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Nate Johnston

HOW TO DEAL WITH SPIRITUAL SMEAR CAMPAIGNS

Nate Johnston

HOW TO DEAL WITH SPIRITUAL SMEAR CAMPAIGNS

HOW TO DEAL WITH SPIRITUAL SMEAR CAMPAIGNS

“A smear campaign, also referred to as a smear tactic or simply a smear, is an effort to damage or call into question someone's reputation by propounding negative propaganda”


Firstly, smear campaigns are different to your normal run of the mill chatter. It’s when the enemy stirs up multiple people to curse you and from many different angles all at once. 


When these come, you can bank on it that something powerful is around the corner and this campaign is sent to TAKE YOU OUT..


It’s actually a military tactic of the enemy that tells you that you are no longer dealing with a few demons but a legion of demons and principalities that see you as a threat. 


FYI: This should be a sign to you that you have crossed a threshold in your authority for the enemy to have to send an army against you. 


These campaigns come in the form of CHAOS or multiple tornados that attack you all at once until you hit a point of being unable to mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually handle the heat. 


These sudden K.O repetitions leave you feeling oppressed and tormented until you literally think “I don’t want to live. This is beyond what I can handle”


Is this too real? Remember Elijah said the same thing right after Jezebel threatened his life. This is what a smear campaign does. It doesn’t play.. it’s after your life. 


“while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 1 Kings 19:4


Since last week we have sensed multiple smear campaigns swirling in the spirit. 


They start off tame and almost unrecognizable, trying to blend in or look like natural circumstances, but then they begin to increase in intensity. 


Then chaos ensues from every angle, attacking your family, time, your mind, relationships, finances, health, and every other angle you can think of. 


It’s the multiple tongues of the wicked trying to destroy you with torrential slander and decimate your walls. 


It’s like a battering ram trying to rattle you and break down your most rigorous defenses. 


So with that said, let me share a few nuggets of truth I have learned from these over the years;



THINGS TO KNOW


The snake always reveals itself: 

Just wait and watch because the spiritual assignment always reveals its head and intentions quickly. It can’t hide. Expect to see emails, messages, or other means but the snakes will appear. Pray for exposure - Mark 4:22. There is nothing hidden that cannot be revealed. 


The enemy always barks before he is evicted:

These smear campaigns tend to be less about you and more about territory the enemy is about to lose. Like the demoniac Jesus encountered who was yelling and making a fuss, the enemy always makes a big drama show before he is cast out into the pigs. When the enemy is exposed or about to be exposed he will bark loudly. 


The enemy intends to slime you but it only ends up bringing purification:

Smear campaigns have a way of naturally cleaning up house. They cause you to see cracks in the pavement and things you weren’t seeing clearly beforehand. God will use the sliming to help you refine and define your circle and remove your hand from places that were shortchanging you. 


God brings order out of disorder. 

Further to the last one, God uses these moments to reveal the fly in the ointment and remove the impurities clogging up your flow. Warfare of this level always overplays its hand and where disorder comes momentarily, God uses it to bring order and bring to head that which has been concealed. 


You are a general not a victim: 

This is often a hard one to remember and take on board during these smear campaigns but you are not a victim even if you feel like you are. You are a general and you need to act like it and get back the upper hand. Be the head and not the tail, above only not beneath. 


God will deal with them, but make sure you deal with you:

Even if God does give you discernment of where the chatter came from, remember that you don’t wrestle against flesh and blood. This is a spiritual attack not a natural one. Fight to keep your heart right. Forgive them so you can become entangled from their words and effects. 


You have victory over the works over the enemy:

Don’t ever leave a battle without swinging your sword. Let the warfare at your door draw out the warrior in you that you didn’t know you were. God wants to show you how to stand in victory despite how you are feeling or seeing. He will often use these campaigns to school you in your authority and help you rise above it so you see it differently next time. 


Smear campaigns can’t shut doors for you - they only help you enter them:

I’ve seen this time and time again where the enemy will send a campaign against me to shut doors and it strangely only fast tracks me into them. So if you are thinking about your reputation and about the potentially lost opportunities, let it go. No one can shut the doors God has ordained for your life. 


So this is how you effectively deal with a smear campaign;


Ask for discernment/exposure. 

Keep your heart right/forgive 

Rebuke the assignment. 

Refuse to believe the lies of the enemy at your mind. 

Worship your way out of the chaos 

Refuse to defend yourself or your reputation. 

Bless those who curse you. 

And get ready for the breakthrough cos you must have leveled up! 


Sow a seed

RELATED prophetic WORDS:

RELATED prophetic WORDS:

By Nate Johnston 23 Aug, 2024
A week ago, I had a profound dream—one of the many audible dreams I often have. In this dream, I heard a phrase: "I'm opening the divine playbook!" We know what a playbook is in sports—a strategy book where a team devises particular moves and strategies to counteract the other team and figure out how to get the ball. I believe this speaks to what is happening globally right now. We can see the enemy's play overtly and obviously, but what about God's playbook? We are in a moment where the divine playbook is opened up. In Psalm 2, you see an interesting dialogue of actions and plays. Let's look at verses 1-6: Act I – The Nations Speak - How dare the nations plan a rebellion. their foolish plots are futile! - Look at how the power brokers of the world Rise up to hold their summit - As the ruler's scheme and confer together against Yahweh and His Anointed King, saying: "Let's come together and break away from the Creator. Once and for all let's cast off these controlling chains of God and His Christ!" Act II – God Speaks - God-Enthroned merely laughs at them; the Sovereign One mocks their madness! - Then, with the fierceness of His fiery anger, He settles the issue and terrifies them to death with these words: - "I myself have poured out My King on Zion, My holy mountain." Can you see the two playbooks in action? For years, we have seen the enemy's plays in the news, media, church, and every facet of society. We see the antichrist agenda that is working against America, using elites and people in power who feel they have the upper hand, even acting like gods. There's been a direct move against Christianity in the last 60 years, where we've seen the Ten Commandments removed from schools, and demonic narratives and ideologies have spread throughout schools, culture, family life, and issues of gender. It's preached loudly and has even caused the church to feel inadequate and powerless, but we are about to see the divine playbook open up on a global scale! We know that at the end of the playbook, God wins. From now until that final victory when Jesus returns, we're going to see this divine playbook open up in supernatural ways. FROM DIVINE OPPOSITION TO DIVINE OPPORTUNITY As I was reflecting on the playbook dream, I heard, "As I open up the scroll, you will move from divine opposition to divine opportunity!" In 2020, we saw the global rise of the epoch of divine opposition. While God was not the author of it—this was the enemy's playbook in full display—God allowed the church to face these challenges because we had become comfortable, compromised, and lost our fire. Now, we are transitioning from divine opposition into divine opportunity. The church is awakening and realizing that action is required—there needs to be a pushback, a fight. In this hour of deep desperation, the church is no longer clinging to its comforts or its safety. The church's ears are now open to hear the true word of the Lord, whereas they were closed in 2020. You would think that a pandemic would have driven the church to the feet of Jesus, but instead, it drove much of the church deeper into the swirl of culture. So, God needed to allow the church to be shaken so that who she really was could come forth. That's why we've seen shakings, empires falling, and people being exposed—because God has used this season of divine opposition to reposition the church. He has taken the keys and authority in regions from leaders who have not stewarded them well and has given them to those with a heart like David. We have started the shift from a Saul kingdom to a David kingdom. God is restoring the fallen altar of the church so that we can actually be the church that shines amidst all the demonic propaganda trying to steal our nation, our kids, and our families. That is what God is doing right now as we enter this season of divine opportunity. It's easy to look at what's happening in the world—the financial system crashing, looming famine, the potential for another pandemic—and begin to prophesy through fear, but that hasn't served us well in the past. We need to be like the sons of Issachar, who not only understood the times but also knew what to do with that knowledge. "Of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command" (1 Chronicles 12:32). They had the insight to recognize the times they were living in and implement the right strategies and solutions to counteract the enemy and initiate God's plans. With this season of divine opportunity before us, we need to do the same without hiding under a rock or denying the negative realities. Right now, we need to decide whether we will look through the eyes of fear, bury our heads in the sand, try to stay comfortable, or tap into the redemptive plan of the Lord. Let me say it again: This is not a moment to hide; it's a moment of divine opportunity. The church is shifting into a place of being a voice in the nations, rising up to be influential and speaking into situations to see shifts in crucial areas. In this next season, you'll see key players arise. We don't need just to tell the news—we can all read the news. You don't have to be prophetic to react to the news; that's not prophetic. What's prophetic is being able to look at the times, tap into the heart of God, and ask, "God, what are you doing right now in this hour?" THE CLEANSING & PURGING We're in a days-of-Elijah moment, like when Elijah went to Mount Carmel for a showdown, which was actually an intercessory moment and a cleansing. If you look at that moment as a cleansing, you'll recognize that the prophets of Baal were, in many ways, like a church that has not been in a relationship with God but has been in bed with culture. God used that moment to cleanse the church and the land of what was defiled so that the drought could break and the rain could come. Right now, if we're looking correctly at this moment, we can see that the nation of America turning back to God involves breaking the agreements we've made through our compromise and restoring what has been broken down. Just as Roe v. Wade set in motion a curse over the land, God has been raising up a people for many years who would tear down that altar and covenant so that we could enter back into the fullness of what the nation was meant to be. Christy and I believe our calling here in America is to see not just the fall of Goliath, which we believe Roe v. Wade represented, but also to see Goliath's brothers chased out of the land. What happens in America influences Australia, which is why we know our calling here is significant. We have definitely shifted into a season of divine opportunity. For the body of Christ, this means engaging. We need to stop pandering to culture and the fear of man and shift into a place of being a voice and an influence. This really comes down to shaking off the fear of man and being the voices God has called us to be. We are entering times where it may feel like persecution, but I believe the days of being secret or hidden justice fighters are over. We have to rise up and be the voices that God has called us to be. THE DAYS OF REVEALING The message of the hour is that we are entering the days of the REVEALING of the true church. While many are looking at the end times as this apocalyptic Armageddon, the word apocalypse actually means "the revealing." So regardless of what the enemy's playbook is, God's playbook is going to only shine brighter and reveal Himself in the earth. Yes, we are stepping into the days of the great revealing of the church. The revealing of the pure bride and the revealing of the promiscuous bride. After many years of intense fire and warfare, we are truly entering days of greater glory. I saw it as no coincidence that I had this dream on 8:18: "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18). We are entering a shift of power! The enemy has felt like he has usurped the church of power, but now we are entering the days of the power-packed church arising! It's time for a Pentecost-proportioned move of the Spirit where we leave our earthly wisdom and achievements behind and surrender to the Spirit once again. HEAVEN'S NEWSCAST In this hour of divine opportunity, we need to focus less on what the enemy is doing and tap into the newscast of heaven. It's not that we shouldn't talk about what is happening in the world—we definitely should—but what gets more airtime: the enemy's agenda or what God is doing? The opportunity is this: just as Joseph was brought from obscurity before Pharaoh to save a nation, God is raising up and revealing His church in all metrons and societal spheres on earth. We need to be engaged in policies and government and not bury our heads in the sand. We need to pray for the revelation of the church and for Christians to rise up in areas of influence so we can see God's redemptive plan in His divine playbook revealed. There are divine opportunities for the body of Christ right now to be revealed where the enemy is wreaking the most havoc so we can see a take-back and a shift of power. That's what I believe God is doing—there are going to be some supernatural shifts in the coming years, accompanied by incredible tension. We need to tell the body of Christ that this tension will be between demonic darkness spreading in certain areas and the revealing of God's plan simultaneously. There will be wars, shakings, natural disasters, and financial issues, but if we only focus on those things, we will only see the deep darkness spreading over the earth. God wants us to focus on His redemptive plan in His divine playbook. I have more specifics to share from this encounter, but for now, know that God's plans are about to be seen globally through you and me! Over the next year, God is going to pour out dreams and strategies, blueprints, and wisdom to those who ask for it. He is going to bring you before kings with the word of the Lord to shift power regionally and nationally. He is handing out keys of authority to take back what has been compromised and broken. And He is giving you a voice and a zeal to see your nation and the nations of the earth return to God and chase the giants out of the land!
By Nate Johnston 21 Aug, 2024
We have an exciting announcement! We are launching Monthly Partner Calls, starting August 28th! This is a time to connect to the vision, and to see God do the miraculous! God is establishing, rebuilding, reviving, and reforming His Bride, and you're a part of that! Be on the lookout for your email from Nate & Christy with all the details soon! Would you love to partner with God in this strategic hour? Click the link below to learn more! 
By Nate Johnston 23 Aug, 2024
A week ago, I had a profound dream—one of the many audible dreams I often have. In this dream, I heard a phrase: "I'm opening the divine playbook!" We know what a playbook is in sports—a strategy book where a team devises particular moves and strategies to counteract the other team and figure out how to get the ball. I believe this speaks to what is happening globally right now. We can see the enemy's play overtly and obviously, but what about God's playbook? We are in a moment where the divine playbook is opened up. In Psalm 2, you see an interesting dialogue of actions and plays. Let's look at verses 1-6: Act I – The Nations Speak - How dare the nations plan a rebellion. their foolish plots are futile! - Look at how the power brokers of the world Rise up to hold their summit - As the ruler's scheme and confer together against Yahweh and His Anointed King, saying: "Let's come together and break away from the Creator. Once and for all let's cast off these controlling chains of God and His Christ!" Act II – God Speaks - God-Enthroned merely laughs at them; the Sovereign One mocks their madness! - Then, with the fierceness of His fiery anger, He settles the issue and terrifies them to death with these words: - "I myself have poured out My King on Zion, My holy mountain." Can you see the two playbooks in action? For years, we have seen the enemy's plays in the news, media, church, and every facet of society. We see the antichrist agenda that is working against America, using elites and people in power who feel they have the upper hand, even acting like gods. There's been a direct move against Christianity in the last 60 years, where we've seen the Ten Commandments removed from schools, and demonic narratives and ideologies have spread throughout schools, culture, family life, and issues of gender. It's preached loudly and has even caused the church to feel inadequate and powerless, but we are about to see the divine playbook open up on a global scale! We know that at the end of the playbook, God wins. From now until that final victory when Jesus returns, we're going to see this divine playbook open up in supernatural ways. FROM DIVINE OPPOSITION TO DIVINE OPPORTUNITY As I was reflecting on the playbook dream, I heard, "As I open up the scroll, you will move from divine opposition to divine opportunity!" In 2020, we saw the global rise of the epoch of divine opposition. While God was not the author of it—this was the enemy's playbook in full display—God allowed the church to face these challenges because we had become comfortable, compromised, and lost our fire. Now, we are transitioning from divine opposition into divine opportunity. The church is awakening and realizing that action is required—there needs to be a pushback, a fight. In this hour of deep desperation, the church is no longer clinging to its comforts or its safety. The church's ears are now open to hear the true word of the Lord, whereas they were closed in 2020. You would think that a pandemic would have driven the church to the feet of Jesus, but instead, it drove much of the church deeper into the swirl of culture. So, God needed to allow the church to be shaken so that who she really was could come forth. That's why we've seen shakings, empires falling, and people being exposed—because God has used this season of divine opposition to reposition the church. He has taken the keys and authority in regions from leaders who have not stewarded them well and has given them to those with a heart like David. We have started the shift from a Saul kingdom to a David kingdom. God is restoring the fallen altar of the church so that we can actually be the church that shines amidst all the demonic propaganda trying to steal our nation, our kids, and our families. That is what God is doing right now as we enter this season of divine opportunity. It's easy to look at what's happening in the world—the financial system crashing, looming famine, the potential for another pandemic—and begin to prophesy through fear, but that hasn't served us well in the past. We need to be like the sons of Issachar, who not only understood the times but also knew what to do with that knowledge. "Of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command" (1 Chronicles 12:32). They had the insight to recognize the times they were living in and implement the right strategies and solutions to counteract the enemy and initiate God's plans. With this season of divine opportunity before us, we need to do the same without hiding under a rock or denying the negative realities. Right now, we need to decide whether we will look through the eyes of fear, bury our heads in the sand, try to stay comfortable, or tap into the redemptive plan of the Lord. Let me say it again: This is not a moment to hide; it's a moment of divine opportunity. The church is shifting into a place of being a voice in the nations, rising up to be influential and speaking into situations to see shifts in crucial areas. In this next season, you'll see key players arise. We don't need just to tell the news—we can all read the news. You don't have to be prophetic to react to the news; that's not prophetic. What's prophetic is being able to look at the times, tap into the heart of God, and ask, "God, what are you doing right now in this hour?" THE CLEANSING & PURGING We're in a days-of-Elijah moment, like when Elijah went to Mount Carmel for a showdown, which was actually an intercessory moment and a cleansing. If you look at that moment as a cleansing, you'll recognize that the prophets of Baal were, in many ways, like a church that has not been in a relationship with God but has been in bed with culture. God used that moment to cleanse the church and the land of what was defiled so that the drought could break and the rain could come. Right now, if we're looking correctly at this moment, we can see that the nation of America turning back to God involves breaking the agreements we've made through our compromise and restoring what has been broken down. Just as Roe v. Wade set in motion a curse over the land, God has been raising up a people for many years who would tear down that altar and covenant so that we could enter back into the fullness of what the nation was meant to be. Christy and I believe our calling here in America is to see not just the fall of Goliath, which we believe Roe v. Wade represented, but also to see Goliath's brothers chased out of the land. What happens in America influences Australia, which is why we know our calling here is significant. We have definitely shifted into a season of divine opportunity. For the body of Christ, this means engaging. We need to stop pandering to culture and the fear of man and shift into a place of being a voice and an influence. This really comes down to shaking off the fear of man and being the voices God has called us to be. We are entering times where it may feel like persecution, but I believe the days of being secret or hidden justice fighters are over. We have to rise up and be the voices that God has called us to be. THE DAYS OF REVEALING The message of the hour is that we are entering the days of the REVEALING of the true church. While many are looking at the end times as this apocalyptic Armageddon, the word apocalypse actually means "the revealing." So regardless of what the enemy's playbook is, God's playbook is going to only shine brighter and reveal Himself in the earth. Yes, we are stepping into the days of the great revealing of the church. The revealing of the pure bride and the revealing of the promiscuous bride. After many years of intense fire and warfare, we are truly entering days of greater glory. I saw it as no coincidence that I had this dream on 8:18: "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18). We are entering a shift of power! The enemy has felt like he has usurped the church of power, but now we are entering the days of the power-packed church arising! It's time for a Pentecost-proportioned move of the Spirit where we leave our earthly wisdom and achievements behind and surrender to the Spirit once again. HEAVEN'S NEWSCAST In this hour of divine opportunity, we need to focus less on what the enemy is doing and tap into the newscast of heaven. It's not that we shouldn't talk about what is happening in the world—we definitely should—but what gets more airtime: the enemy's agenda or what God is doing? The opportunity is this: just as Joseph was brought from obscurity before Pharaoh to save a nation, God is raising up and revealing His church in all metrons and societal spheres on earth. We need to be engaged in policies and government and not bury our heads in the sand. We need to pray for the revelation of the church and for Christians to rise up in areas of influence so we can see God's redemptive plan in His divine playbook revealed. There are divine opportunities for the body of Christ right now to be revealed where the enemy is wreaking the most havoc so we can see a take-back and a shift of power. That's what I believe God is doing—there are going to be some supernatural shifts in the coming years, accompanied by incredible tension. We need to tell the body of Christ that this tension will be between demonic darkness spreading in certain areas and the revealing of God's plan simultaneously. There will be wars, shakings, natural disasters, and financial issues, but if we only focus on those things, we will only see the deep darkness spreading over the earth. God wants us to focus on His redemptive plan in His divine playbook. I have more specifics to share from this encounter, but for now, know that God's plans are about to be seen globally through you and me! Over the next year, God is going to pour out dreams and strategies, blueprints, and wisdom to those who ask for it. He is going to bring you before kings with the word of the Lord to shift power regionally and nationally. He is handing out keys of authority to take back what has been compromised and broken. And He is giving you a voice and a zeal to see your nation and the nations of the earth return to God and chase the giants out of the land!
By Nate Johnston 21 Aug, 2024
We have an exciting announcement! We are launching Monthly Partner Calls, starting August 28th! This is a time to connect to the vision, and to see God do the miraculous! God is establishing, rebuilding, reviving, and reforming His Bride, and you're a part of that! Be on the lookout for your email from Nate & Christy with all the details soon! Would you love to partner with God in this strategic hour? Click the link below to learn more! 
By Nate Johnston 20 Aug, 2024
Yesterday, I heard, "You are on the brink!" That is why warfare has increased. That is why slander has suddenly intensified. That is why pressure is mounting on every side, and you feel like you have been backed into a corner. The enemy can sense that you are breaking new ground, and you are crossing over from DREAMING to SEEING and PLANNING to ESTABLISHING! As the Lord showed me this, I heard, "I want to give up and walk away!" Is that you? Have you felt the intense desire just to run and forfeit it all? Has the mental warfare and games felt so severe you are longing for peace even if it means laying it all down? This is textbook witchcraft and bully tactics for this phase of breakthrough. Think of the Israelites at the impasse at the valley of Elah, hearing the daily taunts of Goliath. They had two options: to face Goliath and press on through the mental and spiritual bombardment and intimidation, or run backward. They had no other choice. These moments come down to this very decision. Yes, you can run back, but you'll only be running into captivity. Or you can get on your knees, immerse yourself in the presence, and LET GOD FIGHT THE BATTLE! If only they knew how close they were… And you are so close. This part will take some tenacity, and holding onto the hem of His garment when the storm is raging around you. You will have to stand your ground, especially when issues are trying to flare up and preach doom and gloom to you. Your weapon is His presence and the anointing on your life. This is where you'll need to lean into the weighty part of your jacket. Don't back down, and don't run back to the rut. You are so close! You are on the brink! Don't be distracted right now. Keep walking through. Shake off the drama. The blueprints in your spirit are about to converge with the practical, and they will finally be birthed. The dots are connecting, and God is assembling people to run with you and see it come to pass. So don't misdiagnose this moment or get swept up in the fear of the storm. It's just a sideshow that will rob you of peace in the midst of a season of increase.
By Nate Johnston 14 Aug, 2024
STREAMING NOW - TO THE DRY AND THIRSTY
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