The passion of Christ is for us to partner with Him to set the captives free.

Are You Commissioned? Or in Compromise?
Are You a Warrior or War-Bride?
(thoughts while reading "War-Bride" by Penny Voegeli)

We are not civilians; we are commissioned. We were sheep; now we are called to be war horses, to be trained to run toward the battle, without regard for our personal welfare. In a very real sense, we should not fear death because we know that we, our spirit, will never never die. I know that we have delegated power to tear down strongholds who lift themselves up against the knowledge of God. My assignment is clear; my mission is to partner with Lord Sabaoth (the Lord of Hosts) to destroy the works of the enemy, to tear down strongholds. Who will join our Cross Walk Life team and invest time, money and energy to seek and find the captives? Who has heard the call to join us as we set the captives free through Restoration Prayer Ministry?

2 Cor 10:4-6 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

Who am I? I am a War Bride, not one who stays home while others go to fight in the war, but a Bride of Jesus Christ, our Lord Sabaoth. I am called to ride into war with Him. My Intercessor friend, Penny Voegeli, was led to give me a copy of her new book, "War-Bride." Penny described our call to warfare, "Develop your spiritual gifting. Some of you are intelligence gatherers, called to go into the occupied territory specifically to learn the weakness of the enemy. There are those specifically gifted to and called to discern the enemy's movements so that my people are prepared for his advances and are not caught off guard. Other are specifically equipped as strategists to know how to plan counterattacks and new offenses to gain territory, armed with this intelligence."

Is our God a God of war? The Holy Bible refers to the Lord of hosts (or Lord Sabaoth) 244 times: 4 times more than any other descriptive name of God! Hosts means "a mass of persons organized for spiritual warfare or the army." The Bible is describing the Lord of a people organized for war. Most people understand God as a merciful Father who sent a loving Savior, but God will not stay in that box. He is also the Lion of Judah, mighty in power and mighty in battle. The passion of Christ in us stirs up God's zeal.

Lord Sabaoth, you have been teaching our hands to war and our fingers to fight! Psalm 144:1 You have given us a shield of faith and Your Holy Word, the Sword of the Spirit! I receive your wisdom to take back all the ground that the devil has in me first, so that I can be safe under Your wings and more effective in taking back our land from him. I choose to repent of every sin, judgmental attitude, unforgiveness, resentment, bitterness, jealousy, pity-party, doubt, etc. Lord, teach us how to love you with all of our heart, body and soul and to love others as ourselves.

Lord Sabaoth, teach us the difference between the offensive strategies of spiritual warfare that you are leading us in today and the defensive strategies that we have been using. Lord, teach us which of our spiritual weapons to use and when, as we go forth trampling over "all the power of the enemy" as You said in Luke 10:19.

Lord Jesus, while You command us to fight, You promise that our "life is hid with Christ in God." Col. 3:3 Thank you for Your protection, Jesus. As we remain hidden in the Secret Place of the Most High (Psalm 91,) we have the upper hand in an offensive battle, the element of surprise, because our enemy cannot see us coming. We run into Your light to be hidden; Your light blinds the enemy! Thank you for mighty intercessors and warrior angels that empower us to build your Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.

Lord Jesus, cover all of our conversations with the blood of Jesus and prevent every demon from seeing or hearing us as we go to war. We have a confidence and a clear conscience because your blood has cleansed us from all sin. (1 John 1:9) We fight boldly because the blood of Jesus gives us instant and constant access to the Father. We know that God has made covenant with us and has sealed it with the blood of Jesus. We who know our God shall do exploits (Daniel 11:32.) "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony and loved not their own lives unto death." (Revelation 12:11).

Lord Sabaoth, Your government on earth is carried out through Your covenant people. Christ in us, has supremacy over every type of evil spirit and all assignments of the enemy, triumphing over them. (Col. 2:15) It is critical that we remember how weak we were when we were separated from You, so that we will daily choose to be one with You now. "Your strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9) We must discern between the captives and the enemy; free the captives and fight the enemy.

We choose to rise up because we believe "greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world." (1 John 4:4) We know that your mighty power is activated in us when we rest in you and your strength alone. You Lord, are everything: "That the excellency of your power may be of God, and not of us ... we have this treasure in earthen vessels" (2 Cor. 4:7). We choose to take You at Your Word and to war with Your Word. We press into scripture after scripture with dogged determination to lay aside all doubt and to swing the Sword of the Spirit, until Your Kingdom has come and Your will is done on earth as it is in Heaven!

Who will commit to becoming involved? to pray, to give or to seek and find sheep? Remember, it is not what we feel (like fear) but what we do in spite of what we feel. The Lord sovereignly gives us angels at our side, when we are sent by Him. We use spiritual weapons to win spiritual wars in a spiritual Kingdom. We resist every temptation to listen to satan, to step out of line, to write our own orders, to take matters into our own hands or to touch His glory. We may look like the most unlikely but God has chosen to show Himself strong through the weak and foolish. We choose to fight in His way, His will and His timing (whether He uses "mud and spit," puts the praise team on the front lines, or asks us to march 7 days in silence!)

Our goal is occupy and maintain what already belongs to the Kingdom of God more than to go after the devil. We don't overcome evil by focusing on it but by manifesting the presence of Jesus Christ everywhere we go. We know that in warfare in the Spiritual realm, demonstrating the fruit of His Spirit is more important than Spiritual gifting. We don't try to control people but we do exercise our delegated power over the dark side. Darkness never casts out light and light always casts out darkness. The blood of Jesus has not lost its power!

Knowing we are your War-Bride makes us want to walk in Your manifest presence, shining Your glory to everyone we meet. It is in demonstrating Your heart that all men will be drawn to You and find the living water that will finally quench their thirst and overflow to all around them. We choose to be conformed to Your image; not to try to conform to ours. The Bible says:

Isaiah 61:1 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound ... "

Don't you hear His call? He is calling us not only to hear His voice, not only to obey Him, but to do our warfare and to set the captives free. In these last days, many have been deceived and don't know their true identity. Jesus prayed that we would deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him --- GO into all the world --- seek and find --- and rescue the perishing. If you would like to join us at Cross Walk Life, as we reach out to a broken-hearted world, please call us.