A Burning and Shining Lamp
I always tell people: "If you're happy and you know it, use your mouth!" Bring Him everywhere you are! Mountain-moving faith is what we need in the Body of Christ.
Listen, we need to slay some giants. The giant of unbelief is so big. This whole spirit of fear thing that tried to take everybody out during the Covid rampage, especially the Church – where is it now? We really need to be armed, equipped and dangerous.
I want you to love the Lord with everything you are, and I want you to be right with God, knowing that you are not just positionally right, but you have an intimate relationship with God that nobody has the right to interfere with; because if the intimacy is there, there's no giant that will ever scare you. You will NEVER be afraid. Identity says that perfect love casts out all fear. So if I understand that I am perfectly loved by the Father, how can something torment me?
The torment we go through is from a liar, and the liar needs to cease and desist. And the only way that liar ceases and desists is when you get to know the Father's voice – because the stranger's gets so exposed that there's absolutely no good fruit that he can produce in your life. It's always dead fruit; it's rotten fruit; it's not the fruit that you want to eat.
A burning and shining lamp – that's what God calls you all to be, so that when people remember you, they know you are one that walks with God and there's no question about it, because unbelief is getting rocked by faith inside of you every day. It's faith and righteousness; it's right standing with God, because your faith has to be in the King's power to keep you.
The Bride Who Makes Herself Ready
I'm really excited, and I'm really burning as I hear the testimonies of what God is doing. My heart is bleeding for Jesus everywhere I go. You make sure you keep your heart soft. A hard heart can't bleed. We are to be ambassadors of hope. It's Christ in us, the hope of glory. Christ in US, not just Christ in Todd.
Imagine if the whole Body of Christ had their hope restored, and the heart was never yucky but full of bleeding for Jesus every day. You would melt everywhere you go, because God's love is so intense and intentional. He wants to use you to wipe out the darkness in people's lives. The only way the darkness gets wiped out in someone else's life (when your life comes on the scene) is when you realize the handwriting against you has been wiped out. Because when you see the handwriting against you has been wiped out, and there's no junk in your closet, you can actually walk in the light as He is in the light. When we can walk like that, then you and I can have real fellowship.
Reinhard Bonnke used to say that it's "two fellows in the same ship." It's walking with the same mind, the same heart and the same belief system. This is really important. We all want to see Jesus come back, right? Well, the Bible says that He's coming when the Bride is in direct proportion to the Head. He's coming when we are blameless and spotless.
You know, it doesn't say that God makes the Bride ready. It says that the "...Bride has made herself ready" (Revelation 19:7). There's the 'making ready' of the Bride; there's the 'making ready' of your life – burning with fellowship and intimacy with Jesus, so that no matter what situation you are put in, you transform the environment that you land in.
Walking in His Authority
What does it mean to be the light? It means that if you go where darkness is, it's not dark anymore, because you're there – because Someone came with you and He really wants to use you; He wants you to be a yielded vessel to bring the Kingdom of light, of the Son, and of His love into every intense, nasty situation, where you become a bondage breaker everywhere you go; where you make the devil afraid.
Somewhere along the line, the Body of Christ has made the devil equal with God, in that God is good and the devil is evil, and there are these two fighting against each other.
You know that picture of a boxing match between God and the devil? That's wrong. It's not a fight for God. God thought it would be better to destroy the enemy through ones made in His image, so He created man in His image, and in the likeness of God He made man (see Genesis 1:27). That's the real deal. Adam was made that way, but Adam lost and forfeited what God gave him. He handed it to the enemy. Jesus restored what was lost and paid the price for you and me to enter into the reality of the main frame of Heaven: walking and talking like Jesus and having the same authority. (Photo via Unsplash)
You can have the authority. I say "can have" because authority unrecognized and unrealized is not authority at all. You have to see the reality of being a joint heir in Christ – the reality of the price Jesus paid for you. It's so crucial. Heaven paid the high price to get you back because God thought that each and every individual was worth it. You are worth the Blood of Jesus. It's the identity of the Believer! The same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you!
The Bible says that those who know God, those who have fellowship and union with God, will do great exploits. What is a great exploit? It's something that you couldn't do without Him. What does a great exploit look like in your life? Going to work and letting everybody at your work know that you're a Christian? That'd be a great exploit for someone who's never said anything, because it took God to give you the confidence to do it. What we do is move from faith to faith and glory to glory, not from bummer to bummer.
It's Go Time! Be a Doer, Not Just a Hearer
Guys, this is real! This is fight time. It's GO TIME. The enemy is not slowing down. Look at America. It's not okay for the Church to be silent. If every Christian would wake up and realize that we're supposed to eat giants for bread; if every Christian would just say, "Oh my gosh, that's right, I'm saved!" (Saved from what to what?)...if we'd realize what we were saved from, then we'd stop living in yesterday. If we live in yesterday, we can never get to today, which forbids us from living tomorrow, because tomorrow turns into yesterday again. If every Christian would have a revelation of God's love and His forgiveness, it would be complete, because He wipes out who you were so that you can be as He is. "...[A]s He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). Believe it; His Word says it.
Our war is not against flesh and blood, it's against "...principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12, NKJV).
We are called to shine in the midst of every situation, no matter how dark, dingy or nasty it is. It doesn't matter what the circumstances are. YOU'RE THERE so that they change, lest you forget who you are. You be a hearer and a doer – not just a hearer, because "...if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does" (James 1:23-25, NJKV).
That's total identity. You look in the mirror; you walk away because you didn't hear and do, you just heard. Maybe you heard and quoted but you didn't live it, and that's not okay. I'm not here for me. I'm here for Him. I will never water down and be "nicey-nice" so that itching ears can be satisfied. I will warn the Body of Christ. The Bible is without compromise. Jesus rebuked hypocrisy more than anything.
What Unbelief Produces
Numbers 13 gives us the account of the Israelite spies in the land of Canaan. The spies could have gone right in, but because of fear, none of the people who were 20 and older were able to go in, so only the kids and the two spies who believed were allowed to enter the Promise Land. The ten spies and everyone else who didn't believe died in the wilderness.
This is a message to the Body of Christ right now: the reality of faith and believing that God is going to do what He says He's going to do, believing that Jesus hasn't lost His throne, and knowing that He is for you and not against you.
Numbers 13:26-30 (NKJV) says, "Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told him, and said: 'We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.' (Photo via Flickr)
"Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, 'Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.'"
See, here's what happens when you're really a man or woman of God: you can't stand it when people talk like that [like the 10 spies]. So inside of your heart, you're like, "NO!" but people are silent and just let it go.
Numbers 13:31-33 continues: "But the men who had gone up with him said, 'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.' And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, 'The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.'"
This was out of their own perception of who they saw themselves to be. So outside of truth – outside of identity and who God says you are – you will see yourself as less than you were created to be.
Numbers 14:1 continues: "So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night."
Why is weeping happening? Because of fear...because of terror...because of panic...because of a lie – they're believing that the lie is bigger. The giants need to go down!
Numbers 14:2-4 says, "And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, 'If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?' So they said to one another, 'Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.'"
This just angers my heart when I read it. I'm not angry at people, I just hate lies. I hate the fact that the devil manipulates the Bride of Christ. I hate that we're more afraid to share Jesus in public than we are of not letting Him out. We need to fear not letting Him out more than we fear approaching people. Don't hold back eternity and an encounter with Him from somebody that you're talking to because of your fear of being a grasshopper in your own sight.
Numbers 14:5-10 continues: "Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
"But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: 'The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, "a land which flows with milk and honey." Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. So do not fear them.'
"And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel."
God interrupted their plan. They thought they were weeping in fear before, but they really made a big mistake because this is where God basically says, "You will now wander for 40 years because you did not believe and trust Me. Only your kids, whom you said were going to be devoured by the giants, are going to enter and take the land" (see Numbers 14:30-32).
Years later, they go into Jericho, and they finally do things God's way. Joshua takes them around the city walls for six days, and on the seventh day, they go around seven times and toot their horns, and the walls come down – not because they pushed the walls, not because they touched a stone, but because they obeyed the Stone.
Slaying the Giant of Unbelief
I'm going to talk about one more stone. Goliath was taunting the whole army of Israel. He wasn't just taunting an army, though; He was taunting God.
Here's the problem, and it's a great problem to have. I can't stand the enemy mocking my Father. I'm so over it. I'm going to get to the end of my life, and I'm going to hear "well done" from my Father. Why? Because I can live just like He said I can. I can burn just like He said I could burn. He said I could keep oil in my lamp, and how do I keep oil in my lamp? By cultivating intimacy with the Father.
So how can you put out my lamp if He's putting the oil in, and it never stops because I am in intimacy with the Father, even as I'm writing this now? I am communing with my Father right now. He loves me; He's head-over-heels for me. It's so weird that some thinks this is arrogance – no, it's "God-fidence.
So you've got this shepherd boy. He's the youngest boy. He's the one (when Samuel comes to the house to anoint the next king) who, in his father's estimation, isn't even qualified. He's the runt of the litter. (Photo via Get Archive)
God is like, "Hey, Samuel, I don't look at the outside" (see 1 Samuel 16:7). Thank God! If He were looking at the outside, I'd be out. He's looking at my heart. He's looking at the hearts of men and women. He doesn't see things the way we do. That's it, man – having a heart for Him.
So David is bringing bread to his brothers. Now, David has been out with the sheep, and that can be a lonely place – unless you have intimacy. People can't satisfy what only God can. Most times, we long for something here that can only be satisfied by intimacy with the Father.
So David is out there, and when he goes to see his brothers, he hears the voice of a taunting giant, and he's like, "This is an uncircumcised, no-covenant-with-our-God man who is taunting us. He doesn't have covenant. Who's going to shut him down? Why is he allowed to speak?" (see 1 Samuel 17).
Saul and the whole army have been petrified for 40 days. No one has done anything. One of David's brothers accuses David of pride and arrogance and asks why he is there. David looks at the brother and says, "Is there not a cause?" (see 1 Samuel 17:29). What does he mean? This guy needs shutting up. He's defying the God of Israel, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – the God of our covenant – and he has no covenant. So who's going to shut him up?
I'm telling you, "Is there not a cause?" is so important. If only we could get that and realize that this is why we're Christians. Is there not a cause when someone asks you about your faith; when they ask you why you're praying for someone; about your joy – why you're not terrified? Is there not a cause? They're going to ask the questions – give them the Gospel!
So what does David do? He gives them testimonies of the times he defended the sheep against the lion and the bear. That was done in intimacy so that he could face the giant in public. Saul suggests his armor for David, but David is this kid who's out there and has so much faith in his Dad. David comes out there after gathering some stones and a sling.
Goliath is like, "Today, you're going down." But David is like, "No, today you picked a fight with a God that you don't know." See, it says that the giant curses David by his gods. These gods are mute and deaf. They're idols and lies. David responds, "The battle is the Lord's. Today, you are dead." David slings a stone into the middle of the giant's face and takes him down. Then he chops his head off with the giant's own sword (see 1 Samuel 17:43-51).
What does this do for the Body of Christ? Same thing it did for the Israelites. Before, they were petrified and expected David to die. The little boy didn't die; he chopped off Goliath's head. The Israelites then took over the Philistines. Why? Because one man had faith and vision and went after God and believed God. All God is asking you to be is one who believes Him and goes after Him with everything you are, with intimacy.
Facing the Lion, the Bear and the Giant
God will require you to kill a lion and a bear when no one is looking. It's good. Why? Because He doesn't want you to kill a lion and a bear to please a crowd.
Some of these giants are unforgiveness – stuff you've been dealing with your whole life; you're angry at someone... These giants need to go. These issues are your lion and your bear. You make sure that you do your due diligence to keep your heart clean in the place of intimacy, because nothing has the right to come with you into your closet to be with Jesus – to interfere with your relationship. But let me tell you, unforgiveness and bitterness interfere with relationship.
If you have a giant of bitterness or unforgiveness, I'm telling you to clean house right now. Get rid of it. How can you kill giants if you're letting these things eat your lunch? No, come on; we can eat them like bread. Why? Because the Living Bread is what you're required to live on. This is a huge deal.
You must be free from the things that hinder you, the sins that so easily ensnare you – that hold you back from living the life you're supposed to live with Jesus. Pick up the stone, man, and let's drop that giant today! Whom the Son makes free is free indeed!
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Todd White
Lifestyle Christianity
Email:Â click here
Website:Â www.lifestylechristianity.com
Todd White is the founder and president of Lifestyle Christianity, located in Watauga, Texas. Lifestyle Christianity began in 2014 as the evangelistic ministry of Todd White. Todd became a Christian in 2004 when he had a powerful salvation experience. Todd was a drug addict and atheist for 22 years. He was at the point of suicide when God came into his life and set him free. As a new Believer, Todd began sharing the simplicity of the Gospel of the Kingdom and what Jesus Christ accomplished at the Cross. It was common for Todd to see dozens of people healed as he shared Christ's love for them throughout his normal everyday life. Since that time, Todd has been passionately pursuing his call to see people fully walking in their identity in both the purity and power available in Christ. Lifestyle Christianity desires to see people walk in their God-given identity. Gripped by the simplicity of the Gospel and what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross, our heart is to see people brave the waves of fear and share the love of Jesus everywhere that they go.
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As you read the rest of Todd's word, remember that Goliaths must fall, and this will happen as we walk into our God-given authority and identity. (To Subscribe to the Elijah List 
