“The power went out. They are after us.” And then I looked at the clock. It was still lit and kept on moving. Even more concern. The very fact that I still had time with out power was a concern in the dream. I awoke and the only light in my room was on my clock.

I lay there and contemplated the reality of the dream. What it could mean?

I know things “appear” to be getting worse. You watch TV, read the news and perhaps know someone who may be dying or extremely ill. It can easily seem to be worse.

Yesterday I wrote this.

I know a lot of people are “feeling the weight” of circumstances and situations. I was working on a project just now and excitement came over me.

James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

People are going to be jealous of your joy!

 It was not how many shared the post or even “liked” it, but how many wrote me privately. “How do I get there?” was one of the largest questions I received.

The following is from my book STOP The Interrupted Process:

While I was in a meeting in either 2007 or 2008, a guest speaker said, “These are my friends, Lee and Tina. I have known a lot of people in my life, but never have I seen a couple go through so much, so much pain and still keep their heads up.” Not much of an endorsement, I thought. Who wants to be known for pain and suffering? Certainly not I!

Like others before me, when I would go through difficult times, I would seek answers from God. I would look to His thinking, His wisdom and place my dependency increasingly upon Him. This is where I ended up.

The following scriptures were my watch words for years.
“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer;7 and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-7

What is “funny” about that is I had not even had my home destroyed yet, lost my business or had yet to finally give up my home.

“When all hell breaks against you, be grateful. When the bottom drops out and the sky falls in, be thankful. When it seems that difficult people, places, and circumstances are either chasing you or rejecting you, be overflowing with joy! You have actually captured the attention of Father God, who has been looking for someone that wants to carry endurance all the way through, like Jesus did. You have been singled out for the perfecting process that will reveal the evidence of Jesus in you, who didn’t lack anything, and you won’t lack anything either.” James 1:2-4 MAP

I am not “sure” how you get there to the place of joy. I am sure about what you do when things are “piling” up. For my wife and I the last month of our life things have “piled” up a bit. In the midst of it, I did have a “meltdown” of sorts. It lasted a few hours and then I did all the things I would have “normally” have done. Like it never was happening.

It is okay to have a bad day or even a few of them. What is not “okay” is letting it cause you to forget who your Father in heaven is, who you are and how much He loves you.

Trials come. A number of people are going “through the mill” and in the midst of it I have seen a lot of folks, who are “folding their tent and making camp” somewhere else. No one is going to fault you for that. That is your choice. God will not love you less or even stop you. Nor will understanding believers. But there is biblical alternative.

Heavenly Geography

Yesterday I received a letter from a friend going through the mill. My heart regularly goes out to her and her husband as they “do the battle” of what seems to be looming loss. Their earthly geography is subject to change, but their heavenly geography has never changed. In many of the battles of the Bible that yielded victory it was less about the “geography” of the land and more about the visitation of the Lord our God.

Encounter!

Psalm 27:12-14 Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.

My heart goes out to the many who have “stopped” believing. I get it. You see a prophecy on a page or an email and your heart flutters for a moment, and you think, “I should receive that” and yet you never utter the words of acceptance. You never receive it because it sounds like an empty promise, even a “dumb thing”. You have lost your hope.

In my early days I would allow my mouth to fly off about the injustice of it all. And then at some point I learned to “shut my mouth”. Somewhere along the line I took hold of the following scripture, Isaiah 54:16-17 …“Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals And brings out a weapon for its work; And I have created the destroyer to ruin. “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD. I began to speak against the words of entrapment, of condemnation. I began to “get it”.

And things still happened. So what was my response? To dig deeper into the heart of the Lord. To find my comfort and security in Him. And know He loved me. He was not responsible for my loss.

The geography of the Lord is righteousness (The knowledge and placement of your right standing.), peace (The peace that results from knowing your right standing.) and followed by joy. (The place or occasion of joy produced by the Holy Spirit.) “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Romans 14:17 Is it possible that our recognition of the Holy Ghost in our life can result in increasing joy?

“No power and time keeps running. They are after us.” Who is? The joy stealers. Removing your power while removing your joy. Allowing time to “march” on, disheartening the people, causing hope to wane. Joy can be stolen by circumstances, but it can also be stolen by well meaning people, often who “for your own good” want to help you. However it may occur, it is not the kingdom nor is it God’s purpose for you.

My hope and prayer for you this day is that you would discover God’s love for you and your rightful position in Him.

Let us not be subject to the geography of the land but embrace the geography of the Kingdom. “It is not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord.” We are supernatural beings, living outside of time, filled with power and not powerless.

Your joy is your inheritance. It is time to take what is yours.

Let us live here on earth as it is in heaven!