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DEAR FREEDOM WATCHMEN,
Adams. Jefferson. Madison. Lincoln. So many more. All were inaugurated on March 4 in their respective eras. March 4 happens to be my birthday, yet until yesterday I had no idea that the date was chosen by our founders to inaugurate presidents.
“THE LORD MARCHES FORTH LIKE A WARRIOR…” (Isaiah 42:13). The Lord is engaging in a new way over America. Remember He judges, and makes war to establish His verdict. This nation belongs to Jesus by covenant. And tonight He is inaugurating a new regime.
Now before you go all “Q” on me, I want to make something clear. This has nothing to do with QAnon or the supposition suggested by the movement that President Trump will actually be inaugurated on March 4. We do not personally follow QAnon, and so it was quite a surprise to read news reports that they were highlighting March 4.
And we would probably disagree on who is being inaugurated.
What I’m about to share with you is the product of weeks of sacred encounters with Holy Spirit while we were still down in Brunswick Georgia. One encounter came in the early morning hours, praying after a dream. One came on Purim while Jolene and I were with Lauren Main in nearby Jacksonville FL.
Transferring Presidential Powers—Prophetic Word Today
That said, let me begin with a prophetic word the Lord spoke to me today. “An illegitimate election transferred presidential powers to a regime not chosen to rule. Therefore on this day of historic inauguration I am transferring presidential powers to many of My people. Heaven’s keys are in your possession. You will rule as Elijah in the midst of Ahab and Jezebel.”
Let me remind you that God’s timing is perfect, even if it seems out of synch with the season! The Lord is about defining the season His way.
Dream—Come Up Higher
On February 9, I awoke at 4am to a dream in which I was slumbering through an ordained time of prayer. Crumbs of food were on my quilted blanket. In the dream, due in part to my own neglect it seemed like Holy Spirit was at a great distance. Suddenly I was given an invitation to minister at the International House of Prayer. I raced through the Bible, hoping to find a few passages to share. Psalm 110, Isaiah 40, Isaiah 55. But newspaper stories were stuffed between the pages.
The dream is pretty self-explanatory. Basically, it took a dream from the Lord to realize how significantly self indulgence, probably connected to grief, was hindering my relationship with the Lord. This might be an area for you to explore more with the Lord as well.As I awoke, the Lord spoke to me simply, “Come up higher.”
Shift on March 4: The Hand of the Lord
This dream started a series of 4am prayer times which were rich with Presence and revelation. I read through Psalm 110, Isaiah 40, and Isaiah 55 with renewed passion. In the midst of this season the Lord spoke to me a very clear word which was for both me personally and for the nation. I cannot explain it any other way than to say that it came as a revelatory “flash.”
Suddenly I “knew” that as of my 54th birthday on March 4, the door was closing to a specific season and opening to the next. “The Lord marches forth like a warrior, He rouses His zeal as a man of war! (Isaiah 42:13).
And it’s great that God is marching forth, but what specifically is he fighting to accomplish? What I saw in the vision is that the end of my 53rd year marked a transition from Isaiah 53 into a new season defined by Isaiah 54. I also knew this shift was for Jolene and me, for our Lamplighter family, and for the forerunner ekklesia within the body of Christ.
Isaiah 53: Hand of the Lord Restrained
Note that Isaiah 53 portrays Jesus as the suffering servant in His crucifixion. The “Hand of the Lord”—Jesus Himself—was willingly, brutally restrained for a moment. This was, of course, in order to secure our eternal redemption. We understand this now. But for the followers of Jesus at the time, watching as their Redeemer suffered the agony of the cross, despair and fear must have flooded their hearts. Love was crucified. Hope succumbed. It must have seemed to those watching that the regime of Hell had come to dominate the earth.
Given that hindsight is 2020, maybe you see a few parallels to the unimaginable year we are now exiting. With all certainty I can say the hand of the Lord was restrained. I’m confident that in due time we as followers of Jesus will see His great redemption embedded within the year. But for now, we’re very grateful for the shift.
Isaiah 54: the Hand of the Lord Returns
In Isaiah 54 the hand of God returns to the Bride. And prophetically, when she holds His hand again, pressed against His eternal scars, the depth of His redemption begins to be realized in an overwhelming way.
Here’s just an excerpt. Read these words aloud, and listen to how the Lord speaks to you and me today.
“Sing, o barren woman… enlarge the place of your tent… for you will break forth and expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations and make the desolate cities inhabited…
“Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed… for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of Hosts is His name, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.
“For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused,” says your God.
“For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, declares the Lord your Redeemer… My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed… no weapon forged against you will prosper…”
The Two Keys
How the Lord confirmed this March 4 transition is astonishing. Without a doubt a new season is breaking forth, and His covenant people are being inaugurated into stewardship of it. The Lord marches forth!
To clarify, it should be noted that March 4 this year is simply the overflow of Purim 2021, in a season that carries us through Passover and beyond. Haman is being taken down. Esther is being promoted.
That said, as Jolene and I set our hearts to seek the Lord in late January, we felt we needed a “detox from DC.” We disengaged from all ministry obligations and headed to Brunswick, Georgia. Our hearts were full of questions. What next? How do you want us to invest our lives in the coming season? Given the circumstances, should we remain in DC or is this aspect of our calling over?
And what about the Glory Train?
I kept sensing a fresh Glory Train journey was at hand, similar in magnitude to 2016. Which made no sense. Because if that were the case, shouldn’t we have engaged in this in 2020? As of January 2021, executive orders are being enacted in clear defiance of God’s heart and word. Is the Lord still intent on restoring His glory? If so what does it look like? Because much of what we had labored for had seemingly been reversed.
One question haunted me above all. Given the circumstances, was Your covenant with the nation still valid? If so, why did it seem You did not move accordingly?
That question was not answered until this morning, actually while writing today’s post. The response literally took my breath away. Just as conveyed in Isaiah 53 concerning Jesus, God’s covenant with America in 2020 was established in the midst of crucifixion. This will take some time to ponder.
The Railroad Key
Right around February 2, as we were beginning our “detox time” in Brunswick, a key arrived in a package. The Lord had told our friends Russ and Julie to send us a “railroad key!” This small key was used to switch tracks to direct the course of trains. Julie prophesied that the Lord was once again entrusting us with a key of authority to direct the future.
Note that we had not shared any aspect of what we were sensing for a fresh Glory Train tour. And the Lord confirmed this project in an extraordinary way.
The Washington Key
Towards the end of our “detox time” seeking the Lord, our friend Laura Main connected with us. She wanted to present us with a few special gifts down in her hometown of Jacksonville, Florida.
And she chose Purim for the time of this presentation.
On Purim we were presented with a plaque with a golden gavel. The gavel represented a verdict the Lord had given. She was struck by what she described as “Holy Spirit lightning” a few days after we presented the Mayflower Covenant by the Witness Tree in Washington DC. She too was standing by a Witness Tree. And the Lord gave her Ezekiel 17:22-24. We shared about this in a recent post, but essentially the passage symbolically conveys the downfall of a demonic eagle and the government it planted, as well as the rising of God’s eagle and the flourishing of the governance planted by Him.
Lauren also gave us two other gifts. A beautiful, historic Bicentennial Bible commemorating America’s 200th anniversary. And we were presented with yet another key.
It is called the “Mount Vernon key,” presented to George Washington, a man known as the father of our nation, in commemoration of his courageous stand for freedom. The original key remains at Mount Vernon.
Washington was born, by the way, on 2-22. Remember how Eliakim was given the key of David, as shared in Isaiah 22:22. Eliakim was identified as the son of Hilkiah, which means “God gives an inheritance.” And he was called as a “father to the house of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” That said, this “Washington key” was given to us by Lauren with the intention to convey to us how God is establishing us a mother and father to the nation in our generation.
Two keys presented. One as we began our time to seek God’s face in Brunswick, and one as we culminated our time there. They confirmed two major directions, two ministry pursuits we were seeking the Lord about with open arms regarding the future. The key to the Glory Train was released. And the Washington key was released.
Purim—Commissioning the Glory Train
Did I mention that these gifts were presented in an exclusive section of a library in Jacksonville, lined with ancient lithographs of the Huguenots? These religious refugees formed the first permanent settlement in the new world. They consecrated their community and the land to the Lord. Whereas the Pilgrims lived, the Huguenots were martyred by Spanish conquistadors. That’s when their covenant with the Lord literally became sealed with blood.
Jean Ribault, leader of the Huguenot colony, died chanting Psalm 132. He was literally begging God to remember His covenant the way He remembered David’s covenant with the Lord. And that He would establish this covenant generationally.
“Remember the afflictions of Your servant David,” he prayed, according to Psalm 132. Note this was David’s vow to restore the Ark of the Covenant and build a tabernacle for His glory.
But in the place of Israel’s ancient king, he inserted his own. “Remember the afflictions of Your servant Jean. How he swore to the Lord, and vowed to the mighty One of Jacob, surely I will give no rest to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob…”
By their lives and deaths the Huguenots consecrated this land to the Lord as a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob. This is a key part of the covenant renewal we presented to the Lord on the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower Compact, asking for God’s hand in marriage once again.
Remember Isaiah 54. Sing, o barren. Enlarge the place of your tent. Your Maker is Your husband! And you shall break forth to the right and to the left.
Oh, did I mention that tonight also marks the 2,000th night of consecutive worship for David’s Tent DC?
You cannot make this stuff up. Seriously.
Ft. Caroline: Commissioning the Glory Train
The next day, on the literal day of Purim, Jolene and I met with Lauren Main again to pray at the site commemorating the original settlement of the Huguenots in present-day Jacksonville. We were joined by our dear friend Sue Ekenberg.
And on Purim 2021, we joined the eternal anthem of Huguenots and Pilgrims, martyrs and slaves, abolitionists and awakeners, as we commissioned the Glory Train 2021 before the Eternal Throne. The gates are now unlocked. The title deed to your inheritance has been restored. The hand of the Lord has now been joined to His bride.
And as of March fourth, a new regime is truly being inaugurated in the land. It’s not about a man, but a movement. And the Lord through this movement will indeed conquer.
NO KING BUT JESUS…