But the people who know their God will prove strong and act accordingly.
(Daniel 11:32)
Israel is God’s hand on the world clock. This means that what happens to God’s chosen people shows what the hour has come for the world as a whole and for the body of Christ in particular.
Now we see the following: the people of Israel have been attacked more massively in the past year than they have been for at least 50 years. One can even speak of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, perpetrated by Hamas on the basis of an ideology that is in many respects comparable to National Socialism.
At the same time, we are seeing a massive increase in the number of Christian martyrs worldwide, as Christians are being persecuted on an increasingly massive scale in more and more countries. Even in the western world, there are now cases of targeted, albeit mostly non-governmental, persecution of Christians.
At the same time, Europe and the world as a whole continue to be held in suspense by the war in Ukraine, the gas crisis, climate crisis, financial crisis, etc. are sending shockwaves.
The dissolution of warm family values, loneliness and social division are also causing us problems.
It can truly be said that we are living in the time spoken of by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 60:2: For behold, darkness covers the earth and darkness the nations…
The prophet Daniel also speaks of the same time, but he counters the darkness of this world with a big “but”: But the people who know their God will prove strong and act accordingly (Dan 11:32)
This means that in the midst of times of war, upheaval and crisis, God calls a people who know him and who thus prove themselves strong in the midst of the darkness of this world and act out of this strength.
In the midst of the darkness of this world, God calls for a people who know Him and prove themselves strong out of it!
Jesus came and proclaimed in his prayer to the Father in John 17: “But this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent, Jesus Christ.
And when Philip asked Jesus to show the disciples the Father, Jesus replied: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14:9)
In other words, through the person of Jesus Christ we can actually recognize God for who he is and we can enter into a personal relationship with him.
God said of Moses that he spoke to him as a man speaks to his friend (Exodus 33:11). Through the New Covenant made through Jesus, God has placed us in an even better position in relation to God than Moses ever had. This means that as children of God who have accepted Jesus into their lives and have set out to get to know him better and better, we can have at least as good a relationship with God as Moses!
And those who know God become strong. Strong even in the face of the greatest challenges that this world and life in this world bring us. Strong even when many others become weak and see no hope and no way forward. Strong to tackle things and move forward, especially when others begin to fall into passivity, fearfulness and retreat!
I believe with all my heart: 2024 is not a year for passivity and retreat, but 2024 is a year of offense from God, where those who know their God go forward with all determination and consistency, are not intimidated, actively resist the powers of darkness and thus take the land that God has destined for them.
What did God say to Joshua? Arise now and cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land I am giving them, the sons of Israel! Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon – I have given it to you…(Joshua 1:2-3)
2024 is not a year of defense and retreat for the body of Christ, but a year of offense, where we take the land of promise with all determination!
Let’s take another look at the people of Israel, God’s hand on the world clock: after the Hamas attack, there was and is only one realistic option for this people: a consistent offensive until the complete destruction of this diabolical enemy. Not everyone may see it that way immediately, and of course we pray that innocent lives in the Gaza Strip will be spared as far as possible and that peace will return without unnecessary bloodshed. Our battle as Christians is not against flesh and blood, but against the authorities, against the powers, against the world rulers of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)
But in the natural world, there is currently no alternative to the offensive for the people of Israel, neither militarily nor politically.
And what applies to the people of Israel in the natural applies to us in the spirit: I believe that in this time there is no alternative to the spiritual offensive for the people of God according to the Spirit (i.e. the body of Christ made up of Jews and Gentiles)!
This means there is nothing else to do but strengthen ourselves in spirit and take our stand against the powers of darkness with all determination
and at the same time to go forward spiritually without any intimidation and to set foot on the land promised to us.
As the name suggests, our promised land is concretized by the promises of God: First and foremost, the promise of the assertion of his glory in all areas of human life: For at the end of time the whole earth will be covered with it to see the glory of the Lord, just as the waters cover the seas (Hab 2:14).
Whether that is our very personal lives with all their aspects, our families, our relationships and our places of residence, our workplaces or our nations as a whole:
Everywhere the knowledge of the glory of the Lord is to prevail, and God is pushing forward this realization on this earth through those who know their God – that is, those who carry Jesus Christ within them!
There is no alternative to the spiritual offensive for the people of God in this time: the glory of God must simply prevail more and more in all areas!
In other words, there are two things that God wants to make us particularly aware of in 2024 so that we take hold of them in faith and make them important cornerstones of our lives:
1) The ever new and deeper recognition and knowledge of God.
Moses knew God – why? Because he met him regularly, face to face, like a man with his friend.
Exactly the same should be a very high priority for our lives: We should constantly and consistently make space in our lives to encounter God.
How do we do that?
Isaiah 30:15 Through repentance and rest you will be saved. In quietness and in trust is your strength.
In other words, by consciously and resolutely turning away again and again from the distractions of this world and turning towards God and our encounter with him. And this in turn happens by entering into his peace and becoming still before him.
In this extremely noisy time of thousands of distractions, we need to pursue, learn and then maintain the art of being still before God in a particularly consistent way.
God does not transcend the loud voices that resound in our souls from the world and echo in our thoughts, but he expects us to quiet our souls before him and shut out all other voices so that he can meet us exclusively.
This requires trust. Trust that God means well with us and that he really wants to meet us, as he promises us in his word.
And trust, even if we don’t immediately experience something specific with God, to keep at it anyway and simply continue to pursue these times of silence before him, because however he does this in individual cases: he meets a heart that consistently aligns itself quietly with him. Definitely!
You will hear it, see it or perceive it in some other way, and the direction for your life will become clear to you in your innermost being. And then you can
2) Consciously take up your country again and again, the promises of God for your life. There are so many things that God wants to do for you and through you to change this world in the direction of His glory.
Never think small, but think big: Make wide the space of your tent, and stretch out your tent covers! Do not spare! Make your ropes long and your stakes firm! For you will spread out to the right and to the left… Isaiah 54:2-3
So let the Holy Spirit take you by the hand in this coming year 2024, start dreaming big with him and set out to proactively claim your own personal land of promise.
Decide to bear much fruit and move aggressively toward the visions of your heart. Don’t give the enemy room to let you sink into passivity, intimidation, depression or fear, but take hold of the promises God has given you. In other words: Arise, be light! For your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! (Isa 60:1)
With this in mind, I wish you a year 2024 in which you get to know God ever more deeply and proactively take possession of your promised land – much fruit for the Kingdom of God!
In Jesus’ love
Your Georg Karl