The Lord came down on Mt. Sinai with great kindness to speak to the people and tell them exactly what He was going to do. He had plans to bless them and set them in order as the entered the Promised Land.   The people were instructed to remain at the bottom of the mountain while God revealed Himself to them through fire, lightning, and thunder. Moses was called to go up the mountain to receive the Word of the Lord for the people.  He spent 40 days in the glory cloud and God inscribed the tablets with His own finger giving people the rules they were to follow as they entered the Land.  All the people had to do was wait with expectant, trusting hearts. God was orchestrating everything. Impatience, however, caused the crowd to come up with their own plan. They grew tired of waiting for Moses, so out of their plunder from Egypt, they thought they could create a god that would lead them forward.  The precious covenant the Lord was writing with His own finger was usurped by the golden calf, a symbol of  idolatry and unbelief. God knew what they were doing, He heard the revelry and ritual going on at the base of the mountain and told Moses to go down to them. Yahweh was ready to destroy them, but Moses saved them through intercession.  This happened on the 17th of Tammuz.

In the three weeks that followed, the Israelites resumed their journey and Moses sent in the 12 spies to explore the land.  What is important for us to note is that as we draw near to the time of obtaining our promises, the enemy throws every snare he can think of at us to knock us off course.  He wants us to turn away from God, to be distracted and discouraged, he wants our loyalty.  It is critical that we stay above the fray, looking beyond the chaos going on around us.  Personally, and nationally, our covenant with God is being tested.  Exodus 32:25-26 provides a perfect picture of what is going on.

Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control – for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies – then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!”  And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him.

Moses drew a line in the sand and called those who would be faithful to stand with him.  The tribe of Levi, the priests, were the ones who came to him.  What about all the others?  What were they thinking?

What are we thinking?  Have you felt the waves of discouragement and despair this past week?  Are you looking ahead not knowing how you are possibly going to withstand the attacks, whether emotionally or physically, financially or relationally?  Do you feel like throwing in the towel?  Or have you stepped over the line , even in your weakness, and declared your allegiance to the Lord?  Have you said, “Lord, I’m all in?” Have you set your face like flint?

In this war, we must choose a side, no more double-mindedness.  If you choose to receive the Holy Spirit anointing of the new era, you are going to accelerate into a new dimension, a quantum dimension.  No more living off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but rather the tree of life that represents a dimension of life in the Spirit.  If you are not quite sure and you hang back, you will be left in the material dimension of time and space where your senses are more real than your Spirit.

Undoubtedly, you can sense that things feel different, people seem different. The world is changing.    Jesus is looking at us to determine if we are hot or cold.  Remember He said the lukewarm he would spit out of His mouth!  But the real key is whether or not we are choosing to moveinto the spiritual dimension where the resurrected Christ is the only one we trust.  Romans 12:2  tells us not to be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.  This speaks of renewing our mind to the mind of Christ.  It’s transformative, it’s drawing a line in the sand and saying ‘no going back.’

This 3-week period called The Dire Straits culminates on the 9^th of Av (sunset, July 22, 2026), the day the Israelites would make their choice to enter the Promised Land.  The spies returned with their negativity and unbelief to sway the entire congregation, except for Joshua and Caleb.  After all they had been through to get to the entrance, they were not able to trust God enough to enter in.  During the next couple weeks, it is critical that we press in to know our God; that we focus on His promises, that we praise Him for His goodness to us, that we hold fast to His Presence and power to deliver us and move us forward.

It is so easy to be consumed by the chaos around us. If our eyes are on the media, it’s going to be hard to stand strong.  Like the fake reporters, the ten spies came back with a report of fear and doomsday. They never report anything good or hopeful.   Instead of focusing on the fruitfulness and abundance they were promised, they were talking about being overwhelmed by giants.  They were looking at their own strength, seeing themselves as small in comparison.

It is true that we have lies, lawlessness and violence all around us that can seem too big to conquer, but the greater Truth is that we have a Faithful God Who has promised to walk with us and cause us to prosper in all things.  He has established covenant with us in the Blood of His Son.  He has mantled us with a call and a purpose to rule and reign with Him over this present darkness.  Just because you can’t see all that He is doing, doesn’t mean He’s not working.  If you present yourself to Him, He is going to cause His anointing to manifest in you regardless of your feelings.

We can walk through the turbulence of the season victoriously because He said we could!  The Passion Translation of Matthew 11:12 reminds us that from the time of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven is bursting forth and passionate people have taken hold of its power.  Never has there been a time of greater invitation to embrace the power of God and believe what He said about us before the foundation of the earth.   Don’t let the narrowness of the path convince you that it’s the wrong path.  Keep moving. Fast and pray. Guard your heart and your mind. Meditate on being “In Him.”

The spacious place of His Promise is already in you.  Dive deeper to gain the revelation, then believe!