Concerning Ukraine

This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Running with Horses, a podcast devoted to inspire you, concerning a relationship with Almighty God that empowers you to accomplish things you never thought possible. Shirley Weaver wants to take you there. And now, here's today's episode.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to this episode of Running with Horses. You know, our podcast especially intentionally focuses in on the way that God intervenes in the lives of His people, the life of His church, the lives of His people. But you know, because we live in the world, when that happens, God's involvement in my life affects all of those around me, whether they are part of the church or not. And that's a good thing. That's a good thing, because God moves through His people to accomplish the outcome, the effect that He wants. It's His plan, His design. And you know, this concept of believing God for something out of the ordinary, for supernatural things, for unusual miracles, that may sound like a luxury or exaggerated somehow.

It's not. For many people in the world, it is a life and death matter that they face on a daily basis. And God's hand in their life is critical, literally to save their lives, to live another day, to stay on their feet and to sustain their families.

So today, I want to title our time together, Concerning Ukraine. Concerning Ukraine, we need to take a look at what God is doing in that nation and to see what He would say to us, speak to those of us in another part of the world, what is our responsibility to be involved with what He is doing. So initially, what we need is the ability to discern, because you know, not every voice represents the Lord.

Not every voice or report is true. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit is the revealer of truth, and He does reveal truth in what we hear because by the Holy Spirit, we do discern truth. Godly standards result when we do that, when individuals discern their part, their role in any mission, whether it's defined or it's just lifestyle. We do as the Lord directs in the highest and the best way possible and the outcome is the manifestation of the standard that He is after.

So as the church, we intentionally oppose negative influences. And God has already decreed, and we can say this boldly, darkness can never overtake the light. The darkness can never overtake the light.

God's wisdom flowing in the earth accomplishes that very thing. And so concerning Ukraine, much is out there that we don't know. We don't know what's true, what's not. For us though, our concern is basic, and the absolutes of our concern would include like the welfare of the church, the body of Christ in Ukraine, the innocents who live in that land, and to know, to discern what is the will of God. So we don't know everything, but we do know these three things, that our concern is for the welfare of the church in Ukraine, the innocents, the vulnerable, those who are most vulnerable in that geographical area, and what is the will of God. So our role is to appeal to the Lord, and we say to Him, we don't know, Lord, but You do.

Because He knows every detail, obviously, and we thank God that He leads us from a position in His Word, and by the counsel of His Spirit, because we have a responsibility to pray. And we have a responsibility to respond and to act in ways that the leading of the Spirit speaks to us individually. We have the mind of Christ individually, and a strong corporate anointing to pray.

Don't ever forget that. Individually, you are a powerhouse. Corporately, as you pray with those who are like-minded, this becomes strength, this anointing is a multiplication of the individual effect. So with the mind of Christ as the individual, and with the strong corporate anointing as we gather in groups of two or more, we pray concerning Ukraine, for the people, for the church, for the innocent who are there, those caught in this conflict, and even for the Russian people.

Many of the Russian people are innocent as well. They are vulnerable in this conflict. So we pray against anything that releases propaganda or misinformation that of course is intended to manipulate and control the heart and mind of the people, and to bring havoc, really, to create confusion, and to break the spirit of the people who are being oppressed. So we ask God, we appeal to Him to close off all of those outlets of misinformation and propaganda, literally to shut those down. And we believe God for accurate information to come to the whole world, that there will be an understanding and a knowing of what's really taking place, what's what, and who is the oppressor, and who is the victim, so that those who have a righteous mindset around the world can stand, can take a stand, and can pray fervently, effectively. So in every place, in every place, there's not any place where this is not true, God establishes men and women who have wise counsel, in other words, His counsel, those who champion truth and justice. And in a sense, these are the voices of the prophets.

These are prophetic voices, the wise counsel of the Lord flowing through them, and they become a dependable source of what is taking place, so that we are knowledgeable and we are able with our discernment and with the knowledge of those we trust, with the words of those we trust, to put together a clear picture, an accurate account of what is really going on. And so we say before the Lord, our role, we are determined, Lord, we are determined to hear you for Ukraine, concerning Ukraine, we are determined to pray, we are determined to stand. And taking it a step further, I think we should prophesy. This is what I think we should prophesy. We should prophesy that the world can expect to see corrupt influences in Ukraine and that surrounding region fall by their own counsel. That in that part of the world, for Ukraine, for Russia, we prophesy, corrupt influences will fall by their own devices, by their own counsel, literally, because God is the one in charge.

He is executing righteousness and justice against oppression and the oppressors. And ultimately, all who take advantage of those who cannot fight back, given their situation, will be impaled on their own counsel. That's the word of God.

They will be impaled on their own counsel. So we prophesy that way and further, we say that soon the oppressor and the oppressors will reap the same kind of harm that they have advanced illegally and improperly, because the principle in God's Word is this, that everything reproduces after its own kind. So we say this prophetically, we release our faith this way, and we appeal to Almighty God. We do not know every detail, and we don't know where corruption is and where it isn't, but the Lord sees it. He sees it, and He knows who the culprits are. He knows where evil is being launched from.

He knows the source. And so we affirm, and we encourage, and we strengthen the Christians in that land, in Ukraine, and really that surrounding region, but especially for the believers in Ukraine, we encourage you that Satan is behind anything that comes to steal, to kill, or destroy, and you can resist him. James 4-7 gives you that authority.

James 4-7, submit yourselves to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Use your words. Do it aloud, not in your mind or in your thinking or in silence, aloud. Every time you encounter him, resist him, resist him, and expect him to flee. Every time.

It's not the expressions, you know, it's not a one and done. It's not one time you resist him. The enemy is intentional about destruction, about killing, and about stealing.

He is intentional, and it comes again and again and again. Resist him with the name of Jesus, with the blood of Jesus. Resist him in the power of the Lord, and use God's word. Use God's word to resist him. The blood of Jesus is against this force, this satanic force that steals, kills, and destroys.

As often, I'm going to repeat it, as often and many times as necessary, you stop what you're doing and resist him. It's true anywhere. It's true anytime. It's true in my life, but even more so for those who are in the battle that is raging. The blood of Jesus is against Satan. You could even say, the blood of Jesus is against you, Satan, and he chases you out of our land.

We use that name, and we remind the enemy about the blood of Jesus that delivered that victory at Calvary. So release your faith. This is God's plan. Do it his way.

I encourage you, do it his way. Resist the enemy. Resist the enemy, and stand, and know that all around the world believers are standing with you, and we won't stop. We won't give up, and we won't forget you. So many, many around the world suffering for their faith, suffering in their faith, we stand, and we do not forget.

We are not negligent to pray. You know, this force of oppression, it's a part of the world that we live in, and it's very real, as we said at the beginning of this podcast. For some, it's a daily life and death struggle, but for everyone, keep this in mind. Oppression is the result of tumult from the dark side. It's just one side of the big picture.

It's actually the inferior side. The other side, the superior, the greater side is the Lord's side, and he has a prophet of his in every house, literally in every place, in every location, wherever. You can't name a place where God does not have a prophet of his. He demonstrates his word in the lives of those who are his people, those on the side of righteousness, and they speak forth boldly. They are the mouth of his prophet. They are speaking as his prophet when they declare his word.

And don't forget this principle. The prophet Jesus lives on the inside of every believer, every one, because Jesus indwells us by the Spirit, by his Holy Spirit, and certainly Jesus is a prophet. So the prophet Jesus lives on the inside of you, on the inside of me, and you have the mind of Christ, therefore you have the thought life of a king, and he anoints you, he authorizes you, and he empowers you to govern. Govern in the spirit realm, govern in prayer, govern with your words, govern with your actions, govern with the way that you lean into God's instruction and his leading as you pray. The government of God comes into the earth and manifests through his people who realize that they have that calling, they have that authority, that anointing, and it's very true. Every believer, every one, this is not a select small group at all, every believer has that authority. Oppression seeks to build a case, accusing the Lord and accusing that he has not performed his word. So that's where we take our stand. We stand up against that oppression and the building up of oppression and against the accusation against the Lord.

You know, like, for example, well, where is the Lord in all this? Well, how can he let this happen? Why would he let this happen?

Listen, evil men are going to do evil things. The church is called to stand for righteousness and to be that expression, which, again, is the greater force. We just have to do our part and trust God to do what we cannot do, which is to deal with this advance of evil, which is why earlier we prophesied against it. We say it will fall. We say that it will be impaled on its own counsel. The things that have been sown by the oppressor will come back upon the head of the oppressor. Having done everything to stand, keep standing. No matter what, keep standing in your situation personally, in prayer for Ukraine and other places, because ultimately, ultimately oppression is silenced by the voice of the Lord and his divine rule. Our podcast, Running With Horses, is about this kind of divine lifestyle, this divine intervention, supernatural things happening in our lives.

Not rare. This is the way God intends for us to live and the way that he designed us to defeat the enemy and to advance the kingdom of God. Because, you know, the voice of the Lord is forever. It's never-ending, never-less.

It's announced even more loudly today than yesterday. His promises are more pronounced today than yesterday, the day before or the day before that. He is forever. His voice is forever.

His promises are forever. And it creates this contest with oppression, creates basically like a test. I call it a medal test.

You know how you can examine the strength of a medal to see if it will support the task that you intend. And this test that is coming to us because of God's power in our lives basically is completely, what's the word, is sort of like the engine that's driving it is the peace of God, the absolute opposite of oppression and tumult and confusion and torment. For the believer, it has been said that peace, and that word in Hebrew is shalom, it has been said that peace will be the single greatest distinguishing mark upon the life of the believer in the end times.

And you know, I believe we're there. I believe we're living in those times because of the exaltation and the advance of and the increase of the sinister, the despicable, the base, disloyal, unfaithful, off the wall, out of nowhere, bizarre, incredible cruelty. These things are our daily reality.

So those influences really come from many sources. All it wants to challenge our senses and see if we really do walk in shalom, if we trust God sufficiently, and that His shalom is the fruit of our lives, in the midst of everything. And you can see it. I love that scripture that says, our lives are epistles that are read and known by all men.

So those around me can read my life, tell the story of what I believe and what I trust in just by watching, just by observing. I just submit to you that this peace, this shalom is our absolute staple. It's our planting. It's our establishing feature because the one with peace of heart and mind has literally come to this hour for this time. We're born for this time.

I believe that. And the peace of God in the heart and mind marks you that way as one who is appointed for, born into, and you have come like the Bible description of Esther. You were born for such a time as this. So much depends upon God's peace, His shalom being resident, like ready, like not something you have to work up, but it's there. It's like an umpire, an umpire, excuse me, an umpire, and it's your authority to govern, to resist the enemy and not only expect him to flee, insist that he flee. You take the upper hand, govern with the name and the word of God.

So much is resting on that peace being resident within. Visionaries, visionary leaders, probably trained in a less troubled time, in a calmer time, are really being tested right now at their very core. Did you know that leaders who really are gifted by God as visionaries are being so surrounded by these things that are hard to discern that their need to become more discerning, to receive from God what He is seeing rather than judging by the natural eye, are going with the whim of the culture? We are desperate right now for that very thing because again, visionary leaders are being tested at their very core and the enemy is a deceiver.

He is a trickster. So for all of you who are in the test, don't back off. Don't give up.

Don't let up. God is giving you an eagle's eye. I say to you and I prophesy to you that your discernment is sharp. You want to pull close to you every spiritual sharpshooter you know.

Let me say that again. Pull close to you every spiritual sharpshooter that you know, that you've trusted and that you've proven over the years and hear the word of the Lord from them and receive wise counsel from them because you can't afford to not discern accurately right now. Your vision is so important to God's people. Your leadership is critical.

It's pivotal. So ask wise men for counsel. Stay humble. Remember the precursor of failure is pride right? You want to increase your expectation in God's power and His delivering power in the middle of the test. Like as the test increases and you are provoked in your senses more, believe God more. Expect Him for even greater displays of His intervention, of the power of His hand and always continue to make more room for quality time with Him. Don't forget that.

Do not forget that. Your lifeline, time in the presence of God because see, you're the strategic company. You're the strategic company that God has called and brought forth for this time with every step.

The test measures you and it shows, hey, you have it. You have it. You are strategically called. You can step into it. You can believe God and know that shalom, shalom, all is well. Isaiah said, who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? So I say, running with horses should not be the exception, the concept of God's supernatural power in our lives and His strong anointing coming on us for exploits.

That should not be occasional. That's the lifestyle the Lord has for you, for me, for His people. We have so much to do. There is so much at stake and for the people of Ukraine, for them to know that we are with them and that we have the mind of the Lord and that we will not give up or give in is, that's just divine intervention right there. I think I repeat myself with that expression, but unapologetically it is so available and we can believe the Lord exactly that way. Give His report.

Allow the arm of the Lord to be revealed to you. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support this podcast, please share it with others. Post about it on social media or leave a rating and review. Don't forget to check out the show notes or visit acleartrumpet.org where you can subscribe to Shirley's email list. Download the ministry app and purchase your very own copy of Shirley's 365-Day Devotional, Running with Horses. Thanks again and we'll see you next time.