The Time Is NOW!!! by Steve Montag

  

Isaiah 40:1-2:  “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!  Says your God.  Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”

 

Song of Songs 2:11:  “My beloved spoke, and said to me: ‘Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.  For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.  The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes gives a good smell.  Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away!’”

 

These words are familiar to us at The Father’s Heart.  We’ve been hearing these words for some time now.  It probably seems long because God has made so many promises to us but there seems to be a delay in these promises coming to pass.

 

You know, the enemy tries to discourage us when God’s promises are delayed.  The scriptures in Proverbs tell us that hope deferred makes the heart sick but the desire when it’s fulfilled is a tree of life.  Well it’s time for the tree of life to be fulfilled.

 

Let’s look at Ezekiel 12 verse 28. 

 

“Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ‘None of My words will be postponed any more, but the word which I speak will be done,’ says the Lord God.”

 

This verse in The Living Bible really drives it home.  It says, “Therefore say to them, the Lord God says ‘All delay has ended.  I will do it now!”

 

I believe God is putting an end to issues of delay.  These are the days of fulfillment!

 

There are two reasons why things seem to be delayed.  As Americans we live with a drive-thru, get-it-now mentality.  Patience is a lost art. We want things right now! 

 

The other part is not understanding God’s timing and what seems to us to be delay is actually God waiting on us.  He is posturing us to receive a greater blessing than we could have if He acted right then at that time.

 

Isaiah 30:18 says: “Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.  For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.”

 

God is never late but sometimes He seems to miss a lot of opportunities to show up early! 

 

God’s promises create hope and when that hope is deferred the scripture says it makes the heart sick.  We want it now, we don’t want to wait and go through the grinding process of waiting.

 

Isaiah 64 verses 4 and 5 say: “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, no has the eye seen any God beside You, who acts for the one who waits for Him.  You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways.”

 

I believe God is saying in this particular context that He comes to meet those who rejoice while they’re waiting.

 

That’s the key to not caving in, to rejoice in your waiting! No matter what the situation is or what seems to contradict or how tough the waiting is, we’ve got to praise Him.  We can rejoice that He’s not a man that he should lie.  It is impossible for God to lie. 

 

Sometimes when the fulfillment of promise seems a way off it’s because God is waiting.  He is changing our character and we can find a peace that takes hold of us and prepares us for something greater.

 

Other times the enemy is arranging obstacles to discourage us in our waiting.  During this time our emotions get worn down.  He tries to wear us out and create friction in our lives and our relationships. This is when we need a Holy Spirit lube job.

 

God wants to remove issues of delay, hindrances and obstacles in our lives.  He is our wholeness, our peace and the fulfillment of hearts’ desires and creative purpose and destiny.  His Word says, “I will do it now!”

 

Isaiah 33 verse 10 says: “Now I will rise, says the Lord; now I will be exalted, now I will lift Myself up.”

 

Psalm12 verses 5 & 6: “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, Now I will arise, says the Lord; I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”

 

What’s the guarantee for God’s promises?  Look at verse 6: “The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”

 

The word of the Lord is pure.  It comes to pass and never expires!  All delay has ended.  That which He has promised for your life is certain and sure.

 

Whatever the breakthrough is that you’ve been waiting for, address the reasons of delay by speaking God’s Word into that situation.  Don’t delay any further.  The warfare has ended, the winter is past, the time is NOW for your breakthrough!

 

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