Strength Training—Suddenly It All Makes Sense

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STRENGTH TRAINING—SUDDENLY IT ALL MAKES SENSE!

“There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the ROARING OF THE SEA AND THE WAVES, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Luke 21-25-6).

With September comes 9-11, the Shemitah, the blood moon, the Jewish feasts, not to mention the deadline for the Iranian nuclear deal. Many sense a time of shaking is coming. My own dream of Washington DC being struck by a wave certainly conveys this.

Recently I opened the Bible and my eyes fell on the above passage in Luke. Who knew that Jesus actually described coming shakings as a ROARING of the seas and the waves? Not only this, but He specifically mentions signs in the sun and moon and stars as signaling these shakings.

And Christ’s own warning declares that the nations will be in perplexity. That’s for sure. Men will be fainting from fear from merely the expectation of challenges ahead.

With this at heart, Marlene Brubaker’s posting below on strength training will bring much clarity to your heart and life. God is an exceptional coach. He has your best interests at heart. And He’s actually been training you all this time, preparing you now for what He’s prepared for you!

I want to encourage you to take the next few weeks of this prayer project to intentionally prepare for what’s ahead. Engage with God. Enter into training. We may be at the precipice of coming shakings, we may not. But your training now will absolutely gain great dividends for the future.

So consecrate yourself. Set goals that you will work towards achieving. Be free in spirit, but gain resolve. Be intentionally methodical. Ask God to be your coach, and then enter into the fullness of His training for your life!

STRENGTH TRAINING—MARLENE BRUBAKER
One morning several weeks ago I had been thinking of all the people, that were going through extraordinarily difficult times.  Everyone we were praying for including us, were facing very serious issues and it was hard to think about the intensity of the needs.

Vision—Stand or Fall
I asked The Lord, “Why Lord, are so many going through so much?”  Immediately I saw a picture in the spirit of people standing. And as I watched, many began falling over.  As I wondered what was happening, I realized that during these intense times people were either going to stand or fall. They were either going to become warriors of faith, or victims of fear.

It seems that we are in a time of intense strength training. Just as Joseph’s trails were before the famine, and trained him by hardship to overcome, we are being trained as well.  We will need our spiritual, physical and emotional muscles strong.

As I watched people fall, I felt a great sadness and knew there was nothing I could do. This is a time when each of us personally are to strengthen our weak knees.  Others cannot do this for us.

Thankfully others pray for us and help in many ways, but only we can choose to submit to the training and choose to live a consecrated, overcoming life.  David did this when he found himself in great distress.

Strengthen Yourself in the Lord
In 1 Samuel 30:1-6, David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag.  They had attacked Ziklag and burned it and had taken captive the women and all who were in it. Both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.

When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men “wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.” Davids two wives had been captured-Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him.

“Each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters… BUT David encouraged himself in The Lord (1 Samuel 30:6).

And after his strengthening David went on to inquire of The Lord. The Lord spoke clearly to Him and he gained back all he had lost. There would have been a different outcome if he had given in to misery and defeat. It is interesting that there was no one around to encourage David. He had to encourage himself. David was in covenant with God and He reminded himself that God had committed himself to take care of him.

Like David we need to get our eyes off our enemies, our friends, our circumstances and draw our strength and encouragement needed now and for the future until We are totally dependent upon God.  Our personal knowledge of God…Who has He been to us?  Who will He be?  What has He said in His word?  What has He said through the prophetic word?  What does it mean to be in covenant with The Lord?  It is in these difficulties that we get the revelation of God’s fullness and our position in Him.  Although this is a solitary journey of consecration, the importance of those who pray for us, support and help us cannot be understated. They are priceless and are a big key in our being able to stand.

September—Your Time to Stand!
As we approach September, there is no getting away from the signs that God is placing before us. There is an intensity in the spirit that is calling us to prepare, body, soul and spirit. There can be no denying that shifts and changes are here and more are coming fast. We need to get our sea legs, and stand with our knees bent to absorb the shocks and waves that try to keep us off balance. The intensity is accelerating. Persecution is coming. But so is the former and latter rain together. The biggest shifts we have known are coming to every part of our lives and we need to be prepared for change, prepared to stand and not fall.

We never really know what we are made of until we walk through deep waters. Testing works in us endurance, patience and strength. We find out if we will cave in or draw from the well, the source of our inner strength. If you are in the testing fires, rejoice, He is strengthening you for your tomorrow. I am sure that Joseph forgot about his trials, because it says in Genesis 41:49-52: “Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, for he said, God has made me forget all my trouble and all my Fathers household.” He named the second Ephraim, “for he said, God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

It is His great mercy towards us to prepare us in advance so we will walk victoriously with Him and be fruitful. As it says in Isaiah 60: “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.”

Arise and shine is a command. It means “Stand up!!”  It is my prayer that in This intense season of pressing we will endure so we can stand and be the mighty ones called to live in these times. May we become the consecrated bride, the bearers of His truth, for His kingdom and His glory. STAND and see the salvation of The Lord.