From the desk of Steve Shultz:
Do you believe that God would "rend the heavens" just for you? If we only knew HOW MUCH He is for us... this word by Sandie Freed will help you understand just that. Read on...
Also you'll want to get your hands on these invaluable books by Sandie Freed filled with Godly wisdom, including her brand new book just below.
Sandie Freed:
God Will Rend the Heavens and Make His Name Known to His Enemies!
Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down...come down to make Your name known to Your enemies...—Isaiah 64:1-2 (NIV)
I awoke early one morning with such a great expectation. Like many of you, I have felt the despair of this season. We are in a very narrow place. Everything that can be shaken is being shaken. If not careful, each of us might be tempted to believe that we are alone in this season of shaking and testing. The tempter would love for us to believe that God is not with us, that He doesn't care about our challenges and that no one, not even our closest friends, are concerned about us. Dear Believers, do not allow the tempter to cause you to surrender to the temptations of believing his lies. Stand on God's Word and tell the devil, "It is written!"
His Written Word
The written Word is what spoke loudly to me that morning. Yes! I would like to invite you to visit God's voice with me in the sixty-fourth chapter of Isaiah. God is speaking clearly that He desires to "rend" the heavens and come down to make His name known to our enemies (verses 1-2). What does this actually mean? Well, first of all, I believe that God is promising to defeat the enemy that hinders our relationship with Him. Whatever is blocking us from fully trusting Him in this season, He wants to destroy. Many of us are battling a spirit of fear due to the economy and uncertainty of the times. Some of us are still holding onto our past and are paralyzed from moving forward. Some of us are bound with infirmities, doubt and unbelief, as well as shame.
But God! Rise up right now and say it with me, "But God!" Yes, God is promising to rend the heavens and come down in the midst of your situation and deliver you!
He Will Accost Our Enemy
When God says He will "rend" the heavens, He means that He will surely tear open a portion of Heaven. He intends to come down by releasing His Word to us. The word "rend" is connected to the same word in Greek which means to "call out." This calling out can mean several things. First, it implies that God will call out to us, but it can also imply that He is "calling out our enemy by name!" Yes, can you picture this? Not only is God rending the heavens and calling out to us with words of encouragement, He is also accosting our enemy at the same time! Try to wrap your mind around it. Take time to ponder what I am writing to you today.
God wants to come down to us by releasing His Word. Will we hear Him? He is speaking concerning our specific needs in the form of breakthroughs, as well as exposing the strongholds that are blocking those breakthroughs. He is also speaking new strategies as well as defeating the enemy at the same time. Wow! Our responsibility is to walk in His promises as well as apply our faith in God's promise to halt our enemy.
The Spirit of Mammon and Babylon
I was even more drawn to Isaiah 65:11 because I have just released my new book, Crushing the Spirits of Greed and Poverty: Discerning and Defeating the Ancient Powers of Babylon and Mammon. In my book, I expose Mammon as a false god, and how if we cannot fully trust God, then we can easily be seduced by Mammon. Over the past two years I have personally been confronted by the evil seductions of Mammon and, as a result, a book was birthed. This was not a battle in which I have been alone; I believe that most of us have been confronted with this evil influence—especially during such difficult times economically.
I truly believe that God wants to rend the heavens, speak blessings over us and release Kingdom wealth. However, if we cannot hear Him and properly respond, we will not be positioned for our inheritance. If there are generational curses that block our breakthrough, are we hearing His voice as He exposes them? If He rent the heavens on our behalf and exposed idolatry or rebellion, are we listening? Beloved, God does a shaking for a purpose. Yes, He wants to destroy our enemies, but His main purpose is to rend the heavens and call out to us. He will come down with His word over us, but we need to be positioned properly to hear Him and shift, right?
As I was reading verse 11, I felt convicted all over again concerning ridding my heart of idolatry and any area opened to Mammon. The sixty-fifth chapter of Isaiah begins with a rebuke for not hearing God's warnings. God's heart is to warn us so that we can check our hearts and belief systems so to be able to align properly with His Word. God wants to rend the heavens and speak, but what benefit is it if we won't hear and respond? The Lord wanted to bless Israel with her inheritance, so He pointed out her hard heart with intent to "call out" to her in love—leading to repentance.
Let's look quickly at this passage so that we can shift into areas of breakthrough and blessing:
But as for you who forsake the LORD and forget My holy mountain, who spread a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny, I will destine you for the sword, and you will all bend down for the slaughter; for I called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen. You did evil in My sight and chose what displeases Me.—Isaiah 65:11-12 (NIV)
The Lord is pointing out that if we spread a table for "Fortune" and fill bowls for "Destiny" that defeat awaits us. He says that He "called" but we did not answer nor listen! You see, dear ones, He had rent the heavens and called, but they were not listening! Why weren't they hearing? Because they had spread a table for "Fortune" and had gotten mixed up with "Destiny."
Hang in here with me, I'm going somewhere with this. The word "Fortune" and "Destiny" were the names of false gods, Gad and Meni. The New King James says this:
Who prepare a table for Gad, and who furnish a drink offering for Meni.—Isaiah 65:11
Gad was worshipped as the "false god of fortune" and Meni as a "false god that controlled destiny." Both of these were worshipped as substitutes for the One True and Living God who was/is in control of both—our fortune and our destiny. These two are listed together in Scripture, so I believe that Meni could also be a false god that controlled the destiny of fortune and wealth. Can you see how this is easily linked to Mammon—the false god that is worshipped today because we trust money rather than God?
God is Merciful!
Though the Lord points out our shortcomings as He rends the heavens and calls out to us, He is also releasing His mercy. He is saying to us that if we call out to Him, He will rend the heavens and answer us! He wants to bless us. God desires to empower us with great faith for the seasons ahead. But more than anything else, He desires relationship with us. We cannot allow anything—not Mammon, unbelief, rebellion, doubt, shame, etc.—to block our relationship with the Lord.
If you move on to Isaiah 66, you will notice many more promises from the Lord. Verse 7 is one of my very favorites because it promises to birth what is in us. It says, "Before she goes into labor she gives birth." Beloved, I believe what the Lord has spoken concerning your godly destiny is already inside of you—it's in your spiritual womb. As I stated earlier, we are in a narrow place. Birthing always takes place in a narrow place. God has increase on the other side of the birth pangs you are experiencing. Yet, He has already promised breakthrough even before the battle. He is rending the heavens, halting your enemy and releasing your destiny today! Can you trust God today and fully believe that He has promised to birth it? If you are hearing Him as He is calling, He will birth what He has destined! Verse 9 says, "Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?"
Again, God is rending the heavens and calling out. Position yourself to hear Him. Remove the old garments of shame today. Remove yourself from the influence of Babylon (the world system), Mammon, Gad and Meni. Renounce false beliefs and confessions that have limited God's ability to care and provide for you. The Lord is promising to extend peace to you like a river "and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream!" (Verse 12a). Though at times we must endure a shaking, we must utilize that season to check our hearts and motives. Let's be determined to remain faithful to God even in difficult times. God will honor us if we do!
Allow me to pray for you: Father, I pray for Your children today. I pray that as You desire to rend the heavens, we will also prepare our hearts to hear! We repent for past rebellion and hard hearts, and we properly position ourselves to shift into divine destiny. Father, I thank You for the seeds of the Kingdom of God that have been planted in our wombs. I thank You for the seeds of divine destiny which are being birthed. We repent for all idolatry, especially the love of money. We repent for allowing Mammon and a spirit of Babylon to cloud our vision. We look only to You as our Provider and our Source. Thank You, Lord, for forgiving us and guiding us into our future. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
Sandie Freed
Zion Ministries
Email: zionministries1@sbcglobal.net
