“Simon Peter said (to the disciples), ‘I am going fishing.’ They said, ‘And we are coming with you.’ So they went out and got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.” ~John 21:3
There was a time when the apostle Peter felt more like a defeated soldier than a fearless leader. He wasn’t “catching” much of anything! His Savior had just been arrested. A valiant attempt to defend Jesus with his sword had brought the Master’s rebuke instead of praise.
Even worse, Peter had watched Jesus willingly face death like a lamb led to the slaughter. On the darkest of nights, Peter matched Christ’s three bold identity statements (“I am He”) with three denials of his own (“I am not;” see John 18). Come to the sea of Galilee with me to understand how Peter must have felt at this moment - and what the Lord did to restore him. In 2006, author Rick Joyner wrote that a time was coming when churches would look more like military bases than church gatherings. I believe that time is imminent. With the worldwide pandemic-induced shutdown, the widespread demise of church as we know it, and virtually every one of the seven mountains being shaken, those who now take a stand for Christ must be unusually bold and courageous. In these last days we must be as militant about defending our faith as the enemy is about destroying it. God is calling soldiers in the Church to arise as mighty warriors and deliverers in this time. Not all will accept the call, but those who press in to pursue the Lord now are the ones whom God can call upon later. 
Dear Friends, I hear the Lord saying: “These are as the days of Noah.” Like Reagan before him, President Trump has used the words “drain the swamp” as a catchphrase for how he will combat corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy. Yet in the Spirit, I see that what is happening today could be better described as a flooding. In a vision last week, I saw springs of the deep being opened up and water rising all across the earth. This great surge of water had the effect of flushing out evil in the government and in every sphere. I heard the Lord say: “This exposing (of evil on the earth) is a flushing out of the “swamps” by waters from My deep storehouses; people do not perceive this as glory, but I tell you it is the pure springs of glory pouring forth from beneath that are causing evil to be exposed in this day. "The rains will now also begin to fall in great torrents like you have never seen; think of the outpourings in Toronto and Brownsville, but MULTIPLIED in their force and effect.” The powerful outpouring I saw in the Spirit was not in one place alone, but covered the earth in its scope and dimensions. I heard the Lord say: “You have no idea HOW BIG I AM and how I long for a total immersion of My people in My Presence! Joy will be magnified as those who are rescued find great purpose and peace in this hour.” 
"WILL HE EVEN MOLEST THE QUEEN WHILE SHE IS WITH ME IN THE HOUSE?" ~Esther 7:8 Dear Friends, Those who desire to live a life of prayer in the Presence of the Lord will eventually find that there is someone who seeks to interrupt intimacy and destroy identity. I believe that what I share today will set many people free from a demonic strategy of Satan used to steal peace and stop believers from abiding in their secret places with the Lord. Dear Friends, Those who follow His Inscriptions know that I usually write my messages to you, but this week I felt compelled by the Lord to see you face to face! If you are feeling weary from your battles, please watch and share this short video, which will encourage you to find places of peace and joy in the midst of your trials. I believe there are many of you who need a "word in season" to combat the work of the enemy. Join with me at the end of the broadcast to receive freedom as we pray together. May you be blessed by what I'm hearing from the Lord this week. For Him, Deborah I had a dream from the Lord this week which truly alarmed me. In the dream, I saw that the Church at large, Christ’s Bride, was being systematically seduced by a man who was familiar to her. He was a “believer” and an active participant in countless local and regional ministries. Because this man was working toward the same goals and supposedly serving the same Lord, the Bride willingly gave herself to his service in the deepest sense of the word. The Bride (represented in the dream by a variety of different women) bore his children and nurtured them as best as she could. However, once the children were born, the man returned to each one of the women, exposing himself as a liar, not a lover of God. Though operating within the Church, he was anti-Christ. On January 5, 2020 as I prayed I saw a vision. In the vision, the Lord gave me a key to the armory of God. I took the key and entered into a spacious room with extraordinarily high ceilings. An iridescent peach-gold light permeated the room, which was much taller than it was wide. On all four walls were hung beautiful shining swords in an ordered display. From floor to ceiling, these gleaming swords covered the walls and each bore a label of some sort, identifying what it was for and how it was used. I stood in awe of this collection: so exquisite! Yet designed for use. I wondered how someone of average height like me would ever reach the uppermost swords on the wall. As I was contemplating this question, I noticed, in the opposite corner of the room, an angel of gigantic proportions. The angel was as tall as the ceiling. He was a translucent, winged white presence whose sole function in the armory was to remove swords from the walls as they were needed, giving them to the ones who had requested them. Also, in the center of the room, there was a rectangular glass case, where I saw someone carefully wrapping a brand new sword, recently cataloged, in a beige linen cloth of some kind. This weapon, too, was to be displayed in God’s armory. Then I heard the Lord say: My spiritual father has a favorite saying he’s used for years when things get tough. No matter how difficult the situation, he’ll put a big smile on his face and say, “We win!” 
As I listened to the Lord last night, I felt His heart of compassion and I believe strongly that He asked me to simply pray for you today. Prophetic words are wonderful, teaching and devotionals help us grow, but there is nothing like the powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit in prayer! There is no distance in the Spirit (see Colossians 2:5; 1 Cor 5:3a). God is omnipresent and unlimited in His ability to reach anyone, anytime, anywhere. As I pray in the Spirit for you, and you agree with me, I believe I am effectively standing beside you, IN HIM. Our unity with the Savior means we are never alone! Please join me in agreeing for these very biblical promises and blessings to take place in your life today! Read them out loud over yourself; insert your name if you'd like to make them more personal. They represent God's heart for you! 
Evil roots bear bad fruit. Have you ever said to someone: “Well, that’s just the way I am.” “I’ve tried to overcome ______ (fill in the blank), but I’ve never been successful.” “It’s part of my personality; I’m a _________” (insert label here). “I guess some things never change.” Or has your spouse, parent, or close friend ever said to you: “You always do this….” “I wish you would stop ______.” (Fill in the blank) “Can’t you see that you’re the problem here?” I believe most of us have said or heard at least one of these statements in our lifetimes. I certainly have! Typically, comments like these stem from issues we or others have noticed about ourselves that don’t represent our best selves. You know what I mean: the nagging wife. The controlling husband. The angry child. The fearful friend. Ask any one of us why we do what we do and we’ll say, “It’s because _______ (name a situation or offender) made me do it. I was bullied as a child, so I never became who I wanted to be. My mother was always angry. My husband doesn’t help me around the house unless I nag him. You get the picture! Evil roots bear bad fruit, and while it’s easy for people to spot the bad fruit (and want to throw you out like a rotten tomato for it!), it’s not so easy to deal with the roots. Instead of thinking we are bound to bear bad fruit in some areas, we can take a more comprehensive approach to prayer and work with the Lord to destroy evil roots and establish righteousness. Here’s how. 
For the past few weeks, the Lord has been bringing to my mind a vision as I’ve reflected on prayer. The scene is so unlikely to ever happen in the natural that it is almost humorous! Yet the Lord is impressing on me that this scenario happens daily in the lives of many believers, and spiritually, it can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Today I’d like to share this vision with you because I believe it identifies a particular problem we face in prayer and gives us a strategy for greater victory. This vision could be the one major reason why Christians are defeated on the battlefield, and I don’t want you to be a casualty! As I listened to the Lord this week, I heard God saying that He is cultivating in His people an ability to work through the noise and distractions of battle right now. It is so easy to be distracted by the sights and sounds of spiritual war! The battlefield can be a painful, ugly place, and not an easy road. For those of you who feel like you are in the middle of a battlefield today, I hear the Lord saying, “I am calling My people to take a higher view of their territory, looking up from those wounded and slain who are past help and returning wholeheartedly to their true mission, which is to make Me known. Do not be surprised by the torments of the enemy! Learn to live and thrive in the midst of his noise, for I will create an oasis of peace for you if you look only to Me. “Ten thousand will fall at your right hand” - you will see My miracles here on the battlefield more clearly than in any other place of your life, and praise Me for My goodness! Your praise will then become a gateway to greater victories overall, as others around you join in your song. I will set ambushes against the one who destroys when you repeatedly surrender to Me on your battlefield. Don’t look around you, but look UP to the heavens and see My salvation. My mercy is always at hand. Only believe and you will see My goodness!" Standing with you for your victories! Deborah 
Around the world today, people are dealing with unprecedented levels of stress. Never before have we had such widespread fear, anxiety, and even terror. In response to this, I believe the Lord wants to release not just the grace to deal with stress, but strategies to overcome it. Keep reading for a prophetic word on this subject, and a prayer strategy you can use to eradicate stress from your life altogether! 
This morning as I sought the Lord, I had a vision of great activity in heaven. I saw a flurry of people bustling about here and there, all under Christ’s command. Although heaven seemed busy, those who moved about moved with specific orders and definite purpose, obeying what I understood to be Jesus’ plan. As I stood and watched, it occurred to me that as an observer, I myself had no place in this busyness; I was unsure what my role should be in the unfolding drama. “What would you have me do here?” I asked the Lord. Immediately, the answer to my question arose in my spirit: “Do you type? I need cryptographers – urgently!” Suddenly, the nature of what was happening in heaven became clear to me. A war was on, and the Lord had need of those who could interpret and decode strategies, communicate them to His people on earth, and assist in the winning of their battles. “Yes, of course,” I replied, and I immediately found my laptop and began writing out what I had seen. 
Sometimes the voice of the enemy is LOUD. Embarrassing. Even publicly humiliating. Sometimes the devil is uncomfortably close to home. Like a strong-willed child, he tries to draw you into a power struggle. He hopes you will cave to the factual truths of his accusations against you. Has this happened to you? It happened to King Hezekiah. And it’s happened to me. The question is, what do you do? 
Of course persecution will increase, but let's not let that upstage what God is doing in the foreground of this story - expanding His Kingdom. - Southeast Asia's Regional Director, Voice of the Martyrs Ministry 
Early this morning, the Lord woke me and began releasing words of encouragement for the WOMEN in His Kingdom. These are not just "Esthers" and "Deborahs," as we have heard previously, but also "Annas," those welcoming new things of the Spirit for this new season. I heard Him saying: “There is a Spirit of GRACE upon My women today which will carry them through the next season. There is grace in the Spirit on them the way strength of the flesh rested upon Samson. These women will do mighty exploits in My Name, because they have believed. I am calling forth the “Annas:”* prophetic intercessors whose eyes have been opened to see the new season that is upon them. (As Anna welcomed the arrival of the age of Christ.) They will prophesy of the new miracles just birthed, identifying them to a deaf and blind people who cannot see My promises in their midst. These are the nurturers of the promise, women who cherish deeply the things of God. They will not only see these promises manifesting and identify them to others, but they will also take the promises in hand themselves and bless Me for them.” God is Raising Up Mighty, FEARLESS WarriorsClick to Watch Video or Scroll Down to Read:God is looking for fearless leaders who are unafraid of confrontation. If the words "fearless," "leaders," or "confrontation" make you think of other people, not yourself, then rejoice! You are a work in progress! However, it is the wholehearted warriors who win the war. This is the truth the Lord is impressing on my heart this week, as I return to Deuteronomy 20: the Lord's protocol for battle. 
"Freedom from Fear"
In 1943, artist Norman Rockwell created a series of four oil paintings which would become known as the Four Freedoms. Based on a wartime speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, these paintings depicted basic human rights that later became a part of the United Nations charter, including Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. This last painting, Freedom from Fear, is the image that the Lord brought to my mind early this morning. 
What are you building?
How are you using your talents to further the Kingdom of God? Have you started something for God, only to not finish it for some reason? What got in the way? If you’re like me, you’ve had lots of wonderful ideas of things you’d like to do for God, maybe even done a number of them. But for many people, your spiritual to-do list looks more like a hoped-for “bucket list” than a resume of accomplishments. Even when God tells us what should be on our lists, we sometimes fail to persevere and finish the tasks. Why is that? 
It’s easy to be excited about prophetic words, especially when they promise growth, expansion, restoration, or blessing. The prophetic word I released at the beginning of 2017 contained all of those. God is speaking about Kingdom expansion in the coming year. Yet God also gave us a prophetic mandate to re-examine Nehemiah’s “growth strategies,” found in the scriptures. This post on discouragement is the first in a series I will write on combating the enemy’s attacks during a time of growth. 
As I write to you on this Election Day, the winner of the 2016 election has not yet been determined. Even as this decision unfolds, the Lord is stirring me to remind you that the warfare and deception we have seen on a national level applies to believers at an individual level. Satan, our enemy, is still "seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8.) To forget this would be to surrender again to an apathy far more dangerous. Thankfully, many Christians have been stirred by the election process to wake up from apathy and passivity, and are praying fervently for our nation. If you are one of these people, it might comfort you to know that the fear, complacency or even apathy you have felt for some time is not entirely your fault, although the enemy would like you to believe it is! 
In prayer this morning I heard the Lord say, “Your victory does not lie in your defense but in your offense.” He followed this with a prophetic word (below) that will encourage you to resist the temptation to trust in your defenses and instead, to advance with Him in a victorious offense! 
Because prayer is a work done mostly in secret, it is rare for an intercessor to immediately know whether his prayers are effective. It is rarer still for someone to realize they are being prayed for, since humility constrains us from boasting about our praying! Yet from time to time, we do hear of amazing answers to prayer, and have the joy of knowing that there is indeed power released when we pray. In the midst of a very difficult week, God allowed both me and my pastor to see the power of prayer. I want to use this story as a "case study" on prayer. 
I have prayed for people in some difficult situations lately. I’ve talked with people who are struggling with significant changes in their lives that leave them wondering, ‘What now? Did I do something wrong?’ Life suddenly threw them a curve ball; something unexpected sent them spinning, wide-eyed, into what felt like a dusty, dry, desert season. |
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Deborah Perkins 
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November 2024
AuthorA severe hearing loss from childhood caused Deborah Perkins to develop what she now calls her secret weapon: tuning in to God's voice. A Wellesley College graduate and an award-winning writer, Deborah is now a wife and mother of 3 boys. Deborah has devoted over 25 years to professional and lay Christian ministry in New England and beyond. Her passion is inspiring people to cultivate greater intimacy with God. 
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