Covenant Opens the Door

In His great mercy, God showed up here yesterday. It was a day I couldn't have planned any better. Even so MY plans had to shift, and in the end there was a total shift. I had been planning all week to teach on "covenants" during the teaching time on Friday, calling them to covenant as a House to bring unity and greater authority in the Spirit. In a random turn of events, not all of the teens were there, causing Chris to delay the message for later in the afternoon, hoping that all of them would be there. During the time I would have taught, Chris had some things on his heart to share with the crew regarding Matt 7:21-23, and the importance of putting intimacy and integrity first. He was also addressing some deception that was taking place in the House regarding the toleration of Jezebel. It was so powerful, and stirred me to the core. I prayed, "God, bring the fear of the Lord." I was able to speak into what he'd been talking about for a few moments as well, hoping to bring some urgency to the situation. Immediately afterward, the spirit of the Fear of the Lord came upon the room and the majority of the people hit the floor in repentance with tears. It was SO powerful.

Needless to say, this paved the way for the teaching on covenant and what was to transpire later. I shared some background on covenants in the Word, and shared my experience in DC, making covenant with my JHOP/Cause/B4L family. This ministry has gone through a lot of transition, mainly regarding the shifting from a primarily evangelistic-based ministry to becoming first a House of Prayer, then doing evangelism out of the place of prayer. Just like America 10 years ago, this country currently has no grid for the prayer movement or the validity of maintaining a vocation in night and day prayer. Additionally, there have been other situations that have caused division in the past.

I believe God wanted to come in and shore up the foundations and heal old wounds. After I taught, I exhorted the team to examine their hearts and restore relationships, for we would take communion and make a covenant later that night. OH, how sweet it was! Chris had prepared a simple sheet for those to sign who wanted to be a part of this covenant. We took communion together and we voluntarily covenanted together to fight each other's battles and be a true family. And yes, I signed. It was a holy moment for sure, as Chris and I discussed later, we didn't think they would all sign it. But they did.

During worship later, I could feel the shift. There was clear unity. Hearts had been cleansed and were passionately worshiping the Lord. It was a beautiful time of praise & worship. It had been a hard day for some, truly examining their hearts before the Lord, and going to one another in repentance. I knew the Lord wanted to impart more of His love, so after we worshipped, I shared about how the Lord had delivered me from self-hatred and how He wanted to do the same here. The atmosphere was sweet and the Lord showed up with His love, delivering many from self-hatred and imparting His love. Oh the Lord, and the depths of His love! Thank you Jesus!