February 1, 2023

This morning Sako and I were talking about generational cycles. Sako and I have many conversations about Biblical and world history. If you study the Bible, you learn cycles that continually happen over and over again. Humans and history are almost mathematic in their predictability. Because God gave us “will”, we have the opportunity to break free from the negative equations and formulas, but rarely do we choose freedom. And often when we do choose freedom, we’re short-sighted and make decisions that set up the next generation for bondage.

This past Saturday I shared a message titled “Trained & Tested”. I was studying Judges 3 and two verses popped out at me, followed by a word from the Lord.

2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before… 4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
Judges 3:2,4 ESV

After I read these two verses, the Spirit of God said to me:

“I am looking for trained and tested generations.”

Notice He said generations, plural. He is looking for a people who will live a deeply ingrained multigenerational paradigm of training for spiritual warfare and passing the tests. He is looking for a people who will so fully embrace a culture of training and testing that it passes like DNA from one generation to the next.

In Judges 3, Israel was in bondage to its enemies for 8 years because they cast off God like a stubborn donkey. Then they had a revelation of the situation and cried out to God. He empowered Othniel who led them to freedom for 40 years. In the Bible 40 years is one generation. When he died, the people stopped training for war and then they failed the tests again. Then they were in bondage to their enemies for 18 years. Again, they had a revelation, cried out to God, and he empowered Ehud. Ehud was used by God to bring deliverance, and the people lived in freedom for 80 years. This is the cycle that continues throughout the book of Judges and the Bible and all of human history. Instead of training for war in order to pass the tests, they became comfortable, cast off God, and failed the tests. A failing grade is not an “F” but a “B” for bondage. Yet God in His great mercy sends deliverance over and over.

If a generation will cry out for for deliverance, it will come. How long they will remain free is up to them and how they intentionally raise up the following generations. We determine the extent of the blessing and the bondage. Training for spiritual warfare should be one of our major tasks that we continually undertake and make part of our daily lives. We must remain intentional and alert, and we must raise our children to be intentional and alert, and we must raise our children’s children to be intentional and alert. We must have a multigenerational strategy for continually raising up Kingdom warriors. This is an integral part of the Kingdom culture throughout every generation. We train in order to stand in the day of testing. And when we find ourselves in bondage, it’s because we’ve chosen a lifestyle of complacency and stopped training.

It is essential that we have the Kingdom warrior worldview. The conflict is very real and we must be alert and intentional. We must train for war so that we pass the tests of this world. We train in order to stand in the day of testing. And when we find ourselves in bondage, it’s because we’ve lost our warrior perspective and stopped training. Keep training! Keep practicing! Keep passing the tests!

Join us 7pm Thursday evenings as we pray for the church, the region, the nation, and the world. Also, continue praying the following for the church:

God, forgive us from drifting from You. We give You permission to wake us up, all of us.
Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.” — Ephesians 5:14 NKJV
We pray that every single member of the church would grow increasingly dissatisfied with our current walk with You and would cry out for more of You.
O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. — Psalms 63:1 NKJV
Reveal to each of us anything in our lives that offends, grieves, or quenches Your Spirit. We will be quick to repent.
I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. — Psalms 119:10 NIV
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. — Psalms 139:23-24 NIV
As we seek Your face, may Your presence and glory increase in our church gatherings.
Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, And the place where Your glory dwells. — Psalms 26:8 NKJV
Baptize all of us with the Holy Spirit and fire.
“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” — Matthew 3:11 NKJV