Advantage

Have I not given you the upper hand?

Equip, Enable, Succeed.

Have I not equipped you?

Let me lay it out for you…

What is your advantage?

What is it you have up your sleeve?

Divine power. Power to multiply. Power to add and not subtract. Power to unify not divide. Power to enhance. Exponential power. Power multiplied. Power to pull down. Power to plant. Power to shift. Power to shift mindsets.

You pause and wonder how it will go?

You reflect upon the past.

Just pause and reflect my glory.

Seriously, just reflect my glory.

You wonder how you will cope with your diminished capacity.

You say to yourself “not another visit to the enemies table.”

You say to yourself “not another boundary setting exercise.”

You say to yourself “what is on the menu? What will they serve up this time?”

Yet you miss the point.

What is the point?

Are you not my point?

You wonder what you will say to them.

You wonder whether you shall be given the opportunity to speak.

You wonder at what you will say?

Really?

Yes really?

Can we not be real?

You preach the gospel of “real”, you say to all around that you should just say how you feel, to speak of the test and prophesy of the testimony.

Will you not overcome them with the testimony?

Have you not so much to testify about?

No need to labour the point.

For my point is you.

The mere arrival of you, announces my goodness, my graciousness, my overflow.

Have I not given you the cup of overflow.

When the enemy serves you up lack, will I not give all present a flood of overflow.

Is my supply insufficient? Is my cupboard bare? Is there not enough goodness to go around.

You want to say “I object”, yet you cannot for you are my object lesson.

You wonder how much you have grown.

You look at yourself, you press upon yourself, you try and hold yourself together.

Yet you know my word, you hear my voice, these words echo in your ears.

“Not even trying”

You feel weary of the journey, you look upon yourself though the eyes of weariness and say to yourself “I have grown weary, I have grown wary”

You are tired of growing, you are tired of the journey.

Yet this is not how I see it, as you said “I don’t see it that way”

You think of yourself as a great leader who has lost his way. The overachiever who has achieved very little but intense weariness.

So strong, so capable, so equipped, so empowered by me, that everything you touched turned to gold.

Yet you talk of this in past tense, of the times of old, the times of success, the times of power, the times of strength, the times of expansion.

Yet you know what I have to say about this.

Her words echo in your soul, were imprinted on your soul and cannot ever be erased.

“You have the faith of Moses.”

Never heard before, and never again since.

Yet you feel it now don’t you.

For the latter glory shall far exceed the former glory.

You picture the mighty arm of Moses, wielding the sword, killing his opponent, taking him out. Fighting for deliverance, from such power and authority as the son of the Pharaoh.

Yet you know how pathetic his power was, for there was nothing he could do despite all his good intentions.

Yet at the appointed time, at the time of his appointment, I gave him so much power. You shall be like me I told him.

Is this not what divine power looks like?

The old man showing up in the palace with the walking stick.

“Not even trying”

Is not my strength made perfect in weakness?

I was cracking up.

He could not walk without assistance.

The weak.

The weary.

The tired.

The exhausted.

The one without power was given access to the king.

Can’t you see it now?

He hobbles in. Laughter all around as he proclaims “Let my people go?” They jeered at him. They made fun of him.

When they came to take him out, he released that which held him up, he released that which supported him, he released that which I had equipped him with.

In a moment there he was, defenceless, unprotected, unassisted, with nothing to hold him up, nothing to hold on to.

The enemy says to you, “you need to get fit in order to expand, you need to strengthen yourself in order to be of use to God”

I say to you – release my power!

Let go of that which holds you up. Release that which you carry.

Release my power. Take advantage of me.

For this is a one sided affair, this is not a fair fight.

1 Peter 5:7-11 Casting the whole of your care all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns,once and for all on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring in fierce hunger, seeking someone to seize upon and devour. Withstand him; be firm in faith against his onset—rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined, knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace Who imparts all blessing and favor, Who has called you to His own eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the dominion (power, authority, rule) forever and ever. Amen (so be it).