We are entering into a wilderness that we have never experienced before. This wilderness season was prophesied at NoLimits Church on October 22, 2023.
Several weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night. I usually don’t look at the clock when this happens because I don’t want to find out if I only have a few minutes to sleep.
But I looked at the clock for some reason and saw 4:44am.
Seeing the three fours captivated not just my mind but my spirit. I could sense that what I was looking at had significance.
As I was pondering what it could mean, I fell back asleep. Then, a little before 7, I woke up with 4:44 running through my mind.
So I grabbed my phone and began researching whether there was a fourth chapter in the Bible that also had forty-four verses. This led me to Luke chapter four, which has forty-four verses.
Let’s turn there together and read first part of the chapter.
Luke 4:1-12 NKJV - Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ” Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
This chapter is a complete summary of the ministry of Jesus, starting with Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
As I read the scripture that morning, the Holy Spirit brought a prophetic word about wilderness to my remembrance.
I searched my notes and found a tongue and interpretation about wilderness on October 22, 2023 during a Sunday service at NoLimits Church.
"There is a time that’s coming, says the Lord. I am teaching you to follow My voice because we are about to go through a wilderness you have not walked into.
Do not be afraid. Do not be alarmed. For this is the path I have set before you. Know this: My Word does light up the path. Stay close to My voice, stay close to My Word, and you will stay on the path of protection.
My Word does not change based on circumstances. I meant every Word that I have written down. The Word gives life to you, to your mortal bodies, yes you know. But it also gives life to those around you.
The Lord says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. You cannot separate me from My Word. Test everything that you do, every circumstance, every prophecy, test it against My Word and you will see that I am true.
For the path is narrow, says the Lord. You are not perfect, but do not misstep. Do not tease me, says the Lord. Obey quickly. For I have an abundant life for you, says the Lord.
You will be protected because I am greater. Be still and know that I am God. My Word is true and it will come to pass. Trust in Me. Trust in Me, says the Lord."
The following Sunday, I was led to preach a message titled “Get Ready for Wildnerness,” where I explained how the wilderness that was prophesied was not a wilderness of disobedience, like what the Israelites went through for 40 years.
Instead, a wilderness of testing and refining was upon us, like when Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
This sounds like bad news, but it is actually good news because the wilderness Jesus went through launched Him into His ministry. He came out of the wilderness fully equipped to cast out demons, heal the sick, perform miracles, and preach the gospel.
The challenge about prophetic words is that we often don’t understand the timing. When God says something is about to happen, it could be months or even years before it happens.
We must remember that God does not see time as we do. The Word says that one thousand years is like a day to the Lord. This means we will perceive Him as slow, but He’s not.
It has been 307 days since the wilderness prophecy was released. That’s 7 hours ago in the Lord’s time. It’s been a whopping 7 hours since the Lord let us know about the coming wilderness.
“There is a time that’s coming, says the Lord. I am teaching you to follow My voice because we are about to go through a wilderness you have not walked into.”
Did you notice how the Lord said, “WE are about to go through a wilderness?” He didn’t say, “You”. He said, “We,” meaning He will be right there with us.
For the last 307 days, and even before that, the Lord has been teaching us to follow His voice. This is so true. His voice is extremely clear to me now, and I am so thankful.
You may still be working on hearing His voice, and that’s okay. Keep pressing in, and know that God has placed me and the elders of NoLimits in your life to help you along the way.
“Do not be afraid. Do not be alarmed. For this is the path I have set before you. Know this: My Word does light up the path. Stay close to My voice, stay close to My Word, and you will stay on the path of protection.”
Do you know why the Lord said this? Because we are going to bend towards being afraid and alarmed. We are going to wonder if we are on the right path. We are going to need His protection.
So decide right now, “I refuse to be afraid or alarmed as the Lord leads us into the wilderness. His Word, both written and His voice within us, will light up the path of protection.”
Look at your neighbor and say, “Today, you are giving up your right to be afraid.”
“My Word does not change based on circumstances. I meant every Word that I have written. The Word gives life to you, to your mortal bodies, yes you know. But it also gives life to those around you. The Lord says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. You cannot separate me from My Word. Test everything that you do, every circumstance, every prophecy, test it against My Word and you will see that I am true.”
Do you know why the Lord said this? Because you will be tempted to abandon the Word of God because of your circumstances.
When you come up against a challenging situation, you’ll wrestle with doubting God’s promised protection. You’ll think, “Is He really protecting me?”
Yes! He has provided you with a path of protection. But you have the responsibility of staying on the path. He can’t make you walk the path. You must choose to walk the path by staying close to His Word.
The Word of God must be the only thing you use to find truth. Throw everything against the Word of God and see if it sticks. If it does, you’ve found the truth.
Circumstances don’t define truth. They are here today and gone tomorrow. What you experience is a real experience, but an experience can be sourced from deception or truth.
Many at the Democratic National Convention had a heartwarming experience this past week. But it was all fed by lies. If they knew the truth, they’d be disgusted.
So, you must test every experience with the Word of God. Likewise, you must test every prophecy with the Word of God.
Some of you have yet to decide that the Bible contains every bit of truth that you need. Everything you need is in this Bible.
You don’t need my books. You don’t need the Book of Mormon. You don’t even need the Book of Enoch to know the truth. Everything you need is in this Holy Bible.
God preserved this holy book for thousands of years so you can have the truth at your fingertips. This is the only book you need to know God. Nothing is missing, and nothing has been added.
I’m not saying that you cannot read other books. But when you do, it must be reconciled with the Holy Bible. Everything in this life must be reconciled with God’s Word.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. As the Book of John says, Jesus is the Word of God. The way, the truth, and the life is fully discovered in the Word of God.
“For the path is narrow, says the Lord. You are not perfect but do not misstep. Do not tease me, says the Lord. Obey quickly. For I have an abundant life for you, says the Lord.”
Obey quickly. Let’s talk about obedience.
The first time I saw 4:44 was a few weeks ago. Then, a few days ago, I woke up again in the middle of the night to see 4:44.
I said, “Okay, Lord, what am I missing?”
He led me to Deuteronomy 4:44 which says, “This is the law which Moses set before the Israelites.”
Then, I read the whole chapter and found out that this is when Moses gives final instructions to the Israelites before they enter the promised land. They had just wandered in the wilderness for forty years and were on the verge of entering the promised land.
Do you know what Moses told them? Let’s find out.
Deuteronomy 4:1-39 NKJV - “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you. You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal Peor; for the Lord your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor.
But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you. “Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ “For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?
And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day? Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, especially concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’
“Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice. So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.
“Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth.
And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day.
Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. But I must die in this land, I must not cross over the Jordan; but you shall cross over and possess that good land. Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you.
For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. “When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed.
And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. “For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard.
Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other besides Him.
Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power, driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.
Obey and occupy. Obey and occupy.
Obey completely. Enter and occupy.
We must carefully listen to the Lord’s instructions and obey them completely as we enter and occupy the land He has for us.
Since God expected those in the Old Covenant to obey completely, how much more does He expect us to obey completely?
In Christ, we’ve been set free from the power of sin. In Christ, we’ve been given His righteousness. In Christ, we’ve been filled with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
Those of us who are born-again believers in Jesus Christ have no excuse for walking in disobedience.
If we disobey, it’s because we’ve deliberately chosen to rebel against God.
God has given us everything we need to live a godly life. He is constantly working in us, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.
As a born-again believer, you have given up your right to live in sin. You have admitted that there is no longer an excuse for living in sin.
Jesus set the example when He was led into the wilderness. He had many opportunities to disobey, but He obeyed God completely. Not even one misstep.
The same power that was at work in Jesus is at work in us. We will have many opportunities to disobey in this time of wilderness. But we are to obey God completely.
“For the path is narrow, says the Lord. You are not perfect, but do not misstep. Do not tease me, says the Lord. Obey quickly. For I have an abundant life for you, says the Lord.
You will be protected because I am greater. Be still and know that I am God. My Word is true, and it will come to pass. Trust in Me. Trust in Me, says the Lord.”
The Holy Spirit is leading us into the wilderness to overcome temptation. It is a necessary step of preparation for what’s to come.
We’re not talking about a long wilderness, either. The Israelites may have wandered for forty years, but Jesus was only in the wilderness for forty days.
Forty days of wilderness is what you can expect. Then, we will come out on the other side, full of the Holy Spirit and power to heal all oppressed by the devil.
You must give your attention to this wilderness prophecy. It’s a simple heads-up from the Lord so you don’t get caught off guard.
If you didn’t know that this was coming, you would end up afraid. But now that you know this is is the path the Lord has set before us, it changes everything.
Listen to His voice. Test everything with the Word of God. Obey quickly and completely. As you do, you will stay on the path of protection and come out stronger on the other side.
Now, I am calling you to repentance. It’s time to turn from your sloppy life and live as you truly are: free from the power of sin. It’s time to put on that gift of righteousness and fully walk in it.
If that’s you, today is your day of salvation.
This is for those of you who have never truly made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life.
This is also for those who have said the salvation prayer before but have deliberately continued to live in sin.
You cannot continue in sin and expect some half-hearted prayer to somehow give you a pass into the Kingdom of God.
The Word of God says that if you live in violation of your conscience–if you live an unholy life–you will shipwreck your faith.
It’s not your right behavior that saves you. But your obedience to God keeps you on the path of protection.
You can only be saved by believing that Jesus Christ is God in human form, who was sacrificed for your sins and then rose from the dead.
To be born again, you must believe this is true and confess publicly that Jesus Christ is the Lord of your life. That means everyone around you can see that Jesus is in charge, not you.
You are saved by your choice to believe in Jesus.
As soon as you make that decision, sin loses its power over you, and you are given the gift of righteousness.
You didn’t do everything right, but Jesus did. And Jesus attributes His perfect performance to you and gives you full ability to obey God completely.
