As I am in the midst of parenting teenagers and young adults, I am seeing firsthand the NEED to be established in HIM – as parents AND as the young people seeking to make their own way. HE alone is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE – no one comes to the Father except through Him – JESUS!

Is He your strength? Is He your confidence? Is He your hope? Is He your safe place?

How are you doing? I am struggling. I hear the Lord and then a few minutes later, I sense my assurance threatening to flee – questioning, doubting and desperately not wanting to fail. I am consumed by the circumstances and the weight of it all.

And yet, I serve the God of all hope. He is my reason. He is my life. He is my satisfaction and the ONE whom I allow to define me. Just like my young people, I have given into the temptation to allow others to define me, to tell me who I am, how to think, what to do and what to say. Is this not a common observation to what we see going on in our world today? Why am I so surprised that it is a battle? Why do I give into weariness instead of pressing into Him?

He didn’t promise us an easy life. In fact, He promised us quite the opposite.

“A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:32-33)

Do you know WHO Jesus said this to? His disciples – the men who lived with Him, walked with Him, were trained/discipled by Him. THESE are the men He said would scatter. The tension and our weakness are real – and yet, our God is bigger!

Friends more than ever there is a battle for our devotion, for our allegiance – there is a need to be steadfast, unwavering, and resolute. There is a battle against community, wholeness, and Truth. Do you see it? The enemy stirs up distraction, confusion, resentment, complacency, fear, busyness, isolation, anxiety, and noise.

OUR ANCHOR

Are you anchored? Because the waves will come. Are your feet set upon the rock (Ps 40:2)? When the rain, the floods and the torrents come against you, will you be found to be established upon the ROCK (Mt 7:24-27)?

This hope [this confident assurance] we have as an anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it]—a safe and steadfast hope that enters within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells]…(Heb 6:19 AMP)

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and the One who rescues me;
My God, my rock and strength in whom I trust and take refuge;
My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower—my stronghold. (Ps 18:2 AMP)

For he alone is my safe place.
His wraparound presence always protects me
as my champion defender.
There’s no risk of failure with God!
So why would I let worry paralyze me,
even when troubles multiply around me?
God’s glory is all around me!
His wraparound presence is all I need,
for the Lord is my Savior, my hero, and my life-giving strength.
Trust only in God every moment!
Tell him all your troubles and pour out your heart-longings to him.
Believe me when I tell you—he will help you! (Ps 62:6-8 TPT) (emphasis mine)

Just like a seed will fall to the ground and die, often something has to die before something new can come. Sometimes it’s a dying to self. Sometimes it is death to lukewarmness, to apathy. There is a sifting, a shaking down of the old guard. The Church is being sifted, as it was never the place for the world to seep in. The religious spirit is being put to death so a new generation will KNOW what it means to be led by the Spirit, a generation who doesn’t falter when an entire culture pushes the boundaries, an army who will move forward not because they are strong, but because HE is strong, an army who WINS because their arms are lifted up in triumphant praise.

He is reorienting the Church to be grounded in Kingdom living and believing. The way to the OTHER SIDE is for this generation to rise up with FIRE, with fervor, with boldness. We are a people ESTABLISHED – the cost has already been bought and paid for! Let’s run with the Truth of that coursing through our veins.

THE SHIFT

We don’t need to cower in fear from the enemy. The battle has already been won. We need only keep our eyes above the waves, on the steadiness of the “horizon” – the horizon that is unshakeable no matter how violent or tumultuous the storm. HE is that horizon. He is the ONE!

It’s time to rebuild the walls. It’s time to re-establish our place on the wall, our place of faith, hope, authority, and victory.

“The enemy tried to contain, cage you, and silence you, but your voice only got louder and your fire only grew in the dark.” Nate Johnston

Do you sense the SHIFT? Could it be the multiplication of voices against the AGENDA?

While the world in so many ways seems to be crumbling around us with the stench of death and decay, look at the voices that are coming together and making an affront to culture, with an impact for TRUTH:

• Conservative Children’s Publisher Brave Books Debuts with “Elephants Are Not Birds”
• Victory Alert: School Board Unanimously Rejects VDOE Transgender Guidelines & Critical Race Theory
• Record Number of Pro-Life Bills Passed in 2021
• New Documentary “Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender?” debuted June 17

As we move forward, let us keep our eyes on this Truth:

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]. (Jn 10:10 AMP)

What is the enemy’s agenda?

• To steal
• To kill
• To destroy

And yet, our God counters with a diametrically opposing option – LIFE. Keep your eyes open and do not allow the enemy a foothold. When the storms come, settle into the Word that tells you who you are, that tells you who HE is. Be anchored in the Truth that is alive, the God who hasn’t changed and the One who calls you by name. 

Worship, strategize, press-in, and seek the Lord for vision and the steps He has set before you.

We are a people established and as we anchor in during this storm of “culture,” we will begin to take back what the enemy has stolen. Do not become weary. Press through; breakthrough is on the horizon!