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Hi Everyone! A very happy 2013 to you all!

Apologies for the silence… but without further ado, let’s dive into 2013 and what God has been saying to us!

At the beginning of the year, Katie gave us a word that we were no longer foot soldiers, but that God was placing us on horses. We were reminded of the scripture in Jeremiah 12:5: “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, Then how can you contend with horses? 

This word is actually a rebuke to Jeremiah when he wants to give up and just stay with the status quo. He has struggled so long with a people who do not want to hear his words, that he feels it might be easier to just accept things as they are. He is tired of fighting and tired of struggle and difficulty. As we find ourselves at the beginning of 2013, I believe that there are many among us who feel the same. We have started the year with words of ‘Change!’ and “Time for war” and ‘Shift’. While our spirit is willing, our flesh is feeling somewhat discouraged. We are discouraged because we feel it has been so difficult to just do what we did to get here. We feel that we have made heroic efforts, huge sacrifices to get this far. We feel that it is time to be rewarded, it is time for some things to be easy, it is time for God to cut us some slack. After all, it has been a hard slog and we have not complained. We have paid tremendous personal prices and now we want to see God do His part!

 I think that Jeremiah may have felt the same. But God rebukes him – If you have run with the footmen and they have wearied you, how will you contend with horses. Up to now, you have been running on the ground – but I created you to run with horses. The plans I have for you are so much greater and you want to give up already!

And if in the land of peace, In which you trusted, they wearied you, Then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan? When the Jordan flooded (generally at harvest time), the lions and other predators that lived in the reeds and bushes on either side of the river would be driven from their holes. These dangerous predators would spread through the country causing chaos – killing men and carrying off cattle. God is telling Jeremiah that all he has experienced thus far has actually be in peaceful circumstances – the real danger is still up ahead!

Now is not the time to be discouraged or looking for some peace and quiet in our lives. God has promoted us to run with horses. This can be applied on an individual basis – He has given us our own horses to ride, but I believe that in the Kingdom context, God is speaking to us corporately. Horses represent the apostolic. God has set us inside an apostolic commission and this commission (the horse) is now set to ride forth and accomplish that for which it was sent. 

God has set us amongst the horses. We have been promoted to a different arena. We are contending for something different than when we were simply footmen. This scripture says that there are horses we need to contend with. What are these other horses?  Horses represent apostles and the apostolic. An apostle’s counterpart in Satan’s Kingdom is a principality. It takes apostles to deal with principalities. It takes a government to take over a government. We are about to run with horses. God is looking for His Ekklesia to contend with systems and ideologies ruled over by principalities. He has enlarged our sphere of influence and positioned us in the battle for the Kingdoms of this world.

This promotion has shifted our position, pace and perspective. Running with horses is a different world to walking or even running with footmen. This shift is a game changer. The  field is different, the rules have changed, the pace is faster, the stakes are higher, but the victories are more far-reaching. If we are to survive in this arena, we need a dramatic change in our thinking. If we are to thrive, we need to reform our lives and if we are to overcome, then we need transformation.

Next blog… some of the specific issues we need to face in order to run with the horses!