ who are confident in their gifting. I commend you in Christ! We need a stronger measure of assurance. So be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might! I would add to this a spirit of humility, love and acceptance. This will bring a unity to the Body of Christ that will be an unstoppable force!

This is a word from the Lord I received today as I was interceding for the Body of Christ:

Yes, this spirit will be put to flight as you stand in unity! The unified church will defeat it! There is strength in numbers and even more strength, multiplied strength in a unified people.

Leviticus 26: 3, 6-13
If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, then…. I shall also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble. I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land, and no sword will pass through your land. But you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword; five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. So, I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm My covenant with you. You will eat the old supply and clear out the old because of the new. Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you and my soul will not reject you. I will also walk among you and you shall be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

This scripture is incredibly informative! I love the word of God. It is as relevant for us in the twenty first century as it was for the children of Israel. God was giving a word to the children of Israel then and at the same time His present day Church. He commands a blessing over us if we walk in obedience to Him.

• Peace in the land
• Lack of fear
• Peaceful sleep
• Eliminating harmful beasts. The Hebrew translation for beast is age, alive, and appetite. Therefore we can say God will eliminate any living creature or thing that is harmful to us, God will eliminate our appetites for harmful things or fleshly lusts, God will eliminate any harmful thing of this present age that is coming against us.
• No violence
• Unity in coming against the evil one. There is strength in numbers and unity!
• Strength to defeat the enemy of our souls.
• Presumptions and poor mindsets are going. Destinies are being fulfilled!
• We will run to the battle!
• You will bear fruit and our numbers in the church will multiply.
• God will confirm His covenant with his children through: the bearing of fruit, people coming to Christ, signs and wonders, workings of miracles, healings and deliverances.
• We will leave the old wine skins behind. We are not satisfied with the way things used to be done. We are tired of religious formulas and regulations taught by man.
• We will take hold of the new wine, being led only by the Spirit of God. Jesus only did what He saw His Father do. He was led completely through his prayer and fellowship with His Father. We must do the same!
• We are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. He made His dwelling among men.
• He calls us His own. We are the children of God. He is our Father.
• God brought us out of Egypt (a representation of sin and slavery).
• He set us free, never again to be yoked with sin and bondage. Jesus’ yoke is easy and delightful.
• We now walk upright! We walk in righteousness, as joint-heirs with Jesus Christ.

I want to reiterate a few things in closing. Jesus is calling His Body to a spirit of humility, love and acceptance! We are not to judge. We are about to witness the largest outpouring of Holy Spirit that we have ever seen. We must be ready to receive the world into our churches. They are going to come in like a flood, and they will not be clean and polished. We must gently lead, instruct, and allow Holy Spirit to do His work in them. He is more than able to do this.

Unity in the Body is a necessity if we want to see the power of God in our midst. We must honor one another above ourselves; clothing ourselves daily in a spirit of humility. Above all else Church, put on love! Love covers a multitude of sin. Love enables others to be themselves without fear of rejection. Love makes room for another’s gifting. My heart is passionate about releasing these; love, humility, acceptance and unity!

John 5:17
Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too, am working.

It may not seem that way as we turn on the news, or pull up the news via the internet. The news is screaming to us disaster, war, human suffering as horrific as we have ever seen or heard. My heart aches for the precious people of Japan and New Zealand, as they have suffered greatly. Next month it will be another nation affected by the throes of what seems to be great injustice. But, who is really behind these natural disasters and wars spinning out of control? Let me say emphatically it is not God. I do believe that because of the fallen world that we live in, we are subject to these intense groanings.

Romans 8:20-22
For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

I believe this passage of scripture is referring to the fall of man recorded in Genesis chapter three. God said to Adam, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’, Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you will eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

2 Peter 2:13
But according to his promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells

So, the earth is subjected to futility, which to clarify means the earth is useless, vain, and ineffective. Now, I know that sounds ridiculous, but in a fallen world apart from God our labor is useless, vain and ineffective. Now, that makes perfect sense. The earth will be liberated in the end and will be made new, but until then it suffers! We, who are in Christ, suffer also because we live on earth. Our spirits are redeemed and we live a joy filled, blessed life. Yet, we groan in travail waiting for the redemption of our bodies. This too will occur at the second coming of Jesus Christ, for which we have great hope and expectation!

So, how do we handle such tragedy such suffering as we have witnessed this past month. We pray! We diligently bring these precious people before the LORD. I know the heart of the Father is grieved for them. You say, then why doesn’t he do something to prevent it? This also goes back to the fall of man, Adam relinquished the rights of mankind and the earth was turned over to satan.

Luke 4:5-7
The devil led him (Jesus) up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world, and he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So, if you worship me, it will all be yours.”

Let there be no question here of the omniscience and omnipotence of our God, Jesus Christ. He knows the beginning to the end of what is taking place in our World. He is more than able to change the course of history, and I know that he has through the intercessions of the saints. We have many examples of this through the lives of the Prophets, Disciples and Apostles. I believe armies can be re-routed through the prayers being offered up to God. So, our grief and distress over the things happening on a daily basis are best funneled through prayers of intercession. It relieves and brings comfort knowing that God is hearing us and Jesus is also interceding on their behalf.

Isaiah 60:1-5
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up you eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.

The past few months have been truly amazing times spent in the presence of the LORD. He is visiting His church, the body of Christ. I am not just speaking of the church I attend. He is visiting His church globally and doing several things.

• Purifying her through revelation of hidden sin. Bringing what has been in the darkness into the light. He is not exposing publicly, but as we are before Him in prayer, he is bringing conviction of sin.

• Clothing her with a spirit of humility, and compassion. He is increasing our passion to pray for the church and for the lost nations.

• He is filling us with His Glory! God’s glory is manifested to us through the Spirit of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes for the LORD, who is the Spirit.

He is filling us with his glory which is changing us into the likeness of Jesus. We are becoming more filled with love, humility, compassion, gentleness, goodness, faith. The word says in Isaiah that darkness, thick darkness is covering the earth, but the glory is rising upon us! The Nations will stream to us because of this glory. We have the good news! Jesus is still the answer! Jesus in his church is the answer! Prepare yourself church for the great end-time harvest. People are desperate and fearful because of all the shakings going on in the world. Be ready to receive these who will be coming in. Prepare your heart! That is the word I keep hearing the Spirit saying. These are indeed sorrowful times and wonderful times. Sorrow for the world apart from Christ, wonderful for His church doing the kingdom work!

So, the Father and Jesus are at work to this very day and we also should be about our Father’s work!