Seize the Opportunity

The Reset Season

This is MOST important! Please watch the video, and then pray this prayer:

"Lord, we align our faith with what You have said, with the shift You have announced. We ask You to move as You desire and in the ways You have ordained. Move at levels that amaze us. We will walk and work with You, in faith and confidence, and You will do exactly as You have said.

We declare: “No limitations to this move of the King! Neither nations, governments, rulers, false religions, nor demonic principalities will stop it. The ideologies propagated on college campuses will not stop this move. Miracles, healings, and deliverances will occur throughout the land; the hand of God will be seen. Prodigals will receive dreams, hear Holy Spirit, return to God, and be transformed. They will be passionate lovers of God and His Word, filled with Holy Spirit, powerful evangelists, and prophetic voices. Deception, confusion, addictions, perversions, and disillusion will be broken off of them through powerful God-encounters. The glory of the Lord will roll in wave after wave. Revival, reset, freedom, signs, wonders, and great harvest will now come!” 

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The Times We Live In

(From guest contributor Greg Hood)

If there has ever been a day when we needed to walk in the Spirit, it is today. In doing so, our nation will more wisely navigate through these turbulent times. Psalm 2:1 tells us, “Why are the nations in an uproar and the people devising a vain thing?”

This verse asks questions of us today, questions that demand answers.

• Why is America in an uproar?
• Why are we seeing things today on an unprecedented scale that we have never seen before?

In times past, we saw protests which were largely peaceful like those Dr. Martin Luther King led. Today, we are seeing organized riots and looting. Groups are actually bringing death and anarchy into our streets, defying the laws of the land, and defying God. Never before in the history of America—have we seen such hostility.

America is not perfect. We have our problems. In times past, like today, we've had corruption, desperation, and dark times when we pulled away from God. Unlike many nations, however, America’s corruption has been hidden, and when exposed, we attempted to deal with it. Today, the light of God is shining in our nation for revival and awakening. It’s exposing darkness on a whole new level.

There has never been a time of greater exposure of wickedness in our nation's history that I can recall. The devil wants to gain a foothold in America for evil. However, this only exposes his plans. We are seeing darkness exposed by light and the elements of evil are running. We are seeing all kinds of evil manifesting to keep their foothold in America, trying to hang on to its authority. By God, however, they are losing their grip on this nation as the Ekklesia is being positioned into a place of a great awakening and revival.

We must look past the surface of current events to see as God sees, to react as God reacts, to receive the manifestation of heaven that God desires on the earth.

Why is America in an uproar? Because change is here. I declare to you that we will see peace in this nation. Chaotic times cannot remain. Our God is not fazed by what He sees on the news. He cares about His purpose for this nation.

Now, we know that God is a God of judgment. We understand that nations are either going to be goat nations or sheep nations. Look at Psalm 9:17 with me. It reads, “The wicked will return to Sheol, even all the nations who forget God.”

The wicked will return to Sheol as the righteous return to God. The nations of the earth are evolving. God is bringing about His righteous judgment on the earth.

Evil will cease. Righteousness will prevail. Jesus wins! King Jesus has overcome the world and He is raising up an Ekklesia—a church that will not back down until we see the kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of our God. As we press toward “the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus,” we are causing the kingdoms of this world to become the kingdoms of our God.

Consider with me the description of Issachar from 1 Chronicles 12:32: “Of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times with the knowledge of what Israel should do…”

The entire tribe was ready for action.

Let’s unpack this verse and get some very important things back in place.

This word “understood” in 1 Chronicles 12:32 means “an understanding,” of course. It also means: “discernment; truth; to discern; to act wisely; intelligent; to interpret; to be investigative; a skilled teacher; understanding and he will gain.”

With this definition, knowledge is more than just “Oh, I know.” Rather, we seek understanding to be able to gain, move forward, and progress the agenda of the heart of the Father throughout the earth.

The clearest meaning of “understand” is “truth.” Today, truth is more detested than a lie.

Isaiah 5:20, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

We are in that day right now. We have news cycles all day long, 24/7, but little of it is truth. Instead, we are seeing reporting seeking to change our culture, our times, and the assignments that God has given us as individuals and as a nation.

America is in a cultural war over the revision of history. The fact is, you cannot erase your history and correct your history at the same time. History must be learned before its lessons are clear. Erasure is ignorance. We embrace our history for what it is—a historical record of the good and the bad and everything in between—so we can move forward with healing and wisdom from God and not repeat our mistakes. To not repeat history is to know history, not erase it.

America, and the world in general, faces a rising tide of activist groups operating behind noble-sounding titles and agendas. And some are noble, but many are cleverly disguised to divide and dismantle the plan and the purpose of God for America.

Here is a verse for you, “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” (John 17:14-17)

As we navigate through these times, we cannot succumb to operating in survival mode. It does no good to tread water until Jesus returns and “snatches” us out of here. We are partnered with an army of angels on a battlefield— we are kings called to the frontlines to strategically overcome and overtake the enemy so that the Kingdom of God can be expanded around the world.

Again, from 1 Chronicles, “understood the times” is a powerful description. It literally means “to always have understanding.” My redneck definition of this is, “being in step with God or being current with Him on current events.”

God is speaking today. He is not silent today or any day. There is always an open heaven. We may not always hear Him, but God is always talking.

When the Scripture refers to “the times,” it means “appointed times, circumstances, intervals, timely by year.” So, it is not just the time or a season but an appointed time. We are in an appointed time—a time in our lives when we need to step up as never before. The opposition is great. Darkness is real. The enemy is in our face. But today is the day, we say: “Back off, satan, you have crossed the line.”

1 John 4:4 encourages us in this, “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”

It is time for the Ekklesia to capitalize on this opportune time God has us in. We were born for this! Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, square your shoulders and declare: “I am ready. Here I am, God. Send me. I will be a voice. I will be the light. I will be what You need me to be to turn this nation into a place of revival and awakening.”

Listen, family, when you don’t know what to do - fear sets in, people stay still, chaos erupts - the enemy invades and his agenda takes root. We are seeing the majority of the church experiencing this today.

Yet God wants His church in motion. We are not called to be stagnant. We are not retreating. We are moving forward. We are pressing on towards the mark of the prize of the high calling that is in Christ Jesus. (see Philippians 3:13-16)

We need the mantle of Issachar manifesting in the church today. It is vital to us seeing and receiving the fire of God into our lives and the nation. This is not about individuals’ relationships with God, but about the Ekklesia—the body of Christ coming together to bring the awakening and revival that we need and have been crying out for.

The fact is, God is waiting on us, the church; we are not waiting on God. We need to rise up in the functioning apostolic, prophetic anointing that God has given His Ekklesia. We need the Issachar mantle so we will know what to do. We don’t need any more good ideas. We need Kingdom ideas. We do not need to hear from men. We need to hear from God. We need to hear from God through His sons and daughters. Then we will have the answers we need to bring peace to a chaotic world.

Pray with me:

Father, we know that our nation is in a very dark place, and corruption is at a level we cannot remember seeing before. We ask that You give us that Issachar Mantle that we may step into a new place of understanding our time, so that we may bring to our nation the answers needed to release revival and awakening on a level not yet seen, in the name of King Jesus, amen!

Our decree:

We decree that we are ready. Here we are, God. Send us. We decree we will be Your voice. We will be the light. We will be what You need us to be to turn this nation into a place of revival and awakening.

Copyright © 2022 Dutch Sheets Ministries, All rights reserved.

Dutch Sheets: "Recognize Your Time"

 John 5:1-9 tells the story of a paralyzed man healed by Jesus. It was believed by the Jews of the day that an angel periodically stirred the waters of the pool named Bethesda, located at the Sheep Gate, and the first person into the water was healed. The actual Greek text makes it hard to discern if this angelic activity and miraculous result actually occurred, but it is certainly clear that the people of the day believed it. At the Pool, Jesus came to a man who had been in his paralyzed condition for 36 years and asked what seemed like a strange question: “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6 NIV). The man’s answer revealed that although he was waiting at the pool, he really had no hope of being healed. “I have no one to help me into the water and someone else always gets there first.”

I believe Jesus asked the paralytic this question to point out that his hope was misplaced. Although he was waiting for the miraculous stirring of the pool, Yahweh was the source of the mercy he needed. Only seconds away from experiencing the new, just moments from total restoration, the man wasn’t able to recognize it. With misplaced faith and incredible hope-deferred, there was nothing within him that could respond with hope to Jesus’ question.

The symbolism of this passage is stark. Bethesda means “house of mercy.” The Sheep Gate was where the lambs used for the sacrifices were brought into the Temple. Five, the number of porticoes around the pool, is the biblical number of grace. Putting these meanings and facts into the story paints the picture of Christ, our Passover Lamb, entering our fallen, hopeless world to give us grace and mercy. He came to bring wholeness and health to the “diseased” human race.

The man was staring at the Lamb himself, God’s gift of grace, the fulfillment of what everything around him pictured, yet didn’t realize it. An incredible opportunity, his kairos moment, had arrived, but he was too hopeless to recognize it.

When God brings us to His timing for a shift, we must make certain we can recognize or discern it. Reader’s Digest told of the late Harvey Penick: In the 1920s, Penick bought a red spiral notebook and began jotting down observations about golf. He never showed the book to anyone except his son until 1912, when he shared it with a local writer and asked if he thought it was worth publishing. The man read it and told him yes. He left word with Penick’s wife the next evening that Simon & Schuster had agreed to an advance of $90,000.

When the writer saw Penick later, the old man seemed troubled. Finally, Penick came clean. With all his medical bills, he said, there was no way he could advance Simon & Schuster that much money. The writer had to explain that Penick would be the recipient of the $90,000.

His first golf book, Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book, sold more than a million copies, one of the biggest best-sellers in the history of sports books. His second book And If You Play Golf, You’re My Friend, sold nearly three-quarters of a million.(1)

We sometimes live in the waiting stage for so long that, like Mr. Penick, we find it difficult to receive God’s mercy when it is offered. When He says it is time to shift, be ready to accept the offer.

Divine shifts make the devil nervous. He had heard or read all the prophecies about the Messiah, yet he held out for eternal chronos. Then he saw the Virgin Birth and realized it was now a kairos time for redemption. He had been dreading this for 4,000 years. Though he couldn’t figure out how God was going to redeem us, he realized it was unfolding. When fullness came, there was nothing the devil could do to halt the process. He knows he can’t stop God, but perhaps he can influence God’s people and alter things through discouragement, unbelief, apathy, or complacency.

We cannot allow this to happen! We must realize that the times of difficulty we walk through are not the final verdict. The Lamb is coming with mercy! When God says it’s time to shift, we must be ready to shift with Him. Yes, He will pull us out of our comfort zones and require faith. But when God says, “Time to move!” it’s decision time very quickly. We must rearrange whatever is necessary, adjusting our lives, and move with Him.

In America, we are about to shift from plowing to reaping, from the wilderness to Canaan. I believe we’re about to shift from weakness to strength. God is going to shift us into a new season of power, signs and wonders, miracles, and deliverances. He’s going to shift many from sickness to health, from woundedness into wholeness, from torn families with prodigals into homes where prodigals now worship God. Yahweh is going to use the prayers we’ve prayed and plowing we’ve done in the chronos time of the old, to create a fullness of time.

God is going to shift things in our schools and move in a powerful way. He will break all of the man-made laws that say he isn’t allowed there. The Lamb is going to show Himself strong on behalf of a generation that doesn’t even realize what they are hungry for. Some will try to stop Him, but won’t be able to. The wind of the Spirit is just going to blow, revival is coming to America.

We cannot shift the times and seasons; only God can do that. But we can recognize the shift when He does so, enabling us to shift with Him. We can persevere and keep ourselves properly positioned, guarding against lethargy, complacency, and unbelief. We must anchor ourselves to the truth and stir our faith to believe that God can orchestrate changes rapidly. The chronos times are necessary, but we must remember that God has the ability to shift things very quickly into opportune kairos seasons, and then to fullness.

Pray with me:

Father, like the man at the pool of Bethesda, America is in a lame and helpless state. Unlike him, we have created our own condition. We need the Lamb. We need the pool of mercy and grace. Also, like the man in the story, we look to others to find the help we need. But the help can only be found in You.

The good news, the gospel, is that You are here. You have accomplished the work of redemption. The Mercy Seat is wet with the Lamb’s blood. And if we will only recognize it, a fullness of time for Your healing is here.

So we pray for America today. We pray that the church awakens to Your timing: revival is here. We pray for individuals who are struggling to believe they could ever find peace and wholeness. May they receive the spirit of faith, take up their bed and walk. Walk into deliverance. Walk into health. Walk into freedom. Walk into Your arms. Amen.

Our decree:

We decree that Jesus is the Sheep Gate through which we enter and that the pool of mercy is full. We will now receive this incredible gift.

1. Edward K. Rowell, Fresh Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Christianity Today, 1997), p 100.

Copyright © 2021 Dutch Sheets Ministries, All rights reserved.