The Reservist

I'm going to try to be straight and to the point since this is a longer post. I will be talking about the Military Reserves a little, but I do not mean any disrespect to them. I was a reservist myself. This will be bold and may offend. If it does, I do not apologize. Examine yourself if it bothers you. It might be for you.

I prayed and asked God for release before I posted this.

It's been a while since I had such a vivid dream. I woke from this at 3:30 this morning and have been praying about it since then. "God is this directed at me?"

He said, "No! Sound the alarm, now!"

In my dream…

I was going about my daily business. Suddenly I got a call from my company commander. “We are being mobilized,” he said. “There is war! Grab your gear and let's go.”

With this news I started running around helter-skelter, trying to get all my gear together for mobilization and deployment. I got really frustrated. I couldn't even find my ruck sack to pack things into. So, I grabbed an old gym bag and started stuffing it. I called my son because he was used to being mobilized and deployed. I figured he would have the things I needed to get packed in case I was missing anything.

He said, "Dad, calm down. Getting excited is not good. You’ll forget what you need to pack." So, I took a deep breath and finished packing. I headed for my car.

As I walked out the door, someone yelled, “You forgot your cover.” I reached up and noticed my hat was missing. I went back in and couldn't find it. I searched all over with no results. So, I called my son again. I asked him if he had an extra hat I could borrow.

He said, “Dad, you can't wear mine. I'm a sergeant, and my rank is different than yours.”

So, I left without it. They’ll be okay if I show up without headgear, I told myself. Someone there will let me have a cap. I got a couple miles down the road and realized I hadn’t grabbed my uniform belt.

I turned around and headed back. I ran into my house, screaming at everyone, “Where is my belt?” I couldn’t find the uniform belt, so I grabbed my old brown civilian one, deciding it would have to work. I knew I was very late now and almost decided to break orders by staying home. It was during this stressful moment that I woke up.

When I asked God if this was for me, this is what He showed me:

We call ourselves the remnant, but that doesn’t mean we are prepared. We say we are ready but because we truly have nothing set up for an urgent move forward, we will find ourselves running around as if we are the reservist lost and caught off guard when the call for mobilization comes in.

This was the word I feel God has for those who in this place:

1. You are packing your gear in old baggage when God has provided for you the proper type of gear. You have not dealt with your own issues, yet you want to go out and help others while you are still dragging things around in the old bag. God has warned you time and again to deal with the things in your life, yet you failed to do so. Now the only thing you have to carry anything in is the old, damaged tote. But it won't carry the anointing necessary to move forward and you will be left out in the end.

2. God has also warned you time and again that you need to be under a covering. You’ve allowed pride to build up, thinking you can go it alone or with just a few people surrounding you. But that is not a proper covering. God even instructed Paul to seek a covering. He was the chief of apostles, yet he still brought himself under subjection to the apostles of Jerusalem. If you think that you don't need a covering, you are mistaken and walking in rebellion to His Word. Which goes so far as to say that rebellion is like the work of witchcraft. (1 Samuel 15:23)

3. Because you lack covering and therefore are walking in rebellion, you are trying to stride in an anointing you are not prepared for. It will cause damage to you and those around you (like trying to get some else’s spare cap – my son is a sergeant, different levels of authority). You must walk in your own anointing. Not the anointing you think you have, but the anointing you have truly been given by the Father through Holy Ghost. Paul told Timothy to stir up the gifts that were given to him by the laying on of hands of the leadership. Listen, I'm not trying to get on anyone. This is like the sons of Sceva. (Acts 19:13-15) The demon said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?” The demon was able to refused the sons because they assumed they had more anointing than they truly had. Why did they think this? Because their father was the chief priest of the time and they thought because of that they had more authority. Just because you know someone or are related to someone doesn't mean you have their anointing. You must walk it out. You must be trained up. My son didn't become staff sergeant overnight. He has been 10 years in the training. I thought that because I knew him, I could borrow his hat. I thought I could borrow his anointing and operate in it. But I can’t.
It is not that he is better than me. It's not that he is favored more than me. It's not that I can't attain to his level. I'm just not there yet. Don't be fooled into believing that you are more or less anointed than someone else. You just walk in something different, but it's by the same Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12) You need to operate where God has placed in you. You operate in the faith that you possess in that moment. In other words, don't just prophesy to someone for the sake of being heard. If someone prophesies to me prosperity but is still living in the basement of their aunt's house, I will question their authority to prophesy prosperity. But if that person is walking in the blessings of God and are tithers and are giving offering (even if they aren't driving a Mercedes) you better believe I will receive that word. They are walking it out. You must learn to walk in what God has anointed you in! Let me put it in farmer's terms: Know your row and hoe there. Chopping weeds in someone else's row could get you into deeper weeds than you want, and they will overwhelm you and take you out. Ask the seven sons of Sceva.

4. I couldn't find my belt, so I grabbed one that wasn't part of the uniform. The belt or girdle represents the truth. It is the first part of the armor of God mentioned in Ephesians 6:14. In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the truth”. In John, chapter 1 it says that “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God.” We have compromised the Gospel, the truth. We accept the part of it that is convenient instead of rightly dividing it and knowing it. Jesus is the Word and when we choose to accept what is convenient instead of the truth, we compromise Who Jesus is in us and the world we are sent to teach truth to! We are preaching and teaching things that aren't correct. We have girdled ourselves with things taught by men and have taken it for the Gospel and it is wrong! “Study to show thyself approved, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word.” (2 Timothy 13-15) Before you can divide the Word you have to know the Word. To know the Word, you must be in the Word. We have laid the Word down for whatever reason and it has been misplaced with the compromised opinion of man and it will not fit the uniform!

Be prepared for the clarion call that is going forward. Get prepared now before it's too late and the call goes out. This is a warning shot across your bow. Are you paying attention or are you ignoring it because of who it is coming from?