The Hand Of The Lord

This is the Truth Network. I believe that the believer has a role as a catalyst for biblical outcomes of God's love and power that are both unusual and unexpected. We're going to talk about that today. But Running With Horses draws from the passage in 1 Kings 18 where the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah. So if we have the mind of Christ, we have the thought life of a king, and the hand of the Lord is on our life.

We know that when the hand of the Lord comes, His presence comes with it. So let me just relate that with a personal experience. It was Christmas Eve, actually the afternoon of Christmas Eve. I was out of town to visit friends and deliver a few gifts. The weather was unusually cold and wet, but the forecast deteriorated once I began to travel. So halfway through my plan stops that day. Darkness was actually coming earlier than expected, so I thought I'd just go ahead and gas the car, you know, anticipating the return drive home.

Any emergencies that might occur in the meantime because of the weather. So I just pulled into the first gas station and I noticed that besides the dreary weather that the station looked especially dreary. And at that moment I just thought, golly, I sure would like to be home right now. So it was a feeling, sort of a sense of sort of, it was sort of awkward, but very alone. So when I realized that was happening I just resisted it.

I thought, that's silly. And then at the pump I noticed again just how stark everything was. The station was dimly lit. There was not another car in sight.

Not at the station, not on the highway. And it was a little bit threatening, so I just sort of did a mental check of the surroundings. And again it was bordering on an anxious thought. You know, this seems odd to me.

Why are things seeming so odd? So I just resisted all that again. And once I stopped the car, opened the door, and besides the strong wind it was really a driving rain.

So the cover of her head didn't really help much. So I hurried with the nozzle, activated the pump, and then scooted back into the shelter of my car. And then something totally unexpected and unusual happened. In that confined space, with all of that going on on the outside of my car, a presence filled my car.

It actually took my breath. Total silence. Complete silence. It shut out everything else. I forgot what was going on around me and just realized this presence. And it was like my senses expanded. Like this presence dominated everything. And it seemed like I was sealed in this place for a long, long time. In fact, it was only minutes.

But I realized how powerful it was. And I saw that the transaction was completed. And so I opened the car door to finalize the payment, was met with the same weather, removed the nozzle from my car, placed it back in the pump, and without requesting a receipt. You know, you always have to request a receipt.

And then you may not even get one. But without requesting a receipt, this paper ejected from the pump. The wind that was blowing so hard caught the receipt and began to, it began to travel.

I actually lost track of it. So I turned to return to my car, opened the car door, and saw that there was something extremely bright and sparkling on the top of my car. I mean, it was extremely bright and sparkling. It was undeniably grabbing my attention. I was drawn to it.

There was a spotlight there, as it were. So obviously and automatically I just reached to retrieve it to see what it was. And it was the receipt. The receipt that was rejected without request traveled in the air and was plastered face down to the top of my car. So as I retrieved it, I returned to the car and looked. I was just drawn to this receipt. And the first thing that I noticed was that the timestamp was exactly one hour earlier than the actual time.

So, I mean, you would think possibly a misfunction or maintenance error on the pump's computer clock, right? But the bottom line is the hard copy documentation of my purchase clearly showed that the transaction had not occurred yet. And I was flooded with this thought. God has gone ahead of me.

Where I am going, He is already there. So the result was this feeling, this comfort, this sensation that the Lord is going ahead of me. And at that moment, as I sat in His presence, His presence overwhelmed everything else. It nullified all of the apprehension, the sense of dread or fear or doubt on any level. And also, in the meantime, again, not another car was at that station on that Christmas Eve while I was there. I was totally, completely alone.

But obviously, not at all. The Spirit of God, the presence of God was manifested with me in that setting. So sharing those details later, as I finished my visits with my friends, we really experienced the same thing again each time I related what had happened. He confirmed His presence again and again, affirming it in the hearts of not just me, but others. So needless to say, I still have that receipt.

Actually, I have it framed. It's a testimony to the hand of the Lord, a manifestation of the hand of the Lord, evidenced completely unexpectedly on my part. I did not ask for it.

I was not seeking it. But you might say that the Lord wanted to answer my situation. He wanted to speak into where I was, what was taking place, and to say, not only am I here, but I am ahead of time. And so again, the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah. And that Christmas Eve, the hand of the Lord came upon me. That's my testimony. And so as I relate that story to you, I bet you felt the very same thing before. You might not talk about it or have an opportunity to talk about it, or really even feel that you can talk about it, but you felt similar things most probably. Or you may not have noticed the presence of the Lord coming at a time that is unexpected, a time that you didn't ask for or seek.

But I can almost guarantee you, in fact, I am 100% sure that that has occurred in your life, probably multiple times. So you know, we've emphasized in earlier episodes of this podcast three things. God's presence, your alignment with Him, which would mean alignment with His presence, and as a result of that, or from that, a preparation for the future, not just today, but for the future. And of course, we are looking for the return of the Lord. As a believer, that is our great hope.

But right now, we're living in the world, in a world system. We need God's presence. We need to align with His presence, and we need to be prepared for what He has through us at this time.

And so reading from the introduction of our book, Running with Horses, and by the way, if you don't have a copy of our book, you can find it at many online sources and also at our website, acleartrumpet.org. So from the introduction of our book, quoting Jeremiah 12, verse 5. Jeremiah 12, verse 5. If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if, in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do on the floodplain of the Jordan?

So just a little interpretation there. Jeremiah is asking, why can we expect, or how can we expect to respond with confident and bold faith in a time of crisis, at a time when we're under pressure, right? When in days of peace and the absence of crisis or trouble or pressure, we have neither. We don't have confident faith in God, in His presence or His power, nor do we have bold faith. So if in the day of peace you don't have bold faith, what makes you think you can expect to have bold faith in the day of crisis, in the day that, the future day?

So that's the day we're preparing for. So the hand of the Lord upon your life is really important, that you pay attention to that, that you acknowledge when that takes place. The presence of God is important because we answer to God. Think of Mark 9, the Transfiguration. Remember that on the mount that day, this is what Mark 9 says, that they saw the clothes were radiant and they heard a voice from the cloud. So they saw radiance and they heard a voice, literally from the cloud, on that day, on the mount of Transfiguration. So if you apply that to your life, in His presence aligned with Him, you see radiance and you hear His voice. I mean, I'm comparing this passage about the Transfiguration to my experience that Christmas Eve, and it's very applicable. It's very similar. And I'm not taking it lightly, I don't mean to take it out of context at all, but you can believe in the presence of God, hear me, in the presence of God you can believe for anything that you've asked of Him, trusting that He will do all that He said in His Word, and because of His promise to you and your faith in His love for you, you believe Him.

That's a lot. I'll say it again. Because of His promise to you and your faith in His love for you, then you believe Him against all odds, in every way. So we have these experiences in the presence of God. I love 1 Corinthians 15 45, reading there, And so it is written, The first man, Adam, became a living being. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. And so hence the rest of that passage goes on to say, first the natural, and then the spiritual, and in this context that is true, there was first of all the natural Adam. He was a living being, but the last Adam, Jesus Christ, is a life, He is a life-giving spirit. The spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ is life-giving. Remember though, it's spirit. So when the presence of God comes, it is the Spirit of God flooding you, overwhelming you, just as was my experience that Christmas Eve.

I mean, it's undeniable, and absolutely sealed in my memory, seared in my memory. So applying the truth, applying actually the principle of this truth, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we receive His Spirit, literally the power and presence of Almighty God. God is with us, Immanuel, God with us, God in us, to rise above any circumstance with the insight needed that is beyond natural reasoning, or even intellect. So as disciples, we are able to realize that any limitations we place, or anyone else places on the Spirit's presence and expression, I mean, it sort of speaks for itself. It's because we know too little about it, and we know we don't recognize experience with the Holy Spirit. Or, you would have to say, to be completely honest, despite knowing about this presence of God, we don't believe it. We do not believe His presence or His power.

So either way, that's not where we want to be. We are practicing the presence of Almighty God, not just once every ten years, but as a lifestyle, aligned with His presence, and then from there, today, tomorrow, and in the days ahead, recognize the future He unveils, is showing, and the path carved out for you. And just a word, just a heads up word here, your path is not necessarily someone else's.

Maybe someone close, maybe someone in your household. Not necessarily the same, because every individual hears the Lord individually, he sees from the Spirit of God individually, and then he impacts you to influence both your culture and the whole world with this dynamic that he's releasing into you. One way that's happening, I believe, prophetically, I'd have to say, is in gatherings, the gathering of people together, because admittedly, over the last two years, in our culture and our world, there is a major shift, major, a major shift. So in that setting, speaking of the wisdom of God, the visitation of God, there are concentrations of anointings, groupings, I would say, like-minded individuals coming together where you might even say there is the five-fold expression, the five-fold gifts, and that gathering of people, I'm saying to you, is prophetic.

And it's not something that is sort of a knee-jerk reaction to the shift that has occurred in our world. The Lord had it planned all along. Keep in mind, the Lord is ahead. He is not catching up. He is not responding to what's happening on the world scene.

He is ahead and is allowing things to play out so that he can administrate his plan in the highest and best way possible. And let's face it, that means many souls saved. Many souls saved, which, hey, that's a shock to the enemy, right? So you need to discern the place where the Lord is gathering others to himself, where you fit, where a group of two or more continually proclaim the Spirit of God, his presence, alignment with him, and this future plan. And in that place, you'll find those who invest their lives in building up this truth.

And they'll build you up as well. So watch for them. They're on the Lord's side. They're on the side of his people. And their humility is so precious, because it encounters, excuse me, counters, it doesn't encounter, well, maybe it does encounter, but it counters the pride of this age. So this people fear the Lord.

And as the word says, their fear of the Lord goes ahead of them to fight for them. And if you think of it this way, the spirit of man, your spirit is drawing from something all the time. You're drawing from something natural, or something supernatural, the influences that go with that, these things either encourage or quench God's plan. So you're drawing from something all the time. Either you are encouraged in God's plan, or his plan is quenched in your thinking, in your lifestyle. So remember to guard your heart, since from the heart, from what is stored in the heart, life and all matters of life come forth.

They are birthed and come forth. And what is stored in the heart comes forth today as God's breath for your soul, as well as eternal life for your spirit. That means now plus forever. See that's why we don't live in the now only.

We do actively occupy now, the present, but not just the present. We reach for the future. We reach for God's plan that is ahead. Again as believers, our greatest hope is the return of the Lord, the catching away of the church. So we are not frozen in today, limited by today, or myopic just concerning today.

Our view is vast. The view God is giving you today is vast. And remember in this, not every voice represents the Lord. Thankfully the Holy Spirit reveals which voice you are to receive. You hear by the Holy Spirit, you discern by that Spirit. So godly standards are raised in this time when individuals discern their part in the mission. As you discern your part in the mission, godly standards are raised around you. And then as the Lord directs, He actually reveals to you the path that is the highest and the best way possible.

The best way forward that is possible. You've heard that expression, God's highest and His best. That's not just an expression.

That is covenant language. Highest, best. So this mission path He reveals and uncovers to you is both His highest and His best. Like the spotlight that was on that piece of paper on that really, in that really treacherous weather condition, I still am amazed at how a piece of paper remained intact. In that wind I could hardly stand in the wind.

How did the paper stay intact so that I could both see it and retrieve it? Because that was God's plan. It was His highest and His best. So see, this is how you counter negative influences. God has already decreed that darkness can never overtake light. The darkness of that night could not overtake the light that He was revealing. The darkness can never overtake the light revealed in your life that is evidenced right now as you hear these truths and put them into action. The Word says that strength and beauty are in the Lord's sanctuary.

I love that. I actually used to pray that over my children that they had strength and beauty and that that strength and beauty placed them in the Lord's sanctuary. So that excellence and that beauty thrive wherever He is.

We want His presence. That's where strength and beauty lie. Matthew 5 verse 16, Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. So both your good works are seen. God is glorified. Your light shines before men. They see your good works and God is glorified. Psalm 96 verse 6, Honor and majesty are before Him. Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. And just one last point here.

I really want to drive home. It's really important to draw from spiritual sources as well as secular sources. You need many sources.

I need many sources. And here's why. Because in the Word we read that sometimes the secular prophets are more accurate than God's prophets. I don't want to take that out of context. I believe God's prophets.

Period. But I know like King Cyrus there is an anointing on those who are not spiritual at all to rally for this day and time and to advance God's purposes. And sometimes a secular prophet will speak truth that maybe a prophet that we might consider to be God's prophet might sort of shy away from for whatever reason. I mean there can be many reasons. I'm just saying.

Here's my point. Listen to spiritual and secular sources because this shift that is upon our culture and world these last few years will require more of you than ever before in your life. Will require of this generation more than has ever been required before. It will require every capacity that you have including intellectual and in every way so that this transition time as we have said in earlier episodes corresponds with the way that God is actually opening doors for his kingdom for his people to go through. Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done right here on earth just like it is according to the blueprint in heaven. And so we you and I God's people we govern and rule with the mind of the Lord the mind of Christ remember that's the thought life of a king so that people everywhere experience blessing. Again you have the mind of Christ therefore you have the thought life of a king.

And when the king invades your space and his presence manifest you recognize it. So we say that the blessing of the Lord here is to think clearly with the mind and the heart of one who governs and rules to advance the kingdom of God that comes. Remember we've said to Mathur you need right teaching, an authorized message, observable authority, a disciplined lifestyle, increasing knowledge of God's word and you need to pray big prayers. Big prayers. Forget those little prayers. Big prayers.

So I pray blessing on your day and week. Thanks for being here for episode four of Running with Horses. See you next time. 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.