In the past week I have heard repeated from various sources to “ready ourselves” and “get our house in order” for what God is preparing to do in the church and in our nation. As we said in our study last week, God is not finished with the church and this nation. God moves the spirits of His people to particular actions. To walk in the Spirit is to obey the initial promptings of the Spirit. Paul in Phillipians 3:13 encourages us to reach forward to what lies ahead. We must press on with the mindset that there is always something more that God wants to do in us and through us. It is time for our hearts to beat with His heart! Jeremiah 32:40 says “I will put My fear in the hearts that they will not depart from Me.” We are entering a new level of warfare and chaos as Satan raises his ugly head to defy God and gain control of this world and specifically the church and our nation. The words of Job 11 gives us assurance that God judges as He knows the heart of man and He sees wickedness; in His hand is the life of every creature, and the breath of all the human race; with Him are wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are His…both deceived and deceiver are His; He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings utter darkness into light. According to Proverbs 21:30 there is no counsel against the LORD and no one can impede what the LORD has declared He will do. God wants to bring a Divine shift with Him in our lives, our churches, our communities and our nation. We must take His hand and shift with Him, knowing He can and is willing to do it! God involves us in far-fetched plans so that when they succeed, no one but God can possibly claim the credit! God is getting us ready for what He is getting ready to do! William Cowper said, “God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm.” The storm is coming and God wants us ready!
God spoke these words through one of His devoted servants last week: “Ready yourselves My children, consecrate yourselves before Me for there is an appointed time fast approaching, where I will purge and clear out the decay and the old guard that has attempted to keep a grip within areas of your nation, within areas of the church, there is a changing of the guard that has been set in motion; a prophetic sign that the old is passing away. You are entering a new season and a new time where I am equipping My children for the time requires it—a time unique to what is stirring in your nation to what is moving about the Earth…I will accelerate and pull forth from you a sharpening of the gifts, for it shall be needed in this time.” The Bible reveals another Divine shift toward the end of the wanderings in the desert when Moses was divinely led to appoint Joshua as his successor as “a man in whom is the Spirit.” (Num. 14: 6-9)
Let’s glean valuable lessons from the Book of Joshua to help equip us for God’s Divine shift:
Be ready when the Divine shift comes. We must accept responsibility to do our part. (Joshua 1:2) When God “gave” the land to Abraham and his descendants, He was saying more that “I am giving you the land.” They would have to go in and possess it. There were giants in the land that would have to be conquered—enemies of God. God promised to go with them, but they had assignments to carry them out. (1: 3-5) God said: “Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.” We will have to move in great faith. Joshua had to move across the Jordan River at flood stage! (We can surely identify with this in our nation as there have been numerous floods and weather events.) We will face things that seem impossible, but we have to believe that God is going to help us—we must move forward trusting God to make the way. (Matthew 19: 26) We must be very flexible. Unexpected events will occur when the transition begins that require us to be flexible and not panic or be filled with fear. We have to constantly release it to God and trust Him to show us the way. We are to pray without ceasing. (1 Thess. 5:17) Don’t neglect the Word. God told Joshua to be careful to do according to all the law which Moses commanded and not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that he would have success wherever he went. He was to meditate on it day and night and follow its instructions so that his way would be prosperous and successful. (1: 7-8) We must live in complete obedience to God. The word “command” is used 8 times in the 1st Chapter of Joshua. God commanded Joshua; Joshua commanded the leaders, the leader’s commanded the people; God made reference to what He had previously commanded. During transition times it is absolutely imperative we obey the Lord and do it quickly. It is essential we do things God’s way! “In all our ways submit to Him and He will direct our paths.” (Proverbs 3:6) We need to realize there will be battles we have to fight and we will need help from others. In verses 1: 12-18 Joshua gave inheritance to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh but they had to stand together and go in and fight for it—in the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph. 4: 1-6) We must let God’s peace sustain us. God reminds Joshua in 1:9 that the transition will have unexpected challenges, difficulties and spiritual battles. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” We must allow the peace of God to rule in our hearts and minds. We have a choice—panic and fear or the peace of God that passes all understanding. (Col. 3: 15) The new and hidden places are only new and hidden to us. God knows all the details and is able to control people and circumstances to bring about His will, purpose and plan for our lives. Only He can open the doors of breakthroughs, victory and fruitfulness because He, the incarnated God, has been here before! Eight is the number of new beginnings in Scripture. God is desiring to do a new thing in the lives of each of us, our family, friends, church and nation. Let us seek God to show us specific steps that we can begin taking right now to further our pursuit of Him and His fullness—to be transformed into the image of God. Peter in Acts 3: 19-20 urges us to repent and return so that our sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ at His appointed time until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. God is still speaking through His prophets today. The question is—are we listening. God’s message has not changed: The Battle is the Lord’s! Whatever battle we are facing or will face, God is stronger. Whatever circumstance presents itself, God has the answer. Whatever burden we are carrying, God can lift it. We must stand still, and know that He is God. We must praise Him in the storm, trust Him and follow on. The best is yet to come! Many of God’s watchmen are saying that we are witnessing prophetic convergence and in the midst of it all, God gives us an anchor: His Word will not pass away. In Hebrew, “davar” means both “word” and “thing”—because when God speaks, things happen. Creation responds. History bends. Though everything else may shake, His Word stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8) We are to awaken our hearts—this is not the time to sleep. As the signs converge, we must not be shaken but be sharpened. This is not a moment for fear, but for preparation and confident rest. The same God who declared the end from the beginning has appointed each of us to live in this hour for His purposes!
George Whitten, a Messianic Jew, shared a revelation last week that is very timely concerning where we are on God’s calendar. He shared that among all fruit-bearing trees, the fig tree is uniquely prophetic—because it is one of the few that produces two harvests in a single growing season. First comes the early crop in spring, known in Scripture as the “first ripe fig” (Isaiah 28:4), and then a second, more abundant harvest in late summer or early fall. This twofold harvest speaks to the first and soon to be second coming of the Messiah. The early crop points to Jesus’ first coming; His death and resurrection, the first fruits of salvation. (1 Cor. 15: 20) This occurred when the Church was born on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit descended resulting in a harvest of souls. The later harvest relates to a final and glorious harvest at the end of the age spoken of by the prophet Joel and Peter in Acts completing the Bride of Christ before His return in the Rapture. The fig tree is also a type of Israel in scripture. Israel has returned to the land. The Gospel is reaching the nations. (Recent research indicates that when every person receives technology i.e. cell phones or other devices, that the Gospel can be transmitted within 7 minutes to the whole world. Mt. 24: 14) The Church is being purified. Apostasy abounds. These are not random events—they are a prophetic convergence; the simultaneous unfolding of these signs declares with certainty; the season of harvest is now. Jesus’ said, “When you see all these things”—every branch budding at once—“know that it is near, even at the doors.” (Mt. 24:33) As the signs converge, we must rise with purpose and stay fixed on our assignment: step into the harvest, proclaim the Gospel, awaken the sleeping, and keep our heart burning with joyful expectation. George sounds the alarm to get ready—"the fig tree is not just a warning—it’s a summons from heaven…the harvest is ripe, and the King is on His way. So go—gather, labor, watch, and rejoice. For soon the Lord of the harvest will appear, and He will gather His own.” (Mt. 9: 38)
I believe that Jesus is standing before us, calling sons and daughters to get up, arise and get ready! We have sat as spectators for far too long. Many have prayed for revival, and now we get to combine our prayers with mass evangelism to see this last end-time harvest brought in! We must get up, get ready and go share Jesus! We must get our households and our bodies in order so that we can pivot with the Lord at a moment’s notice. Jesus is not done, and death and sickness and hopelessness and fear do not have the final word over our life. Our citizenship is in Heaven, and Christ is our life! His work on the cross is finished, and He desires to live His glorious life through us as we surrender and worship Him! He gets to make all things new in us, and the broken places become a highway of holiness upon which we walk. He is good and wants to lavish His abundant goodness on us today in all of these things. It’s who He is and what He does! This is the hour the Bride of Christ must arise in victory, awakening in fresh power of His Holy Spirit!
The fig tree is a prophetic promise: the harvest is ready, restoration has begun, and God’s final rest is near. So we must rise up, stay sharp, and step boldly into our calling! Each of us has a call because we are still breathing! We must guard our hearts, ready ourselves as watchmen; the power that raised Christ from the dead dwells with us; and the ACTS of the Holy Spirit are set to come forth, for this is a time of a great move of God! We must take a stand with God and for God; sanctify ourselves; dedicate ourselves and all we have to God! Our lives and the world around us are under God’s care and control! LET’S GET READY TO SEE GOD’S GLORY!