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Written by Marti Soenen

This passage in Ephesians 6 is one I need to read daily. I need to “put on the armor of God…” I need to put it on. Some days I greet the day with less than that– feeling the heat of the battle and feeling so powerless to fight it. The truth is, I am powerless. On my own, there is no hope.  Vs 10:   The amplified version is so good here– “be strong in the Lord– be empowered through your union with Him, draw your strength from Him- that strength which His [boundless] might provides…” I can only be strong with His power. Not my own. I get into trouble when I try to do it on my own.

“Put on God’s whole armor- the armor of a heavy-armed soldier, which God supplies…”  I daily forget that I’m in a war. I am a soldier in a war. I have a son who is in the Army, training to be a “heavily armed soldier.” Each day he starts with routine, every day he starts his day with purpose. He doesn’t wake up, stretch, yawn, (well maybe for the first two minutes), and wonder what he’s going to do for the day. He has a plan, he has a focus, he knows what is required to be prepared for battle. He knows if he goes onto the battle field without his armor, without his weapons, without knowing how to use those weapons, he is a sitting duck. He will be easily overtaken, it would be like stepping out on the battle field with a big target on his back. He will be trained to know his enemy. He will know how he operates, he will know where his weaknesses are.

I need to be that purposeful about my life, each day. I should not step out into the day without realizing my enemy is laying in wait for me. I’ve heard some people (and pastors!) mock the idea that “there’s a demon behind every bush.” Yes, actually, I do believe that . Because I’ve experienced it in my own life. If we are not careful in what we engage in, if we lay our armor to the side and not even glance at it, we’re goin’ down. And the fall can be so devastating.  Vs 12 confirms the demon behind the bush. “For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood- contending only with physical opponents- but against the depotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of the present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.” The darkness surrounds us. We need to be aware. Not in fear, because greater is He who is in us than He who is in the world. But God tells us to put on our armor so we need to take it seriously.

Vs 13 & 14 “Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place]. Stand therefore- hold your ground…”  I think thats the favorite part for me– “stand, firmly in your place…hold your ground...”

Sometimes I feel that’s all I can do. To stand. Stand steady, hold my ground.  I feel the storm swirling and churning all around me, I feel like that “house built upon the rock, the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” Matthew 7: 24 & 25. 

I am given the armor, I am supplied with the foundation, I just need to choose it. “Put it on.” Put it on. Put it on. My son cannot get onto the battlefield and then start to put on his armor when the first shot grazes his head. He needs to have it on securely in place before he steps out to meet the enemy. He cannot pull out his rifle and try and figure out how to load it when his enemy has skillfully come prepared for the battle and sees an easy prey. He cannot have his equipment in ill repair. It has to function for him, be at the ready for when he needs to call on it.

The scripture goes on to explain the armor, ”the belt of truth, the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God; shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace; the shield of saving faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God….” 

And finally,  Vs 18 “Pray at all times- on every occasion, in every season- in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people).” 

Glancing back to chapter 5 and seeing vs 15 “Be careful then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise-sensible, intelligent people…”

The commands are there. God wants me to succeed, but I need to cooperate with His word. And after doing all this– to stand. Just stand. Hold my ground. And God will fight for me. His armor is what protects me. His truth, His righteousness, His salvation, His peace. Against all these the enemy cannot stand, he cannot penetrate.

Each day, before my toe hits the floor, I need to say “yes Lord, Your truth, Your righteousness, Your salvation, Your peace, all these things, I put on today.

I choose You.

Today.

Written by: Rita Rathburn

The “Understanding Israel Conference” 2013 was amazing. The Lord Jesus Christ revealed himself
to us throughout the conference with wisdom, revelation, and His delivering and healing power.
We believe at GTHOP, that Jesus has called us as believers (Mark 16:15-20) to continue to walk
in His promises of healing and miracles today. The scriptures of the Bible are filled with many
promises confirming His word for those signs and wonders to follow His believers. (Isaiah 53:4-5,
Matthew 4:23,8:16, Luke 8:43-44, Acts 28:8-9, 1 Peter 2:24, 3 John 2.)

Our healing teams were ready for healing prayer ministry from 4:00 to 6:00 PM on Saturday.
Thank you Michelle, Cynthia, Laurie, and Rita, who were faithful to pray for those seeking healing.
Jesus ministered His amazing healing power with compassion as He touched and set people free.
I want to share a few of these testimonies with you.

*A woman who had severe back pain at a level of 7, having been medically diagnosed with a
degenerative disc disease for 28 years, experienced God’s healing touch and the pain completely left
and she was able to move and walk easily.

*Jesus healed a young woman who had been experiencing loss in her eye sight. She had blurriness
and could not read very well before. She also had been experiencing pain and swelling in her left
leg and calf. After prayer she could read clearly. While praying the Lord revealed a pinched nerve
in her back, and the Lord quickly moved her spine back in position and she was amazed at what the
Lord had just done through her body as she felt it happening.

*Another person had been in an accident with an injured tailbone. The pain level was at 5 and
when praying for her spine, the Lord corrected the hips as she felt the Lord moving over her body,
with evidence showing up in the length of one leg being 1 inch shortter than the other before prayer.
The legs became evened out and all pressure and pain left her body.

*A lady that had eczema for 27 years experienced noteable change over night in her hands after
being prayed for the evening before in the service. She had been experiencing pain in her back at a
level of 7 and after prayer, the Lord released the pressure and pain in her upper and lower back and
she reported no pain and could move about with freedom.

*A young man had an injury in his leg and having difficulty walking,and in pain at a level of @ 6
was prayed for and immediately the pain left and he could walk quickly and move his leg freely
with no evidence of injury.

THANK YOU JESUS!

Remember that we have healing teams available to pray for anyone who would
like prayer for physical healing every Saturday from 4:00-6:00 PM at
GTHOP.  Please come in and sign up and be seated in our prayer room.
Someone will come and  lead you to a team of prayer ministers to be in
agreement with you for your healing.
Please contact us if you would like to volunteer and be a part of our
healing rooms.
For questions, or if you have a request for a team to pray for someone in
the hospital or someone with an illness who is unable to come in, please
call Rita 231-409-3035 or e-mail through GTHOP.com web site.

(or email Rita at ritarathburn@realtythatsells.com)

This blog submitted by Nigel Lidiard

Can you imagine living in a place where all of your neighbors genuinely believe that it would be best if you were dead! If that were not enough of a challenge, how about if they also believed that to kill off any of your family members would be a great honor and guarantee them a place in heaven. Now add the pressure placed upon you by all of your friends (and foes) to make a peace agreement with your closest neighbor, knowing that they have no intention of keeping the agreement because they still believe that their god wants you to die and that it is their religious duty to carry out this ethnic cleanse!

Now, imagine that one of your neighbors has been especially outspoken in their passion to fulfill this religious mission of destroying you and your family. This particular neighbor has also recently acquired the ability to develop a bomb that could wipe you all out in one attack! In addition, they have little regard for their own lives – in fact, they actually believe that if they are all killed in the process of killing you – that would be even better!! Some of your friends have been trying to meet with this neighbor to persuade them to give up their bomb development program, but they keep delaying the meetings and then making promises that they don’t keep – all the while working to complete the bomb!

Well, if you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m speaking about Israel and her neighbors in the Middle East. Iran is the specific neighbor who is developing nuclear capabilities and is only months away from having a viable nuclear weapon. Israel’s closest neighbor is, of course, the Palestinians. Recently appointed US Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting Israel every two weeks to push Israel into a peace agreement with the Palestinians that will require Israel to give away all of Judea and Samaria and a portion of their capital city of Jerusalem. All of this to have a peace agreement with a neighbor whose very constitution states clearly that one of their goals is the annihilation of Israel and the Jewish people!!

Despite all of this, there is tremendous hope for Israel – the Bible is full of promises that the Lord – the Creator of Heaven and Earth – has given to this small nation. God has said to Israel “..he who touches you, touches the apple of my eye”. Whoever speaks against or acts against Israel is, in effect, poking God in the eye!  How about this promise, “Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” declares the LORD. (Zechariah 2:10)

If you are interested in knowing more about Israel and why and how we should pray for them, come to our “Understanding Israel” conference taking place here in Traverse City at GTHOP on the 26^th and 27^th of April. You will need to register online as there is limited seating – go to www.gthop.com for more info.

This blog submitted by Morgan Mitchell.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit”

Zechariah 4:6

Here is one of the most famous verses in all of Scripture.  Possibly one of the most quoted and yet many do not know what it is referring to, or about.

In order to understand what God is saying you must understand what time this was written and who it was written to.

Zechariah was written to the nation of Israel as they were rebuilding the temple (House of Prayer) in Jerusalem.  Around 586 BC the last remnant of Israel was captured by the Babylonians.  It was one of the lowest points in the history of Israel.  They were marched into Babylon and many were placed as slaves within the kingdom.  They lived in Babylon for fifty years and then were given the opportunity to return to their homeland at the mercy of King Cyrus.  Out of the one million Jews in Babylon at that time only 50,000 made the trek home.  Even though they had the prophetic words of Jeremiah and Isaiah.

Today, many Christians are refusing to leave the system of Babylon and get radical with their life in God.  Our churches are full of complacency and apathy in the things of the Spirit and yet God is calling us to LEAVE BABYON.  Not only leave but return home and rebuild the temple.  What God said back then can be said today.

The people then moved back to Jerusalem and began to build the temple under the inspiration that they were being lead by a Hand much bigger than they could comprehend.  But after less than two years of construction they only had the first layer of the temple completed.  They had been met with opposition and got discouraged.  They also had run out of money.  Instead of staying faithful, they gave up.  16 years lapsed between the time they started and when Zechariah and Habakkuk came onto the scene.  God raised up two prophets to call the people back to what they left Babylon for; to rebuild the Tabernacle of God/The House of Prayer for all Nations.

Many of Gods people today decide to leave Babylon and get radical for Jesus, only to be met with opposition in their life.  Instead of going harder into Him and building their own “Tabernacle of David,” they give up and settle back into their own ways.  God is constantly removing and adding exteriors in our lives to get us into intimacy with Him.   His reminder is this; your value in life is not measured in power, nor in might, but how deep you are in the spirit.  This is so key to every single believer in Christ.  This is the individual application of the House of Prayer, but right now God is fulfilling His Word by building up the Tabernacle of David all over the earth.(Amos 9, Acts 15.)

What is happening in Traverse City is the same thing that is happening all over the earth.  The Holy Spirit is showing the church that the restoration of the House of Prayer is not going to happen by the clever ideas of men, nor the right connections with other ministries, but by His Spirit alone.  God is calling the church out of Babylon and into the restoration of His House.  It is the gathering of people to gaze upon His Beauty , Holiness, and Majesty while worshipping Him night and Day.  This is a promise from His Word and we are witnessing it in our day and time, right now.  The challenge for the church today is the same it was back then.  It is three things.

1. Get out of Babylon
2. Build up the House of Prayer
3. Don’t give up in the beginning stages

These three elements apply as much today as they did 2600 years ago.  The battle is not in the flesh but in the spirit.  Our battle today, both personally and as a body, is the same.  Our solution is very simple.  It is not by might, or power, that God will establish a House of Prayer; it is by His Spirit.  The Wind of the Spirit of God is blowing across the earth to pick up and carry anyone who is willing to go.  It is time to get out of Babylon and build our own prayer life in God, a life built of intimacy with the Holy Spirit.

In 520 BC, 14 years later, the rebuilding began again after the people were stirred by the words of the prophets.  4 years later the temple was complete and night and day sacrifice and worship were restored.  God is restoring sacrifice and worship as first place in the church.  The question is; Are we building with Him?

We are in the last days and His Word is the same as it was then.  “It is not by might, it is not by power, it is by My Spirit,  says the Lord of Hosts.”  Let each of us be faithful to build up a place of sacrifice and worship where Yeshua would be glorified night and day.

As we approach Resurrection Sunday, I returned to a book I read years ago. Called “The Triumph” from the series titled “The Chronicles of Heaven” (they originally were called “The Chronicles of the Door”, being the door of Heaven between the two realms), by Gene Edwards, it is a work of fiction written from the angels’ perspective. It is a series of 5 books, chronicling five major events in Biblical history. Creation, the exodus out of Egypt, the birth of Christ, the crucifixion, and the return of Christ. I highly recommend them.

It is fascinating to see these events through the eyes of Michael, Gabriel, and other of the angelic host whom are given names– we often don’t think of what they are thinking about all this. At least I find my vision and understanding of multi-dimensions to be quite limited. Dwarfed really. I know the angels exist and do the bidding of the Father, and I know I have one or two assigned to me,  but beyond that I don’t think of them often or what they are experiencing.

Now granted this is fiction, so you have to bear that in mind as you read. But Gene Edwards brings to life the angelic realm that makes you want to go there. You just want to go. You want to see. You want to experience. You want to meet Michael, Gabriel, Recorder ( the angel who writes down everything), and others. And you want to meet this Jesus, you want to be awed in His presence. You want to be humbled. You want to meet this Man/God who took your place in eternal death.

My husband and I home schooled our 3 boys (now adult men!) and I would read to them, until they were quite beyond the years one would think to read to their children. They loved it, and so did I. This was one of the series of books I read to them. And I remember reading aloud, tears streaming down my face as I felt what these angels felt, saw what they marveled at, felt the rawness of what our Lord and Savior experienced. (At least to the degree you can by reading a book).

As I read through this book again I found the tears returning to the surface, stinging the back of my eyes. How in the garden of Gethsemane Michael was with our Lord, anguishing, seething, incredulous as he viewed his Lord caked in blood mingled with sweat, His hair plastered to His head, unrecognizable, as he anguished before His Father about the cup that was before Him. Michael’s  hand on his sword as he was ready to destroy anyone and anything that threatened his beloved Lord. To let Him die was…unthinkable. To see Him in this condition was intolerable. He was waiting for the word. Just one word and it would be over…

Yet, he sheathed his sword. Our Lord commanded him to sheath his sword.

And he obeyed.

But Michael was ready with ten thousand angels behind him to deal a death blow to humanity.

Yet our Lord fully accepted the cup He was given to drink.

And we see how Jesus became sin and conversed with Death, how Death thought he had won, but was swallowed up.

And Jesus’ triumph over the grave, and joyfully appearing to his followers and their joy in finally seeing who was before them. In the room, pierced hands, pierced feet…pierced side. Joy that replaced their fear and sorrow.

As we enter Resurrection Sunday let us pause, be sober minded as we reflect on the sacrifice made on our behalf. Let us open our hearts and minds and ask for more revelation, more understanding, “God, let us see what you see!”

What we have been offered, life eternal, salvation from eternal death, is beyond equality with anything this world can offer.

“What wondrous love is this, oh my soul, oh my soul?                                                                                                                               What wondrous love is this, oh my soul?”

This blog submitted by Nigel Lidiard

The Extraordinary Power of a Blessing.

In Numbers chapter six the Lord gives instruction to Moses regarding a specific blessing that Aaron and his sons are to speak over Israel. This is what they are to say:
“The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.” (Num 6:24-26). It is the next verse that is so encouraging to me: “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.” I am humbled by the fact that God has a blessing for an entire nation that will only be released if the priest speaks it out!

There is another verse that has recently been highlighted to me Proverbs 11:11 which says: “By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.” The challenge to every believer is that in Jesus, we are made upright and therefore God has entrusted to us the power to exalt a city! And if we are not careful – also the power to tear it down!

Let us use our tongues to speak blessing at every opportunity. Let us bless Israel by declaring the blessing provided for us in Numbers 6:24-26 – knowing that as we invoke the Lord’s name over Israel – He will release His blessing. Let us also bless the cities in which we live, believing that as we do, we are exercising our God-given power to exalt a city.

In James chapter three, we are reminded of the power of our tongues – James says they are “full of deadly poison”. How easy it is to let a critical or condemning word slip out when addressing those around us. If we have the power to exalt a city, how much more do we have the power to edify those around us by simply choosing wisely the words we speak?

I challenge you as I challenge myself, this coming week, determine to bless and not curse, when the occasion arises to be critical – choose to speak a blessing instead. You will be blessed, and what is more, you will be releasing God’s blessing through the words that come out of your mouth into your family, your friends, your city, your country and beyond.

Nigel Lidiard

 This blog submitted by Morgan Mitchell

“Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe.”                    Hebrews 12:28

On Jan. 4 I received a call while praying with a local pastor. Actually it was four calls. Pastor Joe and I had met, and for about an hour we were discussing staying steady in ministry in the midst of shaking.  It was at the end of this conversation that we began to pray for strength for one another.

We finished up and I had a chance to look at my phone, it was my wife.  I immediately called her back, and her voice was shaking.  “Get back here right now, my dad collapsed and the EMT’s are working on him,” she said.  I was back to our house within five minutes and pulled up to see about 12 men working on the body of my father-in-law.  It was very tough for me to take in.  I must admit that my peace was shaken.  I began to pray the only prayer I knew: “life, Father, give him life.”

We followed the ambulance to the hospital and were told within ten minutes of being there that he was gone.  It was a real shocker.  I have never lost anyone close to me before.  It is hard to describe the flood of emotions which overtake you in that moment.  If you have gone through it then you know what I mean.  Grief, happiness, hope, loss, joy, anger, and doubt all at once.  Here I was less than two hours outside of that prayer, experiencing some of the greatest shaking I have ever gone through.

I wish that I could write about how I stormed down to the emergency room and shouted at death and saw my father-in-law raised back to life, but that is not how this chapter in life went.  He did die and he is gone, but not forever.  Emotionally I was in a fog for over a week.  I could not seem to get a clear thought.  I tried to keep myself busy to not think about the loss but it hung there like a weight around my neck.

One of the hardest things for me was that my wife is an only child and therefore had just lost her father, whom she was very close to.  My wife and I are close and share everything with one another. But because of the situation I felt there were things I was going through that I simply could not share with her.  This left me wondering who to talk with about the things I was wrestling through.  Where was God in this?  Did God take Harry (my father-in-law) or was it his time?  Did we not have enough faith to see him raised back to life?  What do I believe about healing?  Why did God not make a way for us to say good-bye?

It was not until around 2-weeks after his passing that I began to realize something.  God wanted to be with me in that time, in this time, in every time.  Not that He wanted me to bottle up and not share with anyone, because that is not healthy.  It was just a reality that He was not distant from my pain and He has actually experienced shaking like this Himself.  He was not expecting me to be superstar Christian, just me… with Him.  There began at that point a glimmer of light in the darkness.  I do not have all the answers yet, as I do not believe any one person does.  I do however have a relationship with the One with the answers.

At the end of the day, the truth is that we are not here permanently.  This life is a dot, a vapor, a passing.  This is just one of those times when things get shaken.  When our lives are shaking we realize what is really important.  God, family, good friends, and simple truths begin to matter much more than ever.  Ultimately, it is so that we can realize how much He desires to be with us and lead us.  No matter what, I can say that God is so good to us. I am not done asking and He is not done shaking.  That is the walk of faith after all.  I believe in the end it will all be worth it and will all make sense.

If you have lost someone close to you and are struggling, I grieve with you.  It is hard and there are no perfect words any man can give.  Keep going and know that He never leaves you.  He wants to be with you in the hard times and the good times.

HE WILL SEE YOU THROUGH.

This blog submitted by: Nigel Lidiard

This past Monday (Feb 11) marked the beginning of a new month in the biblical calendar – the month of Adar. Adar is the month in which Purim is celebrated as recorded in the biblical book of Esther. The central character in this book was probably only 14 or 15 years old when her remarkable rise to royalty took place. Esther had been raised by her cousin Mordecai whilst living in exile in Persia. After winning a beauty contest hosted by the Persian king Ahasuerus, Esther moved into the royal palace in the capital city of Susa (in what is today western Iran).

Haman, the commander of the army, is the bad guy in this story. Haman enjoys the attention afforded him by his position and is greeted by bowing and worship from the Persian public. Cousin Mordecai (a Jewish man,) refuses to bow in Haman’s presence which infuriates Haman and leads him to develop a plot to destroy the Jews. With the approval of the king, a new law is created to destroy the Jewish people throughout the known world! At this point the newly appointed queen – Esther – is faced with an opportunity to intercede before the king in behalf of her people (the king is unaware that Esther is Jewish). Despite the risk of execution for illegally approaching the king, Esther proceeds and is welcomed into the king’s presence (phew!!). Esther requests that the king and Haman join her for a specially prepared meal. After a second special meal, Esther reveals her Jewish identity and explains that Haman’s new law will take her life and the life of all of her people! The king is furious and immediately executes Haman and a new law is written to overwrite the old one.

The date of the enactment of this new law is the 14^th of Adar and is celebrated each year under the name Purim.

Curiously, like Haman, the modern state of Iran has called for the annihilation of the Jews. President Ahmadinejad and the religious leader of Iran, the Ayatollah, have both declared their desire to destroy Israel. This concern is heightened by the fact that despite international pressure, Iran continues to refine Uranium and may be less than a year away from having an atomic bomb! Headlines in today’s news suggest that US President Obama is planning to visit Israel in the next few weeks to discourage Israel from bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Let us pray that the Lord will continue to protect the nation of Israel and that He will give great wisdom to world leaders especially President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu regarding the threats emanating from Iran.

Nigel Lidiard