Joy Awakened

Peace and Joy, I declare over you this glorious day!

I pray/desire that you are experiencing an advancement of your level of hope as we press deeper into the, “great unknown,” waters of this seemingly turbulent sea of humanity’s enslavement and oppression perpetrated by lawless tyrants. The perspective of where we truly are is vitally important to grasp the divine reality of our time.

Psalm 30:5 (NET)
For his anger lasts only a brief moment, and his good favor restores one’s life. One may experience sorrow during the night, but joy arrives in the morning.

This is one of those verses that broken people and religion have created the perfect storm to remove the benefit of. If you will allow me, I would like to give a different perspective. This Psalm was sung/declared at the dedication of David’s Temple, which was built by Solomon and the people of Israel at the beginning of the most prosperous and peaceful time that Israel had EVER experienced. The decades of David’s life and reign were mingled with victories and defeats… some of those defeats are of historic magnitude and cost tens-of-thousands of lives. Then, of course, there is one of the worst moral failures in all of the Bible in that David himself commits adultery and murder because prosperity, loss of purpose, and loss of intimacy with God slithered in to build a self-willed right to tyranny like many “leaders” today. This atrocious timeline of brokenness cost many thousands of more lives through a civil war and other self-inflicted misery.

But… after the monumental amounts of sorrow… joy came with the dawning of a new era. Prosperity and peace flowed like the mighty Mississippi through every street in Israel for most of the forty years of Solomon’s tenure. The prosperity was of such unprecedented proportion that they literally threw out silver into the streets, like garbage, because every home was experiencing wealth at the gold level and above. There was a short span of anger, where God leveled out justice to David and the people for their ungodly hearts and ways… then there was a dawning of joy for the whole nation.

This application of the above verse puts it in the category of, “prophecy,” because it would foretell that the joy was on the way. As of the moment of writing, the nation was just barely beginning to right the ship of righteousness and submission to God’s will and ways. Like being in the very beginning of a Great Awakening that they were still unaware of. For perspective, I would place America just about there. There is a national awareness starting to build for the necessity to, “build,” a new temple of worship in our nation to gather into as one people, just like in Solomon’s day. David laid the foundations for this national revival in very parallel ways for us to reflect on:

• Just like in the life of David, our nation, at the early years, was fervent and passionate for the things of God. We slew the Goliath of Britain and tyranny, while we were a, “ruddy,” and, “teenage,” nation of shepherd-oriented Christian families when NO ONE (Main Stream Media, other national leaders, the, “science,” AND two-thirds of our own countrymen) believed we had a chance in Hell (or better stated, a chance AGAINST Hell…)
• After defeating tyranny and complacency in revolution, our nation went on to many years of floundering, poverty, and growing pains needful to establish a national resolve for Godliness and character. David, after slaying his giant, similarly spent thirteen years running from cave to cave, fleeing wicked king Saul, while learning and growing in his dependence upon God and developing his character in obscurity and poverty. In American history, the years after the revolution were terrible and we almost did not survive them.
• David eventually ascends to the throne by divine providence and humility, defeats the national foes (Philistines and the “-ites”), brings Judah and Israel back into a unified nation, and is known as the greatest king the nation has ever had. America goes through the Revolution, the war of 1812, countless other wars and conflicts, until we bring the nation into is divine destiny of, “One Nation Under God,” after the Civil War.
• In roaring prosperity, relative peace, a meteoric rise in self-centeredness mixed liberally with secularism replacing fervent Godliness: the perfect storm for David to embrace sexual deviancy and lawlessness was conceived in the womb of a calloused heart. America’s unstopped march towards wealth, a dominating world power, an open rejection of authentic Christianity, and a passion for unrestrained debauchery openly promoted by glowing screens and parades in the streets… her womb has a developing anti-Christ child ready to bust out in death and adulterous slavery.
• A prophet shows up to David and, in a submissive moment, the truth is revealed and his heart is nearly born-again through deep repentance and personal revival. This is where we are on the American timeline… entering THE Great Awakening! The prophets are shouting from the rooftops (along with some big-mouthed pastors like yours truly…).

Solomon was then given the nearly-too-good-to-be-true (Gospel) calling of presiding over the greatest decades that any nation of any peoples have ever experienced. Are you ready for the same, “joy arriving in the morning,” for us as the biblical accounts declare? It is time for America to enter the temple of the Ekklesia that Jesus said He was building in Matthew 16:18.

Having said all that, I actually think this verse was a direct reference to Exodus twelve, the Passover instructions given to the nation by God through Moses, the ordained and anointed spiritual leader for his generation.

That Passover night was filled with fear, uncertainty, and deep darkness. These faith barriers were preemptively caused by plagues while the people witnessed months of spiritual battles between Moses (God’s man) and Pharaoh (satan’s man) for the very soul of the people… Like today, where God-less, wicked, and satanic tyrants war for the soul of our nation and the Church. Every head-of-household was commanded to sacrifice a lamb, spotless and innocent, for the salvation of their house with the blood standing as their defense from death and destruction. Today, God is raising men and women to lead their families, communities, and nation into genuine and public repentance. At that time, they place themselves squarely at the foot of the cross of the lamb slain for the sins of the whole world, and place Jesus’ blood over the doorways of their hearts and settle down into a position of rest inside the Home of the remnant churches.

God’s supernatural, momentary anger at tyrants in that single night changed the course of history for all of mankind. For Egypt, it literally destroyed that wicked nation in an instant by cutting off a generation and the greatest military on earth at that time. God’s people then thoroughly spoiling their wealth and strength… the wealth of the sinners laid up for the just. The same night was the end of slavery, sickness, and poverty for God’s people. The next morning found the captives liberated and the tyrants destroyed in sorrow, grief, and poverty. In one night, everything changed and joy was awakened in the morning.

Psalm 105:37-38, 43 (GNT)
Then he led the Israelites out; they carried silver and gold, and all of them were healthy and strong.
The Egyptians were afraid of them and were glad when they left… So he led his chosen people out,
and they sang and shouted for joy.

We are currently in a dark night where all mankind is being subjected to the intense flames of trials and the tensions associated with trying to find the TRUTH in the darkness. We have THE truth, THE way through the dark, and THE only real life in us leading us through the valley of the shadow of death. The same flame that is devouring many around us is purifying the committed, resolved, and confident believer. The gray middle is being emptied out and folks are being forced to choose between the dark narrative of this dying world’s ways… or the divine lifestyle and mentality of the Kingdom of Light.

Your Father smiles upon you because here you are… smack dab in the middle of the right choice. You are in the Beloved!

Do you have the perspective of our ever victorious King… Can you see the trickles of light coming from heaven’s eastern horizon, hinting of a brand new dawning-day? I can… it is a BEAUTIFUL Son-rise!

I love you greatly!
Steve