Enter into 2008 by the blood of the Lamb!
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Rev. 12:11
During our New Year’s Watch of the Lord I heard the choirs of angels join with us as we worshiped. They were singing, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.” The blood of Jesus--that is the basis by which we are entering into 2008. Because of the blood we will be triumphant. Victory is great in 2008! The enemy will continually try to bind us, but the glorious Church of Jesus Christ is rising up in the last days. We are commissioned by the Holy Spirit to bring in the harvest, to see God’s people victorious, to see our nation in revival, to see nations bow their knees to Jesus Christ and to see Jerusalem and Israel blessed. We are going to see the glory invade in 2008.
We will see the enemy try many things in 2008, but like a flood the Spirit of the Lord is going to lift up a standard against him. In this season we are going to overcome limits that the enemy has tried to put on us as individuals, as families and as the Church of Jesus Christ. I felt God was saying to us, “Tell My people that I am going to break limitations that the enemy has put in their lives by the blood of the Lamb and by the glory of Jesus so that no man can say, ‘I did it by my own will-power, positive thinking or human strategy,’ But I will do it by the Spirit of God. By the might and anointing of the Holy Spirit the Church is going to rise up.” 2,000 years ago a small group of 120 believers gathered together in fasting and prayer. In the natural they were powerless in a world of empires and religious opposition that had just crucified their leader on the cross, but then the glory invaded on Pentecost. World transformation began that day, and every family on earth received hope. You and I are anointed with the same Holy Spirit that filled the first apostles, the glory mantle covering His Church. Jesus Christ is risen and He’s alive. He is the King of Glory.
Reach forward for those things that are Ahead
It is the blood of Jesus that is going to be sprinkled by His Church. It is the blood of Jesus that is going to make us overcomers. It is not our own faculties. It is not our own strength. The apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me…I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forward to those things that are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ.” So as we enter this new season, it is important that we leave not only our weaknesses, but even our strengths aside. I am going to rely on the strength of the Lord. Paul also wrote of himself, “I am the chiefest of sinners.” It is good for us to come to a place of humility as we enter 2008, saying, “I am nothing except for Jesus Christ.” We are relying on the glory of the blood and on the triumphant name of Jesus. He is going to make us triumphant and victorious.
One of the primary purposes of the Church is to bring in the harvest. We will see the glory will invade the earth through His Church. One of the things I want to tell you is that this is not the time to hang out alone. It is a time to be gathered together, and the place that the Lord has provided is the local church. That’s His Word. Jesus taught His disciples, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The Church is representative of the vine of the Lord. That is how He supplies His body. It is the vehicle that He has provided for his glory to be extended to the ends of the earth. Stay plugged into your local church and let’s go forward. The glory will invade in 2008. It will invade through the believing Church. It will invade through you and me as we exercise faith in the name of Jesus and totally rely on the anointing of the Lord. So we leave aside everything as we reach forward to the things that are ahead.
The Church will Possess 2008
It is on the basis of the blood that we experience covenantal blessing. Deuteronomy 5:33 says, “You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.” We shall possess 2008. The Church triumphant is going to possess and retake territory in this season. In America, as we enter an election year we will see many shenanigans of the enemy. This will be a year of devices and tricks of media hype and media lies as we have seldom seen. God wants to raise up a Church of discernment. It will be an anointed Church and a Church that is not going to give into hoopla, but that will look by the discernment of the Holy Spirit and make judgment. Our nation gives hope to the widows and orphans. This wonderful nation blesses the nations and gives generously into the work of spreading the gospel. This nation, I believe, is ordained by God to be a strength to Israel in these last days and will rise up in great glory. We are the stewards of this.
For the past months we have been fasting and praying for a break in the severe drought over the Southeast. As I saw the rains fall over our area and in Atlanta to break the historic drought, it was a sign for us of Deuteronomy 11:11-12, “But the land which you cross over to possess is…a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.” God will watch over us as we possess 2008. He is God the Father, and the Father’s heart is to provide every day for you. He is a generous God. Psalms 65:11 says, “You crown the year with Your bounty and goodness, and Your paths drip with fatness.” May the Lord crown the year with His bounty and goodness, and as we enjoy His provision may we give Him all the glory and praise.
Another Scripture that the Lord gave me for this year is Ephesians 3:20. In the Amplified Bible it says this, “Now to Him Who, by the action of His power that is at work within us, is able to carry out His purpose and do superabundantly, far over and above all that we dare ask or think infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams.” So we exalt the name of the One who is able to do superabundantly far over above all that we could ask or think! How many of us dare ask? I want you to dare to ask for your finances. Dare to ask for your businesses. Dare to ask for your families. Dare to ask for your nation. Dare to ask for breakthroughs in provision, promotion and in the glory of the Lord in your life and His Church. We are going to ask God the Father who is able to do far above, superabundantly above all that we could ask or think. In Matthew 9:27 Jesus spoke to the two blind men who dared to ask for their sight, “Become what you believe” (The Message Bible). We are going to believe for each other in 2008. Step into the glory of our Father for breakthroughs and victory in this year.
The Set Time for Favor
Psalm 102:13 says, “The set time to favor Zion has come.” A few months ago we passed the 40th anniversary of the restoration of Jerusalem to God’s people. Just a few weeks ago, archeologists announced the discovery of the walls that Nehemiah rebuilt over 3,000 years ago. Nehemiah was favored and anointed to raise up warriors and builders to restore the broken down walls of Jerusalem and replace the burned out gates of the city in the midst of great opposition. These events are signs for us in our day. When things that have been lost or hidden are suddenly recovered after thousands of years, the Lord is speaking to us. We are living in the time of the fulfillment of the Word of God for Jerusalem and Israel. We are living in a time of restoration of the glory and power of Pentecost to the Church. The set time for favor is here. You can claim it for yourself. You can claim it for your family. You can claim it for your church and nation. God is no respecter of persons. His Word is living and active. Begin to apprehend this Word for your children, your job, your finances: The set time to favor Zion has come. The set time to favor your family has come. The set time to favor the Church has come. Hallelujah!
Matthew 6:31-33 says, “But seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.” We are going to seek the kingdom of God first in 2008. We are going to make His priorities our priorities. We are going to see His glory invade every aspect of our lives to prosper us and bring us into the land to possess it. I am seeing it by faith and declaring that He is bringing us into the land of promises. We may face giants, but He will be with us. He will never leave us or forsake us. He has given us the victory. All the promises of God are “Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus.” Be of good courage. He promises that as we seek His kingdom, all these things shall be added to us. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings” (Ephesians 1:3). Because of the blood of the Lamb we are confident. We humble ourselves before the King of Glory. We intercede and pray for His Glory to invade, not because of our personal merit, but because Jesus’ blood has been shed for us and for the harvest to come. Let the glory of His anointing and presence come and rest in the midst of us this year.
