God is demanding that we take a stand for righteousness. We must stand for righteousness! If you see someone struggling, reach out aggressively and pull them out of the deception, because you are not fighting for their relationship with you, you are fighting for their souls and, in the end, you will save the relationship! But the soul, their soul, is what God is hungering for and should that not be what we hunger for as well?



The kingdom of God is righteousness, integrity, virtue, and purity of life. It is righteousness in thinking, feeling and acting. When you live a life conscious of the Kingdom of God, you have peace. You may not have peace in your surroundings, but your peace comes from Him. Paul says, “He that serveth Christ in these things, is acceptable to God. Therefore, let us follow after the things that make for peace and edify one another.” That word “edify,” is the act of building an edifice, one that serves as a home.



Romans 14, verses 1 and 19, really create a beautiful bookend for us: “Him that is weak in the faith, receive ye…Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” How do we, as believers, as leaders, as children of God, citizens of the Kingdom of God, accomplish this? We bring forth instruction that builds a person up to be a suitable dwelling place for the Lord. If you accept or receive one who is weak, you aggressively reach out to impact their lives and then immediately move into edifying that person in order to build up a dwelling place for the Lord.



My friends, that is what we are called to do. The new breed of believers God is creating out of this season of refining—that is definitely what they will do. They will pull people from the clutches of Satan himself and then take that person and build them up and edify them to be a dwelling place of God. We have been called to be leaders in this effort. God has been training and preparing us for this, for years! Every day I say, “God, please! Please, if there be any wicked way in me, show it, that I might throw it at Your feet. If I am a stumbling block to someone, show me how I am a stumbling block, that I might lay it at Your feet!” Why? So that I can be used to the fullest extent by Him in the days ahead.



We are called to a higher place in God than we ever thought possible. The enemy wants to convince us that our call is limited by our human nature, however, we are called to higher places in God. Why do I repeat that statement? Because we are CALLED to higher places in God! If we can wrap our heads around this fact, this knowledge, and embrace this understanding, we will transform our way of thinking. We will avail ourselves to the Spirit of God in such a way that He can accomplish the transformative work within us, in partnership with our own efforts to achieve this position in God.



In Acts 5:15 we learn that people would bring the sick to Peter and lay them out where he walked so that his shadow would pass over them and they would be healed. In Acts 19:11-12 we read that handkerchiefs or aprons that touched the skin of the Apostle Paul were given to people and diseases and evil spirits left them! This cloth wasn’t sent by overnight mail. It was placed in a person’s bag and they would travel great distances on foot, by donkey, or boat to hand that cloth over to sick individuals and they’d be healed! Why? Faith. It is so simple—by faith we are healed. By faith we are saved. By FAITH! Somehow, the enemy has convinced us that the further in time we are from the resurrection of our Lord, the further we are from Him. That’s simply not true! The Spirit of God is the same yesterday, today and forever! These are the high places God is calling us to walk in, my friends!



God is calling His children back into relationship with Him. He sent His Son to live, die and rise in order to make that possible. If He were willing to take such drastic steps to unite Himself with His creation, why would He put limitations on that relationship today? Our only limitations come from our lack of faith and our unwillingness to die to the flesh. He longs to bring us up into the higher places in Him, and at that place, our flesh takes a back burner.



The number one response I receive from this statement is, “It’s just so hard!” And you know what? Yes, it is hard at first, absolutely! However, the further we go, the closer we draw into Him, the hungrier we are for Him, and the easier it is to let go of that which was holding us back. And the more we will see His priority in this life that we are living—it’s our soul, it’s the souls of the lost.



The service of our faith is the call to righteousness. It is not one of pride. In fact, it takes a lot of brokenness to get there and in His mercy, He takes us there and He gives us the grace to cross that finish line.



Closing Prayer:



Heavenly Father, thank You for what You are doing in the Body of Christ. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for helping us to go deep in Your Word to get those nuggets that transform our inner man, those truths Lord, that change us and transform us into Your image, creating vessels ready to be used by You. I thank You, I have so much gratitude in my heart. “Thank You,” does not seem like enough for what You have done for us! I see what You have done in our team! I see what You have done in the intercessors, I see what You are doing in Your children and I thank You for not giving up on us! Thank you for receiving us, for aggressively reaching into our lives and pulling us out of the darkness! Thank You! Continue Your work in us, Lord, day-in and day-out! Continue Your work in us! Seal this time with Your blood oh Lord, in Your precious name, amen!

Blessings & Love,

Ricci Wilson