This morning I awoke after having a dream where I observed extreme hardship. In the dream my husband and I passed an open field which lay in a lower elevation than the road we were walking on. In this field were people and families who lived there, having lost their homes. They all had bunk beds, and a few belongings with them. Though the times were hard, the weather was temperate, and I was happy that the conditions were not too harsh. In fact, the people who had lost their homes were singing and talking pleasantly together, as if they were on a journey to another land. I remembered that, in earlier times, mid-westerners left their homes and came to California because a drought had caused their land to become a dust bowl. The people in my dream had a hope in what lay ahead of them, and they took no thought for what they left behind.
After awaking I heard the Lord say that it is important that we see Him in our circumstances, for hardship goes hand-in-hand with being a son of God. The 12th chapter of Hebrews tells us it is sent from God as discipline so that we can partake of His nature; holiness. Though hardship, like all discipline, is unpleasant, it will bear good fruit in us.
There are times when we discipline our own children, seeing the good that lies ahead and setting boundaries around their behavior so they won’t go the wrong way. As these children grow up they come to a place in their lives when we release them and our children will either accept or reject the ways we have taught them. The same principle holds true with us, as children of God. We can either believe that God has good for us when we suffer hardship, or we can become bitter and spiritually lame (Heb 12:14-15).
In the Old Testament there was a time of great hardship for the Jewish nation when God’s people were dispersed and no longer resided in the territory we know as Israel. Out of this hardship came a time of rebuilding and restoration under the guidance of Nehemiah and Ezra. God had disciplined Israel for her sins, and was leading her into the good He had always had in mind for her. Malachi was a contemporary of Nehemiah and in his prophecy we see the Lord dealing with two types of people; those who received God’s discipline, and those who, out of bitterness, rejected it.
Those people who did not receive God as good when times were harsh said harsh things about Him (Mal 3:13-14). They thought repentance and observation of God’s law was futile. In fact, they admired the prosperity of sinners. These people did not see God in their circumstances, and focused on their lack in comparison with the well-being of others.
The second type of people honored God and walked in the fear of the Lord. They did not focus on their lack, but on God’s good nature. When they fellowshipped together their words were so uplifting that God recorded them, and He accepted these people as His children (Mal 3:16-17). Though all the people of Israel had suffered the same circumstances, some people were formed into the image of holiness, and others were not.
Like God’s children of old, we too will receive hardships which mold our character. God will be “like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap,” (Mal 3:2) to us so that we might partake of His nature, and as legitimate children, partake of our inheritance. Though we feel enclosed by our circumstances there comes a time when those who revere God “will go out and leap like calves released from the stall,” (Mal 4:2). At times it is hard to see God in our circumstances. However, let us fellowship together like the people in my dream, affirming His goodness. God is holy and is working in our lives to bring us into His nature. Amen.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
The Ravens
On Sept 12th I had a prophetic dream. In this dream I stood at the edge of the sea and wondered if there was something evil in it. Just then 3 very large black birds stood up near the shore, walking towards the north. They were ravens, unusually large (about 3 ft tall). When they had stood from the water their faces were also facing north. End of dream.
In my dream ravens represent the cult-spirit, such as Jim Jone’s cult. North symbolizes spiritual, and the sea all the peoples on the earth. In Rev 13:1 we see that the beast comes out of the sea. My dream is about the spiritual warfare coming on the earth from satan, trying to deceive people to follow lies. There were 3 evil spirits symbolized by ravens just the same as the 3 demons which come out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet in Rev 16:13.
A few days after receiving this dream I was led to pray about leadership. The Lord gave me 10 points that we should look for in a leader, and display when we are leading. This is not a complete list, but in looking at the items one should be able to spot when a person in authority is leading his people astray, as in a cult. Here are the points;
1. War only in the Lord. David would not harm or slander Saul, but only warred as the Lord led him. We must not take things into our own hands, even if a word of prophecy indicates that things are not as they should be.
a. Love our enemies and do them good
2. Let your own reputation seem contemptible in your eyes. King David danced before the ark without regard to “looking good” before the people.
a. Honor the Lord with all your heart
b. Do not be concerned with pleasing men
3. Know the limits of your role, and know your dependence on others is necessary. David was not the gate-keeper of the temple but delegated this to another. He also appointed others to lead worship though he was well-suited to do this himself. In regard to war, David depended on his mighty men and until they gathered around him he could not do the work of the Lord, to rid Israel of her enemies.
4. Find value in others.
a. Honor those under your authority by finding their purpose and setting them in place in your ministry, or by helping them start their own ministry.
b. A true leader will help find those who will surpass themselves, and mentor their growth so that the mentee’s works exceed the leader’s works
5. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit
a. Recognize when the Lord is speaking through others
b. Know that the Lord will speak through others, and not to you alone
6. Have a sound mind. Know and recognize the ways of the Lord.
a. Have discernment
b. Doesn’t confuse the need for faith with the dare from satan to prove yourself, or to have others prove themselves
1. don’t test the Lord
7. Would rather correct a wrong-doer than lose him
a. do not despise the weaknesses of others but seek to put them in a place to become strong
8. Love the flock more than yourself
a. Seek other’s successes at the cost of your own.
b. Let the needs of other interfere with the upward movement of your ministry’s success
9. Swear to your own hurt and change not (Ps 15:4b). Do not let keeping your word depend on the convenience of doing so.
10. Develop an eye for the enemy
a. do not become the comforter of the flock by offering false peace.
b. If you are not a watchman, find one in your ministry or church and raise them up.
In my dream ravens represent the cult-spirit, such as Jim Jone’s cult. North symbolizes spiritual, and the sea all the peoples on the earth. In Rev 13:1 we see that the beast comes out of the sea. My dream is about the spiritual warfare coming on the earth from satan, trying to deceive people to follow lies. There were 3 evil spirits symbolized by ravens just the same as the 3 demons which come out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet in Rev 16:13.
A few days after receiving this dream I was led to pray about leadership. The Lord gave me 10 points that we should look for in a leader, and display when we are leading. This is not a complete list, but in looking at the items one should be able to spot when a person in authority is leading his people astray, as in a cult. Here are the points;
1. War only in the Lord. David would not harm or slander Saul, but only warred as the Lord led him. We must not take things into our own hands, even if a word of prophecy indicates that things are not as they should be.
a. Love our enemies and do them good
2. Let your own reputation seem contemptible in your eyes. King David danced before the ark without regard to “looking good” before the people.
a. Honor the Lord with all your heart
b. Do not be concerned with pleasing men
3. Know the limits of your role, and know your dependence on others is necessary. David was not the gate-keeper of the temple but delegated this to another. He also appointed others to lead worship though he was well-suited to do this himself. In regard to war, David depended on his mighty men and until they gathered around him he could not do the work of the Lord, to rid Israel of her enemies.
4. Find value in others.
a. Honor those under your authority by finding their purpose and setting them in place in your ministry, or by helping them start their own ministry.
b. A true leader will help find those who will surpass themselves, and mentor their growth so that the mentee’s works exceed the leader’s works
5. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit
a. Recognize when the Lord is speaking through others
b. Know that the Lord will speak through others, and not to you alone
6. Have a sound mind. Know and recognize the ways of the Lord.
a. Have discernment
b. Doesn’t confuse the need for faith with the dare from satan to prove yourself, or to have others prove themselves
1. don’t test the Lord
7. Would rather correct a wrong-doer than lose him
a. do not despise the weaknesses of others but seek to put them in a place to become strong
8. Love the flock more than yourself
a. Seek other’s successes at the cost of your own.
b. Let the needs of other interfere with the upward movement of your ministry’s success
9. Swear to your own hurt and change not (Ps 15:4b). Do not let keeping your word depend on the convenience of doing so.
10. Develop an eye for the enemy
a. do not become the comforter of the flock by offering false peace.
b. If you are not a watchman, find one in your ministry or church and raise them up.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
How long will you wait?
My life has been fraught with difficulties, closed doors, illnesses and accidents . . . so much so that I’ve asked the Lord if I truly belong to Him, at times. Even blessed ministry opportunities have abruptly stopped in seemingly dead-end streets. If it hadn’t been for the gift of prophecy in my dreams, I wouldn’t have known how to look at these adverse life events. Yet God carefully foretold each one, pointing to the cause of failure particular to each up-coming situation. And some sure losses were avoided. This is the gifting of a prophet; to know the enemy and the events close to God’s heart at the time. By walking through my life the last 39 years with me the Lord has been equipping me, training my hands to war (Ps 18:34).
God intends for His people to have victory. Yet we often have to fight for it through prayer and by standing our ground, not giving up. One night, March 24, 2006, the Lord showed a man from heaven in my dream. He stood in the clouds and thunder pealed in between each word, as he said “How long will you wait?” There were a total of seven thunders. The man from heaven was quoting Joshua’s speech to the tribes of Israel who had not yet taken their lands of inheritance (Joshua 18:3). In this dream God was putting a challenge to the Church as He did in the Old Testament through Joshua; will you put action to your faith and take what I promised you? What could this mean in our modern-day Christianity?
Our lives often have trials in them for which we lack the discernment of why they come. Well-meaning Christians tell us God is teaching us patience and working on our character. But as the years of our lives unfold we see ourselves enslaved by illnesses and poverty, and sometimes shunned by the leaders in our churches. If we truly are to live in our promised land, are we? Joshua told the tribes that did not fight their enemies that there would come a time when God would stop fighting for them. If they co-habited with their enemies “then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you,” (Josh 23:13). If this seems like a description of your life, then you and I need to take action, not be patient.
We look at sin as the main reason we have troubles in our lives, for it opens the door to our enemy. However, this reasoning leads us to conclude that only a sin-free person can walk in victory over his enemies. Are we sin-free? Though we lie if we say we have not sinned, we can discontinue known sin and walk in freedom (1 Jn 5:18). Yet, our enemy still hounds us to defeat us. And this is where the Lord stepped in and took my eyes off myself and began teaching me about the scope of our fight with the enemy; it spans generations of time.
This week the Lord gave me a prophetic dream about generational inheritances. It began with a woman giving my son and I papers to pick up an item already purchased for us. We traveled upward in a pod-like craft inside a tall building. We passed many stories, and each ceiling was made of billowing white cloth. When we got to our destination we got out on the floor of a furniture store. Each item was made from rough-hewn wood. This was the area where men had used their God-given talents according to the faith God had imparted to them, for the benefit of others. I had an uncle who was near death and thought this was where I was to receive our inheritance.
I walked up to a woman dressed as if it were the 1950s. Everyone there was dressed in that time period. She seemed like she worked there so I gave her my papers. Taking them, she looked them over and said, “These have no meaning.” She and another woman laughed together as they walked away, and then they slept. I found the supervisor of the two women and told her I wanted my papers back. She replied that she couldn’t do anything about it.
I then woke up from my dream, realizing that I had seen backwards into my parent’s generation. Though my parents and their family had a godly upbringing, a few of my aunts and uncles had become atheists, going after the wealth and worldly entertainment denied them in their upbringing. It had been difficult later in their lives to restore them to their faith, and some I had not been in touch with so didn’t know their standing with the Lord when they passed away. Perhaps they were the women who laughed when I presented the papers, for they foolishly did not realize the value of the spiritual inheritance they were to honor. Since they themselves forsook their faith, they could not see their own part in preparing for another generation’s spiritual inheritance.
Some of our parents have stood in a long line of faithful servants of the Lord. Others have been redeemed from a lineage of rebellious souls who did not serve the Lord. We all alike are invited to an inheritance, incorruptible. Yet there remains a fight to some, more than others to receive the inheritance appointed to our lives. In my grandparent’s generation were pastors and many godly men. Yet their children, our own parents, did not see the works of their parents as valuable.
Instead of blaming my parent’s generation I began to think of the temptations in their lives. The 2nd world war had ended and our country was the most powerful and prosperous in the world. They thought to make their lives better according to a worldly standard, and so began co-habiting with the worldly and shunning the standard of faith they were raised with. After seeing their temptations I began to think about our own children and our children’s children . . . what sort of spiritual inheritance are we leaving them if we do not rid our generation of compromise, self-serving ambition, and sin?
I believe the dream was given because now is the time that God is turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers lest we see our land of inheritance cursed (Mal 4:6). The tribes of Israel that did not rid their lands of the tribes that dwelled there before them reaped the curse described by Joshua. When our lives seem hard, we need to make life better according to God’s standard, for our generation and for the next. God would not have spoken through the seven thunders if we could not redeem the neglect done, even in past generations, and walk in victory today. Let us live, pray, and stand in the promises of God, undeterred by sin or compromise with the world. We have a great inheritance to obtain. Amen.
God intends for His people to have victory. Yet we often have to fight for it through prayer and by standing our ground, not giving up. One night, March 24, 2006, the Lord showed a man from heaven in my dream. He stood in the clouds and thunder pealed in between each word, as he said “How long will you wait?” There were a total of seven thunders. The man from heaven was quoting Joshua’s speech to the tribes of Israel who had not yet taken their lands of inheritance (Joshua 18:3). In this dream God was putting a challenge to the Church as He did in the Old Testament through Joshua; will you put action to your faith and take what I promised you? What could this mean in our modern-day Christianity?
Our lives often have trials in them for which we lack the discernment of why they come. Well-meaning Christians tell us God is teaching us patience and working on our character. But as the years of our lives unfold we see ourselves enslaved by illnesses and poverty, and sometimes shunned by the leaders in our churches. If we truly are to live in our promised land, are we? Joshua told the tribes that did not fight their enemies that there would come a time when God would stop fighting for them. If they co-habited with their enemies “then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you,” (Josh 23:13). If this seems like a description of your life, then you and I need to take action, not be patient.
We look at sin as the main reason we have troubles in our lives, for it opens the door to our enemy. However, this reasoning leads us to conclude that only a sin-free person can walk in victory over his enemies. Are we sin-free? Though we lie if we say we have not sinned, we can discontinue known sin and walk in freedom (1 Jn 5:18). Yet, our enemy still hounds us to defeat us. And this is where the Lord stepped in and took my eyes off myself and began teaching me about the scope of our fight with the enemy; it spans generations of time.
This week the Lord gave me a prophetic dream about generational inheritances. It began with a woman giving my son and I papers to pick up an item already purchased for us. We traveled upward in a pod-like craft inside a tall building. We passed many stories, and each ceiling was made of billowing white cloth. When we got to our destination we got out on the floor of a furniture store. Each item was made from rough-hewn wood. This was the area where men had used their God-given talents according to the faith God had imparted to them, for the benefit of others. I had an uncle who was near death and thought this was where I was to receive our inheritance.
I walked up to a woman dressed as if it were the 1950s. Everyone there was dressed in that time period. She seemed like she worked there so I gave her my papers. Taking them, she looked them over and said, “These have no meaning.” She and another woman laughed together as they walked away, and then they slept. I found the supervisor of the two women and told her I wanted my papers back. She replied that she couldn’t do anything about it.
I then woke up from my dream, realizing that I had seen backwards into my parent’s generation. Though my parents and their family had a godly upbringing, a few of my aunts and uncles had become atheists, going after the wealth and worldly entertainment denied them in their upbringing. It had been difficult later in their lives to restore them to their faith, and some I had not been in touch with so didn’t know their standing with the Lord when they passed away. Perhaps they were the women who laughed when I presented the papers, for they foolishly did not realize the value of the spiritual inheritance they were to honor. Since they themselves forsook their faith, they could not see their own part in preparing for another generation’s spiritual inheritance.
Some of our parents have stood in a long line of faithful servants of the Lord. Others have been redeemed from a lineage of rebellious souls who did not serve the Lord. We all alike are invited to an inheritance, incorruptible. Yet there remains a fight to some, more than others to receive the inheritance appointed to our lives. In my grandparent’s generation were pastors and many godly men. Yet their children, our own parents, did not see the works of their parents as valuable.
Instead of blaming my parent’s generation I began to think of the temptations in their lives. The 2nd world war had ended and our country was the most powerful and prosperous in the world. They thought to make their lives better according to a worldly standard, and so began co-habiting with the worldly and shunning the standard of faith they were raised with. After seeing their temptations I began to think about our own children and our children’s children . . . what sort of spiritual inheritance are we leaving them if we do not rid our generation of compromise, self-serving ambition, and sin?
I believe the dream was given because now is the time that God is turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers lest we see our land of inheritance cursed (Mal 4:6). The tribes of Israel that did not rid their lands of the tribes that dwelled there before them reaped the curse described by Joshua. When our lives seem hard, we need to make life better according to God’s standard, for our generation and for the next. God would not have spoken through the seven thunders if we could not redeem the neglect done, even in past generations, and walk in victory today. Let us live, pray, and stand in the promises of God, undeterred by sin or compromise with the world. We have a great inheritance to obtain. Amen.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Fear of the Lord
My husband Dave has been telling me there is a similarity between what God required of His priests in the Old Testament and what He requires of us as His priests in the New Testament. God requires integrity (honesty) in the inner parts of our temple, our human bodies. This honesty will display true honor and comes from having a fear of the Lord. Dave points out that Aaron’s sons were slain because they were not holy, and did not take their priestly duties seriously (Lev 10:1-3). Moses was forbidden to enter the Promised Land because he did not honor God as holy in the site of the Israelites (Nu 20:12; 32:51). In the days when Samuel was a little boy, Eli’s sons Hophni and Phinehas displeased the Lord and they dishonored the Lord with their sins. Therefore they also died (See 1 Sam 2:12-36). Following each of these examples, service to the Lord took on a greater integrity on the part of those who served, for the fear of the Lord brought the fruit of honor from their lives.
We think of the severity of untimely deaths as being a display of the “Old Testament” God, however, God hasn’t changed. Dave points out that the evidence lies in what happened to Ananias and Sapphira. Ananais sold land and was dishonest about the amount he sold it for. This dishonesty was agreed upon between him and his wife Sapphira. So when they made an offering to the Lord, they lied about the amount they sold the property for, each separately from the other. Peter was present when the offering was made, and asked how they could lie to and tempt the Lord (Acts 5:1-11). They each fell dead after Peter asked them about their deceit. The result was that fear of the Lord spread through the rest of the Christians.
God established that He was to be honored, and not lied to in the first century church. This behavior, honor, is a fruit of the fear of the Lord. What followed was that the first century church had the power of God validating their words (Mk 16:20; Acts 5:12). The question is, do we want what they had, at the price they paid? Do we want to hear the Holy Spirit inside our hearts and honor Him with our obedience, even if our honesty costs us what we want in this life? Or are we half-listening and half-obeying so that we can keep our lives nice and running smoothly?
One of the sad things that is happening in churches today is that there is not much credence given to the word of the Lord. It was through prophetic revelation that the first church received the knowledge about how God wanted His people to meet, and what they should do (Eph 3:5). They could not waver about what was received and still find agreement in implementing the structure that we find in the New Testament Church. However, most prophesies and revelations today are barely received. If there is a weighty revelation it is set aside to see if it comes to pass, with total disregard to any wisdom that could be obtained were the word received in faith. And this points to a second ingredient missing from our churches: wisdom. God intended to display His wisdom through His churches (Eph 3:10), not only to unbelievers but to the wicked spirits in high places. God wants to beat His chest with pride through us and our words, if we would believe He speaks through us. Yet we have fallen into a tepid belief that prophecies are at best nice words to make us feel better, and anything else must be false.
If we really want the kingdom of God to dwell on the earth we need to honor God and welcome His word. In Revelation we read about the angel with the eternal gospel who says to fear God, give Him glory, and to worship Him (Rev 14:7). God wants us to return to the clean, pure fear of God that lived in the men and women that first built the Church for Him. God’s word has power to save, build, and deliver. We cannot construct a kingdom without His input. His word is an ark that carries us during the trials that flood our lives, and His word validates that our lives have purpose when we find ourselves stranded in the desert. His word is a strong tower that the enemy cannot tear down, and a helmet upon our heads to keep the evil one out of our thoughts. If the fear of the Lord brings wisdom, then the first fruits are faith in God’s spoken word. Without a word spoken, there is no wisdom. We cannot share the vision without God’s word, and therefore people fail.
The work God intends us to do is locked up and awaits the key of faith in Him and trust in His revealed word to open up. Do we fear revelation? Do we fear what God might ask of us? Then we should not pretend to be following Christ. Yet, if we follow Him, let us believe the words He speaks through others and honor God by implementing with wisdom what He reveals to us. This we have within our authority to do.
We think of the severity of untimely deaths as being a display of the “Old Testament” God, however, God hasn’t changed. Dave points out that the evidence lies in what happened to Ananias and Sapphira. Ananais sold land and was dishonest about the amount he sold it for. This dishonesty was agreed upon between him and his wife Sapphira. So when they made an offering to the Lord, they lied about the amount they sold the property for, each separately from the other. Peter was present when the offering was made, and asked how they could lie to and tempt the Lord (Acts 5:1-11). They each fell dead after Peter asked them about their deceit. The result was that fear of the Lord spread through the rest of the Christians.
God established that He was to be honored, and not lied to in the first century church. This behavior, honor, is a fruit of the fear of the Lord. What followed was that the first century church had the power of God validating their words (Mk 16:20; Acts 5:12). The question is, do we want what they had, at the price they paid? Do we want to hear the Holy Spirit inside our hearts and honor Him with our obedience, even if our honesty costs us what we want in this life? Or are we half-listening and half-obeying so that we can keep our lives nice and running smoothly?
One of the sad things that is happening in churches today is that there is not much credence given to the word of the Lord. It was through prophetic revelation that the first church received the knowledge about how God wanted His people to meet, and what they should do (Eph 3:5). They could not waver about what was received and still find agreement in implementing the structure that we find in the New Testament Church. However, most prophesies and revelations today are barely received. If there is a weighty revelation it is set aside to see if it comes to pass, with total disregard to any wisdom that could be obtained were the word received in faith. And this points to a second ingredient missing from our churches: wisdom. God intended to display His wisdom through His churches (Eph 3:10), not only to unbelievers but to the wicked spirits in high places. God wants to beat His chest with pride through us and our words, if we would believe He speaks through us. Yet we have fallen into a tepid belief that prophecies are at best nice words to make us feel better, and anything else must be false.
If we really want the kingdom of God to dwell on the earth we need to honor God and welcome His word. In Revelation we read about the angel with the eternal gospel who says to fear God, give Him glory, and to worship Him (Rev 14:7). God wants us to return to the clean, pure fear of God that lived in the men and women that first built the Church for Him. God’s word has power to save, build, and deliver. We cannot construct a kingdom without His input. His word is an ark that carries us during the trials that flood our lives, and His word validates that our lives have purpose when we find ourselves stranded in the desert. His word is a strong tower that the enemy cannot tear down, and a helmet upon our heads to keep the evil one out of our thoughts. If the fear of the Lord brings wisdom, then the first fruits are faith in God’s spoken word. Without a word spoken, there is no wisdom. We cannot share the vision without God’s word, and therefore people fail.
The work God intends us to do is locked up and awaits the key of faith in Him and trust in His revealed word to open up. Do we fear revelation? Do we fear what God might ask of us? Then we should not pretend to be following Christ. Yet, if we follow Him, let us believe the words He speaks through others and honor God by implementing with wisdom what He reveals to us. This we have within our authority to do.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
preparations of God vs satan
God prepares His people to receive His words. They are built line-upon-line, precept-upon-precept. He begins with a simple truth and then builds up that truth with further knowledge, bringing understanding, then wisdom, and finally revelation. God requires faith in what He speaks in order for this growth to take place in us, for when we reject one truth, the rest will fail to form in us. It is like the ear of corn, maturing through its season ‘til it is ready at harvest time. Each kernel represents the truths contained within the ear, all making up the total ear of corn.
Our faith is tried by circumstances in our lives. It is hard to have faith for that seed beneath the ground. “Will it really amount to anything, or was this just my imagination running wild?” we might say. Yet there is no other way to please God than to have faith in what He has said (Heb 11:6). It is part of our relationship with our loving Father to hear Him, believe and have faith for His words to us, and participate in the care of the word (as a farmer does) until the harvest of that word.
These are simple truths and if I were writing only about faith, and God building upon His words to us, I might end here. Which one of us has not known that, had we not followed God’s word to us, we might not have arrived at God’s destination for His greater purpose? We have seen Him build His word up in our lives, yet what the Lord is leading me to talk about is our enemy, and his building.
In Revelation 12 we read about a dragon that is prepared to harm the Man-child being born. The dragon “stood before the woman” in anticipation of the birth of the Man-child. We know this dragon as satan because the same passage tells us that he drew 1/3 of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. This is a picture of a movement of evil, orchestrated by satan and employing his demons, in anticipation of the coming move of God. Just as satan had prepared for his victory, the God we serve also had prepared a place of safety for the woman. As for the Man-child, he was to rule from heaven, where He remains until this day.
When we realize that God prepares us by His word, and satan attempts to prepare for our defeat, what is it that we watch for? Paul wrote about this, saying “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (2 Thess 2:9-10). Clearly we cannot put our confidence in miracles, signs or wonders. We must be established in the Truth, that Spirit which Jesus sent to dwell in Man, (Jn 14:17). In the end times those who did not love the truth were sent a strong delusion (2 Thess 2:11). The importance is believing what is true and being led by the Holy Spirit, that Spirit of Truth Whom Jesus said was better to receive than He Himself remaining on the earth.
In Revelation we read that the “Beast” performed miraculous signs and thereby deceived the inhabitants of the earth, (Rev 13:13-14). Clearly this was the spirit at work on earth which Paul warned the church at Thessalonica about. The beast had so much authority that men wondered who could war against him? (Rev 13:4). Again, we read that evil spirits will come out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, which will perform miracles, (Rev 16:13-14).
It is at this point, when many on the earth are deceived by satan’s preparation of those who lacked a love of the truth and thought that miracles verified the words of men . . . it is at this point that we read “And God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of His wrath,” (Rev 16:19b). And perhaps this is the point we have been most deceived in, for many have thought that Babylon represents a physical country. If truth is what will keep us from deception, we need to look at what God is saying to us in His word, for He is preparing us by what He said to John in the book of Revelation.
If we look back on satan’s preparation of the Church, he has been sending deceptive lies to us in the form of “Left Behind” stories, whose authors clearly stated their tales were fiction, and to the theology of men who compared the physical Old World Babylon to countries in the same area today. The question that poses itself then, is, if satan is working so hard to deceive the Church, why does God then get angry with a physical country? In Revelation 17 we read about a woman upon whose forehead is written the title “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes, and the Abomination of the Whole Earth,” (Rev 17:5). When has God called a country a prostitute that was never married to Him? We read that God called Israel a prostitute because she was betrothed to Him and fell away into sin and the unfaithfulness of idolatry. We read in the prophets that Israel’s sin was that she “took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of My gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them, (Ez 16:17). Jeremiah also writes that Israel, God’s people, had the forehead of a prostitute (Jer 3:3). Clearly the Lord was telling John, the revelator, that Babylon represented the Chruch.
Knowing that the Great Whore, Babylon, is the Church is something God builds upon in Revelation 17 and 18. We learn that satan’s preparations become apparent in her as he leads people to war against the Lamb of God (Rev 17:14 & 18:2). And so God calls those who are His people out of her. He does not want them to share in her sins, nor participate in her judgment (Rev 18:4). The Church, who was betrothed to God, goes through a great upheaval, losing the merchants that she benefited. Sadly, the voice of the bridegroom and the bride are never heard in her again (Rev 18:23), for the Church had ceased being a light to the nations.
In reading Revelation 18 we learn that the Church had become a market place, and similar to the whore of Ezekiel 16 she was “glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!” (Rev 18:16). There are many similarities that validate the Great Whore is a symbol for God’s people, His Church. To go on with the cross-references between how God spoke in the past to His people, and how God is speaking now through the book of Revelation would take a much longer paper. My point in writing is the alarm I feel when I see ministers putting an emphasis on miracles, signs and wonders. My second concern is looking at signs and wonders as evidence of walking in God’s kingdom. And my third concern is that, because these first two concerns are part of satan’s preparation, the church will fall into God’s judgment for her sins. This does not even mention the error of following the marketing mentality headlong into worldliness, the poor treatment of God’s prophets and saints that will occur because some men and women want to be more important, nor the many other things mentioned in the book of Revelation.
I feel God saying “blessed is he who stays awake, and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed,” (Rev 16:15). God wants us to be awake, loving and walking in the truth. He wants our preparation to lead us into greater revelation of Who He is, and what we should do on this earth. His heart for us is one of blessing, if we will have faith for all He has said. Yet if we sleep through our preparation time, following after false teachings and popular fads, we will be caught unprepared for Him. Let us take time today to examine God’s words to us, both logos and rhemas, and love them more than any gain we can obtain from men, this life, or our own self-pleasure. God has His eye on the prize, His Bride, of whom we will become if we keep a love of the truth burning brightly in us. Amen.
Our faith is tried by circumstances in our lives. It is hard to have faith for that seed beneath the ground. “Will it really amount to anything, or was this just my imagination running wild?” we might say. Yet there is no other way to please God than to have faith in what He has said (Heb 11:6). It is part of our relationship with our loving Father to hear Him, believe and have faith for His words to us, and participate in the care of the word (as a farmer does) until the harvest of that word.
These are simple truths and if I were writing only about faith, and God building upon His words to us, I might end here. Which one of us has not known that, had we not followed God’s word to us, we might not have arrived at God’s destination for His greater purpose? We have seen Him build His word up in our lives, yet what the Lord is leading me to talk about is our enemy, and his building.
In Revelation 12 we read about a dragon that is prepared to harm the Man-child being born. The dragon “stood before the woman” in anticipation of the birth of the Man-child. We know this dragon as satan because the same passage tells us that he drew 1/3 of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. This is a picture of a movement of evil, orchestrated by satan and employing his demons, in anticipation of the coming move of God. Just as satan had prepared for his victory, the God we serve also had prepared a place of safety for the woman. As for the Man-child, he was to rule from heaven, where He remains until this day.
When we realize that God prepares us by His word, and satan attempts to prepare for our defeat, what is it that we watch for? Paul wrote about this, saying “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (2 Thess 2:9-10). Clearly we cannot put our confidence in miracles, signs or wonders. We must be established in the Truth, that Spirit which Jesus sent to dwell in Man, (Jn 14:17). In the end times those who did not love the truth were sent a strong delusion (2 Thess 2:11). The importance is believing what is true and being led by the Holy Spirit, that Spirit of Truth Whom Jesus said was better to receive than He Himself remaining on the earth.
In Revelation we read that the “Beast” performed miraculous signs and thereby deceived the inhabitants of the earth, (Rev 13:13-14). Clearly this was the spirit at work on earth which Paul warned the church at Thessalonica about. The beast had so much authority that men wondered who could war against him? (Rev 13:4). Again, we read that evil spirits will come out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, which will perform miracles, (Rev 16:13-14).
It is at this point, when many on the earth are deceived by satan’s preparation of those who lacked a love of the truth and thought that miracles verified the words of men . . . it is at this point that we read “And God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of His wrath,” (Rev 16:19b). And perhaps this is the point we have been most deceived in, for many have thought that Babylon represents a physical country. If truth is what will keep us from deception, we need to look at what God is saying to us in His word, for He is preparing us by what He said to John in the book of Revelation.
If we look back on satan’s preparation of the Church, he has been sending deceptive lies to us in the form of “Left Behind” stories, whose authors clearly stated their tales were fiction, and to the theology of men who compared the physical Old World Babylon to countries in the same area today. The question that poses itself then, is, if satan is working so hard to deceive the Church, why does God then get angry with a physical country? In Revelation 17 we read about a woman upon whose forehead is written the title “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes, and the Abomination of the Whole Earth,” (Rev 17:5). When has God called a country a prostitute that was never married to Him? We read that God called Israel a prostitute because she was betrothed to Him and fell away into sin and the unfaithfulness of idolatry. We read in the prophets that Israel’s sin was that she “took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of My gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them, (Ez 16:17). Jeremiah also writes that Israel, God’s people, had the forehead of a prostitute (Jer 3:3). Clearly the Lord was telling John, the revelator, that Babylon represented the Chruch.
Knowing that the Great Whore, Babylon, is the Church is something God builds upon in Revelation 17 and 18. We learn that satan’s preparations become apparent in her as he leads people to war against the Lamb of God (Rev 17:14 & 18:2). And so God calls those who are His people out of her. He does not want them to share in her sins, nor participate in her judgment (Rev 18:4). The Church, who was betrothed to God, goes through a great upheaval, losing the merchants that she benefited. Sadly, the voice of the bridegroom and the bride are never heard in her again (Rev 18:23), for the Church had ceased being a light to the nations.
In reading Revelation 18 we learn that the Church had become a market place, and similar to the whore of Ezekiel 16 she was “glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!” (Rev 18:16). There are many similarities that validate the Great Whore is a symbol for God’s people, His Church. To go on with the cross-references between how God spoke in the past to His people, and how God is speaking now through the book of Revelation would take a much longer paper. My point in writing is the alarm I feel when I see ministers putting an emphasis on miracles, signs and wonders. My second concern is looking at signs and wonders as evidence of walking in God’s kingdom. And my third concern is that, because these first two concerns are part of satan’s preparation, the church will fall into God’s judgment for her sins. This does not even mention the error of following the marketing mentality headlong into worldliness, the poor treatment of God’s prophets and saints that will occur because some men and women want to be more important, nor the many other things mentioned in the book of Revelation.
I feel God saying “blessed is he who stays awake, and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed,” (Rev 16:15). God wants us to be awake, loving and walking in the truth. He wants our preparation to lead us into greater revelation of Who He is, and what we should do on this earth. His heart for us is one of blessing, if we will have faith for all He has said. Yet if we sleep through our preparation time, following after false teachings and popular fads, we will be caught unprepared for Him. Let us take time today to examine God’s words to us, both logos and rhemas, and love them more than any gain we can obtain from men, this life, or our own self-pleasure. God has His eye on the prize, His Bride, of whom we will become if we keep a love of the truth burning brightly in us. Amen.
Friday, September 10, 2010
spiritual warfare
When we believe that people or circumstances are our enemy we eventually fight against them, becoming bitter at our losses in this life. But they aren’t our enemy. Ever since Jesus brought the Kingdom of God down to earth, our enemy has been exposed as the spirits, principalities, and lords of the darkness that rebelled against God. Paul writes that we war not against flesh and blood (Eph 6:12) . . . our fight is no longer with people who treat us bad, but with the spirit that influences the bad treatment, satan.
Jesus brought His kingdom down to earth so that He could be the ruler of that kingdom. Every kingdom has a king, yet Jesus delegated the rulership to us, until His return. Though Jesus taught us how to live, and how to rule, He leaves this earth in our hands and left His Spirit inside of us to guide us. He is never far, if we seek Him with a listening ear to hear His counsel.
Paul prayed the eyes of our understanding would be opened so that we could understand the riches of our inheritance (Eph 1;18). As in the Old Testament when the Jewish nation would inherite the Promised Land, so we too have a kingdom to inherit. And as the Jewish tribes had to take their land by force, Jesus said that we too must take the kingdom by force (Mt 11:12). Since we wrestle not against flesh and blood, it is plain to see that the fighting we will be doing is against satan and his evil followers.
This is not a subject taught from many pulpits, for it is nicer to speak about the Love and Power of God towards us, and to hope that all evil will flee from us. Yet that is not how the kingdom was won by our fathers of faith, nor how it will be won by us. I remember in the past being so frustrated with the repeated evil that tumbled unannounced into my life that one day I asked God where He was. I quoted His promises from the Bible and asked Him why He didn’t keep them. He had said He would be a lamp unto our feet, and that when we walked we would hear a voice behind us saying “This is the way, walk in it.” (Is 30:21). My tears of frustration were probably not the first ones the Lord had seen. He answered me in a very kind and gentle way. He reminded me of dreams He had given me . . . dreams I hadn’t believed were from Him. These dreams had guidance in them, and information on how to avoid or expose satan’s snares. From that day on I paid attention to His messages in my dreams. And I learned about spiritual warfare.
The battles of spiritual warfare are fought with truth, during times of prayer. It takes faith to stand on the truth, and for the truth. It takes abiding in the righteousness of Christ (for we have none of our own) to not back down under satan’s flaming arrows of accusations, insults and lies. It takes preparation to be skilled in rightly handling God’s word so that we don’t use it deceitfully. And yes, it takes obedience to the Holy Spirit to catch wrong thoughts so that we can abide in the Spirit. Yet the battle is worth it, and every victory blesses our hearts to understand and spiritually “see” more of our inheritance while we live.
If we expect our inheritance to come to us without taking a stand, and without a fight, we will be like the Jewish tribes that did not take their allotted land in Israel. God stopped fighting for them, and their enemies became snares and traps for them. Though they had authority given to them to rule, because they did not use their authority, they became a people who were ruled over. And such are we, if we do not use the authority God gave us in our prayers and proclamations, overcoming satan’s kingdom.
This battle is spiritual because our enemy is spiritual. It is futile to argue and fight with men, for our wrestling with them will not change them. The anger of man works not the righteousness of God (Jms 1:20). We must lay our angers and frustrations at Jesus’ feet and submit to His way of warring. He will teach us about every weapon that is valuable for our victory, and we will gain the benefit of gaining an inheritance that is imperishable. Amen
Jesus brought His kingdom down to earth so that He could be the ruler of that kingdom. Every kingdom has a king, yet Jesus delegated the rulership to us, until His return. Though Jesus taught us how to live, and how to rule, He leaves this earth in our hands and left His Spirit inside of us to guide us. He is never far, if we seek Him with a listening ear to hear His counsel.
Paul prayed the eyes of our understanding would be opened so that we could understand the riches of our inheritance (Eph 1;18). As in the Old Testament when the Jewish nation would inherite the Promised Land, so we too have a kingdom to inherit. And as the Jewish tribes had to take their land by force, Jesus said that we too must take the kingdom by force (Mt 11:12). Since we wrestle not against flesh and blood, it is plain to see that the fighting we will be doing is against satan and his evil followers.
This is not a subject taught from many pulpits, for it is nicer to speak about the Love and Power of God towards us, and to hope that all evil will flee from us. Yet that is not how the kingdom was won by our fathers of faith, nor how it will be won by us. I remember in the past being so frustrated with the repeated evil that tumbled unannounced into my life that one day I asked God where He was. I quoted His promises from the Bible and asked Him why He didn’t keep them. He had said He would be a lamp unto our feet, and that when we walked we would hear a voice behind us saying “This is the way, walk in it.” (Is 30:21). My tears of frustration were probably not the first ones the Lord had seen. He answered me in a very kind and gentle way. He reminded me of dreams He had given me . . . dreams I hadn’t believed were from Him. These dreams had guidance in them, and information on how to avoid or expose satan’s snares. From that day on I paid attention to His messages in my dreams. And I learned about spiritual warfare.
The battles of spiritual warfare are fought with truth, during times of prayer. It takes faith to stand on the truth, and for the truth. It takes abiding in the righteousness of Christ (for we have none of our own) to not back down under satan’s flaming arrows of accusations, insults and lies. It takes preparation to be skilled in rightly handling God’s word so that we don’t use it deceitfully. And yes, it takes obedience to the Holy Spirit to catch wrong thoughts so that we can abide in the Spirit. Yet the battle is worth it, and every victory blesses our hearts to understand and spiritually “see” more of our inheritance while we live.
If we expect our inheritance to come to us without taking a stand, and without a fight, we will be like the Jewish tribes that did not take their allotted land in Israel. God stopped fighting for them, and their enemies became snares and traps for them. Though they had authority given to them to rule, because they did not use their authority, they became a people who were ruled over. And such are we, if we do not use the authority God gave us in our prayers and proclamations, overcoming satan’s kingdom.
This battle is spiritual because our enemy is spiritual. It is futile to argue and fight with men, for our wrestling with them will not change them. The anger of man works not the righteousness of God (Jms 1:20). We must lay our angers and frustrations at Jesus’ feet and submit to His way of warring. He will teach us about every weapon that is valuable for our victory, and we will gain the benefit of gaining an inheritance that is imperishable. Amen
Saturday, September 4, 2010
works of faith
This morning the Lord asked me to “go back to the beginning, and led me to read Hebrews 11; the faith chapter. He there teaches us about what faith is, and that without faith it is impossible to please Him (vs 6). The foundations of our faith have their “beginnings” in the examples set down by the fathers of faith, and without their works, ours are incomplete (vs 40).
The forefathers of our faith were willing to go to a place where God was going to do something, later. They did not see the reward of their travels, yet looked for those things God was building. Instead of devising plans to build, they trusted that God would build. Some only needed to make the journey and claim the land, others needed to speak words of righteousness. But they all lived as though the unseen would materialize, and they were willing to trust God to make that happen.
After reading in Hebrews I remembered that in 2007 I had a dream about standing in the house of the Lord, high atop a mountain. The house had its rough carpentry finished and a table saw was set up in the living room, with saw dust on the floor. Yet no man was working. I understood that the labors of the men and women who had gone before us were left for us to continue. And that is where the dream ended . . . with no man to do the work. Perhaps the works we think proceed from faith are not what the Lord had in mind.
The Lord has often talked about faith in the written word, and Rhemas word. Below is the Rhemas word that the Lord brought forth today, about our current times, and faith;
“The fathers of this generation have devised a plan whereby they encourage the young to have faith for what their senses can validate, and for what they can imagine in their minds. Therefore, the ministry of the forerunners and forefathers of this time lies unattended, and no one is building on the greater fathers’ foundations. The current fathers’ thirst for the tangible has eliminated the unseen, of which I am Lord. They have forgotten what faith is.
Faith is following Me, not leading Me. It is trusting that I have a plan, not developing one’s own plan. It is desiring, yes, longing for a glimpse of what I will build, even if one does not have a major part in the building of it.
Some people think they need to have great faith and do great things in order for My kingdom to settle upon the earth. This leaves Me out of their equations, for Man has a different idea of great works than I do. Man’s imagination of great works does not include completion of his works by others. They do not include working out of the sight of others, unanimously. Man’s imaginations are based on the rewards of results, and the comfort of progress. Man would never destroy the tower of Babel. Most men have thought Me mean for stopping their works, letting them fall into ruin. But their works are not founded on the eternal foundations. And if a man does not build with Me, he labors in vain.
I build with eternal materials. They are found hidden in the clay vessels of Man. This generation is being taught that the hidden treasures within are not as valuable as what a man can produce, for the treasures are not tangible. Yet all a man can produce is nothing if it does not come from the wealth contained within. The discarding of My wealthy ones is the discarding of Me, for how you treat the least of your brethren is how you treat Me.
This is a time when I am turning the hearts of the generations towards each other, and not away. The younger will not obtain the kingdom apart from the labors of the elder. Let all men submit to My order and stop seeking to build on their own. Then the kingdom’s works will be done. Amen.”
The forefathers of our faith were willing to go to a place where God was going to do something, later. They did not see the reward of their travels, yet looked for those things God was building. Instead of devising plans to build, they trusted that God would build. Some only needed to make the journey and claim the land, others needed to speak words of righteousness. But they all lived as though the unseen would materialize, and they were willing to trust God to make that happen.
After reading in Hebrews I remembered that in 2007 I had a dream about standing in the house of the Lord, high atop a mountain. The house had its rough carpentry finished and a table saw was set up in the living room, with saw dust on the floor. Yet no man was working. I understood that the labors of the men and women who had gone before us were left for us to continue. And that is where the dream ended . . . with no man to do the work. Perhaps the works we think proceed from faith are not what the Lord had in mind.
The Lord has often talked about faith in the written word, and Rhemas word. Below is the Rhemas word that the Lord brought forth today, about our current times, and faith;
“The fathers of this generation have devised a plan whereby they encourage the young to have faith for what their senses can validate, and for what they can imagine in their minds. Therefore, the ministry of the forerunners and forefathers of this time lies unattended, and no one is building on the greater fathers’ foundations. The current fathers’ thirst for the tangible has eliminated the unseen, of which I am Lord. They have forgotten what faith is.
Faith is following Me, not leading Me. It is trusting that I have a plan, not developing one’s own plan. It is desiring, yes, longing for a glimpse of what I will build, even if one does not have a major part in the building of it.
Some people think they need to have great faith and do great things in order for My kingdom to settle upon the earth. This leaves Me out of their equations, for Man has a different idea of great works than I do. Man’s imagination of great works does not include completion of his works by others. They do not include working out of the sight of others, unanimously. Man’s imaginations are based on the rewards of results, and the comfort of progress. Man would never destroy the tower of Babel. Most men have thought Me mean for stopping their works, letting them fall into ruin. But their works are not founded on the eternal foundations. And if a man does not build with Me, he labors in vain.
I build with eternal materials. They are found hidden in the clay vessels of Man. This generation is being taught that the hidden treasures within are not as valuable as what a man can produce, for the treasures are not tangible. Yet all a man can produce is nothing if it does not come from the wealth contained within. The discarding of My wealthy ones is the discarding of Me, for how you treat the least of your brethren is how you treat Me.
This is a time when I am turning the hearts of the generations towards each other, and not away. The younger will not obtain the kingdom apart from the labors of the elder. Let all men submit to My order and stop seeking to build on their own. Then the kingdom’s works will be done. Amen.”
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