A divine spark. A flash image. A scripture suspended before me. This series shares soul-to-soul watchwords that I believe the Lord has impressed on me for this season, hour, moment that we’re in.

This time He marked the season with a scripture (several subsequently) . . . it’s a definite wake-up call.

“I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what He will say to me.” —Habakkuk 2:1
 

© desireofmysoul.faith (.com & .org) & SoulBreaths.com. All rights reserved.

READING TIME: 3 to 4 MINUTES.

WATCHWORD GIVEN: NOVEMBER 10, 2020

T his time the watchword was 2 Timothy 3. It hung, suspended in the air over my prayer chair when I awoke that morning. It loomed large.

We’re aware of the times—particularly that scripture—but when God does a mini billboard in your room, it’s a heads-up. It cements things. We. Are. In. Those. Days. It’s not a matter of “application” . . . it’s real and it’s now..

Prior to this, I’d been reading Isaiah, followed by Jeremiah, some Ezekiel, Hosea, then Ezekiel again. After revisiting 2 Timothy 3, I felt prompted to go back over Hosea for a comparison of the two.

But unintentionally I had started to read Titus 3 and found that it plays into the Hosea/2 Timothy 3 comparison as well. And with that, I soon realized that Ezekiel 22 and Jeremiah 22 also mirrored the “reminding” wording of Titus 3.

So let’s do some unpacking to hear from the Lord.

First, keep in mind that Hosea’s audience was the Northern Kingdom prior to its Assyrian captivity. His prophecies were fulfilled within 30 years of their delivery. Both Ezekiel and Jeremiah warned the Southern Kingdom (Judah) before their descent into Babylonian captivity.

Paul’s letter to Timothy refers to the days—the season—that would unfold immediately before the return of Jesus and the consummation of all things. Eerily, the three prophets of Israel/Judah along with Paul’s clarion call were voices crying out to a people whose sins and soul condition mirrored today’s world.

HOSEA & 2 TIMOTHY 3 & EZEKIEL 22

Critical words/images from Hosea (chapters 1-12) that relate to our times, to the current soul condition of humanity:

1. walking in spiritual adultery
2. having a faithlessness—a spirit of prostitution leads Israel away
3. demonstrating no love or acknowledgment of God—only cursing
4. lying, committing murder, stealing, adultery
5. breaking all bounds
6. spilling bloodshed that follows bloodshed—and stumbling day and night
7. ignoring the Law of God—exchanging their glory for something disgraceful
8. having an arrogance testifies against them
9. their sins are exposed, crimes revealed—deceit, thievery, robbery
10. acting senseless
11. speaking lies against God
12. following their deceitful hearts

 
The call: return to God, maintain love and His justice.

2 Timothy 3—its key descriptions of the last days’ mentality. They’ll sound quite familiar, in line with Hosea’s calling-out:

1. lovers of self
2. loving money
3. boastful, proud, abusive
4. disobedient and ungrateful
5. unholy, without love, unforgiving
6. slanderous
7. no self-control
8. brutal
9. not lovers of God
10. having a form of godliness but denying its power

 
The call: continue in what you’ve learned about God, love, patience, perseverance, and the sacred writings because “all Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.”

Ezekiel 22 echoes both Hosea and 2 Timothy 3 loud and clear:

 
1. shedding blood
2. idolatry
3. oppressing strangers, orphans, widows
4. despising God’s holy things, profaning Shabbat (His Law)
5. slanderers
6. sexual uncleanness
7. steeped in bribery, taking interest
8. conspiracy among prophets, tearing prey
9. making no distinction between the holy and the common
10. oppressed the stranger without justice
 
The call: Hear, pay attention, for the time is coming when the Lord will deal with these indignations.

GOD WANTS: TITUS 3 & JEREMIAH 22

Titus 3 says to remember this:

1. be obedient—ready to do what’s good
2. slander no one
3. be peaceable, considerate
4. show true humility toward all humanity

Jeremiah 22 shows us what it means to know God:

1. do justice and righteousness
2. save those robbed by their oppressor
3. don’t mistreat others or do violence to the stranger, orphan, widow
4. don’t shed innocent blood

BROKEN SOULS: WALK THE RESTORATION

Humanity is fractured. You. Me. And everyone else. God made a way to repair that broken relationship with Him and with one another.

Here’s the 4-1-1 series on how your soul can be restored: God’s Roadmap to Heaven:The Broken Bridge, followed by the Roadmap to Heaven: The ABCS of Salvation Also, the third part of that short series is a Grow in the Lord resource, recommendations for solid biblical teaching/radio, etc.

CREDITS: Lighthouse with lightning photo by Michael Krahn on Unsplash.com

A divine spark. A flash image. A scripture suspended before me. This series shares soul-to-soul watchwords that I believe the Lord has impressed on me for this season, hour, moment that we’re in.
 

When chaos rises like a whirlwind . . . God’s Word reminds us where to stand and who we are: His living stones, voices crying in a spiritual wilderness.

“I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what He will say to me.” —Habakkuk 2:1

© desireofmysoul.faith & SoulBreaths.com. All rights reserved.

READING TIME: 3 MINUTES.

WATCHWORD GIVEN: JULY 2020, THEN AGAIN LATTER PART OF OCTOBER 2020

Living stones. That’s who we are in God’s hands. Alive in Him, called to speak His words, walk in His ways, for His glory.

It’s not easy in a world at odds with Him. And as these end times accelerate, there are spiritual minefields everywhere. I believe that’s why the LORD gave me this scripture back in July 2020 . . .

Truth is nowhere to be found. Whoever turns from evil becomes a target (prey). The LORD looked and saw no justice and was displeased. —Isaiah 59:15

If we stand in and with God, there will be repercussions from the world around us.

That reminded me of a scripture (Isaiah passage below) He’d given me early last year (2019) or before, when I was tweaking Combat Zone: Rules of Engagement.

Don’t fear (be shaken, swept into conspiracies) what people fear (call conspiracies)
nor give strength to it
or be awed (shaken terribly, oppressed) by what awes them.
Let G-d be the object of your awe (trembling holy fear) . . .
consecrate Him.
He alone is to be your sanctuary.
—Isaiah 8:12-14

What does that look like in 2021—and how does that dovetail into being His living stones? It goes like this . . .

Remember that the LORD is the stability of our times (Isaiah 33:5-6). Not the world or mainstream media or your checkbook. G-d and Him alone is your rock-solid foundation.

Therefore, per I Samuel 12: 7, 16 & 21 . . . hold still, stand and see what He will do, don’t turn aside.

Pause in the stillness of His presence, humbled.

When it’s time to move, move in His stillness—not the world’s energy, chaos, freneticism, reckless meandering, cacophony.

Don’t turn from His ways, voice, leading

LIVE THIS SCRIPTURE: 1 PETER 2:1-5

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, of all deceit, hypocrisy and envy,
and of all the ways there are of speaking against people;
and be like newborn babies, thirsty for the pure milk of the Word;
so that by it, you may grow up into deliverance.
For you have tasted that Adonai is good.
As you come to him, the living stone,
rejected by people but chosen by God and precious to him,
you yourselves, as living stones,
are being built into a spiritual house to be high priests set apart for God
to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to him through Jesus (Yeshua) the Messiah.

OUR DESIRE, OUR PRAYER

Make us a voice crying out in the wilderness, to those surrounding us, those lost in the enemy’s darkness.

Make us carriers of Your presence, ignited with the flame of your heart.

Your Name is our Strength. Your Name is the very breath of our souls.

Help us stand in You and become a unified army, marching shoulder-to-shoulder, focused on You, working as one, followers of our Messiah, Jesus (Yeshua) to the glory of G-d the Father.

CREDITS: Lighthouse with lightning photo by Michael Krahn on Unsplash.com

A divine spark. A flashed image. A scripture suspended before me. This series shares watchwords that I believe the Lord has impressed on me for this season, hour, moment that we’re in.

This word—given on Rosh Hashanah 2020 (Judaic year 5781)—is weighty. Critical for your walk with God so the beating of His heart becomes the beating of your soul’s heart.

“I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what He will say to me.” —Habakkuk 2:1

© desireofmysoul.faith & SoulBreaths.com. All rights reserved.

READING TIME: 3 MINUTES.

WATCHWORD GIVEN: SEPTEMBER 19, 2020

Justice. God impressed that word three times on Rosh Hashanah. I’d taken my seat at service—with the co-vid distancing and required mask. It was a Messianic Jewish synagogue, Shabbat morning.

Right off the bat, the LORD flashed an image that lingered for a while. A runner, one knee down, the other bent, hands steadied at the starting line, ready for the command to GO, run the race.

We’re called to run like mighty men . . . aligned with His ways . . . running to gain Him, our crown.

They charge like warriors;

they scale walls like soldiers.

They all march in line,

not swerving from their course.

—Joel 2:7

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,

but only one gets the prize?

Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.

They do it to get a crown that will not last,

but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

—1 Corinthians 9:24-25

But in that race you’re running—in Him—stop at checkpoints. Is  your race being run well? Justly?

JUSTICE. JUSTICE. JUSTICE.

That’s what God requires. Of course, in our court system. But what does that mean in day-to-day life?

It means doing rightly per God’s Law. Being equitable. Having rightly balanced measurements in your daily decisions and in your dealings with others.

A righteous man knows the rights of the poor—but a wicked man doesn’t understand such knowledge. —Proverbs 29:7

Help the oppressed, the robbed, and plead the cause for the afflicted and poor—and don’t mistreat the stranger, orphan, widow, or shed innocent blood or avoid paying for services rendered. Is this not what it means to know God?—Jeremiah 22

Do what He told you to do—do what is good in His eyes, do what He requires of you, walk in justice, mercy, and humility before God. —Micah 6:8

Let His just ways roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. —Amos 5:24

Don’t treat your parents with contempt or mistreat the fatherless and widow, and don’t slander or get involved with sexual defilements, usury, or unjust gains. Do not forget God, the King of all. —Ezekiel 22

Learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bringing justice to the fatherless, pleading the widow’s cause. —Isaiah 1:17

The oppressor of the poor insults his maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors Him. —Proverbs 14:31

Because . . .

To the Lord your God belong the heavens,

even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.

Circumcise your hearts, therefore,

and do not be stiff-necked any longer.

For the Lord your God is God of gods

and Lord of lords,

the great God, mighty and awesome,

who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.

He defends the cause of the fatherless

and the widow

and loves the foreigner residing among you,

giving them food and clothing.

—Deuteronomy 10: 14, 16-18

CREDITS: Lighthouse with lightning photo by Michael Krahn on Unsplash.com

A divine spark. A flash image. A scripture suspended before me. This series shares soul-to-soul watchwords that I believe the Lord has impressed on me for this season, hour, moment that we’re in.
 

This watchword shook my soul—and my physical surroundings.

 

“I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what He will say to me.” —Habakkuk 2:1

 

© desireofmysoul.faith & SoulBreaths.com. All rights reserved.

 

READING TIME: 2 MINUTES.

 

WATCHWORD GIVEN: JULY 3, 2019 at 1:50 am PST

 
 

God’s powerful, immeasurable vastness astonishes me. Enthralls me. Frightens me. Humbles me. I am finite . . . from dust. He is the Great I AM.

 

Shaking. That was the watchword the LORD had me pray in those wee hours in early July 2019. The focus then and going forward—even into the end of 2020—has been Psalm 29.

 

The Lord had led me to pray, reflect, breathe in, and exhale Psalm 29—peering into the words, the meanings behind the words, and burrowing in-between the letters—over and over and over and over and over again. And I haven’t stopped.

 

Peering into these scriptures about His weightiness and holiness continues to silence me, moving me to repentance on new and unexpected levels.

 

Psalm 29 is for this time. An hour like none other before it in history, when the birth pains of what is coming alert us, awaken us from our slumber. Seven times the psalm speaks of the voice of the Lord, giving us a window into His depth and power.

 

Orthodox rabbis sense the shift toward end-time events. Messianic Jews/Christians recognize it from biblical prophecies. Whether God moves soon or, in His mercy, waits another decade or two or three, one thing is clear:

 

We have turned a corner,
and there is no going back to the way things were.
We are on His divine trajectory.

 

This is a soul-call . . . to deeper reverence for Him, acknowledging His might, the awe that is Him. The unknowingly knowable One. The hidden-yet-revealed One. The unseen-yet-seen-with-the-eyes-of-the-soul One.

 

So no matter what lies ahead for this world,
you’ll know where to fix your eyes.
You’ll know that He is on the throne—the one and only Mighty God.
He sits above the flood . . .
meaning kings and kingdoms come and go, but God reigns.
He alone is steadfast, the stability of our times.
He won’t be surprised or shaken by the turning of things.
Yet, promising to be your shielded cleft in the storm,
your strength, your blessing,
your peace and completeness . . . your shalom.

 

He alone deserves PRAISE and WORSHIP.

He alone is HOLY.

He alone is GOD.

He shares His GLORY with no one.

 

All of Psalm 29 appears at the end of this short post (next). But these particular images mentioned in the psalm spoke to me, stirred me, quieted me:

 

ADONAI’s voice over the waters . . . the GOD OF GLORY thunders . . . ADONAI over the rushing waters.

[His might hovering over His creation.]

 

His voice in power, in splendor, cracks the cedar, flashes fiery flames.

[The magnitude of His voice alone stills my soul. It was His voice that thundered over Israel’s enemies—panicking the Philistines (1 Samuel7:10) and breaking down the Assyrians (Isaiah 30:31).]

 

His voice rocks, shakes the wilderness, convulses the Kadesh desert.

[The sheer force of His presence changes everything. The desert quakes—the Hebrew likens it to pain (חיל), a woman in travail, as in Jeremiah 6:24. ]

 

During intercession, my prayers sought the LORD to shake the wilderness—shake us out of the wilderness, the wanderings, the soul’s wilderness wanderings.

 

Shaking us . . . with testings for faithfulness.

 

Just a few days later—during Friday night shabbat dinner at a rabbi’s house—that shaking took on physical dimensions. The glass chandelier swayed and shimmied, the artwork shook, the glass dining room table moved from side to side, as did our chairs. Kind of like a Disney ride.

 

An earthquake tremor, not that typical for Las Vegas. At least in my longtime living here. But I sensed that it was underscoring the Psalm 29 prayer—which continues to stand in the forefront throughout 2020’s tumultuous times.

 

PSALM 29: THE HOPE

 

When you read-pray the psalm (aloud even!), note the call to acknowledge GOD, assigning Him the rightful place in your soul/life, ascribing to Him power and glory—and to praise His power, might. And to pray, asking ADONAI for strength and shalom (a completeness, peace.)

 

A psalm of David:
Give Adonai his due, you who are godly;
give Adonai his due of glory and strength;
give Adonai the glory due his name;
worship Adonai in holy splendor.
The voice of Adonai is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
Adonai over rushing waters,
the voice of Adonai in power,
the voice of Adonai in splendor.
The voice of Adonai cracks the cedars;
Adonai splinters the cedars of the L’vanon
and makes the L’vanon skip like a calf,
Siryon like a young wild ox.
The voice of Adonai flashes fiery flames;
the voice of Adonai rocks, shakes the wilderness,
Adonai convulses the Kadesh Desert.
The voice of Adonai causes deer to give birth
and strips the forests bare—
while in his temple, all cry, “Glory!”
Adonai sits enthroned above the flood!
Adonai sits enthroned as king forever!
May Adonai give strength to his people!
May Adonai bless his people with shalom!