Oceans in the Desert

By Kathi Pelton

Recently, during a time of intercession, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Kathi, do you know what the enemy hates most of all? He hates my image in every created person.”

Instantly I understood why we are witnessing the depth of depravity regarding identity, gender, and sexuality that we see today. Last week’s Democratic National Convention featured a panel that hosted an individual who claims to be a “Black-Vietnamese, transgender nonbinary/gender transcendent mermaid Queen-King.” The attack against our children and our children’s children, regarding identity and the image of God that they were created to display, is beyond anything that we could have ever imagined in years past. If someone would have suggested that a political party would have hosted a panelist that claimed to be a “mermaid Queen-King” we would have shaken our heads and said, “That will never happen!” And yet it is happening.

What was yesterday’s insanity is today’s celebrated norm. The confusion and delusion is truly mind boggling. In saying this, there is no hate or lack of compassion for those who have been caught in this great deception because if Jesus were here waking the earth, these are the ones He would have dined with and told stories to that would have brought them to salvation. Oh, how He loves all who He has created; and we must do the same.

My point in bringing up this level of confusion regarding identity, gender, and sexuality is to point out that the enemy absolutely hates to have to look upon the image of God within you and me and our children. He wants to wipe it out; make it so distorted and diluted that God’s image within mankind is unrecognizable.

It is the greatest mockery of God’s creation. This mockery and perversion of true identity is a slap in the face of our crucified Savior. It is not only a great wound piercing the heart of Jesus but it is heart-breaking and heart-wrenching to every Christian parent that has loved their their precious son or daughter, dedicated them to Christ, sung over them lullabies of Jesus’ love, and raised them in the truths of the Word, only to see them caught in the trap of this great deception.

How do I know this? Because one of my beautiful children has been caught in this deception. All our other children and their spouses love the Lord with all of their hearts, but this one precious child has been stolen and is trapped in a life that is destroying the beauty of the image of God that she was created in. As a parent, who loved and nurtured such a beautiful creation, I find my heart so deeply grieved for such a waste of beauty and identity— I grieve for the loss of all of the plans that the Lord has for her life that are not being lived out.

But this article is not about my child but about “our children and our children’s children!” This may be one of the greatest attacks on mankind ever played out. So, what can we do?

Jesus is the great Intercessor and we must join Him as intercessors. When I hear a believer say that he or she is not a “great intercessor” (as if that were a calling such as a pastor, teacher or apostle) I immediately think, “Well, it’s time to become one!” We are all to have prayer and intercession be nurtured in our lives in the same way we nurture our lives with the Word of God. I’ve never heard a true Christian say, “I’m not a follower of the Bible.” We all know and understand that the Word of God is our lamp that lights our path; that is undisputed. So, why do we label some people “intercessors” and some not? If we want to see the image of God in our children and in the generation that is being born today, then we must join Jesus in His intercession for them!

“Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Romans‬ ‭8:34‬ ‭

Rather than condemn, we must begin to intercede! We must allow our private times with the Lord and even our corporate times together to become times that we enter into His intercession. In 2016 I was involved in a time of corporate intercession, along with ten thousand other believers from all across the world, as we entered into the intercession of Jesus for the US elections. There was no mention of a particular candidate, but rather a crying out for His will to be done. I watched as thousands of Chinese men and women rushed to the front of this convention center in Jerusalem to “push” in prayer. It wasn’t even their nation being prayed for but they entered into the intercession of Jesus with groaning too deep for words.

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Romans 8:26

The “wordless groans” were so deep and pure. They were bringing heaven to earth. The next day most of us were completely shocked by the election results— to this day I believe it was birthed in intercession by the nations of the world who entered into the intercession of Christ.

What if we began to do this for our children; for the preservation and revelation of “the image of God” that is within them? What if rather than another conference we gathered to intercede? If we grabbed the horns of the altar and did not let go until we saw the breakthrough?

“Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, so he rushed to the sacred tent and grabbed on to the horns of the altar.” 1 Kings 1:50

In the Old Testiment, Adonijah had sinned greatly and he knew to run to the altar and plead for mercy— and he received it and his life was spared.

Stephen S. Gibney writes this about the altar with the horns, “The altar has two meanings: the first meaning was that the altar symbolized the cross of Christ (Heb 13:10) and the second is that the altar symbolized fiery prayer (Lev. 6:13). One man said that, ‘Altars were places where the divine and human worlds interacted. Altars were places of exchange, communication, and influence. God responded actively to altar activity.’”

Rather than shaking our heads at the narrative regarding identity and gender in the world today, isn’t it time for us to go before the cross of Christ in fiery prayer and watch the divine world and the human world interact until we see a breakthrough?

This is a battle fought in heavenly places. What is being played out on earth is not fought on earth but in the place of intercession— the intercession of Jesus. If conferences and corporate gatherings were to become prayer meeting where we took hold of the horns on the altar and cried out for mercy, we could see our children saved from having their identity robbed and the image of God mocked.

Isn’t it time?

———————————

Thank you to all of our ministry friends who have stood with us in prayer and financial support during 2020! You are our heroes. Please continue to stand with us as we stand for truth and righteousness in our nation and within the nations. We need you now more than ever.

If you would consider sowing a financial gift of support it would be greatly appreciated as we have much to do to see 2020 end well. To sow into our ministry go to: https://www.inscribeministries.com/