What's New?

What’s New?

Marsha Deveaux Johnson, www.livingjoyministries.com, http://hepzibah40.blogspot.com

2 Corinthians 5: 17-19

 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  And all things are of God who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation: KJ 

It was God (personally present) in Christ reconciling and restoring to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them]and committing to us the ministry of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor).” Amplified

Man is created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26).  Man is spirit, an invisible being that communicates with God the Creator.  Man possesses a soul, the intellect [mind], will [choice], and emotions [feelings].  Man lives in a physical body [flesh, blood, bones] (1^st Thessalonians 5:23).  Your spirit, soul, and body makes up the complete package that is called a human being.  Everyone born is a spirit, possesses a soul, and has a physical body. 

God exists in three parts just as He created man to exist in three parts.  God is: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).  Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden and brought a curse of sin on mankind (Genesis Chapter 3).  This sin of disobedience broke the initial connection between God in heaven and man on earth.  The restoration of the connection between God and man happened when God sent His Son Jesus to do penalty for our sins (John 3:16).

If we are a created spirit, having a soul, and living in a body, what happens to us when we acknowledge and ask Jesus to come and live on the inside of us?  Is there any part of us that has changed?  Is there any part of us that has not changed?  How does this decision to have Jesus inside of us play out in the choices, decisions, actions, and lifestyles, we exhibit after we receive Him?

What happens to us when we acknowledge Christ, repent, and ask Jesus to come and live on the inside of us? 

When we confess that we are a sinner and ask Jesus to forgive our sins and live on the inside of us, our sins are forgiven (Romans 3:23, 1^st John 1:9, Luke 13:3, Acts 3:19, Romans 10:9, Isaiah 55:7, John 3:16-18, John 1:12).  We are restored back to our right relationship with God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  We are redeemed from Adam’s sin.  We are now sons of God and joint-heirs with Christ Jesus to live out Eternity with God (1^st John 3:2, Romans 8:16-17).

Is there any part of us that has changed?    (Human Spirit)

Yes!  God has allowed your human spirit that was dead to come alive to His consciousness (Ephesians 2:1-9).  God has made alive our human spirit so that we can communicate and respond to Him.  It is in the deep recesses of our spirit that He communes and communicates with us.   He has forgiven us (our sins) and we are a new creation in Him appropriated by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for our sins and we are no longer guilty.  We are new creations in Him.  Your spirit is the new you!

Is there any part of us that has not changed? (Soul/Body)

I wish I could say otherwise but unfortunately there are two parts of man (soul and body) that do not change when the “New Birth (Creation)” occurs.  However, God has made provision for change for the soul and the body.  Let us examine how God has made provision for the change in the human spirit to influence these other two parts to come into alignment with the new creation in Christ Jesus.

First of all the soul (Before receiving Jesus) has gained years of intelligence, habits, emotions, and information that still remain intact after you receive Jesus.  Some of the intelligence and information may be truth and some may not be truth. Some of the habits may be good and consistent with God’s word and some may not.  Some of the emotions may be healthy and some may not be.  God wants us to succeed in allowing Christ Jesus to live His life in us. 

So how does God expect the new creation to succeed at being new when some of the intelligence, habits, emotions, and information found in the soul are faulty?  Good question!    Here is how it takes place.  The answer lies in these two words: New and Renew.  When you receive Jesus, your spirit is made alive by God. Your spirit is the “New Creation”. When you receive Jesus, your soul is not “New” but has to be “Renewed” (Romans 12:2).  How does this “renewal” take place?  Jesus Christ (The Living Word) and God’s word in scripture are the agents of renewal.  It is the study, knowledge, and application of God’s word that allows your soul to align with your spirit that has become a new creation.  As your mind is “Renewed” with the word of God, that same word of God will find its home deep within your spirit.  

When your spirit and your soul become one with the word of God, the God-life (Zoe) begins to explode in you and all things truly become new!  You begin to conform to the image of Christ.  This is a process.  John 8:31 says “…If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed”. It takes time. The word of God must begin to work mightily in you.  Jesus is your Intercessor as you walk in grace, faltering, repenting, and moving forward in Him.  You are covered by Christ’s blood and you grow in His grace.

Here is a piece of good news about your body.  Once your spirit and soul are aligned with God’s word, your body follows in obedience.  The body is going to do what the mind tells it to do.  The body is a slave to the soul.  So if your soul aligns with the “New Creation” in your spirit and studies God’s word, makes a decision to do God’s word, the body follows exclusively!  What a mighty God we serve with a perfect plan for us to succeed!  What’s New?  You!

“New You” Entitlements

Entitlement #1:  The Forgiveness of Sins (Past, Present, Future)

Isaiah 43:25, “I, even I, am He that blots out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”

Jeremiah 31:34, “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord:  for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the Lord:  for I will for forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.”

Hebrews 8:12, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

Entitlement #2:  The Grace of God

Earlier I referred to the information, habits, and practices that are in place in the soul and body of all of us prior to receiving Jesus.  When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and begin to obey his word, grace becomes a key issue in understanding our walk with Jesus Christ.  We must understand and accept that it is God’s extension of grace to us that makes us worthy of His love and forgiveness.  We cannot earn His love and grace.  It is ours when we receive Jesus Christ.  It is what He did on the cross in payment for our sins that entitles us to live free from sin.  Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Romans 6^th Chapter explains the provision of grace in the life of the believer.

“Grace is your covering while you recover.”

Entitlement #3:  The Healing Power of Christ in my Spirit, Soul, & Body

·         Relationships

·         Finances

·         Physical/Mental/Emotional Healing

·         Restoration

·         Freedom to spend Eternity with God

After receiving all these entitlements from our Heavenly Father, what then is our challenge in life?  The challenge then becomes to allow Jesus Christ to live out His life in us.  What do we do when we disobey God (sin) after receiving Jesus Christ into our hearts?  How does God see us when we commit sin?  Will God forgive our sin over and over and over?  How do we renew our soul and body with God’s word while struggling with habits and desires? Good questions! Let’s examine each one.

How does God see us when we commit sin?

He sees us covered by the blood of our Intercessor Jesus Christ (1^st John 2:2).  When we accept Jesus Christ, we are in “right standing” with God.  When we sin fellowship with God is broken but not right standing.  When we repent, we are in right standing and fellowship with God.

What do we do when we disobey God (sin) after receiving Jesus Christ into our hearts?

1^st John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  1^st John 2:2, “My little children I write unto you that you sin not.  And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”  Prior to receiving Jesus Christ into our lives, the remedy for sin is inactive.   The penalty of sin which is spiritual death (Romans 6:23) just keeps mounting.  Once we receive Jesus, He becomes the remedy for sin. He took and bore our sins in His own body upon the cross (1^st Peter 2:24).  We are free because He was punished.  When we sin, we confess, repent, and commit to “sin no more”.  We resume living the life of Christ.  This is possible because of the words Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30).  Our penalty for sin has already been paid!  When we receive the “Not guilty” sentence because of Christ, the life of Christ becomes easier to live.  Not because we want to continue to sin, but because our relationship with Him causes us to desire to please Him.

Will God forgive our sin over and over and over? 

Jesus instructed His disciples to forgive others their trespasses seven times seventy (Matthew 18:21-22).  Our God, because of the finished work Jesus accomplished on the cross receives and forgives us because of His Son’s shed blood.  Confession and repentance yields forgiveness.  God deals with His children because He is Father and knows each one.  He does not see as man sees (1^st Samuel 16:7). He sees the repentant heart in the midst of all the turmoil of life circumstances.  His provision is made for all of us to abandon sin forever.

How do we renew our soul and body with God’s word while struggling with habits and desires?

Renewal of the soul and body comes by the power of the written word of God, the spoken word of God, and the Living Word made flesh who is Jesus Christ.  When we read, hear, and confess God’s word, it enters our soul (mind) and finally lodges deep within our spirit.  The constant “marinade” or “soaking” of God’s word in our spirits produces the life that comes from the word of God.  The word of God grows powerfully and empties into the soul (mind) when it faces a trial and is needed to dispel lies, wrong emotions, and sudden negative confrontations. The word of God moves from our spirit to our soul and then the body follows orders. 

Remember the body follows the soul (mind).  This results in releasing habits, wrong thinking, wrong actions, and everything that displeases God (eventually).  If you are born of God you have the promise of God to “stop sin” in your life.  This promise comes in the form of Jesus Christ, the Living Word. Fully receive His righteousness and struggling to live for Him will cease.

 It is only if the word of God has been heard and deposited by meditation in our spirits that it can arise and deliver us.  This is God’s awesome and powerful way of escape for us no matter what we face.  God’s word will not return void or useless in our lives (Isaiah 55:11). 

God made provision for recovering your life in His presence.  If you have surrendered to His love through Jesus Christ, you will not continually disobey Him.  You will build a relationship with God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit that dispels the sin in your life.  You are entitled to live a life free from sin!  You can do it because of the sinless One, Jesus Christ!

Have You Been Inked?

Have You Been “Inked”?

If you read and study God’s word, the one thing that becomes increasingly clear is its accuracy.  The prophetic words given to the prophets in dreams and visions astound historians with the details to which they are fulfilled.  Believers who seek growth can find it in the power of the study of God’s word.  God opened the eyes of His prophets to details of events that had not yet happened.   He illumined their eyes to concepts that had not yet been discovered and practiced. 

The magnitude of the vastness of God becomes about as clear as our mortal minds can phantom when we see the accuracy of the written prophetic word.  I have recently been studying the prophets and it has increased my capacity to believe God’s word for it is infallible! 

Men and women who were called to speak God’s prophetic word suffered greatly in the natural.  However, they knew their experiences were being generated by a supernatural Almighty Power (God Himself).  He never abandoned them no matter how hard the task, how rebellious the people, or how long it took to deliver the message.   God was motivated by love for His people and He had to send the righteous word for them to obey and have favor with Him.

I am in my second full year of studying the prophets beginning with Isaiah. As I read, meditate, and make notations on each chapter, I realize why God has given Eternity to Believers.  We will need Eternity to begin to unveil the mounds of revelation contained in each written word of God (Thanks be to God for Eternity to get to “know” Him).  God’s word has the power to change us.  His word conforms us to the image of Christ.

Ezekiel the ninth chapter outlines an event that parallels a principle that should be understood today. It is fascinating reading.   Ezekiel has a vision of six men (with destroying ability and weapons) being called to God’s house.  One of these men was clothed in linen and had a “writer’s ink bottle” at his side.  God instructed this man to go through the city of Jerusalem and “ink” or set a mark on the ones who loathed the sins the people were committing.  God was marking and identifying His true Believers.  The other five men were to follow in the streets of Jerusalem and kill everyone who did not have this mark on their foreheads.  WOW!  Wrong choices will bear wrong consequences.  The wages of sin will always be death (Romans 6:23)

We live in a world where sin manifested in greed, lust, hatred, arrogance, and decadent lifestyles are showcased and promoted.  The people who are victimized by sin scarcely notice that they are destroying the temples that God gave to them.  They proclaim the greed as “Good”.  They proclaim the lust as “Having fun”.  The hatred and arrogance are just “Looking out for myself”.  And the decadent lifestyles they proclaim as, “My right to do so”.

Every person in Jerusalem had the freedom to hate sin or to participate in sin.  This is the free will given by God to man.  The regrettable part of making the wrong choice (participating in sin) was that they payed for it with their lives.  “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).  Sin always ultimately produces death.  Death is the natural and progressive by-product of sin.  This crime has a fixed sentence.  This word is infallible.

The understanding in Ezekiel implicates that God does know the righteous and He spares them as a man spares his own son (Malachi 3:17).   His eyes are over the righteous (Psalms 34:15) and He hears their cries to Him.  If you are a believer, you are marked with the indelible ink of the “Blood of Jesus Christ”.  You will be brought into a place of safety and refuge as you know and understand who you are in Christ.

 I have found many Passovers in the Old Testament, but this one spoke to my heart directly.  It is because of the times in which we live.  All the ancient boundaries of righteousness, morality, honesty, and purity have been removed.  It is easy to see that many people have not been “inked” with the blood of Christ.  This is so unnecessary because He died for all mankind.  God constantly extends Jesus to a death-sentenced world. 

There is life after being “inked”.  Those of us who have been “inked” experience life at its finest no matter the challenge, hardship, or test.  We have “Eternity in our hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). God makes us ready or fits us to live with Him throughout Eternity if we have been INKED.

Is Your Soul Denying Your Body?

Is Your Soul Denying Your Body?

Marsha Deveaux Johnson, http://www.livingjoyministries.com/, http://hepzibah40.blogspot.com

Soul (Mind/Intellect, Will, Emotions)

Body (Flesh, Blood, Bones)

My exercise of choice is swimming.  I love the water, the freedom of it, the feel of it, and mostly the benefits of unrestricted body movements.  In spite of all this admiration for the water and knowledge of the benefits of it, I often find myself dreading the exercise routine.  This daily routine consists of warm-up exercises and a certain number of laps at a certain time in the pool.

Recently it was time to exercise and the dread of it was overwhelming.  I thought of all the “godly” things I could be doing at that time.  I thought “enough already, skipping a day really isn’t so bad”.  I even recalled the time that Jesus slipped away from fellowship with His disciples just to be alone with Father.  Maybe Father wanted me to just sit quietly with Him during my exercise time?

Well, after a long and heated conversation with myself (without a word being spoken), I reluctantly suited up and went out to battle (oops, I mean to swim).  I got in the water and started the warm-up exercises.  I didn’t “want to” but had made a decision.  I teach others that all of life is a decision and that when we choose the righteous path, the benefits follow. Do you think Father was testing my words to others on me?  Yes! He usually wants us to live the message before we tell and teach others.  Father knows best!

After a while, my routine was in full swing (or swim) and I wondered why I’d had such a fight with myself about doing the right thing.  Even greater, as I was coming to one end of the pool ready to do a graceful and “fish like” turnabout, God spoke to me.  He said, “Your body was ready for this exercise, but your soul could have deprived it of its need.”  I was stunned as I realized that a simple decision could have deprived me of the joy I was experiencing.  Had I not pushed past my feelings, my body would have been denied one of its greatest needs which is exercise.  God always speaks to us so simply and profoundly.  It is called revelation.

I began to think, how many times does the Believer’s soul deny his body of its physical and spiritual needs.  When we reason away God’s plan, purpose, and will, our bodies are denied the fruitful promises that God gives in His word.  Make a decision to make the right decisions.  Make choices beyond feelings, reasoning, laziness, and any   hindrance to doing the right thing.

Our soul (mind, will, emotions) makes the decisions for the body we inhabit.  If we make decisions based on flawed feelings, false information, and unrestricted desires, we create havoc for our physical bodies.  If we choose God’s word, plan, and purpose, we always enjoy the physical and spiritual benefits.  So the next time you make a choice or decision, make sure that your choice pleases the Father.  If it does, the benefits are out of this world!  Righteous choices and decisions “Fit us for both sides of Eternity (Eternity here & now and Eternity forever)”.

Jubilee!

Jubilee!

Definition:  (1) A historical celebration of the Jewish people held every fifty years.  This occasion was announced and celebrated by the blowing of the ram’s horn (trumpet).  (2) A time or occasion of rejoicing. 

Recently God imparted to my spirit a powerful single word that set me on a journey of understanding what He does in my life.  He whispered the word “Jubilee”.  I was at the time exercising and I immediately began to meditate on this word.  I already knew that it was a biblical festival established by God for His people once they had entered and divided the promised land.  What I did not know was how He would minister, illumine, and manifest this powerful word to show me Who He is in my life and what He does daily for me.

Let me paint a brief picture of the mechanics of the Jubilee festival celebration.  I can almost guarantee that as you read them you will begin (in your spirit) just as I did to see personal power in this word.  Jubilee refers to the fiftieth (50^th) year.  After reaching and conquering Canaan, God’s people divided the promised land among themselves. Fifty years after the division of the land was the time to mark and celebrate the first Jubilee.  Jubilee was established by God.  It was not a manmade institution.  There are three basic actions that were set in place to observe Jubilee (50^th year).  They are as follows:

Rest

There was rest for the soil (Leviticus 25:11).  Man was freed from the labor of sowing and reaping. That year man entered into a blessed rest to live and enjoy the bounty that God had provided.

Reversion of Property/Restoration

At Jubilee all property in fields and houses situated in villages and unwalled towns, which the owner had to sell because of poverty was to revert without payment to its original owner.

Freedom

Everyone who because of poverty had sold himself into slavery was to receive freedom for himself and his children.  He could no longer be “owned” by anyone.  His debts were forgiven.

The Jubilee year became one of freedom, grace, redemption, deliverance, a time of refreshing, and cessation of oppression.  WOW!

The Holy Spirit began to minister to my spirit about this word “Jubilee”.  First of all, its meaning takes on a new light in the lives of those who are alive today and under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  Secondly, with our sins forgiven, we have entered the promised land for Eternity.  As this journey continues, we are faced with the challenges, tests, trials, happenings, etc. of life here on planet earth.  The truth of the matter is that we “need” the Jubilee (Rest, Restoration, and Freedom) that only God can give!

My personal experiences reveal to me that God can bring your life to a place of continual (daily) Jubilee.  The historical Jubilee lays the framework for the Jubilee that God can give every day.  

Conditions for Daily Jubilee

The first condition for Jubilee on a daily basis is “Rest”.  Rest is outlined for us in the fourth (4th) chapter of Hebrews.   Believers must be so convinced that God knows exactly what He is doing in their lives that they can totally “rest” in Him.  A place of rest in God means that you have settled yourself in His mercy, His love, His promises, and His Eternity for you (John 3:16, 2^nd Corinthians 1:20, Ecclesiastes 3:11).  Rest indicates that nothing is happening in your life that is not under God’s tender care and authority.  Receive the Jubilee of “Rest” daily.  Always be aware in your inner man (spirit) that you have the protection, love, and favor of God.  Let the “at risk” feelings die on the vine.  Cultivate His presence by meditating on scriptures that tell you what God says about you. (Example:  Psalms 17:8, Zechariah 2:8, “I am the apple of Your eye”.)

The second condition for daily Jubilee is “Restoration”.  God is not running out of anything that is needed in time or Eternity.  He has a definite plan to restore to you all that He has appropriated for your life here on earth.  He knows what you need and when you need it.  He has simply asked you to ask in faith and patience and see Him work bountifully for you.  Jesus came that we may have life and have it more abundant (John 10:10).  Abundant, full, and overflowing life was God’s idea for you.  It is your promise if you serve and obey Him.  He can restore by natural means and by supernatural means.  He has no limitations on what He can give to a man who walks upright before Him.  Ask in the name of Jesus, and He will do His work in your life (John 14:14).

The last condition for daily Jubilee is “Freedom”.  Whom the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36).  Jubilee in your heart sets you free.  Your boundaries are God’s word flowing freely in your life.  It is a taste of the river of life running freely in your daily challenges, movements, interactions, and work.  It is a state in which you completely understand what you have been given in God’s word and are willing to receive and walk in it.  In short, it is JUBILEE!

My personal definition of Jubilee is the “Everyday manifest appearance of God in my life”.  There are innumerable times in my life that I desire, and God fulfills.  I ask and while I am asking, I receive (Isaiah 65:24).  I have come to verbally “blow the ram’s horn” out loud and say “Jubilee” when I see God manifest Himself to me in my life’s circumstances.  I live in “Rest”. I live in “Restoration”.  I live in “Freedom”.  All of God’s people should and can.  Don’t miss out on your “Jubilee”.  Recognize it!  Proclaim it! God will bring more of Jubilee to pass as you honor Him for jubilees you see in your life.  Let Him minister this word to you and your life.  Jubilee is totally “settling” yourself in God and living every aspect of life in His grace.  Living in Jubilee (Rest, Restoration, and Freedom) is good and proper training to be fit for Eternity. 

P.S. 

Can you even imagine what Jubilee must be like throughout Eternity? I am overwhelmed to think about it.  I think I’ll need a new body to keep up with the Eternity celebration!

Prophetic Word

God delivered a prophetic message through me to Believers in attendance at a Spiritual Warfare Seminar on September 17, 1995 in Daytona Beach, FL.  The date and year is significant because now I am seeing this prophecy manifest right before my eyes.  This is yet further confirmation to Believers that every word written and spoken by God comes to pass.  This prophecy is astounding. Fulfillment of God’s prophetic word fits us for the Eternity we will spend with Father God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

 (Prophetic language is inspired of God, given by God, and comes “through” Believers.  The language is often repetitive. These utterances are not organized thoughts by a person on a particular theme.  When prophecy references future events and occurrences, only God has the ability and power to bring it to pass. (Jeremiah 28:9…When the prophet’s word comes to pass, [only] then will it be known that the Lord has truly sent him).)

Read it, reread it, and allow the Holy Spirit to witness in your spirit these unedited revelations given sixteen (16) years ago. 

Marsha Deveaux Johnson

www.livingjoyministries.com

http://hepzibah40.blogspot.com

“Those doing that which I have commanded will receive…release the power…the strength and power.  Yes, it’s released but only those who will stay where they are planted can receive.  It is out of My presence, it is out of My presence, that you receive that strength, that you receive that power.  Wait for Me, wait for Me, wait for Me, seek for Me, wait for Me (singing).  As a flower blossoms, wait for Me, wait for Me, wait for Me, wait for Me..Alleluia…wait for Me.

Drop your tools and wait for Me…drop your tools.  They’re no good.  They cannot help you.  They cannot get you where you desire so drop them and wait upon Me.  Wait for Me, wait for Me.

Earth shaking terror is released upon this earth.  There will be such a frenzy and such a searching, and such a looking for an answer as you My children have never seen before.  There is arising here and there and everywhere, demonic spirits that are bent on shaking and pulling and destroying those that God Almighty has reached His hand for…and the earth, the earth will respond by wonders that you see and things that go forth that send terror and send trouble to the hearts of men, but be not afraid and be not dismayed for My kingdom, My people are hearing Me as never before.

You know the signs of the times and your heart is hovering under My heart and I say to you today to be not afraid…let not your hearts be troubled when you see what comes upon the earth.  For destruction, destruction in places, in places, where there was not destruction.  It were as if a ‘lifting’ has happened, but it will cause and create a hunger and a desire for Me, a searching of those who look around and say what is going to happen next. They will search for me and I say, ’My church, those who have been baptized with fire, are the ones who will lead them to the kingdom that I have prepared for them, for yes I have My kingdom and My kingdom will be filled…it will be filled…it will be filled.’

You look around and say ‘why’ but I know why, I know why, and you must trust Me that you are standing where I desire you to stand to be the deliverers that I have called you to be.to be the deliverers that I have called you to be.

Yes, preparation, yes waiting, but Oh, when you see the victory you will say yes, God, I knew that you were delivering people…I did not understand why the waiting, why the agony, but the more I see, I glorify You.  Now be not dismayed what will come to your ears.  Do not try to understand it.  It is not understandable.  Oh, I say, listen for My voice.  Listen for My voice.  Listen for My flood in your spirit and move when I desire you to move.  You speak when I tell you to speak.  You be silent when I tell you to be silent and you will see My hand move in a miraculous way right before you.  I am the God who delivers right in front of your eyes.  I change, I rearrange what the distortion of the enemy says.  I put back in place for My people.  I send it forth unperverted and undistorted.  You will see My face and My glory to be upon you as you stand and wait in My presence.  My word is ‘WAIT’. Stay there one more minute, one more hour, one more day for when you see the release you will say, ‘God, it was all worth it’.

More disturbances in the atmosphere, and in the weather, and particularly in the earth and beneath the surface.  There is such turmoil.  Creation is groaning for My coming.  It wants to be delivered.

 Go ahead and stand.  Go ahead and stand.  If the tears come, just wipe them away. Just go ahead and stand.  I have appointed you to stand.  I have equipped you to stand.  Don’t mind what goes on around you. Don’t mind it.  I have equipped you to stand.

Prepare to have more of My presence released in your prayer time.  Seek Me…and wait…do not leave…wait upon Me…wait upon Me.  The busyness of the world can wait, YOU WAIT UPON ME.  I will show you the victory.  I will speak on a day, and on the next day you will see that which I have spoken come to pass,  if you wait upon Me…if you wait in My presence, if you do not become weary, if you do not say ‘well I can just go on’.  Wait upon Me. I want to prove Myself to My people.  I want to fix the broken things in My people’s lives. Oh, yes, My table is full.  There is no lack at My table. All the joy you want…all the peace you want…all that I have given is there for you.  All the healing..yes, all the healing in spite of what you see, all the healing is on My table..to be released to My people.

Those of you who look to the government, it is not there…it is not there…it is not there…it is not there.  It’s in Me…It’s is Me…It’s in Me.  I have commanded you to pray for them, and that is your responsibility. But My word will come to pass on the nations.  The word that I have spoken over nations will come to pass, so what you see is what has been prophesied and what has been foretold and it will come to pass.  But there is no deliverance in government, it is in Me.  If you will look aside you will be polluted, but if you will look to Me your fountain will give fresh water, fresh anointing, fresh obedience, daily bowing in My presence, and daily receiving from Me.  I want My people to speak and have the world hear their words. I call you to a place of holiness that I can release your word to be My word…in your lips and upon your lips and government will come to you to hear the word of the Lord, to hear the word of the Lord.

I will send a wave of My Spirit with the infilling of the baptism of the Holy Spirit where I will sovereignly, in masses, release the infilling… for I will sovereignly release the anointing of the power that comes upon it, that rides in with it.

And the children, the children, the children will speak.  The children, the children, the children that have been so assaulted by the enemy, oh, will rise up.  They will rise up and they will have wisdom beyond their years, they will have an anointing to speak My words. It will cause attention to come because they are so young that speak My word, that have and perform My miracles.  They will get the attention of the world…they will get the attention of the world.  It is for you that I release this.

 It is for My people that I release everything in the earth.  So stand fast. So hold that that I have given you and use it for My glory and My honor, and I will bless it and you will say ’God, it started as a seed and look now what I have.  I have multitudes in my garden.’ And He will say ‘Yes because you planted and you watered and you did not refrain when the weather was not what you desired but you kept hope in Me…hope in Me…hope in Me…‘.  Can you wait upon Me?  Can you wait upon Me? Can you wait for that precious harvest?  You see I have sent it and have allowed many of you to see it and it’s created a hunger but I still ask you to stand and be steadfast.  I still ask you to return and give Me everything…give Me everything…give Me everything.  Release it.

Pray for cities, pray for cities, pray for cities…pray for them…pray for them…pray for them…pray for them…pray for them.  Pray, tear down strongholds over cities.  Many are held captive in cities...in the cities.  They are held captive.  They have nowhere to turn and few of My disciples want to go there…want to go there.  But you pray and I will release ministries in cities and pray for cities, choose some and pray for them and I will release laborers to them…I will release laborers to them…I will release laborers to them who will reap the harvest because of your prayers loosing those who are bound there.  I will even tell you what cities to pray for.  I will place in your heart as only I can, a burden for cities and you pray for them.  You speak to the principalities over them and you tell them that the time of Father’s release is come for that city and they can no longer stronghold it.  Agree with Me for cities, for cities, for cities.  I have many prophets, evangelists, teachers who are locked in cities and must be loosed to bring forth and to participate in what I am doing now.  They cannot be released if the body (of Christ) does not pray for them.   Glory to God!

Settle yourselves…settle yourselves.  That is My command to you to just sit back and settle yourselves and know that My promises and My word is true, it is in the now so you have no need to be unsettled…no need to be unsettled.”

"A Tale of Two Crosses"

One day as I was

running an errand, a

service truck turned

in front of me as

I was driving.

It had some kind of rig on the back of it that resembled a huge cross.  It was also brown in color.  I felt deep inside of me that a resurrection message was stirring as Easter was a week away.  As I stared at the cross it became crystal clear in my spirit just how long Jesus spent on the cross for us before He surrendered His Spirit to God.  His willingness to linger there proved His tremendous love for us. Here is how long I believed He hung there for us.

He stayed there until:

Every Issue

Was Settled,

Every Problem

Was Fixed,

Every Habit

Was Broken,

Every Mystery

Was Solved,

Every Relationship

Was Mended,

Every Broken Heart

Was Healed,

Every Fear Was

Replaced With Faith,

Every Tear

Was Wiped Away,

and most of all until

Every Sin

Was Forgiven!

Marsha Deveaux Johnson, (2009)

http://www.livingjoyministries.com/

May every need in your life be met by the One who stayed on the cross for you until everything was finished!

Blessed Easter!

Lessons

From The Cross

Easter

Marsha D. Johnson

Inasmuch as Jesus Christ suffered on the cross,

Believers must understand that we will also walk

The same paths   & experience trials as Jesus did.

Surrender, Prayer, Watching,

Disappointment, Betrayal

 (Matthew 26-36-46)

Loneliness, Suffering

1^st Peter 4: 12-16

Rejection

Isaiah 53: 3

Death, John 19:30

Mark 15:37

Resurrection

Matthew 28:1-9

Victory!

1^st Corinthians

15:57

Overcoming

Power!

Luke 10:18-19

Eternal Life!

Mark 10:29-30

May all the

Lessons of the

Cross serve to

Draw you closer

To the Lord

Who loves you

And died to

Make you

One with Him!

Happy Resurrection

Day!

Marsha Deveaux Johnson

http://www.livingjoyministries.com/

Throw Yourself Down!

Throw Yourself Down !

A Discourse On Trials, Tests, & Temptations

Matthew 4:6, Luke 4:9 There are many lessons to be learned by men and women of God who live in this world.  Jesus is our perfect example.  At the height of His ministry, He experienced what could be assessed as an unnecessary experience.  It was a front and center confrontation with Satan himself. Jesus faced a trial, a test, and a temptation.  Part of our training for Eternity is unfolded in trials, tests, and temptations.  I call this trio the “Three T’s”.  Recorded in scripture is a clear, uncluttered example of how trials, tests, and temptations must be must be viewed and managed by Believers.

First of all, I will discuss how we find ourselves faced with trials, tests, and temptations.  In Matthew chapter 4, Jesus was led and guided by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness or place of testing.  Even though Satan met Him at this place of testing, Satan was not responsible for Him being brought to this place.  God is the One who allows us to walk through places of trials, tests, and temptations.  Satan may show up to distress, disorder, and grand-stand, but he has no power over the lives of Believers who do not surrender to him.  Therefore, we cannot give blame or credit to Satan for our God-ordained episodes of preparation for Eternity.

Joseph was certainly tested when he arrived in Egypt, but God was responsible for him being there Genesis (45:7-8).  Satan tried to distress, disorder, and grand-stand with Joseph’s life, but in the end God raised him to the prominence which He had ordained for him in Egypt.  The three T’s (trials, tests, temptations) could not pry victory from the hand of Joseph or Jesus.  Victory cannot be taken from Believers by trials, tests, and temptations.  We must view them as episodes in preparation for Eternity.  Jesus said the three T’s (trials, tests, & temptations) would come but to be of good cheer because He had already overcome them for us.  What an absolute promise!

At every point in the temptation that Jesus endured, His relationship (son ship) with the Father was challenged.  Satan will also challenge our claim to be sons of God, fit for Eternity.  He wants us to believe that our relationship with Father makes us immune to trials, tests, and temptations. We cannot correlate son ship with immunity from the everyday situations we face in life.  We are mistaken if we believe that if we serve and walk upright, that we will never face trials, tests, and temptations. Jesus, our perfect example faced them and we will also.  The good news is that we have been given authority over the instruments of destruction and nothing will by any means harm us (Luke 10:19).

Jesus shows us how to overcome every trial, test, temptation, and lie that Satan will ever offer for our approval.  Satan wanted to insult and drive home the lie that if Jesus were truly the Son of God, He would never find Himself in an adverse situation. He wanted to stress the point that Jesus could take the obvious and easy way out of situations.  Satan did not know that he himself was going to be repeatedly cast down and defeated. He was defeated by the written, spoken, and manifest word of God.  The living word manifested in the person of Jesus Christ. This word of God is our stronghold today.  The word of God applied to every trial, test, and temptation assures us of the God-ordained victory every time.  Any elicit alignment with Satan and his works bring death. So he launched his attack on three levels, body, soul, and spirit.

The first attack (Matthew 4:2-4) was the most obvious and it was against the physical body of Jesus.  He had been fasting for 40 days and was physically weakened by the lack of food.  Jesus could have commanded the stones to become bread, but that was not the issue.  The issue was to honor and follow the word of God and to not take orders, hints, or suggestions from Satan.  This is our challenge today.  Read, observe, and submit to God’s word, resist Satan, and he will flee (James 4:7).

The second attack (Matthew 4:5-7) was launched against the soul of Jesus.  Satan was here appealing to the pride of life issue.  Jesus was on a high pinnacle and the order from Satan was to throw Himself down because He would not suffer harm because He was the son of God.  This was a definite temptation.  Jesus understood that obeying this act would have caused Him to tempt God’s protection of His life.  The issue here was to not submit to anything that would foolishly engage God’s attention.

This brings us to a point where Believers need to be vigilant in places of success.  Many of God’s gifted and anointed ones are taken to perceived “high pinnacles” of success in this world’s system.  They achieve in God great things in the work of the ministry.  Their challenge from Satan is to “Throw yourself down”.  Satan says to them, “You can do foolish and sinful things with your life and God will not let you fall to the ground.  You are successful, enjoy it, God will forgive and look the other way”.  This is an attack in the area of the soul.  The antidote for wrong choices, wrong lifestyles, and wrong thinking is to choose to do what God’s word says. Do not tempt or “play with” God.  His grace is not given for willful sinning against Him.

The third and final attack (Matthew 4:8-10) Jesus suffered was in the area of His spirit.  Satan offered Him kingdoms, worship of peoples, glory, honor, and splendor.  He appealed to the desire of the spirit of man to worship.  But man was created to worship God, not Satan, and not himself.  Worship God and Him alone.  He will have no other God’s before Him.  Again the word of God was and is the answer to every trial, test, and temptation.

Satan orchestrated an attack against the spirit, soul, and body of Jesus Christ.  He uses this same attack against Believers today. Christ is our perfect example.  He defeated Satan by the word of God quoted from scripture and the Living Word which was who He is.   The word of God is powerful from the lips of those who have surrendered and made Jesus Lord of their lives.  When we speak His word, it is as though He has spoken it.  His word brings life, and health, and healing to man (spirit, soul, and body).

The only time Believers should throw themselves down is at the feet of Jesus!  Bow to no trial, no test, and no temptation.  Let the power of the word of God spoken from your lips bring the manifest promises of God.  You will be tested spirit, soul, and body.  However, you will overcome by the word of your testimony and the blood of the Jesus Christ! (Revelation 12:11)

God’s Heart For

You

Isaiah 30:18               “And therefore

the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking,

 and longing] to be gracious to you and therefore

 He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on

you and show loving-kindness to you. For the

 Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy,

fortunate, to be envied) are all those who

[earnestly] wait for Him, who expect

and look and long for Him[for

**His victory, His favor,**

His love,  His peace,

His joy,  and His

matchless, unbroken

companionship.”

YES!

Marsha Deveaux Johnson, www.livingjoyministries.com