GOD CAN BE TRUSTED!

Hello Family of God,

As we enter the month of October we can look forward to the year ahead of us. Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew: ראש השנה), (literally “head of the year”), is the Jewish New Year 5786 that began September 22. It is the first of the High Holidays or Yamim Noraim (“Days of Awe”), celebrated ten days before Yom Kippur. This is a time for all believers to take hold of God’s promises. We are declaring that the Spirit of God will move into those places of our lives an community that have been asleep or dead. At Radiant Hope Church, we are daily declaring the Word of God over our lives, our families, our Church, and our City! We are speaking that God’s will be done “on earth as it is in Heaven.”

This new year is viewed as a time of continuing intense spiritual conflict.  In September, we remembered those who lost their lives in the fatal terrorist attacks of September 11, 2000. Just days after 9/11, Billy Graham addressed the nation from Washington D.C. with these words: "We've seen so much that brings tears to our eyes and makes us all feel a sense of anger, But God can be trusted, even when life seems at its darkest." GOD CAN BE TRUSTED!

After learning of the tragic murder of Charlie Kirk, a 31 year old Christian man who was a husband and father of two, my heart was shaken. Charlie had been asked what his legacy would be and he replied that he wanted to be remembered for his courage to have faith, faith in God. Since Charlie’s death, people all over the world have made a commitment to follow Jesus as a result of Charlie Kirk’s life and his witness. My question is, “What will I, what will you be remembered for?”

The Lord has been telling me that the winds are blowing, winds that will shake the Body of Christ out of sleep, lethargy, blindness, sin, and compromise. Are we ready to remove that which is not of God in our own lives?

Two weeks ago, I gave a Word to the Church about our being "Watchmen on the Wall".      This is a call for Christians to spend time in the Presence of God, study the Bible to learn God’s truths, and learn to discern the schemes and plans of Satan as he tries to destroy God's people and God's work in the earth. 

• “The battle belongs to the Lord,”  2 Chronicles 20:15. 

• “The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the tearing down of strongholds.  2 Corinthians 10:4. AMP

• “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents] but against rulers, against the powers, against the forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.” Ephesians 6:12 AMP

We must keep our ears open to hear the Holy Spirit as He shares His strategies for prayer. We must ask God to reveal Himself to us in a greater way.  We must declare that “His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” 

As I taught from 2 Chronicles 20 a few Sundays ago, I told the story where King Jehosophat and the children of Judah were being attacked by three armies that outnumbered them.  Jehoshaphat and his people were afraid, so they sought God for the answer.  They did not have to fight physically because God caused the three enemy armies to destroy each other. To walk in victory in this dark hour, we must do the same:

1) Fast and pray,

2) Seek God 

3) Praise God for Who He is and what He has already done in our lives and our nation

4) Listen to the Holy Spirit. Get His instruction from the Bible

5) Praise and Worship God

6) Believe and obey!

7) See the victory of God!

God is raising up His army today, men and women and boys and girls, those who will hear the clarion call to take up the mantle of leadership, as Charlie Kirk did for America- to fight the spiritual battle in prayer, to share the Gospel with courage, to become unashamed apologists for the Christian faith, to make an uncompromising stand for the truth of the Bible, and to speak out for constitutional freedom in America.

Charlie Kirk loved God with all of his heart and he gave his life standing up for God.  Like Stephen in Acts Chapter 7, Charlie is a modern-day martyr. Saul held Stephen's coat as he was being stoned. How God must have touched Saul's heart as he saw this innocent young man lift his eyes to heaven and say, "Look, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." Then, as he was being stoned, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." He fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." 

Together we pray, “Lord, touch young people all over this nation as they have witnessed how Charlie Kirk stood up for you, for righteousness and holiness. Thank you that millions of youth will give their lives to You, will witness of Your saving grace, and will powerfully affect this nation for God.

Later, Jesus revealed himself to Saul on the road to Damascus and Saul was magnificently transformed- from a murderer of Christians to our greatest missionary, Paul! God can change hearts of people in America who have hated God, who have hated and persecuted Christians, and who have stood against the truths of God's word. We pray for them to be convicted, to repent, to be saved and radically transformed by the power of God.

Charlie loved family. He spoke out for biblical marriage, family, and godly sexuality. He loved America, our nation that was founded on the worship of the one true God, the Lord God Almighty, and on the biblical principles of freedom. 

In this new month and the new Hebraic year, let us move forward in the spiritual battle for the salvation of our children and youth.  Let us stand for families and let us work to make our families strong in Christ Jesus. Let us pray for Churches to stand on the uncompromising truth of the Bible.  Let us stand for America to be “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” 

The revival has begun- our hearts are being changed right now. The time of Great Awakening is here. We are praying, standing, watching, and waiting to see God's hand move in America.

Rise up people of God, and take your place in prayer and in seeking God for the third Great Awakening. 2 Chronicles 7:14.

In His Love,

Pastor Rayanna