September 19, 2025

Can These Dry Bones Live?

Several years back, the Holy Spirit gave a significant dream to my friend, Pastor Will Ford. Will shares:

“In the dream, I was becoming the steward of an 8-year-old boy who had a bad family background. When I asked if he wanted me to take him in, he said, ‘Yes. I had a vision of this related to 222.’ Unlike other dreams, when I awoke, I immediately knew the interpretation. The 222 was 2 Kings 22, where the story of the 8-year-old king Josiah takes place. Josiah also had a bad family background: His father, grandfather, and others before him had been wicked kings.

“But Hilkiah, the High Priest of his day, found the book of the law, which contained Israel’s history. Josiah’s life was changed as he read this book. He was touched and moved by God’s past faithfulness, and it appears that when Josiah read about God’s history with David and Israel, something inside him came alive. We’re told, ‘He did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father David’ (2 Kings 22:2). The interesting thing about this is that David was NOT his father. Josiah was thirteen generations removed from David, but in his and God’s hearts, the generational connection was still valid. Revival came to Israel because Josiah removed personal and national idols, and turned the nation back to the God of their father, David.

“From my dream, I knew that God was telling me to be like Hilkiah, the priest, and connect the next generation of ‘kings’ with God’s history of revival and faithfulness. Days later, I was given an opportunity to preach during Black History Week at New Beginnings Church in Fort Worth, Texas. The pastor, without knowing the details of my dream, asked me to speak on February 22 – yes, 2/22! Moreover, in Scripture, the number “8,” the ages of Josiah when he became king, and the young boy in my dream, represent new beginnings, the name of this church. During the meeting, people were saved, and we had a glorious time. For extras, that very day, 2/22, was the birthday of two kids present, one of them an 8-year-old and the other a 16-year-old! 

“There is a new beginning of kings and priests coming in our day, Josiah’s. God is going to connect them with what He did through the Son of David, Jesus, causing them to discover their destiny and birth the future. Their connection with Him will empower – not only personal – but also national destinies, just as it did with Josiah.”

A Josiah generation is about to arise. They will not all literally be eight-year-olds, of course, but they will be young. God is going to awaken them to who they are, a generation destined by Him to change the world. Thousands of them have been saved in the last week, thousands more will be saved this Sunday afternoon as they watch Charlie Kirk’s memorial service. It is not the memory of Charlie that will save them, but the Savior Charlie served. 

The radical way in which God used Charlie Kirk’s life, and is using his death, is prophetic of what He is about to do throughout the earth: a Josiah generation is about to be used to change the world.

My challenge to all of us today is that Hilkiah’s will be needed. Someone will have to help them find “the book,” for it is there that they will find their purpose and destiny.

Centuries ago, Ezekiel was given a vision of dry bones filling a valley. These skeletons represented the spiritual condition of Israel, apostate and spiritually dead. (see Ezekiel 37:1-10). God asked the prophet a question, “Can these bones live?” The answer came in the form of a demonstration. The prophet was told to prophesy life over them, releasing the breath of life. Through a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the “dry bones” were resurrected and became a great army. 

America has certainly become a nation filled with “dry bones,” millions upon millions who are spiritually dead. Can such a resurrection occur in our nation today? Can’t you just hear the aching heart of a passionate God asking His covenant friends, “Can these dry bones live?”

There are another three or four billion spiritual skeletons scattered throughout the earth: young and old, gay and straight, gangbangers and corporate execs, rich and poor, liberals and conservatives, left and right, and every other segment of society you can mention. They are hungry and thirsty, looking for something to satisfy their misidentified cravings; they’re spiritually dead, but looking for life. 

And yes, they can live!

Pray with me:

Father, let Your passions erupt now in us, that we may declare Your works to future generations. And through our agreement with these generations, bring about a synergy so powerful that it heals and transforms nations. Break false ideologies, humanistic thinking, confusion, and deception off of millions of Josiah’s in every school, college, and university. 

We speak to the dry bones of the earth and declare that death is being broken, and new life is being released! Breath is coming to them, and they will live! An army of Josiahs and Hilkiahs is on the way! Release generational blessings, and cut off curses from millions. We ask that future generations in our families would know Christ, that those yet to be created may praise You. Give them a sense of destiny at an early age, just as eight-year-old Josiah possessed. And give us a history with You to pass on to them.

And we pray for the gathering in Arizona this upcoming Sunday to honor the life and memory of Charlie Kirk. Give words of wisdom and truth to his pastor, Rob McCoy, and others who share. Use their words to bring comfort, strength, and grace to millions. Let the gospel be clear and powerfully anointed – You said the gospel is what releases Your power to bring salvation. Release it this Sunday. Save a million people through this service; awaken many more from spiritual slumber. All of this we ask in Jesus’ name, amen.

Our decree:

We declare that YES, these dry bones will live!

Click on the link below to watch the full video.

September 18, 2025

Superabounding Grace

“…so that no advantage would be taken of us by satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes..” (2 Corinthians 2:11)

God’s Word tells us in this verse that ignorance or a lack of knowledge concerning satan’s methods and tactics gives him an advantage. The Greek word used here for “advantage” actually conveys a stronger meaning. The word is pleonekteo, which is a compound word meaning literally “to have or hold the greater portion” (pleon—“more, the greater part”; echo—“have or hold”).(1) It is easy to see why this is a word for “covet.” It also means “overreach.”(2) 

In the sport of boxing, the person with the longer reach has the “advantage” and usually lands more blows. This word is also translated “make a gain”; satan makes a lot of gains on those who are unaware of his ways. Bullinger says it means “to make a prey of, to defraud.”(3) 

Satan, the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10), is always “coveting” more: more people, more power and authority, more territory on earth, more control of people’s minds and actions. Not only is he a thief, He is also spoken of as one who kills and destroys: satan wants to cause more violence, more pain, more death and destruction. These things flow from his nature, from who he is. 

A form of this same word, pleon, is used in another verse to describe the actions of satan. Romans 5:20 tells us that “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” The “abounding” of sin spoken of here is pleonazo: more, increasing, multiplying sin. Whether it be destruction, pain, violence, or just sin, generally speaking, satan wants more.

The second use of “abound” in this verse, however, referring to God’s grace, comes from an entirely different Greek word. It is unfortunate that some translations use the same English word to translate them. When they do so, the full meaning is missed. 

The Great Bible teacher and Greek scholar, Rick Renner, points this out far better than I could. Before he mentions the word, he begins by describing a time when strong attacks of persecution and violence were occurring in the nation where he pastored. The city was in a political upheaval. A bomb actually exploded so close to his residence that his house shook. Yet, in the midst of this, the Lord told them to expand, to launch out into new steps of faith. All logic said this was ridiculous, but the Lord kept instructing them to do so, telling him, “Dig in deeper! Keep pressing forward! Don’t let up for one minute! This is a perfect opportunity for the Gospel message to be spread even further!”

Renner says: 

“Right in the middle of all that chaos, we watched as God poured out His grace on us. Although it was a dangerous and difficult time, it was also a glorious moment to be serving in the Kingdom of God! God began to do marvelous new things in the nation where we lived. In that troublesome hour, people were open and hungry to know more about the things of God. They wanted answers and were willing to listen. As a result, people were saved; spiritual darkness was pushed back in people’s lives; and the Gospel was spread further than ever before! As God moved mightily in the nation, that very dark, precarious moment became a spiritually bright time as many were led into the Kingdom of God.”(4)

Then Renner gives the biblical explanation.

“This simultaneous operation of darkness and grace made me think of Romans 5:20, which says, ‘…Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.’ The word “abounded” that Paul uses to describe this abundance of sin comes from the Greek word pleonazo, which simply means “more.” It denotes something that exists in abundance. The Greek tense describes an abundance that is growing larger and more expansive with the passing of time. The implication is that sin is never stagnant but continually grows, increases, and expands. This means Romans 5:20 could be translated, ‘Where sin exists in abundance and is multiplying and constantly expanding….’ This describes the growing nature of unrestrained sin.

“But Paul doesn’t stop there! He goes on to say, ‘…Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.’ The words “much more abound” are from the Greek word huperperisseo, which describes something that is growing out of measure, beyond proportion, and out of its banks to a far-stretched extreme. It is like a giant river that is being flooded with water from upstream. Those waters are coming downstream so fast that the river can no longer hold the raging current in its banks. Its water rises, rises, and rises until it finally begins pouring out of its banks and begins to flood everything in sight. This is exactly the idea of the word Paul uses when he says, ‘…Grace did much more abound.’

“This means Romans 5:20 could be interpreted: ‘For wherever sin exists in abundance and is multiplying and constantly expanding, that is precisely the time and place where grace is poured out in a far greater, surpassing quantity.’”(5)

Incredible. Kenneth Wuest’s literal translation of the New Testament words this verse: “But where the sin was augmented, the grace superabounded with more added to that.” An endless, superabundant, never-ending supply of grace. Renner went on to say:

“Regardless of where we live and what we are facing — regardless of how bad the situation around us looks to our natural eyes — the grace of God is flowing downstream, and God is lavishly pouring it forth in abundant measure! In fact, it is impossible for us to imagine, measure, or even dream of the amount of divine grace God is sending in our direction. No banks can hold the flood of grace He is sending our way! It isn’t just ‘a lot’ of grace; it is more, more, more, and much more grace! The flood of grace will always far surpass the flood of sin and darkness!

“So when a situation looks bad, as it did so many years ago when we were living amid troublesome times in our part of the world, don’t be too surprised if you hear God’s Spirit say, ‘Pour it on! Keep it up! Don’t stop for a minute! Keep pressing ahead! It is in dark and difficult moments like these that I love to work the most! This is when My grace super-exceeds the darkness of the world. Wherever sin and darkness abound is where I really pour out My grace!’”(6)

We are seeing this fulfilled before our very eyes here in America. Satan, the thief and destroyer who is always coveting more; the one who divides with hatred and bitterness, promoting violence and murder; he who causes sin to abound, is desperately trying to stop what God is doing. And yet, the grace of God is overwhelming his actions EVERYWHERE. Grace is superabounding, with more added to that! Because of this, love will win, not hate; peace will win, not violence; the gospel will win, not the voice of evil.

So, as Holy Spirit spoke through Rick Renner, “Pour it on! Keep it up! Don’t stop for a minute! Keep pressing ahead! It is in dark and difficult moments like these that I love to work the most!”

Pray with me:

Father, God of superabundant, mega grace (Acts 4:33), we clearly see Your cascading river of life flowing into our nation, as well as to other nations. It is flowing downstream from heaven to earth so fast that the riverbed can no longer hold the powerful current. The water is rising and rising, pouring out of its banks and flooding everything in sight. We ask for this to increase even more, and more, and more. 

In 2001, You showed me this river of life, this revival fire, blazing across the campuses of our nation…an unstoppable, raging, holy fire of revival. This has begun, now we ask You for more. Give us more of Your superabundant grace, bringing superabundant salvation, overcoming satan‘s inferior power of sin and death. We agree with Your statement to me in that vision, “Nothing can stop this. Nothing.”

Our decree:

We declare that where sin abounds, grace SUPERABOUNDS!

Click on the link below to watch the full video.

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1. Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary (Iowa Falls, IA: Word Bible Publishers, 1992), p. 1173. 

2. James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), ref. no. 4122.

3. Ethelbert W. Bullinger, A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1975),  p. 28. 

4. https://renner.org/article/where-sin-abounds-grace-much-more-abounds/ 

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

September 17, 2025

God is Looking for Companionship - YOURS!

God is misunderstood by many. Perceived as distant, He is often ignored. Considered judgmental and legalistic, He is thought by some to be intimidating and one to steer clear of. And mistakenly thought of by His children as one who likes hearing how great He is, God is praised. Now that I have your attention…

Please don’t misunderstand me. Giving praise to God is obviously good and appropriate. It is our reason for doing so that needs some tweaking. God does not need to be reminded of His greatness or strength. He is not narcissistic, needing to be told how wonderful He is in order to satisfy an inflated ego, nor is He insecure, needing to be reassured that He really is awesome. Some people actually believe that praise motivates God to action in order to demonstrate His power - tell Him He’s great and He will fight for you. Others think He can be bought or manipulated, rewarding us with His presence because our praises have made Him feel good. There are many misguided ideas about praise and worship. The truth is, God neither needs nor is He seeking worship.

He IS, however, seeking worshipers (John 4:23). 

The difference is immeasurable. WE ARE the worship. God longs for the singer, not the song. Our heart as a worshiper is what makes our singing worship, not the words and music. He’d rather have a love-filled glance from your eyes than a song parroted from your lips.

When my kids were young and anxiously waited for Daddy to return home from work, they didn’t meet me at the door with a song. They leaped into my arms and gave me a big hug.

When God created us, He made kids not a choir; family members not church members. He wants love, not liturgy. Far too often, our worship is simply a segment of a service, rather than a time to become intimate with Father God. Most church attendees do not understand that God is a lover as well as a Lord. And it was not His “Lord” nature that prompted Him to create us. Had that been God’s desire, He could have made a few billion more angels. It was His “love” nature, His “Abba” heart, that motivated God to create us.

Jesus, who came to earth not only to redeem us but to show us what God is truly like (John 14:9), provided a great glimpse of the Father‘s heart in John, chapter 4. A loose-living, five-time divorced, currently shacked-up, societal outcast met a man interested in her heart, not her body. 

Left alone with her at a well while His disciples went looking for food, Jesus first shocked this woman by breaking Jewish protocol and engaging her in conversation. Based on the ensuing dialogue, it seems obvious that He knew her lifestyle from the moment He saw her. It also seems obvious that He intended to change it. "Go, call your husband and come here," He said to her.

“I have no husband,” the woman answered Him.

Then, in His inimitable, supernatural way, Jesus cut to the chase. “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly” (John 4:16-18). The Lord wasn’t saying this to condemn the woman but to get her attention and begin revealing who He actually was. He had seen something more than lust for sensual pleasure when looking into this woman’s soul; He saw a thirsty heart and potential worshiper.

Knowing He would first have to lead her out of the blinding fog of non-relational religion and past the stumbling block of racial division, Jesus ignored her question about where she should worship and went straight to how:

“Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain or in Jerusalem will you worship the Father…An hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’“ (John 4:21-24)

Jesus went to the heart of the matter, shifting the concept of worship from the place to the person, which was a radical paradigm shift in her day. I’m sure she had never thought about this, and certainly not that God was actually seeking worshipers. “He’d like you to be one” was the obvious invitation.

She was hooked. That God might actually be seeking her companionship was beyond this woman's wildest dreams. How could He possibly want her? But He did. In one moment, her shame was broken, and joy filled her heart. It feels good to be wanted for the right reasons. This new worshiper was so excited, she ran and told her village about Jesus, and they, too, ended up believing in Him.

Jesus was too excited to eat!

When the disciples returned, they were amazed that He was speaking with this immoral woman. Jesus was impervious to their shock, however, and completely unconcerned about His reputation. His excitement about transforming lives and finding true worshipers was far greater than any concern over His reputation. On one occasion, He actually allowed a prostitute to enter a person’s home and, while they ate, bathe His feet with her tears (Luke 7:36-50). In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees wouldn’t eat with “sinners” or allow them into their homes (Mark 2:16).

Awkward! 

But not to Jesus. He was on a search for true worshipers, and their pasts weren’t an issue with Him, only their hearts.

Christ is still seeking true worshipers today. If the God you’ve been shown is distant, uncaring, stoic, or enamored with Himself, you've been duped. The true God is passionate, caring, a lover of people, and a seeker of companionship – yours.(1)

Pray with me:

Father, there are many “outcasts” You will draw to Yourself in the coming revival. You are not shocked by people’s sin, their past. And You do not find it difficult to welcome them into Your family. Keep us reminded of this as we represent You. Help us to see hearts, not the outer shell. 

And help us make the coming movement a “worshiper” movement. We love to sing, to speak of Your greatness, Your power, Your love, and this is good. Remind us, however, that only when this emanates from the heart does it become true worship and bring You pleasure. Remind us that You are seeking the worshiper, not acclaim. It’s love from Your kids that brings You joy, not flattery; relationship, not religion. 

Tens of thousands are now going to churches trying to find You. Please lead them in this process. Keep them from stale religion, legalism, and traditionalism; lead them to passion, fire, and intimacy with You. Help them find places where they won’t be judged for their past, but loved and accepted. Satisfy their hungry hearts. All of this we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our decree:

We decree that, like the woman at the well, the thirsty are finding their way to the river of living water. 

Today’s post was taken from my book, The Pleasure of His Company.

Click on the link below to watch the full video.

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1. Dutch Sheets, The Pleasure of His Company (Bloomington, MN: Bethany House Publishers); adapted from portions of chapter 2.