The Dark Nights

Greetings to the precious Beloved of the Father!

I pray and deeply desire that your heart is anchored to the rock of your salvation and that you are experiencing the peace of the Prince of Peace who dwells with you and in you as His favored people. This message will find you just a couple days before the Christmas advent and celebration, so please allow these words to resonate in that spirit, but also additionally carry specific relativity in prophetic application.

Luke 2:8-11 (ESV)
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

I will admit that this next statement by me has a ton of personal application, but for those of you who have legitimately submitted to how the Kingdom operates through callings, ministry gifts, and the very government of God… it will be a blessing and opportunity for peace. The statement revolves around the chosen recipients of the greatest Good News of all. The heavenly messengers were directed to deliver this Divine message to the shepherds, BUT… not all the shepherds, not any ole’ shepherds… the ones who were, “out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.”

I could literally spends hours revealing how appropriate it is for God to operate this way, but I want to get to another destination, so I will just drop a few statements on you then proceed:

• “out in the field” – Not the shepherds sitting in the office, doing Facebook live church. Not the ones holed up in some quiet and clean room where they can clock in for their eight hours of relative comfort. Not the ones looking for ways to justify avoiding the people and their earthy environments… these were the FEW shepherds who were out, busy doing the, “menial,” parts of the ministry in humility and submission. God looks for the folks who are busy about His business, no matter how uncomfortable or difficult it may be, to reveal His plans and purposes to.
• “keeping watch over” – Notice they understood that their role was to, “watch over,” as a place of leadership and authority. This did not mean that they were, “better than,” but just had a different role. In fact, shepherding was considered a very unpopular and low grade career. Which is why it was hard to find good help that would still be doing the right thing when the, “owner,” of the sheep was not looking… These few shepherds were authentic and willing to do the right thing for the benefit, protection, and development of the flock regardless of society’s opinion and the rejection of the sheep. They watched, because they were supposed to… because they were appointed to… because it was right… which shows very strong and Godly character. I pray that I have this same quality.
• “their flock” – Not just any and every sheep… THEIR sheep. They were intimately aware of the ones that they were called unto and the ones who were placed in their care. This shows how important it is to truly know ones divine destiny and to be rigidly committed to it with an ownership mindset. They fully owned their calling.
• “by night” – Anyone can serve God, do the ministry stuff, be faithful, resist selfish temptation when it is easy. Submission is not truly submission until you disagree. Obedience is not truly obedience until you are asked to do something you do not like or the task is difficult. These shepherds were in the dark night where it was hard, dangerous, thankless, and unclear. Not a, “sunshine patriot or summer soldier,” as Thomas Paine said. This is a tiny minority of shepherds (pastors) and also a slim minority of believers who are doing the hard things in the dark and hard times.

You could say we are experiencing a dark time of night in American history, and even more so in human spirituality. I am certain I do not need to highlight the painful woes and devastation that is happening all around the globe, but even much darker here in our nation because we are called to be a, “shining light upon a hill,” where all men could see us as a beacon of hope and liberty. Not so at the moment. Our nation is imprisoned in lies, incessantly propagated by demonically energized tyrants who desire to rule and reign over the very soul of humanity, while many American’s and “Christians” fall into lock-step with the march of desired progressive obliteration.

So, what is the response of the Father in these dark nights?

Matthew 2:13-15
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Something else I do not have time to elaborate on is the enormous and countless amount of wealth that was provided for Joseph to lead his family into safety with. The gifts of, “gold, frankincense, and myrrh,” provided incredible wealth for the family for this phase of life. The, “wise men,” that came were actual kings, rulers of foreign lands, they numbered between thirty and eighty. The caravan that came to the region in was likely in excess of four hundred in size and caused, “no small stir.” The eventual outcome was the tyrannical, insecure, and ungodly leader, Herod, responded by initiating a holocaust against the children. By slaughtering innocent children (like today), he hoped to maintain his power structure. He was in fear because of the prophetic reality dawning that was bringing in the Savior of the world and His Great Salvation unto all mankind. That type of Great Awakening declaration makes every tyrant tremble in fear… but also agitates them to even greater and greater levels of evil and maniacal behaviors. Sound familiar?

So again, what was the Father doing then, in those dark nights, that we can glean from in our perceivably dark times? He was working to bring a loving and powerful salvation to all of mankind through a subtle and humble source… the womb of a virgin. Today, the womb of the pure church is gestating unto bursting with the glory that is to be revealed to an unsuspecting and dark world. As a shepherd, I have heard the angels’ voices and received the messages from Heaven and I am here to declare (verse 14 of Luke 2):

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

I pray that you come join me to worship Christ the Lord this season and into THE Great Awakening. He is no longer a babe in a manger, but rather a ruling, conquering King of kings and Lord of lords!

Oh come let us adore Him!

I love you deeply,
Steve