The New Month of II Adar
We are now in the second observance of the month of Adar! Instead of adding an extra day to God’s calendar to account for the leap year, we get to add a whole month! In the year of the door, it’s as if we are walking through a double door and getting a double portion of Adar. It is also unique that the “extra” month starts in tandem with daylight saving time when we “lose” an hour.
I sense the lord wanting us to use this extra time to marinate in his presence. Adar is associated with strength and joy, and we know that the fullness of joy is found in His presence. God wants us to take advantage of this opportunity to soak in the goodness that this month has to offer.
Take a few minutes to review the chalkboard teaching for Adar and be blessed!
- Published in Appointed Times, Spiritual Growth
The New Month of First Adar
February 9 began the new month of Adar, the last month of the biblical year!
2024 is a Leap Year, but instead of adding just one day to God’s calendar, we get to experience the month of Adar two times! And what better month to walk through twice than Adar, the month of joy and strength? In this biblical year of “The Door,” it is as if we are walking through a double door into 1 Adar and 2 Adar.
Adar means strength and in the Bible, strength is associated with joy. Joy is often defined as an emotion brought on by well-being, success or possessing one’s desires. The problem is that life doesn’t always go our way. So many people find themselves faking it or striving to be happy.
Many pray for strength but what they really need is joy—real joy that can only be found in a relationship with God through Jesus. We cannot experience true joy without Jesus. Receiving Jesus means receiving forgiveness, peace with God, salvation and ultimately true joy.
The Lord is calling us to end the year strong, not in our own strength but in His joy. May you be blessed as you watch this teaching on the month of Adar.
- Published in Appointed Times, Spiritual Growth
The New Month of Sh’vat
January 10 marked the beginning of a new biblical month: Sh’vat!
Sh’vat is known as the month of trees. Right now, the Lord is calling us to be like trees, rooted and grounded in His love. He is reminding us that we can prosper in any season, even in the middle of winter! In fact, it is His desire that we prosper both in the spiritual and in the physical.
How do we do so? By abiding in Him. He tells us that those who abide in Him will bear much fruit and that apart from Him we can do nothing. We abide in Him by meditating on His word, delighting in Him and living in the truth that He loves us.
This month is a beautiful contrast to the revelation of last month, when we were called to grow “up” and mature. This month, we are called to grow “down,” dig deeper and connect our roots to the Source of Life so that we may bear fruit.
We pray that in this year of the door, you open your hearts to receive a fresh revelation of God’s love for you. Be blessed as you listen to this teaching on the month of Sh’vat.
- Published in Appointed Times, Spiritual Growth
The New Month of Tevet
December 12 marked the beginning of the month of Tevet on the Hebrew calendar.
Tevet is the 10th month of the biblical year. The number 10 is associated with order, tithe and testimony. This month, the Lord is encouraging us to grow up, get our priorities straight and mature in Him.
It is timely that this month begins in the middle of Hanukkah, the celebration of lights. Hanukkah reminds us that God matures us through His Lamp: His Word.
In this new year of “The Door,” we need spiritual maturity and clarity of mind as we approach new doors in our lives.
Be blessed by this teaching as you discover how God wants to bring order and maturity to your life this month!
- Published in Appointed Times, Spiritual Growth
The New Month of Cheshvan
The new biblical month of Cheshvan begins on Sunday, October 15. Cheshvan, the eighth month, is the month of “New Beginnings.” What a sweet reminder that the Lord’s mercies are new every morning and every month.
This is also the month that the Lord flooded the earth. The year 5784 is the year of “The Door.” With that in mind, we can turn our eyes to the door of Noah’s Ark which represents Jesus. In John 10:9 Jesus says, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me he will be saved.”
Be blessed by this teaching and invite the Holy Spirit to give you fresh revelation as we look back on the flood and look forward to new beginnings.
- Published in Appointed Times, Spiritual Growth
A Season to Feed Your Faith & Starve Your Doubts
We are in a spiritual season when God is igniting our faith. This is the time in biblical history when the children of Israel were poised to go into the Promised Land. They sent 12 spies to survey the land, and 10 gave a negative report, causing the entire nation to turn back to the wilderness. This was supposed to be a time of blessing, but instead, it became a curse. It was because of their unbelief that they missed what God had waiting for them.
This is a season when we need to feed our faith and starve our doubts to death. We must choose to believe God and reverse the curse, turning it into blessing. Deuteronomy 30:19 says, “… I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.”
We must choose to believe the report of the Lord; not that of the enemy or our circumstances, but the word of God.
Choose life, not death. Choose blessing, not cursing. It’s time to enter into a brand new season of faith!
Watch this video to hear more from Pastor Kent:
- Published in Appointed Times, Spiritual Growth
The New Month of Av
Last month, we walked through the open door of Tammuz and focused on opening our eyes to see things from God’s heavenly perspective. Now, in the month of Av, the Lord is calling us to focus our attention on our hearing, specifically, on hearing the good report of the Lord.
There are so many voices bidding for us to lend them our ears. So, the question is, “Whose voice will we listen to? Whose voice can we believe?” We know this: God is not an author of confusion but of peace and clarity. It is safe to heed our Father’s word.
Av is the Hebrew root word for Abba, which translates to “Father.”
I sense the Lord saying in this time:
“Be still before me, and you will hear the voice of your Heavenly Father. It will rise up above all of the others, for My sheep know My voice. Listen to Me, for My words are spirit and life. Believe me and follow Me, and I will shepherd you safely into your promised land because of my great love for you.”
May you be blessed as you listen to the words of this teaching and hear from our Heavenly Father.
- Published in Appointed Times, Spiritual Growth
Release Your Faith & Starve Your Fears to Death
One of our main assignments here at Word Alive is to ensure that God’s people are connected with God’s timing.
I want to tell you about a very important date on God’s calendar this month called the Ninth of Av. Something significant happened on this day. The children of Isreal were about to enter the Promised Land and God had instructed Moses to send in 12 spies to survey the land. Ten spies returned with a negative report and two gave a positive report.
Because of the ten negative reports, the child of Israel did not have faith to enter the Promised Land and perished in the wilderness. From there, you see that for generations as a nation, very destructive things happen on this particular day. We see a trail of history proving that lack of faith allowed a curse to move among a nation.
But thank God that the Holy Spirit has given us the revelation that we are no longer under the curse but are under the blessing!
It is so very important for us to choose faith over doubt this month, and to choose to believe God’s report instead of the world’s.
Hear more from Pastor Kent on this significant date and what it means for us today.
- Published in Appointed Times, Spiritual Growth
Revelations Regarding True Worship
By Pastor Kent Mattox
We recently spent some time in the mountains with a team from Alabama to hear from the Lord and gain new strategies for the future. It was such a powerful gathering! The Lord really blew us away with some incredible revelation regarding true worship and the times we are living in.
As we step into the Hebraic month of Tammuz when great wars over worship took place in ancient history and the Israelites fell into the trap of developing a golden calf, it is SO important to review how we see the Father and how we respond to Him in worship.
Here are a few power-packed points we received during our time together:
- When you’re developing what you are doing and the glory begins to manifest, don’t let it distract you from your course.
- The minstrels that the Lord is raising up are those who will wait upon Him in fellowship, worship and presence.
- Resting in the Lord is not stressing in the Lord. We must learn how to take it easy and trust in Him.
- When we resist God’s Spirit repeatedly and push back against His refreshing, it becomes destructive to our lives. We have to awaken and respond to Him when He pours Himself out.
- It is the shiny things and the busy things that will tempt you to take your focus off of the Lord.
- If you don’t download, unload and reconcile in this season, then you are running a high risk.
- We must honor the Lord by being willing to lay down everything to go where He tells us and to wait on Him to receive what we need.
- The Lord is growing us up in His Word and developing in us a greater understanding than we’ve ever had before if we will be willing to sacrifice our opinions and listen to Him.
- The issue is not our confession of Christ, it’s the denial of His way in favor of our own. Too frequently, we pray our own opinions and not the will of God.
- Some of the things we face in our culture today are a direct result of our denial of Christ. We must know Jesus personally and the images we have of ourselves must be consumed in His presence in order to come into this place of intimacy and reality with Him.
- Not only is it important to lay down our own opinions in this hour, but also to lay down our desire to control the opinions of others. We can’t enter into the Holy place while wanting to control other people.
May these life-changing revelations bring you into a place of awakening, refreshing and clarity of vision in the power of God’s Spirit as you meditate on them this month!
- Published in Spiritual Growth
The New Month of Tammuz
The new biblical month of Tammuz began on June 19.
Tammuz is the fourth month on God’s calendar. The number four is connected to a picture of a door. It’s as if the door is opening wide, not only into a whole new month but into the whole new season of summer. Summer is also referenced as the holiday of the eyes because there is so much to look at. Everything is in full bloom and everyone is getting up and going out.
In this new month, I sense the Lord saying, “Watch what you watch. Keep your eyes on me, for I do not change. There is more than meets the natural eye. Look to see things from my heavenly perspective and do not fear.”
He is asking us to seek first His kingdom, so that everything will be added unto us.
I pray that you are blessed by this teaching as we open up our doors and our eyes to hear what the Lord is speaking to us this month.
- Published in Spiritual Growth