We recently had 7 days of 24-hour prayer leading up to a regional gathering for University Awakening called “The Send”. I believe the season of concentrated prayer and the event brought an incredible victory in the Spirit.  I think much work of the enemy was prevented and large amount of ground was taken for the Kingdom of God!

I believe we are stepping into NEW territory.  And that can be intimidating, it can feel usure… and sometimes what feels easiest is to back up or “wait and see”.

WE ARE TAKING GROUND

if we want to do well as we continue to follow in faith, we MUST keep our eyes on Jesus. When God makes a promise, and leads you towards something new, it is exciting.. but at the same time, the familiar seems comfortable and good… and the new, well, we just don’t know what that is and what that looks like… so we halt, we wait, we try to look and think about it… and we think, “Hey, we kind of like what we had before (think of the Israelites, wandering in tghe wilderness, suddenly recounting the “glories” of life in Egypt — leeks and onions!  But wait, weren’t they enslaved and oppressed?)

So, when we don’t know what we are actually going into and if we will actually like it (though why wouldn’t we want the PERFECTIONS of the Lord’s promise??).  It’s easy to get sidelined… to wait, to question…. and the real problem is:

WE STOP LOOKING AT JESUS.  We look at circumstances… we see “walls” like Jericho… and it feels hard, it seems impossible…. because we’re looking at the wrong thing!

We get tempted to start entertaining thoughts/feelings like “maybe this isn’t for me”. “I dunno, it just doesn’t feel right to me right now…” “I’m not sure I’m supposed to be in this”… and so we wait, and we watch and we hope someone else will “go forth”.  And, we make our judgments about what’s right and wrong, and why it’s not REALLY right…. but, all the while, the real problem is… we think that our circumstances and favor are our reward — THEY ARE NOT!

Circumstance may be good or bad…  and God does like to grant favor… but ultimately JESUS MUST BE OUR REWARD, the GOAL and the PRIZE (see Philippians 3:8-10). If He’s not, we’ve missed the point. Then, even if we were supernaturally delivered right into the middle of the promised land, we wouldn’t be satisfied. In fact, we may not even like it. Because the real value of any Promised Land, and wherever the Lord takes us that it’s an expression of Who He IS and who We are IN HIM — and His Presence is our greatest treasure.

Psalm 37:9 says those who “Wait on the Lord will inherit the Land”. When we fix our eyes on him, and don’t let the circumstances, even the activity of the distract/dissuade us, then the battle is THE LORD’S, and though we may find ourselves in the midst of it, HE IS with us, and WE WILL WIN… when our eyes are on Him and we DON’T GIVE UP.. WE WIN. bottom line. In fact, Psalm 23 says that in the midst of our enemy, when we are surrounded, the Father prepares a FEAST for us, and fills our cup to OVERFLOWING. Sounds like a good place to be!  

When we start looking at others and how they aren’t measuring up, or looking at circumstances and how they don’t seem favorable — we end up with people that don’t measure up and circumstances that aren’t favorable. But when our eyes are locked on Jesus, who He is and what HE’S doing…. guess what we get in the end? JESUS and all of His goodness!! AND WE WIN!

If circumstances have challenged you. If the devil has been speaking lies and getting your eyes off of Jesus, take a stand today. Say “NO MORE!”. Set your eyes on Jesus and Jesus alone. Refuse to be swayed or distracted from Him and His goodness. 

Some people feel discouraged, and you wonder if you’ve done something wrong or if you’re in the wrong place. NO. You’ve taken your eyes off of the prize and believed a lie. Look at Jesus, and LET HOPE ARISE. 

God has plans for MAJOR victory if we will simply walk in obedience, and keep our eyes on him! We have to RISE UP and say NO to complacency, and complaining, to comfort, spectatorship.

We are in this TOGETHER and God’s plan is not simply to use one person to deliver, but raise up a WHOLE nation of deliverers (this includes YOU!!). Let’s stand together as He leads us into victory.