Morning by Morning, Saturday 2-13-10 – Lionheart! Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the Lion of the Tribe of Judah as well as the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. You are the Commander of the Army of the Lord as well as the Lamb who was led to slaughter and opened not Your mouth. Lord, let me know You as You are in every dimension of Your Being, so that I can learn to know myself in every dimension of my being. … “Once when Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up and saw a Man standing before him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua went to Him and said to Him, ‘Are You one of us or one of our adversaries?’ He replied, ‘Neither; but as Commander of the Army of the Lord I have now come.’ And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and he said to Him, ‘What do You command Your servant, Lord?’ The Commander of the Army of the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy.’ And Joshua did so” (Joshua 5:13-15). Lord, You woke me up this morning with my right arm stretched out, violently shaking. In my spirit, I saw a sword in my hand. I knew You were calling me to get up and pray. You’ve been speaking to my heart for several days about calling together the men of our city to prepare for war in the days to come. Men of faith must arise! We must know how to love and to lead, how to stand firm before men and how to bow low before our King. We must know how to walk in honor and authority, how to speak with dignity and power, how to listen with compassion and wisdom, how to act with decisiveness and confidence. We are the Army of the Lord and You are our Commander in Chief. We are to be lionhearted leaders of our families and of our city because we have the heart of the Lion who is our King. “See, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered…” (Revelation 5:5). It seems I hear You say: “Gather My men, my mighty men, whom I will train for war. I will teach them My ways and give them My heart, My Lionheart. I am He who sits in the heavens and I have uttered My voice in the earth. I am assembling My men to prepare their fingers for battle and their hands for war. This is a spiritual war, which must be fought with the heart, with My heart. And so I will give them My Lionheart.” Yes, Lord. Let it be so, according to Your word, in Your timing and in Your way. You bring to mind the fulfillment of Psalm 18, David’s song of great victory and praise for Your mighty deliverance: “I love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies…. The Lord also uttered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice…. For You deliver a humble people, but the haughty eyes You bring down. It is You who light my lamp; the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. By You I can crush a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall…. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of salvation, and Your right hand has supported me; Your help has made me great…. I pursued my enemies and overtook them; and did not turn back until they were consumed. I struck them down so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. For You girded me with strength for the battle; You made my assailants sink under me. You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed… I beat them fine, like dust before the wind; I cast them out like mire in the streets…. Foreigners lost heart, and came trembling out of their strongholds. The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock, and exalted by the God of my salvation…. For this I will extol You, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to Your name. Great triumphs He gives to His king, and shows steadfast love to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever” (Psalm 18:1-50). This is a spiritual war against spiritual enemies to be fought with the spiritual “weapons of our warfare” (2 Corinthians 10:4). This battle is not against enemies of flesh and blood, “but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). So we must know our victory because we know the Victorious One. We must know the weapons of our warfare and the nature of our battle and our enemy, as You enforce the victory of Your Cross through Your crucified ones (Galatians 2:20). We must hear the call to our battle and the cry of Your command uttered from the heart of the Lion King stirring the spirits of those You have given Your Lionheart. “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle!” (Psalm 144:1) Let the men of faith arise! Impart to us Your Lionheart! “Bow Your heavens, O Lord, and come down; touch the mountains so that they smoke…. Stretch out Your hand from on high; set me free! … May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, out daughters like corner pillars, cut for the building of the palace…. May there be no breach in the walls, no exile, and no cry of distress in our streets. Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall; happy are all the people whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 144:1-15). Lord, let it be so in my heart and in my city, for the glory of Your name. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, if this word this morning rings true in your spirit, please pray and pass word on to every man the Lord puts on your heart. Pass this on to every woman of prayer to rise up and pray for the men of faith to rise up and be prepared for the battles in the days to come. Men and women alike have a significant role in the battle plans of God as He enforces the victory of His Cross through His people. Our ministry has been planning a conference to affirm the essential role of women in spiritual leadership we're calling "Breaking the Silence" and this morning, I believe the Lord is also calling us to affirm the essential role of men as well, maybe in a conference or weekly gathering called "Lionheart." Please join me in prayer and I discern this with our leadership team in the days ahead. I also feel led to make our resource cd series available free of charge, as we're able, on Spiritual Warfare -- Fighting the Good Fight of the Faith -- available to any man free of charge or for any contribution to the cost who would commit to listen. This is my teaching on this topic, taped live at Christ for the Nations in Dallas, Texas. Send me a note for this or order it from our web site www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Thank you for joining in prayer. The Lord is gathering His army for such a time as this. If you'd like to be part of our intercessory prayer team with interaction and updates, please send a note to our Pastor of Prayer Ministries, Linda Dulin at PrayerLead@aol.com God bless you! Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order my books and our resources on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org