"Focus local."
The Rewards and Challenges of Local Stewardship
In Spring 2020 I published two books and launched online mentoring courses for moms across the nation. Women from 11 states joined. Then two years later I heard God whisper “Stop. Focus local.”
I was startled and disappointed. Meeting moms like Vivian in Georgia, Loren in California, Meredith, Portia and others taught me that no matter the age, ethnicity or region, mothers have life experiences that when shared in safety and vulnerability, can bring hope and healing. However, since pausing these national online parenting courses and investing that time in my local relationships, I have realized:
When stuff hits the fan we are going to need our neighbors and local friends and they are going to need us.
My region is more entrenched in global corruption than I realized.
The release of the “as it is in heaven” in our localities will bring conflict and a degree of hardship for us all.
1. The Local Community - Members of our church Life Group recently discussed the need for a Goshen mentality and what that might look like. We know we need to communicate to each other a commitment to help and support each other if tyrannical laws deny freedoms that we still enjoy. Whether it is growing and trading herbs or being able to teach children if schools close down for some reason, we are asking ourselves, “What can I give to those around me and what might I need from those around me if such-and-such happens?” My video Emergency Preparedness and Community Care gives other ideas.
2. Global Corruption amidst Local Wickedness - In the early 90s I discovered a few New Age facilities in my area. Ok, so what, right? However, in the last year, I have learned that these facilities have attracted individuals from around the world. Some teach remote viewing, another gets into shamanism, which is a form of high-level witchcraft. The third location has an interesting history and is a magnet for people into new age spirituality. Power is attractive, whether it is the power of darkness, the power national leaders wield, or the power of God. Unfortunately in my area, the power of God has not been sought by the leaders in education, real estate, health care, and commerce. Years of research has led me to conclude that many of my local leaders, past and present, have bitten the forbidden fruit and shaken hands with those, at home and abroad, seen and unseen that can give them power and its bedmates: money and prestige.
Leviticus 19:31
“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.
I did this research because I work with a few prayer warriors who, like me, want to do our part to pray, repent, and see our land healed. Knowing who are the wicked and what goes on around us can help us pray accurately and repent specifically for the sins committed in our localities. We, after all, are stewards of the land in which God has called us to live.
2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
God hears the effectual, fervent prayers of His people, made righteous by the Blood of His Son, Yeshua. I believe that God wants each of us to “focus local” not only so that we can invest in developing “Goshen” archetypes, know what wickedness lurks in our areas, pray against naivete and repent for any participation in that wickedness, but also so that we can partner with Him and see the Kingdom of Heaven be released in our localities.
3. Evidence of the Kingdom - Can you imagine what your community will look like if every believer embraced the exhortation of Matthew 10:8 and Matthew 28:18, both of which involve the endowment of the 3rd person of the Trinity?
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
I don’t believe that we have witnessed the full embrace of God’s Kingdom—evidenced by the visible manifestation of the Spirit of God in the earth. Joel 2:28 is clear: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.”
I believe tension and a level of conflict—in the unseen realm—will occur when more Christians take to heart these verses and step into a power that is available to us, as believers. We must receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire, evidenced by the gifts of 1 Corinthians 14. I was 20 years old when I asked God, not just to baptized me with His Spirit, but also His fire.
Matthew 3:11
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance,
but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
After the disciples experienced the divided tongues of fire in Jerusalem, which we call Pentecost, they operated in a degree of boldness that we need today. Not only did their preaching lead thousands of Gentiles to Jesus, (in fact Peter references Joel 2:28) but in the following chapters of Acts we read about the apostles healing a lame man, getting arrested for doing so, fostering interdependence within the community of believers (like a Goshen-concept), jail time and beatings by Roman law enforcement and performing signs and wonders, including a resurrection. The Book of Acts even demonstrates the power of God with the transformation of a murderer into an apostle.
In this list, you noticed the conflict that comes when the blessings of God are administered to people by the power of the Holy Spirit. Who wants to go to jail? Who wants to be persecuted? Being endowed by the Holy Spirit offers a radical faith-filled lifestyle. This radicalism stirs up the forces of evil that oppose everything that God has and offers. So a release of the Holy Spirit—the power from on High—the fully welcomed presence of God—the promise of the Father, will bring His blessings and stir up the demons (Ephesians 6:12) that reside in our localities.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Every Sunday my church prays the Lord’s Prayer, known as the “Our Father” in liturgical circles. We pray for things on earth to be as they are in heaven. The will of God for us is good physical health, mental and emotional vitality, provision and selflessness. His will for us it to worship Him and display His power and authority. He desires us to be bold and courageous in the face of danger. We are to exhibit His dominion over evil, a dominion which no sorcerer or girl possessed with a spirit of divination (Acts 16) can match.
Are you ready?
Are you willing?
Aren’t the blessings worth any conflict that comes?
Let’s each one of us focus on the land that God has called us to occupy until He comes.