Written in February 2003

I’m about ready to reference the events that took place within a week back in February 2003.  I went back into my journal to read the events as they were recounted 15 years ago.  As I read, I decided that I’d include this in my blog.   It was a very weird experience for me during this week of my life, and as I look back, this forever impacted how I look at things.

Read on….

WARFARE!

As I commuted to work on Monday, February 10, 2003 whining about why I was in the place God put me to work, I felt the Lord tell me to get my mind off myself and to begin thinking about those who have been put in my life, and to pray for them. As I did this, praise eventually flowed from my lips as my mind dwelt on all the good things God has done.

A little way down the road, I began to see that God has strategically placed the saints in places where we were to stand firm and hold the battle line. We didn’t just happen to have a job here or there, but God has placed us where we are to hold the line and strengthen those who are at our sides. This thought then came to me, “Do not for a moment think that today is just another day! Today is a day of war!”

Again, the Lord spoke into my heart, telling me that the saints are to enforce the terms and conditions of Christ’s victory which he won at Calvary. I pictured Satan defeated and lying on his back in front of all creation with our Lord standing over him. Jesus took the keys to death and stripped Satan of all his authority on this planet in front of everyone. The Lord told me that he has given that authority to us and we are to enforce his victory.

On Wednesday, February 12, 2003 the Lord had me reflecting on the fact that our country was on orange alert. He showed me how everyone was making a big deal about the status of orange alert (keep in mind, this was only 17 months after 9-11). Several days earlier I read that “Red Alert” meant there was an actual attack by the enemy.

God then showed me that the Body of Christ must understand we are on red alert right now! The enemy has attacked our families and divorce is widespread. Our children are growing up, leaving the home and leaving the church. We live in poverty, we live in sickness, we live below the standard God intended for us! The enemy has attacked and for the most part, we stand oblivious to it. We are consumed with so many pursuits of pleasure and business that we are unaware of the attack until it is too late!

The following day, February 13^th, I became ill, and it got worse the following few days. By Sunday (the 16^th), I was terribly weak and after trying to get out of the house with my wife, I was back in bed by 10:30 that morning. After falling asleep, I awoke several times with meaningless dreams (and I do not remember dreams.) At one point however, I woke, and the thought came to me, “You know why you are sick don’t you?” My response was, “Everyone gets sick and this is just my time.” I then heard, “No, you’re sick because you declared war on the enemy. Don’t think you can declare war on the enemy and not get shot at.” I was very out of it physically so fell back to sleep within moments.

At about 12:30 that afternoon, I woke up coughing once again. This time I had a dream that was very clear to me. (The fact that I could remember it so clearly was odd given my condition mentally and physically from the sickness.) In this dream I was told to take a can of red paint and pray over it, asking the Lord to bless and anoint it. I was told that the paint would then become like the blood of Jesus. I was to take wooden stakes, dip them into the blood of Jesus and then drive them into the ground, taking the land for Jesus. I was told I was to do this everywhere I went. Again, given my physical condition, I was very out of it. As I drifted off to sleep I had the thought that the neighborhood would look real cool with red stakes all over the place. Yes, I was truly out of it in those moments.

I woke again at 1:00pm with this thought racing through my head. “Before you can take the land for me, you must take your heart for me. You do me no good taking the land when your heart isn’t for me. Immediately I got out of bed, ran to my computer to write some things down, and then wept as I prayed.