This is the Truth Network. promises that we have the mind of Christ, therefore we have the thought life of a king, the thought life of the king specifically. So the prophetic voices that we hear, I believe more and more, point us to this understanding that we have a supernatural God and we therefore are a supernatural people and our the evidences and the ways that we see this work out are too many really to miss and something that's really come to my attention just here recently in the last few days or our weeks has to do with the way that an intruder comes in on a situation and takes over and it's like the frog in the pot, you know, boiling water that you know if, if you, if the frog is in the pot and the water is cool, then he's comfortable but if you heat the water in the pot, he doesn't necessarily know or notice that things are warming up. Now, I know that sounds far-fetched, but you know, that's the way the example goes and honestly, you can bring the heat up in the lives of people as well to where you would think aren't they aware that something is really, really out of line here, really, really over the line here? So because we become desensitized to what is taking place, we don't notice that it's increasing as rapidly as it is. For example, attacks on the home or the homeland in any place really, anything that disturbs or upsets the peace, we should really recognize for what it is. It is demonic in nature. A genuine attack, a full-on attack, a sustained attack, it's not the normal circumstances of life. There's a demonic aspect to that that I think goes unnoticed or unrecognized.
Not sure why, but let me give you an example that came to my attention just here in the last couple of weeks. It turns out, I've actually heard this before, that there is a reptile. It is the Burmese python. The Burmese python has somehow over the years been released into the wild in the Florida Everglades. So this is not new, this has been going on for a while, and it turns out that these mammoth creatures, the female can lay up to a hundred eggs at a time.
So I think the average is 40 or 50, but the possibility is a hundred, 100 eggs from these Burmese python at one time. And so the intruder that is not native is released into the population of this ecosystem, which is vast and magnificent in so many ways, that it over time suddenly becomes an encroacher. So I've titled our podcast today, The Intruder.
The Intruder, Interloper, The Usurper, The Thief. So again, this Florida Everglades area is an iconic habitat in the state of Florida, which is on the southeast coast of the United States. It's one of the world's most prized natural resources, and the people of that state, and the state within the United States is a governmental entity. It's where the people, we the people of the state of Florida, choose and elect representatives to lead them. And so it's the people's voice that matters. Well, the people of that state have invested in restoration projects that their governor has led over several administrations, including record funding removal of these invasive Burmese pythons from the wild there in the habitat in the Everglades. So this is really important. I've read that it's a critical component of conserving other natural species, those that are native to that vast area.
So here's the thing. The Burmese python, keeping in mind the python, is one of God's creations. The Burmese python comes from originally the area of Burma, not the southeastern region of the coastal United States of America. This intruder has been introduced to the wild and affects those that are native to that area. And so the ecosystem is upset as this python preys on, well, birds, actually mammals, other reptiles.
I've heard some amazing stories, very large mammals like deer, even large reptiles. So more than at this point, because of this ability to procreate so well, this population now is over like almost 20,000. I think the actual number is 60,000.
The actual number is 16,000, but that report's got some age on it. So using research and development and technology, the the people that make up the government of that state have learned how to detect and they now know how to remove this creature. They use near infrared cameras and the idea is to find find the python because he's hidden, right? Get this.
I mean, I hope you're getting all this. This creature, which is not native to the area has now intruded into the area, is growing in numbers overpopulating so that the other aspects of creation are declining in numbers and this creature is so the marking is such that it's hard to detect. So if you were to say, well, I'll just go out there catch them and remove them. Not so.
They are hidden. So you have to come up with these ways to find and therefore capture and remove this creature before it destroys this vast land, this amazing gift from God to all mankind and other parts of the world have similar settings, eco-settings. This is one.
This happens to be the one that I'm telling you about. So besides addressing the intrusion of this large snake on public lands, the government has actually authorized the local citizen to remove from private lands whenever possible. So therefore the citizens and their elected government are in agreement that this intruder must be addressed.
And so this is this is an interesting fact and kind of interesting because I've been following this story according to my my research beginning in August. There is something that will be launched called the 2022 Florida Python Challenge. This is an annual 10-day event held in early August where the people are trained.
Again, how to find the python. They get directly involved for they are protecting their homeland. They are protecting and stewarding the area where they are citizens. So members of the public and the citizens you might say that those who belong to any entity that make up the membership, I'm thinking of the church and the believers in another example, but this would be like the citizenry. The citizenry is empowered because there's agreement from the government above and the population below that there is a threat to the homeland.
There is a threat even to the private lands within the larger public homeland. So this aspect of what is taking place in this example in nature and in government and in the story of people who see a problem and move to address it is the point I want to make here. You know the Bible is generous with encouragement to the Christian, to the born-again believer concerning what the role is in government. What the role is spiritually and really in a natural more genetic sense as well for the believer to move to address a threat or a multiplied threat, a threat that is growing, that is multiplying and has the ability, has the power and has the destructive ability to paralyze and overtake. The Bible is very generous with words of encouragement to the believer that this authority belongs to us because it's God-given and in the realm of the Spirit and in the natural it is up to us not only as a privilege but a responsibility to see to it that every threat is addressed and removed expeditiously. Not waiting and not saying someone else will take care of it, but rather I move now to protect my family, to protect my home and land, to protect and agree with divine righteous government coming to me from above, from heaven, literally. So we're talking about the kingdom of God, of course. And just in the same way that the government of the state of Florida has agreed with the people who elected this government that this threat must be addressed, then resources are designated to take care of the cost and then the training, underline training and encouragement to the people and also the authorization that yes, this is within your right.
This is within your purview because this is where the agreement lies. So today you and I can agree with Almighty God concerning his government, concerning his government from the top down and that his, the choice of the people from the bottom up receives that advantage, receives those words of encouragement from the scriptures, receives specific direction from the Lord that would be like from him personally to me and where he says to me, do this. And so I would take up arms. I would bear arms.
I would bear, as it were, in the same way I would bear a physical arm or protection, then the same is true in the spirit, in the natural and in the spirit as well. This is the message that God is bringing to the church, I believe, in every way possible because perhaps it isn't as well known. It isn't as, it's just not heard frequently enough to train us to make this a priority. And so, you know, after a period of time when you hear and you hear and you hear and you hear and nothing is done and you hear and you hear and nothing is done and finally one day you really hear, like for the first time. I read years ago that until someone has heard something three times they haven't heard it.
And now I know that to be an underestimate. It takes about 10 mentions for the average person to hear the first time for multiple reasons, but you know once you've heard, once I have heard and once you have heard then we are candidates for what the Bible calls revelation, a something that is revealed to us. It's revelatory. It moves from the hearing from the brain down into the heart, takes up residence as a core belief aspect of our faith. A core belief. And by the way, there are some core beliefs that we have adopted that are not correct and need to be debunked and that does take time. But listen, once the Lord comes in and gives you correct information and that is affirmed the correct information is affirmed again and again it will take over the place where inaccuracy are just really bad information has been stored. And all of this involves the brain and the heart and that's another message, but you get my drift. So I just want from this example from this story coming out of the Florida Everglades, I want to say to you that the church and those of us who make up the church, we have an ecosystem.
We have a spiritual dynamic, a system that creates the atmosphere that we live in for either positively or negatively, for good or for harm. And it's very important for you to step up right now. It's really important not to languish over there waiting for someone else to come in and remove that thief from your land.
Probably someone else is not coming. More than likely you will need to take up arms. You will need to use your spiritual weapons.
And the Word authorizes you to do that. Clearly the thief comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Jesus said, However, I have come that you will have life and life more abundantly. More abundantly, that means more life, a better brand of life, blessing, strength, so much.
You might want to look up that word abundant. It's that's inspiring right there. So take authority and understand what the mind of the Lord is. We have the mind of Christ. Therefore we should have the thought life of the King. And we can rule we are authorized to govern and to say what is allowed into at the gate and what must not be allowed at the gate.
Whether that gate is the city gate, your home, your personal life, whatever. Let's pray. God in Jesus name we believe that your word is true that you've inspired us again and again. That we have the authority to say to the mountain be removed and it has to be removed from us out of the path. That you authorize us this way and that it brings you not only pleasure but brings you glory to see your people behaving in unison with and according to your word. Therefore Lord today we take up our weapons of warfare. We strap on those those things that you've given to us to defend our homeland, to defend the land. And in every place where you've called us to steward we do it gladly and with rejoicing. Just like Jesus took took on the cross for the joy that was set before him.
Lord we do it with diligence. We do it with joy and we do it with the knowing that the Holy Ghost on the Holy Ghost on the inside of us is leading us and will not leave us without a commander in chief one to lead us, one to say you do this, now you do this. So Father we take our orders and gladly today we step up. We step up for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen, Amen. God bless you today. Go out there and take authority over those intruders.
That interloper, that thief, that usurper. Go do it. You can. Love you. God bless. 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.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-03-26 05:34:43 / 2023-03-26 05:41:11 / 6