Worship

“Prepare the Way” by Bethel Music

Scripture

“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.’

“After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” -Mark 16:15-20, emphasis added

Living Supernatural Reality

Can you imagine if daily those “signs” were manifested in our lives? I think I often default to a comfort zone of the unreached mountains of the Himalayas where no one has heard the name Jesus. But what does it look like in a pandemic when people are sick, distressed, distraught, and financial ravaged? What does it look like to head into the grocery store and let our lives be a display of Heaven? The Lord, who had just ascended, left His team of disciples with the Holy Spirit and worked with them to put His power on display to a skeptical and desperate world. I love the language of that partnership! I love that NOW word for us! They came out of their quarantine of hiding and released revival!

“We shouldn’t wait around expecting that God will change us into someone we’re not before He uses us. We have a tendency to say, ‘God, if you’ll anoint me, I’ll go.’ God says, ‘If you’ll go, I’ll anoint you.’ His plan is to use who we already are—the same people He made us in the first place, with the same personalities, giftings and weaknesses. Just be you, God wants to work through you and me. We aren’t the main act—God is. But He’s made us a crucial part of the breaking in of His Kingdom.” -Robby Dawkins, “Do What Jesus Did”

Beloved, Jesus didn’t die and commission us to GO so that we would be safe and without trials, comfortable and sidelined. He died so we would be free, bold, victorious, and carry His glory. I think we have settled for, and believed in, a kind of comfort-gospel that has actually lulled the Bride to sleep. In this hour we are being awakened to the truest gospel—the power, signs, wonders, miracles, and reality of the cross and resurrection—for the love of the world Jesus died for.

Made Ready for This Moment

I wish I could look you in the eyes and say to you with all my heart, “You have been made ready for this moment!” God has made you ready. It’s time to awaken to the destiny He has spoken over your life—the plans and purposes He has spoken. It’s time to throw off everything that entangles us and run with passion. What if we lost it all for the sake of Jesus! What if the anthem of our lives became, “For to me, to live is Christ (Philippians 1:21)”? What if we dared to say to the Lord, “I hand you this fragile life and I ask you to exchange my plans and purposes for Yours”? This is our hour of abundance, not wilderness; fruitfulness, not powerlessness!

I had my dear sister Cigdem call in last Friday for my weekly Zoom call to share what God is doing in Turkey and the Middle East. She testified to the Turkish government strengthening its grip on the nation and moving it to an even greater Islamic and conservative nation. This move is placing a great burden on the women of Turkey, removing their rights and value even more. She said many women are being harmed and are senselessly dying. Please pray for the army of women God is raising up all over the Middle East who are boldly and courageously taking the gospel forth, no matter what it costs them! On Aug. 15, we are heading out two by two all over the U.S., those who have raised a trembling hand, to go pray for people and share the love of Jesus. Pray for a harvest of souls that day!

There are places and people that have been assigned to you that no one else can touch right now. He has given many of you the gift to heal; go fearlessly and pray for people. He has given some of you the gift to love people through hospitality. I pray for divine instructions to tangibly love and minister to people right now with your unique and creative expression. Intercessors, move Heaven with your faithful intercession. No one may see it, but I pray that metaphorically your knees are bruised in this hour as you kneel in the gap for so many. Entrepreneurs, I pray a release of creativity over you right now for new income streams that will carry many people right now and expand the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. Hidden businesses that have a Kingdom agenda, I prophesy that it’s time to come out of hiding into the limelight. Doctors, nurses, scientists, pharmacists, I pray for an anointing on your mind for solutions and ideas, and new combinations of medicine for healing. In this shift of the Church, into the purposes of God, I pray for a release of grace to ebb and flow with every NEW THING the Lord is doing in the earth right now. Glory to glory. To my sisters who are apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors, and evangelists, I pray for a double portion of anointing to know exactly how to pivot and move to bring the increase of His Kingdom at new depths, heights, and lengths. And I pray over all of this, the fire of His Spirit to fall on you and consume you with a passionate love for Jesus and for the world He gave His life for!

A Divine Reset

To those of you are sensing a divine reset in your own heart, don’t throw it off. When Jesus wept over Jerusalem because the Jews had missed Him in their unbelief, I believe we can miss Him right now. He has come to AWAKEN us, not with a shoulder-tap, but with the roar of Heaven! This is our divine interruption to get us ready for the harvest ahead. He’s wooing His Bride to a dance of passion and intimacy she needs right now that is a preparation for Her wedding day. I am praying your life will be marked by the opening Scripture of this day in Mark 16:15-20!

If you want to head out Aug. 15 and need a quick training and to get up to speed, please email me personally at [email protected]!

A Few Key Details

• Our next Arise Bible Study will take place at 10 a.m. CST this Friday, Aug. 7.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/2410161101?pwd=ak9qaWFsTE4vaHNIRWJUZUNnTGYwZz09

Meeting ID: 241 016 1101

Password: 072485

• Our first stateside Arise short-term team is heading to Austin on Oct. 16-21. We can take 14 women with us! Email Julie King ([email protected]) to sign up.
• Save the date! Our next Arise lunch is Oct. 30! More info coming soon.
• If you know other women who desire to receive these weekly devotionals, send them this link to sign up.
• My book “Arise My Darling” came out recently. You can purchase it here.
• Join the Arise Facebook group to start sharing prayer requests and testimonies as we passionately pursue Jesus together.